Nik Wallenda announces Georgia gorge tight-rope walk
Daredevil tightrope walker Nik Wallenda is setting his sights on a new goal: the nearly 1,000-foot deep Tallulah Gorge in the northeast Georgia mountains.
The Georgia gorge holds special meaning for Wallenda because his great-grandfather Karl Wallenda crossed it on a high wire on July 18, 1970.
“To be able to walk literally in his footsteps is what my life’s about,” said Nik Wallenda, who discussed the idea in an interview hours after he crossed a 100-foot-high tightrope inside the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Feb. 8.
Karl Wallenda later plunged to his death while trying to walk a cable between two buildings in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1978.
Nik Wallenda said he’s already visited the gorge near the Georgia town of Tallulah Falls, and he’s considering attempting the feat within the next three years.
“Hopefully we can make it happen,” Wallenda said.
The Georgia gorge walk would add to accomplishments that include his televised crossing of Niagara Falls in June 2012 that gained international attention. Last year, he crossed the Little Colorado River Gorge in the Grand Canyon area of Arizona.
Pink the latest pop star set for Oscars
Have the Oscars gone Grammys?
Producers of the 86th Academy Awards announced Friday that Pink will appear on the Oscar show. The Grammy-winning singer joins a lineup already set to include performances by U2, Pharrell Williams, Bette Midler, rocker Karen O and Broadway star Idina Menzel.
Producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan didn’t specify what Pink’s performance will entail.
Williams, Menzel, Karen O and U2 are set to perform their nominated original songs on the March 2 show.
Infamous de Blasio fork auctioned
The results of an auction just might put a fork in the mini-flap over New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to use cutlery to eat pizza at a Staten Island restaurant.
A charity auction website shows the fork that he used sold for $2,500 to an anonymous bidder. The item fetched six bids in an online auction that ended Friday.
Proceeds will benefit the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. The group helps first responders and wounded soldiers.
Foundation Chairman Frank Siller said the winning bidder gave the fork back to Goodfella’s Pizzeria.
Pizzeria co-owner Marc Cosentino told news site DNAInfo “it’s a nice piece of New York history to have.”
The birthday bunch
Actor-director Peter Fonda is 74. Musician Johnny Winter is 70. Actress Patricia Richardson (“Home Improvement”) is 63. Actress Kristin Davis is 49. Actress Kelly Macdonald (“Boardwalk Empire”) is 38. Actor Aziz Ansari is 31. Actress Emily Blunt is 31. Actress Dakota Fanning is 20.