Sad Days

Well, its been a week since I've written and I wish I could say that I've been on vacation, but instead I was just sick. Something is blooming or dying here in Napa and whatever it is seems to want to kill my allergies. Basically, it was all I could do to get through my show each day and then go home to rest. Not fun at all. By the time I was starting to feel better (around Thursday and Friday) I had so much to catch up on here at the station that there was no time to blog. But I'm mostly caught up and feeling better, so here it goes.
It was a pretty sad weekend in the entertainment world, with the deaths of two well loved entertainers. On Saturday, word cam that Bernie Mac had died in a Chicago hospital from complications from pneumonia.

Bernie Mac, who told jokes on train platforms and plugged away for decades before coming into the spotlight on his own Fox sitcom, the Ocean's movies and more, died Saturday morning—one week after it was learned he'd been hospitalized with pneumonia. He was 50. A spokesman for the Cook County Medical Examiner's office confirmed to E! News that Mac had been a patient at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital for "over a week," and that he died Saturday morning of "natural causes." Friday, Mac's publicist, Danica Smith, responding to rumors that the star had fallen critically ill, said Mac was in stable condition, and was "responding well to treatment." Mac suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that can affect any body organ, per the Mayo Clinic's website, but that Mac revealed in 2005 had taken root in his lungs. According to Smith, the pneumonia that struck down the star was unrelated to the disease, which had reportedly been in remission. (Source E Online)

My heart goes out to his family and friends. I always liked Bernie Mac in the movies (though not always the movies he was in) and I also enjoyed his stand up. He was a great comic and will be missed.

Yesterday, more sad news came in the form of the death of Shaft singer Isaac Hayes. Most people know Hayes from one place or another, be it South Park, Shaft or Soul Man. Here are the details:

Soul music pioneer Isaac Hayes – whose 1971 "Theme from Shaft" won the Oscar and Grammys – died Sunday in Memphis, where he lived. He was 65. A releative discovered an unresponsive Hayes near an exercise machine in their home at midday, and Hayes was pronounced dead at 2:10 p.m. when he arrived at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office tells PEOPLE. Although the hospital is still determining the cause of death, Shular says Hayes most likely died of natural causes. Family members said the singer, who had a history of high blood pressure, had recently been treated for various medical conditions. In January 2006, news sources reported that Hayes had suffered a mild stroke. At the time, friends said the condition was brought on by exhaustion. Hayes reportedly had 12 children, 14 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. (source People)

More sad news from an already grim weekend. Once again, my heart goes out to his friends and family.

So yeah, what a depressing weekend this was in the entertainment world. There was also some domestic violence reported as well, but I'm already too depressed to talk about it. Someone needs to announce an engagement or pregnancy or both. Isn't Gwen Stefani due any day now? She needs to have that baby pronto to cheer us up. Seriously Gwen, its for the good of the world. Just pop that baby out already!

Aside from depressing, the weekend was pretty low key for me. While I love the concerts at Robert Mondavi Winery, I always breathe a sigh of relief when they're over so I can get my weekends back. Five Saturday nights in a row can get a bit exhausting! It was nice to just kick back and not do too much. Who knows what next weekend will bring.

Well, I think that's it for me. I'll have more for you in the coming week, but I'm easing my way back into it all for right now.

Later!

Ya'll ain't ready for these kids!

Finally! There's stuff happening in the entertainment world, just in time for the weekend! While I'm a little frustrated that all of this stuff is happening on a Friday (which tends to be one of my busier days) I'm also relieved that there's finally something to write about aside from custody battles and movie trailers.
The biggest news that broke today was the confirmation that People Magazine bought the first pictures of the Brangelina twins (Hello Magazine got the international rights for the pictures) for an undisclosed sum (rumored to be between $11 million to $14 million). Here are the details:

Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon are, at long last, ready for their closeups. Their outlandishly overpriced, highly anticipated, paparazzi-thwarting closeups. As expected, the deep pockets over at People magazine won the bidding war for the U.S. and Canadian rights to the twins' first photoshoot, with Hello! magazine snagging the international exclusive. Though there's no official word on how much the publications shelled out to show the world Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's genetically blessed double act, or whether the newborns can out-cute big sis Shiloh's People debut, sources have placed the camera coup at $14 million. Vivienne and Knox, not yet one month old having entered the world to much fanfare on July 12, will make their cover debuts on both People and Hello! on Monday. (Source E Online)

