HOLLYWOOD—Unless you have been living under a rock for the last year, you have heard of “Flappy Bird.” The addictive smartphone game skyrocketed to the top of the app charts from both Google and Apple’s app stores.  On February 8, the game’s developer Dong Nguyen tweeted that he planned to remove the game despite its tremendous success, without any explanation. Some of his tweets said, “I just can’t take this anymore.” While Dong was raking in a whopping $50,000 per day from Flappy Bird users, even though the game was free, he didn’t give much of an explanation beyond that. The game reminded me of the 80s game, Super Mario Bros.


Some of the users were so outraged about the app being deleted that Dong was receiving death threats on Twitter from fans of the game. You have to wonder why 29-year-old Vietnamese game designer Nguyen who was making so much money on the world’s most downloaded game killed Flappy? Perhaps, it infringed on Nintendo rights? The 50 million people who had already downloaded “Flappy Bird,” can still play it on their phones, however, the rest of the world’s billions will never have the pleasure or the frustration of fatally bonking the yellow bird.

Puzzling to so many people, the game soared to the heights of “Candy Crush,” and “Angry Birds.” The game consisted of tapping the screen repeatedly in order to pilot the bird through the gaps between a series of pipes that looked like the original Super Mario Bros. You would touch one, and the bird drops dead and does a beak-plant. Game over, it would come to a crashing halt. It was truly the phenomenon of “Flappy Bird rage.” It was so addicting that fans would spend endless hours on the game. The bird stopped flapping, but why? Why did Dong have enough?

“I had enough,” that’s exactly what the late Shirley Temple said, after she quit acting. Shirley Temple was the child star that brought the gift of joy to millions. With movies like “The Bachelor,” “Bright Eyes,” “Heidi,” and many more she made millions. Shirley Temple married Charles Black and left her acting career behind. She passed away on February 9, with her family by her side. Miss Temple will forever be in our hearts.

George Clooney who recently joined a star-studded cast for the London premiere of his new film “The Monuments Men,” according to published reports is planning on focusing on his directorial career and leaving acting behind.

The Hollywood actor wrote, directed and stars in the World War II comedy which is inspired by the true story of a team of soldiers on a mission to rescue valuable artwork stolen buy the Nazis. The heroes manage to recover about 5 million works snatched across Europe.


Clooney, 52, recently told reporters in London that “as you get older, you have to have a fall back position when they get sick of seeing you in front of the camera.” Really, George?  Clooney, is like a bottle of wine, the older it is the better it tastes. The film stars, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Bob Balaban, Jean Dujardin and Hugh Bonneville. Cate Blanchett, who plays the art heist caper, was not in town for the event. The film has been released in the U.S. to mixed reviews. It is the fifth film George Clooney has directed, and the sixth time he has starred alongside his friend Matt Damon. The film was released on February 14 in England.

Rose’s Scoop: Hugh Jackman will host the 2014 Tony Awards on June 8 on CBS.