Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie PhotoShoot Meant to Confuse?

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Pitt-Jolie spread in 'W' meant to confuse paparazzi

Huh? According to the Baltimore Sun, the 60's family photoshoot of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in W was meant "to confuse the paparazzi." This was evidently the brilliant brainchild of photographer Steven Klein.

Personally I think he knew what the end result would be and used that ridiculous excuse to sell the idea to the new couple. He may get some people to believe that was his true motive - free from any lurid profit motive, but I refuse to believe that a professional involved in the entertainment media couldn't foresee what would happen after it was published.

Ditch the lame excuse, Steven. Am I really supposed to be buying it? I'd have more respect for you if you just came out and admitted that you were capitalizing on a unique opportunity to cash in.

Naturally, the end result was the photoshoot only hyped the relationship rumors further. Why? Because they really were having a relationship. Duh! Whether it was sexual or not at that point is a matter of some debate with denials being issued by both Jolie and Pitt; however, I can't imagine that a man going through a divorce would agree to appear in such a photoshoot unless he already was already involved in a romantic relationship with the other woman.

It was bad judgment all the way around...It's never a good idea to throw that kind of thing in your soon-to-be ex-wife's face. It makes you look mean and petty to the public, and it certainly doesn't lend itself to any level of post-divorce civility between the two.

Good taste dictates that they should have played it cool and done a more conventional spread, but I guess good taste goes out the window when it comes to selling magazines, doesn't it?

Did Suge Knight Shoot Himself?

Who shot Suge Knight?

While at Kanye West's party before the MTV VMAs, Suge Knight was the victim of a gunshot to the leg. Now the question is: who shot him?

One of the theories being put forth is that he accidentally shot himself which would be what we call "karmic justice."

This whole "thug" thing has gone far enough, and there's needs to be an end to it. So if Suge Knight was a victim of the gun he was carrying, then I can't say I feel badly for him. He's a multi-millionaire and still trying to act like he's living tough in the projects. He hasn't been living that life for a long, long time.

Playing make-believe and creating hyped up feuds with other rappers so you can keep your "thug" image is moronic. These imagined beefs between rappers and their posses are stupid: they're just excuses for grown men to rationalize acting like an animal. Color me extremely unimpressed.

At what point do you have enough to sense to put down the weaponry and say "That's not the life a civilized person should be living?" What good is it to be rich and successful if you have to live in fear of being taken out for some imagined slight? (Yeah, yeah, yeah I know he says he isn't afraid, but if that's true then why is he carrying a gun and why does he have armed bodyguards? Because he's afraid of being shot. He can say whatever he wants, but actions speak louder than words. 'Nuff said...)

If you live the life of a wannabe thug, then I'm not sympathetic when another wannabe thug takes aim at you or if you get injured because of your own carelessness. And yes, he's a wannabe thug because the real-life thugs are drug-dealing losers who kill each other to protect their territories. Unless you can show me where Suge is dealing crack in the projects near his home, he's a wannabe playing at being a thug. (And evidently not very well because he keeps getting caught and going to jail for his antics.)

Guns aren't toys. Life is precious. If you can't see that then go back to living the tough guy life on the streets for real because as far as I'm concerned you don't deserve whatever blessings you've been given: you're just an animal in human clothing...

Alison Krauss Dominates Bluegrass

Country star Alison Krauss tops bluegrass nominees

I don't think anyone should be surprised that Alison Krauss and her band Union Station are the top nominees at the upcoming International Bluegrass Music Association awards. They garnered 14 nominations for everything from Entertainer of the Year to Song of the Year.

While there may be a number of bluegrass performers around, none have the name recognition or unique sound that Alison and Union Station have put together. Her voice is other-worldly, and they surround it with great musicianship. Can you even name one other bluegrass performer? Probably not...

In order to have some truth in advertising, they should probably just rename the Bluegrass Awards Show this year to 'Alison Krauss and Some Other Folks You Probably Haven't Heard Of.'

Congrats to Alison and Union Station...

Alicia Keys Gets 'Unplugged'

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

MTV brings back 'Unplugged' for Keys

Alicia Keys will be performing on MTV's Unplugged, and the show is scheduled to air on September 23rd.

Finally. MTV these days has become less Music television and more about inane reality shows over the last few years. It's gotten to the point that I rarely bother to turn it on at all because there are far better places to see videos or hear the lastest music. Unplugged was always one of MTV's best original series, but the problem is that if an artist performs on Unplugged they had better be good because there's nothing to mask any flaws in their performance.

MTV hasn't aired a new Unplugged episode since 2002, and I think that's due in large part to the fact that most of today's popular singers sound perfectly awful without studio magic. Alicia Keys is blessed with a great voice and has worked hard to be a good piano player, so she's an ideal choice for a new episode.

