The History or Story Behind This Site
'The Dynamic Duo in Derbyshire' (Bernard and Ernest)have dedicated this Web Site to their friend Lon Cross, who comes from Minneapolis, in the United States of America. He will be supplying material for the site, over the coming months.

Other things we hope to include:
Our About page is also a great place to give information about others involved with our sites topics, such as News Stories, clubs, people in the news, visitors, stars touring the United Kingdom, and so forth.

SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY
More Memories from Lon Cross

My trip had begun three days earlier, at a wedding on Catalina Island, off the coast from Long Beach. The celeb buzz on the island was that Barbra Streisand, and husband James Brolin were there for the weekend - but I didn't see them.

My memories were not with Barbra, but with Natalie Wood. It was here at Avalon Bay, where she honeymooned with Robert Wagner the first time they married. And it was off the coast of Two Harbors, Catalina, where she drowned on November 29th. 1981. By then she had remarried her first love, Wagner, and they were spending Thanksgiving Weekend, on their yacht 'Splendor', with actor Christopher Walkden, her co-star in 'Brainstorm', the sci-fi movie they were making at the time.

Sadly, Natalie's body was found in the black waters off Catalina, after a night of dining at Doug's Harbor Reef and Saloon, and partying aboard the 'Splendor'. It was a sad moment for me, marring an otherwise carefree visit to this lovely island.

One of the major attractions at Catalina, is the Casino at Avalon Bay. When the islands original owner Mr. Wrigley, (of chewing gum fame), had the Casino built in the 1920s; he hired only the best master craftsmen and artists, to create a ballroom, and movie theatre, regarded as among the world's most beautiful. Both have been restored to their original beauty.

The Avalon Theatre opened in 1929, showing silent movies. As you approach the theatre, you first notice the huge murals of mermaids and sea creatures, that surround the entrance. You walk into a lobby panelled in stunning black walnut, it's red ceiling brushed with leaves from nearby eucalyptus trees, giving it a breathtakingly unique effect.

Inside the auditorium, there is a gorgeous mural panel curtain, within the decorative proscenium that is slowly rising to reveal a hugh movie screen. It's immense pipe-organ is one of only three in existence. Then you look up at a ceiling that is alive with twinkling stars, I could just imagine watching 'Coney Island', 'Weekend in Havana', and 'The Dolly Sister's, in this masterpiece of a theatre.

Upstairs is the largest round ballroom in the world. Wrigley brought in big bands to play for the movie stars, and the High Society set every night. Jimmy Dorsey, Stan Kenton, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, and Harry James, to name a few. Kay Kyser set the record for the most dancers on the floor at one time--6,200 people !

Downstairs, the Casino is awash with huge photo's of stars, and the movies they made on, and around the island - from1929 to the 1950s. and beyond - Wallace Berry and Charles Farrell, filming 'Old Ironsides' (1929), Gable and Laughton in 'Mutiny on the Bounty' (1935); Orson Welles and Delores Del Rio fishing for marlin in the 1940s. Laurel and Hardy, who spent many happy times on the island with their families - and golfing at the Catalina Country Club.

So where are the gaming rooms? Back in those days Casino meant place of entertainment'. It wasn't until Las Vegas adopted the word in 1947, that it came to mean gambling. So no gambling is allowed in Mr. Wrigley's Catalina Casino !

Copyright Lon Cross 2002


THE DISNEY COMPANY AND COPYRIGHT:

The US Supreme Court has shocked Hollywood by agreeing to review laws that protect the copyright of Mickey Mouse and thousands of other works.

In a surprise decision, the court has said it will examine the legality of the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Act - named after the late singer and Congressman - which added 20 years to all existing copyrights. US justices have agreed to hear a case brought by Eric Eldred, a web publisher who has challenged the law as unconstitutional, claiming it violates the First Amendment. "We figure that Thomas Jefferson had it right when he insisted that the US constitution, which provides for the existence of copyright amongst other things, said it had to be for a limited time," Jonathan Zittrain, one of Mr Eldred's lawyers, told the BBC's World Business Report. "He (Jefferson) was worried people would keep extending the term and that's exactly what is happening right now and we figure the constitution has protected against." US Solicitor General Theodore Olson, arguing for the government, supports the law and in a brief said it does not conflict with any legal precedents.

Mickey Mouse case
A reversal by the court of the law would free up thousands of copyrighted works, including early films, by making them public domain. "The magic of the public domain as a concept is that after a certain period of time, certain kinds of works are for all time completely free to use or misuse," said Mr Zittrain. There is a lot at stake for companies like Disney, which backed the original legislation and whose exclusive rights to Mickey Mouse expire in 2003. "(Disney's) worry is vastly overblown. They'll still have trademark over Mickey Mouse, and that trademark lasts as long as Disney and the Magic Kingdom do," said Mr Zittrain.

