Rumors have been circulating lately about the gender or shall I say the genders of Lady GaGa. Many people thought that The Princess of Pop (yeessh) is a hermaphrodite. For those of you who do not know what a hermaphrodite is, it is a person born with both male and female genitalia.

The picture that had everyone a-buzz, is the one below. It clearly shows a “bulge” of some sort in the crotch region.

People were wondering, if this was carefully placed “package” for shock value for her career? Or a photo-shopped picture? Or is Lady (I use the term lightly) more than just a lady?

Well Lady finally came forward and put an end to the rumors and said that “she was not offended, but her beautiful vagina was very offended”.  Thank God that is cleared up, I will no longer have sleepless nights. *snicker*

Wait….what did she say? Her beautiful vagina? Who the hell talks publicly (or at all for that matter) about having a beautiful vagina? (with the exception of the Vagina Monologues)
Wow!  Talk about being totally full of themselves.

The Examiner.com reported:

Since the hermaphrodite rumors started circling around Lady Gaga back in August, the singer has kept quiet about whether or not she has both parts.

Lady Gaga reportedly told an Australian radio station, “My beautiful vagina is very offended. I’m not offended; my vagina is offended. I’m not embarrassed. I sold four million records in six months; I’m not embarrassed about anything. I think this is society’s reaction to a strong woman.”

“The idea that we equate strength with men and a penis is a symbol of male strength, you know, it is what it is. But like I said,” the dance-pop diva reiterated, “I am not offended at all, but my vagina might be a little bit upset,” she added.

The singer has been flaunting her naked body in various magazines since the rumors began, hoping to disprove that she may have both man and lady parts, but we all know what a little Photoshop can do.

What do you think? Is Lady Gaga telling the truth or just deny, deny, denying?

My reply? Who gives a damn? Sorry, I could care less what she’s packing, and besides, what’s the difference? Are people saying if GaGa was a hermaphrodite that they wouldn’t be fans any more? Why, can’t a hermaphrodite be a diva too?

This story oddly peaked my interest and I decided to look more into GaGa’s music, since I wasn’t too familiar with it, and I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. What I discovered wasn’t much. I found an ok looking gal who loves to dress in kooky outfits and writes some really lousy songs.

GaGa is going the ol’ shock diva route because she basically needs those costumes and stage performances to hide her lack of talent. Her audience needs a lot of distractions. And now that she has a following, he crappy songs wont’ matter as much.
 
Her voice and song style comes pretty close to Madonnas, although Madonna’s songs were better written. Now I am not a fan of Madonna’s either, but nobody can deny that when Madonna blew up big in the 80’s that she was at least original and her songs were much better than GaGa’s. 

I have to say, that some of GaGa’s outfits are very cool, I will at least give her that. I love the way she sometimes meshes a vintage look with wackiness and forms some pretty outrageous get-ups. BUT…is that it? Yes, that’s it.

Let’s not forget this has been done a hundred times over in the music biz, and way before she strapped on that bubble suit for the cover of Rolling Stone.

Performers have been making names for themselves via shock for years. Way back when, Liberace was one of the first shockers and was the king of outlandish outfits. He was one of the first pioneers of  “putting on the dog“.

Although Liberace’s voice was far from good, he did play a mean piano. And look at Elton John, who started out as sort of a meek country bumpkin and ended up going all Liberace on everyone, once fame came knocking on his door.

Elton was not only an elaborate dresser, but he had quite the collection of outrageous glasses, which became a signature for him. So was Elton copying Liberace? It really didn’t matter, because he can sing and play piano to boot.

There was David Bowie who dressed up as Zigggy Stardust, and Cyndi Lauper who started an entire fashion craze with her gobs of costume jewelry, and her poofy crinoline slips.

But again like Elton, this girl can sing.

Take the band Kiss for instance, who was popular in the 1970’s. They rose up in the ranks due to their alter ego wild costumes, pyrotechnics on stage and Gene Simmons spewing blood and wiggling that long snake of a tongue. It was freaky to see a band dressed like that with full face paint back  in the 1970’s, and it was very innovative. (I was never a Kiss fan though, I think their movie ruined it for me *snicker*) But they did have some talent to back up their look.

Alice Copper, another unusual performer, used to hang himself on stage complete with an entire gallows set up on stage. He also would whip bloody plastic baby dolls on stage during his Dead Babies song… but again…Cooper had the talent to rock the house.

Let’s not forget Dee Snyder in Twisted Sister, ok… never mind, we can forget that one.

(Just have to mention, and way off topic, but I think Christina Aguilera definitely stole Dee’s look when she did the video for Moulin Rouge).

And what about Boy George? He started out rather tame with Culture Club (well sort of) and then showed up in an airport one day dressed like a Geisha girl, and got more outrageous from there. But nobody can deny that the man possessed decent set of pipes on him. We won’t get into where he is today.

Back to Madonna… one of the biggest shock divas. (who is sadly still trying to shock people today, you can stop now)
She started a whole fashion trend with her pointy bustiers, rosaries, rubber O ring bracelets, and boy toy belt buckles.

