An HMS Bounty-ful afternoon

We took a trip back in Hollywood history this past weekend without ever leaving the Hudson Valley.
Hundreds braved Sunday's cold, dreary weather to tour the HMS Bounty II, as the ship used in the 1962 Marlon Brando movie "Mutiny on the Bounty" was docked along the Newburgh waterfront.

It was also used in several of Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean," starring Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley.

There seemed to be, however, some confusion as to this ship's part in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films. Though a flyer advertising the ship as being used as the Black Pearl in the "Pirates" trilogy, if you click here, you'll read the ship played a smaller role in the Disney flicks. (Inside the ship, there was a pic of Depp and Knightley on the set, which spoke to the fact it was indeed used in the films.) That being said, it was still pretty cool to know that we were walking on the same ship that such famous actors walked on in such famous movies.

As for the "Pirates" connection, I actually liked the gloomy day's dark clouds, as it made me feel like we were really in the Caribbean, fending off the Flying Dutchman and Davy Jones.

For the ship's sailing schedule throughout North America, including Canada, click here.

"Voices" will share their "Glory"

From Highland to Branson, the Voices of Glory are definitely on their way to stardom.
The Ulster County-based group (Michael, Nadia and Avery Cole, seen here from left to right) will release their debut, self-titled CD on June 6, and they'll begin their show in Branson, Missouri, and subsequent national thereafter.

The Coles will also be performing locally at Rhinebeck High School and New Hackensack Reformed Church on June 12 at 8 p.m. and June 13 at 3 p.m., respectively. General admission tickets will cost $10 each, while students will get in for $8 apiece. Their performances are part of the Rhinebeck Choral Club’s program, “Music For A Better World." (You can click here for information on the shows.) I'm working with the Voices of Glory's management to speak with Michael, Avery and Nadia before the release of their CD, so stay here for the latest on the group.

If you've missed any of my "Sean's Space" coverage of the Voices of Glory — from their rise though "America's Got Talent" to the recording of their CD — simply click here to catch up!

A Fey-vorite face in my favorite place

One of my favorite actresses is currently vacationing in my (definite) favorite place on earth.

I just came across this publicity shot, snapped today by the fine folks at Walt Disney World, of Tina Fey sharing a malted with Goofy at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater inside the Disney Hollywood Studios park. Looks like Tina's moved on after her "Date Night" with Steve Carrell — a movie that was hilarious, by the way — and has a new leading man. (Actually, she's married with a young daughter, and the entire family is at WDW for vacation.) A fan of Tina's since her days co-hosting "Weekend Update" on "Saturday Night Live" with Jimmy Fallon, I've loved her in flicks like "Baby Mama," as well as her amazingly hilarious Sarah Palin impressions on "SNL." Ironically, though, I've never been able to get into "30 Rock," but I'm going to try to catch up past seasons through Netflix.

Loyal "Sean's Space" readers know I'm a huge Disney World geek fan, and it looks like "the World" is also a favorite destination for other celebrities!

The shirts of their/his/her back

I've never been on stage with thousands of adoring fans screaming my name. But this has little piece of cloth has...
Yes, that is indeed a piece of the New Kids On The Block's wardrobe from the guys' "Full Service" summer tour. (Click here and see if it looks familiar?)

I got this unique, one-of-a-kind collectible when I was one of the first to pre-order the New Kids' "Coming Home" DVD back in December. The encased swatch came as part of the deluxe DVD package.

Lest you think collecting event-worn swatches is new, I've been adding to my collection for almost a decade. Baseball card manufacturers have been affixing swatches of players' uniforms — either jerseys or pants, depending on the card company — for years. Back in Christmas of 2000, for example, I got this "Goose" Gossage card from Upper Deck which contains not just a pinstriped piece of his jersey, but his signature, too! Since then, I've collected dozens of such jersey cards — from Hall of Famers like Dennis Eckersley and Rod Carew, to stars like Joba Chamberlain and CC Sabathia.

Even the New Kids' swatch, which arrived with the DVD back in February, wasn't the first one in my collection from a singing star.
After Britney Spears filmed this Pepsi "Now and Then" commercial that ran during Super Bowl XXXVI, the singer donated three of the outfits she wore in the ad.

Those outfits were then sliced and diced, affixed to these trading cards, encased in protective, hard-plastic slabs and put on sale for eager fans (like me!) to snatch up online, with the money going to charity.To me, it's just cool to know whether my favorite singers or my favorite athletes wore them, I've got a piece of clothing (small though it may be) they wore when they did that they do that makes them famous.

"What did I just watch?!"

That's what I asked myself the other night when I turned off my DVD player.

With Disney's "TRON Legacy" coming out at the end of the year, I figured I'd watch the 1982 original movie so I'd know what to expect when I see the new flick in December. (I'd vaguely remembered seeing the original "TRON" when I was a little kid, but didn't remember anything about the movie other than that they played with a light-up Frisbee® — as I recalled them — and rode on those awesome Light Cycles.) After watching the movie again earlier this week, I don't understand much more than that!

