2.07.2010

And the Award Goes to...

So here we are readers. The other new feature of Livin' the Dream...our weekly awards! We have some winners this week so let's get to it!

The Terrible TV Idea Award
And the winner is: FOX
Accepting this award on behalf of Fox is a "source" from American Idol
"We are so thrilled to be receiving this award! I am really glad that I was able to start this rumor about Howard Stern coming to Idol to replace Simon. FOX would like to thank Simon first and foremost for setting the bar on Idol and for making of all of rush to find the first loose canon we can to be our next "judge". Of course we have to thank Howard Stern who would be the perfect meanie to replace Simon and who has no musical talent whatsoever. And finally we'd like to thank the American Idol execs who think that the angle Idol needs is to find the first person we can who will clash with all the judges and contestants with the first sarcastic comment they can think of. We're so excited to continue doing what we can to make sure that Idol absolutely fails after Simon leaves. Thanks again!"

The Celeb Feud of the Week Award
And the winners are: Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston
Accepting this award are the gossip magazine columnists who continue to insist that there is some kind of war waging between these two.
"This is truly an honor. We have worked tirelessly ever since Angelina and Brad first got together scrutinizing every tiny detail we could to make it seem like Angelina and Jen Aniston just can't stand each other so this just means so much to us. It hasn't been easy. I mean we have had to twist every tiny fact that we can find to make it seem like Angelina is always going to beat Jen Aniston. We'd like to thank Vanity Fair for compiling this "Hollywood's Top 40" list which showed nothing more than the fact that Angelina made only $1 million more than Jennifer Aniston and thereby allowing us to twist that into an entire article where we can prove yet again that Jennifer Aniston's life is oh so sad without Brad Pitt in it. We'd also like to thank Jennifer Aniston herself for making a paltry $20 million last year and of course Angelina Jolie for raking in $21 million. Without them we never would have been able to spin this story to launch yet another fake battle between these two!"

The Just Go Away Award
And the winner is: Lauren Conrad of The Hills!
Accepting this award is Lauren herself who continues to try and "explain" how terrible life on The Hills really was.
"Wow. This is just so unexpected. I'd of course like to thank MTV for giving me my start even though all I've done since joining the show is complain about how it's ruined my life. I'd like to thank all of my castmates on The Hills, especially Heidi for moving the spotlight onto themselves since I left the show so that people hardly ever talk about me anymore. But most of all I'd like to thank myself for continuing to go on and on about how terrible it was for me to be a part of a show that put me on the map of "fame". Without me, I never would have been able to talk about how terrible it was to get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars and gain the ability to launch a clothing line and write a best-selling book that is about to be turned into a movie just by letting some cameras follow me around."

The Celeb Breakup No One Cares About Award
And the winner is: Britney Spears' sister and her baby daddy
Accepting this award is Britney Spears' mom who always seems to have just the right thing to say.
"Oh my gosh y'all. I can't believe my little girl won this award. We have done so much to keep both her and Britney in the news but si
nce Britney's kinda normal again and isn't making as many headlines, it was time to do something ya know? So I'm really glad that my little girl could put our family back in the spotlight for another week or two. We hit the jackpot when she had her baby at 16 but nobody's really talked about her since then you know so we thought what better way than to have her breakup with her baby's daddy and also start going out with another guy, who is about 10 years older than her might I add. Anyway we're just so glad that our family made the gossip columns again so thanks y'all!"
And the winner is: former "Dancing with the Stars" giant Warren Sapp
Warren Sapp was unfortunately detained - literally - tonight and cannot be here to accept his award.

That's all for this week ladies and gentlemen!

2.05.2010

Whatever Happened to...

Snow?

Welcome to the first installment of "Whatever Happened To...", the newest feature on LTD that answers your burning questions about the whereabouts of your favorite celebs from the past.

Today we are chronicling Snow, and I don't mean the weather.

For those of you who can't quite place the name, Snow is probably best known for his diddy "Informer". Observe:



So now that you are familiar with his work, let's take a look at what could possibly have happened to this obviously super-talented individual.

First of all, Snow's real name is Darren O'Brien and he's Canadian. Snow apparently also stands for "Super Notorious Outrageous Whiteboy" and was given to him by Marvin Prince, the Jamaican born DJ that discovered him. "Informer" was the #1 song for seven straight weeks and is in the Guiness Book of World Records as the best selling reggae single in U.S. history.

But wait there's more. According to Snow's official MySpace page (which was last updated Jan. 29) he discovered his love of music in prison and was just recently allowed back into the United States where, great news everybody, he is back in the recording studio.

