Thursday, December 11, 2008

Liz Lemon, I'm Starting To Like You Again.

I was walking around at work while someone was streaming the latest episode of 30 Rock (Season 3, Episode 5 "Reunion). I saw the following:



I know that everything on that show comes from Tina Fey, so this gave my heart a little jump. I don't know what to say, which is quite a shock in itself. I watched Tina get interviewed by Barbara Walters and I truly got the impression that she didn't intend to come across as hateful toward Sarah Palin. I still believe that she doesn't really know when to shut up about expressing her personal feelings about social issues, but this clip at least lets me know that she doesn't think that people should listen to actors about how to live their lives. I'm hoping that's what she's saying.

I don't go out of my way to find stories or clips about actors (or other Celebritards) that are pushing their views on their fans and the public in general, so when I see something, I look at it as a tip of the iceberg kind of thing. That's why I react strongly when I see anything. I know that there are a lot more things out there that I'm not seeing.

I take this clip as a gesture of good will from Tina Fey, so I think I'm ready to give her another shot.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Only What You Want To Hear?

So Chuck Norris got some attention lately. He wrote this article for Townhall.com entitled "If Democracy Doesn't Work, Try Anarchy" and it talks about the recent passage of Proposition 8 (Ban of Same-Sex Marriage) in California.

So here is a Celebrity telling us (you) what to think, so I'm going to rip him apart... well, kind of.

I know I'm going to be called a hypocrite, and you might be right, but as I see it, this is different.
Chuck is a regular contributor to Townhall.com. Take a look at all of the articles he has written. As I defended Michael Moore and Al Franken for speaking out because that is what they do. I am also defending Chuck.
He is not preaching to you about this as you watch him act, or while he is on a talk show as he promotes his latest film. Although his celebrity does set him apart and it does garner him extra attention than a "regular" person writing the same article would get.
I admit that there is a little bit of a grey area here, but I am having no problem with the distinction.

There are a few people that fall into this category besides Chuck (Al and Michael I've already mentioned). Ted Nugent is one. He writes books and goes out and talk a lot about the American he wants to see. Yes, he sometimes crosses the line (OK, many times crosses the line) by preaching at his concerts. In those cases, Ted should "Shut Up and Sing".

Of course, there are plenty of people that now think that Chuck should just shut up. They are all on the side of the argument opposite from Chuck. Where are they when Tina Fey is spouting her hatred of Sarah Palin, or when David Letterman is telling us what a terrible President John McCain would be (would have been). Those people are the real hypocrites. If you take it from the Celebs on your side, you have to take it from the others too.

Monday, November 17, 2008

How Fragile Is The Earth?

This is going to be a quick post. I was really excited when I heard they were going to re-make "The Day The Earth Stood Still". The classic SciFi movie from the 1950's where an alien comes to Earth to warn us that if we don't change our waring ways, he will be forced to destroy us in order to save the Universe from our aggression.



I just realized that the re-make has a slightly augmented story. In the same vein as "The Day After Tomorrow" this movie appears to preach to us that if we don't "Go Green", the aliens are going to destroy us to save the Earth (from us).

How much are we going to get this shoved down our throats? The people who are shoveling this crap are brainwashing us to believe that the Earth is so fragile that the actions of Man are going to destroy it.

Sister, even if we set off every one of our nuclear bombs, the Earth is still going to be here. It would take a small amount of time (geologically speaking) for the Earth to recover, even from the most we could do to it.

How arrogant of people to think so much of Man to think that this planet even notices we are here. I hope the world comes to its collective senses before my dying days, but I fear it will get much worse before then.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Now THIS Is How Stars Are Suppose To Act!

Bravo Jennifer Aniston!
She's not out there telling us what to think about "Same-Sex" Marriage.
She's not out there telling us what we should think about Sarah Palin, or preaching to us about "The Chosen One" (notice I didn't have to say His name, yet you know who I'm talking about).
She's out there starting a cat fight with Angelina Jolie!

In this article from the Chicago Tribune (.com) we read how Jen is just itching to scratch some eyes out. Yeah baby! That's what celebs are suppose to be talking to reporters about!
Stop telling me to drive a Hybrid or to vote for a law to force farmers to give their chickens more elbow room (True law... just passed in California.). I wanna know what a low life Angelina is!

