Dawn’s Head Shows Up In The Crowd

I arrived at yesterday’s Anonymous protest against the Church of Scientology around 11:00 and it was already in full swing. Having covered the event from the safety of my computer on February 10, it was a very surreal experience to be amongst the throngs of masked Anonymous, with busy Saturday Dupont Circle foot traffic also making their way around the crowd gathered.

The masks varied in shape and size, some wearing bandanas, surgical mask, full ski masks, wigs, there was even a very statuesque Anon wearing a demure ladies suit, complete with high heels and hose. He was considerate enough to ask what was the proper way for a lady to sit when he sat down to smoke a cigarette. It was quite charming and sweet for him to assume I’d know how a lady sits

Also within this crowd were the iconic Guy Fawkes masks in every type and size. These familiar faces were what let me know I was within the right group, as the city was filled with St. Patty’s Day revelers, who also packed the streets and added to the confusion.

Anonymous Invites the Church to “Jump On It”

This favorite Irish holiday confusion was a clever disguise for those wanting to blend in to the sunny, and warm day of city-goers. There was a frenetic, but friendly atmosphere within the Anonymous group. Many of the protesters walked the perimeter making sure the paths and sidewalks were kept clear for passersby, including the elderly and plenty of moms with strollers. The women of Anonymous doing what women do, looking out for the old and young. This really was just a crowd of everyday folks taking part in something they seemed to feel passionate about: opposing the Church of Scientology.

Bel-Airing The Church

I lurked on the perimeters much of the time singling members out to talk to, for my “on-the-fly” radio broadcast for Blog Talk Radio. This was the first time I had ever attempted such an endeavor and I likely fumbled a bit, but the individuals who agreed to speak to me were engaged, articulate and seized the opportunity to share what brought them here to spend this uncharacteristically warm sunny March day protesting the Church of Scientology.

There were easily 250 people at the DC Anon protests, many crowding in front of the Tomate cafe, which juts out into a pointy V, on one side, the Church of Scientology’s neatly kept brownstone building, and on the other, busy R Street. Flanked on all corners of the pedestrian-laden intersection were enclaves of Anonymous carrying signs and handing out fliers. They were extra friendly and never pushy, understanding the need to balance out their somewhat off-putting garb and their desire to inform the public.

Silver-haired Scientologist filming the crowd

As with the February 10th protests, they were kind and OVERLY pleasant, even when in engaging the humorless and chilly Scientologists who entered the crowd taking pictures of anyone who was not completely masked. There was one Org member in particular, a dapper silver-haired gentleman who carried what I felt was a knowing and sinister smirk. His modus operandi was to come and go inside of the Org, stalking protesters with his camera, including walking up to an underage girl (all of 15) and taking her picture — in spite of her father’s (a former Scientologist from the DC org) complaints.

At one point, he came out with a purposeful stride, walked up to me and took my picture. I gladly obliged, even thoughtfully removing my sunglasses and introducing myself. He smirked and sulked back into the Org.

Menacing CoS Videographer

Also menacing the crowd was a man who I can only describe as a “shadowy figure” who showed no emotion, except to scowl, while videotaping the entire three+ hour event from a jutting balcony, safely ensconced within the arms of the Scientology building.

More to come in the next installment….

Glosslip Radio is pleased to announce this week’s guest is lawyer Jeffrey I. Zuckerman, a partner
with law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt and Mosle and will be with us to discuss the pending lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit titled Sklar v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Mr. Zuckerman represents Michael and Marla Sklar, a Los Angeles couple who seek to establish legal precedent as it pertains to the secret agreement reached between the IRS and the Church of Scientology in 1993.

CALL IN NUMBER: (646)478-0139

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO SHOW AND PARTICIPATE IN CHATROOM

Mr. Zuckerman is an accomplished lawyer who specializes “in the fields of U.S. and international antitrust law and trade regulation, employment law, and other governmental regulation of business” within his practice at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt and Mosle. Prior to becoming a partner for the firm 1989, “Mr. Zuckerman was the Director of the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission (1986-89); Chief of Staff at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (1984-86); and Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division at the U.S. Department of Justice (1981-84).”

Some of the questions we will be discussing with Mr. Zuckerman on the show will be:

Why did the Sklars decide to take legal action?

How did they become aware of the CoS agreement and how it pertained to their case with the IRS?

What do you think the ramifications will be for a loss in this case? What about a win?

How far into the legal process do you feel this case will go before there is a resolution? Supreme Court?

Have you been before the Supreme Court before?

Does the court of “public opinion” help or hurt this case and for whom?

Have the Sklar’s been contacted by anyone from the Church of Scientology? Have you?