You can get your first glance of the cover of People on their website on Sunday at 4 pm PST, so set your alarms and get put it in your date books. I know I for one will be sitting in front of my laptop all day Sunday to make sure I don't miss the unveiling of the world's most genetically blessed twins. I wonder if there will be a picture of their also genetically blessed older sister Shiloh with them. I bet there's at least one family portrait. Of course, Brad and Angie have made sure that the world knows that the millions of dollars they get paid for a picture of the blessed ones with go straight to charity, it will not past Go it will not collect interest. Oddly enough, People Magazine had no story about the pictures, just a banner on the top of their website promoing the unveiling on Sunday. Maybe they're a little ashamed of the kind of dough they shelled out for this particular photo shoot. You know they spent more than the rumored amount on making sure those babies are photo ready.

Other happy news comes from someone a bit lower key than Brangelina and their photogenic brood. Actress Heather Matarazzo announced her engagement today. Here are the specifics:

Heather Matarazzo, best known for playing an awkward seventh grader in Welcome to the Dollhouse and then an awkward high school student opposite Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries, is engaged. Matarazzo’s publicist, Lisa Jammal, tells E! News exclusively the 25-year-old actress “is engaged to Caroline Murphy. They’ve been together for over a year.” And because the couple does not have a specific “male or female role,” they both proposed! “It was really cute. First Heather proposed to Carolyn, then Carolyn proposed to her,” says Jammal. She goes on to say the two are very supportive of each other and are totally in love—“it was love at first sight.” (Source E Online)

Very cute. Congratulations to the newly engaged couple! I love it when celebrities seem genuinely happy with their partners and aren't just doing it for publicity.

On to less pleasant news, the Shia LeBeouf controversy just won't go away it seems. The kid's still in the hospital, but that doesn't stop the media from getting quotes from as many people around him as possible, even though the sheriff's has already ruled that the accident wasn't his fault, there's still that pesky DUI. Access Hollywood pestered Transformers director Michael Bay into giving them a quote. As always, he was ever so tactful:

Shia LaBeouf may have been arrested for DUI after Sunday's car accident – but Transformers director Michael Bay insists the actor was not impaired. "He was not drunk," Bay tells Access Hollywood in an interview slated to air Friday. "He was drinking hours and hours before." But the director – currently working with LaBeouf on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – claims that he did warn his young star about road safety shortly before the crash. "We had a little heart to heart the week before when he bought a brand new motorcycle," Bay told the TV show. "I [said], 'Dude! You cannot ride that motorcycle! If you crash, you put 1,500 people out of work.' He said, 'Ok, I won't ride it, I won't ride it. I'll just drive my truck.' (Source People)

Well, we can see how well just driving his truck around went. And I'm glad that he was drinking hours and hours before the accident. While this particular interview doesn't give me much hope for Shia, statements made by the police at the time of the accident do seem a bit suspect. I don't believe they ever did a breathalyzer test, probably because his hand was all mashed up, so they arrested him on the basis of his "intoxicated behavior". Could that behavior have been shock? Will know soon enough I'm sure.

Well, that's about all for me today. I've got more stuff to do here today and I'll be broadcasting live tomorrow night from the final concert of the 39th annual Summer Festival at Robert Mondavi Winery. UB40 will be performing, so it should be a pretty good show. Kellie will be broadcasting live tomorrow afternoon from the Think Green World Music Festival as well, which should also be pretty fun. You can get more info on that concert here.

Its going to be another busy weekend, so I'm out of here.

Later!

Still nothing going on, except for this:

Ok, well its still a pretty slow week in Hollywood and the entertainment world, but there have been a few bits and pieces to trickle down the wire. The biggest news of the day was the hearing for Britney Spears' conservatorship and the restraining order against Sam Lufti. The judge decided to extend Jamie Spears' conservatorship over his daughter through the rest of the year. Since he controls who she sees, the restraining order is no longer necessary. I could put the full story up here, but that's basically all it boils down to. Britney's not getting control over her estate back any time soon and daddy is going to keep being her roommate. Personally, I think having her father be her babysitter has helped Britney immensely. I mean, we haven't seen a vag flash in months and her weave looks much better. Plus, there are rumors that she's actually recording again and might even perform to support the album. And not just the sad kind of performances (see last year's VMA's) I mean, actually perform and know what she's doing and stuff. I've never been the biggest Britney fan, but it was sad to see how far she spiraled out of control. Having her father in control of her seems to be for the best right now. If only that had worked for her little sister.

