Henry John Edwards Sr. decorated Army veteran

HILLSBOROUGH — Henry John Edwards Sr., "Hank", age 88, of Hillsborough, formerly of Staten Island, N.Y., died Sunday, (March 30, 2008). Mr. Edwards was born in New York City, the son of the late Theodore and the late Lillian (Cyzowski) Lidoski.
He served in the Army during World War II in the Aleutian Islands, and was a Bronze Star recipient.
Hank was a purchasing director for Pan American Airlines New York, N.Y., retiring in 1983. Mr. Edwards was a member of Hillsborough Seniors Club Chapter B, and a RCIA volunteer at Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church.
He is survived by devoted wife, Brunetta "Netta" of 60 years; three beloved daughters, Maggie Gagliardi and husband, John, Mary Ellen Stahley and husband, Charles, Barbara Byrnes and husband, James; and a dear son, Henry Edwards Jr. and wife, Nancy. Also surviving are seven cherished grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
Friends may call from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Hillsborough Funeral Home, 796 Route 206, Hillsborough. A Mass will be held 10 a.m. Friday at Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church, Hillsborough.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Missionary Servants of The Most Holy Trinity, 1292 Long Hill Rd., Stirling, NJ 07980 or the Children's Learning Center, 404 Tenafly Rd., Tenafly, NJ 07670, in his memory.

Teresa Maioriello Perrone great-grandmother of 3

NORTH PLAINFIELD — Teresa Maioriello Perrone, 91, died Sunday (March 30, 2008) at Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield. Mrs. Perrone was born in the Province of Castel DiSasso, Italy, and came to the United States in 1955, settling in North Plainfield in 1962.
She worked 25 years as a handbag assembler for Markay Bags, formerly of Plainfield. Teresa was a communicant of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in North Plainfield.
She was predeceased by her husband, Enrico Perrone, in 1995; and a daughter, Maria Cristina Perrone, in 1968.
Surviving are three sons, Stefano and his wife, Rosa Perrone, Frank and his wife, Elisa Perrone and Domenick Perrone, all of North Plainfield. Also surviving are a brother, Francesco DiRienzo of Italy; eight grandchildren, Maria Cristina, Mark, Teresa Cristina, Claudia, Iolanda, Enrico, Stefano Jr. and Michael; and three great-grandchildren, Francesca, Edward Jr. and Brielle.
Services will start 9 a.m. Thursday from Scarpa Funeral Home, 22 Craig Place, North Plainfield, followed by a 10:30 a.m. Mass at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in North Plainfield. Entombment will take place in Somerset Hills Memorial Park Mausoleum in Basking Ridge. Visiting hours are 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. today.

Amy Winehouse Dominates Grammys From Afar

Posted at February 11th, 2008 7:25 am by Free Britney
Filed under: Amy Winehouse

It was Amy Winehouse’s night.

The British pop singer pulled off a near sweep at the 50th annual Grammy Awards Sunday, scoring five trophies including record of the year, song of the year and best new artist, while performing via satellite.

Amy Winehouse won all the night’s top awards, except for album of the year, which went to Herbie Hancock for River: The Joni Letters.

The 24-year-old recently saw her music success overshadowed by a long, hard battle with substance abuse, and last week, she fought to get a U.S. visa to attend the ceremony. She received it but too late for her to attend.

Sunday night, however, finally brought the focus back onto the R&B / soul singer’s breakthrough album, Back to Black, and her single “Rehab.”

In an emotional acceptance speech via satellite in London after she sang “You Know That I’m No Good” and “Rehab,” Amy Winehouse thanked her producer, Mark Ronson, her mother and father, and her husband Blake Fielder-Civil.

“To my Blake, my Blake incarcerated,” Winehouse said.

Blake Fielder-Civil, 25, is currently awaiting trial in a London jail on charges of assault and witness tampering.

Follow the jump for a list of major Grammy winners …

Amy Winehouse: Visiting Blake Fielder-Civil in Prison, Praised By Mother, Criticized By Natalie Cole

Posted at February 12th, 2008 10:17 am by Free Britney
Filed under: Amy Winehouse

After dominating the Grammys (winning five!) on Sunday, Amy Winehouse is back “on the road to recovery,” says her mom, Janis Winehouse.

“Well, it’s Amy coming back, she’s definitely on the way back,” Janis said in a new interview with Britain’s GMTV.

Winehouse, 24, delivered a polished performance via satellite at Sunday’s show — proof that she has already cleaned up her act a bit.

“As you saw, she looks good and it’s a case of she’s on the road - and that’s what it’s about - she’s on the road to recovery,” Janis said.

