Red Ryder gun from ‘A Christmas Story’ acquired by museum

Red Ryder gun from ‘A Christmas Story’ acquired by museum

CLEVELAND

A museum dedicated to “A Christmas Story” has acquired the holy grail of movie memorabilia: a Red Ryder BB gun wielded by Ralphie in the beloved holiday film.

The Cleveland house where exteriors for the 1983 movie were shot already draws thousands of tourists year round. Now visitors to the adjacent museum will get to lay eyes on the Christmas gift Ralphie longed for most of all: the “Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time.”

Brian Jones, the owner of the house and museum, paid $10,000 for it on an Internet auction site. It was one of six special models produced for the movie by Daisy, the company that makes Red Ryder guns.

Sinatra gets tribute for centennial birthday

LAS VEGAS

One hundred is turning out to be a very good year for Frank Sinatra.

What would have been the musical icon’s centennial birthday Dec. 12 has been celebrated with an HBO documentary about his life, a Grammy museum exhibit, even dinner specials at an old Las Vegas steakhouse.

Tonight, his birthday gets the star treatment with a live Grammy-produced concert at the Wynn resort-casino in Las Vegas.

Among the stars paying tribute to Frank Sinatra are Tony Bennett, Garth Brooks, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Adam Levine, Carrie Underwood and Usher.

The two-hour concert airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on CBS.

Robinson of Sly and the Family Stone dies

WASHINGTON

Cynthia Robinson, a trumpeter and vocalist whose bold and brassy style made her a key member of Sly and the Family Stone, has died at age 71.

Jerry Martini, her longtime friend and fellow horn player in the band, said Wednesday that he was among those with her when she died of cancer Nov. 23 at her sister’s home in Carmichael, Calif.

A Sacramento native, Robinson joined Sly Stone (the stage name for Sylvester Stewart) and four others in the late 1960s for what became one of the first bands to feature women and men and blacks and whites. Sly and the Family Stone’s wide open, funky style helped change popular music, and Robinson’s trumpet playing and singing was hard to miss on such hits as “Everyday People,” “Hot Fun in the Summertime” and “I Want To Take You Higher.”

Associated Press