Sunday, September 8, 2013

KATY PERRY: Killer Queen - a new fragrance by Katy Perry

Katy Perry's KatyCats will no doubt roar with delight for her new fragrance Killer Queen. I'll betcha anything it smells like:

Intentionally bedraggled hair buns
Pinterest
Candy floss
Lip gloss
Glitter
Lululemon sweats on the weekend
Milk chocolate
Sitting with your knees up to your chest wearing an enormous sweater that's pulled over your knees
Steaming latte
Gigantic LV bag over the shoulder
Several other bags carried by hand
One Direction
Total hotties
Stickers
Pink
A frilly thing
A one piece with flats
Bubbles
Cupcakes
And texts from your crush.

Monday, July 15, 2013

RIP Cory Monteith 1982 - 2013

As we all know by now, Cory Monteith died Saturday. He was found in his room by staff at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel in downtown Vancouver.

That's about 20 minutes away from where I live so I went by there today to take a look at a growing memorial to the actor. Since his death his fans have been leaving flowers, notes, photos and candles outside the hotel to express their grief and sadness. While there I took some photos...

I gotta say, I was very moved by what I saw there. There are many bouquets of beautiful flowers laid on the sidewalk just outside the hotel lobby. Some of the bouquets have cards and notes with handwritten messages to Monteith's family, friends and to his memory. There are many pictures of Cory and his girlfriend/costar Lea Michele accompanying the notes left by fans.
                                     
I spent some time at the memorial and read most of the cards and notes. They contain some very touching words and heartfelt sentiment from Monteith's fans. Then I stood back and took in the whole scene. I saw people come by to place flower bouquets and pay their respects. No surprise, reporters and camera men were on scene to cover the tragic death of this young guy.
                                     
As I stood there I thought about the times I've read or watched interviews with Cory Monteith. Not only did he seem like a totally decent guy, but I was always impressed with his openness about his nearly lifelong battle with addiction. From the age of 12, he said he used drugs and alcohol to cope with difficulty in his life. As he had spent much time in Vancouver, I understand he entered AA at a young age and worked hard to beat his addictions.

I thought about how much he must have suffered the twists and turns of addiction. I thought about what I know about that kind of suffering... how it has affected my friends, how it has invaded my family and caused death... just how it has affected my life and so many others. I thought about all these things.           
                                 
I walked past Cory Monteith one evening, about a year and half ago. He was jaywalking on Davie Street and then stepped up onto the curb right beside where I was. Our eyes met for a second and I realized it was that guy I had watched so many times on Glee. That was it. No further interaction of any kind. I watched him walk down Davie toward Granville Street in the city's nightclub district. I remember immediately wondering if he was going out drinking or if he was still sober.

Although the city coroner hasn't yet issued a cause of death, there is so much speculation that his death was caused by an overdose. But I suppose it doesn't matter. What does matter though is that there has been the tragic loss of a young man's life, a very talented guy who sang and danced. And we've all done that in front of the bathroom mirror at one time or another, so maybe that's one reason why we related so easily to him.
                                            
My hope now is that anyone living with an addiction asks for the help they need to overcome it and regain good health. We have nothing without our health. That's what I've been thinking about for much of the day.

As I write this I'm listening to my Glee CD, "The Power of Madonna". It has recordings from the "Madonna" episode of Glee which I absolutely loved. I mean come on, Sue Sylvester's "Vogue" is sure to go down in ancient history as one of the best things ever!

And, of course, Cory Monteith in his duet mashup with Lea Michele performing Borderline/Open Your Heart. What a great, fun performance they did together. No wonder they fell in love!

In the words of ABBA, "Thank You for The Music", Cory Monteith.

Rest in peace and may time give the gift of healing to your family, friends and fans.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Sean Penn = H(e)RO

Haiti is still recovering from January 12, 2010 - the dark day on which 300,000 people there died in a devastating earthquake. In its wake, with the help of actor Sean Penn, came the HRO or Haitian Relief Organization.

