Britney v. Whitney

Which pop princess has fallen further from grace?

WHITNEY?

• Bad boy husband and rapper, Bobby Brown
• Money squandered by husband and on drugs
  
• Reality show: Being Bobby Brown
  
• Homely child, Bobbi
  
• Crackhead
• True ghetto side revealed
• Crackhead appearence
• Last song??
  

OR....

BRITNEY?

• Bad boy husband and rapper, Kevin Federline
• Money squandered by husband and on triple mocha lattes
  
• Reality Show: Chaotic
• Homely Child: Sean Preston
• Dumbass
• True trailer trash side revealed
• Tralier trash appearence
• Last song??
  

It's a tough call...

Poor Britney

Britney Spears' interview on Dateline hadn't triggered any interest until Dead Boy said he was shocked at how Britney looked (with her low-cut tank top, jean shorts and flip flops, covered with cheap Walmart make-up) on a national news show on primetime TV.

So we were so delighted to find the entire interview by Matt Lauer on YouTube. At first we couldn't stop laughing at her responses as she tried to defend herself against the tabloids. We laughed at the air quotes she incorrectly used at every fifth sentence. She self-identified as "country" and it was apparent that she was.

But after ten minutes, I started feeling bad for her. Instead of laughing, I began to cringe each time she used air quotes, mispronounced words, or made inappropriate comments about herself and others. Then I realized who I was ridiculing is an uneducated, socially-stunted lost soul who has been abandoned by people who truly care for her... because if they really did care for her, they wouldn't have allowed this interview to have happened, at least without preparing her on how to speak, what to say and how to look.

Since she's not making any music, I bet the people in her camp are allowing her true colors to be revealed because they are profitting from her demise. She's just another child star pimped and now pawned.

I recall when Britney Spears first entered my consciousness. It was during law school, when I embraced TV again. I had no idea that she would get so famous. And while she was super famous, I had no idea she would go down like this -- pregnant, pointless and pathetic.

Let's have a moment of silence for Britney, a fallen angel in our wonderfully cruel world of pop culture.

So they could beat her?

When Esquire Magazine's July issue asked men who they'd invite from a list of 14 notable women to a dinner party, they chose Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, over such stars as Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Simpson.

Photos from the farm

There's our girl, Daryl Hannah.

Learn from a sister -- always keep hydrated when bitching out the pigs.

Shhhhh.... maybe they don't see us...

"Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!"

"Hey, is that a camera? How does my new baton look through the lens?"

China, Russia say "no, thank you"

China and Russia have refused to join with other big powers in threatening sanctions over Iran's nuclear program during talks at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna today.

In a further blow to US efforts to present a united front, non-aligned nations prepared a statement reaffirming Tehran's right to enrich uranium.

In your face, Condi!

Very sad news

The South Central Farmers, along with protesters and celebrities, were evicted this morning at 5 am by 50 sheriff deputies.

As of 9 a.m., about 14 people remained inside the farm, some chained under trees and others locking hands around 55-gallon drums filled with concrete. Daryl Hannah, who has been camping out in a tent at the farm, climbed up a tree when the deputies arrived. She is reported to still be up there. You go, Daryl!

Land owner Ralph Horowitz bought the land from the city in 2003 and, in recent months, has been trying to sell it off for development. A nonprofit group tried to buy the land and preserve the 14-acre farm. But it announced last month that their fundraising effort was $10 million short of Horowitz's $16.3-million asking price.

What's going to happen now? What can we do? More to come...

Duh.

The Oxford Research Group in London found that the US-led "war on terror" is increasing the risk of terrorist attacks and distracting governments from greater threats to global security, such as climate change.

The US and British governments insist there is no alternative, but "there is abundant evidence that the 'war on terror' is proving deeply counterproductive -- making the risk of future terrorist attacks on the scale of New York, Madrid or London more not less likely," it said.

"The war on terror is a dangerous diversion and prevents the international community from responding effectively to the most likely causes of future conflict," a press statement about the report said.

It suggested a different strategy focused on addressing the fundamental issues that create instability:
-- Renewable energy and conservation to counter climate change;
-- energy efficiency to combat resource competition;
-- poverty reduction programs to defeat marginalization; and
-- halting development of weapons of mass destruction to stop global militarization.

Pussy power

You may not be able to tell by this photo, but Jack, a 15-pound orange-and-white cat, chased this black bear up a tree in a backyard in West Milford, N.J. this past weekend. When the bear climbed down, the cat chased it up another nearby tree.

