Showing posts with label celebrity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label celebrity. Show all posts

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Narcissist Extraordinaire

As Michael and I were channel surfing the other night-- we stopped and watched a few minutes of Ann Curry's interview with Angelina Jolie. Aside from Ann Curry gushing about how great Angelina is and interjecting how great she is, they talk about Angelina's new movie, A Mighty Heart. It is supposed to be the story about Daniel Pearl. You may remember him. He was the journalist that was kidnapped and murdered executed beheaded by Muslim extremists. Angelina portrays Marianne, Daniel's wife. During the interview you see how strikingly beautiful Angelina is... so one can't help but stop and watch for a minute...

Here are some excerpts from the transcript:

For Angelina, playing the role of Mariane was complicated.

Jolie: How do you play [it]? It’s like somebody said to you, “You know, your great girlfriend has gone through the most horrible thing in her life. Why don’t you stand up and show us what she went through and how it felt?” You can’t. You know? And it was hard. It was really hard. But she was great and she did just kind of disappear and say, “Just do it it how you feel.”

Curry: Did she kind of know that, “Hey, if I hang around, it’s gonna be hard”—

Jolie: I think she did...but I also think she genuinely doesn’t care about film.

Curry: No, she trusted you.

Jolie: I think she did trust me.

(Director Michael) Winterbottom put the actors together in a house in India for hours at a time, and started the cameras.

Winterbottom: We kind of hope that by filming in that house over five weeks, that gradually the actors would fall into relationships that were similar in a sense to the relationships the real characters had fallen into.

Angelina found herself improvising like she had never done before.

Jolie: Yeah. When I was emotional towards the end, he’d say, “If you don’t want me to follow you in, close the door. But if it’s okay, just leave the door [open].”

Curry: Because it got too heavy.

Jolie: It got real heavy. Or it just—something would happen where it would just be like, “Yeah, I”—yeah, something. You just couldn’t handle certain elements of it. But it was the only way we could close doors on Michael, but we couldn’t get out of the house.

Actor Dan Futterman played Daniel Pearl and was working with Angelina for the first time.

Dan Futterman, co-actor: She has that touch that some actors have that. You know how much preparation has gone into it. But in the work, it seems absolutely like the easiest thing in the world. She’s doing this accent that’s not her own. She was dressed in a way that’s not her, and a prosthetic belly. And she’s improvising. And it is the easiest—it seems, in working with her, it’s the easiest thing in the world.

And some people have that, and many actors, like myself, don’t. But I admire it enormously. There’s this feeling of being in the scene with her and also a slight bit of me being out of it, thinking, “You are so very good.”

The movie is a love story.


Ann Curry, NBC News: One of your co-stars says so many mean things were being written about you while you were filming the scenes in India that he stopped reading the paper because it was going to affect his ability to deal with your character on screen. How do you handle this?

Angelina Jolie: I’ve managed to just focus on other things. I mean, if anything, I get most upset because I wanna read a good paper first thing in the morning. And if I see a lie about myself flash across the front of the cover, I don’t think much of the rest of the newspaper.


My question... what legitimate newspaper would have an article about a celebrity on the front page? Weekly World News?

Ann Curry: I think most people have a hard time understanding how you can possibly deal with this spotlight you’re under. I mean, just to do this interview I’m told somebody was trying to climb the fence just to be involved in doing this interview, people wanted to interview me.

I don’t understand this crazy world you’re in. I only dip into it for a few moments and dip out. And so how do you even handle this? It’s crazy, Angelina. This is—this is—

Jolie: You’re really making me feel uncomfortable...cause I really felt it was fine.

For the complete transcript go here. And if you are so inclined... do a search of "Daniel Pearl video" and you can be reminded how awful these extremists are and how much they hate us... Make no mistake... they hate us... they hate the Jews... but unfortunately Angelina and her boyfriend, Brad don't get that.

So... the decapitation of a Jewish man is a love story.... I've gone to bizarro world... haven't I?...


On a lighter note... Heckler Spray reports Angelina plans to take a year off from filmmaking.