Why do you think the IRS made this agreement with the CoS, and why haven’t they disclosed it even now, with a case pending?

Do you think the IRS will be able to prove their case, since the burden of proof lies with them (and CoS of course)?

Have the Sklars/you considered filing a class-action suit?

If anyone has additional questions as they relate to this case, please login to the chatroom during the show, we will be fielding questions to Mr. Zuckerman and encourage you to participate. There will be an additional 30 minutes starting, from 11:00 - 11:30 for discussion after the show for anyone who has information they want to share or topics they wish to discuss either relating to this interview or the upcoming March 15th global protests planned by Anonymous.

I realize the above video is extra super suck, but hopefully my broadcasting skills will improve. They certainly can’t get worse.

Please give it a listen, as it has info on Sunday’s radio show, plus an upcoming guest in March which may be of interest to Anonymous.

I am open to suggestions on improving this format. Like perhaps, getting a head transplant.

Not sure how much I can reveal at this point, but suffice it to say we are having some technical difficulties. Our Chief Geek got us back up, but we don’t know for how long.

While, I can, I want to invite EVERYONE to LISTEN IN, CALL IN AND BE A PART OF THE SHOW.

I hope to have Arnie Lerma on to help me cover today’s events (waiting to confirm from him) and a staffer of Enturbulation.org from Australia will be calling to talk about the Sydney protests, where the whole event kicked off.

WWW.BLOGTALKRADIO.COM/Glosslip
CALL IN NUMBER: 646-478-0139
CHATROOM WILL BE OPEN 15 minutes before the show.

Glosslip Radio is very psyched to have up and coming actor/musician Jeff D’Agostino as our guest for Sunday’s show.

You may know Jeff from his roles on such TV hits as “Veronica Mars,” “Weeds,” “CSI” and “CSI:Miami,” “Malcolm In The Middle,” Disney’s “Phil of the Future,” and “Judging Amy,” just to name a few. Jeff can also be seen in the film The Sasquatch Gang, also starring Justin Long (Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard, The Mac guy and Drew Barrymore’s boyfriend) from the creators of the hugely popular Napoleon Dynamite.

Aside from Jeff’s growing list of acting gigs, he’s also pursuing a successful career as lead singer and guitarist of the rock group, The Perfect Victim.

If you want to find out more about Jeff and his band, go to Jeff’s myspace page, and the band’s myspace page. Be sure to check out his Flying Squirrel story, video short clips and his eclectic influences - Jeff is not your typical Hollywood wild child, and has taken great pains to made good choices as he navigates the usual trappings and pitfalls in the land of Lala.

Jeff’s been compared to fellow actor/musician Jared Leto, not only for his good looks, but also for his dual roles in the entertainment business. After getting the chance to speak to Jeff all-too-briefly, it was immediately apparent this is a tremendously down-to-earth person, funny, insightful and wise beyond his years, despite his age (he’s only 23)!!

Please join k and I as we talk to Jeff about his projects, his music and his future this SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 10:00pm EST on www.blogtalkradio.com/Glosslip.

Click here to listen to the show. Show call in number: (646)478-0139. The chatroom will be open and you can participate with us in the interview, ask Jeff questions, or just hang out and listen.

Are you an undecided voter? Are you having trouble deciding which candidate best represents the issues which are most important to you? We may have the answer. Ian Manheimer of the non-partisan website www.GlassBooth.org will be sitting in during Glosslip’s daily segment of Shaun Daily’s BTRToday show, which airs Monday-Friday from 3pmPT/6pmET.

Glassbooth.org has some excellent tools that allow the user to match up their concerns using a point system, and then a brief survey to narrow down your political views. They then take that information and calculate which candidate best matches your interests and values based on percentage points. It’s non-partisan and it has a detailed and comprehensive list of the current candidates and shows you straight-forward quotes from the candidates themselves on the issues. I was particularly impressed with the quotes they chose to determine where that candidate stands on any particular issue. Brilliantly conceived and I encourage you to give it a look, even if you are completely decided on who you are backing in the 2008 Presidential Election.

As for the BTRToday show, most days, k or myself (and if you’re really lucky, both) check in with Shaun for a 30-minute segment to talk about the latest in celebrity gossip. It’s a fun and entertaining look at the day’s top stories and please feel free to stop by the chatroom, call in with questions or moon us. Not sure how you’d do that, but I bet Britney Spears could tell you.

Glosslip is excited to announce NYT’s best-selling author, Ian Halperin will be joining us for his first in-depth intervivew in a special 90-minute segment (this Sunday, Jan 27, 10:00pm EST) to discuss his latest book, Hollywood Undercover - US release date Jan 18 via Amazon.. We welcome you to join in the discussion or listen to Sunday’s show, click here. If you would like to call in and talk to Ian, Glosslip Radio’s call-in number is (646) 476-0139. You can also set a reminder from the above link for the show.

