Morning Ritual

Coffee!

Wiki recent deaths. Yes, I do this nearly every morning. OMG Gary Coleman and Dennis Hopper.
Art Linkletter last week.
Sometimes I see interesting trends. This month, 14 former Olympians, 7 poets, and 5 chess players. Hmmmm...

Then I go over to CNN.... Check on the oil leak. Still ugly...
Look at some of the headlines. Hmmm England has someone claiming to be a cannibal. I didn't read the article to verify. Nice to see we don't get all the crazies..
In Seoul, South Korea the court sought a 5 year sentence for a couple who let their 3 month old baby starve to death while they played 12 hour sessions of an online 3-D fantasy game, Prius . The premise of the game..... to raise a child and as she ages she gets magical powers. The court returned a 2 year sentence for the 41 year old father... but the 25 year old mother's sentence is suspended... Why? Because in August she'll be having another baby!!

Can I get an "OMGWTF! Really?"

I Said I Could Go On.....

I remember as a child being glued to the television as a seemingly ordinary young woman with a wondrous smile and a gorgeous dress walked down the aisle and became a real live princess. As she stood and waved from that balcony, little girls around the world had proof that fairy tales could, indeed, come true....

I understand the publicity of this. I understand the world's interest. I don't understand the years of hounding and harassment and abuse that followed the marriage, and subsequent divorce of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
How does anyone stand up to the pressure?
We ridicule the lives of celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, Brittney Spears, or Michael Jackson and fail to realize that we made them what they became. Some say, "It's the price you pay for fame." But why do we feel that because someone sings or acts well enough to have a successful career, that their every moment and action belongs to the public? Especially those who start out so young. Could you imagine never having a normal life? I suppose most teens dream of it in some fashion, but the reality of it? Everyone fucks up on occasion, could you imagine if your biggest fuck-ups had top billing on Extra, Entertainment Tonight, or the grocery store smut racks?
Society is a crazy place. We have iconicized people for being idiots. WTF is that? Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, Heidi Montag- gorgeous, yes... but do they have ANYTHING past that? You can try to say that Jessica HAD a singing career, but she was a flash in the pan and if it weren't for the fact that she's the worlds most famous moron, we would have never heard from her again.
OCTO-MOM! When the world discovered what she'd done, we covered our mouths in horror and pointed our fingers with indignation...... then offered her a television show and invited her to be on Oprah and American Idol. Way to show her!
Why are Jon and Kate famous? Cuz they had a litter of children. Then he cheated and they got even MORE famous.
I feel sorry for Tiger and Elin Woods. He fucked up. I don't condone it. But it's none of my business.
John Edwards has a love child? Other than the amazement that he got that high in politics before it came out, I'm not interested.
Does the world care if Oprah really is a lesbian? Whether it's true or not, who cares?
Is it breaking news that Charlie Sheen got caught with an escort, or drugs, or assaulted someone again? Amy Winehouse? Gary Coleman? Sean Penn hit someone? NO FUCKING WAY!
Lil' Wayne got busted for a gun? Are you kidding me? He was such a nice boy.

The bottom line is. Why do you care? Why is it any of your business? When your neighbor has an affair, do you camp out on their lawn snapping pictures and demanding explanations? Do you jump on the computer and print up fliers of the news and hand it out all over the neighborhood?
If you're interested in the guy across the street, do you go through his garbage in hopes of discovering something interesting about him? Follow him around until you know where he works, where he shops, and where he gets his favorite takeout? No, normal people have laws to protect them from that. Why should celebrities be any different?
Quit feeding the insanity. Stop making celebrities out of every jackass that pauses in the spotlight, and let real celebrities go home from work. Could you imagine if you worked 24 hours a day for the rest of your life?
If we quit giving the smut-mongers and paparazzi an audience then they no longer have a market in which to sling their slop.

It was a Saturday, August 30th, 1997. At 2200, I faded out of the music and went into the ABC News satellite feed. The lead story was one of paralyzing shock and disbelief. Princess Diana run to her death in a Paris tunnel by a swarm of rabid paparazzi and the world's starving need for just one more picture, one more bit of dirt. And I cried.

Have we learned nothing?