Pop Tart Melt-Down!
Sometimes I like to pretend I stay above the fray but honestly I’m just like everyone else – I can’t keep my eyes off a train wreck - and both Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan have been heaping on extra helpings of guilty pleasure.
The wonderfully trashy Ms. Spears has decided it would be a good idea to fire her entire management and handle her own business affairs. Days after the management massacre she was seen leaving a restaurant followed by a couple of somewhat seedy looking business-men grinning from ear to ear and holding piles of signed documents. One can only speculate as to what genius financial dealings the “Toxic” superstar has signed onto. After the business lunch Britney and a friend decided it would be a fun time to strip down to their panties and bras – with the paparazzi in tow – and take an afternoon dip in the chilly Pacific Ocean on Malibu Bay. Once again Britney is blazing new trails of professionalism.
In slightly more troubling news just two weeks out of rehab, and making a big show out of her sobriety, Lindsay Lohan has been arrested for driving under the influence and possession and trafficking of narcotics. It seems that the hard-partying just turned twenty-one year old actress chased down the mother of her former personal assistant, who had quit only the day before, and proceeded to get into a heated argument with the terrified woman. Not initially understanding that it was Lohan behind her the woman called the police and the rest is history. Lohan failed the field sobriety test, blew a .13 blood alcohol count, and then police searched her Denali and founded a bag of cocaine. Note to Lindsay – if you’re going to get drunk and chase down your former staff’s parents make sure and leave your blow at home!
I don’t know what to think of these young starlets. Honestly I can’t imagine how I would’ve acted if I’d been rich and famous and had photographers following my every move before I was even of legal drinking age. Thank god I don’t have to. I suppose that may be attractive to younger people but honestly I don’t think celebrity is all its cracked up to be – especially when the celebrity comes so young and, at least in the case of Ms.Spears, with so little actual substance behind it. My juries still undecided on Lohan – she might be a relatively talented actress. Hopefully someday she’ll get her head screwed on straight and allow us to find out.
The Dumb of Now and a Fluff-Based Economy
The gasoline companies did it. I distinctly recall having the conversation a couple of years ago when gas prices went up to $2.25 per gallon. Then everyone was relieved when the prices dropped back down to $1.99. A friend of mine and I decided it was only a matter of time before they’d pull the same stunt with $3.00/gallon prices and well, that time came pretty darn quick if you ask me. It isn’t even subtle. They raise the prices up to nearly three and a half dollars a gallon and then drop it down to $2.99 and people on the local news are going “oh it’s so great that gas prices are dropping.” They aren’t dropping people. They are going through the fucking roof and the oil industry is once again making record profits. Come on – I’m all for living in the moment but lets not turn our brains off in the process or our asses will really start getting sore.
I have to tell you that the time is coming to start getting our spending under control. Put money in the bank, or maybe even under your mattress. Get those credit cards paid down. Forsake the $5 cups of coffee and the $60 phone bills. This fluff-based, debt-driven, consumption-fueled economy is just a few interest points away from crumbling and a few more away from collapsing entirely. Everything is tied to gasoline prices and right now the Feds are pulling out rabbits from their hats to keep inflation from igniting. The rabbit population is starting to wane.
Ah Manton
A world away from all this artificial Hollywood consumption is only an hour and a half from Chico in the sprawling foothill community that is Manton, California. 2 Drink and I were privileged enough to share a bill with the Liz Merry Aaron Standish comedy troupe and it was a refreshing and thoroughly enjoyable experience. We played in a hundred-plus year old building called the Manton Corners that reminded me of photos I’ve seen of the Grand Ol Opry back in the 1940’s. The crowd was boisterous and welcoming and it was a show I’ll never forget. Can’t wait to get back up there, maybe someday for good.
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