So what’s Hollywood Undercover all about? A brief summary from Amazon:

In Hollywood Undercover, [Ian] gives us a unique and scandalous glimpse behind the scenes of the movie business. This time he poses as an aspiring actor and soon finds himself with an agent, a job offer (admittedly in a hardcore porn film) and ultimately a part in The Aviator, directed by Martin Scorcese. In the interim, he is surprised to uncover anti-Semitism in Hollywood; infiltrates the Church of Scientology whose celebrity stable includes Tom Cruise and John Travolta; and meets numerous A-listers including Brad Pitt, Barbra Streisand and Leonardo DiCaprio, who give him the inside track on what life in Hollywood is really like.

All the Hollywood’s glam aside, what I found most fascinating was Ian’s experience with the Church of Scientology.

Sunday’s Glosslip Radio will focus on the disturbing first-hand accounts Ian discovered during his “bizarre tour of the Scientology Celebrity Centre on Hollywood Boulevard and his visit to world headquarters where a Church cameraman documents his every move from behind a bush, and where an official offers to turn him straight through a series of courses called “auditing.”

Posing as a “gay man seeking to be cured of his homosexuality” Ian was granted entrance into the hallowed halls of the Church, and his unique bravado gave him not only access, but clearance to film what he saw. Unlike the other big Scientology expose by Andrew Morton, which is based on hearsay and speculation, Ian’s goes inside and you won’t believe what he saw and heard. An added bonus, Ian captured much of his experience in a series of videos - check them out here.

A preview of the show’s discussion will focus on a story I did earlier in the week:

But wait, there’s more…

Glosslip Radio is really excited to have Megan aka “Snarky” of PopOnThePop.com joining us this Sunday for our celeb radio show on Blog Talk Radio.

Snarky used to leave comments on Poponthepop.com that the site’s creator and fellow readers really enjoyed. A few months after bringing her humor to the comment section, Snarky was invited to blog for poponthepop. Her journey began in April 2007.

A gossip lover herself, Snarky was already familiar with what lies beneath Hollywood glamour and she was ready to post her insights to thousands online, a few days a week.

When she’s not blogging, her activities include making good money stripping, snorting Pixie Stix and stalking Kevin Federline.

This just in: Snarky’s publicist wants to let you know she’s only kidding.

POTP’s Joy and Snarky post stories nearly every half hour, with insightful commentary and humor. POTP’s writers have a unique voice that has garnered the attention of publications such as Radar magazine, The Washington Post, BBC, USA Today and more. Frequently updated every Monday - Friday, Pop On The Pop not only features the latest gossip, videos, and paparazzi pictures, the site also includes too-crazy-to-be-true real life stories, because let’s face it, train wrecks other than Amy Wino can be equally humorous.

Readers have called Pop On The Pop “addictive”. One doesn’t have to browse the site for long to discover why.

Check in tomorrow at 10:00pm EST to talk to Snarky, check in with the chatroom and listen to the madness as we discuss celebs, trainwrecks and attention whores, OH MY.

Click here to listen!

I knew, as an owner of very thick, long hair myself, that there was no way she could hide that mane under that eensy headscarf.  I said on GlossLip radio last night that Amy probably cut her hair off, and lookie here what I found this morning!

The look on Kelly Osborne’s face says it all.  If you can get that look from Ozzy’s daughter, you’ve accomplished something.

But my favorite photo from this week’s inductee into “You Can’t Fix Stupid” is this one below, where she’s attempting to put the moves on music producer Mark Ronson.  Sure, there may be just music between them (other than the Häagen-Dazs), but with the recent events in Amy’s life you can never be too sure.

The real question is, however, what were they going to do with that pint of Häagen-Dazs?  And do I really want to know?

It’s that time again Glosslip readers. Tonight’s segment will feature a return of ManBalm’s Matt Sussman of the Futon Report to discuss how Jessica Simpson cursed Tony Romo and the Cowboys.

We’ll also be joined by my regular co-host and partner in crime Josh Hathaway from ConfessionsOfAFanboy.com where we will discuss this week’s top stories including Britney Spears and her upcoming custody hearing tomorrow, and a new feature with Glosslip writer k called “You Can’t Fix Stupid.” This week’s subject: Amy Winehouse.

If you would like to join the discussion, the call in number is (646) 478-0139, or if you just want to listen to the show click here. Don’t forget the chat room is open during the live feed, so hey, stop by and say something nasty!