Fast forward to now and you'll find Sean Penn spending a great deal of his time in Haiti. CBS's 'Person to Person' went to Haiti to profile Penn. It aired last Friday and I loved seeing him using compassion & determination to help Haitians rise from the rubble around them.


Sean Penn lives in Haiti "50% of the time" and his Haitian accommodation is described in the interview as a “plywood cubicle” inside a house with 15-20 of his HRO staff.

His room is a *really* small space - as wide as the arm span of Person to Person journalist, Charlie Rose.


Note the photo ID card hanging on the wall. I'd really like to try it on as I suspect it has magic powers and would automatically grant me access to a time machine set to reliving Madonna's mid-80s heyday. ;-)



That's Sean Penn is his little Haitian room. I can't even imagine how different it likely is from any other dwelling this well-paid actor has found for himself elsewhere. And is it just me or doesn't that autographed 2012 Pin-up calendar on the wall give his room a certain jail cell quality?

Of living in Haiti he says, "the roosters in Haiti don't wait for dawn and so for me the two most popular things are earplugs and Ambien."


I was aware of Sean Penn's involvement in the rebuilding of Haiti, but I didn't know why he is involved.

The story according to Penn goes something like this: his son Hopper suffered a traumatic brain injury. Fortunately he's doing okay today, but Sean Penn witnessed the pain his son was in, and the relief he felt from a morphine drip. Sean Penn wanted to bring a similar kind of relief to Haiti.

He says “civil war”-style medicine was being practiced following the quake. Here's an example: a patient was given an aspirin and then doctors would proceed with a medically-necessary amputation using with a hardware store hacksaw. Oy! Those are Penn's words, not mine.

So, he went about creating the Haitian Relief Organization, J/P HRO.

 
 
Sean Penn says, "When you look down a city block of devastation and you see the pain of people and the death, you feel like, 'I can fix this'. Then a chopper ride over the devastated area led him to see “it wasn't about fixing it anymore, it was about helping as much as you could.”

And that was part of the beginning for Sean Penn and his relief organization in Haiti.

 

When asked if his work in Haiti has given him a chance to exercise some muscles he may not have known he has: “It's all lessons of surfing... I know when I'm in the right position to catch a wave, and I know when I'm not. And I knew I was in a place where I could do something.”

He now has the official government title, Ambassador at Large for Haiti. His most visible public task in Haiti is clearing the rubble from Haiti's national palace.


Of the national palace Penn says, "as an outsider certainly it seemed to be a symbol not only of Haiti's past, but of the devastation, of the fracturedness of the country. So it was time for Haiti to have a real, new start."

 

A J/P HRO clinic, as seen above, is a very busy place. There is 10-15 babies a week born here. And every month over 8,000 patients are treated. The healthcare services are all free provided by J/P HRO. Penn's team has also created a school, launched a community centre and hired Haitians to build new homes.

Haiti's only golf course is now a temporary housing camp (seen below) for displaced earthquake survivors.
 

Sean Penn tells Charlie Rose that the HRO's main role is camp management and to advocate on behalf of the camp populations. The camps once had a population 60,000 people. But a great deal of them have been relocated and there is now just over 14,000 people there who still need a permanent home.

Amazing progress, eh? But 14,000 is still a huge number.

In the camp, Penn and Rose also spoke with this woman who was pulled from the rubble and told the TV crew: “I lost two of my children, a son and a daughter.”
 

So where does all the money come from to do what J/P HRO does?

Penn says, "I can tell you it's millions of dollars of my money. It's what I can do. Money is not even the answer to how to fix this place. Belief in it."

But he says he could be doing more if only there was more donor money.

"Where is the courageous company with any kind of social responsibility that is going to serve both the United States interest and the Haitian human interest by bringing investment to this country, with all its magic possibilities. Where are these companies? Shame on those who aren't giving it a go.”
 

As his work has progressed he says he's changed too. Sean Penn says Haitians have given him more than he's given them. “They've given me a real proximity to humility. I know what I have to do when I wake up in the morning. And I'm never bored.”

The teenage stoner Sean Penn portrayed in the classic 80s movie 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' is cool, but Sean Penn himself - for all his work in Haiti - is way cooler, don'tcha think?

