Life & Style | Still working ‘9 to 5,’ Dolly Parton marks 50 years at Opry

Country superstar Dolly Parton is still working “9 to 5,” and doing what she loves as she celebrated her 50th anniversary as a Grand Ole Opry member.

The 73-year-old actress, singer and songwriter, who first played the Opry when she was just a teenager, played the longstanding radio show yesterday [Macau time] in Nashville in front of sold-out crowds. Hank Williams Jr., Lady Antebellum and Toby Keith performed in her honor as well.

She joked to reporters before her performance that when the Opry approached her about the anniversary, she told them, “I don’t want people to think I’m 50 years old.”

Parton said she was grateful to still be chasing her dreams and said she’s got more film, TV and music projects on the way.

Romania’s autumn fairs delight all ages, incomes

Romania’s autumn fairs are a loud, colorful reminder that summer has come to an end. And for many families in poorer areas of the country, they are one of the few affordable events of the year.

Fairs like the one in Titu, northwest of Bucharest, which is on its 187th edition, were the sole public entertainment in 19th-century rural Romania. It’s a bit more high-tech nowadays, but otherwise little has changed in two centuries.

Thousands flock to fields outside small cities, where entertainment areas are set up from mid-week until the weekend.

Music and flashing lights strike visitors on arrival at the fairground, which is constantly engulfed in smoke from the food grills and an endless mix of food flavors.

Nowadays, music blasts from large speakers at deafening levels, featuring trendy pop songs from international bands or techno versions of Romanian popular songs.

Entertainers scream at the top of their lungs to advertise the rides, painted in a kitsch style with images of famous action movie actors like Vin Diesel or performers like Michael Jackson.

Shepard Smith leaves Fox News Channel

Shepard Smith, whose newscast on Fox News Channel seemed increasingly an outlier on a network dominated by supporters of President Donald Trump, abruptly quit after signing off his final newscast on Friday.

Smith, who had signed a contract extension last spring, said that he had asked the network to let him out of his deal and it had agreed.

“Even in our currently polarized nation, it’s my hope that the facts will win the day, that the truth will always matter, that journalism and journalists will thrive,” he said.

His departure comes one day after Attorney General William Barr met privately with media mogul Rupert Murdoch, founder of Fox News, although Smith’s representatives cautioned against conflating the two events.

Trump has been increasingly critical of personalities on Fox News that he views as disloyal.