So make the most time of Angelina Jolie while you can, everyone, because soon she'll be vanishing for a long long time. And when Angelina Jolie is gone, she's gone - and judging by the last time she did something similar, she'll only pop up intermittently to get pregnant, rush off to live in Africa in a blaze of publicity, try to get as many photographers arrested as possible, call in the secret service over a memory stick, sell her baby photos to whoever's richest and generally be in the news ten times more than if she was actually making films anyway.

Heckler Spray - go read the rest... pretty stinkin' funny

Cross posted at Proud To Be Out Of Touch

Sunday, May 20, 2007

That's What She Said

Sunny - Hi 99 Lo 76 for Baghdad, Iraq
Isolated Thunderstorms - Hi 79 Lo 58 for Northern KY, USA

Song of the week: Let's Live for Today, The Grass Roots

I had no idea how many songs I knew and enjoyed that were written and performed by The Grass Roots--- Midnight Confessions, Temptation Eyes, Sooner or Later, I'd Wait A Million Years. Why Grass Roots now? A deleted scene from the episode Booze Cruise in season 2 of the Office--- Creed Bratton (character name and real name in real life) does a talking head segment where he mentioned he was a member of The Grass Roots... This same scene shows him playing the blues... I understand why the scene was deleted... the line became a little blurry between fiction and reality. Then this season during the Benihana Christmas, Creed sang karaoke to his own song... Spinnin' N Reelin'... Too funny... By the way... on the album cover, Creed is on the bottom right and in the video he is paying lead guitar and standing on the left.

Ramble:

I have posted here before that I love The Office. This television show (along with Heroes) is my escape from reality during the work week. I adore the the characters--- I would be so lucky to work with folks like this...

First and foremost, of course I adore Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer)--- I want them to get together, but fear this will kill the show... you know... In watching the British version, we know they get together, but British television can be so much smarter... The Brits only keep a series for a couple of seasons... it always stays crisp and you keep yearning for more... better to do that than to have a Joanie Loves Chachi spinoff.... I was surprised that I also liked Jim's new love interest, Karen... she is a cutie patootie too. Rashida Jones plays Karen... Here is a fun little fact which I didn't know until this morning... she is the the daughter of Peggy Lipton (Mod Squad-- one of my favorite shows from the 60's--- I only saw this in reruns...never first run) and Quincy Jones. She apparently is getting her own show on Fox... so she'll be gone... John Krasinski is a cutie pie and I do have a crush on him... but that is a tad on the creepy side since he is not even 30....

Second, I love Dwight (Rainn Wilson)... I wanted a Dwight bobble head for Christmas... did I get one? No. My birthday has come and gone... Did I receive a Dwight bobble head? No. I love his talking head interviews:

How would I describe myself? Three words: hard working, alpha male, jackhammer…merciless…insatiable…

I did not become a Lackawanna County volunteer sheriff's deputy to make friends. And by the way, I haven't.

The Japanese camp guards of World War Two always chose one man to kill whenever a batch of new prisoners arrived. I always wondered how they chose the man who was to die. I think I would have been good at choosing the person.

I am greatly concerned about having a convict in the office. And I do not care if that convict is white, black, Asian, German, or some kind of halfsy. I do not like criminals.

Through concentration, I can raise and lower my cholesterol at will.

When my mother was pregnant with me, they did an ultrasound and found she was having twins. When they did another ultrasound a few weeks later, they discovered, that I had resorbed the other fetus. Do I regret this? No, I believe his tissue has made me stronger. I now have the strength of a grown man and a little baby.

Third, I love the entire ensemble---Steve Carell is magnificent as the bumbling idiot of a manager... They are all wonderful... However, my favorite character has got to be Creed... He is a nightmare... likes to steal, had to have been a hippy in the 60's, can apparently catch fish with his bare hands, he has a side business where he makes fake id's... Truly funny character...

