Take Two: From the war to Fifth Avenue, media hype

From the war to Fifth Avenue

I'm not much of a celebrity watcher when they're out in public, but we made an exception the other night at Vergina restaurant in Naples.

Photo by CHRIS CURLE, Marco Eagle

Actor Gary Sinise chats with restaurateur Lou Vlasho at Vergina on 5th Avenue.

We went out to dinner with old friends, radio talk-show hosts Neal Boortz and Dave Elliott, of 98.9 FM, and Lou Vlasho, vice president of Rimaco, the company that owns Vergina in Naples and Marco. We realized that the familiar-looking man at the next table to ours was actor Gary Sinise.

He's a good actor, of course — "CSI New York," "Apollo 13," "Forrest Gump" to name a few starring roles — but Sinise is also one of those special showbiz people who helps entertain the troops in war zones.

That night, as we thanked him for his service to the military, he had just returned from entertaining troops in Afghanistan. He had also been in Iraq.

Sinise founded "Operation Iraqi Children," an effort to help the kids who Sinise says, "are the future of Iraq."

As he told NewsMax magazine, "So many in that part of the world have been raised to think bad things about Americans or about Western culture."

Sinise is doing his part and more to help change that.

Ex-Islanders endure fires and media hype out West

Long-time Marco residents Fred and Joy Shinn have had a brush with the wildfires near Sedona, Ariz. The Shinns moved from Marco to Sedona more than a year ago and have become as active in that beautiful community as they were on the island.

Submitted photo

Ex-Marco-ites Fred and Joy Shinn overlook their new hometown of Sedona, Ariz.

So, it was no surprise that Fred has spent long days, 10 to 15 hours at a time some days, during the threatening fires in Oak Creek Canyon, helping police with traffic routing, manning checkpoints, etc.

Fred is not pleased with the overall media coverage of the Sedona fires.

"Talk about overhype and journalistic hysteria," Fred writes in an e-mail.

"The fires never came near 500 homes (as media reports stated) and this is what makes so many people doubt the authenticity of the news media," Fred says.

The Shinns' fabulous home amid the red rocks of Sedona has not been threatened or harmed by the drought-driven fires.

Calendar crisis redux

I recently wrote in my Naples Daily News column about receiving a printed 2006 calendar in the mail from a charitable organization, on which days of the month of December were wrong. Christmas landed on a Friday instead of a Monday.

I was amazed, having never seen a commercially printed calendar before with such a mistake.

At least one other islander, however, had a similar experience, explained in this note to me:

"I had a similar 2004 calendar experience with a large desktop calendar from (bleep) Title Co. of Marco. (Shouldn't I be able to trust my title company?)

"My first clue that something was wrong was that Independence Day was on the 2nd of July.

"Of course, being raised in the Midwest, I couldn't call and tell them their free calendar was incorrect — I just changed the dates in red marker.

"I'm glad you took care of your calendar crisis. Merry Christmas."

Has anybody else had a calendar "crisis"? If so, share it with us at don@donfarmer.com.

This just in: stupid stuff from TV news

Some of the dumbest things on TV news are uttered by clueless anchor people reading silly copy. Worst, usually, are the "teases," catchy headlines before a commercial break designed to keep us watching. Here are a couple of silly or sad examples of TV tease overkill:

• On Fox News at 12:20 p.m. aired June 10, anchor Megyn Kendall said: "We'll bring you shocking new details that will leave you stunned."

Twenty-five minutes later, Kendall read this tease:

"Just when you thought it was safe to go outside ... " She referred to the approach of tropical storm Alberto.

What's next? Maybe a tease for a story on high gas prices such as, "Just when you though it was safe to start your car."

My all-time personal favorite, an anchorman, not on Fox News, once urged viewers to stay tuned for a story about "a tragedy of tragic proportions."

Good deed at the Naples Zoo

Active duty and retired military personnel get free admission to the Zoo in Naples through July 4. Their families or friends get discounts. For details call the zoo at 262-5409.

I hear Angelina and Brad had a baby

I don't understand the fascination with the baby born of two actors, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Millions are paying $4 each for the magazine with the baby's pictures in it. What's wrong with those people?

Let's hope that movie star worshippers who swoon over the "Brangelina" child never have any of their own.