Entertainment Business and Oscar Buzz Blog - Zennie62

YouTube Copyright Do's And Don't And YT Partners

2011-10-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

Zennie62.com: Donald Trump Roasted on Comedy Central and Situati...

2011-03-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

Zennie62.com: Donald Trump Roasted on Comedy Central and Situati...: "After watching the Roast of Donald Trump on Comedy Central over four times (hey, reruns on Comedy Central are worth watching when somethi..."

Zennie62.com: Permanent Holiday at Jam Factory

2011-01-09T11:01:00.001-08:00

Zennie62.com: Permanent Holiday at Jam Factory: "Nikky Raney's first time encounter with Permanent Holiday... Permanent Holiday performed January, 8, 2010, Saturday night at the Jam F..."

Zennie62.com: Permanent Holiday at Jam Factory

2011-01-09T11:01:00.000-08:00

Zennie62.com: Permanent Holiday at Jam Factory: "Nikky Raney's first time encounter with Permanent Holiday... Permanent Holiday performed January, 8, 2010, Saturday night at the Jam F..."

Santa Baby 99ers Christmas Unemployment Song

2010-12-24T02:37:00.001-08:00

Presenting the Santa Baby 99ers Christmas Unemployment Song, or The Santa Baby 99ers Song, on Christmas Eve.

Donalee King (in photo from Zennie62.com), who goes by Paladinette, at Zennie62.com, created this variation of the classic Christmas Song Santa Baby.

King, a blogger who also has her own blog called Jobless Unite, is one of the so-called "99ers," those who's unemployment benefits have ran out after the 99-week limit, and seek an extension of benefits, or better yet, a job.

In seeking both, the San Diego resident has become a tireless advocate for the jobless. Her work on this song landed her notice by the LA Times.

The video is below, followed by the lyrics, which are graphic but worth reading and singing...if you dare!

(In fact, if you're in Oakland, California, print out the lyrics, take them down to The Alley at 3325 Grand Avenue, present them to Rod Dibble at the piano, and ask he would accompany you in song. Santa Baby is a song he knows how to play.)

Lyrics to video song Santa Baby - 99ers Style 2010

Congress Baby, the 99ers need a tier 5......to survive

I know you’re HEARTLESS P@#*s But....so what?

My children need some dinner tonight!

The car got repo’d and the rent is awfully late...but wait

You only care for the rich that’s a B*@#H

there’s millions of us dying out here

We can’t afford a Christmas tree

While you’re all buying Cartier at Tiffany

You bailed out banks Greece and Haiti too

I think it’s time the 99ers heard from you

Obama baby, just help the 99ers please

and... don’t tease

Been a really tough year

Out here

I Hope Your change is comin’ tonight

Obama honey, you sold 99ers flat out

no doubt

and now it’s snowing out,

My stomach’s growling

I need some food and shelter tonight

Sherrod honey, Schumer and that Stabenow too

Were through we all trusted you

but senate baby your lies have left us hurtn’ out here

We’re not rich - guess we don’t count

The dirty little secret you won’t talk about

There’ll be no jobs again next Year

It’s time you kicked your senate’s butts into high gear

Congress baby just pretend to care for us poor

once more - come on it’s just a check - so what the heck?

there’s millions of us dying out here!

That’s right I’d rather work than fight

Hurry Congress there’s 99ers dying TONIGHT

Merry Christmas!

Facebook status promotes breast cancer awareness By Nikky Raney

2010-10-06T05:40:00.001-07:00

Courtesy of NY Daily News

Many Facebook users may be puzzled when seeing how many of their Facebook friends have a status saying: "I like it on the floor." (or "I like it on *BLANK*")

Along with the many Facebook statuses saying, "I like it on the floor," there are almost as many which ask, "Why does everyone's status say 'I like it on the floor?'"

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month - this viral Facebook status trend is meant to raise awareness of breast cancer. Although "I like it on the floor" may seem to be leading to something sexual, but really it is referring to a purse or handbag according to a blog from The Washington Post.

There have been many types of breast cancer awareness campaigns that have been questionable (like the ads with the body paint), but this one seems to be more tame than "Save the Tatas."

Time Magazine online explains how unusual this method to raise awareness truly is comparing this status to the one that had gone viral last year:

Remember last year's Facebook campaign where all of your lady friends suddenly had status updates like “Black,” “Red,” or “Polka dots” and no one had any clue what was up? Oh, but then word got around that the updates were the bra colors of choice and the updates were meant to peak interest of those left out of the joke (read: males) in order to raise awareness about breast cancer. Um, ok?

The appeal of posting the status is that it will confuse those who don't already know what it is referring to - which will cause the person to get educated in order to figure out why these statuses are being posted. Clever.

Easy A is more than a teen comedy By Nikky Raney

2010-10-01T06:51:00.001-07:00

Courtesy of USA Today

Although sarcastic and completely unrealistic, Easy A is a hilarious movie that can be enjoyed teens and adults alike. The outrageous scenario of Olive, Emma Stone, giving herself the reputation of a “slut” in order to get noticed at high school and accepting money from boys so that they could lie and say that they “got physical” with her is entertaining as long as the audience can accept that the scenario could never happen at an actual high school in the United States.

Easy A can be compared to a present day John Hughes film, with Olive resembling a Molly Ringwald character. The tone of the film is complete sarcasm; the majority of the dialog is all sarcasm based featuring witty one-liners. The movie keeps the audience engaged and laughing throughout its entirety.

In Olive’s English class the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is analyzed, and Olive gets very involved with the story line. After the extremely religious Marianne, Amanda Bynes, hears Olivia make up a story to her best friend Rhiannon, Aly Michalka, about losing her virginity Marianne suggests that Olivia embroider an “A” onto her wardrobe (like Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter). The movie pokes fun at Christianity and could possibly be offensive to Christian viewers (but then again the entire movie is based around a girl lying about sleeping around).

The relationship between Olive and her parents is one that most teenagers would love – the sarcasm and witty punch lines are never ending when it comes to Olive, her parents and her adopted brother. At one point her brother, who is black, says that he will not have to worry about the genetics being passed down since he was adopted. The response from the father is, “How did you find out you were adopted?”

Without giving away too much Olive’s reputation grew once she went to a party and pretended to have sex with her friend Brandon, Dan Byrd, who is gay so that the other students would no longer pick on him for his sexual orientation. The two lock themselves in a bedroom and jump on the bed making noises so that the act is believable.

After this more and more boys find out that Olive is letting boys lie about doing things with her and Olive is offered gifts and money. Olive’s reputation gets so out of hand that she buys lots of sexy lingerie and embroiders an “A” onto every piece.

Penn Badgely plays the role of "Woodchuck Todd," Olive's long time crush, and he was Olive's first lie; when they were in eighth grade during a party the two were locked in a bedroom and expected to kiss, but Todd was not ready. Olive agreed to tell the rest of the party that the two had kissed when in fact they had not.

There is much more to this movie than what has been touched upon. Out of five stars this movie is about a four - the comedy is entertaining and is able to poignantly capture the feelings that teenagers feel in high school, but it is easy to get annoyed with how overly quirky and cartoony the characters are.

By Nikky Raney
Journalist & Blogger

Also posted on The Future of Journalism

Academy News: AMPAS Says Oscar Red Carpet Drawing Ends Tonight

2010-09-19T12:15:00.001-07:00

You can get a seat over The Red Carpet at The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences (AMPAS) Presentation of The 2011 83rd Annual Academy Awards by entering a randow drawing, right now at www.oscars.org/bleachers. The drawing, which has been active for the last week allows you to be one of the select 700 people to be there live at the Academy Awards' premier pre-event, event.

AMPAS reports:

To be eligible for the random drawing, an individual must complete the application form in its entirety. Applications may only be submitted online. Forms may not be returned via any other method.

Applicants may register for themselves and one guest. Duplicate registrations will not be accepted.

Those whose names are selected in the random drawing will be notified in late September. They will then be required to submit additional information for security purposes prior to final approval. Eligible attendees will receive a confirmation letter in early January with information pertinent to the event.

Only those individuals who have been pre-approved by the Academy will have access to the bleachers. Those who wait overnight to attempt admittance will not be granted entry.

The Academy will not be responsible for securing travel and/or hotel accommodations for bleacher fans.

In previous years, as many as 20,000 fans have applied online for the limited number of red carpet seats.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Hurry up. It all ends at 9 PM PDT tonight.

3D Summit - Jeffrey Katzenberg Blasts 2D to 3D Movie Conversion

2010-09-16T06:56:00.001-07:00

Note: Jeffrey Katzenberg Blasts 2D to 3D Movie Conversion at 3D Summit - This is 13:11 of a 14 minute speech. This video blogger elected to upload all of what I has, rather than edit it. At first, The plan wasn't to record all of his speech, but when it seemed that, just 30 seconds into the speech, Jeff was going to throw and land a haymaker, plans changed. To be candid, the final two minutes have micro-jumps only because of the editing system used vs the computer's random access memory (RAM) that was consumed to take such a large file all at once - need more RAM. But I wanted you to see what I had, rather than lop it off.

Universal City, Ca - On Wednesday, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg was the keynote speaker at the 3D Entertainment Summit at the Hilton Universal City. At first, this blogger expected a standard "State of 3D" speech, but Katzenberg had other ideas. He got up with a plan to throw and land a haymaker.

Katzenberg took direct aim at 2D to 3D film conversion and set the tone for the summit - just what a good keynote speech is supposed to do. He didn't call out Clash Of The Titans by name, but everyone knew what he was talking about. But for good measure, Jeff added Piranha 3D.

(As an aside someone at the 3D Summit, when asked about Piranha 3D's budget later in the day, said "It's about $30 million to $40 million. We'll get their in terms of revenue, but we're waiting for DVD sales." But then the man shrugged and said, "Whatever, I'm not there any more," meaning he not with Dimension Films, who made the moviue.)

Clash Of The Titans was the epic 2010 remake of the man-god v. man fantasy that was made in 1981. First planned as a 2D film, Clash was rushed into 3D conversion after the success of Avatar in 2009. The results were terrible, as noted before.

Clash's conversion was so bad that Avatar Producer / Director James Cameron called it out by name and said that Hollywood should not use 3D just to use it. This is what Jeff is echoing in his speech above but with a step - he's panning 2D to 3D conversion, period.

Jeff said "When it comes to 3D conversion, here's the bottom line: over the years the film industry comes up with new ways to make a bad movie worse. Conversion of 2D to 3D is just the newest." Katzenberg says a bad 3D movie is painful to watch (really, it can give you a headache) and to add insult to injury Hollywood asks the customer to pay for it.

Some of the people responsible for the 2D to 3D conversion were sitting right there in the audience at the 3D Summit, including a man next to me who knew Jeff and admitted to me that he worked on Clash Of The Titans.

That guy was squirming in his chair during the speech. Seriously.

As a closing note, Katzenberg notes that six of the top 10 movies were 3D, and says there's a scarcity of 3D movie screens hampering revenue box office, even though it was healthy for 3D. He also says pricing is not an issue - the public is willing to pay a premium price, as long as it gets a premium experience. Customers, Katzenberg says, can tell the difference "between Pandora and Piranha."

This is part one: part two is the question and answer session, which was entertaining in as well. Stay tuned.

Mad Men: The Suitcase - Don Draper Is A Racist, Deal With It

2010-09-07T01:04:00.001-07:00

Will Don Draper's door ever open for blacks?

Mad Men is unquestionably an excellent television program with acting and story that is edgy, provocative, and thought-provolking. But because the television show is an entertainment child of the 21st Century, some fans of Mad Men, tend to forget that it was set in the mid-1960s.

Thus, when this blogger asserts that Don Draper, the lead character well-played by John Hamm, is racist, some have a hard time dealing with that observation. Others might point to Mad Men creator Matt Weiner's claim that his work is one of "science fiction," except that Weiner admits the atmosphere of Draper's office is overtly sexist and racist.

Thus, Don Draper himself is racist.

Take Mad Men: The Suitcase. In fact, you should because it's great television. The overall storyline is really about two people, Don Draper and Peggy Olson, who's work lives are a cover for their damaged selves. Draper has only his work. Peggy wants to get more recognition from her work. But Draper's also a boxing fan, and here's where his watered-down racism reveals itself.

Draper issues the standard predominantly white fears of the man we call Muhammed Ali, who was then called Cassius Clay. Draper complained that Ali always boasted. Draper wanted Liston to win because, essentially without saying it, Liston was the "good Negro," the person that wasn't threatening to Draper's World view, which has blacks in a certain place.

Draper has not faced a black character who was his 1960s equal: someone who was smart enough to establish their own firm to help companies market to blacks. There's nothing in Draper's makeup, and the Liston remarks confirm this, that indicates he could work with someone black who was his equal.

In reality, anyone who was a white male ad exec in the mid-1960s New York city could not get their by being a 21st Century non-racist. The fact is the Civil Rights Amendment was passed in 1964. It forbade discrimination in the workplace, in public schools, and in voting registration. Now, just because a law is passed does not mean businesses are automatically going to follow it immediately.

Unless Don Draper was out marching for civil rights, and hired black interns or had a black girlfriend, it's fantasy to think Draper wasn't racist. Indeed, it would be inaccurate to the period to present him as not having racist views, yet achieving that level of success.

Remember, Draper's firm has yet to hire an African American at any level above servant, and if they do, you can bet on this: that person's hire will be controversial and what that person has to do to remain at the firm - what they have to deal with on a daily basis - has to be a part of that story line if Mad Men is to be believable.

If such a hire happens it would have to be approved by Draper. If Draper does so, it would have to be only after he overcame a set of racial personal demons himself. It would not - or should not - happen in one episode. In short Don Draper would have to overcome his own racism.

Remember, it's the times. They were racist to an extreme by today's standards. The biggest problem is that many of fans of Mad Men weren't born at that time; this blogger was.

Which drives me to write this blog post. The simple fact is that even with that racism, the 1960s were a time of pioneering achievements by blacks in the ad World. As was pointed out in Racialicious:

It’s unlikely Mad Men will acknowledge executives for Pepsi-Cola—led by men including Edward F. Boyd—pioneered marketing to Black consumers in the 1940s and 1950s. Or the late Vince Cullers of Chicago launched the first Black advertising agency in 1956, while Luis Díaz Albertini founded Spanish Advertising and Marketing Services, the first Latino shop, in 1962. Hell, even Alex Trebek won’t recognize such trivia.

The other biggest problem is that television "critics" - either because of their own blindness to racism and institutional racism or because they want to pretend racism doesn't exist by not mentioning it - have written that Mad Men got the 1960s right. TV Critic Tom Shales committed this display of ignorance when he wrote "Details of the period, however, are nicely captured" when Mad Men was introduced in 2007.

He means details like the furniture; Shales left out the dirty issue of people and society in Mad Men. The simple fact, is that save for Draper quizzing a black waiter on cigarettes, which says more about Don's desire to get information from any source than how he feels about African Americans, Mad Men has not addressed the issue of American racism toward blacks. That was the defining issue of the 1960s.

Toward A Better Mad Men

At first, I must admit, I didn't pay attention to Mad Men because I thought it was going to be a fake-period-piece that didn't hire non-white actors for anything more than five lines at best. Now, I see it as a potentially useful show that can demonstrate not just the similarities but the differences between race in the 1960s and today.

The burden of proof that Don Draper's not racist is on those who would have to rewrite the history that was the 1960s. Those fans have to accept what President Lincoln said are "the hard facts that created America," and those that continue to shape it.

Michael Douglas Cancer, Paris Hilton Arrest: Celeb Contrasts

2010-09-01T23:45:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night, legendary Actor Michael Douglas was a guest on The Late Show with David Letterman.

It was already publicly known that he had throat cancer, but the news that it was at state IV was a shock to Letterman and the public.

This news and the outpouring of love and support for a celebrity who's contributions to the public good have been well noted, contrasts dramatically with last Friday's arrest of Socialite Paris Hilton.

Michael Douglas Will Beat Cancer

Douglas told Letterman that doctors found a "walnut-sized tumor" at the base of his tongue. According to WebMD.com, that means he likely has oropharyngeal cancer. Douglas said it was caused by smoking and drinking.

Just how much Douglas smoke and drank, and what kind of alcohol he was drinking on a regular basis is not known as of this writing. But Douglas vows he will beat the cancer. The son of he legendary Actor Kirk Douglas said he has an 80 percent chance of survival.

Hope That Paris Hilton Survives Her Drug Bust

That Paris Hilton's in trouble with the law again - having been arrested for felony possession of cocaine in Las Vegas last Saturday morning - is sad news. Hilton has been arrested now three times this year alone, but in different countries: France, South Africa, and the United States.

This is a sad current affair considering her 23-day stay in jail in 2007, and the really embarrassing visit to David Letterman which followed that year. On top of the cocaine bust, now Las Vegas police are reporting they found a "joint" in the car Paris Hilton was in.

The trouble is, while the car's being reported as "Paris Hilton's car," there's no evidence to indicate that's the case. It's more likely that the car belongs to her boyfriend Cy Waits. Thus, to even try to pin what the Daily Mail reports as a "wet" and "unable to be tested."

