Rapper 'Fat Joe' admits evading taxes

Rap star "Fat Joe" faces up to two years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to failing to pay taxes on nearly $3 million in income over two years. The performer, whose real name is Joseph Cartagena, entered the plea in federal court in New Jersey because some of the companies he earns money from are incorporated there. The 42-year-old Miami Beach, Fla., resident entered pleas to two counts covering years 2007 and 2008 but his sentencing will take into consideration the government's initial allegation that he failed to pay income taxes for years 2007 through 2010. Federal prosecutors said the total tax loss to the government for those four years was $718,038. Cartagena lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman said his client "had already taken steps to resolve this situation" before he was charged. He said the rapper hoped to pay back the taxes by the time of his sentencing April 3.

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Grammy nominee Bobby Sanabria feels like a winner

Bobby Sanabria already feels like a winner. The Latin jazz musician, who led the protest against the Recording Academy when it downsized from 109 to 78 categories last year, is nominated for best Latin jazz album — one of the awards that had been eliminated but returns at the awards show next year. "We're very proud," Sanabria said in a recent interview. "It just places emphasis on the importance of this uniquely American art form. ... Of all the forms of music that are still getting recognition from the Grammys, this is one of the most disenfranchised forms because it isn't part of mainstream culture." The Recording Academy announced in June that it would reinstate the best Latin Jazz album award and added two others, bringing the total number of awards 81. Sanabria's nomination in the category for "Multiverse," along with his Big Band, is his third time competing in the field. His band's song, "Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite for Ellington," is also nominated for best instrumental arrangement; the nomination goes to arranger Michael Philip Mossman. Bronx-born Sanabria said he's excited that the best Latin jazz album was restored, but he hopes the others come back as well. "CD sales are down, so the more categories we have, it's just good business," he said. The Academy shook up the music industry when it announced in April 2011 that it would downsize its categories to make the awards more competitive. That meant eliminating categories by gender, so men and women compete in the same vocal categories. Artists like Herbie Hancock, Paul Simon and Bill Cosby complained, and Sanabria led the group that filed a lawsuit, which was dismissed. The 55-year-old drummer and percussionist said that the Grammys cut is a sign of the dying appreciation of jazz and blues music in American culture. "We live in age now where DJs are more respected than musicians and I have nothing against DJs . but there's something to be said for the artistry of a human being taking a musical instrument and performing at a virtuosic level on it, and it takes years of dedication," he explained. "I read something that in New York City they're having trouble filling the demand for DJs for New Year's Eve, and that used to be the night all musicians worked. That isn't the case anymore and something needs to be changed in the culture, and the Grammys can help in that respect with categories like (best Latin jazz album) . and the classical music categories." Sanabria's latest album is a mixture of sounds, and he said he has his parents to thank for diversifying his musical exposure. He wants to win the Grammy so that they can witness it. "(They are in) their eighties now and they're not in good health (and) they were the impetus for me," he said. Among his competition for best Latin jazz album, Sanabria will battle one of his students from New York's The New School, Manuel Valera of the New Cuban Express. He said he's excited to see his student get this kind of recognition, and hopes other young adults will learn to appreciate jazz music's importance. On Feb. 8 and Feb. 9, a day before the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Sanabria is performing a concert special — "Family Concert: What is Latin Jazz?" — at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. "Without blues and jazz, you have nothing. There's no Beyonce, there's no Jay-Z, there's no Katy Perry, there's no Aerosmith," he said. "It's the foundation of American music and it's sad that it isn't being taught as part of the history curriculum at every public school."

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Global doomsday hot spots draw believers, revelers

