We have talked about the reunion here before, but this weekend magicians Siegfried and Roy made it official!

The former Las Vegas fixtures, whose decade-long residency at the Mirage abruptly ceased four and a half years ago when Roy Horn was mauled by one of their famed white tigers, will return to the stage next year for a one-night engagement benefiting the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute’s Keep Memory Alive foundation.

Roy Horn (63) and Siegfried Fischbacher (68) announced their comeback Saturday at the institute’s 12th annual Alzheimer’s benefit at the MGM Grand Garden. This year, tickets to the charity dinner cost $1,500; the event raised more than $12 million. They will perform NEXT February at a location yet to be confirmed.

Siegfried & Roy’s publicist, Dave Kirvin, said the German-born pair are currently working out the details and he would be “very surprised if animals were not part of the performance.”

Horn lost a lot of blood and eventually underwent surgery to relieve pressure in his brain. It was touch and go for some time before he embarked on the long road to recovery—physical therapy is still on the daily agenda—and, as it turned out, retirement. 

“The stage is my life. It took some adjustment. I was really not ready for it,” Fischbacher told the Las Vegas Review Journal in December. 

But Horn’s recovery “cheers me up,” he said. “All the doctors say what he’s doing now is impossible. I’ve always said, ‘I am the magician and Roy is the magic.’ And Roy shows me every day the magic—the magic of life.”

Horn, who said that he still hangs out with Montecore, his “lifesaver,” would only offer a teaser when asked about the possibility of a return to live performing.

The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute, designed by architect Frank Gehry, is set to open in downtown Las Vegas next year.

 

           Does this man have nothing better to do?!

Anti-gay minister Fred Phelps has vowed to protest at the funeral of actor Heath Ledger, who was tragically found dead on Tuesday. Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church is legendary for their hatred of gays and protests at the funerals of gay-bashing victims and soldiers in the U.S. military.
“God hates fag-enablers,” the Westboro Baptist Church proclaimed in a news release issued yesterday, concluding with: “Heath Ledger is now in Hell and has begun serving his eternal sentence—beside which, nothing else about Heath Ledger is relevant or consequential.”

Ledger was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 for his role as a gay cowboy in the Ang Lee directed film Brokeback Mountain, based on a short story by E. Annie Proulx.

“Heath Ledger thought it was great fun defying God Almighty and his plain word,” the statement from Westboro read. “God hates the sordid tacky, bucket of slime seasoned with vomit known as Brokeback Mountain—and He hates all persons having anything whatsoever to do with it.”

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said: “Heath Ledger will forever be remembered for his groundbreaking role as Ennis del Mar in Brokeback Mountain. His powerful portrayal changed hearts and minds in immeasurable ways. He will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.”

Shirley Phelps-Roper stated Westboro Baptist Church members will protest memorial services in the United States, not those held in his homeland of Australia, according to Fox News. The church also plans to protest at the Academy Awards this year.

To date, the Topeka-based church has participated in over 30,000 anti-gay protests across the U.S., according to their web site. The church hosts a variety of derogatory web sites, including GodHatesAmerica . com  and GodHatesFags . com –  Westboro Baptist Church was recently ordered to pay $11 million to the father of a slain U.S. soldier for picketing at his son’s funeral, according to bGay.com.

IF YOU LIVE IN AUSTRALIA IT’S TIME TO BAND TOGETHER AND SHOW SOME STRENGTH!

MAY HEATH LEDGER REST IN PEACE!

(For a complete listing of Fred Phelps followers around the country  visit  Kill Fred Phelps site. )

    

In breaking news from the United States this morning, police have confirmed that Academy Award nominated actor Heath Ledger has died of a suspected drug overdose in New York.

He was 28.

The actor was found naked and unconscious in his $26,000-a-month Manhattan apartment, surrounded by prescription anti-anxiety and sleeping pills.

The New York Times reported Ledger was discovered by a masseuse who arrived at his apartment for an appointment.

 

Three bottles of prescription pills found in Heath Ledger’s Manhattan apartment in SoHo contained antidepressants and Ambien, a police source told PageSix.com.  It ws said recently Ledger had been battling drug addiction and depression.

Ledger reportedly spent several days at a drug rehabilitation clinic, battling an addiction to heroin, after his split from fiancee Michelle Williams in September.

Ledger had just finished playing The Joker in the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight — a role that looked certain to set him up financially for the rest of his life.