Moreover, the person police described as "the driver" - Cy Waits - said he just finished smoking. So, pinning that on Paris Hilton is at best piling on.

Hilton herself has responded to that rumor, and others like being banned from the "two Wynn resorts on the Las Vegas Strip" on Twitter. Paris tweeted:

These rumors going around are so ridiculous, untrue and cruel. I'm not going to even pay attention to them, because I know the truth.

Here's hoping the best for Paris Hilton: that she beats the charge and is able to get on with her life. Hopefully Hilton uses Michael Douglas as a role model for the reformation of her image.

ESPN's "Around The Horn" Jay Mariotti Talk Classless

2010-09-01T22:51:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, ESPN's Around The Horn TV Show took up the "awkward" subject of the problems of one of its own, ESPN Personality Jay Mariotti.

As sports fans know, Jay Mariotti was arrested on suspicion of domestic assault against a woman said to be his girlfriend.

Jay Mariotti was known for flaming athletes accused of domestic assault, so its weird still that he's accused of doing the same thing.

And while Jay's being raked over the coals for all of that in the media, and he should be, it just seems totally classless for his own show to talk about it. Here's the video:

That should be the one place where they at least take a wait-and-see out of respect for Jay. It's like this: Jay cracks on athletes for domestic abuse problems, Jay gets cracked on for his domestic abuse problems, Jay's own show cracks on him about same problems. So what"s next?

Maybe they don't have respect for Jay?

The logical next step is for someone else at ESPN's Around The Horn to get into the same trouble so they and we can talk about that person.

Does it ever end?

WE.G.I brings positivity back to rap By Nikky Raney

2010-08-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

E.G.I brings positivity back to rap

Article by: Nikky Raney

WE.G.I is a New York rap group determined to bring positivity and motivation back to rap.

WE.G.I stands for "we go in." When brothers Rico Brown and Black Magic sat down with their sister Storm they figured the name fit well since they "go in and go hard."

The rap trio has been inspired by their family to continue working hard to get their music heard.

"Music has always been in my family, and my parent's didn't get their chance to shine," Black Magic says.

The members of WE.G.I want to bring rap and hip-hop back to the way it was during LL Cool J and Tupac's time.

"If you listen to the industry you will see it. You can tell it's really poisoned and negative right now. When you turn on the radio and hear the songs there's too much promotion of negativity. You got females that want to be other females and it isn't even about music anymore," Brown explains.

The rap group is currently unsigned, but they hope to get a deal with Shady records; if that does not work out they will try to start their own record label with the rest of their family. The group would also love to have their own reality TV show.

"My Business" is their latest single and the group members are trying to get a ring tone deal so that the song can be appreciated nationally. They really want their music to be heard all over.

"We want to bring it back to talent and motivation - not about money and fame. It's dark in the industry - we are trying to give it some fresh air," Brown continues. "We perform at many open mic shows. I was in a group with my cousins and we opened in Atlanta for T.I, but I left because I didn't have the drive and dedication I do now."

Storm is currently in the Dominican Republic promoting WE.G.I. She sees a bright future ahead for the group.

"[The] goal is to be known worldwide for our unique sound; make WE.G.I a brand," she says. "We have ideas for reality TV shows, a clothing line, cartoons etc. We are all versatile and different, but when fused together we're unstoppable."

WE.G.I has been compared to the Black Eyed Peas, according to the members.

The group has performed for Source Magazine, Thisis50.com, and has an upcoming performance on August 29, 2010 for underground artists that are unsigned.

WE.G.I. has been nominated "Respect Da Grind" award at the Indie Elite Artist Awards 2010 in Brooklyn NY, August 29, 2010.

An album for WE.G.I will be coming out in the near future; right now they are waiting for their single to be up on iTunes.

Spike TV Renews Deadliest Warrior For A Third Season

2010-08-16T11:37:00.001-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

Pay attention to Deadliest Warrior as an example of the future of entertainment.

To show how entertainment is rapidly becoming multi-plaform and meeting success in the process, Spike TV, a unit of MTV Networks and at Spike.com, has announced that it's renewed Deadliest Warrior, it's first original franchise hit, for a third season, according to Sharon Levy, executive vice president for original programming for Spike TV.

Deadliest Warrior is produced by 44 Blue Productions, Inc. with Rasha Drachkovitch and Tim Warren serving as executive producers, and described as a series that...

enlists warrior-specific, world-class fighters and experts to provide insight into what makes these combatants tick, analyzing every facet of their unique skills of destruction, culminating in a head-to-head final fight between two legends of the battlefield that will produce the deadliest warrior. The recent second season featured such iconic warriors such as SWAT, Attila the Hun, Alexander the Great, Aztec Jaguar, Jesse James Gang, Al Capone Gang, Roman Centurion, India’s Rajput Warrior, Somali Pirate, KGB and CIA.

But, in keeping with the multi-plaform nature of Deadliest Warrior, there's a video game called Deadliest Warrior: The Game, which is for Xbox LIVE Arcade, and has sold 140,000 copies since its June 14th release.

If you've never seen Deadliest Warrior, here's an inside look courtesy of Leah D'Emilio:

Catch Deadliest Warrior; the third season will premiere 10 episodes in Summer 2011.

Lindsay Lohan MIGHT be Out of Rehab This Week

2010-08-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

Lindsay Lohan might get to leave rehab this week! That must be some good behavior she’s putting out! First, Lindsay serves just 13 days of her 90 jail sentence and is released to a MANDATORY 90 day rehab program. But now it looks like she'll only have two weeks of her rehab sentence as well...what's up?

A – Either Lindsay's problems weren't as serious as doctor’s first thought. That would mean – gasp – Dina Lohan may be right saying it was a setup, propaganda and wrong for Lindsay to be in jail. OK, not really, but we just wanted to give a shout out to Dina. Seriously, Lindsay might not have been doing as many or as hard of drugs as were first thought.
B – Or Lindsay is faking her way through rehab really, really well. And since this is her fourth visit in just a few years, it could be possible, though unlikely, that Lindsay is working the system.

Now, I doubt she could fool that many professionals, so maybe there was a combination of both options. Lindsay’s substance abuse problems weren’t as severe as predicted, thus leaving Lindsay with time to quickly heal and get on the right road. Rumor has it she is helping younger girls in rehab deal with issues and offering encouragement to them.

The real problem, it seems, is her family. Dina is going on TV proclaiming her daughter is innocent – even though we know she isn’t and did get in trouble in 2007. Then there is her dad Michael, who paints her as an addict who needs more serious help than what she is currently getting. Who will scream about an early release for Lindsay more - her dad or the media? Do you think Lindsay deserves to be let out early if the doctor’s say it is OK?

Scott Pilgrim vs the World - OK, I can't wait to see this film

2010-08-13T07:26:00.001-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

Is it the Star Wars of our time?

Scott Pilgrim vs the World is a movie this blogger wants to see because its different.

It's not just that it's a 21st Century graphic novel come to life on the big screen, it's also a different kind of movie. It appears to skillfully blend real and fantasy Worlds in a way that's not been done before. It could be the Star Wars of our time, except that it's not in space.

OK. You're probably thinking of the video where I ask if there's any black people in Scott Pilgrim vs the World. This video:

I still stand by what was said in the video, because this blogger never dissed the movie, but just said I'd like to see some black folks in it. But that's not what this blog post is about. It's about the pure excitement and interest this simple movie with major hype has sparked.

Normally, one's supposed to become jaded after, let's see, Jaws, Star Wars, Star Trek The Motion Picture, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of The Jedi, and so on. And because those are Sci-Fi movies, this blogger had to see them.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World is more earthbound, but still a fantasy. And maybe that's the reason it's interesting to me; the presentation of that neat alternative universe of someone's dream state.

Ah. Bong-induced views aside, I'm going to see the flick and take my Blackometer with me.

American Idol News - Jennifer Lopez out as judge, Asia'h Epperson in jail

2010-08-12T05:50:00.001-07:00

Jennifer Lopez via last.fm

In American Idol News, Jennifer Lopez, who was in the running, really a front-runner, to be a judge on American Idol, is out of the picture. According to The New York Daily News, J-Lo's demands became too much for The Fox Television Network to deal with.

And American Idol contestant Asia'h Epperson is in jail as this is written, for allegedly beating up a woman in a club in Hollywood called Colony Club. That's on the heels of Fantasia Barrino, the American Idol winner who suffered from an overdose on Monday.

Jennifer Lopez called Diva

Reportedly, Jennifer Lopez was being too much the bitch diva for Fox, so not wanting to deal with a formula that may have worked for the show, she was written off. A source told People Magazine Her demands got out of hand. Fox had just had enough."

What those "damands" were is not known, but it's too bad. J-Lo would have been fun to watch. But one thing's for sure, American Idol's still in a state of flux that should have sponsors very concerned.

Asia'h Epperson in jail

Asia'h Epperson, who should spend more time on her blog as it showed promise, was the focus of a citizen's arrest at the club by the beating victim.

That's sad news because, in just reading her few blog posts about Google SERP, she's obviously really bright. Whatever happened, it's a sure bet alcohol was involved in it.

Lindsay Lohan's Judge Quits Case by Tina Musial

2010-08-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

Lindsay Lohan's presiding Judge Marsha Revel couldn't take the heat any more. Judge Revel removed herself from Lindsay Lohan's case allegedly because of some backroom phone calls the lawyers did not approve of. These lawyers met with Judge Revel on Friday to discuss the improprieties - but she just now vacated the case.

Now, what exactly didn't the lawyers approve of? According to TMZ:

We're told one of the issues -- Judge Revel took it upon herself to make contact with people from the Morningside Recovery rehab facility and then selected Morningside, even though it was not on the list of recommended facilities by her own court-appointed experts. Ultimately, Lindsay's lawyer convinced Judge Revel to send LiLo to UCLA. But the issue was raised on Friday.

Should it really matter that the judge made phone calls? She was checking around, getting background info on Lindsay Lohan. the lawyers should know that the judges do not follow gossip blogs, therefore she had to scoop out some info elsewhere!

Teen Choice Awards: Kim Kardashian, Megan Fox, Levi Johnston

2010-08-10T00:30:00.001-07:00

YouTube, Yahoo, Metacafe, Blip.tv, StupidVideos and Viddler

The Teen Choice Awards is the center of pop culture in America and the World. It doesn't matter how old you are, some of the stars we watch and who were at The Teen Choice Awards are older.

LL Cool J's in his 40s as are people like P Diddy, and of course the incomparable Betty White, who's 88 years old.

Age is just a number, but the number of hot women was so high it made this blogger's ears pop.

Where else can you see Kim Kardashian tell Megan Fox that Fox is more beautiful than she is! And who let Sarah Palin's almost son-in-law Levi Johnston into the Teen Choice Awards?

How random is that?

Megan Fox!

The Teen Choice Awards is a celebration that seems to have made the Twilight: New Moon cast stars before they knew what hit them. Taylor Lautner, who's now called "Taylor Hotner" on Twitter, picked up his third straight award this year.

The one thing missing was a Miley Cyrus song or dance number. We've got so much publicist from her machine, it seems the Teen Choice Awards is missing something without Miley Cyrus.

Oh, and her pole dance number!

Lastly, a big congrats to YouTube Partner Michael Buckley of The What The Buck Show for co-hosting the live stream of the Teen Choice Awards Red Carpet Show!

Tom Sherak reelected Academy President; Annette Bening gets post

2010-08-03T23:36:00.001-07:00

Tom Sherak

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) or "The Academy," announced late Tuesday evening that Tom Sherak was reelected as President of The Academy by its Board of Governors. It's his second straight one year term of office in AMPAS.

Previously, Sherak served as treasurer of the Academy, and has started his eighth year as a governor representing the Executives Branch.

Joining the wave of good Academy news, Sid Ganis, the Public Relations Branch governor and past Academy president, was elected first vice president. James L. Brooks and Phil Robinson, both of the Writers Branch, were elected to vice president posts, with Robinson being reelected. It's Brooks first election to a post.

Annette Bening gets post

Annette Bening

Actress Annette Bening, wife of Actor Warren Beatty, was elected to the post of secretary. It's her first Academy-elected position.

Perhaps Bening will be Academy President one day?

Tom Sherak paid his dues

The reelection to AMPAS as President is a complement to Tom Sherak and his long standing relationships in the Academy and in Hollywood. For 40 years Sherak has been a marketing, distribution and production executive, and currently is a consultant to Marvel Studios and Relativity Media.

Angelina Jolie comes to Comic Con San Diego, Thursday at 1 PM

2010-07-19T00:38:00.001-07:00

Anna Chapman's outing as a Russian Spy
gives Salt new meaning

Sunday marks the week of Comic Con San Diego, and there's no more exciting event that superstar actress and activist Angelina Jolie's coming to help promote her new movie Salt.

Angelina Jolie will appear in the enormous Hall H at San Diego Convention Center at 1 PM this Thursday. It's a sure bet the San Diego Convention Center will be a frenzied madhouse.

One thing, Sylvester Stallone should thank Sony that its even is at 1 PM and not 4 PM thus competing with The Expendables red carpet and panel to be held at that time. By having two big stars spread out on that one day, Comic Con Thursday promises to be one of the happenings of 2010.

At first, Angelina Jolie was not set to come and present her film about a government agent accused of being a Russian spy (Salt trailer below).

The recent news of 11 Russian spies working in America, including the lovely Anna Chapman, gives new meaning to Salt and just before its release and Jolie's Comic Con appearance.

Also, as hubby Brad Pitt's film Megamind will also be presented, there's a chance he may show up too.

Stay tuned.

Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eva Gabor's sister, rushed to hospital

2010-07-18T08:44:00.001-07:00

Gabor and Prince Frederic

Famed actress and socialite 93-year-old Zsa Zsa Gabor, the sister of Green Acres Eva Gabor, was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center late Saturday night and is in serious condition, according to her publicist John Blanchette via The Associated Press.

Zsa Zsa Gabor suffered broken bones after falling out of her bed while watching television at her home in Bel Air, in Los Angeles, California.

Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband Prince Frederic von Anhalt called the ambulance after the accident. Gabor is also referred to as Sari Prinz von Anhalt, since her marriage to Prince Frederic von Anhalt.

Gabor is partially paralyzed from a car accident in 2002, and confined to a wheelchair. The AP reports Gabor had a stroke in 2005.

Gabor married nine times

A Hollywood legend, Zsa Zsa Gabor has been married nine times. So much, that she once joked she was a good housekeeper, because everytime she married, she kept the house.

Gabor's starred in television shows like The Milton Berle Show (1956), and served as a special guest on Gilligan's Island (1965), and The Late Show with David Letterman (1994). She's played in numerous movies, and best known for The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear.

Comic Con update: Terra Nova, Piranha 3-D out of Comic Con 2010

2010-07-14T23:39:00.001-07:00

With one week to go before Comic Con 2010, with each "Hallmark"-type announcement comes news of a panel cancellation. This time it's for the series Terra Nova and the movie Piranha 3-D.

Terra Nova is the much-anticipated 20th Century Fox TV and Brannon Braga (24, FlashForward) and David Fury (Lost, Angel) time-travel program favorite of fanboys that was set for debut at Comic Con 2010 in San Diego. But since production's not set to begin until September 2010, producers don't have footage to present to the San Diego audience next week.

But what is Terra Nova?

Terra Nova is a Steven Spielberg-executive produced series that takes place 100 years in the future and is about a family that travels back to the prehistoric era. A great high concept that's a loss for Comic Con 2010.

Piranha 3-D's elimination is due to a different set of challenges.

Apparently the footage Piranha 3-D producers were going to present was deemed "too hot" for Comic Con. More specifically, it was said to be and this is a quote "too racy" and not "family friendly" to the Comic Con San Diego audience. But the question is what was the "it" they were going to show?

According to FirstShowing.net it was described as "Girls Gone Wild" style footage, which means a lot of t-and-a.

But all is not lost.

There will be an "offsite" presentation of Piranha 3-D Thursday July 22nd from 10 PM to 11 PM at the Regal Horton Plaza (475 Horton Plaza San Diego, CA 92101) and a panel afterward according to MovieWeb.com.

Stay tuned.

Comic Con 2010: Hallmark Cards plans big roll-out at Comic Con San Diego

2010-07-14T14:45:00.001-07:00

Hallmark Cards (yes the same company that made the birthday card you just bought) is planning a big presence at Comic Con 2010 and to celebrate its 100th anniversary. While not on the order of Futurama, Hallmark's Comic Con events are big in their own way.

According to their message, Hallmark Cards' "9ft. Hallmark hoops & yoyo walkabout characters" with the voice and animation talents of Mike Adair and Bob Holt were a massive hit at Comic Con 2009 in San Diego. So, Hallmark Cards is bringing them back for Comic Con 2010.