Jenny just went up about 5 notches on my opinion pole. She may not be perfect. I mean she did throw her 6 seconds in on this "Don't Vote" thing (look at the 0:39, 2:54 and 3:50 marks), but this is a great example to set for her TV/movie star pals. I just hope it catches on.
Ya know what? Angelina didn't do the "Don't Vote" ad... neither did Brad... hmm. They spend their time living a good example to others rather than telling everyone how they should live. 
**A really quick search only uncovered Brad donating money to the fight against the CA law to ban Same-Sex Marriage.

Maybe if Jen was more like Angie, Brad would have... oh, well. Never mind.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Just When I Thought It Was Safe.

I had expected to take a small break after the election. I figured all of the stars would be tuckered out after helping the "main steam" media get BHO elected, but I failed to think about one thing.
Since the causes of the celebrity elitists did so well in the election, they are now emboldened and free to focus their attention on the one thing they didn't get their way on. California's Proposition 8 - Ban On Same Sex Marriage.

As usual, something I saw online spurred me to write this column. This time it was this.

My position and the purpose of this Blog is that I simply don't want to hear from any of these celebrities on ANYTHING except what I pay them for (act, sing, produce, etc.).
Ya know people (talking to the elitist celebrities here), just because we like the way you carry a tune, or the way you can act like you are concerned or scared on screen, DOESN'T mean that we care, AT ALL, what you think about anything. Except maybe what it was like to be married to Madonna, or if you really were an "A" hole on the set of the Star Trek movie you were in.

Now some of you may be thinking, "But Ken, some of these people are personally affected by this, shouldn't they be able to express their position?"
You may be surprised to find that I agree with that. EXCEPT!
I don't think they have the right to use their position in society to grand stand. This is why I boycott anyone who uses their talents and/or celebrity to try to convince their fans to support their point of view. Unless their "act" is political commentator (of any kind) I don't care what they think.
Unfortunately, they lose their right to speak up on topics that personally concern them when they waste their influence by speaking up on EVERYTHING, from CFCs in the air to offshore drilling to the educational value of watching Spongebob Squarepants.
I think, if they aren't doing what I pay them for, then they aren't going to be supported by me.

Here is a list of the "stars" that were mentioned in the linked article above:
Wanda Sykes, Rose McGowen, Lance Bass, Ellen DeGeneres, Rosie O'Donnell, Samantha Ronson, Melissa Etheridge, James Cromwell, Patricia Clarkson, Anjelica Huston, Sean Penn, Madonna and Christina Aguilera.
Granted, not all of these people are ranting in their acts or on their shows about this stuff (most are) and they are only attending demonstrations, but they are lending their celebrity to this cause by being at the demonstrations and that is an abuse I do not support.

I'm hoping to get my faithful readers to take up this cause with me. I would love to see a movement form where a noticeable amount of people start boycotting these "celebritards" when they act this way.
It almost worked with the Dixie Chicks. Many years ago they were boycotted for a short period of time because of comments they made about President Bush. The boycott and backlash started to work, they even issued an apology, but when the pressure let up and they saw that there were no lasting repercussions for their actions, they came back even worse than before.

The problem is, most Americans are too busy just living their lives to worry about what these people are saying. So when it comes time to turn on the radio or the TV, or when they want to see a concert or a movie, they don't check to see if the people they are paying their hard earned money to are raving lunatics. Actually, that is probably the more healthy way to live your life... but this is MY soapbox, so step off... :-)

I, for one, am keeping track of these celebrities, and I do not and will not support ANYTHING they work in, on, or for, if they insist on getting in my face. One reason for starting this Blog was to help myself keep track of these nutty people, 'cause there are lots of 'em out there.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Go Ahead And Move Already.

Celebrities are funny. I just read an artice from the Sydney Morning Herald entitled "Defeat fears put Hollywood on edge". I also found this blip in The New York Post that echos some of the same sentiment.