I don't know why but this story makes me smile.

South Central Farm

Last night, I rode my janky bike with the Midnight Ridazz again. Lady Pun and WhyJaneInsane joined us. As virgin riders, their cherries were popped with much excitement and joy. I'm so glad.

Our route yesterday included a stop at the South Central Farm at 41st and Alameda. Although I heard news here and there about the Farm, I have never seen it up close and can I tell you... it's amazing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's the skinny:

Since 1992, the 14 acres of property located at 41st and Alameda Streets in Los Angeles have been used as a community garden or farm. The land has been divided into 360 plots and is believed to be one of the largest urban gardens in the country.

The City of Los Angeles acquired the property by eminent domain in the late 1980s, taking it from nine private landowners who were letting the land waste away. The largest of these owners, Alameda-Barbara Investment Company, owned approximately 80 percent of the site had been compensated $4.7 million dollars. The City originally intended to use the property for a trash incinerator, but abandoned that plan in the face of public protest organized by the late Juanita Tate and the Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles.

As part of the eminent domain proceedings, the City granted Alameda- Barbara Investment Company a right of first refusal if, within 10 years, the City determined that the parcel formerly owned by Alameda was no longer required for public use.

Following the uprising in 1992, the City transferred title to the property by ordinance to its Harbor Department for $13 million. When it received title to the property, the Harbor Department contracted with the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank to operate the property as a community garden.

Approximately 350 families use plots at the garden to grow their own food. The families using the plots are low income and depend heavily upon the food they grow to feed themselves. In addition to growing food for themselves, the people involved with the community garden hold Farmers' Markets, festivals and other cultural events for the public at large.

After receiving the notice from the City informing them that the garden property was being sold to a private developer (to the original owners through right of first refusal, even though the property is being used by the public), the farmers formed an organization-South Central Farmers Feeding Families- and began organizing to retain their right to use the property. South Central Farmers Feeding Families appealed to the City Council to prevent the sale from going through.

The South Central Farmers were served with an eviction notice on March 1, 2006. The notice gave the farmers 5 days to vacate the premises. Within those five days, the farmers used their legal right to appeal the eviction notice by asking to have a hearing in front of a judge. Since March 7, 2006, the farmers have been in a daily state of peril anxiously waiting to see if they’ll meet their terminal fate with the South Central Farm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, a successful, self-sustainable community project that feeds the body and souls of so many poor people. Now it's all going down for private corporate interests. FUCK.

Please visit the website. Provide a donation, join the listserve and/or write to politicians to help save the farm.

Million Dollar Baby

Although it was "leaked" a day or two ago on unofficial sites, today's on-line edition of People magazine displays its $4.1 million exclusive picture of baby Shiloh. The hard copy version will be available on the newstands tomorrow.

I can't wait! First thing tomorrow morning, I'm gonna get my coffee and chill at Toshi's, the little store located in the lobby downstairs. What a great way to start the day!

Such a nasty guilty pleasure of mine!

Be very scared

Which would you choose?

One tittie or three titties?

Review of Omen

No review. Nada. It didn't happen. An omen, perhaps? More like poor planning. Mann's Theater in Culver City is never crowded or sold out... but I didn't anticipate all the teenagers on summer break who bought into the 666 hype. Damn kids.

But we still had good times. We hung out at Culver City. It's developing more and more each day... but at the end of the day, it's still Culver City, the less attractive and dumber cousin of Pasadena.

We checked out two restaurants. I wrote a review about Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken as the newest member of the blog, Grub Club. Yes, check it out. The other restaurant is called the Ford's Filling Station. What a stupid name. But, apparently, it is the IT place in Culver City. The entire restaurant, bar and outdoor patio were packed... with people who looked like they came from Pasadena, but less attractive and probably dumber.

666 in da house

After weeks of seeing that damn poster everywhere in LA (thanks to the marketing team of Fox Studios), I'm off to see Omen. I heard it was bad, but it scared the shit out of me when I watched it as a kid. Sentimentality is a bitch.

Review forthcoming...

Happy 6/6/06, you fucken dreary-ass creepy superstitious motherfuckers!

Finally

The British Broadcasting Corp. celebrated the debut of the BBC World News channel on U.S. cable systems Thursday by unveiling plans to launch a one-hour morning newscast aimed directly at stealing viewers away from the traditional network news programs and gabfests dominating that period.

