The Failure of Arnold Schwarzenegger

Schwarzenegger presented himself to the public as a can-do action figure who would knock heads in Sacramento and bring sanity to a state that had gone off the tracks during Gray Davis' five years. But on the budget, Schwarzenegger, like Davis before, bet wrong that the economic good times would last and overextended the state's spending programs. For all the hoopla surrounding Schwarzenegger's election in 2003, the Terminator has been a timid governor, much like the man he replaced. Neither the Hollywood superstar nor the career politician had the combination of insight, political skill and grit to deal with the mounting fiscal crisis.
TIME magazine article HERE
more HERE

R.I.P.: Joe Bowman

Joe Bowman, a nationally known Texas sharpshooter who could blast an aspirin to powder at 30 paces and split a playing card edgewise at 20, has died. He was 84.

Bowman shared his marksmanship skills with Hollywood stars and law enforcement officers. He was also a gifted magician and trick roper, performing at rodeos and gun shows.
obit HERE
IMDB HERE
NPR podcast HERE
official website HERE

Where is the Body?

Michael Jackson's body has been stashed in Motown founder Berry Gordy's crypt.
His remains were brought back to the white marble, above-ground crypt the Motown record-label founder bought for his family in the Court of Remembrance section of Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills.
Jackson's body is still missing his brain, which coroners are temporarily keeping for testing.
Aside from Jackson, the simple mausoleum is empty and marked only with a distinctive swooping letter "G."
For the time being, Jackson lies with a who's who of Hollywood heavyweights. Next door is the final resting place of American sweetheart actress Sandra Dee, who died in 2005. And nearby are ornate crypts of Bette Davis and flamboyant pianist Liberace.
Gordy -- who discovered the Jackson 5 -- offered the family use of the crypt until they sort out how to make the most money out of Micheal going forward.
On one side are Jackson's brother Jermaine and father, Joseph, who are insistent the Gloved One be buried at Neverland Ranch so the family can profit off a proposed Graceland-style museum there -- a process that could take years. The other side? ...Well, that would be Tito and LaToya...eeex-actly...
more HERE

Related:
Berry Gordy denies Michael Jackson's body is stashed in his family crypt

'Asteroids'...the Movie?

Apparently, there was some kind of insane Hollywood bidding war to get the rights to make a movie based on the classic Asteroids videogame. You remember, the one barely rendered in straight lines that had the player trying to survive an onslaught by stellar debris? For what it was, Asteroids could be a tense game -- but a movie?
more HERE

Salute to Jackson - Hollywood and Beyond

click the pic

Related:

Michael Jackson's death: Fans gather at wrong Hollywood star

Brüno delays Hollywood Walk of Fame tribute to Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson tributes appear all over U.S.
Scene Featuring LaToya Jackson Cut From Brüno

Mistresses of Hollywood

Billy Crudup reportedly ended his seven-year relationship with Mary-Louise Parker to be with presumed good-girl, Claire Danes while Parker was seven months pregnant with their child.
more HERE

Obama at Hollywood Fundraiser

A Star is Porn

Excerpt: Review: 'The Girlfriend Experience' -- Mick LaSalle
The smartest thing director Steven Soderbergh did in the making of "The Girlfriend Experience" was to cast Sasha Grey. For the role of a high-priced call girl, he went out and found a porn star, and the difference between Grey's essence - that porn star essence - and the milder essence he might have found in a pretty Hollywood starlet is the source of the movie's impact.
Grey has the look. She is a young woman, in her early 20s, but the porn star look is already coming into focus on her face. It's a hard look, but with a strange element of stupefaction. It's a look that can imitate innocence, until you look in the eyes. They're the eyes of someone who has figured out it's all a joke, but is beginning to wonder if she's the butt of it. It's the face of someone whose youthful exuberance seems about two or three shocks away from devolving into empty high spirits or bitter cynicism.
more HERE

Megan Fox is Not Wonder Woman

Superman. Batman. Spiderman. They have all had their day of glory on the silver screen. Meanwhile, the woman of most men's dreams has been stuck in Hollywood "Development Hell".
For Wonder Woman to be universally successful she would have to appeal to younger audiences. And with that, Megan Fox as Wonder Woman began.
See how Megan Fox was created as Wonder Woman HERE

H2Obama

Whitley Market on the corner of Highland and Franklin in Hollywood, California has seemingly jumped on the 'put-Obama's-face-on-anything-and-it-will-sell' band wagon . So, if you visit, look beyond the over-priced breath mints and there across from the Marilyn Monroe wine and the Elvis lighters you will discover Obama Water.
more HERE

The Dean Martin Show

Johnny Grant Dies

Johnny Grant, who visited Hollywood in 1943 as a star-struck serviceman and returned to carve out a niche first as a radio and television personality and then as its honorary mayor and foremost booster, died Wednesday at the age of 84.
more HERE