Well, they say the first step is knowing you have a problem, but then you actually have to do something about it.  Amy Winehouse apparently understands her need to return to rehab (and hopefully for more than a two-week clean-her-up dust-her-off make-the-junkie-pretty-for-the-cameras stay this time):

The singer is said to be close to returning to rehab, and has reportedly admitted that “she needs to check into rehab again”.

A source told The Sun: “There are too many temptations for her in the UK — people around her in London are making it impossible for her to stay clean for any length of time.

“Her management had considered flying her to a clinic in Israel but are now looking further afield. They are assessing a clinic in Cape Town in South Africa.”

Look, I don’t care if they fly her to Penguin Rehab Center in Antarctica, just get her out of London and into rehab somewhere, now.  Her previous two-week vacation spa treatment rebab stint was just to get her cleaned up and prettied up for the Grammys, but in terms of lasting effect it was obviously destined for fail.  But while getting her to an out-of-town/state/country/continent rehab is probably a good idea, at some point she will have to return home if she plans on continuing to live near her Blake Incarcerated-Druggie, who’s visiting hours she recently missed.  That’s the problem facing all recovering addicts…returning to daily life after rehab is over.

And it doesn’t look like her face is clearing up either:

[T]he heavy make-up could not hide the unsightly scabs on her face which some sources have blamed on her ‘drug-taking’ lifestyle.

The award-winning singer is in desperate shape and the pan-stick make-up failed to conceal the spots and scabs on her wrinkled cheeks, chin and nose.

Amy’s spokesman has insisted she is suffering from the bacterial skin infection impetigo - which is highly contagious and can develop by repetitive scratching of a sore.

He said the 24-year-old has been put on a course of antibiotics to clear it up.

But friends fear the scabs on her face are a sign that her drinking and drug taking is once again spiralling out of control.

Amy, if you do indeed have impetigo, do everyone in London a favor…STAY HOME UNTIL IT CLEARS UP.  Nobody wants your nawsty, scabby germs, okay?  How selfish do you have to be?  I mean, it’s not a personal thing…if it is in fact impetigo, that is highly contagious, and nobody else wants it!

Friends blame multiple sources for her facial problems, including drugs, medications, and diet:

Miss Winehouse’s spokesman has insisted she is suffering from the bacterial skin infection impetigo - which is highly contagious and can develop by repetitive scratching of a sore.

He said the 24-year-old has been put on a course of antibiotics to clear it up.

But friends fear the scabs on her face are a sign that her drinking and drug taking is once again spiralling out of control.

Her love of junk food has also not helped the condition of her skin. She was pictured emerging from a fast-food outlet with fish and chips and a bottle of Lucozade.

A source said: “Her friends are worried these sores have been caused by an excessive use of crack cocaine, which can cause these kind of blemishes.

“Pete Doherty used to have similar sores under his nose.

“Her skin also suffers because Amy takes in barely any nutrients. Fruit and vegetables never pass her lips.” […]

Another source said: “When Blake was in solitary confinement recently they both started self harming again.

“It is like some kind of pact to show how much they love each other.”

Sally Penford, of the International Dermal Institute, said: “This is very much what impetigo looks like. However your skin mirrors what is going on inside your body.

“If you are taking medication, or you are not getting any nutrients and toxins are not being flushed out of the body, it will show on the skin.”

Amy is a self-confessed junk-food junkie, and loves her crisps, candy, fish-n-chips, and KFC.  It’s true what is said about the skin being a mirror of what goes on inside our bodies…just this week, as I’ve been dealing with the flu and all its assorted deliciousness, my skin has looked dull and lifeless and I’ve had a few breakouts.  That always happens when I get sick.  But I also haven’t been eating right this week (or much at all, for that matter), so that hasn’t helped my skin either.  I don’t even take drugs, outside of OTC flu medication…I can’t even imagine what one would have to ingest to cause this sort of reaction to one’s skin, if indeed that is what it is, and not impetigo.

If it isn’t impetigo and it is some sort of reaction to illegal drugs, then she must be in more serious trouble than anyone thought.  Her lips alone show there is a problem…dry and scabby, they look like she possibly is dehydrated.  All told, it’s a far, far cry from what she looked like at the Grammy Awards just a couple of months ago.