So since "Informer", Snow continues to make music and is a big hit in Canada where in 2000 and 2002 he had two songs race to the top of the charts.

And he released a single in 2009 called "Adore You". Enjoy:



Hope you all liked the first installment of "Whatever Happened To..." Again, suggestions, comments and concerns are always welcomed and encouraged. Except for the concerns.

2.02.2010

Video of the Day 2/2/10 - Groundhog Day Edition

This video has nothing to do with Groundhog Day but everyone's making such a big fricken deal out of the groundhog that I thought I'd join in all the fun.

Shoutout to Ashley for today's contribution. Even though embedding the video isn't possible, I won't hold that against her because this video is amazing. One of the best we've had in a while.

Enjoy!

The 1987 Crystal Light National Aerobic Championship

2.01.2010

The Blog is Pink!

Surprise! The blog has a new look. I guess because there's been one day of sunshine in the last month in Sacramento/Davis I figured if I had a pink blog to look at every day then maybe it would cheer me up. Also, I like pink.

I've decided to add a couple of new features to the blog. Considering how well my other features have gone (when's the last time I did a "Why is This News?" or "Triple R") I expect these to go just as well. Here they are:

On the sidebar, you might have noticed that I've decided to let you guys know what I'm reading and what Netflix brought me this week. As we discussed in my review of "The Boleyn Inheritance" I am a bit of a book nerd and in 2010 I'm going to start embracing that a lot more. I think ultimately I'm trying to cut back on TV so I can't think of a better way to do so than to substitute a book for TV. Unless it's substituting a beer for TV. A book and a beer? Now we're talkin. I'm not one of those that reads multiple books at a time so odds are I'll only have one, maybe two links at the most going in that column.

I joined Netflix and I'm loving it. The only problem I'm having is that I have issues getting to a mailbox to return the movies but we're working on that. So I also decided to share with you guys the movies I currently have out on Netflix. My account lets me check out two at a time and suggestions are always welcome. I am seriously adding any movie that remotely interests me when I cruise around on Netflix's website. This includes TV shows, stand-up comedy specials, possibly some documentaries if it's really interesting. I'm not holding back people. And again, suggestions are always welcome and encouraged.

Now on to the two newest writing features of the blog:

First we will have a weekly award section for the best stories in celeb gossip news during the week. Examples include the Why Are You Famous Award (which might end up being called the Just Go Away Award), the Why Is This News Award, and the I Really Don't Care About Celebrity Babies Award. There will also be good awards given out for things like philanthropy and good fashion. Maybe a Quote of the Week Award. This will start Friday so I guess I'd better narrow down how many awards I'll give out and their names. Suggestions for award names are welcome and encouraged.

Second we are going to start a segment called "Whatever Happened To..." Not much to this one really. When I'm driving around listening to satellite radio, every once in a while an artist comes on that really makes me think "Wow, whatever happened to Ace of Base? They were LEGIT when I was in the second grade." So me and my friend Wikipedia will take a few minutes to check in on some of these has-beens and give all of you adoring fans an update.

Now it's time to get real for a moment. A lot of these changes/additions/upgrades are due to the fact that I'm trying some new things out in my life, mainly shifting a lot of focus back onto myself and what I want from my life. I'm trying to take a more me-centric attitude and I'm starting with my blog. I want a pink blog so bam, my blog is pink. I want to post what I'm reading so bam, links. It may sound silly but you have no idea how hard it is to put myself first. So again, it may sound like a silly small step, but it's steps like these that will end up helping me take control and boost my self-confidence a bit.

That being said, I want to thank everyone out there who continues to read Livin' the Dream. I get about 30 hits every time I post something new and that means the world to me. I'm glad I have this forum to entertain and to continue to do what I love which is write. I don't always have the most thought-provoking and profound things to say but I have a great time, I get a little chuckle out of it all, and hopefully you do too.

1.31.2010

Grammys Live Blog

We're back with another live blog and this time we are heading to the Grammys. Once again, we'll see how long we last but I feel like this will hold my interest for a lot longer than some of the other award shows.

Here are some early predictions:
- Taylor Swift, Beyonce and Lady Gaga will have big nights
- The "Avatar-like" Michael Jackson tribute will be weird. Why is this necessary? The "Avatar" element, not the Michael Jackson tribute.
- I think Steven Colbert is hosting and, if so, he will be hilarious.

Let's go!

7:00 - I have my wine and my little frozen lasagna dinner complete with Texas Toast. If you have not tried Texas Toast, you should do so immediately.

7:02 - Lady Gaga opens the show with a performance. She is in a green sequined unitard and they just put her into some sort of cauldron. Some guy keeps yelling she's a monster. And she comes out sitting at a piano with Elton John and the piano has arms coming out of it. She is a weirdo but let me tell you she is a legit musician.