Hallmark will have two booths: #3850 and #2913

#3850 Hallmark Properties Booth
#2913 H in Lucas Pavilion Hallmark Keepsakes Booth

Wednesday, July 21
6 - 9pm hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#3850)

Thursday, July 22
10am - 11:30am hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#3850)
2 - 3pm hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#2913 H in Lucas Pavilion)
3 - 5pm Maxine character appearance (#3850)
5 - 7pm Revilo artist signing (#3850)

Friday, July 23
9 - 11am Maxine character appearance (#3850)
11am - 1pm Revilo artist signing (#3850)
2 - 3pm hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#2913 H in Lucas Pavilion)
5 - 6:30pm hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#3850)

Saturday, July 24
10 - 11:30am hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#3850)
2 - 3pm hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#2913 H in Lucas Pavilion)
4- 6pm Asteroid Andy artist signing (#3850)

Sunday, July 25
10am - Noon Asteroid Andy artist signing (#3850)
ALL DAY FREE Rainbow Brite poster for anyone in Rainbow Brite costume(#3850)

Stay tuned for more information from Hallmark at Comic Con.

Comic Con 2010: Danny Elfman celebrates 25 years with Tim Burton

2010-07-11T00:25:00.000-07:00

Danny Elfman

Danny Elfman's a movie composer who first gained critical acclaim with his soundtrack for Batman, starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Kim Basinger. He's known for his over two-decades-long friendship with Movie Producer and Director Tim Burton: Batman was one of Burton's creations.

It was a relationship that started when Burton and Paul Reubens went to Elfman with the assignment writing the score for their first movie, Pee-wee's Big Adventure.

Overall, the four-time-Academy Award nominee and Emmy winner Elfman has scored Burton films such as Beetle Juice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Danny Elfman will celebrate a 25-year collaboration with Tim Burton at Comic Con 2010. On his relationship with Elfman, Burton said "We don't even have to talk about the music. We don't even have to intellectualize - which is good for both of us, we're both similar that way. We're very lucky to connect."

The event will be held Thursday, July 23rd at Comic Comic San Diego's space called Rom 137 from 10:30 to 11:30 AM.

Comic Con 2010: Harry Potter cast not coming to Comic Con

2010-07-10T23:13:00.001-07:00

Daniel Radcliffe and Ralph Fiennes

Countering buzz that the cast of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows would attend Comic Con 2010, Warner Bros. has told Harry Potter fansite Mugglenet.com that the cast, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Ralph Fiennes, will not be attending Comic Con due to schedule conflicts.

However Warner Bros. reports the Comic Con Saturday schedule for Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows is on and attendees will see all new "never before seen" clips, props, and some "special" opportunity for Comic Con attendees.

The news that the cast of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows would attend Comic Con, and if they did it would be a first in Comic Con history, came as a Twitter rumor by SD Comic Con Expert:

#SDCC Rumor Patrol: Let Me In WILL have a panel. Harry Potter cast/crew MIGHT be there. All of WB's talent at the con is purposely secret.

But then, anything can happen, and who's to say that the reported "schedule conflict" will remain? And what about that "special" opportunity?

Stay tuned.

Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables coming to Comic Con 2010

2010-07-10T05:57:00.001-07:00

Zennie Abrahamgreat free widgetsWidgetboxMore info

Will.I.Am dissed by Chelsea Handler; T.I. asked "How was prison?"

2010-07-08T00:29:00.001-07:00

Chelsea Handler of Chelsea Lately never stops being a wonder to this space...

T.I. and Chelsea

Chelsea Handler, not one to shy away from expressing her view, although this space still wonders what the fuss about her is for (except for the fact that she does have a great set of legs and her arms have added more muscle and less giggle), dissed Black Eye Peas Star Wil.I.Am, saying he was a "douche" and an "awful person" on a rerun of her June 28th that aired show Wednesday night.

What Handler bases her opinion on was never stated. Still, she and her comedian guests piled on with word after insulting word about Will.I.Am.

Then T.I. came on for his first visit with her since his stint in jail. Handler said T.I. makes her "so horny" and her first question to him was "How was prison?" which was totally hilarious. Their exchange was so natural it was hard to tell if they really did date or not, as Chelsea's constant flirting implied. T.I. gave her a large bottle of Remy Martin and said he was coming out with his own label. The news prompted Chelsea to say "A black guy coming out with his own bottle label. Now that's new."

Ok, that was funny; so what was their last exchange like, the one before T.I. went to prison? On his YouTube channel T.I. wrote "This is my interview with Chelsea Lately. Yeah I know she touched my ass. Damn this girl is funny!"

What's interesting is that T.I. was a bit more guarded and tight with her the first time; on Wednesday he was lose and relaxed - almost a different person.

You know, I have to agree with T.I., Chelsea Handler is funny. She's got a very quick wit. I have to admit, the first time I saw her show, I wasn't impressed, but she's gotten a lot better at it.

Chelsea's growing on me, as long as she stays in the gym and wears the skirts, she's just fine.

Entourage's Jeremy Piven frozen by Kim Kardashian (?); drops phone in toilet

2010-07-05T16:42:00.001-07:00

Jeremy Piven

Entourage's Jeremy Piven is one of the top searches on July 5th but not for any one reason. On Google Trends, Piven's suspected of having mercury poisoning. Then Piven's also reported to have dropped his phone down a toilet stool. But in a standard search, Piven's reported to have gotten the cold shoulder from Kim Kardashian. With all this, let's take the Kim Kardashian news first.

Kim Kardashian's known for dating athletes like Reggie Bush, Miles Austin, and World Cup Soccer Star (and new dad) Cristiano Ronaldo, so it would seem Jeremy Piven's out of her range.

But that reportedly didn't stop the Entourage star from trying.

Diane Marsalis of The Examiner claims that Piven "hit on" the reality TV show star at one of the LA Lakers games, and whatever he said to her, she was alleged to have replied "Talk to my Mom - she handles me," and walked off (with hips swinging, no doubt).

While news of the alleged encounter with Kim Kardashian is still without much detail or blog pickup, the news about Piven dropping his cell phone down a toilet started from his Twitter page:

Dropped my cell in the toilet and have no way to be found.. Entourage premiers tonight and I'm without a way to reach out, sorry
1:20 PM Jun 27th via txt

But then I guess Piven reached in the toilet and got it back, or just bought a new iPhone because on June 30th he reported:

ast week of shooting! http://yfrog.com/jmt6wj
1:26 PM Jun 30th via Twitter for iPhone

He uses an iPhone. Hard to tell if it's an iPhone4 or not.

Rock The Casbah!

Tila Tequila and Miss Tila Omg out of line with Nikky Raney

2010-07-03T12:18:00.001-07:00

Tila Tequila

Just when this blogger thought he'd seen it all from Reality TV Show Star Tila Tequila, the woman who claims to have multiple personalities, and accused San Diego Chargers Linebacker Shawne Merriman of something he did not at all do, does it again.

This time, she and her so-called staff picks on one of my bloggers, Nikky Raney, and while making Raney a star in the process, have gone way too far. It's time for them to stop.

Tila Tequila must remember that she is a true public figure; like this blogger Tila's subject to positive and negative commentary on her actions. Tila should be not only used to that, but have developed enough scar tissue to deflect even the most vile comments about her. Fortunately, this blog is not about any directed toward Tila; it's the reverse.

Indeed, I laughed off the whole exchange between Tila Tequila, Miss Tila Omg, and Nikky Raney as being just good PR for Nikky. The vast majority of comments at Zennie62.com have been pro-Nikky and beyond that supportive and thoughtful in their detail.

But then the email exchange started and then someone apparently from Miss Tila Omg created a set of vile Twitter pages about Nikky Raney. That's where I draw the line because it's obvious and deliberate malice to make a page, call someone a name like "fat," and not have an identification. It's in violation of Section 113 of the Violence Against Women Act.

In other words, since 2006, it's been a crime to annoy people anonymously over the Internet. That it's done frequently is no excuse for the fact that it happens. This is one case; I've shared it with the U.S. Department of Justice; if it does not stop, I will press the matter until the DOJ squeezes.

For her part, Nikky Raney has intended no harm toward Tila Tequila or her staff. Tila Tequila has opened herself to constructive non-anonymous criticism, by claiming she's doing the work of a journalist, when she's using her blog to in some cases smear her enemies. And when that's not happening, some blogs are calling her names like "functionally retarded," as was the case with Videogum.com.

Zennie62.com has never referred to, or allowed its bloggers to refer to Tila in any way close to what Videogum.com presented. Moreover, Nikky Raney had clear concerns that Tila Tequila and Miss Tila Omg were claiming to be journalists. When Raney, a journalism student, investigated and then challenged the claim, Tila took action, first blocking her from the Miss Tila Omg site, which is fine by me, but then engaging in all manner of attempts to smear Nikky, and that's not fine by me.

For her part, Nikky Raney has included this disclaimer on her Zennie62.com blog posts about Tila:

Disclaimer: I, Nikky Raney, have absolutely nothing personally against Tila Tequila. Although she has personally attacked me through her blog posts and her tweets - I am a journalist and blogger who takes that with a grain of salt & does not return that anger or resentment. This is a job and a service that I do to inform others of the scandal/lies/etc. from public figures. Again, I have nothing against Tila Tequila. I am not a hater. I have attempted to get in touch with her to get her perspective and her opinion. AGAIN, I have nothing against her personally. I do this objectively in a professional manner, it's not personal it's about the story itself. I hope that I have made myself clear. My blog posts will prove for that I have never LIED about Miss Tila or called her ANY rude names. I have never used anything other than evidence from her own tweets, blogposts, and interviews to state my case. The attacks Tila has made against me and calling me "Piggy Raney" was unjust, and although she did that I still have nothing against her. She may try to attack and bring me down, but at the end of the day this is my job. And I am mature enough that to retaliate against someone whose way of responding is by name-calling would be futile.

I stand by Nikky Raney. She's done a great job at Zennie62.com. What I ask is for Tila Tequila to, herself, stop the attacks on Nikky Raney on Twitter. One part of me appreciates that you've given her a spotlight, but it's for the wrong reasons. Making, or causing hateful Twitter accoints to be made, is awful. One thing, Nikky Raney is a real person. She's not hiding behind another name, or anonymous, and asks thoughtful questions. Why not answer them?

The objective here is for all of this little stuff growing big to stop. We, Tila, Miss Tila OMG, and Zennie62.com with Nikky Raney can move forward and perhaps together in the future. I wish Tila and Miss Tila OMG much success.

Twilight: Eclipse, eclipsed on Twitter by Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

2010-07-01T12:03:00.001-07:00

Twilight: Eclipse, the third installment in the hit movie series based on the book series by Stephanie Meyer, sold $68.5 million tickets Wednesday to mark the second largest movie opening in history. But with all that, Twilight: Eclipse can't beat Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows on Twitter.

As this is written at 2:08 EDT, "Deathly Hallows" is the second top trend on Twitter; it was number one an hour ago. "Twilight Eclipse" or "Eclipse" are no where to be seen. The reason for this, I speculate, is connected to the difference in Worldwide popularity for both series.

Using Google Insights for Search, I typed in the words "Twilight" and "Harry Potter" for today, July 1, 2010. Google Insight for Search is an online tool that allows you to learn how keywords associated with your online content are doing in a city, region, and the World. It has an "intensity of search" rating that goes from zero to 100.

Today, while "Twilight" as a term has a higher intensity of search, 87 to 63, respectively, and "Twilight Eclipse" is at 79 versus 63 for "Harry Potter," Harry Potter has a higher level of search intensity in the United States than is true for either "Twilight Eclipse" or "Twilight."

Believe it or not, but both "Twilight Eclipse" and "Twilight" have the most search popularity in the Philippines, followed by Romania, then the United States. In the United States, the level is at 52 versus 100 for the Philippines.

By contrast, Harry Potter scores a 100 and a 83 in the United States and the United Kingdom respectively as the two highest regions in the list on Google Insight for Search for "Harry Potter."

Because Harry Potter's enjoying such search intensity for the USA and the UK after the release of the movie trailer for Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, that translates into a much higher topic rank on Twitter for "Deathly Hallows" than for "Twilight Eclipse."

The problem for "Twilight Eclipse" is that it's just not as popular in the UK as "Harry Potter." Where Harry Potter has an 83 in the UK, Twilight Eclipse chimes in at just 32. So what does this mean?

It means that if Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows can stir up this much buzz with the release of a trailer, and months before its November 19th release, it will set box office records when it's released. I will go so far as to say it will break Twilight Eclipse' opening day mark of $68 million.

Stay tuned.

Wonder Woman, bring back the legs and the flag, please

2010-07-01T08:10:00.001-07:00

The Original Wonder Woman I prefer

Wonder Woman has always been my favorite comic book hero, or more appropriate to this message, heroine. It wasn't until the age of seven in 1969 that this blogger started reading comic books, but the first one was Wonder Woman, circa 1950 (or around that time).

What attracted this small boy at that time was seeing an image that the World did not present: of this obviously strong and yet (and in retrospect it's easier to see this) attractive woman doing things like lifting cars and throwing men. And she did it while putting on a costume that said "I represent America!" So it should come as no surprise that I'm not in favor of the newest look for Wonder Woman.

Not surprisingly, reading Wonder Woman circa 1950, my image of the ideal woman was formed a very long time ago. Whatever woman I was with, and regardless of color, had to look something like that and have at least near-Wonder Woman level of confidence. Lifting cars wasn't a real consideration.

When the Wonder Woman TV show was introduced in 1975, I was excited, but eventually deeply disappointed. I expected Diana Prince on TV to look like the Diana Prince of the 1950s comics: with curves and muscle. Instead, I got the lovely but not at all muscular Linda Carter.

And while I liked Linda Carter as Wonder Woman, it was more because I had no choice. No where else could you see Wonder Woman on TV. It was at that point, I became aware that Wonder Woman was a slave to male fears of women as expressed in how she was drawn.

William Moulton Marston, who created Wonder Woman and drew her, was not afraid of an obviously strong woman, or he would not have created one. But that's not true for the men who've drawn and written Diana Prince since then.

From the failed 1974 Cathy Lee Crosby Wonder Woman who was not strong at all, to the newest creation released this week, men have dared to give us the real, undoubtedly strong, Wonder Woman of the 1950s.

What does that say about American Men, of which I'm one? Not much that's good. It says we're afraid of strong women so we take that away from them every chance we get. Take the new Wonder Woman. She looks like a lean female athlete who might run for exercise but can't lift a car, let alone throw it. She looks vulnerable, and like she's neurotic. And she's not really into America because the flag-themed costume is gone. That bothers me too.

The New Wonder Woman of 2010

There's nothing wrong with flying the American flag for good purposes, like showing a strong woman helping people, which is what Wonder Woman does. Why does Superman get to keep his same look, and the red, white, and blue colors, and tights that he's got no business wearing in public? Why not give Superman a makeover? Do the men who draw Superman like that look? I have to ask, because I don't like it. I was never into Superman; Wonder Woman for always for me.

I can see where DC Comics J. Michael Straczynski as writer and Jim Lee as artist are prepping Wonder Woman for the movies, and for Comic-Con in San Diego later this month. It will make for an interesting Comic-Con, for sure, as Wonder Woman purists like myself butt heads with the, well, lovers of the new, weak Wonder Woman. (Just have her throw a car, or an airplane. Something to make me happy.)

But man, I want the Wonder Woman of the 1950s, much as we're going to get the Captain America of World War II in that upcoming movie.

Maybe I should write my own Wonder Woman Movie and make her the strong woman she was in the 50s, because it's clear to me that since then, too many of her artists and writers fear a really strong female image.

Not me.

Keith Britton gets Star Trek and Avatar's Zoe Saldana engaged

2010-06-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

Zoe Saldana and Keith Britton

Popular Actress Zoe Saldana has more good news in addition to her being invited to become a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and her accomplishments in starring in Star Trek and Avatar: Saldana's engaged to her boyfriend of 10 years, Keith Britton.

All we can say is "Dude. Keith Britton. What took you so dang long?!" It took Keith Britton 10 years to finally propose to her hotness Zoe Saldana? Ten years. Wow, it took Oakland Raiders Quarterback Kyle Boller just one year to propose to Carrie Prejean and they're getting married this Friday.

Now, that we've gotten the razzing of Keith Britton out of the way, congratulations to the lovely couple.

Now, people want to know who Keith Britton is.

Keith Britton is CEO of My Fashion Database and an actor in Los Angeles who's appeared in Cold Case and As The World Turns. My Fashion Database was established in 2008 and has 18 employees according to Linkedin. It's billed as an IMDB.com for the fashion industry.

Tila Tequila: Not Worth It Anymore. -- Nikky Raney 001

2010-06-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

Tila Tequila: Not Worth It Anymore. -- Nikky Raney 001

AMPAS News: Academy presents Ray Harryhausen movies July 16th

2010-06-30T11:37:00.001-07:00

The AMPAS Building

The The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has announced it will present two classic movies created by special effects giant Ray Harryhausen, 20 Million Miles to Earth and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, on Friday, July 16 2010, at 7:30 p.m. PDT at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

The movies are part of the Academy's exhibition called "The Fantastical Worlds of Ray Harryhausen," and there will be special gallery hours from 6 to 7:30 p.m. PDT , and after the screening of the films. Tickets for 20 Million Miles to Earth and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad are just $5, and $3 for Academy members like Adam Sandler and students with a valid ID. You can buy them online at Oscars.org.

