Rick Astley dead-probably not

Rick Astley dead?

Doesn't look that way.

Looks more like another stupid and cruel hoax.

A report on iReport says 43-year-old Rick Astley was pronounced dead when his body was found at the Angleterre Hotel in Berlin after an ambulance responded to an emergency call from his hotel room.

It says Astley (pictured on tour in Denmark) was found unconscious in his hotel bedroom and was unable to be resuscitated. He was supposedly pronounced dead on the scene.

Astley was in the middle of a concert tour that would have ended in late August of 2009. He was to return to the United Kingdom at that time.

It should be pointed out that iReport.com is a CNN user-generated site. That means the stories submitted by users are not edited, fact-checked or screened before they post. Only stories marked "On CNN" have been vetted for use in CNN news coverage. This story is not so marked.

Since there are no confirmations yet on this report and the writer is suggested to be Liz Sidoti, who actually is a politics reporter for Associated Press and would not be posting on CNN’s iReport, this has to be a hoax.

In 2007 Rick Astley became the subject of a viral Internet meme in which an estimated 25 million Internet users were tricked into watching Rick Astley’s video “Never Gonna Give You Up” when it was posted under the name of other popular video titles.

The practice is now known as Rickrolling. The phenomenon became so popular that on April 1, 2008, YouTube pranked its users by making every single featured video on the front page a Rickroll.

And now George Clooney has also been reported dead. Just like Jeff Goldblum and Natalie Portman.

All hoaxes started by some seriously mentally deranged dickheads.

Chris Brown reaches plea deal - did he deserve jail?

Chris Brown turned himself in to police and was arrested in February 2009 admitting to domestic violence against his girlfriend, singer Rihanna.

Now the case has come to court in Los Angeles.

The upshot?

He copped a plea and consequently won't do jail time.

Instead he gets five years supervised probation and he'll spend six months doing community service such as cleaning up roads, picking up garbage, pulling weeds and washing fire trucks.

He's also been ordered to stay 50 yards clear of Rihanna and must enroll in a domestic violence counseling program.

The judge said if Brown and Rihanna are at the same public events, the 50-yard stay away turns into 10 yards. The stay away order lasts 5 years.

Rihanna was actually in the courthouse but didn't go into the courtroom until Brown had left. The judge then explained to her what the deal was and how the protective order would work.

So this now makes Chris Brown a convicted felon which means he loses the right to own a gun, sit on a jury, has travel limitations and is subject to search and seizure without a search warrant.

Public reaction was generally that they thought Brown would try to fight the case and try to make himself look presentable.

Others said, considering what he did to her face, he should have served some jail time.

Many people would have liked to see Rihanna speak out on the issue of domestic violence.

The biggest loser in all this has been Chris Brown.

Following his arrest, several of his commercial ads were suspended, his music was withdrawn from many radio stations, and he withdrew from the 2009 Grammy Awards, where he was replaced by Justin Timberlake and Al Green.

Cher's daughter becomes her son

Chastity, daughter of Sonny Bono and Cher,is in the early stages of gender reassignment, that is to say, becoming a man, having started the process earlier this year following his/her 40th birthday.

Here's the full statement from Chaz's (as Chastity now prefers to be known as) representative:

"Yes, it's true -- Chaz, after many years of consideration, has made the courageous decision to honor his true identity. He is proud of his decision and grateful for the support and respect that has already been shown by his loved ones. It is Chaz's hope that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue, just as his 'coming out' did nearly 20 years ago. We ask that the media respect Chaz's privacy during this long process as he will not be doing any interviews at this time."

The medical process has been reported by others who took the same path as being long and painful.

It often follows a lifetime of feeling that one has been born into the wrong body.

That feeling could not have been helped when she was a little girl by the presence and influence of Cher's lesbian friends.
Plus Sonny always longed to have a boy. This was demonstrated many times when Chastity would appear on the Sonny and Cher TV Show dressed as her father.

So now medical technology will be used to make her that boy her dad always wanted.

Too bad he's not around to see it.

Even sadder: Chaz wants to make a realty TV series with cameras videoing each step of the process. The sad part being - will TV viewers really care?

Little House On The Prairie star's husband suicides

News has emerged that the husband of Sidney Greenbush, who shared the role with her identical twin sister Rachel as Carrie Ingalls in "Little House On The Prairie" from 1974 to 1982, has committed suicide.

Willian Rocky Foster was found behind his home with a gunshot wound to his head.

On May 3rd, Sidney had discussed a divorce with Foster. Two days later Foster called the former child star saying he would kill himself.

And he did.Right after he hung up.

Sidney called the Sheriff’s Department, but a family friend found Rocky lying by a corral behind their home with a gunshot wound to the head. Despite efforts to save him, he died at a nearby hospital.

Sidney married Foster, a veterinarian and horse breeder in 2000. The couple lived on a ranch in Visalia, CA.

Sidney has competed in women’s professional rodeo and has been the top-ranked barrel racer on the West Coast. A long-time animal lover, she has an associate’s degree in animal science. She also designs custom jewelry which she sells to her fans.

Rocky was a real cowboy and a neighbor said they were a totally down-to-earth couple.

Kenny Rankin, singer-songwriter,dies from lung cancer

He was difficult to put into a category.

He was a well regarded guitarist, playing on Bob Dylan's influential 1965 album "Bringing It All Back Home."

He wrote "Peaceful" covered by both Helen Reddy and Georgie Fame and used his smooth tenor voice to cover a couple of popular Beatle songs in the mid-70's. Paul McCartney liked what he did so much he asked him to sing his interpretation of "Blackbird" when McCartney was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987.

He wrote songs for Peggy Lee and Mel Torme and released his own "The Kenny Rankin Album" live with a 60 piece orchestra in 1976.(Album cover pictured)

Over several years he opened the show for the comedian George Carlin and appeared on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" 25 times.

He had been planning to record an album of new material with Phil Ramone.

But now Kenny Rankin has died at the age of 69 in Los Angeles after being diagnosed only three weeks ago from lung cancer.

Denny Stilwell, President of Mack Avenue Records, has said in a statement: "That he was still at the top of his game is one of the saddest parts of his passing for me. He performed the new material in our office over the last few months and his voice was still in its finest form. He sounded absolutely amazing. Our hearts and prayers are with his family."

One of Kenny Rankin's major influences was Laura Nyro, the late songwriter whom he met in Greenwich Village in 1960 and wrote such big hits as "Wedding Bell Blues" and "Stoned Soul Picnic."

After recording pop albums for many years, Rankin embraced his love of jazz in the 90s, a move that built him a strong following in the jazz community.

Rankin is survived by his son Chris,daughters Gena and Chandra and a granddaughter.