A rep for Winehouse said the Back to Black singer “is an outpatient and she is under medical supervision and the treatment continues.”

Amy Winehouse stole the show - even via satellite - at the Grammys.

The troubled R&B / soul sensation went to rehab last month after Britain’s The Sun released a video of her apparently smoking crack out of a pipe.

Her spiral into oblivion can be tied to Blake Fielder-Civil - her husband of about a year, and who she visited in jail yesterday. We hope he’s doin’ well.

While Amy’s mini-comeback and haul of trophies were the talk of the Grammys along with Kanye West’s performance, one past winner wasn’t thrilled.

Natalie Cole, who hasn’t been big since, oh, 1991, blasted the Grammy Awards for honoring the “Rehab” singer, claiming Amy doesn’t deserve her wins as “it sends the wrong message” to award a musician “in the midst of her stupor of drugs.”

First, Amy is at least trying to clean up.

Second, this is music, Natalie. We love Carrie Underwood to pieces, but she might be the only good girl in the entire industry. You want to bar everyone else? An award show in which she wins 87 of them might get a bit tedious.

Amy Winehouse Chillin’ with Blake … Wood

Posted at February 13th, 2008 8:02 am by Free Britney
Filed under: Amy Winehouse, Blake Fielder-Civil

Amy Winehouse has a Blake in her life. Blake Wood.

The singer’s pal, Kelly Osbourne, apparently introduced her to Wood, a U.S. photographer, who’s a tad different than Winehouse’s regular Blake.

Fielder-Civil, that is.

Turns out Blake 2.0 doesn’t drink or do drugs. He’s also a vegetarian.

In other words, this Wood character might have more in common with Blake Lively than he does with Blake Fielder-Civil.

Amy Winehouse and Blake Wood have reportedly been spending a lot of time together while her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, is in prison and awaiting trial.

A source told the UK’s The Sun, “They’re staying in a hotel together and they might all move into Kelly Osbourne’s place when Amy finishes her recovery. He has met Amy’s family and they all really like him.”

Amy picked up five Grammy Awards the other night but her mind was still on her jailed hubby. If he ever gets out, he may just have to kill Blake 2.0 … only to end up back in prison. The irony would be quite rich.

Brother of Amy Winehouse Says She’s Doing Better

Posted at February 15th, 2008 8:04 am by Free Britney
Filed under: Amy Winehouse

It’s been a rough ride for Amy Winehouse over the past year.

According to The Hollywood Gossip oddsmakers, she recently took the lead over Britney Spears in the Celebrity Most Likely to Die Before 2010 pool.

But according to her brother, Alex Winehouse, she’s on the way back up - which is a relief, as her fans want to enjoy her talent for decades to come.

Alex Winehouse cited the Back to Black singer’s multiple Grammy wins for the turn in her life. The whole family is relieved at her apparent recovery, given the fact that only weeks earlier, she was possibly smoking crack.

Amy Winehouse is supposedly doing much better in rehab.

“It was hard to take in that the barely communicative shell in front of us was my own flesh and blood,” Alex said of Amy Winehouse. “I should mention here that we all knew how bad her condition was. There was never any denial on the part of my parents, whose fears and anxiety over their daughter made them ill.”

But, he says, the “You Know I’m No Good” singer has reportedly turned over a new leaf. “Yes, the very best of weekends. Spurs continue their resurgence, but most importantly of all very definite signs that Amy - the real Amy - is back among us. The hope, of course, is that this time it’s for real.”

We’re sure Blake Wood is happy for Amy as well.

Sports Guy Ponders Spears-Winehouse Death Pool

Posted at February 17th, 2008 10:50 am by Free Britney
Filed under: Amy Winehouse, Bill Simmons, Britney Spears

ESPN’s The Sports Guy, a.k.a. Bill Simmons, was recently asked a by a reader what The Hollywood Gossip itself ponders daily: If you had the No. 1 pick in a death pool draft, would you take Britney Spears over Amy Winehouse?

Indeed, it’s a question for the ages. While we would prefer the musings of his wife, The Sports Gal, Bill Simmons’ response is pretty funny…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’ll do this in super-intense, face-turning-red, Todd McShay mode …

“Mike, Amy Winehouse has to to be the No. 1 pick. This girl has every tool you’d want: She’s addicted to drugs; she has no concern for her own safety; she hangs out with people who do drugs; and ‘Rehab’ feels like a self-eulogy every time she sings it!”

Which train wreck would you take in an office death pool?