Go ahead and throw in a comment down below, it'd be nice to know your thoughts about this.

All photos CBS

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Kirk Cameron IS a Growing Pain... Right in the Ass!


Former working actor recites Biblical theory instead of dialogue

I can't believe I had such a huge crush on Kirk Cameron when I was a kid.

I used to glue myself to the TV to watch Growing Pains each week. After the episode was over, I'd walk down to Boots Drug Store and haunt the magazine rack for at least an hour, poring over every single teen publication with even a blurb about Kirk Cameron.

Then the years go by and POOF!.. he's a bigot!

Getting current, remember back in March when Cameron appeared on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight and spewed a bunch of hatred and bullshit about gays and the effort to attain equal marriage rights?


Well, he's kind of at it again. Kirk Cameron now appears in a new video from the National Organization for Marriage. In the video, of course, he only refers to marriage in the context of a man and woman.

WATCH the evil unfold here: http://youtu.be/39WtiYcG9y0

It's amazing to me some of things he says in the video:

“...society and civlization is really held together by the glue of families ...  this is where the next generation of human beings are incubated and nurtured and matured in homes, in families.”

“When a man and a woman come together and say 'I do'...”

“I want people to know that there is a way out of wilderness living. There's a way to get off the path that leads us toward seperateness and move us toward togetherness.”

Hey Kirk, what say YOU come out of wilderness living?
How about YOU get off the path of separateness?
Why don't YOU model a move toward togetherness?

He's so self-absorbed in his own narrow, bigotted definition of marriage, family and togetherness that he doesn't even realize that as he talks about those ideas, he's refusing to acknowledge that families are also made up of parents that are mom and dad, mom and mom, dad and dad.

Not to mention all the single parent families out there, with a gay or straight man or woman heading up a family structure that is loving, supportive and challenged everyday... just like any family.

One of the first gay bars I ever went to had a framed poster of Kirk Cameron from his teen idol days, hanging by the pool tables. It was a camp decor choice and quite funny.

That poster is long gone from that bar because smart, compassionate, tolerant people know that eventually, with his hatred and bigotry, he'll hang himself.

Monday, November 7, 2011

REVIEW: An Evening with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer
November 6, 2011, Vancouver's Vogue Theatre

One wonders what it might be like to take one’s honeymoon on a West Coast tour. That’s kinda of what Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer are doing as the pretty much just-married couple landed in Vancouver for An Evening With Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer at the Vogue Theatre.

One also wonders what exactly to expect from their stage show mixing the talents of a prolific author who inspires a Tumblr about his hair, with a piano-slaying, ukelele-playing singer/songwriter with painted eyebrows.
Amanda Palmer at the Vogue Theatre photo
Anja Weber photo

Let’s just say there was a lot of love going on at the Vogue last night. The love flowed from the stage to the crowd. And that love flowed right back from an enthusiastic audience not shy to cheer and whistle all night long. Palmer labelled us a “fucking fantastic audience” so it must be true.

Neil and Amanda opened with a duet of “Makin’ Whoopie” (off her 2010 release Down Under), a great song to break in everyone to the fun that was to come over the next three hours (they played until about 11:35pm).

It’s plain to see the couple has a lot of fun performing together, letting the audience in on their infectious affection for one another. They have an endearing way of communicating and each seems so comfortable with both their pairing and individuality – they just laughed when Palmer lifted her dress and flashed us her panties. Neil’s response: “Posterity has seen your knickers. Again.” Hers: “When you call them knickers, it’s just not dirty.”
                                         Amanda Palmer at the Vogue
                                                      Anja Weber photo

After “Whoopie”, Neil Gaiman read three poems, including one called “Observe The Formalities”. And it went on like that for the whole show… some Neil, then some Amanda, then some more of them together – either singing or sitting in their Golden Girls-ish wicker chairs and answering fan questions like, “Dear Neil, is it hard for you to creatively express character types like pedophiles in your writing, why or why not?” (He answered “No”, by the way.)