Who can forget her humping a wedding veil and rolling around on the floor, when she performed Like A Virgin for the 1984 MTV music awards?  Looking back on Madonna’s perfomance in that video, it wasn’t a very good one, but people were so wrapped up in the lyrics of  the song and what she was doing on stage,  that few people noticed the bad notes she hit. Rr the fact she was fluffing up her hair after she took off her veil, and that she became semi entangled in the veil at one point.

Madonna continued to push the envelope in her career and put many Catholics and others’ knickers in quite the bunch with her Like A Prayer video.
 Fact.. it was her highest-selling single and viewers voted the video as the “Most Groundbreaking Music Video of All Time”.

Many people argue that Lady GaGa is a huge Madonna rip off. Although I am not a Madonna fan at all, her pop songs were much better than GaGa’s. (never thought I would be defending Madonna’s music)

Yes.. shocking people has always worked. (Right Cher?)
And we certainly couldn’t name all of them here. But one thing for sure… they had the right stuff.

But does GaGa have the right stuff? Is her only claim to fame shocking the audience with costumes and stage humping, so they won’t notice her lackluster singing? It looks that way. Although her fans would certainly disagree.

GaGa is also trying to further her career by posing for an ENDLESS  amounts of nudie photos. Now I am not a prude in any sense, but honey if your bringing out all the goods now, what’s left? Put that dern thing away!

Take for instance this lovely photo of her half straddling a skeleton. Yawwwwnnn. Needless to say, I had the same reaction as the skeleton. DEAD BORED.

There is the chance of spreading yourself (no pun intended) too thin in this business, especially if that’s all you have. So GaGa better come up with some decent hits soon.

Now before you jump down my throat, I did listen to some of her songs and watched her videos. I suffered through “Paparazzi”,
and “Poker Face,” (she obviously likes to stu-stu-stutter in her songs). I then went on to listen to ”Just Dance” (total Madonna rip off), “LoveGame” – (that’s the “I want to take a ride on your disco stick” song) and ”Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)”, which was eh eh, more boring than the title. And finally let’s not leave out “Beautiful Dirty Rich”. (”Bang bang we’re beautiful and dirty rich.”) Well she got the dirty rich part right. 

My conclusion?

I find her ba-ba-ba-BORING and repetitive. Perhaps I am jaded by years of watching others before her do the same things, only better. The difference again is they HAD TALENT and it was new.

I happened to catch a video of her on YouTube. She was a guest on some sort of talk show in Tokyo. Her performance was not any better than a night at a karaoke bar or a cruise ship talent show. She did a slow and painful version of “Po-po-po Poker Face.” Her piano playing sounded like she was wearing oven mitts. And frankly, I could NOT stop staring at the elephant on her head.

Yes, you heard me. She had a wig on her head in the shape of an elephant, complete with eyes.  However the elephant did work as far as taking my attention away from her piss poor performance. 
Smart gal. The acoustic rendition of this song  made me cringe more than her other version. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth the laugh. Click here. 

GaGa just doesn’t cut it for me. She is probably thinking,  Hey! look at me in my rubber spider bubble dress with the giant butterfly on my head, aren’t I outrageous? NO! Sorry, you are not. 

But who is laughing all the way to the bank? She is.

As she said, ”I sold four million records in six months; I’m not embarrassed about anything”. Bless her little heart. 

But I say, if you are going to be a diva today, you better have some talent to back it up.

It’s very hard to get ahead these days in the music industry. Unfortunately many talented people fall by the way side, and some with little or no talent make it big. Just doesn’t seem fair. Hello William Hung!

There have also been some American Idol contestants who made it to the top, but I still don’t understand how some of them got there…. (hello Clay Aiken). Sorry Claymates. Are there any left out there?

I do give Lady GaGa SOME kudos for her confidence and for being able to make it in the music industry today, despite how little talent she has under those bubbles. But everything she does seems “borrowed” from either someone or something that came way before her. Even her name was taken from Queen’s song Radio GaGa according to her.

So for all you fans out there who are gaga over GaGa, and whom I expect will be barraging me with some lovely comments…just know that she is not the inventive ground breaking diva you think she is.

It’s all been done before many, many years ago and by people who wrote better songs and who had much more talent.

In fact even GaGa’s hair and face have a familiar look to it. GaGa has said that Donatello Versace is her favorite fashion icon. Um, clearly…she totally stole her look. I guess we know early what GaGa will look like when she gets older and has had a few nip, tucks and plumps. Scary isn’t it?

So getting back to divas from way back when… Who had the coconuts back in the 1940’s, to put a pile of fruit on her head and wear gigantic platform shoes and outrageous midriff outfits?

Why it was the lovely Carmen Miranda of course. Aka Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha. Here she is in one of her many wacky costumes complete with Christmas ornaments glitz and feathers! Carmen was also an actress and appeared in many movies. Watch this vid to see some of her many outrageous outfits and actual movie footage.