7:07 - Taylor Swift looks beeeeeeautiful.

7:11 - Stephen Colbert's opening monologue is just okay except then he goes to to announce the nominees for Song of the Year and can't find the list. Then he pulls an iPad out of his jacket and asks Jay Z "You didn't get one of these in your gift bag?" That one was good.

7:12 - "Single Ladies" wins Song of the Year. That seems fitting to me considering how many people decided to learn the "Single Ladies Dance".

7:14 - Jennifer Lopez tells us that there is a show about to hit Broadway called "American Idiot" and I'm pretty sure it somehow involves Green Day songs. What? Come on Broadway. So now we're watching the cast of this show and Green Day perform together. It's time like these that I wish I had a DVR again.

7:18 - While waiting for this performance to be over, I mean listening, I Wikipedia-ed this American Idiot Broadway play. So apparently there is some sort of storyline that runs throughout the American Idiot album and they've taken that and turned it into a Broadway production. Still weird.

7:22 - Taylor Swift has eight nominations tonight. Beyonce is going to perform in nine minutes. Also the Michael Jackson tribute will feature Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson and Usher among others. I love Usher. He is the original Chris Brown/Ne-Yo.

7:24 - Kristin Bell just said that Bon Jovi is performing on the Grammys for the first time ever tonight. We get to vote on which song they'll sing. Apparently Bon Jovi is that good that we can just tell them oh hey sing this one 20 minutes before they're supposed to go on and they'll get it done.

7:25 - Taylor Swift wins her first Grammy of the night. Cue completely shocked face. Also she is like 6-3. Aaaand I take back what I said about her dress being beautiful. But I still like her, especially after she said she wrote every song on her album. That is real talent. Great speech too.

7:27 - I guess having the show on your station lets CBS use stars from their own crappy TV shows to present. And now...Beyonce.

7:29 - Aaaand while singing "If I Were a Boy" she grabbed her crotch. Um ok.

7:30 - I don't know how these female singers can perform in these 5-inch stilletos. She is rocking some serious heels and just runs around the stage like it ain't no thang.

7:32 - Wait. Why is singing an Alanis Morrisette song? Was this on her album? I don't understand. Standby while I Wikipedia this.

7:33 - Ok no. She just decided to incorporate "You Oughta Know" into the middle of her performance. I don't get it. Overall it was a solid performance though. Girl can wail that's for sure. Sometimes she just needs to take the energy down juuuuust a notch.

7:37 - I think I have never been to an Olive Garden as an adult because their commercials are TERRIBLE. Seriously the worst.

7:39 - Seal comes out to present and they cut to Heidi Klum in the audience. That sounds about right.

7:40 - Geez another performance. Pink. Or as my brother, sister and I call her Pink the Man. Seriously she looks like a man.

7:42 - Wooooooooah. Ok so she just derobed and is in a nude colored leotard thing with some sparkles and now she is doing aerialist acrobatics.

7:44 - And she just submerged herself in water so now she's wet and spinning in this giant hammock 20 feet in the air. This is a weird performance.

7:45 - Wow she's getting a standing ovation. I did not see that coming.

7:46 - Next up is the award for Best New Artist an award that should also be called "Best New We Only Had One Song This Year That Anyone Knows". Zac Brown Band wins. How nice of them to get dressed up for the occasion. One of them is in a skull cap and they are all in jeans.

7:53 - As if the Black Eyed Peas weren't everywhere as it was , they are now doing Target commercials. I blame Jess who can't even defend herself because she doesn't read my blog. Mwahaha.

7:54 - Miley Cyrus introduces the Black Eyes Peas. Fergie is wearing a leotard made out of armor and a visor. Also why is she rapping? She acts all hard whenever she performs and she's not at all. Her real name is Stacey and she used to be on Kids Incorporated ok? Give it up Fergie, we are all on to you. I think I am over the Black Eyed Peas.

7:58 - Their back up dancers are dressed like giant radios. How do you think those auditions went? "Hey listen so put these giant cardboard boxes on your arms and on your legs like shinguards. Okay now jump up and down. Okay good now walk. Excellent. Okay well that's all we've got for you for today. We'll be in touch."

8:05 - The Jo Bros introduce Lady Antebellum. I really like this band. I bought their new CD on iTunes and it's really good. They're singing "I Need You Now." Ha and their backdrop just fell down and got caught on the female singer's head. Not planned.