Instead of the usual fluff that's become the bread and butter of such U.S. network programs as The Today Show and Good Morning America as well as Fox and Friends, the BBC's World News Today will deliver news of serious global import by drawing on the network's vast resources, including three times the number of reporters stationed around the world as CNN.

"What we're not setting out to do is carve a niche that reflects America back to Americans," anchor George Alagiah told the Associated Press. "What we're trying to do is reflect the world back to Americans."

Word.

Domain that name!

The domain names ShilohNouvelJolie-Pitt.com, ShilohPitt.com and ShilohNouvel.com, and even more variations, were snapped up by Angelina Jolie through her Los Angeles lawyer (from Lavely & Singer!) on the same day Jolie gave birth!

Similarly, SeanPrestonFederline.com was registered to Britney Spears through the firm. Unlike the Jolie URLs, SeanPrestonFederline.com was pounced on by a party other than Spears before Lavely & Singer got it back for her.

Tom Cruise's camp didn't lock up SuriCruise.com, hence the unauthorized sitecounting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until Cruise and Katie Holmes' daughter Suri comes of legal age.

I don't know why this fascinates me, but it does. Just like when Ur's husband, Peter, also an attorney, purchased domain names like PublicDefenderUSA.com, etc., despite practicing immigration law. He hopes to sell the domain names to interested parties in the future. I think the idea is pure genius, especially when purchasing a domain is so cheap (like $10 a year) and if someone wants it, they'll have to pay...

Lake Shrine

Photo by DYY

Per the request of both Blu-Tooth and Lady Simzie, BF and I paid a visit to Lake Shrine in Malibu this past weekend. It was nice and tranquil and all, but I preferred the meditation center in San Diego. The foliage and landscape were better in SD. And the koi in SD didn't seem so mutantly large and grotesque.

Speaking of mutant koi, while we continued on our trail around the man-made lake, a koi jumped up from the water several times, as if it was hooked to a fishing line... but no one was around except us. It bounced into the air several times. I told Hays it must be an omen... but whether it was a good or bad omen, who knew? I tried researching it on the web, but no luck.

Damn hippie scum messing with my mind!!

The Kims of Comedy

The Kims of Comedy is fucken HIL-arious. Totally raw and edgy. Asians, particularly Koreans, should be proud. I am.

We added this to our netflicks because of Bobby Lee, who I totally adore and would love love love to be friends with... but the other comedians were really hilarious too: Kevin Shea, Steve Byrne and Dr. Ken, who is a real doctor. He's pretty bad ass.

Bonus: Here's a Mad-TV clip with Bobby Lee and John Cho. Fucken hilarious.

Ursprache...

is the winning word for Katharine Close of Spring Lake, N.J., who won the 79th Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday night, the first girl to win the event since 1999 and the first contestant to do so on live prime-time television, ABC.

And since it was on prime-time TV, we watched a bit of it with BF's grandparents. I must admit, I loved it! Just like how I loved Spellbound.

I was rooting for all the South Asian contestants, then the one Chinese boy from Illinois, and finally the bi-racial Asian/White girl who was second-runner up because she mispelled "weltschmerz," which essentially means a kind of sentimental pessimism.

Naturally the LA Times accurately, yet bitterly, reported an economic angle of this seemingly innocuous tale of prepubescent adolescents and their arcane words -- ABC executives hoped that the spelling bee could become the nation's newest reality TV phenomenon.

ABC wasn't alone in betting on the once-stodgy bee. Some $70,000 was wagered on PinnacleSports.com, which offered bets on whether the winner would wear glasses (nope, despite 3-2 odds), or be a boy (odds said a girl had a 5-4 chance) or be home-schooled (odds were 5-2 in favor, but Jonathan Horton of Gilbert, Ariz., last of the home-schoolers, dropped out in Round 10).

"We're building a franchise," said Andrea Wong, ABC's executive vice president for alternative programming.

Sigh... weltschmerz!

So good

I went to some house party this Memorial Day weekend and the DJ played Crazy by Gnarls Barkley. Dude, the roof was on fire.

Gnarls Barkley is a musical collaboration between producer Danger Mouse and rapper/singer Cee-Lo. Their first album, St. Elsewhere, was released by Warner Music on April 24, 2006 in the UK and on May 9 in the U.S. by Atlantic/Downtown Records

Check out their MySpace site and sample their tunes!