Palmer rattled off her influences (Beatles, Beach Boys, Prince, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper) and claimed to recently realize the need to acknowledge another… Judy Blume. With that came a piano song both funny and sad. I’ve never heard anyone sing about Deenie or Margaret’s conversations with God before. It was surprising to me and totally welcomed by the audience.

                                   Amanda Palmer at the Vogue Theatre photo
                                              Anja Weber photo

She also offered a stirring tribute, on her little red ukelele, to Ashlie, a 20-year old-woman who died Saturday at Occupy Vancouver [Gaiman and Palmer had led a contingent of fans to the site earlier that afternoon, following their "ninja gig" at a Gastown shoe store]. When it ended, she said she didn’t know what was going to happen at the local protest site, but expressed her hope that we would go and help them.

On a totally different note, Palmer’s ukelele was also used to fuel “Gaga Palmer Madonna”, an urgent ditty on what defines pop art and whether pop artist Lady Gaga is a “friend or foe”. This song is worth finding on YouTube. It’s a clever, necessary reminder to just “like what you like” and to not take pop too seriously because there’s way more important stuff going on out there. But really, check out the song, it’s hilarious.

The opening act was The Jane Austen Argument, a boy/girl duo from Melbourne – she on the piano, he leading the vocals. Their first number was inspired by his parents who met while playing Dorothy and the Scarecrow in a production of Wizard of Oz. Their third and final song is their new single called “Holes” with lyrics written by Neil Gaiman. A good vibe from them at this, their very first ever gig in Canada. Hearing and seeing them for the first time, they struck me as sounding somewhat Rufus Wainwright-y from the brief, three-song set they performed.

An Evening With Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer could potentially be retitled Occupy Love. Really. Gaiman & Palmer are seriously at the hip. But it’s pretty adorable and the crowd loved it. Palmer herself told the audience we’d gotten “16 times the amount of lovey-dovey bullshit” between her and Gaiman than any other city on their tour. She attributed it to our water. I attribute it to two inventive artists topping their game with a partnership that produces a rare energy they’re willing to share and enjoy not only with each other, but with their fans too.

Monday, March 21, 2011

SANDRA BULLOCK DONATES
$1 MILLION TO JAPAN

Thereby demonstrating MASS Congeniality

Yesterday Sandra Bullock was photographed on the streets of Manhattan enjoying the first day of spring with her young son Louis, who is downright adorable to the max.

        Photo by Marcel Thomas, FilmMagic

But before that - while we were all sleeping last week - Sandra Bullock went and did something amazing and heartfelt... she donated $1 million to Japan disaster relief! Here's the story as reported in the New York Daily News:

Sandra Bullock isn't turning a blind side to those in need in Japan.
The Oscar-winning actress donated $1 million to the American Red Cross to help victims of the devastating earthquake and tsunami last week, her rep told the Daily News.
"The American Red Cross is extremely grateful for this generous support from Sandra Bullock and her family," the organization said in a statement Thursday. "This contribution is vitally important as the Red Cross works to provide critical assistance and essential relief items in this time of urgent need for so many people in Japan."
Bullock's hefty contribution is the largest known donation to the Red Cross since the 9.0 magnitude earthquake rattled Japan, which consequently triggered a horrifying tsunami and nuclear crisis.
This isn't the first time Bullock has made a generous donation. The actress, 46, gave $1 million to Doctors without Borders to aid earthquake victims in Haiti last year, and donated tens of thousands of dollars to a public school in New Orleans that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Isn't that just the best? I mean, I've done the text donation thing myself to try to help out Japan, but I don't got no one million dollars like Miss Congeniality over there. And to learn that this is not the first time she's been so giving, well, that just warms the cockles, n'est-ce pas?

I wonder if other rich 'n famous types have made donations to Japan, but we just don't know about it yet? I can think of ALOT of well-known others who appear to be in a financial position to be generous with Japan... that's right, Oprah, I'm looking at you. You too, Bill Gates.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

DRASTIC PLASTIC
Pete Burns in "Celebrity Plastic Surgery Gone Too Far?"

