August 27th.

It's been a while. Since I last wrote, I got myself a fully-functional keyboard (klutz that I am, I spilled soup over my laptop's keyboard in January) and writing is now easier than ever! Anyway, the third season of Laguna Beach is now underway. What do you guys think?

I enjoy watching it just because it's so drama-ridden, but the storylines and even dialogue are hauntingly familiar. It's like listening to a Lauren and Lo dialogue come out of Kyndra and Cami's mouths. I don't think I'll be investing in the Season Three DVD set when it comes out.

Other than that, my last day of work was a week and a half ago and I got to stand in on a Jesse McCartney TEENick shoot and interview him. He's pretty much exactly how I'd expected him to be: smart, witty, funny and very real.

I've been noticing that all these High School Musical actors have been getting record deals. I watched High School Musical when it first came out and frankly, I wasn't all that impressed. Maybe it's because I'm only ... oh about seven years out of the target age group, but still. I saw Ashley Tisdale's video for "Kiss The Girl" was repulsed. She's a twenty-one year old acting like she's fifteen, and her voice is kind of annoying. Yesterday I heard Vanessa Hudgens' song for the first time, and it is a hell of a lot more tolerable. She may have one of the best voices among the girls Disney has cranked out, though that's really not saying much. And on another note, Hayden Panettiere's album is coming out soon?

It seems like the second coming of the teen pop craze. Fasten your seatbelts?

August 14th.

A quick summary of new things:

I saw Half Nelson, the newest Ryan Gosling film, when it opened on Friday here in the city. It was fantastic -- the perfect balance of cynicism and sweetness. I'm used to seeing Gosling in dark films, in disturbingly heavy roles. And then there was the unusual role he took on in The Notebook. Well in Half Nelson, his character Dan is immature, vulnerable, charming and humorous. This is the funniest role I've seen him in since his days on Mickey Mouse Club. I have nothing but praises to sing about this film. I highly recommend it. He will single-handedly bring back the bandage-to-lip trend.

I also got my hands on Paris Hilton's upcoming album Paris. I hate to admit it (I really, really do), but the critics were right. It's a genuinely good album. It's catchy, fun, sexy, cute. What it isn't, however, is a showcase of Paris' vocal abilities. (Probably because they are lacking.) I'm not telling you to go and buy it, but if you're remotely curious, have yourself a listen.

August 8th.

I forgot to mention my absolute disapproval and disappointment in Lauren's decision in The Hills' season (and likely series, from the dullness of the show) finale in my last entry. Paris or Jason, Jason or Paris? Call me the career girl with a New York state of mind, but ... hello!??? And from the looks of it, Jason could've probably afforded to have moved with her to Paris for the summer! Double-yoo-tee-eff, man. Well, I guess we won't know for sure whether Lauren chose Paris or Jason, because MTV has a pretty amazing editing team. But if it actually turned out the way it was portrayed, I have lost all respect for Ms. Conrad.

But anyway, the big news today (according to Us Weekly) is that Jason and Lauren have called it quits. She confirmed this, saying, “Yes it is true, Jason and I are no longer together, but out of respect for his privacy I am not going to discuss the details of the breakup." Friends of the former couple say that it was Lauren who did the breaking up and it was because she sick and tired of his "going out to clubs, flirting with girls, staying out late ..." Knew she should've chosen Paris!


[Photo courtesy of ONTD]
... and I have had about enough of Lindsay Lohan and her big mouth. I can tolerate her being disarmingly honest, but she's gone past honest. I've never liked her, but she ... bugs me now. Here are some disconcerting exerpts from her interview with ELLE magazine:
"Well, [I] say things that aren't true a lot, just because it's fun. Yeah, if I was dating one person [I'd] probably tell them I was dating someone else and then I'd call my friend and be like, 'Do you mind if I say that we're dating?' I figure I'll f--- with them, because they f--- with me.'"
(That's the way to go about things, fer sher!)