The season finale was simply wonderful... Jan's boob job... and Jim asking Pam out... The fourth season can't get here soon enough... Ryan as Jan's replacement.... oh let the games begin... how will the date with Jim and Pam go? How will the relationship between Michael and Jan become even more dysfunctional? Will Dwight and Angela reveal their love for each other to the rest of the Office? Will Phyllis and Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration get pregnant? Will Kevin's band Scrantonicity ever get a real gig? Will Oscar go straight? Will Toby divulge his crush on Pam? What about poor Kelly-- will she ever shut up? Will Stanley ever get that crossword puzzle finished and will he ever receive a raise? I guess I'll be watching season 1 & 2 for now and patiently waiting for Season 3 to come out on DVD. By the way... did I loan any of you Season 1? I can't find it.

Monday is Heroes season finale... I'll probably post about that next Sunday.... I love that show too, but I'm getting a little weary of the liberal lean and hint of conspiracy theory to the plot line....

Blogs and Links to Check Out This Week:

The Office - @ NBC

Creed Bratton - A great little website... He also has photos of all his beloved guitars

Creed Bratton Interview - on You Tube

Midnight Confessions by The Grass Roots

Have a great week everyone!

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Who's Your Daddy

Well... thank Gawd it's not Alec Baldwin!!

My husband said it best... "You don't speak to a child like that... You don't speak to ANYONE like that -- regardless."

In addition to liberal, and useless idiot, I will now add words such as immature, narcissistic and psycho to my repertoire when a conversation comes up about Alec Baldwin.

Washington Post

Oh... I'm sorry, you didn't hear the voice message that Alec left for his daughter? Ah... well in addition to the threats he made to his 11 year old daughter, he called her a "rotten thoughtless little pig"... you know-- what every little girl wants to hear from her daddy...

Alec has already posted an "apology" on his website. I'm so proud of him... He managed to apologize for nothing, while at the same time blaming his ex spouse... oh and he managed to get in a plug for his new book..

Thank you to everyone who has posted messages of support and understanding. Naturally, it is not best for a parent to lose their temper with their child. Everyone who knows me privately knows that I have endured a great deal over the last several years in my custody litigation. Everyone who knows me privately
knows that certain people will go to any lengths to embarrass me and to disrupt my relationship with my daughter.

In such public cases, your opponents attempt to take a picture of you on your worst day and insist that this is who you are as a person. Outside the doors of divorce court, I have friends, I have respect from people I work with and I have a normal relationship with my daughter. All of that is threatened whenever one enters a court room.

Although I have been told by numerous people not to worry too much, as all parents lose their patience with their kids, I am most saddened that this was released to the media because of what it does to a child. I'm sorry, as everyone who knows me is aware, for losing my temper with my child. I have been driven to the edge by parental alienation for many years now. You have to go through this to understand. ( Although I hope you never do.) I am sorry for what happened. But I am equally sorry that a court order was violated, which had deliberately been put under seal in this case.

Once my book is published, I'm sure more people will understand the incredible strains created by parental alienation.

In the meantime, I'm sorry to anyone who's taken offense from this episode.

Isn't that nice? Isn't that thoughtful?

Cross posted at Proud To Be Out Of Touch

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Panem Et Circenses

Rain - Hi 44 Lo 39 for Baghdad, Iraq
Snow - Hi 37 Lo 33 for Northern KY, USA--- woke up to about 3 inches of the white stuff and it is still falling. abosolutely beautiful.

Song of the week: Respectable Street,
XTC - The video clip is from a movie called Urgh! A Music War. I have it on Beta.... would love to get it on DVD, but I don't think you can get it on DVD... The song is off XTC's 1980 ablbum Black Sea... I still have it... would love to get it on CD so I can download it to my iPod...

Ramble:

Earlier this week like everyone else, I read/heard about this:


"A morning radio show has been pulled off the air and 10 employees have been fired after a woman died last week after trying to win a Nintendo Wii video game console in a water-drinking contest at the show’s studios. The woman, Jennifer Lea Strange, 28, was one of about 18 participants who tried to win the video-game system on Friday by seeing how much water they could drink without going to the bathroom. Ms. Strange drank nearly two gallons over two hours, according to a contestant. She was found dead several hours later. Preliminary autopsy findings indicated the cause was water intoxication."

