THE NAME GAME

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Melissa Joan Hart reveals son Mason is dating a girl named Sabrina

“The other day at prom, I was trying to get her attention and calling out, ‘Sabrina!’ People must have thought I was insane,” the “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” star explained.

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TV station duped into reporting Mossad agent ‘Eli Copter’ was pilot on doomed Iranian prez Raisi’s flight

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The billionaire owner of the Chicago Cubs is on a mission to rename a small Wyoming town where he plans to build a 56-acre high-end resort to the criticism and ire of the locals.

Joe Ricketts, the TD Ameritrade founder and patriarch of his family that purchased the MLB team in 2009, hopes to change Bondurant, Wyoming to Little Jackson Hole.

Ricketts, 82, has been on a recent push to build a 56-acre high-end resort on his 1,300-acre Jackson Fork Ranch property, according to the Cowboy State Daily.

Homestead Resort, the proposed name for Ricketts’ retreat, was described as a “premium resort experience with a mission-driven focus on protecting, preserving and enjoying the natural beauty of the Hoback region,” the newspaper reported.

During a dinner several years ago, the former stockbroker chairman pitched his idea to rename the small town Little Jackson Hole as an homage to Davey Jackson, an American pioneer and explorer with several locations in the valley named after him.

The seven-course meal where Ricketts first floated the idea included “swag bags” for all guests.

The billionaire released a study where he wanted to examine the location name “JacksonLittle Hole” along with other variants including Little Jackson Hole.

“It also was to provide authoritative documentation of the usage of ‘Jackson’s Little Hole’ within the geographical area known today as Bondurant, Wyoming,” the study said.

Bondurant had a population of 152, according to a 2022 census.

The research found Jackson had two favorite hunting spots in the valley – Jackson’s (Big) Hole and Jackson’s Little Hole.

Jackson Hole is known for its upscale ski resorts, campgrounds and picturesque views — bordered by the jagged peaks of the Tetons.

Ricketts believes the name change would make the area more marketable, based on name recognition for those who already travel to the area.

The suggestion irked some citizens of the small town, which sits in Sublette County, 40 miles southeast of Grand Teton National Park, who are angered by Rickett’s proposal for a tourist destination in the community.

“About 75% of the people all got up and left the dinner right then,” Pat Burroughs said. “They left the gift bags on the table and just walked out.”

“We are Bondurant,” she said firmly. “This is the Upper Hoback.”

Burroughs added that the change from Bondurant could bring confusion for delivery services.

“One gentleman even had trouble getting his medication,” the furious resident said. “He kept telling them he lives in Bondurant, but they were looking for someone in Little Jackson Hole.”

“It’s totally infuriating,” Burroughs said.

Richard Pearson, who claims to be the oldest lifelong resident of the Hoback Basin Valley, said the privacy of the community will vanish.

“I hate to see the change that this is going to bring to the private people who live in this valley,” Pearson told the newspaper. “You know, it’s going to be a completely different world in a few years once this, once everything gets going.”

Pearson complained that Ricketts had been buying several lands to add to his power to get the name change.

“He’s bought several places around here,” Pearson said. “It’s just like a cancer. He’s just sucking everything up. Anything that becomes available, he’s buying it.”

Apart from his Jackson Fork Ranch property, Ricketts recently purchased the White Pine Ski and Summer Resort, a 363-acre resort near Pinedale, 54 miles from Bondurant.

Last month he finalized a deal to buy the High Country Suites in Pinedale, according to the Cowboy State Daily.

Ricketts had said he wanted to ensure White Pine remains a “strong part of the community, and continues the tradition of serving local residents.” the newspaper reported.

https://nypost.com/2024/06/08/us-news/billionaire-chicago-cubs-owner-joe-ricketts-facing-backlash-for-trying-to-rename-wyoming-town/

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Milwaukee's newest player was born to be a Brewer.

The Brewers recalled outfielder Brewer Hicklen from Triple-A Nashville before their game Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds. This marks the first time in franchise history that the Brewers' roster has included a player named Brewer.

Hicklen was in the Brewers' starting lineup batting fifth and playing right field Sunday as he made his first major league appearance since 2022. Hicklen played in six games and made four plate appearances that season with the Kansas City Royals, who selected him out of UAB in the seventh round of the 2017 amateur draft.

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Michael Keaton, who was born Michael John Douglas, revealed in a new interview with People that he wants to start going by Michael Keaton Douglas after coming up with a stage name over 50 years ago.

The “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” star said he had plans to begin the professional name change while he was directing and starring in the 2023 film “Knox Goes Away,” but he “forgot” to make it official.

I wonder if that means he is going to change his birthday to the one shared by Michael Douglas, his wife, and Barbara Walters.

Edited September 6, 2024 by samhexum
Because why the hell not?

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The Cubs have signed veteran catcher Carlos Pérez to a minor league deal, according to the transactions tracker on Pérez’s MLB.com profile page. 

Pérez, 34, should not be confused with his younger brother and fellow catcher Carlos Pérez. 

Wilmer Flores' younger brother is a pitcher named Wilmer Flores.

Rougned Odor's brother is named Rougned Odor.

I don’t understand how you’re supposed to yell at the right kid if you’re Latino and fertile…

 

 

 

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• The Lawrence brothers — Matthew, Joey and Andrew — took the stage at 90s Con on Friday, March 28, at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Conn.