I can easily see GaGa taking Carmen’s Chica Boom song and adding some techno tracks and coming out on stage with fruit on her head. Errr…I mean humping some fruit on stage. Gee, I hope GaGa doesn’t read this, I don’t want to give her any ideas.

Chica chica boom chic baby!

We just watched the American Idol Season Finale and by now everyone knows sweet little Kris Allen won Season 8, beating the infinitely more talented Adam Lambert, once again proving that AI is a friggin’ popularity contest, not a talent contest.

While Kris is plenty talented, cute and likable, he’s not even in the same universe as good a singer as Adam Lambert, but sadly, because Adam is gay and not afraid to show it, I think in the end it hurt him, as much as Carrie Prejean’s ignorant comments at the Miss USA pageant hurt her.

Just like in politics, Americans refuse to let the pendulum swing too far one way or the other, so while on one spectrum Prejean must suffer the wrath of her ignorance, Adam Lambert is forced to suffer the wrath of America’s ignorance.

The silver lining to all of this is of course, Adam will still have a tremendous career and might even be better off not having that notoriously fickle “Idol Winner” reputation dogging him. I give both he and Kris credit for handling the results with total class and I wish them both well.

America, gay people contribute to every facet of society in ways that are incalculable and enrich our lives immensely, they aren’t going away and marginalizing an entire group of people based on archaic and backwards perceptions is about as pathetic as it gets. They’re here, they’re queer, they can sing better, get used to it.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the air-sample tests for decomposition came back positive for Casey Anthony’s abandoned car. That can’t be good.

Here’s more from the OS:

Air sample tests from Casey Anthony’s car show a decomposing body was inside the trunk, a sheriff’s office official just confirmed.

Officials have offered Anthony a partial immunity deal if she admits 3-year-old Caylee Marie died as a result of an accident.

Investigators with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office are at defense attorney Jose Baez’s Kissimmee law office. Anthony left Baez’s office at 3 p.m., shortly after investigators arrived.

Anthony, wearing sun glasses and a t-shirt depicting her missing daughter, said nothing as she got into the back of a van and drove away with a bounty hunter.

Oh no, they better not be giving her any kind of immunity. In no way do I believe that Caylee Anthony, whom we have to presume is dead at this point, was killed accidentally. First of all, if Caylee had died accidentally, why not contact police right away? Second of all, why continue with the charade of lies? Thirdly, what about all those pictures of her out partying? Who goes out clubbing after their beloved child is accidentally killed. And then there’s the post Casey left on her MySpace page during the time Caylee went missing.

“What is given, can be taken away. Everyone lies, everyone dies. Life will never be easy.”

I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like the admission of an “accident” that sounds more to me like a premeditated statement of guilt. I can’t believe with all the attention being paid to this case in the national media that the DA’s office would risk letting this woman get away with involuntary manslaughter, or anything less than murder. Just to recap, here’s what happened yesterday in this story prior to today’s major bombshell of information.

—————————————————————————————
New details into the Caylee Anthony case emerged today when the prosecution team released a 400-page report. The report, a result of tireless investigation on the part of the Orange County Police Department was filled with interviews and eye-witness accounts from those close to the case, as well as, known details released since the case broke July 16.

The most damaging of these interviews comes from the Anthony family themselves, and a high school friend who told police Casey wished to give her unborn child up for adoption and even had someone who wished to adopt little Casey. Grandmother Cindy refused to allow to Casey to give up Caylee, and this is just another indication of the dysfunction of the entire Anthony family. At this point, one can only imagine how much better off Caylee would be had she been adopted by a family who wanted her.

Also coming out today are reports a police officer with the OCPD was terminated for lying about a relationship he had with Casey Anthony in the past, but which had continued just shortly before Caylee was reported missing. Despite several attempts by investigators on the case to get the officer, Anthony Rusciano, to be truthful about the nature and and depth of the his relationship with Casey, Rusciano continued to lie. Investigators eventually uncovered details found on Ms. Anthony’s computer which indicated the officer and Ms. Anthony were more than mere “acquaintances” who’d met briefly as a party, as he’d told investigators. In fact, reports suggest the two had a sexual relationship.

OCPD stated officer Rusciano was fired because he continued to lie, but some have suggested there may be more to his termination than the department is willing to admit to.

At this point, I doubt anything could surprise me in this case. Casey Anthony and her family have created a three-ring circus with almost all focus being put on themselves and zero on finding or discovering what happened to Caylee Anthony who has been missing for over two months.

Let’s hope the new findings will help bring some closure to this case. We will keep you posted.

Special thanks to Janet for the head’s up on the new info.

This movie may or may not be good, I won’t make a judgment call on that as I haven’t seen it. The cast reads like a who’s who in Scientology, Jenna and Bodhi Elfman, Helena Christensen, Kelly Preston, Nancy Cartright (huh, WTF?), Marisol Nichols (married to producer Taron Lexton) — all Scientologists, the writers, Milena Ferreira, her husband Nathan Lorch, Scientologists, and it’s being financed and produced by, you guessed it, a Scientologist, Taron Lexton.