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: January 17, 2007


Local News Coverage and video

OK... so this woman, mother of a couple of kids, loving wife, blah blah blah decides that the only way she can get a Wii for her family is to enter this contest. OK.... fine. The woman like the other contestants signs a release form... relieving the station and it's employees of any liability... OK...fine. She dies from water intoxication.... sad and stupid waste, but OK... fine... The family intends to sue... OK... fine. My question is not "Why was this woman so stupid?" (I am assuming she was informed of the risks involved with drinking so much water without any potty breaks) My question is not "Who made the executive decision at the radio station that this was a good idea?" My question is, "When and why did this become entertainment??" Have we become so fat and lazy as a society that shows such as Jackass became part of our pop culture? I have even caught a couple episodes of recent America's Funniest Home Videos and folks falling down or seemingly getting hurt in one way or another seems to be a main staple. How did we get from Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan to bloody wrestling matches using chairs and ladders and simulated sex acts in a ring????What about the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships)? You are in a caged ring and fight until you give up or the rare occasion when the referee calls it because you have been beaten to a bloody pulp. Why is it that we give a rat's behind over the likes of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohen, and Britney God Help Us Spears -- Celebrity for the sake of celebrity. The list of what is construed as entertainment today is endless and mindless.... I do not exempt myself as a holier than thou on this topic either... the only part of American Idol that I watch are the opening weeks of the season with the auditions... why am I compelled to watch folks embarass themselves and then watch judges be mean, nasty, and rude? Why do I find that entertaining?

Or what about this? "A prostitute presents a creation from the Daspu Fall/Winter 2007-2008 collection in Rio de Janeiro January 19, 2007. Daspu is a fashion house founded and run by prostitutes whose designs have become the talk of Brazil's fashion industry nine months after its start. Its success has surprised its founders, who see its sudden prominence as a revolutionary moment for a country long ambivalent about its world-famous sex industry."
Reuters

"The Roman satirist Juvenal, writing in the first century AD, lamented that "the people that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions, and all else, now meddles no more and longs eagerly for just two things, 'bread and circuses'. Juvenal had the misfortune of living in a time when the civic virtues of the early Roman republic were a distant memory, when the moral dry rot, which eventually destroyed Rome from within, was already far advanced. Juvenal saw that the Roman citizenry had become so addicted to entertainment and pleasure that they had lost the capability of governing
themselves. Juvenal's scornful term 'panem et circenses or bread and circuses'has become synonymous with mindless self-gratification."

Steve Bonta

I would love to say I'm optimistic for our country and our collective soul, but I'd be lying... Someone please reassure me...please!!!

"Ben Franklin warned that 'only a virtuous people are capable of freedom'. Great republics die like aging trees, from the inside out. By the time of Juvenal, Rome was at the height of her imperial splendor, seen from the outside. But within, the Rome that had produced men like Cicero and Scipio was already gone. The hollow shell of empire persisted for centuries thereafter, but its demise had already been largely determined, because the Roman citizenry had come to prefer diversion over virtue."

Steve Bonta


Blogs and Links to Check Out This Week:

Related--
*A post I did back in September, 2005... I like this post.... Celebrities and Mocha Soy Lattes
*Read Steve Bonta's complete essay, Breads and Circuses -- excellent!!

RennyBA's Terella - long overdue, a lovely Norwegian that visits me

Oh No They Didn't!" -like a trainwreck I can't look away either...another celebrity gossip blog

Kentucky Republican Voice - a source for Kentucky grassroots information

Have a great week everyone!


Sunday, September 18, 2005

Celebrities and Mocha Soy Lattes

Sunny Hi 110 Lo 81 for Baghdad, Iraq
Mostly Sunny Hi 80 Lo 61 for Northern Kentucky, USA

Before I get started--- Happy Birthday Aimee!