"I mean, if the sex is bad, the relationship's not going anywhere. But I think I've had enough experience with dating one guy for a long time. The only one was Wilmer and apparently Jared, but Jared was so paranoid. He'd always be like, 'Don't come over if you're going to bring 15 f---ing paparazzi!' ... It's different if it's a guy who's already in the public eye. But if it's, like, a guy who's just starting out in a band, or a model ... they might get a big head. You have to think about those things."
(And how 'bout you getting a big head? Oh, your life is so hard, boo hoo.)

On girls who make it:
"Now you just have to be on a reality show. I'm an actress who appreciates movies like To Catch a Thief, Kitten With a Whip, and Niagara. And then there's these other girls -- and I'm happy for them -- who basically go to the clubs, sit in a booth near me or Kirsten Dunst, do a few rebellious things, and they get put on the covers of magazines. They're getting their own shows, and now they're doing movies. What the f---? I've had to work since I was four years old!"
(What's that about big heads again?)

On her alleged cocaine use:
"And I'm not. There you have it. It's not true. I remember my dad would always look me in the eyes and be able to tell that I was lying if I looked away for a second. A security guard taught me that too -- and he works in the CIA! So look me in the eyes. I'm not looking away. I'll talk to you for the rest of the interview like this if you want. aside from me having to eat my food [the interviewer later reveals that she consumes an artichoke and two pinot grigios]. It's not true! My mother would take me out of the business."
"I've been trying to go to Iraq with Hillary Clinton for so long. Hillary was trying to work it out, but it seemed too dangerous. I wanted to do what Marilyn Monroe did, when she went and just set up a stage and did a concert for the troops all by herself. It's so amazing seeing that one woman just going somewhere, this beautiful sex kitten, who's basically a pinup, which is what I've always aspired to be. So I tried to go there. I'm not afraid of going. My security guard is going to take me to a gun range when I get back to L.A., and I'm going to start taking shooting lessons. He says if I'm going to go there I should really know how to shoot. Yeah, I have a dark side. I go to my dark side. I watched all those videos on Charles Manson for a while."
(Um, there's so much wrong with what she's said that I don't even know where to start. I think I'll just leave it at saying that I hope she's kidding about the Charles Manson videos. Really hardcore, Linds.)

With any luck, her life will be an exact replica of Marilyn's.

August 3rd.

Hello August 2006! So the nation's been having some sort of meltdown, likely due to global warming and the like. It was 104* yesterday here in the Big Apple, and not much better today. I have a theory about NYC and why it gets so disgusting during the summer. It's called tourists and the displacement of air.

Speaking of tourists, I encountered my favorite one yet today. A British lady stopped in the middle of the street (46th and Broadway) and asked, "Where's Times Square?" And all the while, one of the five crazy screens (at least four of which should have been turned off to conserve energy) flashed, "The ball drops here!!!" while showing a crazy animation of the New Years Eve ball. "Times Square 2006."

Have you guys heard about this new internet celebrity? Her name is Bree ... and that's pretty much all we know about her. The New York Times even write a little piece about her and her video blog on YouTube. You can check it out here. I find her highly entertaining. Sort of a real-life Clarissa Explains It All.

Anyway, I am so very sick of hearing about Mel Gibson. I don't care that people have cell phone videos of him just minutes before he was arrested. I don't want to hear the stories of the girls who were photographed with him just minutes before he was arrested. I don't care that he was arrested for DUI. If I were to care about Mel Gibson in the slightest (which I still don't), it'd be that he made such slanderous statements against the Jewish. Why are ET and The Insider and their counterparts still giving Mel eight minutes every night?

I'm also sick of hearing about Christie Brinkley and her husband's affair with a nineteen-year-old. And how that nineteen-year-old is using it all in her favor.

I am interested, however, in hearing more about the stern letter Lindsay Lohan received from the production company behind her current project, Georgia Rule. And her continual partying. (Speaking of Lindsay, have you all seen lil sis Aliana in the fall JcPenney commercial? I've been meaning to point that out for ages, but my internet has been down for the past two-plus weeks.) I personally hope that she keeps calling in sick so she'll get fired and Hollywood will boycott her like the fashion industry boycotted her pal Kate Moss after the cocaine scandal last fall.

So maybe I'm a little sadistic.