Go Israel!!!

my mid-east trip was real good. exhausting but worth the time and effort. still weakened from my cancer treatments there were difficult moments. but to arrive in israel and spend time there was worth any effort i may have needed to muster up. it was this year in jerusalem. always israel!

starting soon...real soon...this site will have 'may be only suitable for adults' disclaimer which you will need to accept to enter. the times they are a changing' here. i do this so as not to offend anyone. i do not know what offends anyone. i only know what offends me. like republicans. they offend me. i would like to be warned when entering a republican site. prepare myself for their pornography of thoughts and words. i'd say ideas but i have no time for time traveling back centuries. 

'Funny You Don't Look Jewish'

Hebrew Mamita

'Scandal' Premiers Tonight on ABC

i've always liked kerry washington so i'm giving this new shondra rhimes series a go....

Keith Explains It to Dave

Ali MacGraw Turns 73: WTF!

hey i know we are all getting older but...ali turned 73 this past sunday. i thought it was an april fool thing. it wasn't. so happy belated birthday ali.

Kate Winslet says luck helped land 'Titanic' role

Kate Winslet would like to use the occasion of Titanic's re-release Wednesday — an event she welcomes even though she says it's "profoundly weird" — to clarify some of the lore about the 1997 blockbuster that has trailed her like a wayward dinghy.

• 

  By Alastair Grant, AP

  Kate Winslet says she and Leonardo DiCaprio became close during the filming of 'Titanic,' and remain close friends.

Enlarge

By Alastair Grant, AP

Kate Winslet says she and Leonardo DiCaprio became close during the filming of 'Titanic,' and remain close friends.

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She did not stalk director James Cameron to win the part of Rose, the defiant teen bride-to-be who found true love aboard the doomed ship with Leonardo DiCaprio's scruffy artist, Jack.

Articles that appeared when the epic romance originally opened described the British actress as having waged an aggressive campaign, flooding the filmmaker with phone calls and letters until he relented.

• INTERACTIVE: Four actors return to 'Titanic'

Not so, she says from London, where the 3-D version had its premiere last week.

"I wouldn't do that," Winslet, 36, insists. "It's not my style."

She does, however, own up to sending Cameron a bouquet of roses with a note signed "From Your Rose" three days after her audition in Los Angeles. "Jim took a risk in casting me," she says. "A lot of my contemporaries —Uma Thurman, Gwyneth Paltrow,Winona Ryder— were much more likely candidates. I got lucky."

Meanwhile, Cameron feels he was the lucky one to have found the perfect Rose.

"Kate had a powerful intelligence and strength of personality," he says. "And a vulnerability. People have a glossy memory about the film, but her character is at the brink of suicide at one point. I knew whoever I cast would have to carry the movie on her shoulders, although Kate did feel a bit lost and overwhelmed by the magnitude."

Winslet also brushes aside any disparaging remarks she made about Cameron's temperament during the grueling shoot.

"A lot of it was blown out of proportion," she says. "Jim Cameron is a feisty man and a perfectionist but also absolutely brilliant. I'm not going to pretend it was easy for any of us. The reality is, nothing has been harder since then. It was an extreme version of moviemaking."

Still, she is delighted to relive the experience again on the big screen, seeing it for only the third time: "I saw it twice 15 years ago. I don't own copies of my own movies." Fans will be glad to hear that she and DiCaprio, 37, have stayed close, even though his work on Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained kept him from joining her in London.

"That is the only reason for him not being here — and not being here for me," Winslet says. "We really do talk a lot on the phone about life, love and work. I can't imagine not having that."

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

Posted 9h 40m ago | Updated 9h 17m ago

More from USATODAY

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Are We Ready to Go Back to 'Titanic'?

well now is the time to decide. 'titanic 3d' starts it's run today in theaters everywhere. it will be good to see it back on the big screen again. but is the 3d really necessary? i mean did we miss it the first time around? well it is kate. and leo. and yes i'll be there and let you know as soon as....

trailer not in 3d

kate at the london reopening

Jennifer Lopez's 'Dance Again' is Damn Good

j lo has a new dance release that caught my attention and got me to resurrect a few of my best dance moves. i like it!

Sometimes 'Smash' Gets It Right

especially if they use katharine mcphee properly. when they give her the spotlight. perhaps now that megan hilty's character may be replaced as 'marilyn' and that the show's creator is OUT they can concentrate on the real talent. MCPHEE!!!

MCPHEE

'touch me'

'brighter than the sun'

it was obvious in ep.1 who the STAR was when they both asked us to 'let me be your star'

her costar megan hilty just does not make the cut. trying to embody marilyn monroe she lacks warmth. she does have a voice but her acting chops leave everything to be desired. she tries to be sexual something marilyn monroe did not have to try to be. she was sexuality personified. and monroe had an abundance of warmth and charm. and much like anne hathaway ms. hilty has as much charm as a meat clever.

if this show is going to make it they had best rethink some of their choices. the ellis character has to go. hilt's ivy character needs to go back to the chorus or better yet to a secretarial pool. are there still secretarial pools?

okay then one more from mcphee

'rumour has it'

'Game of Thrones' Season 2 Tonight

one of the best of 2011 returns tonight with season 2. they promise bigger and better. i'm hoping for just as good to be honest. i always worry about over hype.

a 22 minute refresher from hbo

Carpophorus

having just returned from egypt and israel and temples and forums and amphitheaters this seemed to fit the bill.

