Hilton Rooming on the State’s Dime

Paris Hilton, reality show star, accidental internet hardcore porn celebrity, and heiress to part of the Hilton hotel fortune is spending the next three weeks in the celebrity wing of the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood for a conviction for drunk driving, driving on a suspended license, probation violation,…

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We don’t have as much time for music CD’s anymore

Why are CD sales down?  Rather than blaming piracy, this article in Business Week suggests that there are only so many hours in a day, and we are increasingly busy entertaining ourselves in ways other than listening to CDs: There are only so many hours in a day for each of us…

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Princess Diana returns from the grave to torment me

Pleassssse, somebody.  Wake me up.  I thought we were all done with Princess Diana.  But we’re not, because this is the 10th year anniversary of her death.  In other words, it’s a terrific opportunity to dust her off and to put her back up on the pedestal so that we can envy her, admire her for her so-called accomplishments and (most of all) become entranced with her image.

While waiting at a pharmacy, I leafed through the June 2007 edition of Good Housekeeping Magazine because Princess Diana’s photo is boldly featured on the front cover.  As I picked it up, I thought “Not again . . .”  This issue of Good Housekeeping also features a hagiography (what else was ever written about Princess Diana?) The reappearance of Diana aggravated me enough that I’m now sitting down to aggravate you with this rant.

The article describes Diana as “young, luminous and full of promise.”  We are told that “she was worried about doing the right thing.”  In fact, she was “saintly and endlessly giving.” I have heard it all before, though, and I’ve never been impressed with these sorts of accolades.  After all, Diana lived a plush life of glitz.  She mingled with her favorite musicians (such as Elton John) and she made unending appearances at fancy dinner parties where she wore her fancy gowns and smiled her fancy smile.  She “passionately followed music theatre and ballet.”

That’s what this article tells me, anyway.  It also tells me that she …

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Did you ever see Stephen Colbert totally unnerved?

Jane Fonda succeeded, using some rather unusual techniques.   I've really enjoyed watching Colbert toy with his guests, but I've never before seen him fall so far out of character. BTW - It appears that Colbert's videos have been removed from sites like YouTube.   Many of them are available at Colbert…

Continue ReadingDid you ever see Stephen Colbert totally unnerved?