Made in 1957, 20 Million Miles to Earth was Ray Harryhausen's last black-and-white movie. According to AMPAS 20 Million Miles to Earth features one Harryhausen's favorite monsters, the Ymir, who survives the crash of a spaceship returning from the first human exploration of Venus, and with unfortunate results for Rome.

(Now aren't you surprised that wasn't remade in 3D?)

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad was one of this blogger's childhood favorites. Sinbad and his fiancée Princess Parisa land on an island in search of provisions while on their way to Baghdad to be married. On the island, they encounter an evil magician, a genie and many Harryhausen creations, including my favorite, the man-eating, one-eyed Cyclops.

"The Fantastical Worlds of Ray Harryhausen" is open to the public for free up to August 22 and in the Academy’s Fourth Floor Gallery at 8949 Wilshire Blvd in Beverly Hills. It's open from 10 AM to 5 PM and from 12 noon to 6 PM on the weekends.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows official movie trailer: the 3D issue

2010-06-30T11:03:00.003-07:00

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter and Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort
(photo from DanielRadcliffe.com)

The first, not leaked, official movie trailer for Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows was released Tuesday with much celebration of and anticipation for the film to be released on November 19, 2010. But one issue that would have been overlooked, takes on new importance in the wake of Avatar Director James Cameron's attack on Warner Bros. Clash of The Titans use of 3D in a movie shot as 2D: will Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows have the same problem?

Earlier this year, just after the release of the epic remake of Clash of The Titans , Cameron went on an attack on Clash that could only be called damaging. Cameron said that making 2D films and then reforming them as 3D movies "cheapens" the 3D brand, and called for a board or commission to be formed that would monitor how and when 3D is used.

The one problem from this perspective is there are two kinds of 3D movies: before Avatar and after Avatar. Before Avatar, many movies were made with 2D cameras, then converted to 3D and in a process so common now, you can do it with your movie videos at home. Sure, there were a few stereoscopic films, but the common process was conversion.

Avatar takes advantage of new 3D processes created from Real D 3D, Dolby 3D, XpanD 3D, MasterImage 3D, and IMAX 3D, and was made from the start as a stereoscopic 3D movie.

The unfortunate reality is many movies were created from a one-camera perspective, and not an in-tandem 2 camera view system that mimics the eye and offers a more exact 3D perspective.

The whole point is to create the illusion of depth perception: the idea that something is in front of or behind another object on screen. But that written, movie makers who are converting 2D to 3D argue that the elements of a 3D movie - where a distant object is desaturated and hazy relative to a closer one - are already in 2D movies and thus continue to advocate 2D to 3D conversion.

Avatar distorts the truth

The problem Avatar causes for movie-makers on a budget is it used special equipment and techniques that were extremely expensive, then the movie goes on to be the largest money-maker in film history. So, because of Avatar, we have blogs like Screenrant claiming James Cameron has successfully ushered in the official “era of 3D cinema" because of its success. But it's not that movies haven't been made using stereoscopic film methods, they just weren't all that successful until Avatar. Now, every movie's judged by Avatar and what James Cameron says about that film versus Avatar.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows is not an "Avatar 3D" movie

From the James Cameron perspective, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows is not an authentic 3D movie. In other words, it was created with a one-camera-lens perspective and has been converted to 3D, much as The Clash of The Titans was, and at a cost estimated at $10 million or "$5 million for movie conversion and $5 million for the glasses" according to Heat Vision Blog.

My take: Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows is just fine as 2D

If you want to see what Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows will look like in 2D, just look at the movie trailer above, if you'e not done so. It's a beautiful presentation, with all of the visual depth and character drama you expect from another epic installment in the Harry Potter series. Adding 3D is an excuse to charge higher ticket prices and with the popularity of the Harry Potter brand, assure ticket sales. It's a marketing trick on the heels of Avatar, but an unnecessary one.

Avatar made my eyes strain and I had a tightness from trying to watch it with the glasses. I saw Avatar just once for that reason. Maybe my contact lenses were dirty and that reacted with the 3D glasses, but really, watching real 3D is an adjustment.

If Warner Bros was really serious about making Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows in 3D, they'd have insisted on it in the production process, and even in the making of the videos that go on YouTube.

At a YouTube party I attended and will post today, YouTube engineers presented their experiments with 3D and the new online capability of being able to present 3D videos. It was effective, but takes some adjusting to. Will I use it? Considering they gave me a 3D web cam with which to make 3D videos, yes I will. The only thing stopping me is the camera doesn't work on a Mac; it's for a PC!

I've not yet seen a movie studio make a 3D movie that includes a 3D YouTube video version. It's a good idea for a studio to do, and gives movie goers a more authentic view of what the 3D movie will look like when it's released. That written, I'm looking forward to Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows in whatever "D" it's presented in.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows dark official movie trailer rocks

2010-06-30T00:40:00.001-07:00

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows: Harry Potter grows up

Unlike most of the Harry Potter movies before it, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows is wonderfully dark and the trailer for the Warner Bros. movie reflects not just Harry Potter's coming of age as a wizard and a young man, but the evil Potter is facing. Reflecting the overall mood of the book of the same names, the vast majority of scenes presented in the trailer are dark in their style with muted tones and dark colors. Even the sky above is overcast.

And the introduction - the Warner Bros. logo and Time Warner Company name against a dark, cloudy sky, offers a foreshadowing of the not-so-pleasant World Harry Potter's a part of in The Deathly Hollows.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows is the seventh book in the series by author J.K. Rowing. The Warner Bros. movie, set to be released in two parts: Part I on November 19th 2010, and Part II on July 15th 2011, has endured some minor set backs and speed-bumps along the way to completion.

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter and Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort
(photo from DanielRadcliffe.com)

First, completion of the script was delayed because of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, then a copy of the script was found under a table in a Suburban London bar after film workers went out for a night of cheer to the Waterside Tavern located near the Leavesden Studios in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, where the film was made, 21 miles north of London.

The patron who found the script read the 118-page document that was marked "Private and Confidential" did not reveal what they saw, but Screencrave.com reported it contains "several drastic changes" from the book.

Since that episode, various aspects of the plot have been leaked online.

A large cast for The Deathly Hollows

The special blog Harry Potter 7 Movie Trailer has an almost complete description of the cast and their characters as well as a history of all of the trailers released, :

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, who makes a decision to find the remaining Horcruxes, not returning for his seventh year at Hogwarts.
Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, one of Harry's two best friends.
Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, one of Harry's two best friends.
Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Harry's first friend from the magical world.
David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, former Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Lupin is a werewolf and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom, a slightly nerdy friend of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna.
Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood, one of Harry's friends and member of Dumbledore's Army
Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, one of Voldemort's principal Death Eaters, older sister of Narcissa Malfoy, aunt to Draco, and cousin of Sirius Black, whom she murdered in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy. Isaacs considered not returning for the film, before the book was released, as he was worried Malfoy would have very little screentime due to the character's imprisonment in the previous story.
Helen McCrory as Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother and younger sister of Bellatrix.
Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew, former member of Harry's father James's group of friends, he betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort. Now one of Voldemort's principal Death Eaters.

Obviously missing from this list is the great actor Ralph Fiennes who plays Lord Voldemort pictured above.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows in 3D

Following a trend that started with last year's hit Avatar, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows will be presented in 3D. From the appearance of the trailer, it looks like The Deathly Hollows was originally a 2D movie that will be presented in 3D.

Will James Cameron slam Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows?

The use of 3D as a marketing tool (the Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows Trailer contains promotion as such a film) is a practice panned by Avatar Producer / Director James Cameron, who took a direct shot at another Warner Bros. movie, The Clash of The Titans when he said "They worked against themselves with that film. I've heard people say that they couldn't watch (Clash of the Titans) in 3-D and thought it looked better in 2-D and they enjoyed the film more," in response to the news that Warner Bros. delayed the release of Clash to add 3D effects.

Cameron fears too many movies adding 3D effects to a movie shot as a 2D production will cheapen the 3D brand. That Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows does that remains to be seen.

Stay tuned.

VH1's You're Cut Off: Rehab for Spoiled Brats. By Nikky Raney

2010-06-28T13:47:00.001-07:00

You're Cut Off on VH1 is a reality show worth watching. The show premiered Wednesday, June 9 at 9PM ET/PT.

There are so many reality television shows on the air that is can be difficult to sort out the ones worth watching. You're Cut Off can be classified as a mix between I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, The Simple Life, and The Bad Girls' Club.

You're Cut Off is like rehab for "spoiled brats." The nine young women on this show are self proclaimed princesses. They have relied and mooched off their families' money. The surprise comes in the first episode when life coach Laura Baron declines their credit cards and tells them what's really going on. The girls had originally thought they would be appearing on a reality tv show that filmed them shopping.

The nine ladies watch video testimonials from their family members. Each video ends with the phrase, "You're cut off!" This means that instead of living the ritzy lifestyle they are put into a house together (not one of those flashy mansions that most reality tv stars get to live in).

The girls are so surprised that there is not a maid there to wait on them. There is one bedroom with bunk beds that they have to share, and Baron gave each girl one duffle bag to fit all her things in. These women live like Paris Hilton, and now they are living like "middle class" citizens. The girls are given $200 a week for groceries if they follow their life coach.

The life coach hopes to teach some lessons that will instill values and make it known that money is earned. These girls are encouraged to become productive members of society, and Baron has them complete daily chores, among other things.

"Laura Baron is a professional lifestyle and relationship strategist who is regarded as a premier change agent. Laura's clients report greater success using her signature intuitive and customized methods over traditional therapy. Her clients include CEOs, entrepreneurs, celebrities and women in transition," VH1 informs.

In part of an episode the girls were cleaning Omarosa's house. One of the girls, Gia, got in Omarosa's face and refused to clean her house. That must be one of the most disrespectful moments caught on reality TV. That was Gia. Gia has a baby girl at home and refuses to change her diaper. Gia makes it known in the first half hour of the show that she will not cook or clean, ever. She says, "I don't even know what color my kitchen is!"

Gia is a wife and mother from California who also refuses to wake up in the middle of the night to take care of her baby. Her husband hires nannies while Gia smokes on her hookah all day. She claims she could not survive without her hookah, and when listing the most important things in her life she mentioned her family AFTER listening all the material items. Gia divorced her first husband, because he could not keep up with her lifestyle. Her current husband is extremely fed up with it and is cutting her off. He even admits he looks in the mirror some days and wonders what he's doing.

Gia is only one of the divas on this show. It's entertaining to watch, because it's hard to believe that this type of person exists. There rest of the divas include:

Chrissy, the rotten princess from LA. She is the most disrespectful of all the girls. She has the nerve to do her make up and stare at herself in her hand mirror while others are speaking. She does not think that it is rude at all to interrupt others or to constantly stare at herself while having a conversation with another person. Her highest goal in life is to be married THREE times so she can have three fabulous weddings, but she won't say "I DO" unless the ring costs at least $300K. Her grandmother says Chrissy is "acting a fool," and prays that by cutting her off she will learn some responsibility.

Leanne is a diva from California who is supported entirely by her father. She didn't like the color of the Mercedes S-Class her dad bought her, and she decided to buy a $375K Ferrari while he was out of time; she crashed the Ferrari a few weeks later. Leanne will not knave the house without her six bodyguards, a make-up artist, or her best friend. Her father is cutting her off, because he has had enough of her spending all his hard-earned money.

Pamela claims that she worked on Wall-Street. She is a New York girl that says she WAS a princess and now she's a QUEEN. Pamela is really good at spending her family's money. They are cutting her off in hopes she will make something of herself.

Erica is a pampered princess who will never be seen without a tiara. She is from Texas and her father is a plastic surgeon; she spends over half a million dollars of her dad's money ever year. Erica lives at home and consults her personal astrologer for every life decision. She can't imagine life without bottom and lip injections. Her family is cutting her off in hopes she will learn to value money and make something of herself.

Jessica belongs on The Jersey Shore. This girl could have some fun with Snooki and J-WOWW. This girl is a loud Italian, and she doesn't care what people think about her. She doesn't cook, clean or do anything to help society. She does however like to nag, insult others, and spend money. Her mother is cutting her off in hopes Jessica can learn to survive on her own.

Courtnee is the North Carolina "it-girl." This socialite is being cut off by her family, because they don't understand how their "little princess" turned into a demanding diva. Her father is cutting her off so that she stops treating him like an ATM, and she starts putting her people skills to good use.

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Amber, the southern belle hails from Georgia and admits that she always judges people by what they are wearing. She took a semester off from college to catch up on her shopping. Her father is cutting her off in hopes that she will take school more seriously, and apply herself.

Jacqueline is the one to pay attention to. She is the daughter of a successful business executive. Her house is 10K square feet, and she has three walk-in closets. She says there's nothing wrong with checking a man's bank account before going out. Jacqueline got her first Chanel bag at age five, and now her parents are cutting her off. They hope their college graduate will stop with the endless partying and reckless spending.

At the end of the season (8-weeks) the girls will be reunited with the people who cut them off, and that will be the test to whether the girls PASS or FAIL. The girls will need to adhere to new guidelines if they want a chance of getting back in good graces with the loved-ones that put them on this show.

Give this show a try. You're Cut Off can be watched online or tonight, Monday, June 28, at 7PM, 8PM, and 9PM. There are three episodes total, and hopefully by the end of the season these unrealistically superficial barbies will become humble and hard working and respectful young ladies. Follow VH1 on Twitter for more updates. Psst. Perez even makes an appearance.

(All images courtesy of VH1 and Starcasm)

X-Posted at Zennie62.com

Tila Tequila: Interview Request From Nikky Raney -- Nikky Raney

2010-06-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

This video is my sincere attempt to acquire an interview with Miss Tila Tequila.

Black Eyed Peas Will.i.am (@iamwill) Bentley robbed in Hollywood Hills

2010-06-24T06:35:00.001-07:00

Will.i.am

The Black Eyed Peas star and Internet tech conference flavor of the year, Will.i.am (@iamwill) was the unfortunate victim of a successful robbery attempt.

According to TMZ.com, Will.i.am's Bentley was broken into and the robbers made off with "jewelry and several of the singer's personal items."

As of this writing the LAPD is in the process of recovering the stolen items, and have found some of them already. Where or how they were found has not been explained.

Will.i.am and Perez Hilton one year anniversary

This is the week that one year ago saw Will.i.am and Perez Hilton in a dust-up over a rather stupid set of comments the celebrity blogger made to Will.i.am at The Much Music Festival in Toronto, Canada. The result was a video change and a total meltdown by Perez and it may have been a contributing factor in his blog's decline in value. Here it is:

Will.i.am the Tech Star

In the wake of his celebrated battle with blogger Perez Hilton, Will.i.am has massively upped his PR game by first becoming associated with Twitter execs, even being a guest at Twitter Headquarters this year, and giving a speech at the firm's recent confab called "Chirp." Now, Will.i.am is slated to speak at the upcoming Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco this November.

With that Will.i.am can be officially called a tech influencer. Will.i.am just needs to make sure he keeps his Bentley in a more secure location in the future.

The Green Hornet Movie Trailer shows promising remake of classic

2010-06-23T15:34:00.001-07:00

The Black Beauty

As a kid in the 1960s, The Green Hornet was one of this bloggers favorite television shows. The reason wasn't the character of Britt Reid / The Green Hornet, or Kato, played by Bruce Lee. It was because of the car: The Black Beauty. A cool, lethal vehicle that plays a starring role in the 2011 big screen remake The Green Hornet.

If the recently released trailer is a decent representation of what to expect from the film, it's going to be a hit, and The Black Beauty will be its star.

The Green Hornet stars Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz, Jay Chao, Tom Wilkinson, and Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz in what can be described as an "origin" picture which will explain how The Green Hornet came to be. Here's the video trailer:

While the movie is obviously set in modern America, what remains as the connection to its 1960s TV past is the Chrysler Imperial that is converted to become The Black Beauty. It's a car that Chrysler should make for purchase today (without the machine guns, of course); it would turn around that car maker's fortunes overnight.

As was the case when a kid, I'll see The Green Hornet for the car first, then for Cameron Diaz.

Rock the Casbah!

Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer to Produce 83rd Academy Awards

2010-06-22T19:49:00.001-07:00

Well, the Adam Shankman Oscar production stint lasted all of one year, unfortunately. Because, for all of his flirting and grind dancing with Miley Cyrus, Shankman did a terrific job in co-producing the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.

Bruce Cohen

Now, a new team gets a chance: Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer were selected to produce the 83rd Annual Oscars. According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, the pair produced the Academy’s first Governors Awards last November.

AMPAS President Tom Sherak is happy

During the announcement AMPAS President Tom Sherak said, "I'm absolutely ecstatic that Bruce and Don have accepted my invitation to produce and direct the 83rd Academy Awards telecast. Their work in producing the Academy's inaugural Governors Awards was exceptional and I am confident they will bring their creative vision and extraordinary talent to produce (and) direct a most memorable Oscar show."

Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer are ready

Bruce Cohen, who won the 1999 Best Picture Award as producer of American Beauty, said "I fell in love with the Oscars as an eight - year - old kid, the night my grandmothers let me stay up to watch for the first time. It is a dream come true for me to now be producing the show with the phenomenal Don Mischer, whom I've had an incredible time working with in the past. We hope to create a show that celebrates what people around the world love about the Academy Awards year after year - the excitement, glamour and tradition of Oscar Night itself."