I'm not the first to complain about MTV's lack of music, and there's no doubt that I won't be the last. The reality is that it has forgotten its roots, and hopefully Alicia's Unplugged will be enough of a success to resurrect the series. It would be a long overdue return to what made MTV successful in the first place.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

Gwyneth Paltrow Shows Her Hypocrisy

Monday, August 29, 2005

Gwyneth Paltrow criticizes ex-boyfriend Brad Pitt

Gwyneth Paltrow gave an interview to Time magazine in which she chastises Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston for the media hype surrounding their breakup. In essence, she says that because they were public about their relationship, they brought it on themselves when they split.

OK. Fair enough that throwing your relationship into the press does kind of make it public domain when it ends. But if you truly believe that their breakup is a private matter, then why does you feel the need to stick your nose into it? If asked, the classy thing to do would have been to say something like "It's between Jennifer and Brad, and I won't comment on it." But to criticize them for being public about their relationship and then turn around and be public about what you think about their relationship is hypocrisy in the extreme...And hypocrisy is never pretty...

Listen up, Gwyneth. I'm glad you've got your happy life, but the next time someone asks for your opinion ask yourself if sticking your foot in your mouth is the smartest move to make. If you believe that relationships are private and that the media should respect your privacy, then you have an obligation to respect other peoples' privacy too. Think before you speak. Shooting from the hip obviously isn't your strong suit...

George clooney Takes a Big Gamble

Clooney invests in casino resort

It turns out that George Clooney has been doing even more than I thought when I posted a few days ago about his injured back. He's taken the plunge into Las Vegas entertainment with an investment into a casino project slated to be completed in five years.

The casino, to be called Las Ramblas, is budgeted at $3 billion which is a huge amount of money, but by Las Vegas standards it barely raises an eyebrow. He's partnered with Cindy Crawford's husband, and they're looking for additional investors.

They're in talks with his other Hollywood friends such as Brad Pitt who co-starred with him, ironically enough, in the casino robbery flicks Ocean's Eleven and Twelve.

My respect for George Clooney continues to grow. While many of his Hollywood colleagues wind up penniless on third-rate reality shows after the fame dies away, he's making investments that could leave him a far, far wealthier man than the day he makes his last movie.

Green Day Cleans Up

Green Day sweeps MTV video awards

Break out the brooms because Green Day made pretty much a clean sweep of the MTV Video Awards last night with seven wins. No matter how you slice it, that's an impressive performance that definitely will make a mark in music history as 2005 being Green Day's year.

Congrats also to Kelly Clarkson and Kanye West who walked off their own awards for Best Female and Best Male Videos, but there's no doubt that the evening belonged to Green Day.

As they say overseas: Good on ya, boys...

Fans Pay Price for Sharon Osbourne's Tantrum Toward Iron Maiden

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Brown: Vengeful Sharon Osbourne shortchanges Ozzfest fans

Enough's enough, folks. First, Iron Maiden acts like idiots trash-talking Ozzy Osbourne on-stage during Ozzfest. Hey guys, it's his show: if you don't like him then don't tour with his show. Then, Sharon Osbourne plots the most juvenile revenge by having people pelt them with eggs and cutting their power halfway through their show. Who loses? Fans...

Dan Brown gets it right. These immature morons on both sides seem to forget who's paying the bills. They've been living the high-priced lifestyle of sex and drugs so long that they've forgotten they wouldn't have a dime to their names except for the folks who pay mega-bucks to see them perform. Did you hear that? "Perform"...not "act like five year olds"....

It's not like a) Iron Maiden has had a hit in the last decade, or b) Sharon Osbourne has any talent whatsoever, or Ozzy has a single functioning brain cell left in his head after years of heavy drug abuse. Both sides should be grateful that fans are still willing to shell out this kind of money to see them perform at all. It should be enough motivation to put aside whatever petty grievances they might have off-stage and give those people a quality show. But they've been so insulated from the real world for so long that they don't care.

I hope the fans who attended that show sue the pants off both Iron Maiden and Ozzfest. Iron Maiden should never have agreed to perform in Ozzfest - except that the band members are desperate for money to pay for their extravagant lifestyles. So maybe if their lifestyles were taken down a notch or two, they would actually put on a decent show rather than waste everyone's time trashing another performer. As an organizer, Sharon's orchestrated stunt amounted to a defrauding of the people who came to see Iron Maiden perform, so as far as I'm concerned she should have to pay out every dime she has. Maybe if she had to actually work for a living rather than sponging off her husband's fame as she has for many years, she would have to tame her monster ego and treat people with some decency for a change.

Grow up...

Was Christina Aguilera Talking Trash About Britney Spears Or Not?