Though the Mayans never really predicted that the world would end on Friday, some New Agers are convinced that humanity's demise is indeed imminent. Or at least that it's a good excuse for a party. Believers are being drawn to spots where they think their chances of survival will be better, and accompanying them are the curious, the party-lovers and people wanting to make some money. Here are some of the world's key doomsday destinations and other places marked by fear and fascination. MEXICO About 1,000 self-described shamans, seers, stargazers, crystal enthusiasts, yogis, sufis and swamis are gathering in a convention center in the city of Merida on the Yucatan peninsula about an hour and a half from the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, convinced that it was a good start to the coming "New Era," which was supposed to begin around 5 a.m. local time Friday. These are not people who believe the world will end on Friday: the summit is scheduled to run through Dec. 23. Instead, participants say, they want to celebrate the birth of a new age. Meanwhile, Mexico's self-styled "brujo mayor," or chief soothsayer, Antonio Vazquez Alba, who warned followers to stay away from all gatherings on Dec. 21. "We have to beware of mass psychosis" that could lead to stampedes or "mass suicides, of the kind we've seen before," he said. Also, organizers of Yucatan's broader Mayan Culture Festival saw the need to answer some of the now-debunked idea that the Mayas, who invented an amazingly accurate calendar almost 2,000 years ago, had somehow predicted the end of the world. The Yucatan state government asked a scientist to talk about the work of Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland to debunk the idea it could produce world-ending rogue particles. FRANCE According to one rumor, a rocky mountain in the French Pyrenees will be the sole place on earth to escape destruction. A giant UFO and aliens are said to be waiting under the mountain, ready to burst through and spirit those nearby to safety. But here is bad news for those seeking salvation: French gendarmes, some on horseback, are blocking outsiders from reaching the Bugarach peak and its village of some 200 people. One believer, Ludovic Broquet, a 30-year-old plumber, made his way to the mountain after a year of preparation, hoping to find a "gateway, the vortex that will open up here (at) the end of the world." Local residents, instead, are skeptical — and angry at having their peace disturbed. "What is going on here is the creation of an urban legend," fumed resident Michele Pous, who blamed those who spread Internet rumors. "They created a media frenzy, they created a false event, they manipulated people." RUSSIA For $1,500, a museum is offering salvation from the world's end in former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's underground bunker in central Moscow — with a 50 percent refund if nothing happens. The bunker, located 65 meters (210 feet) below ground, was designed to withstand a nuclear attack. Now home to a small museum, it has an independent electricity supply, water and food — but no more room, because the museum has already sold out all 1,000 tickets. BRITAIN Hundreds of people have already converged on Stonehenge for an "End of the World" party that coincides with the Winter Solstice. Arthur Uther Pendragon, Britain's best-known druid, said he was anticipating a much larger crowd than usual at Stonehenge this year. But he doesn't agree that the world is ending, noting that he and fellow druids believe that things happen in cycles. "We're looking at it more as a new beginning than an end," he said. "We're looking at new hope." Meanwhile, end-of-days parties will be held across London on Friday. One event billed as a "last supper club" is offering a three-course meal served inside of an "ark." SERBIA Some Serbs are saying to forget that sacred mountain in the French Pyrenees. The place to go Friday will be Mount Rtanj, a pyramid-shaped peak in Serbia already drawing cultists. A local legend has it that the mountain once swallowed an evil sorcerer who will be released on doomsday in a ball of fire that will hit the mountain top. The inside of the mountain will then open up, becoming a safe place to hide as the sorcerer goes on to destroy the rest of the world. In the meantime, some old coal mine shafts have been opened up as safe rooms for the dozens who have arrived already. "We got calls from as far away as Holland from people trying to seek shelter," said Vlada Minic, a local villager. "They are asking to be as close as possible to the mountain." TURKEY A small Turkish village known for its wines, Sirince, has also been touted as the only place after Bugarach that would escape the world's end. But on Thursday there were more journalists and security officials present there than cultists — to the great disappointment of local restaurateurs and souvenir shop owners. Nobody was quite sure where Sirince's alleged powers to survive the Mayan doomsday come from, but the idyllic village in western Turkey is close to an area where the Virgin Mary is believed to have lived her final days, and some New Agers reportedly believe the region has a positive aura. For months, local business owners have been promoting the village and even produced wines with special labels to commemorate the event. ITALY Another spot said to be spared: Cisternino, in southern Italy, plans a big party Friday with hot-air balloons and music in the main piazza. "Nobody will want to sleep anyway as they await the end of the world," Mayor Donato Baccaro was quoted as saying in the newspaper La Stampa on Wednesday. Though Baccaro goes on to say he doesn't really believe the end is coming, hundreds have reportedly booked hotel rooms. CHINA A fringe Christian group has been spreading rumors about the world's impending end, prompting Chinese authorities to detain more than 500 people this week and seize leaflets, video discs, books and other material. Those detained are reported to be members of the group Almighty God, also called Eastern Lightning, which preaches that Jesus has reappeared as a woman in central China. Authorities in the province of Qinghai say they are waging a "severe crackdown" on the group, accusing it of attacking the Communist Party and the government. UNITED STATES For some, doomsday will be a chance for mockery. Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, producer and host of the History Channel's "Ancient Aliens" program, is throwing a party in New Orleans on Friday where he will descend onstage in a mock spaceship. Tsoukalos is a leading proponent of the idea that ancient myths arose from visits by alien astronauts, an idea rejected by many mainstream researchers. Still, Tsoukalos scoffs at the idea that the world will come to an end Friday.