8:06 - So the Jo Bros told us that they already won twice tonight. Wouldn't you be pissed if some record exec was like "Oh by the way you won. Here's your Grammy" instead of getting all the pomp and circumstance and getting to give a speech on national television? I mean I guess at the end of the day you're still winning your award. But if it were me I'd want a big deal made out of me. Just sayin.

8:09 - And we're actually going to watch someone win Best Comedy Album? I guess so.

8:10 - Oh Stephen Colbert wins. Okay I get it now. He's hosting so that's what this makes sense. Wait. No I still don't understand why any of us should care about this award.

8:11 - The Lady Gaga-Beyonce-Taylor Swift showdown is about to commence in five minutes. And OMG the only talented Jonas Brother is doing a Target commercial too. What the hell Jess? Can't you do something about this?

8:18 - Woah. So the first upset of the night. Kings of Leon win Record of the Year for "Use Somebody" over Taylor, Beyonce or Gaga. Weird. Ha but they just said that they're a little drunk so that's awesome.

8:21 - Jamie Foxx is performing Blame It and they've cut to Rihanna and Jay Z singing along. I'm just sayin they could also be showing Keith Urban jamming to T Pain and Jamie Foxx. Maybe he's a fan. Except they did just show Fergie and her husband Josh Duhamel had this really confused look on his face.

8:23 - T Pain is not wearing a top hat. That disappoints me. You know what does not disappoint ever? I'm On A Boat:



8:31 - Sorry I went to get a snack. And by snack I mean more wine.

8:32 - Katy Perry's dress is awful.

8:33 - Green Day wins Best Rock Album. Not that interested.

8:39 - Zack Brown Band has been performing with some super old guy. Not much to say really. Except how did it get to become called the Zack Brown Band. Are the other guys' names so terrible that nobody else's was even an option? I mean sure something like "The Amanda Piechowski Band" is going to be a little hard to fit on a CD cover but how does one guy get to represent the whole band.

8:45 - Seacrest introduces Taylor Swift. If I were Taylor Swift I would vehemently oppose him introducing me. I'd pick someone hot. Like Derek from Dancing with the Stars or David Beckham. They have as much to do with the Grammys as Seacrest does so why not? Come on you're Taylor Swift - the world is literally your oyster right now. Go big baby.

8:53 - Okay I do not understand what is happening. Lionel Richie is introducing Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson, Carrie Underwood and Usher who are going to sing one of Michael Jackson's song and CBS just told me to put my 3D glasses on. How did I not get the memo that there was going to be a 3D portion of the show? How am I supposed to do my readers justice if I am not fully experiencing every aspect of this show?

8:57 - Everyone in the audience is wearing 3D glasses. Rihanna looks very serious in hers. Celine Dion still has a legit voice. I wish Usher was dancing during this performance. Carrie Underwood is beautiful. I don't really care about Jennifer Hudson or Smokey Robinson unfortunately.

8:59 - That was good. Wish I could have seen it in 3D. Everyone is on their feet as expected. OH SHIT it's his kids. OMG this is epic.

9:01 - OMG TAKE THE CAMERA OFF THE JO BROS FOR PETE'S SAKE.

9:09 - Bon Jovi's performance is up. I can't believe they've never performed on the Grammys before. Five bucks says the "fan vote" song is "Livin on a Prayer".

9:13 - Aaand someone owes me five bucks.

9:17 - OMG "I'm on a Boat" is actually nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. But "Run This Town" wins with Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye.

9:26 - Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli are singing a song together for Haitian relief. Should be a good one.

9:35 - I'm losing interest Grammys. Too many performances and not enough awards and speeches.

9:41 - Nice. Nothin like a little DMB performance. This song is great.

9:46 - Hooray Glee! Rachel from Glee is presenting alongside... Ricky Martin? Beyonce wins Female Pop Vocal Performance for Halo. Her dress is terrible. Aaaand she just referred to Jay Z as her husband and told them that she loves him. That is the first time either one has ever acknowledged that they got married. I mean it's not like nobody knows but they've just always kept it really under wraps.

10:00 - I always like these "In Memoriam" montages that they do. Completely forgot that DJ AM passed away. But I always usually know a couple people, mainly because of my parents talking about them.

10:03 - Lady Gaga looks like the Empire State Building. Did you know she's only 23? I just don't really get it with her. This whole gimmick with her outfits and hats and masks and all that.

10:16 - This Drake/Lil Wayne/Eminem performance is awesome. Sidenote: Drake is a pretty good looking guy. I might be a Drake fan after this.

10:23 - John Legend and Santana are presenting the final award of the night for Album of the Year. Here we go...

10:24 - Wow. Taylor Swift wins it. Unbelievable. Man I have to say though good for her. I should do a post on her because talk about someone who could really be a role model for young girls everywhere. She's one of my new favorite celebs.