Don Mischer

Don Mischer, who worked with Cohen in 2009 and who produced the incredible We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, said "During my previous collaborations with Bruce, I have come to know him as a passionate, smart and creative producer, and I couldn't be more thrilled to now be working with him on the Oscars. As a producer and director, I have always been inspired by the live broadcast of major, high - profile events and when it comes to that, it doesn't get any bigger than the Academy Awards. The Oscars are truly 'appointment' television, they're eagerly anticipated around the world, and they offer a unique opportunity to celebrate the extraordinary artists who take us on a journey every time we step into a movie theater."

The Oscars will be presented Sunday, February 27, 2011 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live on the ABC Television Network.

No word, as of this writing, on the show's hosts. But Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin (AKA Phil Tagami), did a great job this year.

Tom Hanks films Larry Crowne; Larry Crowne script was leaked

2010-06-21T22:26:00.001-07:00

Three days ago, this space featured a photo of Toy Story 3 actor, the Legendary Tom Hanks, looking at playback from his upcoming movie Larry Crowne, co-starring Julia Roberts. In the process of researching for that blog post, at least three sites have it, two for free and one for pay.

Of the free websites, one is a Julia Roberts Fan site called AboutJulia.com, and the other is the beloved Awards Daily.com.

The third site is called "The Tracking Board" where you can get it for $59.

With all the Internet exposure, I figured Tom Hanks deliberately leaked the November 2009 draft of the script to create buzz before Toy Story 3. So, why not put it on Scribd to generate even more buss, right? After all, what's the passive aggreession for?

Well, someone managed to convince the dude at Scribd that having the script on Scribd was a copywrite violation. But if Tom Hanks' people are really that concerned about having it out there, why allow all of the links?

A team of people could give Playtone Productions a lot of headaches by just posting and reposting the script. That leads to one question: who leaked it?

Someone out the script out there for view. If I were running Playtone Productions, I'd have done it on purpose, then altered the movie here and there just to add some twists not in the script.

Whatever the case, Larry Crowne's being tossed around and why not? It's a good script.

Stay tuned.

Tila Tequila Attacks Nikky Raney in Twitter Updates - Nikky Raney

2010-06-20T22:54:00.001-07:00

I would like to allow the tweets to speak for themselves.

I have made it clear I do not hate her, and she has decided to personally attack me.

Which, would count as defamation of character because she is maliciously attacking me.

And continues to call me fat.

Anyone who has read any of my posts about her will know that all my posts are backed up with facts, screenshots, and other posts. I have not posted any lies or any attacks toward Tila Tequila. It's unfortunate that she has chosen to attack me and call me fat, but her attention proves that I have done something of an impact. I am still not a hater, I don't hate her and will not attack her. I will continue to expose her, and hopefully I will get her to stop lying. Seriously.

If my twitter gets deleted I will be disappointed, but at least I will know that my point has gotten across. Now, as for me being fat

I must admit I do feel honored that Tila Tequila, the mogul, took time out of her busy celebrity life to make over 20 tweets about me. Let's see if she makes a blog post about me. This will be interesting. *yawns* Looks like my work here is done. There's nothing left to say about her. For a 28 year old to attack and defame and maliciously post those things to a 20 year old that has never said she hated and has never attacked her, quite immature and shows what kind of person she really is.

Tom Hanks films Larry Crowne; Larry Crowne script draft is excellent

2010-06-20T17:09:00.001-07:00

Tom Hanks working on Larry Crowne

On Twitter, Skyline High Oakland (74) Graduate Tom Hanks posted a link to a recent June 18th photo of the actor reviewing playback on his movie, the comedy Larry Crowne. It's the first movie Hanks has written and directed for in 14 years, the last one being That Thing You Do in 1996.

Larry Crowne, played by Tom Hanks and starting Julia Roberts is described in this way on IMDB.com:

After losing his job, a middle-aged man reinvents himself by going back to college.

While that sentence may read as simple, it invites some interesting assumptions of how Larry Crowne "reinvents himself."

Whatever the case, the cast is an interesting combination of new and established stars: Julia Roberts, Taraji P. Henson, Nia Vardalos (who's also co-writer with Hanks), Pam Grier, Maria Canals-Barrera, George Takei (from Star Trek), and Cedric the Entertainer are just some of the names reported to be in the movie.

Slated for 2011 release, Tom Hanks' assistant Bo Stevenson posted a Facebook note that "This film is different than most of the ones Tom has been a part of in the past - it's independent, it's low budget (well, ok low budget for Tom but still...).

The full story of Larry Crowne is about a popular but middle-aged team leader and 22-time "Employee of The Month" at a store called "Unimart" who loses his job due to corporate restructuring. Crowne's the highest paid employee, so the corporate execs feel they have to "make up a reason" to get rid of him.

Larry does not have a college degree, which the corporate execs say he must have to advance up in the firm's management ranks, so they say they have to release him. That, even though Larry served in the Navy, and all of this just as he's named Employee of The Month for the 22nd time.

What follows is a story of a normal every-man being turned away by his bank and picky, potential employers in the middle of this credit-crunch economy. It's a well-written view of what Americans of every stripe have experienced.

Frustrated, Larry enrolls in college.

For the rest, you'll have to read the script. I have and while it has it's funny moments, it's also one that has a perfect read on American Culture. It' feels like every story you've seen and in a way is a Norman Rockwell painting turned sideways...by Tom Hanks.

The Larry Crowne Script is online

A copy of the 139-page, November-2009-Draft of the Larry Crowne script was placed online and turned up in two places: one a pay-for-access script page, the other a Julia Roberts fan website. Turning it into a document for placement on Scribd was easy. Here it is:

Script

Tom Hanks has another hit on his hands with Larry Crowne, and it's not due for release until 2011. I don't think the script, at 139 pages, is exactly what we will see in 2011, because, at one minute of screen time per page, it's over 2 hours long. Getting it down to 120 pages, and thus 2 hours, is something I'm sure Hanks has done.

Stay tuned.

Miley Cyrus will not press Perez Hilton, but ABC's The View drops ads

2010-06-19T11:24:00.001-07:00

Perez Hilton

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton got into a lot of trouble for posting a photo that he later claimed he did not post showing superstar singer Miley Cyrus in a blowing white dress that blew up a little too high in defiance of her best efforts to control it.

Perez Hilton, put the photo up for view via a Twitter link, then took it down after a hue and cry from the Internet grew rapidly. The problem is Perez Hilton broke a rule that you don't show sexually revealing photos of a minor. Miley Cyrus is 17 years old, which, even if she's a mega star, puts her in minor status.

While Miley Cyrus and her parents Billy Ray Cyrus and Tish Cyrus say they will not press charges, Perez Hilton's actions caused ABC to drop ads for The View tv show from his blog at PerezHilton.com. What Perez either did not know, or forgot was that it's one thing to show Miley Cyrus doing something sexually suggestive fully clothed, it's way out of bounds to show her in a state that goes too far. Miley wasn't doing anything in the way of performing a "pole dance" or grind dancing with Adam Shankman as reported here:

PerezHilton's blog is worth so much money, a reported $20 million, you'd think he doesn't need to stoop to such actions as the Miley Cyrus dress stunt, but he did it.

But now that The View is off Perez' blog and it's lost an estimated $28 million in value in just two years, perhaps Perez Hilton will reconsider his actions.

Miley Cyrus' stripper pole dance at Teen Choice Awards

2009-08-19T16:13:00.001-07:00

When I learned that teen star and Twitter mogul Miley Cyrus had literally done a number on a stripper pole at the Teen Choice Awards Monday night, two thoughts entered my mind: first, who convinced the 16 year old to do it, second, does this mean a sex tape's in her future too. I say and write that because I learned she and her father Billy Ray Cyrus came up with the dance production idea. So if her dad's cool with his daughter dancing around that pole at her age, the sky's the limit, right? More at:
http://www.pollsb.com/polls/p2137290-think_miley_cyrus_stripper_pole_dance_teen_choice

Miley Cyrus' stripper pole dance at Teen Choice Awards: a poll

2009-08-11T03:22:00.000-07:00

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When I learned that teen star and Twitter mogul Miley Cyrus had literally done a number on a stripper pole at the Teen Choice Awards Monday night, two thoughts entered my mind: first, who convinced the 16 year old to do it, second, does this mean a sex tape's in her future too. I say and write that because I learned she and her father Billy Ray Cyrus came up with the dance production idea. So if her dad's cool with his daughter dancing around that pole at her age, the sky's the limit, right?

Miley Cirus and pole at Teen Choice Awards

Look at how much buzz this act has created for her. In an era where the next ultimate media-based tease is right around the corner, drawing all of us to some news or celebrity website, here's Miley picking up traffic from searches for "stripper pole" in addition to those terms that are to be expected like "Teen Choice Awards". But unless you doubt Miley's turned the corner and so in the moment of what she's doing she's either got no idea of how far she's come or has every idea of how far she's come, she invoked the name of that ever-loving past queen of the flash no-panties shot, Britany Spears in her Twitter updates when she tweeted...

For all the people calling me the "next Britney" THANK U. I couldn't ask for a better compliment :)

Now, with those short shorts, boots and moves, Cyrus did stake her claim as the next Britney, which is why I openly wonder how far she's going to take this over the next 10 years? Moreover, as Miley's seen as teen influencer, what does this say for the trend in the overall habits of teenage women today? Have we so desensitized sex that we should expect to see teen women taking pole dancing courses as a substitute for physical ed? And if that's the case, are we preping them for future employment as strippers?

What's going on here?

I feel like I'm walking a tightrope between being a schoolmarm who wants to take the spiked punchbowl away and a modern member of our media-driven society who likes that someone like Miley keeps pushing the edges of taste and sensibility. But to what degree and when does it stop? The whole hyper exposure movement has placed extreme pressure on our culture's ability to accept and reject sexually suggestive actions such that we have Miley doing things on camera before millions that she would have gotten kicked out of school for doing before a small class of people at a dance-off.

Does that make any sense at all?

All I ask is how far are we taking this and is it ok? So, I ask you now in my poll:

create audio polls & quizzes on pollsb.com

Now, me? Ok, I had little problem with Miley's act, I'm just concerned she's going the sex tape route to megastardome. What say you? Or maybe you're the type that just doesn't care and wants Rome to burn as long as you get your work done and you're not impacted. Or perhaps you want Mileu to apologize for the act? Whatever the case, share your view. One thing's clear, Miley started the Tuesday after her show with not a care in the world, tweeting...

Good morning people! Doo da friggen doo LIFE IS SO GOOD :) I laughed so hard I literally threw up! Hahahahhahahahahaha34 minutes ago from UberTwitter

Meanwhile, dogstar7, one of my regular YouTube commenters observed:

Miley Cyrus has been sexually exploited by her father, Billy Ray (one-hit-wonder) Silas for before she reached puberty. The Vanity Fair pictures were a national disgrace, yet her career continues to be supported by Disney, one of America's premier entertainment corporations.

The huge Media conglomerates of the World are merely concerned with inducing the masses to part with their escapist dollars and cents, nothing more.
Our moral decline as a society means nothing to them.

Comic-Con TV Reporter Dresses as Princess Leia

2009-07-28T08:10:00.001-07:00

John Edwards has a sex tape?

2009-07-28T08:00:00.001-07:00

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In the story that will not die, we now learn that John Edwards, the former North Carolina Senator and VP running mate to John Kerry, now reportedly has a sex tape. According to Rush & Molloy, the gossip columnists of the New York Daily News, Edwards former aide Andrew Young just finished a book proposal that described first, that he is not the father of the child of Rielle Hunter, John Edwards mistress, second, that Young just happened to see a sexually-explicit videotape as he was unpacking after moving to California from the East Coast, where he lived with Rielle Hunter, Edwards' mistress, and Young's wife and family.

The story is known by now: in August of 2008, after the heat of the Democratic Primary had cleared and just before the Democratic National Convention, former Senator Edwards admitted he cheated on his wife Elizabeth starting in 2006, while she was battling breast cancer. The scandal was originally reported by the Enquirer as far back as November of 2007, and just a few blogs, including Zennie62, then called "Zennie's Zeitgeist" followed it.

Rielle Hunter was an amateur film-maker Edwards befriended in New York City in 2006, but the friendship turned into two things: a $200,000 video job for Hunter and an affair for Edwards. Then - aide Andrew Young told the media - or those new media types paying attention - that he was the person who had the affair with Hunter and evntually got her pregnant.

This video I created gives you a look at what Rielle Hunter did for Edwards on the campaign trail:

Now Young's changing his story, claiming there's a sex tape and he has it, stating that he's not the father of Hunter's child and that Edwards is, and throwing Edwards so far under the bus he's going to be ran over by it and have skid marks on his back.

Yikes.

The question is why, after all this time, would Andrew Young do this to his former boss? Loyalty can last forever, can't it? According to the Huffington Post, Young feels "betrayed" by the "once-friendly" Edwards family. That turnabout may have come at the hands of Elizabeth Edwards, as the NY Daily News claims it was she who blamed Young for being an "enabler" of Edwards affair with Hunter, even to the point of arranging cell phone calls between Edwards and Hunter. Reportedly, Ms. Edwards threatened to leak information about Young's criminal past.

Yikes.

And The Enquirer, which rose from tabloid obscurity to gain mainstream media attention by breaking this story, reports that Young expressed displeasure with Edwards after he visited Hunter just after the child was born last year. Then, just after Edwards admitted his affair in August of 2008, Fox News ran a post presenting Young's unfortunate past of arrests. Young, with his image damaged, felt backed into a corner and like any wounded animal, struck back with this new story. The real story.

(Some websites, like the Enquirer claim the story of Young's past came up in The Daily Beast, but that's not true. It was Fox News.)

That the Edwards matter has degenerated to this point is sad to say the least. A once-promising man and family have essentially reduced themselves to the point of slinging mud at former friends and vice versa and who knows who else is next, given that Elizabeth Edwards is writing a book too.

Yikes!

Tron Legacy Comic-Con footage in HD! VFX Test for 2009 Movie

2009-07-24T21:06:00.001-07:00

From textinsf on YouTube who writes: Sponsored by: http://bit.ly/wC5B Tron Legacy is a 3D high-tech adventure set in a digital world that's unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (Hedlund), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Bridges), looks into his father's disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin's loyal confidant (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.
Sponsored by: http://bit.ly/wC5B

Double Rainbow over Oakland, California

2009-07-17T08:21:00.001-07:00

UFC Fighter 'Rampage' Jackson Dry Humps Cagepotato.com Reporter LIVE!

2009-07-12T00:01:00.001-07:00

Rev Al Sharpton's amazing speech at Michael Jackson Memorial

2009-07-09T05:30:00.000-07:00

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One of the highlights of the Michael Jackson Memorial is an amazing speech given by the Rev. Al Sharpton. Sharpton's always a lighting rod for criticism for his "tell-it-like-it-is" style, and he presented it at the memorial. Sharpton gave one of the best speeches I've ever heard because it cut deep to the core reasons why many people love and defend Michael Jackson and for another reason: Jackson represents the growth of mainstream American Culture, where people paid less attention race and more attention to what they liked regardless of the skin color of the person who made what they liked.

Sharpton walked up and delivered an old-fashioned unplanned stump stemwinder speech. The kind I'd expect to hear from him in church. Here's the transcript of Sharpton's masterpiece presented by Seattlemedium.com:

All over the world today people are gathered in love viduals to celebrate the life of a man that taught the world how to love.

People may be wondering why there’s such an emotional outburst. But you would have to understand the journey of Michael to understand what he meant to all of us. For these that sit here as the Jackson family - a mother and father with nine children that rose from a working class family in Gary, Indiana - they had nothing but a dream.

No one believed in those days that this kind of dream could come true, but they kept on believing and Michael never let the world turn him around from his dreams. I first met Michael around the 1970 Black Expo, Chicago, Illinois. Rev. Jesse Jackson, who stood by this family till now, and from that day as a cute kid to this moment, he never gave up dreaming. It was that dream that changed culture all over the world. When Michael started, it was a different world. But because Michael kept going, because he didn’t accept limitations, because he refused to let people decide his boundaries, he opened up the whole world.

In the music world, he put on one glove, pulled his pants up and broke down the color curtain where now our videos are shown and magazines put us on the cover. It was Michael Jackson that brought Blacks and Whites and Asians and Latinos together. It was Michael Jackson that made us sing, “We are the World” and feed the hungry long before Live Aid.

Because Michael Jackson kept going, he created a comfort level where people that felt they were separate became interconnected with his music. And it was that comfort level that kids from Japan and Ghana and France and Iowa and Pennsylvania got comfortable enough with each other until later it wasn’t strange to us to watch Oprah on television. It wasn’t strange to watch Tiger Woods golf. Those young kids grew up from being teenage, comfortable fans of Michael to being 40 years old and being comfortable to vote for a person of color to be the President of the United States of America.