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Smallest state goes big on Miss Universe pride

The city of Cranston is known — sort of — for being the one-time home of the Narragansett Brewing Company, and it scored a mention in the Jim Carrey flick "Dumb and Dumber." But the city has suddenly found itself at the center of the universe. The nation's smallest state has gone big on pride after Cranston native Olivia Culpo snagged the Miss Universe title on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, beating out 88 other women from six continents to bring the title back to the U.S. for the first time since 1997. Cranston Mayor Allan Fung calls it "mind-boggling" to have his city of 80,000 residents, the third largest in Rhode Island, put on the map for an international audience. He says Culpo's win is inspirational for the city, state and nation. "To have Olivia perform the way she did, with the poise that she did, coming from where she came from, it provides this really feel good moment," he said Thursday. "She's going to be a wonderful ambassador for Cranston in particular, her hometown, but our state and our country." Fung gave the 20-year-old Boston University student a key to the city after she was crowned Miss USA in June, the first time anyone from Rhode Island had won the title. A tree was planted in her honor at City Hall, and a band of students from local high schools played. Culpo herself is an accomplished cellist. Fung said she can have another key to the city — or whatever she wants — given her beauty pageant promotion. "She is the center of the universe," he said. In an interview, Culpo thanked Rhode Islanders for their support and said she loves the state "where it all started." "I think it's cool to put Rhode Island on the map," she said. "To be able to have come from such a small place and to now be representing so much is so cool." Rhode Island residents' nerves were on edge after Culpo tripped slightly during the competition's evening gown segment. She then was asked a question about whether she had ever done something she regretted; she said you learn from every experience, good or bad, but that she regretted picking on her siblings growing up. After she was crowned, congratulations flooded Twitter, including from her former Catholic school in East Providence, St. Mary Academy Bay View; Providence Mayor Angel Taveras; even Rhode Island's most famous seller of its trademark hot wieners, Olneyville New York System. U.S. Rep. David Cicilline sent out a news release including a picture of her in a white dress and her Miss USA sash that was taken outside his Washington, D.C., office. He said she had already made Rhode Island proud but that "her success tonight is an even greater source of pride for the Ocean State." While Culpo will be back in Rhode Island for the holidays, no official appearances as Miss Universe are planned. She said she's looking forward to seeing one of Providence's landmarks while she's home: the giant termite atop a pest control business near downtown.

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Broadway's 'Newsies' recoups its investment

The boys from "Newsies" now have one more thing to dance about — they've made their money back. Disney Theatrical Productions said Thursday that the musical recouped its $5 million investment in just over nine months — faster than any other Disney stage property. The profitability of "Newsies" adds to Disney's high success rate on Broadway. The entertainment giant has had now five hits — including "The Lion King" and "Mary Poppins" — from seven Broadway shows it has produced, way above the 3-in-10 average recoupment of most Broadway shows. "Newsies" is based on the 1899 true story of child newspaper sellers in turn-of-the-century New York who go on strike. A 1992 film, starring Christian Bale, Bill Pullman, Robert Duvall and Ann-Margret, did poorly at the box office but has become something of a cult hit. Composer Alan Menken and lyricist Jack Feldman, who were responsible for the film score, teamed up again to transform "Newsies" into a musical for the stage, reworking the songs and collaborating with the new story writer, Harvey Fierstein, known for his work in "Hairspray," ''La Cage aux folles" and "Torch Song Trilogy." The new musical retains the memorable songs "Santa Fe," ''The World Will Know," ''Carrying the Banner," ''Seize the Day" and "King of New York," but adds a young female reporter to the story and plenty of muscular, high-impact dancing. The show had a critically acclaimed debut in September 2011 at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J., and opened on Broadway in March at the the Nederlander Theatre, where it won Tony Awards for best score and choreography. So far, nearly 400,000 people have seen the show in its 41 weeks of performances and it has regularly been among the top earning shows each week.

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