“I judge No. 1 picks in a death pool by one thing: If CNN reports he or she died, would I be remotely surprised? In the case of Amy Winehouse? NO! As for Britney Spears, her stock has been falling with GMs across the league.”

“She’s getting help, she’s on bipolar meds and she jettisoned some of the negative influences in her life. We’re starting to hear whispers that she might drop out of the top five. I’ve had GMs across the league tell me that Mary-Kate Olsen and Dennis Rodman have moved ahead of Britney Spears on their boards …”

Amy Winehouse Reportedly “Full of Life”

Posted at February 20th, 2008 8:59 am by Free Britney
Filed under: Amy Winehouse

Yeah, yeah. There was the Grammys triumph.

But how’s Amy Winehouse doing these days, for real?

“She’s full of energy, full of life,” her backup singer, Zalon Thompson, tells People. “It’s a good thing.”

Her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, is merely full of heroin.

Winehouse is “ready for the Brits,” he says, referring to Amy’s scheduled performance Wednesday at the U.K.’s equivalent of the Grammys.

“I think sometimes it takes you to go through certain hard things to overcome and to go on to do better things,” Thompson, 26, says. “She looked really good at the Grammys. She just looked very rested. It was great.”

But success that night hasn’t turned Amy Winehouse - seen here falling into the arms of backup singer Zalon Thompson after winning Grammy #5 - into a diva.

“I was speaking with [mutual friend] Kelly Osbourne the other day. And we were saying how she hasn’t changed at all,” said Thompson.

“She doesn’t believe in the same principles that everyone else gets excited about. Get her a guitar and she’ll play for 10 people or 300. She doesn’t care about the whole fame thing - it’s really about the music.”

Zalon Thompson also set the record straight about Blake Wood, a pal of Kelly Osbourne’s Amy Winehouse has been hanging out with.

Love is a Losing Game For Blake Fielder-Civil

Posted at February 21st, 2008 2:18 pm by Free Britney
Filed under: Amy Winehouse, Blake Fielder-Civil

Amy Winehouse’s jailed husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, wasn’t in the crowd at the Brit Awards last night in London, but don’t worry, Blake fans.

The upstanding fella who overdosed on heroin in jail got a shout out.

After Amy Winehouse performed “Love is a Losing Game” off her smash hit album Back to Black, she yelled to the audience, “I love you baby!”

“Make some noise for my husband, my Blake!”

They did. Here’s Amy singing, “Love Is A Losing Game” …

The troubled Blake Fielder-Civil, whom she married last May in Miami, has been locked up since November on assault and witness tampering charges.

Amy Winehouse, who donned a tight black dress that she nervously lifted during her performance, wasn’t nominated for any awards this time.

Delivering a good performance was enough, though. After a really rough period, Winehouse is “full of life,” says pal and backup singer Zalon Thompson.

Back to Blackout: Amy Winehouse Trashes Hotel Room

Posted at February 25th, 2008 11:18 am by Free Britney
Filed under: Amy Winehouse

They tried to make her go to rehab and she said… that it had very little positive impact on her dangerous, rowdy behavior?

Acclaimed but troubled R&B / soul singer Amy Winehouse was totally out of control once again last week, according to the UK’s The Sun.

The British pop sensation spent the hours before the Brit Awards in London the other day trashing her room at the Riverbank Plaza Hotel.

The rampage cost thousands in damages, according to The Sun.

Management found spilled liquor, cigarette butts, empty champagne bottles and underwear strewn on the floor of Amy Winehouse’s hotel room. Classy.

“The bed hadn’t been changed since she arrived, and most of the room had been used as an ashtray. There was dirty underwear everywhere, and the place smelt incredibly stale. She’d also taken down all the pictures,” a source told the paper.

Winehouse’s manager could not be reached for comment.

After the alleged incident, Amy delivered a strong performance of “Love is a Losing Game,” dedicated to jailed hubby Blake Fielder-Civil.

Amy Winehouse Nude… For Charity, Not Crack

Posted at March 20th, 2008 6:23 am by Free Britney
Filed under: Amy Winehouse

As the week in naked celebrities continues to roll (Audrina Patridge nude, Kristin Davis sex tape rumors, and Ashley Dupre gone wild to boot), Amy Winehouse is also taking her clothes off. But actually for good reason this time.

Amy Winehouse is naked for charity, stripping down to nothing for photographer Carolyn Djangoly as part of a campaign to raise awareness about breast cancer among young women around the world, according to Radar Online.

The British singer and songwriter is appearing buck ass naked in the April issue of British women’s magazine Easy Living, where she’s pictured strumming a guitar in the buff while covered only in two pieces of duct tape. Hot! Sort of…

Let this be a lesson to all of you that Amy Winehouse naked and looking out of it (with a mild S&M twist) is fine, as long as she’s doing it for a good cause.