It’s interesting to me how her family were always pictured with her in the weeks leading up to the Grammys, but they are nowhere to be found now.  Yes, they could be working in private to get her help, and I sincerely hope they are.  It’s just that before the Grammys, they preferred to do their good deeds before men.  Perhaps her going out with her scabs and her carved-up arms, presumably from self-harming, is a desperate and possibly unconscious cry for help.  You’ll notice in the photo above, taken just before the Grammys, she is wearing longer sleeves even though there were no marks to cover up, but now that she has marked up her arms (see previous photos), she’s got on short sleeves, with her scabs on display for everyone to see.

I hope something is done soon, before we’re writing her obituary.  That would be sad, indeed.

What else am I supposed to title this piece?  I don’t know what else to say and there’s no way to sugarcoat it.  She looks like death on a cracker.

The Daily Mail published some photos of the singer buying a tanning bed, and they show that not only has Amy gone downhill fast after the Grammys, but she may have returned to self-harming herself:

The singer was seen leaving her Camden home with the two-pence coin-sized rash on her face, which her spokesperson previously described as ‘impetigo’.

Impetigo is an infection of the skin caused by a bacteria which causes a blistered crusty rash. […]

But even a tan [from the new tanning bed] would not be able to hide the fresh scratches which were evident on her arm, which raises more fears about the singer’s well-being, and whether she may be self-harming.

The Grammy winner was first spotted with the infection, which initially revealed itself as a lump on her face early in the month fuelling speculation that it was caused by a hard knock on her face. […]

A source said recently: “All the optimism after the Grammys has gone. Amy is sliding towards oblivion.”

Now that I get a good look at the side of her face, it does look like impetigo, and it looks like it is spreading.  If you scratch it, pick at it, or otherwise get it inflamed, it can spread to other parts of your skin…and with Amy’s skin looking rough, I’m sure it has lots of open places to spread to.

However, that doesn’t explain the huge lump she had on her face a few weeks ago.  I’m thinking that the lump and the rash were two different things caused by two different events.  The lump could have been an infected tooth, or she could have fallen and hurt herself, with the impetigo being a separate thing just happening to coincide with the swollen area, since impetigo doesn’t cause swelling.  Plus, drug use has undoubtedly not helped her complexion woes any, and it has probably helped lower her immunity towards any sort of infection that comes along.  And she’s showing a blatant disregard towards others…impetigo is highly contagious, and while she may think she’s got it hidden, others can catch the infection.  She needs to maybe, I don’t know, stay home?

Regardless, Amy’s appearance has gone downhill fast.  And those long gashes on her arms don’t look good either.  They don’t look like anything that happened accidentally  People who self-harm are often fighting against low self-esteem and a sense of trying to take things out on oneself, a feeling of hopelessness which manifests in the overwhelming urge to hurt oneself in some way.  But there are many reasons why people cut themselves or do themselves harm.  There is help available for the person who self-harms, but you have to be receptive to it…something which Amy has repeatedly said “no no no” to.

Amy desperately needs help, and I sincerely hope she gets it.  I do hope her family, who were so present during the Grammys, are trying to help her behind the scenes.  I also hope they are preparing for her inevitable end….because if she doesn’t straighten up, that is exactly what is going to happen.  I know I keep saying that, and I don’t want it to happen…but let’s face it, unless she can face the fact that she needs more help than a two-week stay in a rehab center that is exactly what is going to happen.

The inquest into the death of Daniel Smith, son of Anna Nicole Smith, continues, and Larry Birkhead gave some pretty incredible testimony yesterday concerning some missing Methadone in Anna’s house:

Birkhead testified that in April 2006, Anna realized some of her Methadone was missing in her Studio City home. Birkhead said Anna had surveillance cameras in the house, checked them and found video proof that Daniel and his buddies were the culprits.

While Birkhead was under oath, he was asked about statements he made to the cops back in 2006, when he was at war with Anna. He had told police he saw Howard K. Stern smoke pot with Anna and Daniel. During his testimony, Birkhead said he was not completely clear on what he saw.

UPDATE: Birkhead also told cops Anna had given Daniel Ecstasy, but on the stand Birkhead said he couldn’t say this actually happened.