So to wrap up here are my final thoughts:
- Congrats to Taylor Swift but I would have liked to see Lady Gaga win an award. I think she's doing some pretty cool things in the music business. Maybe next year.
- The show was way too full of performances, I'm sorry. They showed literally like 7 actual awards be given out in a 3.5 hour show.
- Next year I think I need to do a blog about the fashion before the show. E! always does an On the Red Carpet show before all these awards shows and there were some ridic outfits that I would have loved to have commented on.

Thanks for playing.

1.27.2010

Who Wants This Cat!

Shoutout to Ashley who sent me this picture of her cat Lila. It is hilarious. Feel free to caption it in the comments.

Review: The Boleyn Inheritance


The Boleyn Inheritance
Author: Philippa Gregory
Number of pages: 592
Genre: Historical fiction

First of all, I've decided that I'm going to be adding a lot more book reviews to the blog. I'm sorry if this doesn't interest you. It's partially for the fans but also more for myself. I read a lot but never really take the time to think about what I've read. Then people ask me how was this book or that book and I can say Amazing or Terrible but I'm always stuck when they ask why. So I figure writing it down will help me make better recommendations and conversations with people. Hopefully these reviews get better as we go along. I'm embracing my inner book nerd so go with it.

Also, I wrote half of this review yesterday but my computer battery is completely shot so one false move and the battery comes unplugged and the entire computer instantly shuts down. This is what happened last night.

Anyway, if you haven't read anything by Philippa Gregory yet, do yourself a favor. I have never been a fan of historical fiction but because of her I am sold.

"The Boleyn Inheritance" is the third installment in the Gregory's Tudor series so if you do start, begin with "The Constant Princess". "The Boleyn Inheritance" follows three women: Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn. Anne arrives in England as a complete foreigner as part of an arranged marriage to King Henry. Katherine is a completely vain and spoiled 15-year-old who arrives to serve in the court of Anne but becomes a pawn in a much much bigger game. Jane continues to serve in the queen's court but is haunted by the events of the second book "The Other Boleyn Girl".

Gregory narrates the book from the point of view of each of the three women and switches back and forth throughout the entire book. While this might be confusing to some readers, Gregory pinpoints each woman's voice so distinctly that the transition from voice to voice to voice is seamless.

What struck me the most about this book is how these women, no matter how powerful they thought they were, had absolutely no say over anything in their lives. One false look, one misspoken word, one misconstrued tone of voice and a woman will be sent to prison or even to their death for treason, witchcraft, adultery, you name it. This time period was so dangerous for a woman.

Gregory also does an excellent job of mapping the transformation of each woman. Anne starts out as a shy girl in a foreign country, eager to please everyone around her and fulfill her role as Queen. We then see her grow into a strong independent woman, comfortable in herself and her new role once she is removed from her throne. She becomes gracious, stoic, and through Gregory's storytelling, she becomes the Queen that she always wanted to be even though she is not officially in any power. Jane finally comes to the realization that she doesn't want to be someone's puppet anymore and doesn't want to keep hurting people but not reap any of the "reward" yet it's unfortunately too late for her once the light does go off. Katherine... well Katherine pretty much remains the same spoiled young girl throughout the entire book but the tone that Gregory gives her makes her character just as powerful as the other two.

Compelling characters, deceit, lies, treachery, sex, and finally redemption for at least one character - this book really had it all and I can't wait to read all of Gregory's work!

Final Rating: 5/5

Coming Up Next: "Handle With Care" by Jodi Picoult
When Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe’s daughter, Willow, is born with severe osteogenesis imperfecta, they are devastated – she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows, a lifetime of pain. As the family struggles to make ends meet to cover Willow’s medical expenses, Charlotte thinks she has found an answer. If she files a wrongful birth lawsuit against her ob/gyn for not telling her in advance that her child would be born severely disabled, the monetary payouts might ensure a lifetime of care for Willow. But it means that Charlotte has to get up in a court of law and say in public that she would have terminated the pregnancy if she’d known about the disability in advance – words that her husband can’t abide, that Willow will hear, and that Charlotte cannot reconcile. And the ob/gyn she’s suing isn’t just her physician – it’s her best friend.

Handle With Care explores the knotty tangle of medical ethics and personal morality. When faced with the reality of a fetus who will be disabled, at which point should an OB counsel termination? Should a parent have the right to make that choice? How disabled is TOO disabled? And as a parent, how far would you go to take care of someone you love? Would you alienate the rest of your family? Would you be willing to lie to your friends, to your spouse, to a court? And perhaps most difficult of all – would you admit to yourself that you might not actually be lying?