Song of the week: Celebrity, Brad Paisley

As a kid and like those of my generation I loved television, I read magazines like Tiger Beat, 16, and Teen Magazine to learn more about my favorites in television and in music... I had crushes on the likes of Bobby Sherman (Here Come the Brides), Jack Wild (Dodger in Oliver, H.R. Puff N Stuff), Parker Stevenson (Hardy Boys), Scott Baio (Happy Days), David Cassidy (The Partridge Family), Mickey Dolenz (The Monkees), and Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky and Hutch) to just name a few. I have never liked the pretty boys-Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, Davey Jones, etc...) I wished that I could hang out with the likes of Kristy McNichol, Jodie Foster and the Brady Kids.

As I got older my adoration turned to bands.... Like television, music was a way to escape the trials and tribulations of growing up-- More accurately, it was a way of tuning out... zoning out... It was a means of getting away from my family and setting myself apart and finding my own "unique" identity.... I always seemed to have a crush on the drummer or bass player... I followed groups such as The Talking Heads, Echo and The Bunnymen, King Crimson, Squeeze, XTC, The Plimsouls, The Boomtown Rats, Pretenders, The Cars, The Clash, Elvis Costello, U2, The Specials, and The Police to name a few... I was there when MTV was born. How many times did you see J. Geils' Angel is a Centerfold...? I also had a passion for the "older" stuff- The Beatles, Elvis, Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones...you get the picture...

So because of this, I followed these folks and their lives through magazines and newspaper articles... Now remember all you young whipper snappers... this is all pre-cable, pre-Entertainment Tonight, pre-E!, pre-internet..... Would I call it worship?...No... I liked them and I wanted to know more about them...It was all innocent...

I can whoop just about anyones butt in tv trivia... I'm telling you... there is so much useless information floating in my head its amazing there is room for anything else... I'm talking about all the older television shows also... from Gilligan's Island to The Andy Griffith Show to The Adams Family to Mary Tyler Moore to M*A*S*H to Taxi to Mad About You to Cheers to Seinfeld.

Prior to March 2003, I was completely enthralled with television, especially the reality shows... The first reality show as I recall, was The Real World... "The true story of seven strangers picked to live in a loft and have their lives taped...." I adored Julie and wanted her to stay away from Eric. I loved the friendship between Heather and Julie. I loved Andre the rocker and his hair... always felt they didn't focus on him enough... I digress... Nearly 10 years later Survivor premieres... man... I was psyched!!... I bought into all the hype. I adored Rudy... that crusty old Navy Seal... but alas...Richard.... Richard won...

The second season of Survivor was so much fun because a local man was on the show... Rodger Bingham from Crittenden, KY was actually a teacher of Master Jedi Rob. Rob was thoughtful enough to get an autographed t-shirt for me... I still have it... Rodger was the one man on all the seasons I watched that remained consistently decent. He was the exception on the television show, in life he is the rule- One can play this game and play it honestly. One can speak about Jesus Christ and one's faith and those listening are not forced to do anything. No, he didn't win the one million dollars, but he did ask that the others vote him off before they voted off Elisabeth. --A noble and gallant act and all genuine--Some things are more important than being rich... To this day, I hold him in the highest regard.

March 2003.... What happened Cath? Well, "reality shows" seemed silly... As you recall we went to war in Iraq... Soldiers and Marines were putting it on the line "for real". The real reality was watching embedded reporters--Greg Kelly and Rick Leventhal on Fox reporting. from the front lines live as our brave fighting men defeated a murdering dictator. Today we rarely watch network television and when we do, we are stunned by some of the things we see...

I'm not sure when everything on television became bitches and whores... I'm not sure when men became stupid and disrespected in their own homes... its just not funny... When watching television or a movie, its more difficult to dive into that fantasy world... I'm too preoccupied with thoughts of... "I wonder if so and so is still married to so and so"... or I bet he is still doing drugs... look at how sick he looks..." or "Oh my God... Botox.... she can't blink..." or "...so help me God... he needs to shut up... I don't want to know what his politics are...don't make me dislike you...for the love of Pete..."

Don't misinterpret... I'm not a prude and I love to laugh at a good dirty joke... Yes, of course I watch the History Channel, Discovery Channel, etc etc... but I'm also a fan of SouthPark... Reno 911 (hysterical raunchy show), and of course Michael and I are fans of Spongebob Squarepants...my favorite character being Gary...