Birkhead said Daniel’s personality completely changed between January 2006 and May. He saw Daniel throw a TV through a window. Daniel often stayed out all night long and Anna was worried.

Also, Daniel was admitted to an L.A. hospital for misuse of valium in mid July, 2006.

What, you mean people make up and exaggerate claims to the police when they are angry with someone?  Shocking!

Methadone is often used for people trying to break other drug habits:

This medication is a narcotic pain reliever and is used for severe pain. It is also used in the treatment of narcotic addiction as part of an approved program. Methadone is a potent narcotic substance. It can cause serious side effects and toxic reactions if used by someone other than the person for whom it is prescribed. Do not share this medication with others.

However, in recent years people have become addicted to methadone in place of other drugs, such as heroin:

In North Carolina, deaths caused by methadone increased eightfold, to 58 in 2001 from 7 in 1997 - an “absolutely amazing” jump, said Catherine Sanford, a state epidemiologist. In Maine, methadone was the drug found most frequently in people who died of overdoses from 1997 to 2002. It was found in almost a quarter of the deaths. In the first six months of last year, methadone killed 18 people in Maine, up from 4 in all of 1997. Dr. John H. Burton, medical director for Maine Emergency Medical Services, said hospital emergency rooms were seeing “a tidal wave” of methadone-related cases.

The increase in methadone overdoses and deaths has floored many drug experts because methadone, which does not provide a quick or potent high, has long been considered an unlikely candidate for substance abuse. It can be hours before a user feels any effect, and it works more like a sedative than a stimulant.

And because methadone is considered such an important and affordable tool for treating addiction and pain, health and law enforcement officials are facing a quandary: how to stop methadone abuse without curtailing its valuable uses — and especially without driving addicts back to drugs like heroin. […]

Naïve users might be “people who are just at a party and someone will give them some methadone,” said Dr. Burton, the emergency medicine specialist in Maine. “They might mix it in with a beer or with some other drug. They take it thinking it’s just like any other drug and will give them a buzz, and they end up either dead or deeply unconscious.”

Methadone’s delayed narcotic effect and its lack of a potent high are important reasons the drug can be so dangerous, experts say.

“By the time they’ve actually overdosed, no one is with them to see what’s happening,” said Kimberly Johnson, director of the Maine Office of Substance Abuse.

Joseph Haddock, an analyst for the Justice Department’s National Drug Intelligence Center, said some people, unaware of the drug’s delayed effects, “take methadone, don’t get the effect that they want, take more methadone, still don’t get that reaction, and they take more methadone, so they end up overdosing.”

Since Daniel died in his mother’s hospital room late one night when he was visiting his mother and newborn sister, it could be that he took the drug several hours before even arriving at the hospital, and it was only later that the serious effects of the drug kicked in.  He also had Zoloft and Lexapro in his system at the time of his death.

Yet another example of something that is supposed to be used for good, being perverted and used for harm.  There’s nothing wrong with using medications to treat various disorders, be they an illness or a mental problem or even to break a drug habit (after other options have been exhausted).  However, like anything else, often people use the medications in ways they were never supposed to be used, or mix them with medications they were never meant to be used in conjunction with.  The medications themselves often are not bad, it’s when people use them for reasons they were never intended to be used for that the problems start.

I don’t even want to go into what might have caused Daniel to turn to drugs.  What makes any kid do something like that?  Although, I do have to point out that Anna Nicole certainly did not live what you might call a “normal” lifestyle, and life in a fishbowl might have turned out to be too much for the shy Daniel to cope with.  All you have to do is watch a few episodes of the ANS show to see his weariness with the everpresent cameras in his life.

Howard K. Stern is scheduled to testify today, so that should create some fireworks.

Dad Mitch says that he believes his affair while he was still married to Amy’s mother is part of the reason why she’s so screwed up today:

Mitch Winehouse, 57, reveals in a new interview with the BBC that soon after Amy’s birth in 1983, he began cheating on wife Janis with a co-worker, Jane, who became his second wife in 1996. Amy and her brother Alex (born in 1980) knew about the long-running affair.

