BETTE Midler backstage to see Fran Drescher after Fran’s turn in “Love, Loss, and What I Wore.”

Meet the One and Only Bette Midler at her Star-Studded Hulaween Celebration

lot opened: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 9:00:00 AM EST
lot closes: Thu, 1 Apr 2010 3:06:00 PM EDT

Estimated Value: $2,000.00

To Bid: Click Here

Hey, it worked for getting Betty White to host Saturday Night Live, so why not shoot for gold by joining this Facebook group to get Bette on the #1 hit show “Glee?”

Our girl Molly already has a page set up for you to join. Other stars that have signed on to do the show are Madonna, J-Lo, and an iffy Elton John. So why not Bette Midler?

All you have to do is CLICK HERE then JOIN the Fan Club. The rest will be taken care of. Thanks Molly!!!!

AT THE ADMIRAL: Jake Shimabukuro Building a Big Fan Base for the Little Ukulele
By Michael C. Moore MMOORE@KITSAPSUN.COM

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Jake Shimabukuro said he’s heartened by the worldwide growth in popularity of his instrument, the ukulele.

It doesn’t seem to occur to him — owing either to lack of hubris or abundance of humility on his part — that he might be a major player in that growth.

“There’s so many people getting turned on to the instrument, I’m blown away by it,” Shimabukuro said during a phone interview last week from his Hawaii home. “I was just listening to his new song by Train. It’s like the No. 1 song in the country, and the whole song is ukulele-driven.”

Shimabukuro — who comes back for a three-peat performance at the Admiral Theatre on March 13 after visiting previously in 2006 and 2007 — cited that kind of exposure for the fact that he’s become perhaps the busiest ukulele player in the world. He doesn’t, however, give himself any credit for making the uke cool enough to make a band like Train work a song around it.

He just seems perfectly happy that the little instrument has found its way into the musical consciousness of so many.

“The ukulele (pronounced oo-koo-LAY-lay) makes people happy, I really believe that,” he said. “If more people played and listened to ukulele music, the world would be a better, happier place.”

Shimabukuro certainly is doing his part. From a humble start, playing traditional Hawaiian music on his native islands, he’s built a flourishing career on four strings and two octaves, and the endless variations and possibilities he’s been able to find therein.

He’s tested the limits of the little instrument, and found it virtually limitless.

As people’s acceptance of and affection for the ukulele has increased, so has Shimabukuro’s workload. He’s in demand as a concert attraction, recording artist, collaborator and general ambassador for the uke.

In recent months, Shimabukuro, 33, has released a live CD, a two-song mini-EP “Annon” — created to help commemorate the 750th memorial service of Shinran Shonin, the founder of Shin Buddhism — and taken part in documentary filmmaker Mike Lawrence’s “Bach and Friends” DVD project, appearing alongside musical luminaries from Hilary Hahn, Philip Glass, the Emerson String Quartet, Joshua Bell, Bobby McFerrin, Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, Chris Thile, Manuel Barrueco and others in a celebration of the music of J.S. Bach. He also performed with Bette Midler in a London concert last December attended by, among others, Queen Elizabeth.

In all his spare time, he’s been busy composing and arranging and recording his next, and as-yet untitled, studio CD.

“I’ve really been focusing on the album, which is pretty much all originals,” Shimabukuro said. He added that the lone cover on the CD will be a solo instrumental version of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Shimabukuro said the new songs came out of his head largely during sessions spent simply commuting with nature on his beloved Hawaii, and even during “hot yoga” (in a sauna) sessions.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever written this way, completely without my instrument,” he said. “I’m really focusing on layering some ukulele parts on this album. When I perform, I hear the other parts in my head, and I look at this as a way to give people some insight ito what I’m hearing.

“It’s a different approach for me,” he said thoughtfully, “and now it’s like the song feels complete.”

Shimabukuro said his was “floored” when Lawrence contacted him about being part of the “Bach and Friends” project.

“The first question he asked me was, ‘Do you play any Bach?’ I mean, I don’t really, maybe I hint at some of the Bach themes a little, but I’ve never seriously transcribed anything. He asked me if I’d be willing. All the time I’m wondering why he would want me in the first place.

The lovely and eloquent answer to that question is Shimabukuro’s arrangement and performance of Bach’s two-part invention No. 4, portions of which are seen during an interview segment with him (the full performance is included on a bonus DVD).

“I went through every note, figuring out how to translate it onto the uke,” Shimabukuro said of the typically intricate and taxing piece. “Once I got going, it was so immediate — it was like the fingerings started to light up on the fretboard. It was almost like it was written for the uke. Other people have since told me they’ve had similar experiences with Bach.”

Being the in-demand performer that he is takes Shimabukuro in some interesting and eclectic directions. This spring and summer, besides a European tour that’ll take him to Russia, the Netherlands, Germany and France, he’ll play the prestigious Monterey and Playboy jazz festivals.

“In the last few years, I’ve been able to do festivals from performing arts to bluegrass, jazz, folk, even rock, like Bonnaroo. It really blows my mind to get to play with all those great people, and the crowds are always so nice and accepting.”

Miami Herald
Posted on Wed, Mar. 10, 2010
Try something new: Lift the travel ban
BY ELENA FREYRE
cubaid7@bellsouth.net

`Only in Miami is Cuba so far away.” On no other issue are the words of Bette Midler’s song truer than on the issue of Cuba travel. The 90 miles between Florida and Cuba are the longest distance between two points, both psychologically and objectively.
This issue deserves a truthful and dispassionate examination of the facts.

Supporters of the travel ban argue that there is no law that prohibits travel to Cuba, and that, indeed, only tourism to Cuba is presently forbidden by U.S. law. The truth is that a citizen or a legal U.S. resident cannot buy a ticket to travel to Cuba unless licensed by the government. And anyone traveling to Cuba, even with a license, risks a fine and even jail time for violating the law.