Surely Blake Fielder-Civil has no problem with this pic!

Then again, the junkie is probably too busy trying to avoid becoming somebody’s sex slave in the laundry room to have even seen it yet. Prison sucks.

Somebody Put Amy Winehouse on Suicide Watch

Posted at March 31st, 2008 12:56 pm by Free Britney
Filed under: Amy Winehouse

With Blake Fielder-Civil safely tucked away in prison and her family making its best efforts to keep her off the smack, Amy Winehouse has actually managed to visit the recording studio to make some new music of late. That’s the good news.

The bad? Wineheezy is working with producer Mark Ronson and friends say her new music has become even “darker” than her huge hit Back to Black. They have described it as “suicidal music,” because the lyrics are so bleak.

Should we take away the belt and shoelaces of Amy Winehouse?

An inside source told the UK’s The Sun: “Her next album is darker than ever. [Amy Winehouse] got low self-esteem anyway but her skin has made her want to hide away from the rest of the world. And we have started noticing more and more cuts on her arms. Her problems are pushing her over the edge and she’s turning into a depressed recluse. It’s not good for her to stay in so much.”

Hmm. Maybe more visits to Blake Fielder-Civil in the can would actually be a good thing? As long as he’s not too busy kicking somebody’s ass or becoming someone’s bitch. You know how it goes in prison, you gotta pick one of those options.

Dungeon Master: The Life and Legacy of Gary Gygax

Gary Gygax was photographed during GenCon 2007.
Image: Rainer Hosch

Redesign the Wired.com Logo, Dungeons & Dragons-Style

Editor's note: Wired contributing editor David Kushner visited Gary Gygax at the Lake Geneva Convention last June. We were preparing a package of articles about the father of Dungeons & Dragons and the upcoming revised edition of the game he created when we received the sad news of his death. We are running this story now in remembrance of Gygax and in celebration of his staggering achievements. Later this month, we will run the additional articles about D&D as well as excerpts from the extensive interviews used in reporting this story. We extend our deepest condolences to Gygax's family.

You arrive at a small town by a large lake. Down a road, there is a yellow Victorian house with an American flag. There are revelers here. They stand on the front lawn swilling ale and eating from bountiful plates of ham and beans. They invite you to join their assembly.

As you approach, however, something catches your attention: a strange buzzing sound in the air. It's coming from the tiny winged beasts that are hanging from the trees, crawling along the ground, and crashing clumsily against you. "Cicadas," explains your host, a heavyset man with a gray ponytail and thick glasses that magnify his eyes. "It's a good thing they don't have mandibles." Then, quite cordially, he invites you inside his house to play a game.

The host is Gary Gygax, and the occasion is a game convention in his hometown of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, this past June. Gygax, 68. is a cocreator and popularizer of the most influential game ever made. Dungeons & Dragons — D&D to fans — isn't a straightforward board game like Monopoly or Clue. It's more like an operating system, an elaborate framework on which players can build their own scenarios: Anyone with creativity and imagination can become a game designer.

D&D players create an alter ego and guide it through a virtual world, gradually upgrading abilities as they battle monsters and gather loot. The game allows teenage misfits to become mythic superheroes and face epic adventures and harrowing challenges. "It's written in every man's heart — we want to feel like warriors," Gygax's grandson tells me inside the family home. "That's what Gramps let people do."

Gygax was around 5 when he began taking an interest in strategy games like chess and pinochle. Photo: Courtesy of Gail Gygax

Most aspects of the game can be expressed numerically, from attributes like strength and health and intelligence to the power of a weapon and the probability that it will successfully connect with an enemy and the amount of damage it would inflict. But one player has to paint a picture with words: That person assumes the role of the dungeon master and describes for other players what they see and hear in this imaginary world, and what effects their actions have. The game is played primarily in your head, using graph paper maps to represent environments, figurines to represent your character, a die to determine probability, and a few rulebooks for reference.

Gygax forged an industry around D&D and made a small fortune in the process. His home-brew publishing company, Tactical Studies Rules, went from a basement enterprise to a thriving corporation with 600 employees in less than a decade. D&D sold millions of copies and has been translated into more than a dozen languages in at least 50 countries.

His creation is the cornerstone of geek culture, but it's also had a profound and far-reaching impact on people who have never touched a 20-sided die.

Now, this afternoon at his party, Gygax slowly lumbers into his house to a fetch a 20-sided die of his own. It is time to get his game on. Are you ready to begin?