Adam Goldstein, known more commonly as DJ Am, was apparently found dead in an apartment in New York City.
Follow the developing story on Google News.
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | 
August 28, 2009 5:08 pm | 
Comments (0)
Today was the last airing of Reading Rainbow, the 26-year veteran of the PBS lineup and the show that introduced LeVar Burton to many of us. The show was not renewed because PBS couldn’t secure the funding necessary to keep it going.
Read more about the cancellation here and about the hopes for an online show here. To stay up to date on what LeVar Burton is planning, follow him on Twitter or just search for the #ReadingRainbow hashtag.
Tags: pbs, reading rainbow
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | 4:44 pm | Comments (4)
I was in the mood for a little angry music last night while I was driving home from the old day job, so I pulled up my favorite song by The Gits, “Spear and Magic Helmet.” In the song, Mia Zapata sings about getting revenge on a man who raped a friend. (Here’s a link to the lyrics and a link to Evil Stig’s rendition of the song.)
Sexual abuse was a common theme in women’s punk music at the time, so this song wasn’t unusual, except that less than two years after the single was released, Mia Zapata was raped and left to die on the streets of Seattle. The punk community banded together to keep the investigation into her murder alive as long as they could. Many Seattle Bands released benefit albums and played shows to raise money for the cause. One of the highest profile benefits was Evil Stig (Gits Live backwards), made up of the surviving members of The Gits and Joan Jett. They released an album of Gits songs and toured to raise money to fund the investigation.
Zapata was murdered in 1993, but they didn’t find the murderer until 2002. A DNA sample taken from a man in Florida matched a saliva sample taken from Zapata’s skin.
I remember listening to an interview with the policemen who tracked the man down. They had been working the cold case files, looking for the killer for quite a while. They were so excited when they found the DNA match. One of the policemen looked at his luggage in the airport, and noticed that the tag said MIA, the abbreviation for the Miami airport. He got a feeling that Zapata was telling him they were on the right track. (Listen to the full story here.)
Zapata’s friends formed an organization called Home Alive, which provides self-defense education and promotes safety for all people, regardless of sex or race.
I wish I could say that I had been a fan of Zapata’s before her death, but it wasnt until 7 Year Bitch released Viva Zapata and a friend clued me in to Evil Stig that I heard of her. I would love to see more people exposed to Zapata’s infectious enthusiasm and The Gits’ great music.
I hope that The Runaways movie, starring Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett, will be successful and raise awareness of female punk musicians. If it is a money-maker, other filmmakers will try to replicate that success and I hope come across the story of this amazing vocalist and compelling stage presence.
Tags: joan jett, kristen stewart, mia zapata, movies, the gits
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | August 27, 2009 6:30 am | Comments (0)
I have been an avid reader of Amy Amatangelo’s TV Gal column for a few years now.
Originally, her column was published on Mondays. Later, it was broken into three installments that were published on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. A few weeks ago, her column was switched to Mondays and Fridays only. I miss my Wednesday installment.
Find TV Gal here.
Tags: television
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | August 26, 2009 10:36 pm | Comments (0)
Yet again, the networks, in their bizarre desire to dominate the lucrative Thursday night ad slots, have stacked all of their highest rated shows there.
In the 8:00 hour, I will have to choose to between Community, Flash Forward, and the Vampire Diaries. Yes, I have a DVR, but not in my living room, where I actually watch most of my TV. Vampire Diaries premieres first, so I’ll give that one a shot. Then, I’ll make my decisions about Flash Forward and Community. I really like Joel McHale, so I will definitely be recording Community for later viewing. Flash Forward looks intriguing, but I’ll have to see if before I know if it’s must-see TV. Survivor is not a factor.
The 9:00 hour is much easier for me. Supernatural live. The Office when SPN is a repeat. No worries.
And 10:00 is not an issue. I’ll be getting the dogs and then myself ready for bed.
How about you? Read the full story in Variety, then let me know what your Thursday nights look like.
Tags: community, counter programming, flash forward, supernatural, television, the office, vampire diaries
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | August 25, 2009 9:00 am | Comments (1)
But not a physical one (at least not that I know of).
McAfee has found that Jessica Biel is the celebrity search most likely to contain spyware or viruses. Last year, Brad Pitt was #1. I wonder if he is sad to have been knocked completely out of the top 5.
Read more about it at E! Online.
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | 5:00 am | Comments (0)
I guess I could talk about Eddie Cibrian and LeAnn Rimes’ date on Saturday, but I find it bizarre and boring at the same time. Or I could talk about Ryan Alexander Jenkins, but that story is gross and upsetting. So, I’m gonna follow the trend and talk about how much I loved last night’s episode of True Blood.
I hated Jason last season. He annoyed me with his ridiculous sex addict ways and his stupid abuse of V. And his gullible nature didn’t serve him well at the beginning of this season, either, as he was drawn into the Fellowship of the Sun. But he has made up for it all in these past couple episodes. Last night, he stole the show with his Ash-esque chainsaw wielding and gas mask god.
I loved Bill trying to bite Maryann and getting sick. I loved Lafayette and his dismissal of the poorly planned intervention. I loved Sookie’s Eric dream–this one fooled me at first. I loved the scene at the queen’s lair.
Really, the only thing I didn’t like about the episode was seeing the closing credits start at 6:46 rather than the usual 6:51-6:56.
What about you? What worked? What didn’t work? If you’re not a True Blood viewer, what did you watch last night?
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | August 24, 2009 9:00 am | Comments (0)
When Michael Jackson died, the news that shocked me most was the size of his debt: more than $400 million. His debt hadn’t been a secret, of course, but the size of it was astonishing.
