Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to TMZ Sports. Yes you read that correctly. TMZ now has a section of their website completely dedicated to athletes and their nightclub antics. Same grainy pictures, same cell phone videos, same flashy headlines - but entirely focused on the world of the professional athlete.
Cody told me about this the other night but I didn't realize it had actually been launched. The more I think about it and check out the site though, the more I think it's a pretty genius idea.
Is there really a difference anymore between athlete and celebrity? Nope. The lines have been blurred for ages. From dating and marriages to their own scandals completely independent of the celebrity world, athletes have become pop stars themselves. Athletes launch clothing lines, they have their own reality shows, they grace the covers of every gossip magazine and website there is. The only real difference between athletes and celebrities anymore is their jobs. That's it.
Let's start with the relationships. Tom and Gisele, Tony and Eva, David Beckham and Victoria Spice (my dad calls her that and I've never been able to drop it). Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo. Carrie Underwood and the hockey player she's marrying. Hilary Duff is apparently also marrying a hockey player. Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush... shoot now apparently Kim Kardashian and Cristiano Ronaldo. The not-so-cute Kardashian and Lamar Odom. I mean the list goes on and on. These are just the ones I could think of off the top of my head. These couples are everywhere. But it makes perfect sense when you think about the social circles that most of them are privileged enough to be a part of. Everyone knows everyone in the business of being a celebrity and a couple of text messages later, Tom Brady gets to meet Gisele.
I think it stretches moreso than just between the actual athletes and celebs though. They all have PR agents and assistants who know each other's PR agents and assistants. So again, it doesn't take much for a connection to be made.
Next, the scandals. The predicaments that these athletes get themselves into is Grade A Perez Hilton material and I, for one, can't get enough. Sex therapy? Sending your 6-year-old to give your ex-wife's new boyfriend a death threat? Well done Tiger and Shaq. Arrests, weapon charges, suspensions - they've got their own little soap opera going on and none of it has to do with a botched reception or poor clock management.
Although I'm sure 99.99999% of athletes who might find themselves on the pages of TMZ's newest site cringe at the sight of themselves, overall I feel it's safe to say that athletes are fully embracing their new celeb status and are even putting themselves out there even more. Would you ever have thought to see a wide receiver competing for a trophy shaped like a disco ball or tune in to watch cameras follow a football player's life with his Playmate wife and their newborn son? I feel like about 10 years ago, you didn't see this stuff.
Everyone wants to be out there. Everyone wants to stay current and relevant and in the spotlight so why not join ridiculous ballroom competition TV shows or create a clothing line? Whatever keeps your name out there right? The short-lived "Shaq Vs." TV show that aired last summer featured nothing but professional athletes in a weird, gimmicky game show where Shaq competed against them in their own sport. Do you think the Olympians and quarterbacks from when our parents were our age would have ever thought to do stuff like this?
Like I said before, there just isn't really a difference anymore between an athlete and a celebrity, except for the job title. Kim Kardashian "acts", Reggie Bush catches a football. But at the end of the day, neither one can walk down the street without 100 cameras in their faces and get exclusive access to the best restaurants and hotels in the world.
They've become one and the same. So thanks TMZ for putting them all in one place. You can bet you'll be getting some page hits from Sac-town.
4.22.2010
4.19.2010
Whatever Happened To...
Jonathan Taylor Thomas?
Oh yes. It's time for the long-lost feature "Whatever Happened To" to return to LTD and who better to re-kick things off with than the one, the only JTT.
This weekend, Jess reminded me of the good ole days of Jonathan Taylor Thomas. I mean you couldn't walk past a Teen Beat magazine without seeing his face on it. So where in the world is he now?
I'm not gonna lie, he is not the easiest washed up celeb to track down.
So for those of you who might not be familiar with the name - or should I say acronym - JTT, he is best known as Randy, the middle son, on Home Improvement. In fact he played Tim the Toolman Taylor's son for a good seven seasons before leaving the show in 1998 to pursue academic interests. In reality, he was looking to further his film career but exactly how well did that play out for him? "Man of the House" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas" weren't exactly blockbuster hits were they?
Basically since then JTT has faded into relative obscurity. Sorry Jess. Apparently the only really exciting thing to have happened to him in the last five years is that he's been the subject of rumors that he might be gay. Other than that, he's had a few bit roles in some small independent (by which I mean nobody has ever heard of them) movies as well as on a few semi-popular TV shows including "Veronica Mars" (cancelled), "Smallville" (probably almost cancelled) and "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" (has to be cancelled).
But let me tell you. His TV and film career might be floundering, but he is THRIVING in the Youtube world. A quick search of his name pulls up over 600 tribute videos and montages of his "super hott" face and they're not from 10 years ago either. We're talking six months ago that people were setting pictures of JTT to hits like "My Heart Will Go On". The ladies still love them some Jonathan Taylor Thomas, that's for sure.