Michael did that. Michael made us love each other. Michael taught us to stand with each other. There are those that like to dig around mess. But millions around the world, we’re going to uphold his message. It’s not about mess, but it’s about his love message. As you climb up steep mountains, sometimes you scar your knee; sometimes you break your skin. But don’t focus on the scars, focus on the journey. Michael beat ‘em, Michael rose to the top. He out-sang his cynics, he out-danced his doubters; he out-performed the pessimists. Every time he got knocked down, he got back up. Every time you counted him out, he came back in. Michael never stopped. Michael never stopped. Michael never stopped.

I want to say to Mrs. Jackson and Joe Jackson, his sisters and brothers: We thank you for giving us someone that taught us love; someone who taught us hope. We want to thank you because we know it was your dream too.

We know that your heart is broken. I know you have some comfort from the letter from the President of the United States and Nelson Mandela. But this was your child. This was your brother. This was your brother. This was your cousin. Nothing will fill your hearts’ lost. But I hope the love that people are showing will make you know he didn’t live in vain. I want his three children to know: Wasn’t nothing strange about your Daddy. It was strange what your Daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it…He dealt with it anyway. He dealt with it for us.

So, some came today, Mrs. Jackson, to say goodbye to Michael. I came to say, thank you. Thank you because you never stopped, thank you because you never gave up, thank you because you never gave out, thank you because you tore down our divisions. Thank you because you eradicated barriers. Thank you because you gave us hope. Thank you Michael. Thank you Michael. Thank you Michael!

Fox News Bill O'Reilly said Sharpton's speech was racist, but that's certainly not the dumbest thing I've ever heard O'Reilly say - his crack about not knowing "Black restaurants" could be nice places to go to takes the prize - but it's close.

The bottom line is Michael Jackson did change American Culture. Think about it. He became a singing star just four years after the passage of The Civil Rights Amendment in 1964 and continued to produce hit after hit to his death, all the time gaining fans around the World who didn't care what color his skin was; they just liked his music and him. That's powerful, and all the more so when one considers the racial problems we've seen and experienced. It's really gotten better and Jackson deserves a lot of credit for that.

Conservatives can't deal with anyone telling the truth about race relations, but they'd better start because it's their inability to understand how race relations have changed that has doomed the political future of conservatives and of the GOP.

A political party historically based on hating a racial group - as was true for the GOP for decades - can't survive when people of different colors are mating as one. Causing that in a small way is but one of Michael Jackson's gifts to society. If it's hard for you to deal with that fact, one of the "hard facts that create America" as President Lincoln would say, you're not American at all because you don't get your own country.

Michael Jackson Fans gather at Staples Center for their last goodbyes

2009-07-06T00:14:00.001-07:00

Hugh Jackman, James Franco, 134 others new Academy members

2009-06-30T11:16:00.000-07:00

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Ok. Actor Hugh Jackman, before he ran around in the buff in Wolverine, was the host of this year's Academy Awards ceremonies. But would you believe he wasn't even a member of the Academy? Well, that changed today. Jackman, actor James Franco from the Spiderman movie series, and 134 others were announced as new members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in a press release emailed to me today.

According to the Academy, the limit of new memberships extended is 166, but as has been the case in past years, the membership committees extended fewer invitations to become members than the limit. What's interesting to me is that one has to be invited to become a member - I assumed that came with being in the Screen Actors Guild or other movie union organizations.

It explains to a degree why the Academy seems so conservative in its movie award choices: it has a membership that is older than that for the Guild because, according to Academy President Sid Ganis “These filmmakers have, over the course of their careers, captured the imagination of audiences around the world", which generally means they've been around for a while. There are exceptions, however, the best one being Dakota Fanning, who was invited in 2006 when she was just 12 years old. But look at the body of Fanning's work: movies like Man on Fire, War of the Worlds, Charlotte's Web, and Push, to name a few. By contrast, well-known names like Jackman, Franco, Casey Affleck, and Anne Hathaway were just invited to become members this year.

The full list of new members, sent to me by the Academy, is below. It includes not just actors, but animators, art directors, cinematographers, costume designers , directors, documentary producers, executives, film editors, live action short film makers, makeup artists and hairstylists, producers, production designers, public relations specialists, set decorators, sound experts, visual effects masters, scenic artists and writers.

Interesting how writers were the last to be listed. Oh well.

There are notables names in that area, too. One that sticks out is Paula Wagner, who teamed with Tom Cruise to make the Mission Impossible movie series. And under "Director" there's Tyler Perry. But what's interesting is how we can see the "Hollywood pecking order": if you're in this membership group, your an elite person in the business. Here's the list of new Academy members for 2009:

Actors
Casey Affleck
Emily Blunt
Michael Cera
Viola Davis
James Franco
Brendan Gleeson
Anne Hathaway
Taraji P. Henson
Emile Hirsch
Hugh Jackman
Melissa Leo
Jane Lynch
Eddie Marsan
James McAvoy
Seth Rogen
Paul Rudd
Amy Ryan
Michael Shannon
Michelle Williams
Jeffrey Wright

Animators
J.J. Blumenkranz
Konstantin Bronzit
Kendal Cronkhite
Rodolphe Guenoden
Byron Howard
Kunio Kato
Doug Sweetland
Chris Williams

Art Directors
Andrew Ackland-Snow

At-Large
Matthew D. Loeb
Redmond Morris

Casting Directors
John Papsidera
Bernie Telsey

Cinematographers
Russ T. Alsobrook
Anthony Dod Mantle
Henner Hofmann
Claudio Miranda
Rodney Taylor
Mandy Walker

Costume Designers
Deborah Hopper
Louise Mingenbach
Michael O’Connor
Michael Wilkinson

Directors
Rachid Bouchareb
Danny Boyle
David Frankel
Rod Lurie
Thomas McCarthy
Tyler Perry
Henry Selick

Documentary
William Gazecki
Rachel Grady
Rory Kennedy
Scott Hamilton Kennedy
James Marsh
Megan Mylan
Doug Pray

Executives
Daniel D.A. Battsek
Steve Beeks
Graham W. Burke
Joe Drake
Erik Feig
Paul Hanneman
Donald P. Harris
Claudia Lewis

Film Editors
Roger Barton
Hank Corwin
Chris Dickens
Elliot Graham
Kathryn Himoff
Leo Trombetta
Brent White
Pam Wise

Live Action Short Films
Reto Caffi
Jochen Alexander Freydank
F. Carter Pilcher

Makeup and Hairstylists
Howard Berger
Mike Elizalde
Louis Lazzara
Gerald Quist

Music
Jeff Danna
Andrew Dorfman
Peter Gabriel
Clint Mansell
A.R. Rahman

Producers
Mark Ciardi
Christian Colson
Gordon Gray
Broderick Johnson
Cathy Konrad
Andrew Kosove
James Lassiter
Russell Smith
Paula Wagner

Production Designers
Donald Graham Burt
Michael Carlin
Jane Ann Stewart
Kevin Thompson

Public Relations
Michael D. Camp
Marc Cohen
Megan Colligan
James C. Gallagher
David Kaminow
Sal Ladestro
Maria Pekurovskaya
Elizabeth Petit

Set Decorators
Rebecca Alleway
Peter Lando
Barbara Munch-Cameron

Scenic Artists
Robert Topol

Sound
Michael Barry
Derek Casari
Aaron Glascock
Ren Klyce
Peter F. Kurland
Karen Baker Landers
Hamilton Sterling
Deborah Wallach
Kim Waugh

Visual Effects
Christopher Bond
Matthew Butler
Chris Corbould
Rob Engle
Scott Gordon
Hal Hickel
Van Ling
Shane Mahan
Steve Preeg
Tim Webber
Edson Williams

Writers
John August
Dustin Lance Black
Courtney Hunt
Howard A. Rodman

Michael Jackson passes | public opinion: "We Are The World"

2009-06-27T02:46:00.001-07:00

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YouTube, Yahoo, MySpace, Metacafe, DailyMotion, Blip.tv, StupidVideos, Sclipo and Viddler

Michael Jackson's passing is still a shock to me. The very idea that someone I feel like I grew up with left us at the age of 50 is just not right at all. I first saw Michael perform when I was 10 years old at the old Chicago International Amphitheatre in 1972; the Campbell family, who babysat me, took me and I remember it like it was yesterday. The Jackson Five was then the must see event and Michael was the star.

Michael was like my brother. In a way for many African Americans he was just that, a sibling. I knew him as the guy who grew up in Gary, Indiana. We knew people who knew them in Chicago, so I felt close to him long ago. I think it's for that reason so many African Americans were on Michael's side during the years when it seems he was kind of flying the coup: changing his skin color from brown to near white; narrowing his nose, and basically seeming to channel his best friend the legendary singer Diana Ross. Then, of course, there were the claims that he "liked boys" which we figured wasn't the case, and was more a byproduct of the money and attention seeking people who surrounded him. Michael was a person with an arrested development: he never had a childhood so to escape the trappings of a constant adult life, he created a childhood for himself.

I think being an adult just literally killed Michael.

For me, Michael Jackson was the person who wanted to bring us all together, as shown in his "We Are The World" effort. That amazing production and song, created with a group of the World's best known music talents, with Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Steve Perry, Bob Dylan, the late Ray Charles, and a host of others and to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia, was just amazing. Amazing. I loved that song then; I still do today and I cry every time I hear it. (the lyrics and video are at the end of this post).

Talking with people About Michael's passing

The death of Michael Jackson is one of those events that will cause you to remember where you were when you learned of it. In my case I'd just emerged from a private movie screening at the Saul Zaentz Film Center in West Berkeley, CA. My Mom just happened to call with the news as I was walking to my car; I was stunned. Just stunned. So I took my Flip Video Camera and set out to talk to people about what happened to Michael. I had plenty of places to do this: the BART train station, the San Francisco Magazine "Best of The Bay" party, and all points in between.

What's amazing is the sheer number of people who were immediately informed via text messages and the reactions: shock, sadness, but not joy. No. No one expressed anything close to that at all, even given the part of his life where it seemed he was overwhelmed with "kid" issues. Nothing.

Dominic Phillips, the master of event planning in San Francisco, and who produced last night's "San Francisco Magazine Best of The Bay" party said "It's horrible. First and formost, anybody dying is horrible. There are so many family members that are just gonna be torn apart. But also Michael Jackson; on the one hand he was a very maverick person. But on the other hand he was part of my generation's life. He was like part of my experience, my growing up and I feel a little robbed that he's not there anymore. Like whether you thought his experience was your experience,that doesn't really come into it for me. I just sort of bonded with him in my youth and now he's gone."

Another woman I talked to on Howard Street in San Francisco said "I was just walking and three people got text messages (that he died)...just terrible. My friend Beth Schnitzer, who's the Director of Sponsorship Marketing at Pier 39 said "I can't believe it. Every time I listen to his music, it brings back a great memory from growing up somehow, some way. You know, it really hasn't hit me. He was too young; way too young." Jerusha, "The Last Single Girl In The World" said, as only she can, "We all have to go sometime and boy did he have a fabulous life before he went. He did it up and he did it up right. You know what they say, you only live once and that's all you need if you do it right!"

I talked to a lot of people, and if you see my video there are more than what's presented here, but all just variations on what was expressed. People loved Michael, warts and all. The "Best of The Bay" event turned into a kind of tribute to Michael, with his music playing continuously through the evening, and people danced, especially to "Thriller" which is a modern classic.

Sad day it was to have this happen. Michael, the world will miss you.

We Are The World - Lyrics and video:

Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, produced by Quincy Jones.

There comes a time
When we head a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We can't go on
Pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of
God's great big family
And the truth, you know love is all we need

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

Send them your heart
So they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

When you're down and out
There seems no hope at all
But if you just believe
There's no way we can fall
Well, well, well, well, let us realize
That a change will only come
When we stand together as one

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

Perez Hilton v. Wil.I.Am, Black Eyed Peas: Hilton melts down

2009-06-23T02:37:00.001-07:00

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Perez Hilton lost it on video Monday.

On Monday morning the famous blogger went to an after-party (who came up with that term?) to celebrate the winners of the MuchMusic Awards in Toronto, Canada. But Hilton has a history of insulting celebrities and one of them, Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas, has been his favorite to criticize, even though they're reportedly friends. Here's an example of what Hilton's written about Fergie:

Oh, Fugly!

Why??????

The usually sometimes fashionably dressed singer was spotted in London with the Black Eyed Peas attending a BBC Radio One interview.

And it was nice to see Fergie wasn't a total diva and even took time to sign autographs for her fans.

She was sporting a "unique"-looking braided ponytail. The 34-year-old also opted to wear some futuristic, mirror-inspired sunglasses.

There are other pages on Hilton's site that are filled with not-so-flattering comments about Fergie. So it's understandable that Fergie would approach Hilton at the first party at one club and which led to Wil.I.Am approaching Hilton at another venue, the Cobra nightclub early Monday morning. Hilton called the rapper a variation of the "F-word" that has the Gay Community upset with him.

Polo Molina, the band's tour manager would eventually punch Hilton outside the club.

While Hilton says he was with Lady Gaga (who has a massively cool website to go with her hit "LoveGame"), there's no mention of the incident on her site or her Twitter page or her Facebook fan page. So when Hilton tweets:

@iamtherealwill There are multiple witnesses. You can deny all you want. The truth is the truth and I am telling the truth.

I wonder who Hilton expects to step forward to take up for him, even with Molina's surrender to police. From this it's clear Hilton's on his own here; Lady Gaga's not issuing any kind of statement to indicate she was a witness to the matter. And given Hilton's actions, captured and presented on video by TMZ.com, Molina could claim he was acting to defend a friend who was being attacked by Hilton; that friend would be Wil.I.Am.

We have in the video above, both sides of the story: Wil.I.Am's video posted this morning and Perez "meltdown" video posted around noon Pacific Standard Time. Both videos explain what happened, with one main difference: Wil.I.Am said "a fan" "got into Perez' face" and Hilton said it was Molina who hit him in his video.

But Perez Hiton Twittered that Wil.I.Am struck him, which is completely false. I suppose Molina's turning himself in to the Toronto Police makes the matter moot, but pointing a finger at Wil.I.Am for the purpose of gaining more attention to the story is really pathetic. And even more so is Hilton's total meltdown in his video, which you can see above.

Perez Hilton's meltdown may signal the end of ambush journalism

As the video plays, Hilton first speaks calmly if angrily, but toward the end starts crying and yelling, saying some really vile things about Fergie and The Black Eyed Peas; a performance which essentially confirms their claims that he has something against them. Hilton's performance has done little to win him fans on Twitter or anywhere else. Shockingly, a small percentage of people openly express that they're happy he was beaten up and that view was shared on Twitter and message board and my YouTube video comment page. He even acknowledges this on his Twitter page:

@johncmayer And people DO want to see me hurt. That's what I've been reading over and over again. But it's cool. I'll be back 2 normal tomm.

And look at the way he insulted actress Kirstie Alley on Twitter just two hours ago:

@kirstiealley I'm 31 years old. You're 58. But it seems like you have the mental maturity of a 13 year old. Way to go! about 2 hours ago from web in reply to kirstiealley

And Hilton wonders why he gets all the bad Karma! It's not right that Molina hit him, but it's also very wrong that Hilton uses words as fists in part because its legal to do so, or so he thinks. In my view, this event is one more nail in the coffin of true free speech; a law will be passed at some point to curb this behavior. One can't go around pushing buttons just for kicks or for news.

Hilton's approach may have met its waterloo

For five years Hilton's built and cultivated an image as a blogger who picks on people to generate web traffic with the objective of then drawing paying sponsors, even calling himself the "Gossip Gangsta,"; this fight in Toronto was the classic example as Hilton was the aggressive player, verbally abusing Fergie and Wil.I.Am, and even stating in his meltdown video that there's no law against talking about someone in the fashion he's mastered.

That is true, but if Hilton keeps up "blog thug economics" he may spur a new law to curb such practices in the future. Recording artist John C Mayer has engaged in a lively "discussion" with Hilton on Twitter and while he's trying to get Hilton to clean up his act, Hilton's responses show he has no interest in doing so, but to be honest, Mayor's not really trying to calm him down either, because Mayor's unhappy Hilton made him his Monday target in his website, writing that he was "boring" his father on an outing for Father's Day.

Wow.

Perez Hilton: @johncmayer All I really care about in this world is doing right by my family and my dog, and sharing and listening to music.24 minutes ago from web in reply to johncmayer

John C. Mayor: @perezhilton because today, the fourth wall came crashing down. Mario, you are human. I call upon Twitter to be kind to you. #perezisokbyme17 minutes ago from web

John C. Mayor: @perezhilton now you sit down behind that Tandy computer and you hash out a Doogie diary. Be sure to pause, think, and keep typing.18 minutes ago from web

Perez Hilton: @johncmayer I'm not human! I'm a monster! Good night, John Mayer.14 minutes ago from web in reply to johncmayer

John C Mayor: @PerezHilton Good night Perez, you dumb shit. #perezisokbyme 13 minutes ago from web in reply to PerezHilton

Between Hilton's tactics and the equally questionable actions of TMZ.com, which sends young college students out to point camcorders in the face of stars in LA and ask them stupid questions, we're seeing the future of news: do something to get people to respond then report on the response. Fox News has used this style of "ambush journalism" many times over the past fives years and now other media outlets are using it against them.

