Infotainment (orig published after Heath Ledger's death)

Okay, so living overseas has it's benefits. We don't have six pages of completely USELESS headlines and ghastly details every time some Hollywood dumbass overdoses or gets drunk and hauled off to 4 hours of jailtime in Los Angeles. Of course, thanks to satellite television and infotainment shows ready to peddle their Sin City drivel to the masses worldwide, crap tv such as The Insider, Inside Edition and Hollywood Uncensored are all on one right after the other even here in the Middle East where the average family has a plate of beans and bread and olives for dinner.
So, when I read on the internet that Heath Ledger had seemingly swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills and was found dead at age 28, the first thought that popped into my head was, "That's one less sold soul I'll be seeing on TV two weeks from now!" Isn't that sad? A young father, probably kills himself and I'm thinking that after two weeks the tabloid shows will make a fortune off of it and then once the dead horse has been thoroughly bludgeoned, they'll go back to Paris' picture perfect representation of how NOT to raise your children or some other Hollywood whore and her baby-bump.
Back to Heath Ledger, the second pathetic thought that popped into my mind was "Why? Did someone mail him a copy of 'Brokeback Mountain' on dvd and he watched it by himself at home, depressed because his wife left him with their baby and he realized what a sell-out he'd become? That he'd left his manhood with his agent when he signed on for the role that got 'rave reviews' from the Academy but left the real men of our country scratching their heads (or other parts) thinking, "Is NOTHING sacred anymore? Not even the COWBOYS are safe these days? What's this world coming to? Faggotry is everywhere!" Maybe Heath realized that one day his little girl would grow up and SEE this film and ask him, "Daddy, why don't you smooch Mommy like you did Aunt Jake in the movie??"
It's pathetic and hateful, I know. But I can't help but wonder why so many people flock to read about these moron celebrities, their empty lives and their even emptier deaths. And why on earth it's not just one more blurb in the obits instead of making the front page when there are REAL people with REAL problems in the world that need to be heard (like the Palestinians or the Iraqis). Instead what sells is a self-inflicted death on a person who did self-degrading things causing self-inflicted problems in a very selfish world.

**(this post was originally published by me on my old myspace acct just after Heath Ledger's death, 2008, whenever THAT was....it wasn't a real freeze-frame in time for me so I don't recall the actual date!)

World Leaders and Others I'd Like to Throw Shoes At...

Now I could totally support "World Leader Shoe-Chucking" as an Olympic sport. Although I think it would probably lose it's glamour if it became an Olympic sport since I'd then be forced to watch the Olympics. Obviously, the Iraqi team would be the gold medal favorite.
The thing about this event that totally floors me is that Bush is so completely ignorant of any culture other than American. He totally laughed at this and doesn't understand how completely insulted he should be. Don't get me wrong. I'm 100% on the Iraqi guy's side and I'll tell you why: In his goodbye speech, President Bush announced to his Iraqi audience that after 8 years of their country being destroyed by the US military under his command that, oh by the way, there really WEREN'T any weapons of mass destruction. Oh, well. Maybe next time things will go better.
In Arab society, showing someone the soles of your feet or shoes is an insult. As is calling someone a shoe or hitting them with your shoes.
One would think that after EIGHT YEARS of warring against another country, one would know SOMETHING about his enemy's culture. Bush does not.

Anyway, if I were to be on the "World Leader Shoe-Chucking" team, my dream targets would be Condoleeza Rice, George W., Dick Cheney, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, M. Hosni Mubarak, Prime Minister of Israel du jour (they change a lot), Mayor Bloomberg, and
Hillary Clinton. I would love to open this up to be more than just chucking shoes at world leaders. Maybe we could include the rich and famous such as Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Madonna whose shopping trips count as world news events on tv. We really don't care....unless they're being slapped in the temple with a pair of Jimmy Choo's, it's not news. Don't show it.
Maybe we could also stick other famous people in the list...you know, people we love to hate: Ann Coulter, Tom Cruise, David Hasselhoff, Regis Philbin and anyone with a show on FOX News.
Anyone wanting to be a member of the Shoe-Chucking team initiative, please forward
their video applications via You Tube showing themselves chucking a shoe of their choice at a poster of their favorite target.