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Aguilera blames papers for feud with Spears

The only question I want the answer to is: Did Christina Aguilera say the things that have been reported or not? She's now saying that the tabloids are manufacturing the feud between her and Britney Spears. Well, did she say that Britney was too far gone for a comeback or not?

I didn't hear a denial that she said it. What I'm hearing is her blaming tabloids for publishing what she said. If she didn't say it, then where is the lawsuit or at least public denial of having said those things? And if she did say it, then how is it that tabloids are "manufacturing" anything?

This is sounding like one of those "I went too far shooting off my big mouth, and my managers say that I need to walk it back by playing it off on the press" things....It's no secret that there has long been a rivalry between the two, but if Christina did say those things about Britney then she should be spending more time exorcising "X-Tina" from her persona and less time talking trash about other people...

Just because you're a celebrity doesn't mean you're too big to apologize for doing or saying something stupid...Sometimes a little humility is all it takes...

Gretchen Wilson Folds Under Pressure

Gretchen Wilson pockets Skoal controversy

Gretchen Wilson has agreed not to display a Skoal can during her concerts in response to the asinine request of the Tennessee state's attorney general. That's too bad...

It's not that I'm such a fan of chewing tobacco. I just think that to even respond to such an idiotic letter is to encourage more such letters being sent to other artists. He knew he didn't have any legal standing to send the letter: he was trying to intimidate her and any other artist he doesn't care for. And folding to the pressure is only going to tell him that governmental intimidation works no matter how far off base he is.

When an artist can be intimidated into changing an act that doesn't break any laws or advocate any illegal activity, we're heading down the slippery slope that leads to Puritans telling us what we are and aren't allowed to listen to...for our own good, of course because personal responsibility is completely out of the question: we need some jerk sitting in a government-paid job to tell us what's good for us.

It's utterly ridiculous, and I'm sorry that she and her people have given up that easily...

Gretchen Wilson Brings Out the Lunatics in Tennessee

Friday, August 26, 2005

Gretchen Wilson Chewed Out

The state of Tennesseee has absolutely lost its mind. Country & Western singer, Gretchen Wilson, has a new song out called Skoal Ring in which she sings about the taste of chewing tobacco on her man's lips. So Big Brother has decided that she may be in violation of the settlement between states and tobacco companies regarding ads targeting young people.

Have you people in Tennesse lost your bleeping minds? When does the monster of political correctness finally consume itself in its own stupidity? First, she's not a party to the settlement so she can't be in violation of it. Second, the Dixie Chicks sang a song about killing a man and stuffing him in their trunk but that didn't draw a peep. Now chewing tobacco is sending the state's attorney over the edge? Where are this moron's priorities? Where is the outrage of the citizens of Tennessee? I've been to Tennessee: you people have a lot bigger problems than someone singing about chewing tobacco.

Paul Summers...you are a complete blithering idiot...

I dare the state of Tennessee to press the matter. The First Amendment covers rappers talking about killing policemen, yet he seems to think that his personal anti-tobacco crusade trumps the First Amendment when it comes to kissing a man who chews tobacco - which, by the way, is a completely legal activity.

I can't express my outrage strongly enough at the absolute lunacy that the anti-tobacco zealots have gone to. Listen folks: your state law enforcement establishment should be spending its time worrying about murderers, rapists, thieves and the like. When you can come to me and tell me that there is no such thing as violent crime in the state then maybe we can talk about you wasting the taxpayer's money and time violating First Amendment rights policing the lyrics to a country and western song. Until then, shut up and do the job you were elected to do...

And to all you folks in Tennessee who voted for this clown: you're as much to blame as he is. You deserve what you get...

Jennifer Aniston's Door's Open - Help Yourself

Alleged trespasser enters Aniston's home

USA Today calls the guy who walked right into Jennifer Aniston's home an "alleged trespasser," but I'll call him what he is: a freak.

What is up with these people? Would you just cruise into your neighbor's house uninvited? He obviously knew he didn't belong there because when he was confronted by her staff he ran away. A delusional person would have stayed and insisted he belonged there. His flight is proof that he's just a complete freak of nature and needs to be locked up.

But just as in the case of the photographer who was caught trespassing on Brad Pitt's house, he'll probably just get some minor citation and be left to roam the streets. Does he actually have to be given the opportunity to hurt her before he's forced to pay a significant price for his home invasion?

Something needs to be done about the laws that allow this kind of thing to go on...

George Clooney More Hurt Than Thought

Clooney Dishes on Bad Back

Yikes! It turns out that George Clooney was suffering from much more than a ruptured disc in his back when he canceled out on the Ocean's Twelve premiere last year.

I have to confess that I've never heard of the ailment described, but anything that involves spinal fluid leaking from your nose can't be any fun at all. When an insurance company refuses to cover you in making a movie, they must think it's pretty serious too. Evidently even after having bolts surgically installed in his spine, he still suffers from recurring headaches.