For a movie that came out just five years after George Lucas changed the way sci-fi movies are made with "Star Wars," it was amazing to see the computer graphics used in "Tron." That said, they kind of overshadowed the story, which I'm pretty sure I still don't comprehend.

Still, considering the technological advances in the 28 years since the original "TRON," I'm dying to see how the sequel turns out ... at least I think I am.

"Idol" hopeful with Marist ties gone

So Katie Stevens, the "American Idol" finalist with ties to Marist College, just got voted off the show.

Still, that doesn't mean the path to stardom is over for the 17-year-old from Connnecticut. Just by reaching the show's top 10, she's guaranteed a spot on the annual "American Idols LIVE!" tour, in which the top 10 play arenas across the country. Not only that, but many "Idol" also-rans have done on to successful careers without winning the title — Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry and Clay Aiken, among others. (Don't forget last year's runner-up, Adam Lambert, who's coming to town in two months.) Needless to say, Katie's got more career options than most high school seniors her age.

As Ryan Seacrest hugged Katie just now, he told her, "Your parents should be proud," and they showed a vignette that included her mom, a Marist grad — her brother is a current Marist sophomore — as well as her dad and grandmother.

No doubt people around the Marist community are proud of the "Idol" connection.

Lambert coming "For Your Entertainment"

Adam Lambert is the latest in a string of "American Idol" stars who've made stops in the local area.

The runner-up of Season 8 "Idol," Lambert is one of the headlining acts at this year's K-Fest, put on by radio station WSPK, that's 104.7 on your FM dial. Among others, Lambert will share the stage with Ludarcis, Train — they just played The Chance in Poughkeepsie two weeks ago, btw — and Orianthi for the June 6th show at Fishkill's Dutchess Stadium. Tickets for the all-day concert at the ballpark range from $44 to $100; you can click here for more information about tickets.

Lambert's first post-"Idol" CD, entitled "For Your Entertainment," currently ranks No. 133 on Amazon's list of CDs.

During last season, Lambert's fan base was evident as I learned here on "Sean's Space." I put up my annual Who will win "American Idol?" poll and Lambert got 70 percent of the vote, with almost 2,300 fans voting for him to take the "Idol" title. A Lambert victory on "Idol" seemed an inevitability, according to the fans voting here, before more of Kris Allen's fans flooded the phone lines to make their fav the champ. Since then, Lambert's gone on to play at the American Music Awards and at Z100's annual "Jingle Ball" concert, among other high-profile shows.

In the past, I've interviewed "Idol" champs like David Cook and Taylor Hicks, not to mention finalists like Kellie Pickler, Clay Aiken and Blake Lewis — Lewis, in fact, performed at the 2008 K-Fest — and they've all had great things to say about their time on the hit FOX show.

Hootie: "I Only Wanna Be With" Mickey

Darius Rucker went from hanging out with Goofy to hanging out with Mickey Mouse earlier this week.There's the country-music superstar, formerly the front man of Hootie and the Blowfish, riding shotgun on the "Magic Carpets of Alladin" at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The folks at WDW snapped the picture.

Last year's Country Music Association New Artist of the Year was visiting Mickey & Co. with his three kids and one of their friends on Tuesday.

That visit came almost five months after I snapped this Goofy-looking with Darius after he played Poughkeepsie three days after Thanksgiving. That was a cold, dreary night when Darius was good enough to pose for pics and sign autographs outside the Mid-Hudson Civic Center following his concert. He was a good sport, to say the least, accommodating his fans.

From the looks of his enjoyable ride in Adventureland, it's nice to see Darius was able to escape to the warmth of the Magic Kingdom!

The new CD by the V.O.G.

While perusing the Internet just now, I came across the next chapter in a local feel-good story.

I was reading the most recent post on the Voices Of Glory's official Twitter page when this pic caught my eye. The group — that's the Highland siblings Michael Cole, Avery Cole and Nadia Cole — is using this pic as their Twitter avatar, and it looks a lot like what might be a CD cover ... perhaps their upcoming debut release? (As I mentioned two months ago, the group has been recording their first CD, which the Cole told me they expected to release this summer.) Turns out, a glimpse at the Coles' official Web site revealed indeed this is their first album.

In case you missed any of the Coles' success story — from their background in Highland to their skyrocketing rise to fame on "America's Got Talent" — just click here for a refresher course.

Snooki: $200 per episode

They say you can't put a price on fame, but in the case of one local resident, it's $200 per episode.

Marlboro HS grad Nicole Polizzi — known now to the world as "Snooki" of "Jersey Shore" fame — earned just $2,200 for the first season of the MTV reality show, which translates to $200 per episode. The numbers come from PARADE magazine, which will publish its annual "What People Make" issue this Sunday. "Snooki" (seen here in an MTV publicity shot) is one of six New Yorkers mentioned in the salary report; rapper Kanye West ($25 million) is among the other five from our state mentioned. Considering the "Jersey Shore" cast signed on for thousands of dollars per episode for the second season, filming now in Miami, "Snooki's" compensation will increase exponentially this year, especially when you add in her personal appearance fees.

Salary per episode of "Jersey Shore": $200.
Fame and upcoming fortune: Priceless.