The romantic comedy starring Bodhi Elfman, is about a man who is struck by an arrow which doesn’t harm him, but he can’t remove it either. Interesting….

I guess that’s ok, the Church has been colluding with industry insiders for years to take over Hollywood, why not just come out and be obvious about it. I wonder though, did they cast only Scientologists because it’s so good they didn’t want to share, or because these people can’t get work elsewhere because Hollywood, mainstream America and the world at large are sick of Scientology and their star roster forcing their faith down our throats via Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley.

The films been premiering at film festivals, including one in Newport Beach, CA. yesterday. If anyone’s seen this, please feel free to give us your review. I can’t impugn the work of the actors, they’re all good in their own right. I can however impugn their judgment in not looking more closely at their chosen faith and asking some tough question.

Good luck with the new film CoS shills, I hope it doesn’t SUCK.

Ok, “Dust In The Wind” it isn’t, but it sure makes me wonder if some members of the rock group Kansas weren’t also members of a well-known “religion” we like to refer to as a cult.

Anonymous Greatest Raid Hits
Kansas – Fair Exchange

Your credit is good if you’re a member
Just a token to help the people remember
All we’ve done for you
Nobody buys and nobody sells
And nobody speaks ’til the chairman tells you
We’re gonna be your religion, throw those others away

(Chorus)
Fair exchange for your freedom
Fair exchange for your life
Hail the new perfect order
Ending trouble and strife
No one can refuse our offer, it’s a fair exchange

You’re on file, our computer
Knows what’s best for you
We will provide the solution, for the rest of you
Safety and peace, the terror will cease
Forget everything the fanatics tell you
Now you can worship the leader
All he wants is your soul

Fair exchange for your freedom
Fair exchange for your life
Hail the new perfect order
Ending trouble and strife
No one can refuse our offer, it’s a fair exchange

We’re under control, never worry
Always watching you
Now you’re a part of the program
We’ll be using you
What do you want? We know what you need
Get out of line, we eliminate you
All for the good of the people
Better one man should die

Fair exchange for your freedom
Fair exchange for your life
Hail the new perfect order
Ending trouble and strife
No one can refuse our offer, it’s a fair exchange

Bad song is bad, but sucky cult sucks more.

[MitsuToo strikes again]

According to some French actress who won an Oscar, the 9/11 attacks were just the United States wanting to destroy a couple of big buildings that were simply too expensive:

Referring to the two passenger jets being flown into the Twin Towers, [Marion] Cotillard said:

“We see other towers of the same kind being hit by planes. Are they burned? They [sic] was a tower, I believe it was in Spain, which burnt for 24 hours. It never collapsed. None of these towers collapsed. And there [in New York], in a few minutes, the whole thing collapsed.”

She added that the towers, planned in the early Sixties, were an outdated “money-sucker” that would have cost more to modernise than to rebuild altogether, which is why they were destroyed.

She said: “It was a money-sucker because they were finished, it seems to me, by 1973, and to re-cable all that, to bring up-to-date all the technology and everything, it was a lot more expensive, that work, than destroying them.”

She also doesn’t believe a man walked on the moon, although I include that more as a sad attempt at comic relief:

She said: “Did a man really walk on the Moon? I saw plenty of documentaries on it, and I really wondered. And in any case I don’t believe all they tell me, that’s for sure.”

Okay, Marion.  I get that we shouldn’t swallow every line of bull that comes down the pike and that you’re a quirky revolutionary thinker who thinks on a level above the rest of us peons (heretofore to be known as “Citizens Of The Real World”), so here’s a cookie.

I suppose the almost 3000 people killed that day were just “collateral damage”.  The attacks on the Pentagon and the downed plane in Pennsylvania, reportedly on its way to another attack site, were both red herrings designed to take the focus off the demolition of the Twin Towers.  The widespread panic, air pollution, injuries, and aftershocks in New York were just because the planes didn’t hit the buildings at the optimum angle for a clean implosion.  The firefighters and first responders who were injured and killed attempting to rescue those trapped in the buildings should have stayed out of a demo site.  All the people, including children, on the four airplanes involved were expendable and needed to be on the planes to give the impression that these were just routine flights.  I suppose one could say that the towers collapsed in “minutes”, because Tower 2 stood for 56 minutes before falling and Tower 1 stood for 102 minutes.  Nearby buildings that were damaged in the attacks, such as the other WTC buildings and St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church?  Well, maybe they needed to be torn down too, and it was just gravy that they happened to be damaged.

I’m not gullible.  I know that there are many things about the attacks that horrible day which have yet to be explained, and there are many things we will never know.  I understand that we shouldn’t believe everything we hear, and not all is as it seems when it comes to politics and those involved in making it digestible.  Many, many mistakes were made both during and after the attacks, mistakes with long-term ramifications.  But for some actress to tell us that the planes full of innocent passengers flew into the towers because the buildings were outdated and needed to be torn down is at best stupid, and at worst…stupid.  She, of course, knows how the buildings properly should have burnt and fallen because she recieved her engineering degree at acting school…the same school that graduated Sean Penn with a degree in economics and Angelina Jolie with a diploma in world affairs.