Moe: 'Girls Gone Wild'

her best since 'sorry'

Keith Is Out on Current TV

Coming Soon

Julian Fellowes's 'Titanic'

the creator of 'Downton Abbey' takes a look at titanic. it will air on abc april 14th and 15th. abc is not showing much faith in it airing it on a saturday night. and i've heard some negatives out of britan.

trailer

Kate Winslet on ‘Titanic’ role: ‘My acting could’ve been a lot better’

Kate revisits 1997 Oscar-winning movie on its 15th anniversary

Kate Winslet considers her role in “Titanic” a bit of a shipwreck.

As the 1997 Oscar-winning Best Picture embarks on a 3D voyage to theaters, Winslet remains critical of her performance in the epic romance that set sail her career in Hollywood.

“My American accent could’ve been much better. My acting could’ve been a lot better,” she said to MTV News.

Nevertheless, Winslet, who co-starred with Leonardo DiCaprio, was nominated for an Oscar for her performance as Rose.

And the film grossed more than $600 million, making it America’s second highest-grossing box-office hit.

The 36-year-old actress has received countless award nominations since her 15-year voyage through Hollywood after the epic romance’s debut on the big screen. She was the youngest person to earn six Academy Award nominations and she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the 2008 film “The Reader.”

Now the story of a ship’s tragic disaster and the famous on-board love story will return to the big screen on April 4. The debut coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s maiden trip from England in April 1912.

“It looks very different. I mean, it’s still as wonderful and as epic as it always was. But it does feel bigger, you know, bigger somehow even than it did then, so it’s very exciting,” she said.

The actress, who was 21 during filming, claims she is content with the way she looks now.

“I think I look nicer now,” she said. “I prefer myself as a 36-year-old. It's really weird ’cause when you’re 21, you think, ‘Oh God, when I’m 36, oh God, that’s nearly 40 and I'll look really old and wrinkly by then.’ And actually I quite like the way I look. I feel okay about myself these days.”



(courtesy new york daily news and taylorv hom)

Kate Winslet: London Premiere 'Titanic 3D' at Royal Albert Hall 3/27/12

Sneak Preview: 'Dark Shadows' May 11

On Vacation

during my cancer treatment i decided if i survived it i was going to treat myself to a vacation. i survived the treatment. whether or not i survived the cancer is not quite certain yet. i am hopeful.

so i am off to egypt and israel for a few weeks. i will not be posting again until the last week in march. i hope i don't lose you along the way.

''Downton'' Collages

i made them. you see them. my current obsession simple!

''Downton Abbey'' Brilliant!

So what was it that drew the largest audience PBS has seen in years to ''Downton Abbey''? Well let's just say EXCELLENCE. It really is that simple. Excellent production, writing, direction, musical scoring and acting. Julian Fellowes conceived and wrote the best thing television has seen in years and has treated us to two seasons thus far. And lucky for us both of these seasons are available on DVD and Blu Ray. Season three will bow in January 2013 here in America and I'm not quite sure how I can wait that long.

The first two seasons covered the years of 1912 through the end of World War 1. It was a crucial time for British Aristocracy as it was unexpectedly turned upside down. As written by Mr. Fellowes we see the tides turn from inside Downton Abbey the home of the Earl and Countess of Grantham and their three daughters the Ladies Crawley. It is the through the eyes and actions of the Ladies Mary, Edith and Sybil that we see the world change for the landed gentry as well as the ''common folk'' who attended their needs. It was not an easy time for Earl and the Countess Crawley or the Dowager Countess Grantham. As portrayed by Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern and the Grande Dame of them all Maggie Smith we see their small and insular world change about them. And as their lives change ''upstairs'' the world of their ''downstairs'' employees no longer stands still in service as their lives and visions also expand.

As happens in most periods of history change begins with the younger generations. Such is the case at Downton. Lady Sybil the youngest daughter is the first to let the winds of change sweep her up as she looks toward modernity for herself, for her servants and for all women. She is a precursor to the suffragette wonderfully portrayed by Jessica Brown Findlay. Lady Edith as portrayed by Laura Carmichael stands to be the daughter who may hold up the old guard. Last but by no means least is Lady Mary Crawley the eldest daughter on whose shoulders the Grantham Estate rests. Good thing she has broad shoulders. As portrayed by a dazzling Michelle Dockery we may rest assured that the Estate will survive and thrive. Ms. Dockery is a wonder whose mix of talent and beauty bequile episode by episode. She is most complimented by Dan Stevens as third cousin Matthew Crawley heir apparent to Grantham.

The cast is large and there is not a weak link in the mix. Most notable amongst the downstairs staff are Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Joanne Froggatt, Elsie Hughes.

The aforementioned Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McCovern shine as the Earl and Countess Crawley But it is the always wonderful Maggie Smith who damn near steals every scene she is in tossing one liners in her own irresistible style. She remains an international treasure.

Season three begins January 2013. Your have the rest of this year to catch up with the goings on at Downton Abbey. I will go out on a limb and say these two seasons are better than any film released in 2011. I add EXCEPTIONAL as well as excellence to define this piece which by no coincidence is shown on Masterpiece Theater. A masterpiece it is.

''Smash'' Just Isn't

a good idea going south. except for 'i want to be your star' the original songs written for the show ''marilyn'' within the show would surely promise closing in boston or oskoch and never see the lights broadway. 

although katharine mcphee shows promise here the other marilyn wanna be megan hilty is a bit too obvious and to be kind not quite pretty. she might work on stage beyond the third row but on camera she just can't shine.

anjelica huston is fun and debra messing rises way above her annoying 'grace' formerly with will. neither will save this i think.

i'm sorry to say that unless something happens fast this is on the bubble that will burst.