Perhaps Hilton's unfortunate beatdown is a road to the end of this practice but given that people like to read about them, it may be the beginning of something new. Sadly, I think it's going to take someone losing their life before this circus is halted for good.

Perez Hilton upsets the Gay Community with his words against Wil.I.Am

2009-06-23T02:36:00.001-07:00

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Blogger Perez Hilton's antics during an altercation with Wil.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas Monday morning has earned him a stern statement from The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). During that exchange, Hilton, who's Gay, called Wil.I.Am an anti-gay slur. GLAAD's calling for Hilton to apologize:

New York, NY, June 22, 2009 – The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today issued the following statement in response to a video posted by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, in which he made the following remarks about a confrontation with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas and members of the band’s entourage.

"And that is when I made the split-second decision - that I was gonna say what I thought was the worst possible thing that thug [will.i.am] would ever want to hear. As I was standing my ground - without being violent or physical which I would never do - I told him - and you know what? I don't need to respect you and you're a f**. You're gay and stop being such a f***ot."

His statement appears in this video:

"These are vulgar anti-gay slurs that feed a climate of hatred and intolerance toward our community," said Rashad Robinson, Senior Director of Media Programs at GLAAD. “For someone in our own community to use it to attack another person by saying that it is, quote, ‘The worst possible thing that thug would ever want to hear,’ is incredibly dangerous. It legitimizes use of a slur that is often linked to violence against our community. And it sends a message that it is OK to attempt to dehumanize people by exploiting anti-gay attitudes.”

“We have reached out to Hilton and asked him to apologize for promoting this anti-gay slur, and we would ask media outlets to avoid repetition of the slur in their coverage of this story.”

Reuters is reporting that Toronto police have charged Liborio Molina, the manager of the Black Eyed Peas, with assault.

“While not all the facts in this case are known, the violence that appears to have been committed against Perez Hilton is unacceptable and ought to be condemned in the strongest possible terms,” said Robinson.

As of this writing Hilton's not issued an apology.

Perez Hilton v. Wil.I.Am | Black Eyed Peas' manager turns himself in

2009-06-22T15:22:00.001-07:00

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According to Roger Gillies of the Associated Press, Polo Molina, the manager of the Black Eyed Peas, turned himself in to the Toronto police and was charged with assault on Perez Hilton.

Polo Molina

Hilton got into a heated, verbally abusive argument first with Fergie, the popular singer with "The Peas" then with Black Eyed Peas' lead rapper Wil.I.Am early Monday morning. According to videos from both Wil.I.Am and Hilton, Hilton's verbal abuse led to his being beaten by what Wil.I.Am called "a fan" while Hilton said the attacker was the band's manager.

You can learn more with my initial video on this:

And more information's coming as the flow from Twitter is tremendous, but my estimate is it will subside by this time tomorrow unless someone from the Peas makes a new statement, Perez follows up, or another video surfaces.

This subject is now the fourth highest hashtag on Twitter, towering over Tehran; #iranelection remains at number one.

Perez Hilton says Wil.I.Am of Black Eyed Peas beat him up; lying?

2009-06-22T03:54:00.001-07:00

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Famous blogger Perez Hilton blasted the Twitterverse just under an hour ago (in a story broke by "Tila Tequila" on Twitter) literally screaming that he was beaten up by rapper Wil.I.Am (of the red-hot group The Black Eyed Peas) and his security guards.

I was assaulted by Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas and his security guards. I am bleeding. Please, I need to file a police report. No joke.about 1 hour ago from Sidekick

This is the full series of Hilton's tweets starting from most recent first:

The Toronto police are here now. Thank you. Please stop calling them.34 minutes ago from Sidekick

I spoke to my lawyer. I really need to talk to the authorities. Please come to the SoHo Met Hotel. Have called the police. Need them here.about 1 hour ago from Sidekick

Still waiting for the police. The bleeding has stopped. I need to document this. Please, can the police come to the SoHo Met Hotel.about 1 hour ago from Sidekick

I was assaulted by Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas and his security guards. I am bleeding. Please, I need to file a police report. No joke.about 1 hour ago from Sidekick

I'm in shock. I need the police ASAP. Please come to the SoHo Metropolitan Hotel now. Please.about 1 hour ago from Sidekick

Is there a gay bar that we can go to with GaGa now that like has a balcony or some place to have fun but be safe?about 4 hours ago from Sidekick

Mission accomplished! I just got a picture with Taylor Lautner!!!! That one is for my fellow fangirls! Xoxo

But Wil.I.Am sent a text to a friend who then posted a photo of it on Twitter which read "What the hell would I be doing sockin Perez Hilton???"

So now it's a case of he-said, he-said. Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, is known for being verbally abusive and in one case was physically assaulted but not for nothing; in that case at a party at the Playboy Mansion, Hilton never reported why he got a black-eye.

Hilton's also known for being an attention hound, so many Twitterers think this is just another ploy by Hilton to get attention that leads to traffic for his blog.

UPDATE:

Wil.I.Am just created a video where he explained what happened. The rapper said that it started at an event after the MuchMusic Awards in Canada where Fergie of "The Peas" came up to the blogger and asked why he didn't like their music. Hilton explained it was just the record, but according to Wil.I.Am was "up in her face" and rude to her.

Later, Wil.I.Am encountered Hilton at another club and requested that he not treat the group in such a rude way as he did on his website. But rather than apologize, Hilton said "I don't respect you" to Wil.I.Am, who said "OK. That's cool." But then Hilton, who's Gay, called Wil.I.Am the "F-Word" but even then the lead lyricist for the Black Eyed Peas held his cool and backed off; but an unknown fan didn't and accordind to Wil.I.Am "got all up into him". So it was the fan that assaulted Hilton, not Wil.I.Am; if Wil.I.Am's story is accurate, Hilton lied about the incident.

My read on this is Hilton may have been drunk and a bit out of control of himself, which explains his behavior and the case of mistaken identity.

Hilton didn't stop tweeting. His last posts as of this writing said..

I won't be talking about this any further. It is in the hands of the authorities.22 minutes ago from web

Thank u all from the bottom of my heart for ur concern. The police are investigating the assault now. I did the right thing by reporting it.22 minutes ago from web

For his part Wil.I.Am said "It's all cool; it just got a little crazy."

No kidding.

Susan Boyle Says She Hates "Britain's Got Talent," So Do I!

2009-06-01T15:04:00.001-07:00

http://www.zennie62.com - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/a... - After the news of Susan Boyle's admission to a mental clinic for evaluation, I just plain hit the ceiling. I'd followed the stories of Boyle's much-justified outbursts last week - "much-justified" because Boyle was reportedly deliberately harassed by a couple of evil journalists who set out to make her upset - and could not understand how the producers of the now-popular TV Show "Britain's Got Talent" (BGT) would not get protection for Boyle and shield her away from harm.

I then watched in horror as news outlets around the World put all the weight of the issue on her, writing she's "having a meltdown", "SuBo goes loco", or "flies off the handle all the time" or words to that effect, and figured that it was some elaborate PR stunt possibly developed by the BGT minder just to hype up the ratings to see what she would do during the finals, then cement the show's popularity because of the upset loss that was sure to occur since the call-in audience's vote would be effected by the news of her problems.

That's what happened. After the show, Boyle reportedly ran down a hallway screaming "I hate this show." Well I agree with Ms. Boyle 100 percent. The way BGT treated Boyle, and really a portion of the World handled her, says nothing good about our Western culture and everything bad about how we've "evolved" into the 21st Century.

Star Trek Director J.J. Abrams Talks Trek Movie Making with Blunty

2009-05-31T11:46:00.001-07:00

A great video of an interview with Star Trek Director J.J. Abrams. He confirmed my earlier contention that the shorter dialog was reflective of "modern times" - not sure that's a good thing but I loved the movie.

Susan Boyle, "Diversity", Win Sunday's "Britain's Got Talent" Finals Round One

2009-05-24T16:49:00.000-07:00

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Susan Boyle, who electrified audiences around the Internet world with her audition on the UK show "Britain's Got Talent" won the first of five finals rounds today, featuring 40 contestants who made "the cut" on Saturday.

This round featured Boyle, violinist Sue Son, the daring Darth Jackson (a combination of Michael Jackson and Darth Vader), young Natalie Okri , belly dancer Julia Naidenko, (who Telegraph.uk blogger Anna Pickard refered to as "Julia Havalottaconstanants", I'm serious), chainsaw artist Kevin James, and a dance duo called "Faces of Disco", as well as a 67-person dance group called "Diversity."

According to Pickard, who live-blogged tonight's event, Boyle sang at 9:33 PM in London and picked an Andrew Lloyd Webber song that Pickard described as "a musical that begins 'midnight ... doo doo dee doo doo evening'" which reads that it must be the song "Memory".

Pickard explains Boyle had a new hairdo and and "dyed and fitted" dress, but the best news to me is Simon Cowell apologized for the belittling way the judges addressed Boyle before she belted out her amazing rendition of "I Dream A Dream" from Les Miserable and shocked the World. If you didn't see Boyle's first performance, it's worth a review:

It's Not Over, Yet

The audience and judges picked Boyle, along with Diversity and over the performance of young Natalie Okri, who Pickard writes was "standing in the middle of a stage and silently weeping."

That gets eight of the final 40 out of the way. The BGT shows for the rest of the week feature the rest of the finalists. Who will win is still up in the air, with perfomers like Harmony and Shaheen Jafargholi yet to appear again.

Here's the full list of the 40 finalists:

Aidan Davis – Dancer
Ben and Becky – Ballroom Dancers
Brit Chix – Rock Band
Callum Francis – Musical Theatre
Darth Jackson – Michael Jackson/ Darth Vader Impersonator
DCD Seniors – Dance Troupe
Diversity – Street Dancers
DJ Talent – Rapper
Dream Bears – Comedy Dancers
Fabia Cerra – Burlesque Dancer
Faces of Disco – Comedy Dancers
Flawless – Street Dancers
Floral High Notes – Flower Arranging and Opera Singing
Fred Bowers – Breakdancer
Gareth Oliver – Comedy Impersonator
Good Evans – Family Singing Group
Greg Pritchard – Male Soprano
Harmony – Musical Theatre
Hollie Steel – Singer/ Dancer
Hot Honeyz – Dancers
Jackie Prescott and Tippy Toes – Dog Act
Jamie Pugh – Singer
Julia Naidenko – Belly Dancer
Julian Smith – Saxophonist
Kay Oresanya – The Living Saxophone
Luke Clements – Juggler/ Street Performer
Mama Trish – Drag Act
Martin Machum – Guitarist
MD Showgroup – Dancers
Merlin Cadogan – Physical Performer
Natalie Okri – Singer
Nick Hell – Street Performer
Shaheen Jafargholi – Singer
Shaun Smith – Singer
Stavros Flatly – Comedy Dancers
Sue Son – Violinist
Sugarfree – Street Dancers
Susan Boyle – Singer
The Barrow Boys – Wheelbarrow Dancing
2 Grand - Singers

The Girlfriend Experience-Trailer

2009-05-22T23:20:00.001-07:00

American Idol Adam Lambert, Britney Spears Attacked On Stage. Why?

2009-05-14T04:21:00.001-07:00

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Not too long ago in Western culture it seemed we had this mostly unwritten rule that when a performer was at work, we didn't rush the stage to be with them or follow them around, unless of course they asked us to. Well, in this Internet age the act of rushing the stage and stalking has become all too commonplace, with the latest victim being American Idol star Adam Lambert; pop culture icon Britney Spears faced the same incident just two weeks before.

And the act of stage rushing isn't limited to popular singers on television; a duo named Matt & Kim from Brooklyn were rushed at the annual multimedia event "South by Southwest" (or SXSW) in March.

Who's next, Susan Boyle?

In Spears' case the stage crasher, 20 year-old Kyle King, was a man who was whisked off and arrested by security after Britney let out a scream. By contrast, Lambert laughed the whole deal off - you can hear him - as authorities carried the shirtless woman (not topless as some reports have it) off and away from Lambert. Matt of Matt & Kim said "I don't know if anyone else woke up this morning feeling like they'd been in a brawl," ... "I woke up with a limp!"

I'm sure there are other examples of rushing the stage, but as it seems to be a form of stalking, I wonder if it's not a kind of new reaction by some to the new fame of others. All of the examples have people between the age of 20 and 30 who are doing the stalking, which means they're part of a generation that gets most of its media online -- they're hyper-engaged in media. Moreover, and now I'm spinning a theory as I've not found a study on this behavior in the Internet age, I wonder if those who stalk performers and media content creators in some way feel close to them because of the Internet, and want to complete the desire to "reach out and touch them."

And I'm not claiming their impulse is always harmless. Just ask American Idol host Paula Abdul, who was stalked by a contestant who eventually killed herself outside Abdul's home. Jamie Foxx fought off his stalker last month (what is it with April and March?) as he was in Philadelphia filming a movie.

Some people want to do harm to the simple video-blogger. I use as one example Melissa Compagnucci, a video-blogger who caught Internet fame after CNN discovered her for the CNN / YouTube Democratic Debate in 2007, and even flew her out to be part of the event itself with Anderson Cooper. But after the CNN spotlight, her vlogging attracted a stranger who took to taking pictures of where she lived at the time, just to let her know that he or she knew where she lived!

In Mel's case she just stopped posting vlogs for a few months, which is what I told her not to do. But now, she's back and is working for Ford Motor Company with the very cool gig of driving around the new Ford Fiesta for six months! I'm very happy she's "in the mix" as they say. But as to why people try to scare Melissa (or for that matter me) or any vlogger I don't know. I do know it's more common than it should be , and at least one vlogger was murdered , Asia McGowan last month, and by a nut case who reportedly "scorned Black women, discussed suicide, and decried atheists" and then killed himself.

And I get the same kind of messages she was complaining about; I just don't answer them.

No, I'm not comparing myself to Adam Lambert or Britney Spears, but Asia McGowan, yes. I am writing about those who feel it's necessary to "hate on" someone just because they dare have a media presence. I personally think the local police should have a protection list for entertainers, journalists, bloggers, and vloggers, so they know who we are and we have someone internally to call where we can report someone before its too late. I fear this is getting way out of hand. We've seen the loss of Chauncey Bailey who was gunned down in the line of journalist duty and Asia McGowan for sharing her view on the issues of the day. I don't want to ask who's next and I believe the same mentality that rushes someone like Adam Lambert or Britney Spears would do this to a journalist or a vlogger.

Enough's enough.

Star Trek Movie Stars On SNL To Address Trekkers

2009-05-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

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NBC's Saturday Night Live staff does it again with this hilarious segment featuring Star Trek's Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine (Spock and Kirk respectively) making an appearance on SNL's "Weekend Edition" to address the concerns of Trekkers who were upset that the J.J. Abrams-directed blockbuster didn't follow "Star Trek history."

(Ha. Which includes me. Well, I was only mildly concerned, and not so much so that I didn't enjoy the movie. It was excellent!)

At any rate, Pine starts opens with an apology of sorts and Quinto follows up by explaining how they did incorporate some well known Trek lore like the "Vulcan PonFar" ritual. Then Pine stumbles on his words while trying to explain the technology of the "Transporter" and just as all seems lost for the two new megastars, Leonard Nimoy walks in to an ovation and saves the day, expaining "Any Trekker who doesn't like the movie is..." something I can't print here but they can say on live television.

What's so funny are the two "Trekkers" in costume in the audience making "We're watching you" faces at the stars during the segment.

All of this fun causes me to wonder if we will see a "Star Trek Blooper Video" with outtakes from the film, much as we enjoyed the Star Trek Blooper Real of the past with some funny errors caught on tape as the cast of the television show was at work.

Stay tuned!

Hollywood Suprised At "Star Trek" Boxoffice

Meanwhile, Nikke Finke, who's "Deadline Hollywood" blog is the best source for inside information on Hollywood, revealed that not only did Star Trek surprise Hollywood, earning 76.5 million for the weekend, but the audience was 60 percent male, 40 percent female, which surprised me as I expected a 70 percent / 30 percent split based on the demographics for Star Trek videos on YouTube.

Finke writes:

To put that in perspective, a domestic weekend total under $50M would have meant the pic didn't attract a new and younger audience and relied instead on the franchise's older but loyal fanbase of Trekkies. It was risky for Paramount to market the movie as "not your father's Star Trek". But the critical reviews for JJ Abrams' reboot are 96% positive.

New TV Show by Zennie62's On BART and Oscar Grant

2009-05-04T05:20:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, May 2nd, my new television show starts. It's called "The Blog Report With Zennie62" and features the use of my video blogs in a weekly 30-minute format broadcast and co-produced by CoLoursTV in Denver. The start time is 3:30 PM Pacific Time, 6:30 PM Eastern Time and the show is replayed at 11:30 PM and 2:30 PM respecfully.