Her insinuation that the towers were a “money-sucker” and it would be cheaper to fly planes into them in a form of demolition-via-aircraft are ironically laughable in the knowledge that the economy of Lower Manhattan was devastated after the planes flew into the buildings.  This doesn’t even include the effect the attacks had on the economy of New York as a whole, not to mention New Jersey and Washington.  She also hasn’t taken into account that the attacks and the ensuing aftermath have already cost New York almost $95 billion dollars, the Pentagon around $500 million dollars, and the incalculable cost it has taken on the lives and psyches both of those who lost loved ones and those who survived.

All that to tear down two buildings in a cost-effective manner.

The actress later insisted that it was all a misunderstanding, and that her remarks should in no way affect her acting career, in particular the new movie she’s making with Johnny Depp:

Her Paris-based lawyer Vincent Tolesano said: “Marion never intended to contest nor question the attacks of September 11, 2001, and regrets the way old remarks have been taken out of context.”

The apology coincided with Cotillard preparing to fly to Chicago next week to start filming Public Enemies with Johnny Depp – a movie that was set to become the first big money spinner for the previously unknown actresses .

In fact Cotillard, a green activist for Greenpeace, had used an interview with the French channel Paris Première to make her views abundantly clear.

Speaking on the cinema discussion programme Paris Dernière in February 2007, Cotillard had said: “I think we’re lied to about a number of things”, even claiming the Americans had destroyed the Twin Towers themselves because the were an outdated “money sucker”.

Expanding her conspiracy theory, Cotillard said it would been “a lot more expensive” to rebuild the towers “which is why they were destroyed”, with the loss of thousands of American lives.

Never intended to question the attacks?  Remarks taken out of context?  It’s amazing how people can backpedal when millions of dollars are at stake.  Lives, however, apparently are expendable.  If you don’t like it here, then go make your little movies somewhere else.

Her ignorant words and arrogant attitude are an insult to all those who perished, survived, and overcame those horrific attacks.  Yet another reason why actors shouldn’t be involved in politics…they need to stick to what they know best, which is pretending to be something they are not and living in alternate realities.

Oh wait.

This is exactly what I was alluding to in my earlier post about the inherent snobbery which goes into the selection process of the Academy Awards. Character actors are often ignored for their great performances for what can only be what Academy voters deem as a lack of versatility, or even popularity by the masses. If the people voted for whom they deemed to have given the best performance, I am sure the outcome would be different more often than not.

Actor Brad Renfro appeared in 21 films before his tragic death on January 15, from a heroin overdose. Brad was 25 at the time of his death, and his recent life had been marred by substance abuse problems, including an arrest in 2005 for attempting to purchase heroin. This however, does not diminish his talent or his previous work, which garnered him critical acclaim at the time. His first role was in the blockbuster The Client, a film adaptation of a book by John Grisham. (I love his books btw)

He also starred alongside the likes of Brad Pitt, Dustin Hoffman, Robert de Niro and Kevin Bacon in Sleepers, and with Scarlett Johannson in the indie classic Ghost World. In 1995, he won Hollywood Reporter’s “Young Star” award, and was voted nominated in the People’s “Best 30 Under 30.”

My point is, while Brad had derailed his career at the end, he was hardly a nobody and was certainly someone people in the industry respected for having talent and potential. They didn’t ignore Heath Ledger who died because of an accidental overdose, but of course, he’d been nominated for an award.

The Academy has released a statement to Us Magazine, stating:

“It was really an editing decision because we can’t fit everyone in,” a rep for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tells Usmagazine.com. “There was no specific reason.”

That’s some BS right there. Heath Died AFTER Brad, and how hard would it have been to stick Brad’s picture in there? Seriously, this industry takes these young people, throws them into a world of excess, practically plies them with drugs, sucks them of their soul and then discards them like yesterday’s trash.

Tell me Academy, how about you edit this, you buttlicks!

Well, I hate to say I told you so (no I don’t, I actually enjoy it a bit) but it seems this celeb death WAS full of mysterious circumstances, and what I mean by that is, another rock n’ roller died of a drug overdose.

Hawthorne Heights guitarist Casey Calvert’s toxicology report shows he died of a drug overdose cause by a combination of “opiates and the antidepressant citalopram and the anti-anxiety medication clonozepam.” It was an accidental overdosing, but I am sure that provides zero comfort to his family, friends, bandmates and fans.

Based on the level of vitriol that was hurled at me (read the comments on the original post for backstory), Casey must have been an exceptionally well-loved young man, full of talent and promise. I am sorry he died, but this sad story is further proof that fame and money often contribute to excess and poor judgment.

Upon Casey’s death, his bandmates issued this ironically prophetic statement “”We can say with absolute certainty that he was not doing anything illegal.”

