Welcome to the December Edition of the McCartney.com newsletter.

(created by Martin Nethercutt)

Dear ,

Happy Holidays! We hope that you are getting some much needed rest after a very turbulent year 2009! Recently, we've had reason to celebrate too.

Our very own Matriarch Angie McCartney turned 80 years young a few weeks ago, and we just adopted two new furry additions to the McCartney Clan. Meet Butch (L) and
Sundance (R)... as babies make 4 along with a slightly confused Thelma and Louise.

And if maybe you think all we do over here is party, we are VERY pleased to announce that we are working with 2 very large public companies on some fairly stealth projects which you will hear more about in 2010. But that's what NDA's are for!

Butch	Sundance

Here's what happened...

"Please send everyone my sincere thanks for the outpouring of love and goodwill I received for my 80th birthday on November 14th. Thanks to the stealth planning of Ruth and Martin, I was greeted by exactly 80 guests, lots of Lottery tickets, gifts, cake, chocolate, flowers, Amazon gift vouchers and surprises galore from friends who flew in from New York, Nashville, and Houston.

With my Amazon stash, I bought myself a new iPod Nano (it records great video) and a 10.2 megapixel Kodak camera, so I can contribute to the newsletters as well as my own up-coming book in 2010, which I am co-authoring with Jessica Chrysler. Stay tuned.

For a full rundown of my myriad November activities, please see my blog at: www.mrsmccartneysteas.com, and don't forget to order your Mrs McCartney's Teas for organic holiday gifts!

Then you can also see many video messages on YouTube from people in Sydney, Liverpool, Munich, New York, and even a greeting from former Police Chief William Bratton CBE! The site includes the most incredible 80-year retrospective tribute created by Martin at www.youtube.com/angieturns80.

You all made an old broad very happy.

Oh yes, and I won $123 on the tickets! Nicely done."

As many of you have read in last month's edition, we enjoyed a splendid flight to NYC to celebrate Ruth's and Martin's anniversary, and attend the wedding of Mike Moroney of TBA Global and the lovely Cara Cragan.

Well, the good folks at VA invited us to be part of the inaugural flight to FLL (Fort Lauderdale, FL). We got on board at LAX and were treated like stars. Thanks to William Miller it was VIP all the way! The in-flight service was fantastic and fun. They were even shooting an episode of the new Fly Girls CW reality show on board, so watch out for yours truly.

After a relatively short flight, 4 1/2 hours, we arrived to be greeted by a water canon salute by the Master himself, Sir Richard and the Broward County Fire Department! 

Thanks to all the sponsors, VeeV, Bare Escentuals, Karma and Patron, we arrived refreshed and golden in Florida. The guest services at the W Hotel in Fort Lauderdale were nothing short of amazing and we had a great time! Beautiful rooms with vistas to die for. There was a party by the hotel pool and we even had cheese burgers at 3:00 am. We danced with the cast of Hairspray from the world's largest cruise ship Oasis of the Seas and m sure glad that we took the evening flight back. Thanks to everyone at VA for making us so comfortable and showing us a great time - Branson style!

Check out more pictures on Facebook.
Branson Pictures by Ruth McCartney

Don't be one! Fly One! Ruth, Bill Miller, Angie, Caroline Shacklett and Martin a.k.a. Swifty Bizzarre	Sir Richard Branson
Angie, Virgin America CEO David Cush and Ruth	"Swifty" and The VeeV girls

We were cordially invited by the VP of the Hollywood Foreign Press Hans J. Spürkel to an advance screening of the new Clint Eastwood movie: "Invictus", staring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. What a film! Although I love american football, I am fast becoming a big rugby fan.

This movie shows how sports can change politics and unite people in a very unique way.

The acting is brilliant. Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon are outstanding!

It's very interesting to see how Clint Eastwood weaves the social and political divide of apartheid with the changes facing a new South Africa. If you are planning never to shed a tear at a sports movie, then this film is not for you. Emotionally moving and spellbinding until the end. And yes, they won the 1995 Rugby World Cup!

After the screening we grabbed dinner at the Crustacean Restaurant in Beverly Hills where the Hollywood Foreign Press Corps was treated to Asian cuisine compliments of Warner Bros.

After that we attended a Hollywood Foreign Press reception at Lawrence Bender's House following the release of "Inglourious Basterds ". Among the 200+ guests and celebrities were: Robert Duvall, Quincy Jones, Quentin Tarantino, Sacha Baron Cohen, Judd Apatow, Diane Kruger and all the German stars of Inglourious Basterds. Special thanks to our hot Lawrence bender. See pictures below:

Ruth McCartney and Quincy Jones	"Inglourious Basterds" Hans J. Spürkel, Quentin Tarantino and Martin

Hans J. Spürkel, Mélanie Laurent and Martin	Martin, Judd Apatow and Ruth

Ruth and Quentin Tarantino	Diane Kruger and Martin

Thanks to Hans and Yoko for making us so welcome in the HFP family, and showing us a good time.

Please support your friendly Hollywood Foreign Press Journalists and check out the work they do for the Golden Globes.

Steve Tyrell Live at Cafe Carlyle

Jazz legend Steve Tyrell is releasing a new album just in time for the holidays. It's a limited edition and McCartney friends and family have the opportunity to pre order the CD now!

Go to www.stevetyrell.com for more information.

Every recording artist has one album that they are destined to make - an album so singularly in-sync with their sensibility and history that its’ making smacks of pure destiny. For Steve Tyrell - the distinguished Grammy winner and Emmy nominated purveyor of pop standards, as well as a behind the scenes impresario - that album is Back to Bacharach, a deeply personal collection of songs from the piano of Burt Bacharach and the pen of Hal David.

