Shayne Dahl Lamas and the Lure of Fame

I hadn't been watching the TV reality show The Bachelor since an earlier season of it, but two seasons ago, my mother suggested I watch it again, and now, like my mother, I'm really into it. It's fascinating because it's very revealing of personalities and meanness/deception/lying/underlying motives.

My mother and I adored the contestant Shayne Lamas (the daughter of Lorenzo and the grand-daughter of Fernando Lamas and Arlene Dahl), the one who the bachelor, Matt Grant, from England chose out of 25 American women. The way the show edited what was presented as documentary (rather than scripted) footage, Shayne seemed genuine, warm, kind and compassionate, mature far beyond her 22 years.

We were surprised by the announcement yesterday, the day after the show's finale, that Shayne is appearing on the cover--and inside, in a six-page (non-nude) spread--of the second issue of Girls Gone Wild magazine, whose first cover featured NY Governor Eliot Spitzer's whore.

I guess having grown up in Hollywood, Shayne felt she had to jump at the offer to further her 15 minutes of fame. Sort of sad, because--despite the hair that she's been dying platinum since she was 12, which gives some people the impression that she's just another shallow Hollywood starlet--Shayne seems to have a depth that would make for real acting talent. I hope she hasn't derailed what could even be an Oscar-worthy career by typecasting herself in this way.

Totally Cool Conceptual House--Built!

Artists Arakawa, age 71, and Madeline Gins, 66, his wife, have come up with a house that reminds me of a surreal dream I once had. The East Hampton, NY house, with bumpy floors of no consistent level and other assorted strange features, is totally cool. The couple designed the structure to be uncomfortable, so that the people who wind up living in it can experience life the way young children do, always confronting the new. Arakawa and Gins believe such an environment will keep residents from ever getting sick.

Don't miss the slide show of this house, with an audio commentary by the architect couple!

In Defense of Cavemen!

With Geico's commercials showing those poor cavemen being attacked, we thought it was cool that at least someone is coming to their defense, with a line of fun T-shirts, tote bags, thongs, boxers, and household items. This online store has items with five different catch phrases, each with its own appropriate font. (Warning to any cavemen reading this: Although four of the phrases are very pro-cavemen, one of the phrases will still offend you!)

CRUSH, my new video about a guy with a crush on Hillary

Great rhythmic dance music, free podcast

Click here to get your own player.

Dancing With the TV Journalists

NBC news correspondent David Gregory broke into dance on the Today show today while Mary J. Blige was singing. The guy's got rhythm. Gee, with his talent, he needs to be a contestant on Dancing With the Stars. You heard it here first!

James Spader Sings Love Songs (part 2)

This is a strip I created. Click on it to see it larger.

Bravo to James Spader; We Want More of Him!

Bravo to James Spader for winning the Emmy last night for best lead performance by an actor in a dramatic series. He's sensational as lawyer Alan Shore in David E. Kelley's brilliantly original and quirky Boston Legal. As Shore, Spader exhibits a fierce intellect, dry humor, and some of the authority and mystery of the sadistic boss he played in the movie Secretary, all while being an advocate for progressive views.

Hollywood success is dicey, because along with wealth, it often brings a lack of privacy. Spader is known for preferring to fly under the radar to hold onto his privacy, and who can blame him? But nor can I blame the media for asking him personal questions, like these that E!'s Guiliana Rancic asked him live on the air, following last night's Emmy's:

"Who are you here with?"

"My girlfriend."

"What's her name?"

"Leslie."

"How long have you been together?"

Spader either really couldn't remember (which I doubted) or he pretended not to remember in order to skip the question. He hemmed and hawed. Rancic moved on to another question.

"What do you like best about your girlfriend?"

Spader refused to answer, saying it was personal.

It will be interesting to see how Spader's newest Emmy (his third) will affect his career. It ought to get him a nice raise. But according to press accounts, he's also been hoping Boston Legal will add lots of new actors so he can have more time off. With this latest win, will David E. Kelley really let him have less show time? We viewers want to see more of him, not less!

An Arts Site That Rocks

I love the fun music and the playful animations here. Check out both of the audio tracks!

Did Anti-Depressants Have A Bad Side Effect on Owen Wilson?

I have a theory about why Owen Wilson tried to take his life. News reports said he had been on anti-depressants. I've read about people committing suicide as a side effect of anti-depressants. If the anti-depressants indeed had a harmful effect on Owen, causing him to try to harm himself, I doubt that he and his family would want to endure a trial in order to sue. So it's a shame if this is what caused Owen to do what he did. Thank god he's still with us. (We love you, Owen.)

We're not an item, honest!

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!You're not going to get me to admit that Owen and I are an item. No way! We're just friends!

