Category: entertainment

entertainment

Hold on to those coattails, buddy

Becca

I’ve always known that this city is saturated with leeches. You know, people riding on the coattails of their successful family member or friend. It seems that famous people are always just one degree away. “[Famous action director] is my 40-year-old boyfriend.” “[Famous director] is my brother.” “I’m [famous actor]’s cousin.”

And sometimes those people become successful. You can argue that talent and hard work are required at some point to really make it. Or not. Who knows?

But never have I seen such a blatant attempt to use someone else’s fame for their own success as in a recent email I received from a famous film director’s UNCLE. Here’s a sample of the email after I asked him what he was looking for me to write:

“i was trying to give u a story of one of the most famous directors in LA, You obvious dont have a clue to who [famous director] is?
I found u online, never read anything you wrote, I was giving you an opportunity of a life time , to interview my life , which is probably one of the most thrilling stories of our time , We have written a script on the story of my life called — which will knock you of your chair, Being am his uncle i thought it might be something you might of been interested in . LA times journalist approached me coming out of [director’s] house last year. and i said no , but i think its just the right time in my life , my projects, and my story.”

Now, I know a PR sceme when I see one, but I was shocked with how aggressive he got so quickly. I do of course know who this director is (and had double-checked with him that this was in fact his uncle), but I can’t quite see how this uncle thinks that any REAL journalist wouldn’t be able to see right through this poorly written attempt to sell the director’s story as his own.

I’m keeping this anonymous because I don’t want said UNCLE to receive any publicity from me, since that’s what he was going for in the first place. And I doubt this is the director’s fault, so he doesn’t deserve the bad press. And who knows, maybe the UNCLE’s intentions were genuine, but I think the words speak for themselves.

I wish people like this all the best. And I’m sure some of them make it. But their hands must get so tired from gripping so tightly on their relative’s coattails.

Hold on to those cottails, buddy
Hold on tight


animals, entertainment

Flour shower for Lohan

Becca

lindsay_flour

Lindsay Lohan was pelted with a bag of flour as she entered a nightclub in Paris with friend, Sam Rosen. She was wearing a fur stole.

PETA’s blog had this to say about the incident:

“Lindsay Lohan’s tan turned noticeably paler tonight after an anti-fur activist showered her with flour at a nightclub in Paris. Lindsay was on her way into the VIP room on the Champs-Elysées just after 1 a.m. early Saturday when she had an entire bag of flour dumped over her head by a French fur foe who shouted, “Lindsay Lohan—fur hag!” “

Lohan was named to PETA’s annual worst-dressed list earlier this year. Her entry read: “I Know Who Killed Me isn’t just the title of Lindsay Lohan’s latest bomb, it’s the cry of the animals snuffed out so that this ‘mean girl’ can pose in their pelts. Lindsay, there’s no road to recovery for the foxes who are anally electrocuted so that you can look skanky.”

PETA has been a harsh critic of Lohan for some timenow, asking her to get rid of her fur-wearing ways.

I’m a big fan of animal rights, and not of a fan of stupid celebrities who do nothing good with their power, so to me this seems pretty much ok. I’m trying really hard to see the other side, just for the sake of those that will argue against me, but I just can’t.

Animals can’t defend themselves against the cruelty of people. And this is not about human freedom to dress how we please. Because it’s about animal rights. We’re not talking about sandals or high heels. We’re talking about living creatures.

For someone with so much money (and so little purpose) it would not take much effort for her to ditch the fur. And maybe gain a LITTLE respect. But that doesn’t seem to be a priority for Lohan in any shape or form.

entertainment

Metromix- Check it out!

Becca

I feel terrible that I haven’t done any REAL, solid writing on here as of late. I blame my new employer, Metromix. In case, you’ve never checked it out, I would like to invite you to explore the wonderful world that is Metromix. It’s part of the Tribune company, but not a part of the LA Times, although it does reside in their building in downtown LA.

They have bureaus all over the country, but I work for the National office as a TV and Pop Culture Contributing Editor. It’s a really fresh group of people, learning to exist in this internet-crazed world. Check it out here!

entertainment

A Fair Affair

Becca

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting 

I’ve often thought that I could easily live a happy life going from one festival to the next. And in Los Angeles, you could probably pull that off. But the fair of all fairs? The La County Fair.

On its very last day, we headed out to the LA County Fair. And what a fair it is. Sure, it’s is extremely expensive these days. And they have this fancy card you scan instead of little brightly colored tickets, which really just makes it harder to realize how much money you’re actually spending. But for such a fun-filled day of freedom… it’s worth it.

We spent the evening eating friend food (frog legs even!), visiting cows (not the best smelling beasts), riding the carnival rides, winning stuffed animals (well, some of us) and forcing people into awkward romantic poses for photos.

Taking photos is one of my favorite hobbies, so here we go….

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

entertainment, news

Banned Book Week

Becca

From The Los Angeles Times:

So Cal Rediscovers Lost Books
Rebecca Ford, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “1984,” “Gone with the Wind,” “Hamlet”–all books that were once banned by various libraries and governments within the United States. Children’s books, in fact, have been banned more than any other genre, and one of the most commonly banned authors in American letters is beloved children’s author Judy Blume…..

See the rest Here

entertainment

The Emmys- What happened?

Becca

The Emmys were bad. I wish I could put a nice red bow on that statement to make it a little gentle. But let’s face it– the hosts were boring, the show was rushed and the presenters ranged from pathetic to uninteresting.

For example, why was LC from ‘The Hills’ presenting? That show, while I DO watch it, belongs no where NEAR the Emmys.

And let’s not forget the technical glitches. The mics didn’t work, there were random shots of doorways, and of course one guy’s acceptance speech got cut off, poor guy. I can’t even remember who it was…

Sure there were moments of funny. Thank goodness for Ricky Gervais. That guy is funny. His bit with Steve Carell was maybe the high point of the evening (by the way, both of them were ROBBED in my opinion.)

The Emmy planners thought it would be really creative to have the five nominees for Best Reality Host host the show– but they must have forgotten that that would be awkward and uncomfortable. Because that’s all it was.

If anything, the Emmys only saving grace was reminding me of the great shows that will start up this week and next: the Office, Grey’s, etc etc…. Thank goodness for that.