“The children used to call Jane ‘Daddy’s work wife,’ ” Winehouse says on the program One Life: Rock Star Parents, to be aired next week.

He said he should have left the marriage sooner, and when he finally did Amy “definitely became a lot more independent. … I thought Amy was over [the affair] pretty quickly – in fact it felt at the time Amy felt no effect at all. Maybe she could not articulate it in words, but she certainly did it with music.”

He says her angry song, “What It Is About Men,” refers to his behavior.

“It is easy for me to say it is my fault, and that had I been a better parent this would not have happened. But who knows whether it would or not?” he says.

Well, yeah…you never quite know if something like this is going to negatively affect your children, but it’s a pretty safe bet to say that the behavior of the parents does affect the emotional makeup of the children.  It sounds to me like Mitch is still trying to excuse his behavior.  So, let’s recap…he carried on an affair for quite a long time, let’s assume a decade, and when he finally divorced his wife he didn’t expect that to have an impact on an obviously artistic girl poised on the brink of adolescence?

But then again…it does seem that he is attempting to make things right with Amy.  He has tried again and again to get her into rehab programs (although he, and the rest of the family, have been conspicuously absent from the public eye, at least, since the Grammys), and he and Amy do seem to have a better relationship than they have in the past.  I do understand that things happen which we don’t always plan on and I’m all for not allowing the mistakes of the past cloud the future, as long as the person involved can admit to their behavior without excuses and sugar-coating.

It does seem Amy is not out of the woods yet, though, concerning her health:

Winehouse also says his daughter’s alcohol and drug abuse caused a seizure in August. Further attacks could be life-threatening. “She could die horribly. That is not going to happen – that cannot happen,” he says.

Then he’d better get back to working on her, because she’s been seen snorting vodka and stoned out of her gourd.  Ultimately, though, it is up to Amy, and let’s face it…if she does not want help, she will refuse it at every turn.  And her parents had better prepare for a different sort of ceremony.

I’m probably a network television executive’s worst nightmare, in that I very rarely watch network TV.  Pretty much the only time I tune in is for a sporting event, or when one of my kids is watching something like Celebrity Apprentice (yeah, I know, but I gotta see if Trace Adkins takes the whole thing).  There is one exception…House.

House has been a recent addition to my viewing habits, but a welcome one.  For those of you unfamiliar with the premise, Dr. Gregory House is the head of a team of diagnosticians at a teaching hospital, who’s patients typically come to them after having failed to receive a diagnosis, or an incorrect diagnosis, at other hospitals.  He’s cranky, irritable, egotistical, cynical, unorthodox, curmudgeonly, and a medical genius.  Oh, and he also abuses Vicodin, due to a past infarction in the quad muscle of one of his legs (the dead muscle was removed), which requires him to use a cane and keeps him in constant pain.  While this addiction hasn’t caused his grating personality, it doesn’t help it any.

Hugh Laurie, the ruggedly handsome, extremely talented, and versatile British actor who plays the doctor, has recently admitted to experimenting with Vicodin to get a better feel for his character:

Not that he’s been labeled a realistic Method actor before, but Hugh Laurie admits he attempted to get closer to the character he portrays on House — by experimenting with Vicodin, the strong painkiller to which Dr. Gregory House is addicted.

“I wouldn’t recommend it — we have to be careful,” Laurie, 48, tells Britain’s Radio Times magazine, “But then again … if you’re not in pain it gives a floaty, pleasurable feeling.”

I haven’t been able to find the rest of the interview (it is advertised as being in the new issue, so maybe it just isn’t online yet…I’ll have to visit my local bookstore).

While I believe that the show provides a balanced view of House’s drug addiction, (he doesn’t believe his addiction is a big deal, since it doesn’t interfere with his work, while it is obvious to all around him that it is…however, no viable alternatives are suggested or tried, other solutions having been attempted and discarded), and I don’t see the show glamorizing his drug usage in any way, I am uncomfortable with this admission that Hugh tried Vicodin and admitted that yeah, they do make you feel good.  If you’ve ever taken one, you already know how they make you feel, so that’s no big surprise.  I don’t necessarily think some kid is going to think it’s okay because some actor who isn’t on a teen drama did it, I’m just uncomfortable with the whole thing.