Seriously though... can you blame them?
4.14.2010
Review: Love the One You're With
Love the One You're With
Author: Emily Giffin
Number of Pages: 342
Genre: Fiction, Chick Lit
Ellen and Andy's marriage doesn't just seem perfect, it is perfect. There is no question how deep their devotion is, and how naturally they bring out the best in each other. But one fateful afternoon Ellen runs into Leo for the first time in eight years. Leo, the one who brought out the worst in her. Leo, the one who left her heartbroken with no explanation. Leo, the one she could never quite forget. When his reappearance ignites long-dormant emotions, Ellen begins to question whether the life she's living is the one she's meant to live. Love the One You're With is a powerful story about one woman at the crossroads of true love and real life.
So this book came pretty highly recommended and I have to apologize to Kristin for saying this but this was a terrible book. Chick lit usually doesn't bother me this much and I've read some really good chick lit but this book was just awful. Basically Ellen has an awesome life but then spends the whole time whining about what could have been with this old boyfriend Leo. Being inside Ellen's head as she sorted through her issues with her life got really old really fast as she didn't really make a point at all. The story was very predictable and was wrapped up with a nice big bow with a very happy ending for Ellen. In a way, I kind of wish that things hadn't worked out like they did because it would have added some kind of spice. The characters didn't really have any depth and I found myself really unable to connect with them. They all just kind of fell short and flat and weren't developed as fully as I thought they could have been. I just wasn't drawn into this story at all.
The only bright spot was Ellen's sister Suzanne who was brutally honest and marched to the beat of her own drum. She provided a breath of fresh air.
Like I said, I just couldn't get into this one. It was supposed to be an easy one after "Handle with Care" and it definitely wasn't. Hello it took me like a month to read it.
Overall Rating: 1/5
Coming Up Next: "The Borgia Bride" by Jeanne Kalogridis
Vivacious Sancha of Aragon arrives in Rome newly wed to a member of the notorious Borgia dynasty. Surrounded by the city's opulence and political corruption, she befriends her glamorous and deceitful sister-in-law Lucrezia whose jealousy is as legendary as her beauty. Some say Lucrezia has poisoned her rivals, particularly those to whom her handsome brother, Cesare, has given his heart. So when Sancha falls under Cesare's irresistible spell, she must hide her secret or lose her life. Caught in the Borgia's sinister web, she summons her courage and uses her cunning to outwit them at their own game.
Why You Should Be Watching Glee
Glee's season premiere was last night and it was amazing. But why oh why should you tune in? Well friends, let me see if I can try and get you to understand just why Glee is so legit.
First and foremost, Glee makes you smile. Personally, I love to smile. Sure there are some sad and dramatic moments but when you end with a song and Jane Lynch is involved, you walk away feeling pretty good. These days I think everyone can use something to lift them up every now and again.
Speaking of the singing, this is the choir nerd coming out in me but it is seriously amazing. In the most recent issue of Rolling Stone (which I should have bought yesterday at the grocery store! Man!), executive producer Ryan Murphy said that Lea Michele, who plays Rachel, has the voice of a generation. He isn't kidding. Michele's voice can be compared to a modern day Barbra Streisand. The emotion she puts into each and every song she sings on the show stays with you long after the performance. She's been a Broadway sensation since she was eight years old and has a voice that she was simply born to share.
It isn't only Michele's voice that stands out, however. Every member of the cast has had some sort of professional experience singing. Matthew Morrison who plays Mr. Schuster has also been on Broadway for years and was nominated for a Tony. The girl who played Mercedes auditioned for American Idol. This isn't a show where a bunch of actors were cast to also be singers and dancers. Every single person on this show is a bonafide performer, an actual triple threat. They sing, dance and act equally as well - they are the complete package.
The songs they sing also speak to the audience, no matter which era of music you enjoy. Some of the songs the cast has covered includes Journey's "Don't Stop Believing", "Hello Goodbye" and "Imagine" by the Beatles, "Jump", "Proud Mary", "Lean on Me" and many more classics. The group has also sung songs from Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, and, most recently, The All-American Rejects just to throw a more modern twist in there. There have been Broadway songs as well with Lea Michele (Rachel) famously singing "Don't Rain on My Parade" from the movie "Funny Girl" in the Sectionals episode. There's something for everyone and every song resonates for the tone or theme of that particular episode. In fact, Murphy has said that after writing an episode, he picks a song to coincide with what's happening. And it's perfect every time.
