Hi everyone,

When you have a few minutes, please click on the graphic below to see my friend Mark Wirtz’s brand-new comedy video on Famecast (it was taped at Sidesplitters Comedy Club in Tampa - and I was THERE!). Thanks to many of you, Mark has made the Top Five round in the Famecast Comedy Contest. Voting has now begun for this round, so please take a few moments to cast your vote for Mark.

You can vote for Mark once a day, so please do so daily - WITH YOUR HELP, HE WILL WIN!!!

Thanks a million,
Laura

Please Vote and Re-Post

Mad Mark Wirtz is in 2nd place this morning and has got through to the final 5




Click here to view the new video and vote

Hello friends,

If you’re in the mood for a bit of comedy, please click on the graphic below to view the Famecast page for multitalented funnyman Mark Wirtz.  Mark is a renowned music producer, arranger, composer, singer, author, artist, and stand-up comedian (whew!) who is best known as the creator of the Teenage Opera concept in the UK - in the 1960’s when Keith West had a hit with the Wirtz-produced "Excerpt From a Teenage Opera" (aka "Grocer Jack," which Mark also cowrote with Keith) - as well as the cool "A Touch of Velvet, A Sting of Brass."  Chances are you’re familiar with Mark’s work even if you don’t know his name.  Since shifting his focus from music to comedy, Mark has been appearing regularly at comedy clubs in Georgia, Florida, and beyond.  His style is dry, edgy, British - and very funny!

Please click on Mark’s picture below to visit his entry page on Famecast.  While you’re there, please vote for Mark in the competition.  Registration on the site is fast, free and easy (like Mark!); it takes just a few minutes to do so and, after you’ve registered, you can remain signed in to the site and vote once a day.

VOTING FOR THE CURRENT ROUND ENDS at 12:00 p.m. (NOON) on Friday, March 28, 2008.  Please vote for Mark every day to get him to the next round!

Warning: Adult content (language)

SHORTCUT - If you are already a Famecast member and stay logged in to the site on your computer, you can CLICK HERE to quickly vote for Mark without accessing his page!

Thanks so much for checking out Mark’s page and voting for him.  Mark is a dear friend of mine and one of the funniest people I know - if not THE funniest.  I would love to see him go "all the way" with the Famecast Comedy Competition, so any and all votes will be much appreciated.  If you like what you see, please feel free to pass the link on to your friends as well.

Enjoy,
Laura

Mark’s MySpace pages:
Comedy
Music

This is one of the most charming tunes I've ever heard.  Melancholy yet beautiful ... splendid, and so profoundly artistic, it takes me back to a simpler time and place.  "Grocer Jack" was a huge hit in the UK in 1967.  Sung by Keith West (Tomorrow), written and produced by Mark Wirtz.  (Hard to believe that Mark was just 23 or 24 when he created this masterpiece.)  Do check out Mark's pages on MySpace - the Mark Wirtz Music Page (Dreamtunes) and the Mad Markie Wirtz Comedy Page.  Hugely talented guy - and a wonderful friend as well.

Laura

Hi everyone,

Those of you who know me personally are aware that I'm not usually in the habit of posting anything related to making easy money, because in most cases there's no such thing.  However, I just had to share this with my friends on MySpace, because it's such a cool concept.  Please take a look at a special page I've just put up on my personal website - it explains, briefly, about a new social networking site (similar to MySpace) that pays its users.  It's free to join and you get paid based on page views for yourself and for those who join under you.  I've only been a member for a short time, but I'm having fun playing around with it and building my profile which is going to complement my pages here.  I do hope you'll check it out.  When you get to the webpage I've linked above, please click on the graphic to learn more about the site; and, if you join, please do so through that page.

Thanks for reading this!

Laura

The world has lost one of the greatest tenors of the 20th century.

Luciano Pavarotti
12 October 1935 - 06 September 2007

My former husband, Charlie, who himself had been an aspiring opera singer at one time before family obligations took him away from the musical career he loved, was a huge fan of Mr. Pavarotti's, and we had the pleasure of seeing the great man perform in person several times.  I still have the records, CDs and videos that Charlie left behind when he moved out of state to live closer to his sister.  We'd been planning for me to ship these items to him at a later date, but that day never came; Charlie passed away in April of 2006.  Now the singer he idolized in life has come to join him on The Other Side.  I know that Charlie and Luciano are both singing joyously with the angels.

Mr. Pavarotti, thank you for sharing your golden voice with the world.  You will be missed.

Laura

(below) "Nessun Dorma," Paris 1998

Here's a wonderful video from 1970 - the late Bobby Bloom singing his hit song, "Montego Bay."  According to the YouTube description, this clip is from the TV show Something Else.

Enjoy,
Laura