Fortunately, it doesn’t seem that he’s repeated the experiment.

His father was a doctor, and Hugh has a view on that which is one of the most balanced I’ve heard:

Your dad was a doctor. What would he have thought of House?

He couldn’t have been more different to House. He was a hero to me. A very gentle man who would take any amount of time with patients.

You never thought about going into medicine?

I think I was too lazy to be a doctor. I do feel bad that now I’m pretending to do what my dad did and getting paid more for it than he ever did.

Just don’t repeat that little experiment with the Vics and we’ll be fine.  I have to get my weekly dose of the good doctor, you know.  It hurts when I do this…

In the weeks heading up to the Grammys, you couldn’t swing a beehive without hitting a photo, video, or article about Amy Winehouse and her beloved family, doing what beloved families do…helping her get into rehab, standing by her as she battled her drug demons, celebrating with her as she won five Grammy awards, and…uhm…disappearing?  Family was nowhere to be found as rehabbed Amy inhaled vodka to get her buzz on:

While DJ Seb Chew manned the decks, the Rehab star played the rather unpleasantly named “Gas Chamber” game. Medics say it’s dangerous because it gets alcohol absorbed directly into the bloodstream.

Our insider tells us: “Amy was the life and soul - but even we were shocked by this party trick.

“She was sat next to Kelly and Miquita when she covered one nostril, tilted her head back and sucked the vodka shot down her open nostril through a straw.

“She threw back her head and reeled in shock and everyone around her looked stunned.”

Wino performed the stunt after a round of 20 shots were brought to the table. Says the source: “She necked the top of the shot and lit the rest with a lighter. Then she grabbed a straw and sucked what was left up her nose.”

And her outlandish antics didn’t end there. The five-times Grammy winner - who only came out of rehab last month - knocked back cocktails before begging a pal to teach her the dangerous “duttywine” dance, which can cause serious neck injury and pain.

A spy said: “Amy was on top form and begged a pal to teach her the dance where you spin your head around really fast while you wind into the ground. Amy was so into it at one point her beehive nearly fell off.”

A far cry from just a few weeks ago, when Amy had her family around her, rallying her to get clean.  The singer’s father Mitch was an almost constant companion leading up to the prestigious Grammy awards ceremony, and he was instrumental in getting his famously rebellious daughter to check into rehab shortly before the Grammys.  For a while, everything seemed to be clicking.  After spending a mere two weeks in rehab, Amy emerged looking better than she has in ages, with clear eyes and bright skin, and after putting on a little bit of needed weight she looked curvy and healthy again.  She gave a performance that knocked me out.  You could see that she was overjoyed to be there, and overwhelmed at the awards given to her.

Yet, even in what was arguably a stellar performance, there was a hint of defiance and the old Amy in her shout-outs to her “Blake Incarcerated”, with a look in her eye that dared anyone to say anything bad about her jailed druggie husband.  I had hoped that seeing the sort of benefits living a drug-free life can bring would change Amy for the better, and make her realize that she needs Blake Incarcerated-Druggie like she needs a millstone around her neck, but the cracks were starting to show almost as soon as the last notes of “Rehab” died out.  Ever since the Grammys, Amy has started a slow but steady downward slide back into her drug-fueled, chaotic lifestyle, as evidenced by a shaky and sub-par performance at the Brits and continuing documented bad behavior chronicled in the newspapers and tabloids.

And so I do have to ask…just where is Amy’s family, now that there is no awards ceremony to prepare for and get her cleaned up to attend?  They rallied around her in the weeks before the Grammys, cheering her on and giving interviews about how hard Amy was trying to get clean.  Her mother even stated that she believed Amy was on the road to recovery:

Meanwhile, Janis Winehouse says her daughter is well on the road to recovery.

She said: “I think she had a back against the wall situation like if you don’t get cleaned up you can’t get the visa and you can’t tour. I was like ‘wake up Amy’.

“I was helpless There was nothing I could do because Amy had to do it for Amy. Addiction is something that once it’s got hold of the person it’s very hard to get them off.”

Janis told GMTV today: “We all felt that was the best she’s performed.

“I think it would have been too much for her because all of the travelling. If Amy were there she would be lost in it. She would be a little girl lost in it all.”