Plus the content of the show is completely current and relevant. Sure it's about a glee club but more importantly it's first and foremost about the differences in everyone and embracing those differences. It's about the fact that jock or nerd, gay or straight, black or white, everyone has struggles, everyone has passions, everyone has dreams and goals and aspirations. The show also focuses on issues like teen pregnancy, divorce, love, and good old-fashioned competition. They're issues that viewers can relate to and have possibly even found themselves in and the actors do such an amazing job portraying what their characters are feeling that it makes it nearly impossible to not feel something as you're watching.
And if you think that the cast just isn't doing it for you, tune in for any number of amazing guest stars. Last season, we saw Josh Groban and the incomparable Kristin Chenoweth (star of "Wicked" on Broadway). This year, Idina Menzel who starred in "Rent" on Broadway plays the director of the rival show choir and is joined by Jonathan Groff, a Broadway sensation who played opposite Lea Michele in "Spring Awakening". We'll also see Neil Patrick Harris and who doesn't love themselves some NPH?
You guys, Glee is seriously legit. Forget about the stereotype of it as a "singing and dancing" show because it's a lot more than that.
First and foremost, Glee makes you smile. Personally, I love to smile. Sure there are some sad and dramatic moments but when you end with a song and Jane Lynch is involved, you walk away feeling pretty good. These days I think everyone can use something to lift them up every now and again.
Speaking of the singing, this is the choir nerd coming out in me but it is seriously amazing. In the most recent issue of Rolling Stone (which I should have bought yesterday at the grocery store! Man!), executive producer Ryan Murphy said that Lea Michele, who plays Rachel, has the voice of a generation. He isn't kidding. Michele's voice can be compared to a modern day Barbra Streisand. The emotion she puts into each and every song she sings on the show stays with you long after the performance. She's been a Broadway sensation since she was eight years old and has a voice that she was simply born to share.
It isn't only Michele's voice that stands out, however. Every member of the cast has had some sort of professional experience singing. Matthew Morrison who plays Mr. Schuster has also been on Broadway for years and was nominated for a Tony. The girl who played Mercedes auditioned for American Idol. This isn't a show where a bunch of actors were cast to also be singers and dancers. Every single person on this show is a bonafide performer, an actual triple threat. They sing, dance and act equally as well - they are the complete package.
The songs they sing also speak to the audience, no matter which era of music you enjoy. Some of the songs the cast has covered includes Journey's "Don't Stop Believing", "Hello Goodbye" and "Imagine" by the Beatles, "Jump", "Proud Mary", "Lean on Me" and many more classics. The group has also sung songs from Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, and, most recently, The All-American Rejects just to throw a more modern twist in there. There have been Broadway songs as well with Lea Michele (Rachel) famously singing "Don't Rain on My Parade" from the movie "Funny Girl" in the Sectionals episode. There's something for everyone and every song resonates for the tone or theme of that particular episode. In fact, Murphy has said that after writing an episode, he picks a song to coincide with what's happening. And it's perfect every time.
Plus the content of the show is completely current and relevant. Sure it's about a glee club but more importantly it's first and foremost about the differences in everyone and embracing those differences. It's about the fact that jock or nerd, gay or straight, black or white, everyone has struggles, everyone has passions, everyone has dreams and goals and aspirations. The show also focuses on issues like teen pregnancy, divorce, love, and good old-fashioned competition. They're issues that viewers can relate to and have possibly even found themselves in and the actors do such an amazing job portraying what their characters are feeling that it makes it nearly impossible to not feel something as you're watching.
And if you think that the cast just isn't doing it for you, tune in for any number of amazing guest stars. Last season, we saw Josh Groban and the incomparable Kristin Chenoweth (star of "Wicked" on Broadway). This year, Idina Menzel who starred in "Rent" on Broadway plays the director of the rival show choir and is joined by Jonathan Groff, a Broadway sensation who played opposite Lea Michele in "Spring Awakening". We'll also see Neil Patrick Harris and who doesn't love themselves some NPH?
You guys, Glee is seriously legit. Forget about the stereotype of it as a "singing and dancing" show because it's a lot more than that.
Blahgging
This post doesn't really serve any purpose except to serve as a pep talk of sorts for myself and to say that the blog has kind of burned me out the last few weeks. No real reason. It just kind of turned into a chore for me. Something else to add on to the jam-packed days I'm already having. I don't really know where the time goes, but by the time I'm home I'm just too tired, lazy, disinterested, whatever you want to call it to turn the computer back on and put my thoughts into words.
This is not to say that life isn't going well for me right now. On the contrary, things are great. Work's a tiny bit stressful with the added workload and details of baseball season but stress happens. I think, more than anything else, for a little bit the blog just didn't really seem as important in the grand scheme of things. It literally just took a giant backseat to the rest of my life.