This emphatic statement is EXACTLY why I felt this story needed to be addressed. Past empirical data shows young stars who die suddenly are rarely “not doing something illegal” and it’s idiotic to profess loudly they weren’t until all the facts in the case have come to light. It makes Casey’s memory tainted and those people making the statements look stupid. Plus, the fans must now feel the embarrassment over their chest-thumping and hand-wringing about Casey’s innocence, when in fact, his death was caused by his own negligence to look after himself.

I expect each and every one of the knuckleheads who came over wishing death and bad karma on me to apologize. I’ll be here tapping my foot impatiently, waiting.

No I won’t. In fact, I feel bad even pointing this out. But it’s a good lesson for young people to realize that old farts like me know some shizz about some shizz. I appreciate and admire your fan worship. Casey would be proud and most likely touched by how loyal you are. Do his memory a favor though, stay the F*CK away from drugs. Seriously, living to see another day isn’t a failure, it’s a gift. Embrace your gift each day.

Image: Wenn

Update: Just to be fair, here’s an article that elaborates how rare this case of drug interaction death is. This does put it in to perspective, clearly Casey was unaware how dangerous it was to mix Vicodin and antidepressants. You can never be too careful.

Call me a skeptic, or a pessimist or even a hateful misanthrope, but why do they bother lying to us (us being the public) when they know eventually we will find out the truth? Delusional.

First up, Kevin Dubrow, lead singer for the 80’s hair metal band Quiet Riot. QR had a huge hit with “Cum On Feel The Noize” and not much else. But hey, it was the 80’s, it was hair metal, what more do you want? Sadly Kevin was found dead in his Las Vegas home on Sunday afternoon. No known cause for his death was given. Kevin was 52. Certainly no spring chicken, but without a history of serious illness or complicating health concerns, why would anyone expect an otherwise healthy guy to die at 52? With no known cause. Don’t misunderstand me, I realize it takes time to determine *exactly* what caused someone’s death. But there are ALWAYS clues. And with famous people some clues are a little more obvious that others. If ya’ know what I’m sayin, and I think you do.

Next up on the coroner’s roster is Casey Calvert. Casey is the rhythm guitarist for the band Hawthorne Heights and was 25 26 when he died. According to the band’s website, Casey was found dead on the band’s tour bus and that he died in his sleep. They asked the public and media to refrain from speculation out of respect, and stated emphatically Casey was not doing anything illegal. So far news reports are pointing to acute asthma as a possible cause.

Ok, I’ll admit I was only vaguely aware of who Hawthorne Heights were before this. I am old, and old people don’t listen to rock music. Therefore I have no idea what kind of shenanigans this band gets into. I mean were this Amy Winehouse (I can’t believe she’s STILL alive) and they tried to imply she died of natural causes – well – I would gouge out my own eyes. Still…another rock star found dead after the biggest party weekend of the year, something doesn’t add up here. Oh, and 25 26-year olds don’t die in their sleep. Give me a break. Choke on their own vomit? Yes. Slip into a heroin-induced coma? Of course. Have their heart explode from too much cocaine? Sure, that I’ll buy, but sleep to death? Um no.

Casey sadly may have succumbed to an asthma attack. Acute asthma is no joking matter, but otherwise healthy people rarely die from it. Also, if this young many had asthma so bad he could die from it, why would they leave him alone on a tour bus? WAY too many questions.

And lastly, we have Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor’s death to consider. Sean was just 24 when he died last night due to complications stemming from a gunshot wound in his leg. Unfortunately, the wound was to a major artery and Sean lost too much blood and was never able to recover from the shock to his system. Authorities are implying Sean was shot by an intruder in his Miami home, though this has not been officially confirmed, police suspect Sean was shot during an attempted burglary.

Reports have also stated this was the SECOND break-in attempt in the last eight days. Did the robber forget something, or is there more to this story? Sean Taylor was no stranger to the law and was involved in a couple controversial events; an arrest for DUI (he was later acquitted), and an armed robbery charge. Ultimately Sean was able to resolve his legal woes without any jail time.

Many of his teammates have stated a change in the young and talented football player and were shocked to hear about this latest tragedy. In a perfect world, Taylor would not have been at his home in Miami during the attempted break-in, but he had been sidelined due to an injury two weeks earlier.

We won’t know the true story about any of these tragic deaths for weeks to come. Why? Because A.) it takes time to uncover the truth and B.) the PR machine is always running. Behind everyone of these sad stories are people who are twisting and manipulating the truth for their own purposes and in turn creating the kind of ridiculous controversy they proclaim they are trying to avoid. How much you wanna bet none of them died of natural causes?

Ellen DeGeneres is a well-liked figure in Hollywood and by her viewing public, but her recent actions have brought her more flak than Iggy ever did.  Her decision to continue with her show in the wake of the writer’s strike has brought the wrath of the WGA down on her head:

That move sparked an inter-union brawl between AFTRA and the WGA after DeGeneres — who belongs to both unions — opted to continue working on her daytime talker during the past week.