Janis praised the medical staff caring for Amy but says her daughter will continue to receive support.

She said: “She will see a therapist and she will still be getting help because she wants the help.

“She’s on the road to recovery and that’s what it’s about.”

However, Amy’s actions are speaking so loudly that we can’t hear anything her mother is saying.  Now, I have no doubt whatsoever that Amy was in a place at that time where she realized she couldn’t do anything if she didn’t get cleaned up.  Her visa to the United States was in serious doubt, she was being investigated into her possible role in her husband’s illegal activities, she was up for five Grammys in an awards ceremony she couldn’t attend…I do think she saw the light for a moment.

It seems that it was only for a moment, though.  You see, it’s the same trap so many of us fall into when we try to achieve a goal for a certain event…once the event has come and gone, we no longer have any “reason” to try and clean ourselves up.  It’s like when someone tries to lose weight for an upcoming social event, or cleans their house in preparation for an upcoming family holiday…once the big day has come and gone, we go right back to gaining weight again and leaving our dirty dishes in the living room, because there is no longer an impetus.  We don’t realize that we lose weight for ourselves, we keep our house clean for ourselves…and Amy, in my opinion, doesn’t quite yet understand that she has to get clean not so she can get a visa, or tour, or receive awards, but for herself.

It’s easy to blame her family, however, because isn’t that what people do as soon as someone goes off the rails?  “Where’s the family?”  But in situations like this, where drugs are involved, often there is nothing someone’s family can do until the person themselves gets to the point where they realize they need help.  Amy did get almost to that point when she realized her trip to the Grammys was at stake, but it doesn’t seem to have been enough.  Until she truly reaches that point (and by all indications, that isn’t going to happen any time soon), there isn’t much her family can do other than be there for her and let her know that help is just a “yes” away.  It does seem odd, however, that for a while there, all we saw was Amy’s family, and now it seems they have disappeared from the face of the earth.  For a while, Mitch was in every pap photo, but it’s as if he were sucked into some back hole.  Once she won her awards, where did they go?

I certainly do hope they are still working behind the scenes to get her back into rehab and back into cleaning up her life.  A scant two weeks inhouse is not going to clean her up…she needs intensive, inpatient therapy.  I argued at the time, when Natalie Cole said what she did about Amy not deserving her awards because of her drug lifestyle, that we don’t give awards only to people who have successfully cleaned themselves up.  I said that those who are trying (and trying again) should not be exempt from accolades from their peers, and that if we only gave awards to people who lived exlemplary lives and who did everything perfectly there would be no awards given (even to Ms. Cole, recovering drug addict).  I stand by those words today…but Amy needs to get back to trying, instead of spitting in the face of her fans, her family, her peers, and even herself (metaphorically speaking).

I sincerely hope she can get herself together before it is too late.  Otherwise, the family of Amy Winehouse will have another ceremony to prepare for, but it won’t be one Amy will be singing at.

i can type saeyen tahlojee???

oh yez
mad skillz
i gots dem

He quit the programme early when the facility which housed himself and others, like fellow actor Daniel Baldwin, reportedly ran out of the pain medication he needed. But Conaway isn’t opposed to returning to Celebrity Rehab for a planned second season. He says, “It’s not over, I’m gonna go back in.” The actor admits he no longer feels like a suicidal lost cause, thanks to Dr. Pinsky’s treatment, and help from former Grease costar John Travolta, who has come to his aid since his rehab stint. Conaway insists the recent death of his mother made him realise how far he has come: “I miss her a lot, but I didn’t go back to using over that.” The fallen star admits he still needs to work on his painkiller addiction - and that’s why he’d like to return to Celebrity Rehab.

Well, hmm.  It seems that Grease star Jeff Conaway (am I the only one who remembers him from Taxi?) isn’t quite de-narced-anoned yet.  So much for Scientology’s success rate, huh?  JT had been attempting to “help” Jeff by sending over a Scientology auditor to….do whatever it is auditors do:

According to Conaway, “I’ve been doing Scientology…my doctor was like, ‘Holy cow,’ he says, ‘Whatever you’ve been doing keep doing it because it’s really working.’ ”

Conaway says his former Grease co-star John Travolta introduced him to the controversial religion.  “John and I stayed friends but he couldn’t watch me going down the tubes…he gave me a whole library of Scientology books and he’s given me an auditor who comes almost every day.” 