If you don't have a TV you can see the live stream at CoLoursTV.org. or Zennie62.com

The first show focused on selected events that occured after the shooting of Oscar Grant by BART Officer Johannes Mesherle on New Year's Day. It opens with my walk through a riot-ravaged downtown Oakland where I talked with many people about what happened, including a group of kids who were some of the rioters. Then we focus on the words of "DaveyD", America's foremost hiphop reporter and voice of the street, who shares his observations of how Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums handled the situation. And finally we hear from Dellums himself. This is not the last time I will visit this issue, but it's a good place to start the show.

The standard format is to present politics, news, sports, and tech in some combination for each show. Sometimes it's me talking about an issue; other times it's me talking to someone else, and with this show we will feature the work of other video-bloggers. It's a vloggers' playground.

The show will have a deliberate vlogger feel. Videos that you see on my channels at YouTube, Blip.tv, and other places make up the show. There's no studio; the camcorder is the star instrument. That means we can go anywhere at anytime and quickly make a video. It also means I can share what's happening in the news on the blogsphere in video form and show it on "The Blog Report". A lot of ground we can cover considering I never dreamed of having my own television show, but this whole road I've taken has been totally unplanned by me.

"The Blog Report" all started last year when I met Art Thomas who's the Executive Vice President with CoLoursTV at a media walk-through for the Democratic National Convention in Denver. He lived in Oakland before moving to Denver and so we had a lot to talk about. I was looking for a sponsor for our show at the time, so I sent a proposal to Thomas. That exchange turned into an idea for placing our videos on CoLoursTV and that became the concept called "The Blog Report With Zennie62".

Our first concern was how to get the videos up on television without a loss of at least the quality that is seen on Blip.tv and Viddler, which have the sharpest video uploads (that written, I love YouTube and the quality's really improved over time such that it's competitive with the two, but YouTube's best system is the website design and its "viral" nature as well as The YouTube Partner program.) I think we solved that problem and I understand the TV version looks even better than what you're going to see here.

I look forward to your feedback and questions. We're seeking sponsors and there are some organizations we simply want to establish strategic partnerships with, so please contact me. The possibilities for this are many and should serve as an example for a possble future for newspapers as well.

If you're a video-blogger located anywhere in the World and have material that's not longer than 4 minutes tops, notify me via email at zennie@sportsbusinesssims.com and we'll go from there. I prefer the video is already uploaded on some site, Brightcove, Blip.tv, YouTube, etc, so I can see it.

I wish to thank Art Thomas, Damon Purdy, and Tracy Winchester of CoLours TV, as well as Steve and Bernard who made me look good in the promo. I also wish to thank Google / YouTube for their support and encouragement and specifically Chad, Emily, and Hunter. A big loud shot-out to the iReport team at CNN: Lila, Henry, Rachel, David, Nicole Saldi, and the rest. And thanks to the team at CNN Special Projects, Errol and Jessica, and to Roland Martin and his staff at CNN for discovering me. Finally, thanks to the San Francisco Chronicle for seeing the value in how I do what I'm doing and providing a platform. To the National Football League and Commissioner Roger Goodell, Greg Aiello, and Frank Supovitz ("Mr. Super Bowl") And of course, thanks to my Mom and my relatives in Chicago and Tennessee.

Reaction to Susan Boyle

2009-04-20T10:25:00.001-07:00

This is from YouTuber coolness748:

Hello! We respect Susan Boyle , she is an awesome and great singer. Are these real tears here?? not quite, though watching her sing for the first time did cause watery eyes..(Remember video is in Comedy) Thank You all.

Fox News' Roger Friedman's Leaked "Wolverine" Review Gets Him In Trouble With Fox News, News Corp

2009-04-05T19:27:00.001-07:00

More at HuffPost: “FoxNews.com entertainment columnist Roger Friedman has drawn the ire of News Corp bosses after writing a review of a leaked version of the upcoming 20th Century Fox blockbuster "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" — and he'll have to answer to Fox News executives in a meeting Monday morning.

Friedman's FoxNews.com column Thursday — since deleted — was a review of "Wolverine" that studio bosses viewed as an implicit endorsement of movie piracy, according to Deadline Hollywood Daily's Nikki Finke.”

Fox News' Female Short Skirts Get Ratings Over CNN

2009-03-28T12:02:00.001-07:00

For the first time, according to Nielsen, CNN came in third place in cable news program ratings behind Fox and MSNBC. CNN had 1.14 million viewers in March, compared with 1.16 million for MSNBC and 2.3 million for Fox News. Some say the reason is Fox is conservative; it's really their focus on women anchors with short skirts.

So Fox could be liberal as heck and still have the same ratings if they had the same "sex sells" strategy. There have been a lot of Fox female anchors doing the showing of a lot of leg: E.D. Hill, Ainsley Earhardt , Linda Vester, Gretchen Carlson, and Catherine Herridge to name some of them.

That's a lot of women, and I'm sure I've left someone's name off the list without intention. The point is, it's too much of a habit to ignore, thus it's part of the high ratings, because it builds expectations that a viewer will see women in short skirts, especially in the morning.

Is this a bad thing? Well, yes and no. Look, we can't deny that above all else, television is a visual medium. It's not radio at all. So people react to what they see. Moreover, we're wired to reproduce -- people forget that -- so visual cues that appeal to our sexual nature will get more attention than those that don't.

That's a fact.

I can't blame Fox for this. But I can blame Fox for coupling it with some lame reporting. Much of it's so biased I don't watch it at all. I flip between CNN and MSNBC. And CNN has some attractive female anchors, but they don't present them like Fox does. If they did, I hate to write this, but CNN would overtake Fox for the ratings lead.

The question is will they do this?

Fox News' Female Short Skirts Get Ratings Over CNN

2009-03-28T12:01:00.001-07:00

'Building a Mystery' by Sarah McLachlan on QTV

2009-03-28T01:42:00.001-07:00

Q was fortunate enough to have Sarah McLachlan as the live musical guest for the Toronto live special broadcast out of the CBC's Glenn Gould Theatre. Playing to a packed house Sarah started her appearance off with her hit 'Building a Mystery'.

Natasha Richardson Accident - Richardson Passed Away Tonight

2009-03-18T23:52:00.001-07:00

From CBS: Actress Natasha Richardson and wife of Liam Neeson is reportedly in critical condition after suffering a head injury in a skiing accident at a Canadian ski resort. Randall Pinkston reports.

I later learned that the actress passed away this evening at the age of 45 years old.

Star Trek Movie: Where Are The Black Men?

2009-03-17T03:59:00.001-07:00

There's a lack of Black men in the Star Trek trailers and director J.J. Abrams called and invited Tyler Perry to be in the movie to make up for the oversight

Martha Stewart and Lucaris Have Lunch - Seriously

2009-03-08T00:13:00.000-08:00

One interesting aspect of taste maven Martha Stewart's life is that she keeps company with some hip members of American Culture, one of them is rapper Ludacris, who had lunch with Martha on March 4th. Here's what Martha wrote on "The Martha Blog ":

Here I am having Lunch yesterday with Ludacris (Chris Bridges). We had a nice salad, paella, and chocolate cake for dessert. He is a nice young man and very, very busy. He is extremely excited about his new flick and new album. Ludacris also really liked the chocolate cake!

But why is this not part of her overall image? A good question that begs for an answer!

Chris Brown / Rihanna: Brown charged with two felonies; details of pop star girlfriend Rihanna's assault revealed

2009-03-05T13:52:00.001-08:00

More at NY Daily News: “Disturbing details of Rihanna's car ride from hell were revealed Thursday after R&B singer Chris Brown was charged with beating up the pop star as they drove home from a pre-Grammy Awards bash.
"I'm going to beat the s--t out of you when we get home," Brown screamed, according to an affidavit. "You wait and see!"
But almost immediately Brown began raining blows on Rihanna, who was identified as Robyn F. in the court papers.”

-- This reveals a sick, controlling person who should go to jail for what he did. Ramming her head into the passenger window. Trying to kick her out of his rented car. It goes on and is a terrible story.

"Midnight Cowboy" Featured By Directors Guild of America Theatre in New York City

2009-03-05T13:36:00.000-08:00

I got an email from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that they are going to screen the classic "Midnight Cowboy" in New York City, March 16th. You can gain a "taste" for the film from this fan-made trailer:

The Academy reports: "The 1969 Best Picture winner “Midnight Cowboy” will screen for New York audience as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ “Monday Nights with Oscar®” series on Monday, March 16, at 7:30 p.m. at the Directors Guild of America Theatre in New York City.

"Academy Award®-winning producer Jerome Hellman will join Academy Award-nominated actress Sylvia Miles in a post-screening discussion. David V. Picker, the executive-in-charge at United Artist during the film’s development, will moderate the onstage conversation, which also will include actor Bob Balaban, cinematographer Adam Holender, composer John Barry and costumer designer Ann Roth.

“Midnight Cowboy” stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight as two mainstream society outcasts who forge an unlikely friendship on the lonely and unforgiving streets of New York City. The film endures as a powerful story of friendship, compassion and redemption.

The tickets are cheap: $5 and the DGA Theatre is located at 110 West 57th Street in New York City. The box office opens at 5:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. All seating is unreserved, which means get their early. For more information, call (212) 821-9251

Vanity Fair 2009 Oscar Party: The Wrapup Video

2009-03-04T01:21:00.001-08:00

BARE Magazine Launch Party, Berkeley, CA 2-28-09

2009-03-03T01:05:00.001-08:00

I attended a great launch party of a new and innovative magazine called BARE. It was started by UC Berkeley student Doreen Bloch and captures the Bekeley fashion style, but also taps into the lucrative college student fashion scene.

Jerry Lewis Award Protest On Oscar Eve - 2009 Academy Awards

2009-02-24T16:19:00.001-08:00

"The Trouble With Jerry" Is A group that was formed to protest the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decision to give the humanitarian award to Jerry Lewis because they claim he has exploited the disabled and treated them as second-class people.

Heath Ledger Won 2009 Oscar Best Supporting Actor Award

2009-02-24T03:10:00.001-08:00

Heath Ledger, without a doubt, won the 2009 Best Supporting Actor Award. Rest in Peace Heath.

Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway's Opening Performance at the 2009 Oscars

2009-02-24T03:09:00.001-08:00

Sean Penn Wins Best Actor for "Milk" Acceptance Speech

2009-02-24T02:53:00.001-08:00

I'm proud of Sean Penn for taking on daring tasks both in film and in life. He's a local man made good and does the SF Bay Area proud.

Here's the text of the speech, courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:

CATEGORY: Performance by an actor in a leading role
SPEECH BY: Sean Penn
FILM: "Milk"

======BEGIN TRANSCRIPTION======

Thank you. Thank you. You commie, homo-loving sons-of-guns. I did not expect this, but I, and I want it to be very clear, that I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me often. But I am touched by the appreciation and I hoped for it enough that I did want to scribble down, so I had the names in case you were commie, homo-loving sons-of-guns, and so I want to thank my best friend, Sata Matsuzawa. My circle of long-time support, Mara, Brian, Barry and Bob. The great Cleve Jones. Our wonderful writer, Lance Black. Producers Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks.

And particularly, as all, as actors know, our director either has the patience, talent and restraint to grant us a voice or they don't, and it goes from the beginning of the meeting, through the cutting room. And there is no finer hands to be in than Gus Van Sant. And finally, for those, two last finallies, for those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support.

We've got to have equal rights for everyone. And there are, and there are, these last two things. I'm very, very proud to live in a country that is willing to elect an elegant man president and a country who, for all its toughness, creates courageous artists. And this is in great due respect to all the nominees, but courageous artists, who despite a sensitivity that sometimes has brought enormous challenge, Mickey Rourke rises again and he is my brother. Thank you all very much.

======END TRANSCRIPTION======

BEN STILLER DOES JOAQUIN PHOENIX HILARIOUS LOL

2009-02-24T02:49:00.001-08:00

This segment was totally funny. Ben Stiller nailed it in mocking Joaquin Phoenix's appearance on Letterman.

KATE WINSLET WINS FOR THE READER

2009-02-24T02:47:00.001-08:00

Lowie v. America and California Family At Oscar Red Carpet

2009-02-24T02:43:00.001-08:00

Lowie v. America" is an online show "From the Mind of Craig Low" and I met him on the Red Carpet on Saturday. I also talked to a family who was visiting LA just for the Oscars.

The 2009 Vanity Fair Oscars Party Trailer

2009-02-24T02:35:00.001-08:00

From VanityFairMagzine on YouTube:

Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter gives you an exclusive tour behind the scenes of the 2009 Vanity Fair Oscar party.

Slumdog Millionaire Oscar Party February

2009-02-23T17:04:00.001-08:00

This is the part held on Sunset Blvd to celebrate the movie "Slumdog Milionaire" and it's eight Academy Awards including Best Pciture.

'Slumdog' Rules Oscars With 8 Prizes

2009-02-23T02:59:00.001-08:00

From the AP: The AP's Alicia Quarles and Marcela Isaza discuss the most memorable Oscar moments, including "Slumdog Millionaire" taking the best-picture Academy Award and seven other Oscars.

Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens Red Carpet Oscars 2009 Interview

2009-02-23T02:42:00.001-08:00

OSCARS 2009 BEST ACTOR Sean Penn In Pressroom

2009-02-23T02:38:00.001-08:00

Sean Penn talks about bringing Harvey Milk to the screen and he future of human rights in America.

Penelope Cruz Waves Her Oscar In The Air

2009-02-23T02:33:00.003-08:00

Tilda Swinton Is All Smiles Leaving The Oscars

2009-02-23T02:33:00.001-08:00

Penélope Cruz - Performance by an actress in a supporting role speech

2009-02-23T02:28:00.000-08:00

CATEGORY: Performance by an actress in a supporting role
SPEECH BY: Penélope Cruz
FILM: "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"

======BEGIN TRANSCRIPTION======

This is not going to be 45 seconds, I can say that right now. Has anybody ever fainted here? Because I might be the first one. Thank you so much to the Academy. I want to share this with my fellow nominees and

with the amazing ensemble of actors that I had the privilege to work with in this movie. Thank you, Woody, for trusting me with this beautiful character. Thank for you having written over all these years some of the

greatest characters for women. And I cannot talk about great female characters without thanking my friend Pedro Almodóvar for having made me part of so many of his adventures. Thank you, Bigas Luna, Fernando

Trueba, for giving me my first movies. Thank you, Harvey Weinstein. I wanted to dedicate this to my parents and to my brother and sister, to my friend Robert Carlo, who is not with us anymore, and to everyone who

has helped me from the beginning and you know who you are and I thank you from my heart.

I grew up in a place called Alcobendas, where this was not a very realistic dream. And I, always on the night of the Academy Awards, I stay up to watch the show and I always felt that this was, this ceremony was a

moment of unity for the world because art, in any form, is and has been and will always be our universal language and we should do everything we can, everything we can, to protect its survival. So I thank you so much

and I have to say something in Spanish, because everyone?

[Speaks in Spanish.]

======END TRANSCRIPTION======

Oscar Winners Leaked? - Cinematical Says Maybe Not

2009-02-22T14:59:00.001-08:00

More at Cinematical This list of winners is supposedly leaked : “Actor in a leading role: Mickey Rourke
Actor in a supporting role: Heath Ledger
Actress in a leading role: Kate Winslet
Actress in a supporting role: Amy Adams
Animated Feature Film: Wall-E
Art Direction: The Dark Knight
Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
Costume Design: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Directing: Slumdog Millionaire
Documentary feature: Man on Wire
Documentary short: The Conscience of Nhem En
Film editing: Milk
Foreign language film: Departures
Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Music (Score): Defiance
Music (Song): Down to Earth (Wall-E)
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Short film (animated): Presto
Short film (live action): Auf Der Strecke (On The Line)
Sound editing: Wall-E
Sound mixing: The Dark Knight
Visual effects: Iron Man
Writing (Adapted screenplay): The Reader
Writing (Original screenplay): In Bruges”

-- We will see.

Zennie62: Zennie Abraham's Promo Shoot For His New TV Show

2009-02-22T14:02:00.001-08:00

This video is of my trip to Denver to meet up with Art Thomas and Steve and Bernard and Meesha to make my tv promotion segment spot. It was a fun time and fun to do. Stay tuned for more info on "The Blog Report with Zennie62". Distributed by Tubemogul.

On Oscar Eve South Africa Girls Kiss SpiderMan near Red ...

2009-02-22T10:11:00.001-08:00

These lovely women came to Hollywood from South Africa and for the Oscars. Along the way, they had fun with Spiderman.

Zennie Abraham's Red Carpet Tour On Oscar Eve

2009-02-22T09:59:00.001-08:00

http://entbiz.blogspot.com -- http://www.twitter.com/zennie62 - Follow me on Twitter. I was able to score a before day of Oscar press pass and made a number of videos. This one of a tour of the red carpet.

John Mayer will be Aniston's 'Oscar boyfriend'

2009-02-19T12:16:00.001-08:00

RTÉ.ie Entertainment: Mayer will be Aniston's 'Oscar boyfriend': “Singer John Mayer has revealed that he will be accompanying Jennifer Aniston to the Oscars this Sunday.
In an interview with Popsugar, he said that he would be walking the red carpet with Aniston.
"I'm going to the Oscars. It's my first Oscars and it's my first time being an Oscar boyfriend."”