Smartypants's blog

Britney Spears’ comeback album, “Circus,” has an unpleasant surprise for dutiful parents. One of the tunes on the album, “If You Seek Amy,” contains a section that sounds as though Spears is spelling out the F-word followed by the word “me.” Leonie Barsenbach told Aussie news Web site Undercover, “I was astonished and totally taken aback when I heard my 5- and 7-year-old kids walking around the house singing, ‘F- - - K.’”

A new film, “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” has apparently hit a nerve with the mainstream film critic community. Through the eyes of an 8-year-old German boy, the movie brings to full view the stark madness of the Nazi Final Solution. The film is well written (an adaptation from John Boyne’s book for young adults), perfectly cast and resourcefully directed. So why are many of the critics bellyaching?

Ever since Decision 2008 wrapped up, the media have spewed a bunch of bilge about how during the Great Depression President Franklin Roosevelt saved the U.S. economy with gobs of government “stimulus,” aka "central planning." Imagine a movie script that told the true story of how FDR’s New Deal didn’t put an end to the Depression but instead actually prolonged the pain of the worst economy in American history.

Demi Moore is not getting the attention or roles that she used to. But the actress has an explanation at the ready. According to Moore, filmmakers are flummoxed by her age-defying attractiveness. “Being the age I am, it has been a tough few years because there is so much focus on how I look. It almost got to the point where I felt like, ‘Well they don't know what to do with me,’” Moore told the U.K. Hello magazine.

Unlike many of today’s actresses, Kate Beckinsale, best known for her roles
in “Pearl Harbor” (2001), “Underworld” (2003), and “The Aviator” (2004), intends
to keep herself fully clothed in future movie scenes. A childhood memory involving her actress-mother Judy Loe is the reason for
the modest approach. When Kate was only 10 years old, Beckinsale’s mom took it all off for British
television. Consequently, Beckinsale was roundly teased at school and discovered
firsthand what humiliation feels like.

Love in a Peaceful World - Level 42

The Rippingtons in Concert - High Roller - Live!
I especially love when Kim Stone, the bassist lets loose on the bass.

Paula Goodspeed, a former American Idol contestant was discovered dead in a car near Paula Abdul’s home in the 3800 block of Beverly Ridge Drive in Sherman Oaks, California at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The young woman, age 30, is believed to have died of a drug overdose.

Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroners office said, “we are investigation the case as a possible suicide. The cause of death will not be determined until toxicology tests are completed.”