I'm impressed that he's still maintaining a full schedule acting, writing and directing films despite his health problems. Kind of makes me feel guilty for taking days off for relatively minor ailments...

Scout Found

Missing teen actress Scout Taylor-Compton found

Good news! She was found at a friend's house safe and sound and has been returned to her parents. Thank goodness she's OK.

Your Chance to Meet Jennifer Lopez

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Tickets to JLO boutique opening on auction

...provided you have enough cash that is. Jennifer Lopez is slated to open her new clothing boutique in Chicago on my birthday, September 22nd. While I wish her the best of luck in her new venture, I'm just having trouble seeing a big enough demand for olive green fur-trimmed ponchos, brown knit short-shorts and 4-inch studded suede heels in Chicago to sustain that kind of business over the long haul.

When I think of knit short-shorts and studded heels, Chicago isn't the first city that comes to mind. Maybe NY or LA, or even Atlanta, but if you've ever been to Chicago at any other time of year besides summer you know that none of that attire is going to be a staple of the average Chicagoans' wardrobe.

At any rate, if you're a J-Lo fan with too much money and time on your hands, then go ahead and take this chance to meet her. Take pictures because I'm not sure that boutique is going to have a long shelf life.

Teen Actress Missing

Teen actress Scout Taylor-Compton missing

I wanted to post this as soon as I saw it mainly because we have such a wide readership of generally terrific people. Yes, she's got some claim to fame, but at the end of the day she's a 16-year old girl who has gone missing.

According to the article, authorities believe she is a runaway - meaning they think she left home voluntarily; but the world is a dangerous place for a 16-year old girl, and she needs to be located. I don't know what could lead her to leave home, but even if she is safe and sound with friends someone needs to let authorities know that she isn't in danger.

If you have any information as to the whereabouts of this young lady, please notify authorities ASAP. If you don't, please pass this along to someone else. Talking about celebrities is fun, but the power of the internet is useless if that's all it's used for.

...Let's do what we can to make sure she's OK...

Hilary Duff's First is 'Most Wanted'

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Hilary Duff Scores First Billboard #1 With Most Wanted LP

Hilary Duff has scored her first #1 album with the release of Most Wanted.

Congrats to Hilary for reaching that coveted #1 spot though I have to admit that I'm a bit confused by the need for a 'Greatest Hits' compilation after releasing only two other albums. I seem to remember that it used to be a requirement for artists to have more than just a couple of albums with one or two hits on them to rate that kind of compilation album.

Shouldn't there at least be enough of a library to fill up half an album with previous hits? She just hasn't had enough hits or even a long enough time passed since the original release dates of these songs to qualify in my book....

I guess the people who are buying this album are the same ones who buy autobiographies by people who haven't even reached the age of 30 yet....

Justin Timberlake wins libel case, attacks press

Justin Timberlake wins libel case, attacks press

Justin Timberlake didn't cheat on Cameron Diaz two years ago and the model who said he said has admitted that she made the whole thing up. I'm just trying to figure out why tabloids feel the need to make up stories.

Look at the real-life goings-on with celebrities. Why do they have to make stuff up? The reality is almost always more interesting and far more inventive than anything some two-bit hack sitting in a press room could dream up. It's just stupid.

I'm glad Justin won this one: there's no need for these idiots to make up stories. Just report the truth, and let the stories tell themselves.

Celebrity Sex Tapes Boost Careers

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

The truth about celebrity sex tapes

Dan Brown nails this one. While no one would necessarily want to have their private exploits spread worldwide, it certainly has worked to the benefit of those celebrities who have had their ::ahem:: talents put similarly on display.

Let's run down the quick list:

- Pamela Anderson - her primary claim to fame was a handful of Playboy appearances and a featured spot on Baywatch. Millions of young men fantasized about what it would be like to spend an evening with her, and the release of the videotape gave them all a chance to sample the reality. If not for her sexual escapades, does anyone believe we would still be hearing about her?

- Paris Hilton - her primary claim to fame is being a spoiled rich party girl. The release of her tape made The Simple Life a ratings success and led to her appearance on the silver screen. There are plenty of beautiful rich heiresses, but how many others can you name? 'nuff said...

- Colin Farrell - his tape hasn't been released, but public interest in him has certainly risen since his court battle to prevent its release.

It just goes to show that the adage about any publicity being good publicity "...as long as they spell my name right..." is alive and well in Hollywood today...

Build Your Own Rock Star

Madonna's navel tops 'Spin' list

Spin magazine has created a list of their 25 Most Incredible Rock Star body parts which includes, amongst other things, Elvis Presley's hips, Madonna's belly button, and a certain part of the anatomy from Tommy Lee.

It's an interesting concept, but would you really want to see the rock monster it created? Keith Richards' liver by itself is scary enough...