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Posts with tag extortion

Man tries to extort $1.5 million from Oprah

oprah winfreyAccording to several Chicago-area newspapers, the FBI has arrested a man who allegedly tried to blackmail Oprah's company for $1.5 million. It's a little confusing but I'll try to explain it. The feds say 36-year old Keifer Bonvillain met one of Oprah's employees at a party and began recording their subsequent telephone conversations about Oprah and her business. After getting 12 hours of tape, Bonvillain allegedly e-mailed Oprah about the awful things his employee-friend said about her. He also threatened to write a tell-all book, claiming he'd received offers from tabloids and publishers. Oprah's company apparently 'agreed' to pay him $1.5 million in exchange for the tapes. He agreed to a meeting spot to collect the dough and-- presto!-- the FBI nabbed him. I wonder if Oprah ever knew about it until the conclusion.

Big Love: Roberta's Funeral

ben henrickson(S01E06) Fathers and sons often have awkward conversations, especially during the teenage years. Any of us who have had them with our Dads can relate. However, in all the conversations that I have either read about, heard, seen, or experienced myself, none ever gave me the chills more than when Ben Henrickson asked his father Bill if he was worthy of "living the principle" i.e. having the ability to have more than one wife, just like dear old Dad.

And dear old Dad Bill is having a rough go of it lately. Nicki last week said she wanted to bring "another soul" into the family, so Bill does his best to make that happen. However, Nicki is seen taking birth control pills, so what exactly is Nicki up to? If you remember a couple of weeks ago, Bill found Nicki in a somewhat compromising position with her father, his nemesis, Roman Grant, so could Nicki be doing her father's bidding in her own wacky way?

Continue reading Big Love: Roberta's Funeral

Big Love: Eclipse

bill, barb, nicki, and margeneLast night's episode was all about premonitions and revelations. Bill has been having premonitions about whether his father-in-law Roman Grant aka "The Prophet" will bring harm to him, his stores, or his family because he is adamant against giving Roman a share of his businesses' profits. He's been having dreams of being chased and of someone drumming his/her fingers on a table and it seems to keep getting closer and louder.

In addition, with his balancing three families, things are getting more unsettled, if that can be believed. Nicki, who is one of Roman's many children, is $60,000 in debt, and from the looks of things, her father may exploit her plight to turn the screws even tighter on Bill, who was served with papers by Roman to get audited. Plus, Roman asks his daughter about her husband's business, and sounding like a true Mafia wife, says she and Bill don't discuss it. It isn't much of a stretch to think Roman will take advantage of his apparently weak-minded daughter to get at Bill one way or another.

Barb is the most logical and well-grounded of the three wives, and her acceptance of a long-term teaching gig is not sitting well with Nicki and Margene who, as we've seen already, are not exactly the most responsible of people. It's obvious they fear the "Boss Lady" will wield more power over them because she'll be bringing more money into the general pot and is bound to get more of Bill's attention.

Continue reading Big Love: Eclipse

Big Love: Home Invasion

bill and margene and kidsWatching Big Love is like watching someone else's weirdest dream. As you see Bill Henrickson do his best to keep his family happy, you almost forget that he's got THREE families, and no one can do what he's attempting to do without going literally insane.

How can you not? Between his youngest wife Margene begging and pleading for a car before finally getting a van, his middle wife Nicki planning an expensive birthday party at the posh Monte Cristo Hotel for their son Wayne and over a hundred guests, and getting his first wife Barb to take care of the "neighbor problem," who wouldn't want to scream in anguish? Of course, Bill didn't have to put himself in this situation, but then we wouldn't have a show to discuss, either.

This episode focused on how cunning and evil Roman Grant is. He explains the benefits of polygamy to the press, and says that he truly loves all of his 31 children and 187 grandchildren. (It would have been funny if the reporter asked him to name them, but I bet you he would have been able to do it without flinching.) In addition, he is still after Bill to tithe over 15% of his new store's revenues to the Juniper Creek compound, and Bill is worried that Roman might do something to harm his family, hence the installation of alarm systems in all three of his houses.

After Bill explodes over Nicki's party plans and how expensive it will be, he orders her to have the party in their home. To make matters more complicated, one of his store employees is threatened by apparently someone connected to Roman, who gets the message across that the 15% tithe is due. (The signs are definitely pointing to more "messages" being sent to Bill as the weeks roll on.)

Continue reading Big Love: Home Invasion

Big Love: Viagra Blue

Margene HenricksonIt only makes sense that the theme song for a series about a dysfunctional family is "God Only Knows," recorded by another dysfunctional family, The Beach Boys. (If you want details, read Heroes and Villains: The True Story of the Beach Boys.) Watching this latest episode with that song playing in my head definitely made it an interesting experience.

You certainly get the impression that a man with three wives may have a fantasy life in one respect, but for those moments of pleasure, he certainly has to deal with more tension in his house (or in Bill's case, three houses) than any other married man or woman would need to deal with. However, I don't feel any kind of sympathy for Bill's plight--he put himself in this position. No one said polygamy was going to be easy!

Let's review what was on Bill's plate this week. His youngest wife Margene, who is a bit loud in intimate situations, is begging Bill for a car so she can run errands. Barb and Nicki also continue to compete for Bill's attention, and he pops Viagra like Tic-Tacs to keep pace. (Is it too much to ask for less shots of Bill Paxton's bare behind?)

Continue reading Big Love: Viagra Blue

The Book of Daniel: Acceptance

book of danielAfter last week's premiere where we got to meet all the players amidst a blizzard of plots and subplots, this week things settled down a bit for The Book of Daniel. We last left Reverend Daniel Webster' getting the news that the stolen money ($3.2 million) that was earmarked for the construction of a new school has been located, but the situation becomes a bit sticky when the Mafia-connected priest tells him that if the construction job does not go to Vaporelli Construction, then there is no found money. Daniel spends a good bit of time wrestling with the question and, in a case of mistaken identity, agrees to the deal. It seems that Daniel has offered his acceptance to the situation, but he (obviously) has his doubts about going along with this extortion.

Continue reading The Book of Daniel: Acceptance

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