Anyway, the other thing that's been going on in Hollywood is this debate over making laws to control the paparazzi. There's been lots of differing opinions on this, but the best has to be from the chief of the LA police. Check it out:

LAPD Chief William Bratton has spoken out—and how—against a proposal by a city councilman seeking to put in place new measures that restrict paparazzi. Bratton says the (alleged) behavior modifications of Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton have made the proposal all but moot. "If you notice, since Britney started wearing clothes and behaving; Paris is out of town not bothering anybody anymore, thank god; and evidently, Lindsay Lohan has gone gay, we don't seem to have much of an issue," Bratton told KNBC, L.A.'s local NBC affiliate. He went on to offer similar sentiments to several other local outlets, calling the would-be crackdown on paparazzi a "farce," and further claiming that interest in candid pics has already waned. (Source EOnline)

LOL!!! This is one of the funniest quotes I've heard in a while! Since Lindsay Lohan "went gay" the paparazzi isn't as prevalent? I think that, if he had his way, Bratton would ban Paris Hilton from LA just to get some peace and quiet. It was really considerate of her to go out of town right around the time that all of this paparazzi crackdown craze began happening. He can make it seem like there's nothing to crack down on. Just wait until the newest It girl comes on the scene, then he'll be wishing for more structure. He may get it anyway, whether he likes it or not. There's a meeting with a councilman later on today at City Hall to discuss limiting the paparazzi that's supposed to have, not only some serious star power, but also the heads of the neighborhoods that are most affected by those crazy paps. I have a feeling that this won't be the last we hear of this.

Well, that's basically all that's going on today. Its been such a slow week! I hope to have some better news tomorrow. In the meantime, I've got to go get my hair done.

Later!

Seriously, there is nothing going on right now.

Oh My God there is nothing going on in Hollywood right now! Well, there's stuff going on, but its pretty boring. I mean, can't someone have a baby or something? Get a DUI (one that doesn't involve surgery or a hospital stay, because that puts a major damper on making fun of the idiot who didn't take a cab) or go to jail. Hell, I'll even take something boring, like a divorce. This lack of news is killing me! Right now the most interesting thing going on is the lawsuit filed against Wyclef Jean for not paying for his bling. And the guy suing him is already in jail, so he's pretty much got nothing to lose. Seriously, nothing going on. You know its a slow news day when every new site and blog is posting the new trailer for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Yeah, the book was good and yeah, the movie looks much darker, but is that really all that Yahoo has to talk about today? Is everyone on vacation? Don't mind me, I'm just jealous of people's vacations I guess. Isn't Gwen Stefani due soon? And Paris Hilton hasn't done anything idiotic in ages (aside from just exist, that is) . What is going on? All right, I guess I'll jump on the bandwagon too and post the trailer since there's nothing else to talk about.


There, are you happy now? It looks pretty good, but I've seen it three times today. There has to be something better going on.

Lets see:

Kate Hudson and Lance Armstrong broke up. Boring.

The Brangelina twins will be seen first in People Magazine. What a shocker!

Amy Winehouse was back in the hospital. Yawn.
Her dad thinks someone spiked her drink with Ecstasy. Amusing, but not really newsworthy.

K-Fed's having a good summer. If I was getting $20,000 a month for child support, I would be to. I'm not finding anything interesting.

So I'm just going to post some of my favorite Flight of the Conchords videos in honor of their recent (well two week old) Emmy nominations.
Later!

Just another slow Monday

Wow, there's just not much going on in the world of entertainment. I mean, there's the whole Shia LeBeouf getting a DUI after flipping his truck and injuring his hand badly enough to require surgery delaying his return to the set of Transformers 2 for a month, but that's totally old news now. Plus the guy's in the hospital and stuff, so I don't really want to make fun of him right now. I mean, you can't kick a guy when he's down right? Usually I have no problem kicking a guy when he's down if he's stupid enough to get a DUI when he's got the money for a cab or driver, but something tells me that Shia may have learned his lesson on this one. He seems like the kind of guy who prefers making money over partying, and since partying got in the way of his making money, he may not do it so much after this. That's just my opinion. Oh yeah, you can see pictures and video of his smashed up truck here. I'm just glad that no one was really injured or died. That would have been pretty tragic.
Other than LeBeouf being le stupid, a bunch of people had babies, announced they are having babies and got engaged. Here's the rundown:

Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O'Connell announced that she's preggers with twin girls due this winter.