Make-Up With Pure Ingredients: An Open Letter to Entrepreneurs

Dear Entrepreneur,

I hope you'll create a makeup line with pure (100% non-toxic) ingredients. (See the Environmental Working Group's Cosmetics Database to see what I mean.)

As a magazine writer (for Senses Art and Culture Magazine, and Positive Change, Sarasota) and as the editor and publisher of the online magazine RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com, I know I speak for many women when I say I have not been able to find a line of cosmetics with non-toxic ingredients.

Burt's Bees used to make some, but they no longer do. I believe they didn't market them well. With all of the media coverage about protecting the environment, the general public is much more interested in green products than ever before! If I created a line of pure makeup, I would market it with sexy ads in women's magazines. And I would make sure my company's lip liners and eye liners, blush, eye shadow and lipsticks were available in a range of colors to flatter all skin tones and age groups. I have olive skin, and the three products I need the most are a bright coral lip liner, a black eyeliner pencil, and a coral blush.

The first company to create a line of pure cosmetics that address all colors and that are marketed to all women--not just nature lovers--will make billions.

An Open Letter to Michael Moore

If Michael Moore's people see this, please ask him to read the open letter to him that you can see by clicking on the above headline.

And by the way, I saw his new film Sicko tonight and it was brilliant! If anyone wants to see it (and I highly recommend it), there's a link to it free, online, at the blog of www.MySpace.com/rawgrrl

Sicko shines a light on what's wrong with the US health care system, and what's so right about the free health care systems in many other countries. As in: Why can't WE provide free health care for all?

As Awesome as Sweeney Todd

I love the Broadway show Sweeney Todd for the way it expresses frustration at injustice. And now the Tony-Award winning Broadway Musical Spring Awakening stands right next to Sweeney Todd in that department. Click on the headline above to see the performance of "The Bitch of Living" from that show. It's breathtaking.

Morphing Past Art Into a New Work

This animation (click on the headline above) is magical, awesome!
Whoever did this really took the time to arrange the faces in like-order.
Amazing. I wish I knew who did this so I could compliment them.
I'd like to see this done with celebrity faces.

Hemp Clothing's the New Fashion Craze!

According to the business section of the Boston Globe, hemp clothing is on a big roll, thanks to the interest of the two largest markets, boomers and youth. Great news that sustainable clothing is in vogue!

A Famous Raw Foodist With a Checkered Past

Movie star Woody Harrelson is a raw foodist and environmental activist. I met him a few years ago at the Sarasota Film Festival, where I told him about my online magazine, www.RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com, and tried to set up an interview with him--but he dissed me. His convicted murderer father died last week and the following profile of Woody explains a lot about the paradox of his life.

Here's a small excerpt from this fascinating article:

Woody Harrelson is, by his own admission, a wild and crazy guy. On the one hand, he is a bleeding-heart Hollywood liberal straight out of central casting: a vegan, a peace activist, a warrior for the environment and an agitator for the decriminalisation of marijuana. On the other hand, he has quite a temper and a track record of drinking and brawling.

During one stint on the London stage five years ago, he got into a shouting match with a taxi driver, ripped out an ashtray and smashed the door to override the central-locking system. (Charges were dropped after he agreed to pay for the damage.) Last year, he grabbed a paparazzo by the neck outside a Hollywood nightclub and, according to a subsequent complaint, broke the viewfinder on his camera.

Just a couple of weeks ago, he got into a fight with a bouncer at a trendy watering hole in Venice, California, after he was told he could not leave the premises with a glass of wine in his hand. Two traffic cops writing a parking ticket on the other side of the street slapped him in handcuffs, but eventually let him go with a warning after it became clear he had damaged himself more than the bouncer. (He cut his hand on a broken wine glass.)

Help Spread the Word: Stop Global Warming; GO VEGAN!

I'm a raw vegan and I believe it's a great way to eat, for so many reasons. Most people in the world are carnivores and omnivores. When those people become vegetarians and vegans, they're moving closer to raw vegan. It so happens that in a United Nations report scientists found that when people switch to a vegan diet, it does more to prevent global warming than even switching to a hybrid car.

Buy a t-shirt or bumper sticker, send some to politicians, and spread the word:

Stop Global Warming, GO VEGAN!

Restaurant Chain's TV Commercial Inspired by Leno Show?

Have you seen the Subway TV commercial where the customers drive up to a fast food place and order things like "a double chin" and "thunder thighs"? The Leno show's been doing this kind of humor for years, when they call products what they really are. Did Subway hire Leno's writers? Or did they "borrow" this style of humor for their commercials?

What Women Want--Truer Words Were Never Spoken

I don't care what religion you are, or even if you're an atheist. But Rabbi Shmuley Boteach writes here about what women want, and he's right on!

What woman doesn't want what he's writing about? I exhort men everywhere to take heed of the rabbi's wise words!