In the SMH article it describes the various Hollywood elitists that are worrying themselves sick (literally) about the possibility that BHO might not win the election. Both articles talk about, and it would not be a Presidential election without, someone threatening to move out of the U.S. if their choice for President didn't win.
This time it is Susan Sarandon. The articles goes on to tell about how Barbra Streisand, Alec Baldwin, Eddie Vedder and Robert Redford have all promised us such things in the past, only to disappoint us by not fulfilling the threat when their demands were not met.

My question to those that issue such threats is, why do you think we care about where you choose to live? I would much rather you promise/threaten to never entertain us again,(not to say any of the aforementioned have ever entertained me in the past... well maybe Alec Baldwin) now THAT would be a reason to NOT vote for The Chosen One.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Arggg.

OK, it appears that Hollywood thinks you and I have the intelligence of rocks.
They think that at the end of October, with less than a week before the Presidential election that either we don't know there is an election or we don't care, AND that because THEY are telling us about it, we are now going to care enough to go out and vote.



I personally believe if you haven't noticed that there is an election coming, then you are avoiding it on purpose. Because that's the ONLY way you would be able to avoid what's been going on.

It's all very cute. First they want you to think they are trying to tell you NOT to vote, and we get to see all of the stars being very confused (not hard, just don't give them cue cards).
Next, behind the lead of Harrison Ford, we see that they don't really believe that at all (some need convincing it seems), they tell us the 2000 election was decided by 537 people (I thought Bush was "selected not elected" in 2000. Hmmm...) so one vote does count (apparently only if you live in Florida, I doubt it will be that close in California).
Then, we get to hear from everyday people (probably just less known actors) tell us why they are going to vote. It is all very touching and well put together. It better be since it is a Spielberg Production.

I hire these people to act, or sing, or write, or Produce for me when I purchase the fruits of their labor. I don't care what the girl at the check out stand thinks about how or if I vote. I don't want to listen to my mechanic go on about how one vote counts. I don't want my dentist to start preaching to me about how I need to go and vote because he thinks I should. This is the same thing. I don't care that Indiana Jones appears genuine in his beliefs (he is an actor, if he can't pull that off he needs to get another job).

I don't know how long this video has been out. But if you are just figuring out there is an election, I DON'T WANT YOU TO VOTE. Because you don't care enough about the process to make an educated decision about anything that is going to be on your ballot. If you haven't been thinking about it for at least a month now, then just stay at home on election day and watch the Daily Show to see who won.

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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Putting My Blog Where My Mouth Is

Thanks to Buzzfeed.com I found an ad made by Conservative celebrities.



Sure its a bunch of "B" (or lower) stars. The most famous person in it, depending on how old you are, is either John Ratzenberger (from Cheers and a few Pixar movies), or Pat Boone. And sure the ad is only for Minnesota, where they are trying to keep Al Franken from being elected.

But really, what are they trying to accomplish with this ad? Maybe if Victoria Jackson was as hot has she was when she was on SNL, they could have caught some good attention with the ad. As it is, I thought it just showed how little star power the Republicans really have.

Please. Stick to whatever you've been doing with your lives before the NRSC came to you with the lame idea of making this video. In this case, it would have been better for your careers.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Ron Howard. Please Stay Behind The Camera

Ya know this is a hard one. I am a big fan of Ron Howard. I really liked him in Happy Days but I'm glad he stopped acting and moved behind the camera. I've loved a lot of what he's done as a director and producer. Arrested Development is classic Television and many of his movies are masterpieces.
So when I saw this video,I was torn.

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Forgive me if this video does not work for you here. I blame Funny Or Die. You can find the video on their site at:
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cc65ed650d

I loved seeing the old characters again. Henry Winkler was great and didn't look all that different from "The Fonz" I remember, and personally, I thought Andy had already died, so to see him was a big surprise to me.

Now since Ron made the effort to let everyone know that just like him, Henry and Andy were doing this because they wanted to tell everyone how to vote, (instead of just helping out an old friend) I have to put them on my list too. Fortunately I'm not a big Matlock fan, and since Henry is pretty much only in Ron Howard projects, this is not going to be a big issue.

OK Ron, your whole premise seems to be that we need change and that we are fools if we don't think that Barak Obama is the only way to get that change. So you made this video because you think the people that aren't voting for Obama are stupid and this video will show them how silly they are and get them to change their minds.