  In the panel moderated by PEOPLE’s Dory Jackson, the trio opened up about how they got their last name — and why they wish they could change it back.

  “It was my middle name,” Joey, whose full legal name is Joseph Lawrence Mignogna, explained. “So I was named after our dad, and our grandfather on our dad’s side.” Joey, 48, said that in the early ’80s, when he began acting, he was told, “No one can pronounce Mignogna. That’s not a name people will say.”

  “Today, things like that are celebrated,” he said. “In the ’80s, it was like, ‘We’re going to need to water this down. There are silent Gs.’ ”

  They decided to use his middle name, Lawrence, as his last name, and when Matthew, 45, and Andrew, 37, followed him into show business, it “just made sense” for them to use it too.

  Matthew pointed out that there was a benefit to this, as it gave the child stars some privacy in their off-screen lives. “There was an insulation factor,” he said. “Some people might check in old school ways, but it would be very, very hard to find us. That was a great thing.”

  However, he said, “Now I’m just stuck with two different names and I can’t travel internationally.”

  All three brothers agreed that they wish they could go back to their original name. “It would have made it easier,” Andrew said. “It’s really a pain in the butt, honestly, like having two names. You have to prove you’re both people.”

  Matthew added, “Even for a while there the government only recognized me as Matt Lawrence because I paid taxes from the time I was a toddler to 18 as Matt Lawrence.

  “But really my name is Matthew William Mignogna,” he explained. “So when I grew up and used my real name on my passport, there was absolutely no correlation. I didn’t exist.”

  The brothers starred as the fictional Roman siblings in the sitcom Brotherly Love together from 1995 to 1997. The series also starred Liz Vassey and Melinda Culea.

  Related: Matthew Lawrence Says Ryan Reynolds Has Matured in Years Since the Star ‘Really Upset’ Producers of Their 1998 Movie Boltneck

  Joey found further success in the early ‘90s with a starring role on Blossom. He also voiced Oliver in Disney’s Oliver & Company. Matthew received attention for his role in 1993’s Mrs. Doubtfire and his part as Jack Hunter, the brother of Rider Strong’s Shawn Hunter, on Boy Meets World. Andrew broke through with his role on Brotherly Love and also voiced T.J. Detweiler in the beloved cartoon Recess.

  In 2023, the brothers launched a podcast, also called Brotherly Love, on which they talk about their lives, careers and other pop culture topics. Andrew told Entertainment Tonight in 2023, “[The reason] why I was so excited about this podcast is because it was an excuse for me to sit around a table and talk with my brothers and get to hang out with them. It’s something I really enjoy in life.”

  

  

 

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Mariska Hargitay is opening up about a family secret she’s kept for more than 30 years.

At the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, May 13, the Law & Order: SVU actress, 61, revealed with the premiere of her documentary My Mom Jayne that her biological father is not Mickey Hargitay, the man who raised her and was castrated in an early episode of SVU, but rather a former Las Vegas entertainer named Nelson Sardelli.

As Mariska explains in the documentary — which marks her feature film directorial debut — she first learned of Sardelli when she was 25. She confronted Hargitay, the only father she’d ever known, with the news, and after he insisted he was her father, the two never spoke of it again.

But it left Mariska with many questions, wondering if she was Hungarian like her father and her brothers, Zoltan and Mickey Jr., or if she was really Italian like Sardelli.

The actress opened up further about the revelation about her father in an interview with Vanity Fair. She told the outlet that she went to see Sardelli perform in Atlantic City, N.J., when she was 30 years old, and described his emotional reaction when she introduced herself.

Moved to tears, he said, “I’ve been waiting 30 years for this moment.”

But Mariska said she found herself giving him a tough time and going “full Olivia Benson on him,” referring to her SVU character.

“I was like, ‘I don’t want anything, I don’t need anything from you.… I have a dad, ‘ ” she recalled telling him, explaining, “There was something about loyalty. I wanted to be loyal to Mickey.”

She told Vanity Fair that after the momentous meeting with Sardelli, she grappled with “knowing I’m living a lie my entire life.”

Sardelli, who is still alive and now in his late eighties, participates in the documentary, as do his other two daughters — Mariska’s half sisters.

In the film, Mariska explains that, at 61 years old, keeping this a secret was no longer necessary.

Mariska also has an older sister, Jayne Marie Mansfield, from her mother’s first marriage, as well as a younger brother, Tony Cimber, from her mother’s third marriage, both of whom are also featured in My Mom Jayne.

The actress told Vanity Fair that once she eventually built a bond with Sardelli and his daughters, she better understood that her mother returned to Mickey because she knew he would love and provide a stable home life for Mariska.

“I grew up where I was supposed to, and I do know that everyone made the best choice for me,” she said. “I’m Mickey Hargitay’s daughter — that is not a lie.”

“This documentary is kind of a love letter to him, because there’s no one that I was closer to on this planet,” she noted.

Mariska told Vanity Fair that she and her Sardelli sisters gathered together for a private screening of the documentary in Las Vegas, and recalled how they were overcome with emotion.

“They just wept and wept and wept,” she said. “These two women that I love so much — I made them secrets! It’s so heartbreaking to me.”

For Mariska, sharing her story with the world in the documentary was a way to “unburden all of us.”

Following the film’s premiere screening at Cannes on Saturday, the audience gave a five-minute standing ovation. Mariska was joined at the event by her husband, Peter Hermann, and three kids.