The fight came into the open Friday, when the WGA East issued a press release blasting DeGeneres for continuing to perform comedy in violation of strike rules: “Ellen said she loves and supports her writers, but her actions prove otherwise.”

AFTRA topper Kim Roberts Hedgpeth declared in a letter to WGA East chief Mona Mangan that DeGeneres is required to work.

“As you know, AFTRA members such as Ms. DeGeneres who are working under the AFTRA Network TV Code (which covers ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’) are legally required by the no-strike clause of that contract to report to work and perform their AFTRA-covered responsibilities,” she wrote. “Ms. DeGeneres, along with thousands of entertainment-industry workers represented by AFTRA and other unions who are bound by similar no-strike clauses, are also reporting to work as legally required.”

But Mangan said DeGeneres is wrong: “Beyond any issue of membership, there is the obvious ethical issue, which is clearly present in Ms. DeGeneres’ decision to write and produce a show without writers in the face of an industrywide walkout by 12,000 writers.”

Ellen had sat out one show in support of striking writers, but came back the next day with this explanation:

I’ve got to say this is a strange show for me to do. This is weird. Weird. It’s a weird show. Channeling Johnny Carson all of a sudden. [Imitates Carson] “Very Weird. Weird. Weird.” Here’s what the deal is. It’s ’sweeps’, which is a very important time in television. That’s when you do your best shows, your funniest material, you pull out all the stops and you’re doing everything you can because you want everybody watching. Now at this moment, we’re in the middle of this strike. There’s a writer’s strike going on, and here in Los Angeles it’s a huge story. I don’t know where you live, but it’s a huge story in Los Angeles. I want to say I love my writers. I love them. In honor of them today, I’m not going to do a monologue. I support them and hope that they get everything they’re asking for. And I hope it works out soon. In the meantime, people have traveled across the country. They’ve made plans. They’re here. I want to do everything I can to make your trip enjoyable and give you a show. Otherwise you’d just be wandering around and circling Bob Hope Drive.

So here’s the deal…many in Hollyweird are upset because Ellen chose to cross the picket line and continue to do her show.  Names like “scab” are being thrown around.  There’s even been a former writer telling the world what a horrible boss she was while shooting her sitcom.  And maybe she was…after all, she is an actor, and they are paid to project a good image in public.  But is what Ellen did really so bad?

Normally, I’d say yes.  No crossing the picket line.  But, this is more than just writers striking for their fair share of residuals.  This is affecting people who aren’t striking, but who are being put out of work because of the strike.  You’ve got makeup artists, hairdressers, gaffers, cameramen, set designers, and all the so-called “little people” who work behind the scenes to consider as well.  And it is those people whom Ellen has said she is going back to work for…which is exactly what the studio bigwigs want her to do.

Of course, it is worth mentioning that Ellen is legally bound by the no-strike clause mentioned above.  Basically, she couldn’t strike even if she wanted to.  She could be in big legal trouble if she did, and she already has to make up one day because of the day she took off for the strike.  Could she afford to break her contract?  Perhaps.  Could the below-the-line people afford to lose the show?  Probably not.

So why are the writers striking, anyway, if most of them make more money than most of us ever will?  This post over at MetaFilter by a poster named “headspace” puts it pretty succinctly (all emphasis theirs):

As a working screenwriter, we need the strike, and aspiring scabs might want to really look at why this strike is getting ready to happen before they offer their services.

If you write an episode of Metafilter Towers, you get paid according to scale for the script; you get paid according to scale for residuals when the show goes into reruns. You always wrote the script, the show is still making money, consequently, you’re entitled to some of that. That’s the current contract.

But TV isn’t just first run and reruns anymore. People can also watch episodes online- free to watch, courtesy of ad revenue. The actors get a sliver of the ad revenue for online display; the producers get a sliver of the ad revenue for online display. The writers currently don’t get any of that ad revenue.

Because television is going for the value-added model, Metafilter Towers also has a website that features along with the usual forum, gallery, and fantoys, mini-episodes which complement the aired episodes. The actors get paid scale for appearing in these mini-sodes; the writers may or may not get paid for writing these mini-sodes because there’s no established scale for them.

And fans are collectors, so they like to buy the episodes from iTunes. The actors get a percentage of that purchase, the producers get a percentage of that purchase and the writers probably get nothing, because there’s no established scale for that.

At the end of the season, Metafilter Towers will be on an exclusive 7 DVD set with outtakes and behind the scenes documentaries, whee! The actors get a percentage of all sales, the producers get a percentage of all sales. The writers get a one time license fee.

Since Metafilter Towers is a hit, it’s going to sell four million copies this year- the actors get X% of four million copies’ worth; the producers get X% of four million copies’ worth. And next year, it sells another couple of million, so the actors continue to get paid for their work, the producers continue to get paid for their work, but the writers got a one time licensing fee.

This isn’t a strike over champagne in the writers’ room and caviar for lunch every day. It’s a strike for basic rights- the producers alone aren’t entitled to ALL the profits from online distribution and DVD sales, and they’re not entitled to additional writing for free.