For music lovers the world over, songs like "The Look of Love," "Walk On By," "Close to You," "A House Is Not a Home" and "Alfie" are indelibly bound to our DNA, haunting strands of melodious memories that bring forth a flood of emotions and associations. For Steve Tyrell, they represent milestones in a distinguished career and the joys and pains of his own personal life. It is because of his close proximity to the songs and their creators that Steve is able to bring something unique to his versions while being fortunate enough to include Dionne Warwick, Herb Alpert and 2008 Grammy Award winner Patti Austin well as Bacharach himself, Rod Stewart, James Taylor, and Martina McBride on the CD to relive the golden moments.

Please help me in supporting the Starlight Children's Foundation by bidding on this shirt which I wore in my very first music video "Push It To The Limit".  

Our dear old friend from way back, Ivan Goldman has a new book: EXIT BLUE

Ivan Goldman envisions a riotous near future in which the Blue States have seceded and formed their own union following a disastrous US invasion of Denmark, now deemed the central front in the war on terror.

It's one of several conflicts being waged by a zealous Red Zone government in Washington that reportedly dispatches press gangs to fill military ranks while its citizens flee to Mexico seeking employment as domestics and busboys.

Tossed into this maelstrom is ghost writer Delmore LeCorte, who becomes romantically entangled with both the Red Zone president and her more astute sister.

Learning secrets he'd rather not know, LeCorte is pursued by a deranged vice president who reportedly rules his domain from a lair deep beneath the Rockies and a ruthless Blue Zone senator who's the love child of a famously randy Democratic ex-President. It's left to the reader to decide whether Exit Blue is inventive political satire or a prescient look at more divisive times ahead. (Now available on Amazon)

Our dear friend Jim Gath has an urgent Holiday Request:

It's a year-end fundraiser right now called "Hay for the Holidays."

In Jim's own words:

I'm is asking you to do two small things....

#1 - Please donate $10 (tax-deductible) to the fund.  You can go to our website (http://www.tierramadrehorsesanctuary.org) & either donate via our PayPal function or mail a check to us: Tierra Madre Horse Sanctuary - 27115 N. 45th St. - Cave Creek, AZ 85331.

#2 - Email or tell TEN of your friends & ask them to do the same. 
Because I realize I'm asking you to do something that requires some time & energy, I'll try to make it as easy as possible.  Below, you'll find a note already written for you.  All you have to do is copy 'n paste it into the body of your email.  Here it is....

Dear Reader,

I’m involved in a fundraising effort to raise money for Tierra Madre Horse Sanctuary in Cave Creek, AZ.  Tierra Madre is the ‘forever home’ to thirty previously unwanted, neglected, injured or abused horses.  The one thing all these horses have in common is that they’re finally home & they’re happy.

I’m sending $10 to them for their Hay for the Holidays program.  I’m asking you to join me by sending $10 yourself & to pass this message on to 10 of your friends.  (You can copy ‘n paste this message into the body of your email.)

Simply go to Tierra Madre’s website (http://www.tierramadrehorsesanctuary.org) & make your tax-deductible donation via their PayPal function or mail it to the address shown.

Thanks for pitching in for the continued well-being of 28 wonderful horses.

Sincerely,


There.  That's it.

Just so you know, if we can get a couple hundred people to donate ten bucks apiece, it would provide us with enough hay for over two months.

Thank you very much, in advance, for helping us.

John, Suze, Bentley, Kiss, Venture, Solo, Charlie, Min, M'Stor, Slayer, Tarzan, Iron Man, Sweet Boy, Sedona, Chester, Ted, CharlieHorse, Guess, Bella, Heighten, Hudson, Akira, Mistah Lee, Rusty, Chance, Katie, Sundance & Holly Golightly.  And Mikey.

Oh, & Jim.

Tierra Madre Horse Sanctuary
27115 N. 45th St.
Cave Creek, AZ  85331
480.747.1070
www.tierramadrehorsesanctuary.org

Ingredients

1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

2 cups pumpkin puree1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 egg

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

 2 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).In a mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, condensed milk, egg, 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Pour batter into the pie crust.Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Cut in the butter or margarine until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in walnuts. Sprinkle mixture evenly over the pie. Bake pie for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted one inch from the edge comes out clean. Cool and garnish as desired.

(Recipe by: Jackie  "A slight twist on the traditional pumpkin pie.")

 Angie's One Liners

After hearing two eyewitness accounts of the same accident, you begin to wonder about the entire account of world history.

A good marriage is like a casserole: only those involved actually know what goes into it.

The hard thing about business is minding your own.

The best way to have the last word is to apologize.

An interesting study

A study conducted by Glasgow University's Department of Psychiatry has revealed that the type of face a woman finds attractive on a man can differ depending on where she is in her cycle. For example: If she is ovulating, she is attracted to men with rugged and masculine features. However, if she is menstruating, or menopausal, she tends to be more attracted to a man with duct tape over his mouth and a spear lodged in his chest while he is on fire.
No further studies are expected.

 

iPod Nano with Video!

Considering a multimedia gift for the holidays? Check out the new iPod Nanos.

They are great for having all your music and videos in one place. This iPod is very light, great for travel and best of all it shoots video! So, if you're like me always on the go and you meet a special person, celebrity or the mail man you can now wow your friends with instant video. Great price, great buy.

 

Martin.

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