What's my point? I dunno.... I'm not sure I have one... I just wish we revered good behavior instead of bad behavior. I wish we would admire couples that have been married for more than a minute. I wish television was something I could watch with my grandfather and not be embarrassed by what is being said or what is being worn. I wish they would keep their traps closed. Let me like them for their body of work and not be preoccupied with the causes they support. I wish the kids weren't smart asses and had some sense knocked into them. Since when is talking back to your parents acceptable behavior? I wish the women had more respect for themselves... I wish the men behaved like men...

So, with that said... here is my salute to todays celebrity... Y'all make us proud....

"Healthy Relationships..."

Renee and Kenny....Already?
HT: The Therapist

Let's not forget these... Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, Tom Green and Drew Barrymore, Britney Spears and that guy that she was married to for about a day, Madonna and Sean Penn, Liza Minelli and that gay guy, Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett, Tom Cruise and Mimi Rogers, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley, Nicholas Cage and Lisa Marie Presley, Nicholas Cage and Patricia Arquette, Nicholas Cage and a 20 year old sushi waitress, J.Lo and anybody....

Run a Google search "celebrity divorces"...Some of these people are on their 5th and 6ths marriages... and they are younger than me!!

Predictions for future failed marriages...

Sandra Bullock and Jesse James

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes

Paris Hilton and the other Paris... Britney and her baby's daddy...

"Because My Opinion Matters..."

Please, please Gwyneth...
HT: Beware the Dark Side

Celine please shut up. Please shut up. "I open the television, there's people still there, waiting to be rescued, and for me it's not acceptable," she said on CNN television's Larry King Live late Saturday."
HT: My Pet Jawa

Jane Fonda just can't help herself...
HT: Scootertrash Conservative

Kanye West

"Acceptable Behavior... "


Poor misunderstood Russell Crowe.
HT: Ace of Spades

Anna at the AMA Awards. click on "watch now"
HT: The Superficial

Robert Downey Jr.

Read This



"It's Important that I Feel Good About Myself..."

"[...] by doubling aid, fully cancelling debt, and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 could change the future for millions of men, women and children." Live8
HT: A North American Patriot

Sean Penn single handedly saving the planet.... 1 cup at a time...

Martha has a show coming out this fall... good to remember... I won't be watching, but let me know if she speaks about ethics...

I did a Google search "celebrity causes" and got this and this and this.

For Fun...

Dateline: Hollywood

So, the Emmy's are on tonight... and don't forget about the pre show..."Who are you wearing?" blah blah blah.... Michael and I won't be watching... we will most assuredly miss all the wardrobe malfunctions, bleeps (if they still do that...) and all the lecturing on Katrina and the war and that awful Nazi President and Dick Cheney and Haliburton .... not interested... you watch and give me a full report...



Someday I'm gonna be famous, do I have talent, well no
These days you don't really need it thanks to reality shows
Can't wait to date a supermodel, can't wait to sue my dad
Can't wait to wreck a Ferrari on my way to rehab
Cause when you're a celebrity
It's adios reality
You can act just like a fool
People think you're cool
Just 'cause you're on TV
I can throw a major fit
When my latte isn't just how I like it
When they say I've gone insane
I'll blame it on the fame
And the pressures that go with
Being a celebrity
I'll get to cry to Barbara Walters when things don't go my way
And I'll get community service no matter which law I break
I'll make the supermarket tabloids, they'll write some awful stuff
But the more they run my name down the more my price goes up
'Cause when you're a celebrity
It's adios reality
No matter what you do
People think you're cool
Just 'cause you're on TV
I can fall in and out of love
Have marriages that barely last a month
When they go down the drain
I'll blame it on the fame
And say it's just so tough
Being a celebrity
So let's hitch up the wagons and head out west
To the land of the fun and the sun
We'll be real world bachelor jackass millionaires
Hey hey, Hollywood, here we come
Cause when you're a celebrity
It's adios reality
No matter what you do
People think you're cool
Just 'cause you're on TV
Being a celebrity
Yeah celebrity

Have a great week everyone!