It's Thanksgiving in the good ol' USA and while Americans carve up the turkey, ABC News brings us celebrities who carve up their faces.  And it ain't pretty.

ABC's Cynthia McFadden hosts "Primetime: Celebrity Plastic Surgery Gone Too Far?" and talks to Pete Burns the lead singer for Dead or Alive who hit fame in the mid-80's with the dance club classic "You Spin Me Round". 

Burns is also well-known for changing his face over and over and over.  Behold a few examples:






Of Pete's ever-changing face, he says, "People redecorate their homes every few years and I see this as no different. Changing my face is like buying a new sofa."

  But those photos are quite a sight, n'est-ce pas?

Not sure why, but I am endlessly fascinated by Pete Burns. Something about his unique, ever-changing androgyny has just always totally captivated me.  Plus, he's smart, has a powerful singing voice and produces great dance/pop music.

There have been some problems with Pete Burn's penchant for plastic surgery.  He recently won a lucrative lawsuit against a London surgeon for botched procedures which left Pete with serious lip trauma...


Pete also says his doctors told him he'd have to have his lips amputated!

I do love Pete Burns, but it's safe to say that his formerly intriguing visage and image, pictured here...









...has become something difficult to understand or appreciate:



In 1989, Dead or Alive had a song called "Baby Don't Say Goodbye" which hit #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play chart.

Pete Burns wrote the song with lyrics that perhaps foreshadow his plastic surgery path.

The song goes, "I guess you couldn't face the heavy responsibility of looking at my face".

Was Pete Burns singing it to himself?!


In addition to Pete Burns, tonight's show also features interviews with Heidi Montag and the insufferable Janice Dickenson.

And ya just gotta know that somewhere along the way this show will just HAVE to mention and show pictures of the unbelievable Jocelyn Wildenstein.

Celebrity Plastic Surgery Gone Too Far? airs tonight on ABC in Canada and the USA at 10pm ET.  Here's the ABC News press release:

With candid and shocking revelations from some of America’s most famous celebrities, ABC News will air an hour-long special anchored by ABC News’ Cynthia McFadden, “Primetime: Celebrity Plastic Surgery Gone Too Far?” on Wednesday, November 24 (10:00 – 11:00 p.m. ET.) on ABC.  The program tells the inside story of how plastic surgery changed the world of celebrity forever -- and the price some of these stars have paid -- including the procedures, do’s and don’ts, and the real scoop of who has had what done to their bodies.

On “Primetime: Celebrity Plastic Surgery Gone Too Far?”:

    * “Nightline” Anchor Cynthia McFadden sits down with starlet Heidi Montag and reveals all on her radical revision last year, where she underwent at least 10 cosmetic procedures in a single day.

    * ABC News Correspondent Nick Watt speaks to Pete Burns, an electro-pop rockstar of the 1980’s and the striking, androgynous front man of British band Dead or Alive, who sees plastic surgery as an art form – and himself as the clay.

    * ABC News Correspondent Neal Karlinsky talks to Janice Dickinson, the knockout cover girl with just about every enhancement known to man who says “Everything about me is fake... and I’m perfect.”

    * ABC News Correspondent Chris Connelly looks at “redos” or revision operations where patients again turn to plastic surgery to correct botched jobs.

    * “Nightline’ Contributor Lisa Ling reports on the rising trend of teenagers getting plastic surgery. How young is too young?


Should be very interesting.  Are you gonna wait til you're finished eating before you tune in?

All I know is the next TV show I wanna see is, "Celebrity Plastic Surgery Rehab".

Here are some resources to look at if you or someone you know suffers from Body Dysmorphic Disorder:

http://www.ementalhealth.ca/site/ottawa/index.php?m=12&ID=39

http://www.aboutourkids.org/families/disorders_treatments/az_disorder_guide/body_dysmorphic_disorder/support_resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_dysmorphic_disorder

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

OPRAH'S FAVOURITE THINGS
Blood-chilling annual celebration of gluttony

Much ado lately about Oprah's favourite things, but do you know the sinister truth behind it?

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