Many Americans have been fined for traveling to Cuba to visit churches, birdwatch, fish, take bike rides, visit historical sites or spread the ashes of their parents.

There is a concerted effort to have us believe that tourism is the main source of income for the Cuban government. Yet the main source of income for Cuba is oil subsidies from Venezuela.

Moreover, an International Monetary Fund expert estimates that in the Caribbean, including Cuba, only 15 percent of the income from tourism stays in-country. The remainder goes to hotel chains, airlines, travel agents, tour operators, cruise ships, etc. Thus, the real income from tourism usually ranks third or fourth after remittances and exports.

There is no compelling argument for allowing U.S. citizens to travel to North Korea, Iran, Sudan and Syria while not allowing Cuba travel.

There is, however, a valid and compelling argument that U.S. citizens should not be denied a fundamental right in order to pursue foreign-policy objectives that are not related to our national interest.

A policy that has been pursued and vigorously defended but has failed to achieve its objective in 50 years is the epitome of failure. Mauricio Claver-Carone, the lobbyist for U.S.-Cuba PAC, argued in a recent column in The Miami Herald that there is no viable alternative that can be proven to be successful. But according to that logic, if a patient dies during an operation, the death would not be a failure because there is no evidence of the likely success of an alternative treatment.

Supporters of lifting the travel ban to Cuba are honest in stating there are no guarantees that allowing unrestricted Cuba travel will bring democracy to Cuba. While this may be true, that’s not a valid argument to not try an alternative to our failed policy.

What is also true and should be most important is that lifting sanctions will show respect for our own democracy at home.

Here are other facts to be considered when discussing Cuba travel:

(1) Lifting the travel ban will cause from one million to 3.5 million Americans to travel to Cuba the first year. If only two million use South Florida as their jump-off point, there will be an additional 20,000 flights, supporting the jobs of a substantial number of Floridians such as pilots, flight attendants, ground crews, baggage handlers, travel agents, etc. (2) Revenue from airport fees will be considerable. (3) There will be a huge boost to the cruise ship industry. (4) Florida’s agricultural sales to Cuba could double as a result.

Lifting the travel ban to Cuba is an important issue that should be discussed with real facts using logic and reason, not solely ideology.

It is time that U.S. policy toward Cuba not be geared toward regime change, but to helping the Cuban people and defending the rights and liberties of all Americans.

One should not preach democracy while supporting undemocratic principles.

Elena Freyre is president of the Foundation for the Normalization of U.S.-Cuba Relations.

Mr. D- I just thought i would share that I went to the preview of Broadway’s All About Me, featuring Michael Fienstein and Dame Edna. It was fantastic, but the reason I tell my fellow Betteheads is they do a Bette Midler routine. There is a portion of the show where the two of them agree on things they like and then sing/act them out. Now it seemed that most of the script is spontaneous and the night I happened to go the two of them decided they both liked Bette Midler. Not sure if this happens every night. But even if it doesn’t the show was fantastic! It reminded me of delores delago meets the soph show!! Thought I would share.

New York Times
March 9, 1983
CONCERT: BETTE MIDLER PERFORMS AT MUSIC HALL
By STEPHEN HOLDEN

BETTE MIDLER has always tried for the nearly impossible onstage: the creation of a show-business personality who could embrace the worlds of vaudeville, legitimate theater and rock all in a single evening. Miss Midler has long possessed the theatrical resources for the task, for her sensibility contains a multitude of full-fledged characters, from sad-eyed waifs to her scintillating bawdy alter ego, The Divine Miss M.

The only uncertain element in Miss Midler’s arsenal has been her singing voice. An expressive cabaret interpreter, Miss Midler nevertheless frequently floundered when she tackled rock. Even in ”The Rose,” the size of her voice didn’t match the emotional dimensions of her Janis Joplin-like role, and in climactic moments, the singer resorted to frayed desperate shouting.

It was a happy surprise, therefore, when Bette Midler unveiled a newly fortified rock singing voice at Monday’s special preview performance of her Radio City Music Hall show, whose sold-out run ends Monday. Not only did Miss Midler stay consistently on pitch, she interpreted demanding rock ballads like ”Stay With Me” with an impressive dynamic control and sustained long phrases that never gave way to amusical histrionics.

”Stay With Me” was one of several remarkable vocal performances in which the singer’s technique matched her emotional involvement. The Leon Russell-Bonnie Bramlett ballad ”Superstar,” which Miss Midler used to sing from the viewpoint of star-struck groupie, was reconceived as the sensual obsession of a disappointed older woman. Peter Gabriel’s apocalyptic rock ballad, ”Here Comes the Flood,” received a strong, whisky-voiced interpretation that culminated chillingly, with the singer winding her blouse over her head like a shroud. And Miss Midler’s punchy rendition of the Rolling Stones‘ ”Beast of Burden” transformed a flippant pledge of male loyalty into a reflection on the amorous difficulties facing a female rock star.

The strength of Miss Midler’s singing threw her comedy routines into brilliant relief. In one number, she and her backup trio, the Harlettes, performed an uproarious ”disco review” as mermaids in wheelchairs. Miss Midler’s patter had its usual quotient of cuttingly candid remarks and smutty jokes, but her delivery didn’t evince the same desperate desire to amuse that sometimes characterized her work in the past. Even her riskiest material was delivered with a new air of dignity. This firm sense of emotional control gave the evening a shape and purpose that her earlier revues have lacked. For the first time on a New York stage, Miss Midler’s vaudeville and rock aspirations coincided happily and with total confidence.

Mister D: The first minute is without sound…sorry!