A writer’s contract is specific- she will get scale or X amount for Y number of episodes, including all rewrites and polishes on that number of scripts. If you write one episode of Metafilter Towers, you should get paid for writing one. If you write fifteen mini-sodes for the website, you should get paid for writing fifteen mini-sodes for the website.

Nobody likes a strike, but we need this one to establish basic guidelines for digital media, and to amend the home video clause now that television shows are available on home media. Producers claim they have no idea how much money they’re making on online display (which is untrue, they publish their stats to brag about them,) and they claim that DVD sales only recoup the expenses of making the show in the first place which again, is generally untrue.

Shows profited long before DVDs, on first run ad revenue, and worldwide and syndication rights, which they still earn now. (And it’s even easier to make that money now because you no longer need 100 episodes to syndicate; cable partnerships and short syndication deals are the norm now. Profit starts almost immediately now.)

So, yes, aspiring scabs, it would be a great time to get started in screenwriting if you don’t mind working for free, and watching other people profit from your work long after your one-time licensing fee is gone. But don’t forget- everybody else (even the producers we’re negotiating with right now) are unionized, too. They may love your scabby scripts today, but when the strike is over, you may find your career in the industry over completely.

Let’s dissect this…if you worked for a factory, would you want to work your regular salary for your regular hours making your regular parts, but then a new state-of-the-art computerized vehicle comes out, and your boss wants you to make state-of-the-art parts for it…for free?  Or say you are a checkout person at the local grocery store.  Would you want to get paid for working your normal hours doing your specified job, but if a product comes through that is “new and improved”, you wouldn’t get paid for the time you spent handling it?  Or imaging you’re a house painter…you get paid for painting white houses, but not paid for painting green houses?  Or if you’re a landscaper, you get paid for planting flowers, but not evergreen trees?

But, think about this…every strike that is put on in this country hurts more than just the strikers.  When members of an auto company strike, it hurts more than just the company they are striking against.  It hurts those in other shops, perhaps non-union ones, who make parts for the striking workers.  It hurts those who sell cars.  It hurts those who want to buy cars.  People are put out of work who have nothing to do with the original strike.  How is this strike different than any other that goes on in this country, other than it is put on by those in the entertainment industry, and the picket lines are manned by people who make more than I’m liable to see in a five-year period?

And let’s talk bout that for a minute.  There is the idea out there that writers in Hollyweird are paid extravagant amounts of money, and some are.  But figures I’ve seen range from anywhere from $5000 to $200,000 a year for writers.  And I’d guess that’s about right, considering when you’re new you’re starting at the low end of the scale, just like any other job.  Then you have production people, who make anywhere from $10,000 to $75,000 a year.  In the Midwest, $75K is nothing to sneeze at, but out in California it’s propbably hard to make a decent living on that much, let alone save money for the future or for such a time as when you might be unemployed.  So for those on the low end of the totem pole, Internet and DVD residuals are probably the difference between making the mortgage payment and losing their house.

And who says that just because someone makes a large amount of money for their job, that they shouldn’t be paid fairly for the amount of work they do?  After all, if they are paid fairly, with a good contract in place, the people just starting out at a lower salary will be fairly paid according to that contract as well.

Basically, to get back to the original point…while Ellen might not want to go back to work, she has to honor her contract just like anyone else.  There’s a no-strike clause.  Pretty self-explanatory.  It may suck, but it is in the contract.  To lose her show may not hurt her financially, but it certainly would hurt those who don’t have multi-million dollar accounts to fall back on.  And Ellen isn’t the only one crossing the picket line…other workers held by the same contract are having to do the same.  For Ellen to continue to sit out in defiance of her no-strike contract could cost her the show, and then there will be no job for the writers to return to.  The head honchos have them by the proverbial balls.

But, like I pointed out in a previous post, this is probably what the head honchos want…this is exactly what they are counting on.  They know that people who work together care about each other, and nobody wants to be the reason that someone else is fired, strike or no strike.  The pressure is on from the major studios for writers to come back early, with little to no changes to their contracts, as a guilt offering to preserve other people’s jobs.  Mark my words, more people than just Ellen will be forced back to work out of loyalty to their coworkers…what they are striking for is right, but right don’t pay the mortgage or feed their children.  It’s the proverbial rock and hard place.

While the networks might be trying to find replacement hosts for their late-night gabfests, I doubt they will find any takers…people just will not do it.  Plus, let’s face it, who will want to appear on a show with a replacement host during a strike?  Dave, Jay, Jimmy, Conan, and others may soon find themselves faced with the same decision, Ellen just did it first.  Unpopular, perhaps, but in the long run it just might keep all the below-the-line people in work until such time as a decision can be reached.

And let’s remember this…no less a titan than the late great Johnny Carson (my personal most favorite talk show host of all time) had to return to work early during the last big writer’s strike, in 1988, to save the jobs of the crew of The Tonight Show…the behind-the-scenes people without whom he would have had no show.