My issue is not necessarily with the message you want to convey. I really think if I see a crazy Conservative actor, singer, filmmaker, etc. opening their yap to tell me what I should be doing I'll be calling them out as well. So if you see someone like that, send me a note.
I do take exception with your premises. Like your opinion that we need change in the first place. This is not a unarguable fact. There is no "consensus of scientists" who agree to this like man-made global warming. There are plenty of people that think that we, as a country, are not all that far off course (more than you would believe if you would get off your small little isolated planet). Some think we are doing pretty good in a "Grand Scheme" way of looking at things. Others think that the current ideas are correct, but the execution of the ideas needs some adjustments.
To think that we should just chuck the whole system and start making wholesale changes for the sake of change, and that this is the ONLY choice a smart person would make, is more than a little arrogant.

My ultimate point is, there are plenty of ways for people to figure out what they believe and who they are going to vote for. I don't even want to think that someone is voting for anyone based on a cute little video with characters in it from decades old TV shows. Those type of people should be banned from voting. Now that would be a change I could live with.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Hayden Panettiere is no Hero.

So you may have guessed from the title, my next target is Hayden Panettiere. The cheerleader, Claire, from Heroes. She has decided that she is popular enough to start telling us how she expects us to live our lives. She doesn't tell us information then ask us to make up our own mind. Instead she comes up with this cute little video.


Wow. That's great. Now this little tart is getting all smart ass with us. She has other videos posted. Apparently she is trying to be another Britney or Hannah Montana. Ya know Hayden dear, if you want to act or sing, that's great. Just shut the "F" up about how I should live my life.

The people I list in this blog, are going on my list. This is a personal list that I am using to tell me what TV, Music, Movies, etc to avoid. This one is hard because I really like Heroes.
So, as long as we only are dealing with this one video, I'm going to offset her being an AssTart with the fact that one of my favorite people is currently in Heroes as one of the Villains this season. David Lawrence is currently playing Eric Doyle in the show, and he is great. Both in acting and in the way he lives his life.
Now if Ms Panettiere decides to strut her stuff again, I'll have to revisit whether I will be boycotting Heroes until they decide to finally kill off her whiny character. For now, I'm safe.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

For Starters

For the longest time it has been getting to me.
The fact that a person with any kind of celebrity, be it an actor, singer, comedian or anything that allows them a way to express what they think to the masses, feels it is their duty to tell me what they think about all things political.

There are a lot of famous people who know better. I'm sure there are a lot of (or at least a few) people I pay good money to (for them to entertain me) who would just piss me off if I knew that they think the Constitution of the U.S. should be used as toilet paper. The difference between them and say, Ben Affleck or Tina Fey is they know better then to piss where they eat.

Then there are the people like Al Frankin or Michael Moore who's job (for lack of a better word) it is to tell us what they think. They, at least, are not pulling the bait and switch by making a very funny comedy show (like Family Guy) but slipping in jabs here and there (all in the name of comedy) to tell us that the way we think is crap and we need to think like them.

So I wanted to start a blog. I mean everyone has a blog. It's kind of like an open letter to the world. This one is going to be mainly my own personal list of people and organizations that are, in my opinion, stepping out of bounds.

I'm going to start with Tina Fey.
I love her work. She is very talented. I just wish she would stop telling me how much she disdains Sarah Palin. She thinks that since Governor Palin doesn't talk like her or any of her friends, that it is funny. To some degree she's right. It is a little humorous. I mean even I have made fun of the way people from other parts of the country/world talk, just as I have been poked fun of for the way I talk. When I was in the Navy, I was surprised to find out that I have an accent. I never thought of it before, but I guess I do.
The first time I saw Ms. Fey's impersonation of Gov. Palin, I loved it. It was spot on and funny. However, Tina made the mistake of being interviewed about what she thinks. So now when I see her do Gov. Palin, all I see is an elitist making fun of a country bumpkin.

To keep things short, I'm going to stop this post here. I just want to add some other names of people that I am going to boycott. I may get to specifics in the future, but for now here are just some names.

Tina Fey
Ben Affleck
Seth McFarland
Charlie Sheen (his dad too but I don't think he does anything anymore)