Interesting how he says he has been “doing Scientology.”  Just a weird choice of words.  But I’m not sure you can implant manipulative suggestions into a brain that’s half burned up already.

Hey, Jeff.  C’mere.  I can help you, and I won’t even take your money to do it.  Now, sit very still, look into my eyes, and listen very carefully to what I’m about to say:

GO INTO REHAB.  REHAB IS GOOD.

LISTEN TO DOCTOR DREW.

DON’T DO DRUGS.  DRUGS ARE BAD.

GIVE THEM UP FOR YOURSELF, NOT ANYONE ELSE.

OH…AND STAY AWAY FROM SCIENTOLOGY.

NO NARCANON, MMK?  NARCANON IS BAD.

you can has sober eye atee nao furevers!
kthxbai

Amy Winehouse has been spotted out and about in recent days with a mysterious lump on her face and a funky rash on her cheek.  Her spokesman has said she has impetigo, but many aren’t convinced.  Some people have speculated that she’s returned to her past druggie lifestyle, and caused her own problem by possibly falling into something:

Expert and broadcaster Dr Hilary Jones told the News of the World: “I think the most likely explanation is a direct blow, either accidental or deliberate. A skin complaint wouldn’t cause swelling.

“It could be she’s walked into a door or fallen over—which is very likely with her drug habit.”

But a spokesman for Amy insisted this was not the case.

He said: “Amy has been diagnosed with impetigo which she’s been told can be highly contagious.

“Because of that she’s been put on antibiotics and may have to stay home alone for the next few days.”

Impetigo is an infection of the skin caused by a bacteria which causes a blistered crusty rash. But it does not cause swelling.

I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on teh internets, but I will say this…when my son was little, he had a nasty case of impetigo, and while it did get scabby and nasty it never swelled up, not even a little.  I also had occasion to observe a case of impetigo last winter on a teenage friend, and again while it was scabby it was not swollen.

However, a new story has emerged that states something far more gross than falling into a wall:

The troubled star was with pals when she was asked THREE TIMES by staff to put out her Marlboro Light because of the smoking ban.

As she received her final warning, Amy stared straight into the waitress’s eyes and pushed the burning tip of the fag into her own face.

A source at the diner said: “She hardly flinched because she was so high. The whole place was open-mouthed in horror.”

Amy tried to conceal the wound with foundation — but it has now apparently become infected, causing the swelling on her cheek.

While this report is from The Sun (the Brit’s version of the National Enquirer), it can explain the swelling.  The type of facial infections which create a pocket of infection–from skin, teeth, gums, cysts, etc–can cause the face to swell up fairly quickly, since the skin on our face is not as thick as the rest of our body, plus it usually doesn’t have the layer of fat covering it that the skin elsewhere on our body does.  Add Amy’s attempts to cover the problem with makeup, and you’ve now introduced germs…if she has been picking at it, that will definitely make things worse.  And falling into a wall or onto something will cause bruising and possibly bleeding and/or swelling, but won’t cause a rash or burn blisters.  Of course, a tooth or gum abcess will also cause swelling, but not the rash.  Whatever it is, it isn’t ordinary.

And if you look closely at the first photo above, she seems to have a sore nose…which could be drugs, could be from falling, could be lighting.  But it’s not the first time Amy has been spotted in recent weeks with something strange in her nose.

Also, The Sun is saying that Blake Incarcerated-Junkie isn’t doing so hot either:

He ended up in the medical wing this weekend after slashing at a tattoo of Amy on his arm with a razor blade when she failed to show up and support him in court on Friday.

The junkie has been described by fellow lags as “a hollow shell” after he refused to use shower rooms or talk to other prisoners.

Instead he sits in his cell and slashes his arms.

Blake — awaiting trial for assault and perverting justice — has also failed a third drugs test since he was remanded to jail, and could face a separate court case for his habit inside the nick.

A prison source said: “Blake is in a serious mess.