News of celebrity debts, bankruptcies, and tax auctions has always left me with a feeling of moral superiority and disdain. I mean really, when someone makes more in a day than I make in a year, how can I feel sympathy when they can’t manage their money?
But I started to wonder why financial problems run so rampant among celebrities. I spoke with a few financial advisers who have experience with high-profile and high-wealth clients, and they all agreed that celebrity money mistakes can usually be traced back to two things: lack of knowledge about money and reliance on the wrong people.
Lack of Knowledge
Because money comes at newly discovered actors, singers, and athletes so fast, said career coach Deb Robins, “they overspend.” It’s “what I call the ‘kid in the candy store’ syndrome,” she continued. “The world has suddenly become their oyster, and they’re going for it.” Before she began coaching, Robins was a Hollywood producer, so she has seen her share of rags to riches Hollywood stories that ended with stars going broke.
Ryan Pinney, of Pinney Insurance Center, has an example of this overspending. One of his clients, a professional athlete, just signed an $8 million, four-year contract. He immediately went out and “purchase a home for his family (mother and siblings), a home for himself, and a Ferrari. Total cost of all purchases was over $4 million. The problem was that his contract was only guaranteed for 4 years at just over 2 million per year. In less than 3 months he has already spent half of what he is expected to make over the next 4 years. That assumes that he plays well, isn’t cut, or hurt. If he continues to spend at this rate, he will quickly outpace his earnings.”
This athlete exhibits an emotional response to the idea of having a lot of money rather than an understanding of what his cash flow will actually be. It feels good to drive that Ferrari off the lot and to be able to provide a nice home for the family that stuck by you and scrimped and saved so you could get to the point where you could pay them back. But, what do you do if you are out of a job for any reason?
Financial adviser Samuel N. Asare, of the Laser Financial Group, has counseled people from all walks of life, and he believes that the key is to have a plan. Many times, people “think that purchasing so many homes, for instance, is good, … without a clear plan of how those extra homes are going to sustain themselves over the years.” If you focus only on acquiring things, Asare continued, you “end up with a bunch of stuff that only creates a huge fixed cost. But, also with fixed cost comes on-going variable costs. That is what gets most people in trouble.”
The Wrong People
Education could solve this problem of perception. When asked if the sports leagues or actors’ unions could provide education to their members, Pinney responded that they “already offer tips, tools, and access to financial planners in an attempt to help out. The problem is that they can’t mandate their use nor do they have or want oversight of the process due to liability concerns.” The solution for the newly rich, he continued, “is to find a qualified financial professional that specializes in high-net worth clients. They need to have documented experience and should have certifications and affiliations that demonstrate they expertise and professionalism.”
Unfortunately, Pinney said, many celebrities “come from humble if not poor backgrounds.” And they choose to have family members and friends represent many of the financial needs, even though their family and friends don’t have specialized training in money matters and likely come from the same less affluent backgrounds.
Even if friends and family don’t mismanage funds or give bad financial advice, there is the risk that they, too, will steal from their unwitting relatives. Dane Cook is the most recent example of this. Cook’s half-brother and his wife are accused of stealing $11 million from the comedian.
What Can We Learn?
Asare said the problem is not the amount of money that people have, but their perception of money. “I teach that everyone is a container,” he said. “Flawed perception puts holes in that container. If you fill a container that has holes at the bottom with water, it runs out. Even with LOTS of water, it still drains out, although it may take a little longer.”
Celebrities need to take responsibility for managing their money, get the right personnel working for them, and use reason when making decisions instead of emotion. They need to remember that income changes, and they need to plan for the future not just spend today.
And we normal people could follow this same advice and be doing a lot better for ourselves, too.
Tags: bankruptcy, celebrity, money
sticky | Jennifer Roland | August 21, 2009 6:00 am | Comments (4)
Twitter can be the fastest way to find out the latest pop culture news. Here are a few of the newsmakers to follow.
Happy tweeting!
Tags: twitter
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | August 20, 2009 2:00 pm | Comments (0)
There are those of us out there who just can’t get over Brad Pitt leaving Jennifer Aniston for Angelina Jolie. We pull for Jen every time she dates a new man, and we feel heartbreak when relationship after relationship doesn’t work out.
Now, when Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey split, most people were on Nick’s side. Nick did a great job of playing the abused party in that separation, and that image stuck. Jessica was the bad guy, and we felt no sympathy for her.
That all changed the day before Jessica’s birthday party when the news came out that she had been unceremoniously dumped by Tony Romo. Public outcry turned to Jessica’s favor. (I mean, really, the day before her big birthday party?) Speculation ran rampant that maybe Jessica and Nick would get back together. (Nick’s brother Drew says that’s not happening.)
Why do we care so much? Why do we feel the need to take sides? And why can’t we just let Jen and Jess conduct their love lives at their own speed and in their own manner?
Tags: brad pitt, divorce, drew lachey, jennifer aniston, jessica simpson, nick lachey
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | August 19, 2009 1:00 pm | Comments (0)
Subscribe in a reader
From the San Francisco Chronicle: FCC needs to get tough on network neutrality http://bit.ly/9IhbpP - posted on 12/08/2010 08:48:36Just watched The Box. Nonsensical is putting it mildly. - posted on 11/08/2010 21:11:13Ugh. Britney Spears will appear on @GLEEonFOX: http://bit.ly/9YYakM - posted on 10/08/2010 13:52:21
SubmitAsite Search Engine submission - FREE Submission to the top Search Engines and Directories
Like