Then I started to wonder why I bother with this at all. What's the point? Who cares? Why do I feel like I constantly have to make what I say the funniest, wittiest, most analytical comments? Why am I putting this pressure on myself? I seriously felt like I was in some kind of competition to make what I had to say stand out above the rest and it just started to feel so silly. I briefly thought about shutting things down.
My brother finally put things into perspective for me when I told him about it. He said "Wow. You put way too much thought into it. You know like five people read our blogs but I write it anyway."
And he's right. I overthink everything so unnecessarily. I do this because I like to and that's that. If I can't for a few days, then I can't. It's not an assignment that's due or a deadline I have to meet. It's supposed to be fun and it's supposed to just happen. I feel like everything I write always has to be written with a purpose; that every word I choose has to be the perfect exact word. It doesn't.
So I'm back on the blogging train but with somewhat of a new attitude and just a new approach. Hope you're on board too.
This is not to say that life isn't going well for me right now. On the contrary, things are great. Work's a tiny bit stressful with the added workload and details of baseball season but stress happens. I think, more than anything else, for a little bit the blog just didn't really seem as important in the grand scheme of things. It literally just took a giant backseat to the rest of my life.
Then I started to wonder why I bother with this at all. What's the point? Who cares? Why do I feel like I constantly have to make what I say the funniest, wittiest, most analytical comments? Why am I putting this pressure on myself? I seriously felt like I was in some kind of competition to make what I had to say stand out above the rest and it just started to feel so silly. I briefly thought about shutting things down.
My brother finally put things into perspective for me when I told him about it. He said "Wow. You put way too much thought into it. You know like five people read our blogs but I write it anyway."
And he's right. I overthink everything so unnecessarily. I do this because I like to and that's that. If I can't for a few days, then I can't. It's not an assignment that's due or a deadline I have to meet. It's supposed to be fun and it's supposed to just happen. I feel like everything I write always has to be written with a purpose; that every word I choose has to be the perfect exact word. It doesn't.
So I'm back on the blogging train but with somewhat of a new attitude and just a new approach. Hope you're on board too.
4.08.2010
New Link
We've added a new link to the blog list so go check it out!
My brother has a blog through Tumblr called But Mainly Stay Classy. It's a sports blog, with an emphasis on the Lake Show because, hello, they are awesome and we are from LA. I may be biased but I think he writes some legit stuff and is super talented. He's parlaying it into an internship writing for a website called Premiere Sports Talk which is set to launch soon so I'm pretty proud of him. Take a look at his stuff!
My brother has a blog through Tumblr called But Mainly Stay Classy. It's a sports blog, with an emphasis on the Lake Show because, hello, they are awesome and we are from LA. I may be biased but I think he writes some legit stuff and is super talented. He's parlaying it into an internship writing for a website called Premiere Sports Talk which is set to launch soon so I'm pretty proud of him. Take a look at his stuff!
4.07.2010
VideoS of the Day 4/7/10 - Plural Edition
There are some amazing videos out there right now.
Sooo if you didn't get the memo, Glee is back in six days. I love Glee. I will be posting something (possibly tonight - clearly I've got the blogging bug back) about why Glee is an amazing show. There will also be a countdown of the top-five moments/performances from last season. It's a Glee explosion.
To start off here is a teaser of the new season with some RIDIC singing by Lea Michele who plays Rachel. Not going to lie, I want to be her.
Shoutout to Julie for this video. This is Derek Hough and Chelsie Hightower dancing the Paso Doble with Mark Ballas on guitar. All three are pro dancers on Dancing with the Stars. I didn't watch the elimination show last night so any fans who did have already seen this. Spoiler alert: Buzz was voted off. But is that really a spoiler for anyone?
I've tried adjusting the embed code but for some reason it's not doing anything sooo the stupid video is wider than my blog is. Why doesn't YouTube offer the smaller versions anymore? Enjoy anyway.
Sooo if you didn't get the memo, Glee is back in six days. I love Glee. I will be posting something (possibly tonight - clearly I've got the blogging bug back) about why Glee is an amazing show. There will also be a countdown of the top-five moments/performances from last season. It's a Glee explosion.
To start off here is a teaser of the new season with some RIDIC singing by Lea Michele who plays Rachel. Not going to lie, I want to be her.
Shoutout to Julie for this video. This is Derek Hough and Chelsie Hightower dancing the Paso Doble with Mark Ballas on guitar. All three are pro dancers on Dancing with the Stars. I didn't watch the elimination show last night so any fans who did have already seen this. Spoiler alert: Buzz was voted off. But is that really a spoiler for anyone?
I've tried adjusting the embed code but for some reason it's not doing anything sooo the stupid video is wider than my blog is. Why doesn't YouTube offer the smaller versions anymore? Enjoy anyway.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)