CHECKERED FLAGS
I couldn’t be happier for actress Ashley Judd today. Her husband, racecar driver Dario Franchitti (also known in the tabloids as Mr. Ashley Judd) won the 91st edition of the Indy 500 yesterday. Judd was there cheering him on the entire time, but the moment that remains with me is the shot of her soaking wet in her flowery summer dress hurling herself over the pit wall and dashing towards her dear hubby.
The couple has been married for six years now, though I still don’t understand how they ended up together. They seem like such an unlikely pair. He is a Scottish-born racecar driver who feels the need for speed and she is a down-home Kentucky girl with an entertainment pedigree who enjoys life in the slow lane. Whatever it is that they share it must be pretty powerful because after Franchitti won the race Judd clung to him like Saran Wrap. You have to love the displays of affections from a proud spouse.
CHECKERED PASTS
It’s being called one of the greatest personal auctions in music history… and it involves a family of singers with checkered pasts (one in particular). Yesterday auction workers began displaying dozens of glittery suits and platinum records for what is being touted as the largest auction of Jackson family memorabilia ever.
More than 1,100 lots including rhinestone-studded costumes, faded documents and other mementoes from the Jackson family will be up for bid later this week. According to auction experts, the items are expected to fetch millions of dollars from bidders from around the globe.
“This really is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence,” the president of the auction house Guernsey’s told reporters. “I cannot imagine that somewhere down the road some other collection could come out of the woodwork and rival this. It’s not going to happen.”
Among the items that are predicted to bring in the highest bids are a Bill Whitten-designed militaristic red coat with gold rope that belonged to Michael Jackson, and a 1987 contract detailing his $30 million purchase of the California ranch that became the infamous “Neverland.” Also up for sale are a frilly pink “Mae West” dress worn by a young Janet Jackson during family performances at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 1974 and a faded telegram from July 6, 1984, in which Marlon Brando encourages Michael Jackson before a show.
I have a feeling that regardless of the reported drug use, allegations of sexual misconduct, and forgery that have been leveled against various members of the Jackson family over the years, the chance to own a piece of music history may outweigh any stigma attached to the goods.
What do you think?