Mary Lynn Rajskub (of 24) and her boyfriend welcomed a baby boy, Valentine Anthony, last Thursday.

Kyle MacLachlan (Desperate Housewives) and his wife, Project Runway producer Desiree Gruber had a boy, Callum Lyon, on Friday.

Maria Bello (The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor) and her boyfriend announced their engagement.

Matt Damon and his wife are having another girl.

Congrats to all the happy couples.

So yeah, that's pretty much what's going on in Hollywood right now, a whole lot of procreating and legalizing unions. I'm thinking there's a Comic Con hangover going on in the entertainment world. Too much geeking out last week, now everyone just wants a nap. I'm sure there will be a mad dash to reclaim coolness by the weekend;)
As for me, I had a fantastic time at the Pat Benetar concert on Saturday night.

We brought a couple of friends of ours and had a blast!

We just got a new camera and are still working out the kinks, but these should give you an idea of what was going on. The concerts at Robert Mondavi Winery are pretty awesome. Its really a great place to see a concert. There's only one more left this summer, UB40 is performing this Saturday and you can bet I'll be there broadcasting live. You can get ticket info here.
That's it for me.
Later!

Yes, Heather Mills is that crazy.

Funny stuff happening in the British press right now. Heather Mill (formerly McCartney) has just lost her publicist and her publicist is airing all of her former client's dirty laundry. Here are the details:

The longtime mouthpiece of Paul McCartney's ex has announced a spectacular parting of ways with her headline-grabbing client, burning just about every bridge in the process. "After working for Heather Mills for the past four years, I have decided to cease representing her," publicist Michele Elyzabeth said in a statement to E! News. "Since her divorce has become final, in my opinion, Heather has become an impossible person." Elyzabeth, who through the end of last year maintained an unintentionally funny blog in which she posted videos of herself, her hair dresser and her dog defending allegations against Mills, pointed to the exact moment she knew she had to quit: When she had the audacity to remind Mills that the former model was not, in fact, a deity. "Yesterday, we engaged in a heated argument during which she called me 'stupid.' I reminded her that she was not 'God,' and she answered, 'I will never ever talk to you again.' "I have been very patient in my dealings with Heather. However, I cannot take any more. I have given her substantial unpaid time and attention. I am owed money. I refuse to be subjected to her outbursts," Elyzabeth said, before delivering the final blow to possibly the most hated woman in the U.K. "On reflection and given the way I have been treated, I now have sympathy with much of what the British press has reported about her." (Source EOnline)

Something tells me that Elyzabeth is actually holding back on some of the worst flat out craziness that the former Mrs. McCartney was doling out. Some of the stuff she would say to the press, against the advice of her publicist, was absolutely ridiculous! Wow, Paul must have been on drugs or just really horny to have married that pile of psycho. Without a prenup too. Maybe he's just as crazy as she is.
That's all I've got for you today. Its Friday after all and I've got to get my weekend started sometime right? I'll be broadcasting live again tomorrow night from Robert Mondavi Winery from 5-6. Pat Benetar is performing and I am super excited about it! My husband just went to buy a new camera (ours has mysteriously gone missing), so I should have some pictures from the concert on Monday.
Later!

Is this really necessary?

A disturbing trend has been emerging in Hollywood the past few years, the extreme need to beat film franchises into the ground by endlessly remaking them, releasing sequels to them or otherwise just over exposing what began as decent movies. Now, in some cases, remaking a movie is a good idea (i.e. this summer's The Incredible Hulk as opposed to The Hulk from a few years ago) and some sequels are actually better than the first movie (i.e. T-2 vs. The Terminator and The Dark Knight vs. pretty much any other Batman movie made), but in the past two days, I have heard of three movies that really don't need to get made. We'll start with the one that is truly a done deal.
MTV has announced that they will be remaking The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Behold the horror:

MTV is resurrecting Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Brad, Janet, Riff Raff and the rest of the singin' and dancin' weirdos of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, turning everyone's favorite midnight musical comedy into a TV movie. The Rocky redux will feature the original campy 1975 screenplay by Jim Sharman and Richard O'Brien, according to Variety, along with the classic soundtrack for the two-hour teleflick. There might be a couple of new songs written specifically for the TV take, which MTV is hoping to have on the air next year. No word yet on a director or cast, but it seems unlikey original stars Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Patricia Quinn or Meat Loaf will be meeting over at the Frankenstein place for another go-round. (Source E Online)

If the music is the same and the script is the same, what is the point of remaking the movie? It will be the same movie with different actors, maybe a new song, and, since its MTV that's making it, an annoying amount of product placement and a behind the scenes special starring the cast of The Hills that will be played ad nauseum before, after and during the movie. Plus there will be a reality show asking America to help cast the movie and lots and lots of bling. Maybe some glitter too. And the obligatory appearance on TRL. None of this is sounding appealing to me. The whole fun of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the campiness of it and going to midnight showings and being harassed by theater majors who's job it is to act out the movie while its being shown. Why mess with that?

On to the next horrible idea. New Line Cinema made so much money off of the latest redo of Hairspray that now they want a sequel. That's right, a major Hollywood studio actually wants John Waters to write an continuation of one of his movies. Behold the awful:

New Line Cinema has made a deal with "Hairspray" creator John Waters to write a treatment for a sequel to summer 2007’s hit musical feature. Planning to return are director-choreographer Adam Shankman, producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron and Tony-winning songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who will write new songs for the film. No cast has been engaged yet, and none of the stars of "Hairspray" had sequel options. But the studio hopes to reunite the original cast in a film that will be ready for release by Warner Bros. in mid-July 2010. (Source Variety)

While I truly enjoyed the newest incarnation of Hairspray, as well as the original movie and the Broadway play, I really don't see the point in making a sequel. Didn't everything end happily in the first one? What more can they do? I guess, given the volatile period the movie is set in, there is still more to delve into, I just don't see the point in making a sequel to a movie that has already been remade as a play and again as a movie. Hasn't the ozone been polluted enough with Hairspray?
And finally, the most offensive sequel in the making, that could turn out to be genius, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are in the process of writing a sequel to Anchorman. Behold the potentially terrible:
Ron Burgundy fans rejoice! It looks like Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, the brains behind Anchorman, are ready to put the sexist, freewheeling newscaster back in the anchor chair. McKay tells EW.com that he and Ferrell have begun work on a sequel that could jump ahead a decade to the '80s. (We can see it now: Ron discovers hair mousse.) DreamWorks says it hasn't yet talked to the duo, but that doesn't mean Ferrell and McKay aren't dreaming up inappropriate new plots. "The audience will now allow us to do even crazier stuff," McKay says, "and that's really all we're looking for in our careers." (source EW.com)
I'm of two minds on this one. As a big fan of Anchorman (my husband and I watch it at least once a month and frequently quote from it. Yes we are those people), I am excited at the possibility of seeing Ron and the gang again and the idea of jumping them into the 80's could be pure comic gold. But, as a realist, I worry that a) the rest of the cast won't sign on (mainly Christina Applegate, who is not only enjoying her new Emmy nominated role in Samantha Who, but has also said in the past that making Anchorman was not the most pleasant experience for her) and it wouldn't be Anchorman without Champ, Ric (Steve Carrell has also been enjoying a lot of success as of late), and the Bri-man. And b) the comments that McKay made about doing even crazier stuff also worries me, considering the latest teamwork between McKay and Will Ferrell has been Stepbrothers (which is out in theaters tomorrow) which has gotten mediocre reviews and the previews make it look like a bunch of butt jokes coupled with some juvenile pranks. Now, I haven't seen the movie, so I'm probably judging a bit harshly. And I did enjoy the other McKay/Ferrell collaboration, Talledega Nights the Ballad of Ricky Bobby (it poked fun at everything I hate about NASCAR, therefore, made me laugh), so I reserving my true despair over this potential project until I get more information on it.
That's all for me today. The boss is still out of town, but has called 15 times since we started keeping track. My bet was 16, so I'm probably going to lose. That's ok though, its spirit of the game that counts.
Later!