“His self harming is worse then ever — he is cut to ribbons but carries on gashing his arms with razor blades. He won’t talk to most other prisoners now because he gets threatened and hassled for money, so he sits in his cell either cutting himself or doing whatever drugs he can get.”

“He’s not coping with prison life.”

It seemed strange to us that prisoners who self-harm are given access to blades in their cells, but the source confirmed lags are allowed safety razors — which they then snap to expose the blade.

Yeah…giving prisoners razors to shave with probably isn’t such a good idea.  Maybe they should make Blake grow a beard.  Hope all that dope and high living was worth it, buddy. 

I said back when they released her just before the Grammys that I didn’t think she’d spent enough time in inpatient rehab (at that point, about two weeks), and it appears that outpatient treatment hasn’t done her any good.  Cleaning up for an event in your life is never a good idea…once the event has come and gone, you no longer have a reason to stay clean.  You have to make the decision to clean up for yourself, and any events that come along are gravy.  Amy has not yet reached that point.  I sincerely hope she does before it’s too late.

At this rate, she’ll be back in rehab before long…or not with us for long.

I’ve not seen any hard evidence, and mind you, I’m just speculating.  So now that we’ve gotten that out of the way…

I’d heard that Amy Winehouse’s performance at the Brits left a lot to be desired, but when I finally got to watch footage I realized just how much she has slid backwards since the Grammys.  In the style of music that Amy sings (I call it a sort of jazz/blues/rock fusion), you can play around a lot with the lyrics and main beat…syncopation and improvisation are the names of the game.  Her performance at the Grammys was a great example of it.

But at the Brits…what a difference.

The problems started long before the performance.  It seems that in the midst of a two-day alcohol bender, Amy tripped and fell on her face while rehearsing, and the shaky rehearsal left programmers wondering if she’d even show up at all…indeed, they were thinking of scrapping her performance altogether.  She eventually arrived at the awards 45 minutes late and did her set with Mark Ronson, apparently attempting to hide behind him during their song Valerie.  (I have yet to see this performance, as all the video I’ve found of it has been pulled.)

Later that night, as she performed her song Love Is A Losing Game (oddly apropos), she was visibly nervous, shaky, and out of time with the music.  She managed to pull it together enough to finish the song, but ended it with a shout-out to Blake Incarcerated-Druggie, which the crowd ignored.

But wait, there’s more…

According to the papers in the UK, she is:

The singer sought help at an undisclosed location following months of well documented problems battling substance abuse.

Winehouse, 24, sought help after her father, Mitch, admitted her family have looked into getting her sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

She has been at the centre of a police inquiry after being caught on video last week, apparently inhaling from a crack pipe.

“Amy decided to enter the facility today after talks with her record label, management, family and doctors,” Universal Music Group said in a statement.

“She has come to understand that she requires specialist treatment to continue her ongoing recovery from drug addiction,” the statement said.

It would also seem that the police don’t see her as a danger to herself, even after being caught smoking crack on tape:

In an interview with Vanessa Feltz on BBC London father Mitch complained the authorities don’t regard her drug-taking as a danger to herself.

But, he said, they needed her to agree to treatment. The family were helpless to intervene without her consent because the authorities don’t see her drug addiction as harmful.

Well, I can certainly understand that.  There are no reports or studies that show these sorts of drugs (ecstasy, cocaine, etc) are harmful to one’s health or well-being.  Absolutely nothing that shows they can cause one to act in a way they normally would, including putting oneself in danger or acting in a way that is dangerous to oneself or others or create a distorted sense of one’s reality that might cause one to hurt oneself.  But then again, all she would have to do is refuse to say anything incriminating against herself, argue that she was being set up by a nameless faceless entity, or say that she was just “joking” or “pretending” to take drugs, and the UK police can’t even caution her.

I certainly hope that Amy can stay in rehab this time, and that she gets the help she needs.  To see anyone throw their life away in this manner is heartbreaking and sad.  She certainly does seem to have a strong family system around her who seems to be working hard to help her get better (coughLynneandJamiecough).

But I would like to say this to Amy:  You can’t go into rehab thinking that you’re going to do this for your father, or because you’re worried about salvaging your career.  You have to do this for yourself.  Anything else, is just gravy.