Warner Bros. Movies sick publicity stunt |
October 23rd, 2006 under Unadmirable People. [ Comments: none ]
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WARNER Bros. stands accused of making empty promises to provide prosthetic limbs to orphaned African amputees and then reneging so that the studio’s movie "Blood Diamond" could get extra publicity. During filming of the flick, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou, producers shipped in 27 teenage and child amputees – victims of tribal warfare – from surrounding hospitals to appear as extras. In addition to paying the children day rates for their work, the producers – touched by the kids’ tragic circumstances – promised to fit all of them with prosthetic limbs after shooting wrapped in June. But they’re still waiting. Young Nkululo Mnisi – whose arms and legs were cut off by machete-wielding rebels – used to be taunted by cruel classmates as "baboon" because of the way he ran on his stumps and crutches. Mnisi told a South African newspaper that the dream that kept him going was the promise of getting artificial limbs so he’d be able to play soccer like a normal child. But months after filming ended, Mnisi and his fellow amputees were still waiting. When they asked Warner Bros. about the promised prosthetics, they were allegedly told, "You will have to wait for December, when the movie comes out, so we can get some publicity out of it." A local African charity, Eastern Cape, came to the rescue when it heard of the amputees’ cruelly dashed hopes, and outfitted them with limbs paid for by the organization. Eastern Cape has said that if Warner Bros. does finally come through with the money, it will go to 27 other deserving amputees. A rep for Warner Bros. told Page Six, "We’re working on it." Meanwhile, The L.A. Times got it wrong when it reported that the DeBeers diamond cartel had demanded a disclaimer in the picture about so-called "conflict diamonds," which fund various African warlords. A rep for DeBeers said, "No one at DeBeers asked the filmmakers for a disclaimer or any other change in ‘Blood Diamond.
Page Six
I will boycott this movie if it is true.
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What John Lennon’s murderer told the parole board |
October 20th, 2006 under Unadmirable People. [ Comments: none ]
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John Lennon’s killer told a parole board that he was immediately filled with remorse after shooting the Beatle – and begged God to turn back time, transcripts revealed yesterday. Mark David Chapman, who was denied parole this month, said he had "regrets right away." "I would like to say I felt horrible," Chapman, 51, said during the 16-minute hearing on Oct. 10 – a day after what would have been Lennon’s 66th birthday. "I was asking God to change back time and try to find some way out of it." Chapman, who is serving a 20-years-to-life sentence, shot Lennon four times outside The Dakota on W. 72nd St. on Dec. 8, 1980. "I believe that if I really wanted to, I could have changed my mind," Chapman said. "I had ample opportunity to do it and I didn’t do it and I regret that deeply." The loner said he carried out the killing in a twisted bid for attention. "The result would be that I would be famous," he said. "I was looking for reasons to vent all that anger and confusion and low self-esteem."
NY Daily News
I hope he never gets out.
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Sting says today’s music is a bore |
October 19th, 2006 under Unadmirable People. [ Comments: none ]
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Sting said contemporary rock music is so stagnant that he prefers to sing 16th century English ballads. The former teacher who shot to fame as lead singer, bassist and composer in the 1970s and 80s for The Police told German newspaper Die Zeit that he prefers singing songs of Elizabethan lutenist and composer John Dowland to the rock music of today. His album of Dowland lute music "Songs from the Labyrinth" has topped classical charts on both sides of the Atlantic and entered the UK album chart at No. 24. "Rock music has come to a standstill — it’s not going forward any more, it only bores me," Die Zeit quoted Sting as saying. The 55-year-old singer, real name Gordon Sumner, had a string of hits with The Police with songs like "Roxanne" and "Don’t Stand So Close To Me." He has since also had a lucrative solo career with songs like "Englishman in New York." "Forty years ago it was my dream to break out of Newcastle and never be poor again," he told the magazine. "I’m very privileged. I’m a successful musician, live in a beautiful house, and have a wonderful family."
Reuters
I love The Police, but ever since Sting left them he bores me. I have seen him in concert twice and both times I felt the air conditioner.
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A smoke-filled airline? |
October 17th, 2006 under Unadmirable People. [ Comments: none ]
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Imagine this: You get on an airplane and the guy sitting next to you lights up a cigarette. You’re shocked. You try to hold your breath until you can call a flight attendant. Suddenly you look around and everyone else on the airplane is smoking too. Is this a nightmare? A flashback to back-of-the-plane air travel in the 70s? Nope. You’re just flying Smintair! The smokers airline! Smokers International Airline, Smintair for short, is the creation of Alexander Schopmann, a 55-year-old German retired stockbroker and cigarette fiend. Schopmann is a three-pack-a-day sort of fella, and says that this is not just about smoking but also about the declining quality of air travel. "I’ve been an airline passenger for 50 years," Schopmann told USA Today "It made me very angry that the gap between service and price became so big with regular airlines. Especially in the first class and business class, service is at its lowest point ever." So Schopmann’s plan is to have a premium service airline where flight attendants wear "couture," where the seats are all business and first class, caviar is served, and everyone is allowed to smoke. Is this visionary? Or just plain … smelly? We’ve smoked, and hanging in the "smoker’s lounge" in airports is bad enough. Being locked in a tube with no air coming in or going out — frankly, it sounds downright miserable. So when does Smintair start flying? Schopmann says March, but experts doubt he’ll be able to get it off the ground by then since it seems the air industry has a lot of little rules that must be abided before you can start flying. By the way, if you were wondering, the price for a smoking flight toTokyo from Düsseldorf is $12,500 for first class and $8,125 for business class. Smintair will not have any "coach" seating. Which we feel is the first good thing the wealthy have done for the working class in a long, long time.
Bravo’s The Dish
Brilliant idea, I have to admit, but seriously a bad one.
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Kristy Swanson says she is not a homewrecker |
October 12th, 2006 under Unadmirable People. [ Comments: none ]
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Kristy Swanson wants to world to know she was never "the other woman." The former "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star’s been plagued with rumors she stole her now-boyfriend, Olympic skater Lloyd Eisler, from his then-wife Marcia O’Brien while the two were partners on the FOX reality show "Skating with Celebrities." "You can’t control what the media chooses to put out there and say," Swanson told Tyra Banks, "We taped the show back in August of last year and then it didn’t air till February. Everybody thought all this stuff was happening and the scandal was happening at the same time and it just wasn’t." Though both Swanson and Eisler deny any affair took place, Eisler’s ex-wife, who was pregnant at the time, told a different story to Dr. Keith Ablow a month ago. She calls their claims, "a complete lie," adding, "I have e-mails which he sent me where he admits to when they started sleeping together, how many times they had slept together. I went through a series of STD testing given the fact that I was pregnant." Swanson is pregnant with Eisler’s child, due in on Valentine’s Day. The full interview with the two airs tomorrow on "The Tyra Banks Show."
TMZ
Whatever helps her sleep at night. But we all know she is one?
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