Overstepped
"Even if we win, people could not start opening competing amusement parks with Mickey Mouse as the mascot, that's protected by trademark," he said. "It does mean that works Disney created decades and decades ago, do become free and ... they can't milk the old stuff for ever." Mr Eldred, founder of Eldritch Press, publishes old works, like Henry James novels, and makes them available to the world at large in HTML format. He claims that, in approving the Sonny Bono Act, Congress overstepped the constitution's "plain and express intent to restrict the duration of monopolies over speech".

MGM IS UP FOR SALE!
(YOU GOT SOME BILLIONS TO SPARE?)

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is up for sale with an asking price of billion, according to published reports.

Citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, the Los Angeles Times reported recently, that financier Kirk Kerkorian is looking to sell the venerable studio in a tax-free stock swap that would allow him to retain a stake in the company.

Officials at Santa Monica, Calif.-based MGM, which has a total stock value of billion, said no deal was pending. "As we have stated numerous times over the past two years, we have been regularly
evaluating business combination opportunities. No agreements regarding a transaction have been reached and there can be no assurance that the company will decide to enter into any transactions," the company said in a statement. "We will have no further comment unless and until it is appropriate."
Shares of MGM rose .39 to .27, a 12 percent jump. MGM has hired investment banker Goldman Sachs to handle the deal, the report said. Bids are due back at Goldman Sachs this week. Goldman Sachs also declined to comment.

The company has held talks with Sony Corp.'s film division and privately held DreamWorks SKG, the Times said. DreamWorks officials denied a deal was imminent. Sony spokeswoman Susan Tick said the company had spoken to MGM several weeks ago
about a possible combination. "But there was nothing there," she said.

In addition, all the other major entertainment companies are said to be potential
buyers, including AOL Time Warner , Walt Disney Co. , News Corp. , Vivendi Universal
and Viacom Inc. Viacom is an investor in MarketWatch.com, the publisher of this
report.

MGM's greatest asset is considered to be its 4,100-title library, which includes the James Bond and Pink Panther films, plus a slew of Oscar-winning movies such as "Rocky," "Silence Of The Lambs" and "Rain Man."

Analysts say the library generates more than million in cash flow per year. Some believe that MGM is not realizing the library's full potential because of its limited distribution outlets. MGM recently invested in several cable channels but
some analysts believe that's not enough to squeeze every penny out of the library.

"There is value there that's not being realized," said Vinton Vickers, analyst with J.P. Morgan. "They have a great film library."

In a note released recently, Salomon Smith Barney analyst Jill Krutick said the company's library can be particularly valuable now that DVDs are beginning to take off in the marketplace. It also will be particularly valuable as media firms look to
start up video-on-demand services.

"This scarce asset would be attractive to the diversified entertainment companies, though with MGM trading at the highest multiple in our group, price may be an issue," Krutick wrote.

If a buyer is looking for a film library, it might leave AOL Time Warner out of the mix. AOL already has a vast collection, including some titles made by MGM such as "Gone With The Wind," acquired in the mid-1980s by Ted Turner. Turner later sold his
operations to what became AOL.

News Corp.'s library also is fairly extensive from its Fox film operations. Vivendi recently purchased USA Networks and Chairman Jean-Marie Messier said the company iS not making any major acquisitions for at least a year.

Viacom, however, might be on the lookout. And Disney's live-action collection of films is said to be wanting. MGM and Disney have a deal to show James Bond films on the network in coming weeks.

Trouble is, Disney is still trying to convince Wall Street that it didn't overpay for Fox Family Worldwide last year when it bought the operations for .2 billion. Jeff Logsdon, analyst for Gerard Klauer Mattison, said that isn't necessarily a
deterrent.

"It's all a matter of what currency you use," Logsdon said. "I wouldn't be surprised if this was an equity-swap deal." MGM has talked of merging with a bigger player in the past, Logsdon said.

The company also has had designs on becoming a large independent entertainment conglomerate on its own but has moved slowly in that direction.

MGM and its United Artists subsidiary were scheduled to release as many as 21 films in 2001, but that was scaled back by nearly half as movie release schedules became increasingly crowded. MGM ended up putting out 12 films and didn't make a serious challenge against larger studios in key release dates. Most of its films were put out
during traditionally slow periods.

MGM last year purchased a 20 percent stake in four Rainbow Media channels: American Movie Classics, Bravo, Independent Film Channel and Women's Entertainment. MGM Chairman and Chief Executive Alex Yemenidjian later said he wanted to own the
channels outright in order to help with the company's growth plans.

MGM also has a deal to distribute NBC programming outside North America. Vickers said NBC might be a potential buyer as well, considering it is probably looking for more content to run on its network and various cable channels. NBC is owned by
General Electric Co.

Other content-hungry suitors could be Comcast Corp. or even EchoStar Communications, Vickers said. The company recently forged a deal with Vivendi, giving the company a slice of its operations and its own channels to broadcast content.

It is unclear whether Kerkorian can get the reported asking price, analysts say. While it is inflated well beyond MGM's current market cap, it won't be that far out of range from the company's projected cash flow in coming years.

"Kirk can certainly be patient here," Vickers said. "He doesn't have to sell."

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