Closed... for now

Want to do something different, write in a different blog. So, until God knows when, flytrap has caught its last insect.

Liar liar your pants, and your book, are on fire

And you thought he'd be disgraced. In this day and age? Bah. James Frey (pic), the author of that less-than-credible memoir "A Million Little Pieces" (which should've been called "A Million Little Lies" for all the stuff he made up), is getting a novel published by HarperCollins. The book, titled "Bright Shiny Morning," is set for the summer of 2008, and most likely will NOT have to do with the public scolding Oprah Winfrey gave him on her show. Like Augusten Burroughs and most recently David Sedaris, Frey belongs to a dubious club of writers who, instead of saying they're writing fiction, pretend to be writing memoirs, making their lives oh-so-much-more hilarious and crazy and bizarre than ours. Should Frey write again? Sure, this is not communist China. Should America buy his book? Ah, that is the question. After being duped, well, first time, shame on you, second time, shame on me. Regarding the issue of how some authors like to "stretch" the truth when writing about their lives, i.e., those mentioned here, there's a great opinion piece in the Sept./Oct. 07 issue of "Poets & Writers" magazine. Andrew Furman, chair of the Department of English at Florida Atlantic University, nails it down when he writes "... I believe our culture's expanding tolerance for fiction presented as fact threatens to diminish the distant aesthetic impact of nonfiction - that arresting sympathy we often feel for writers who immerse themselves in the fray of lived experience to extract real meaning."

What Perez Sez - NOT!

VH1 has reeeally hit rock bottom. So much so, that it's prompted me to go back to my blog and write. At 9 p.m. tonight, the much ballyhooed "What Perez Sez" show premiered. A vomit-inducing, nauseating second-tier star lovefest, it lacked any of the wit, spark or sarcasm his blog can exhibit. Three, out of many, major problems I had with the show: 1) the host may be a witty writer, but he's a terrible presence on camera. The voice, particularly, is just atrocious. 2) the program reeked of old stuff. And it was, since it came AFTER the recently held 2007 VMAs. Like, really dude, who cares at this point? That show was crap and, other than the Britney misfire, nothing to talk about. Oh yeah, Britney. His muse and inspiration, suddenly turned into the object of his derision because of her performance at the VMAs. Well, Perez was not even able to get a real face shot of Spears! 3) he conveniently ignored the gay issue. Something he hits on so much on his site, blogging about who's gay and who's not, was not acknowledged here, except when it had to do with his own sexuality or that of a lesbian singer friend of his bowling with him (huh?) But when it came, for example, to his pal Mika, whose sexual preference has been questioned, Perez was all lovey-dovey with him and threw the typical softballs. From then on, the show just got worse (and yes, that was possible). I mean, twice he commented on passing gas, or burping. Is that funny? Where? Not being prepared for his attempts at interviewing also made me cringe. And no BIG stars would talk to him. I think he will have lots of trouble getting them on camera unless, like Eve, they're promoting an album that is not doing so well. Bottom line: "What Perez Sez" insulted my intelligence and betrayed the once interesting concept of his blog. Its lack of humor, charm, and real exclusives was a letdown as big as... as big as Britney's of course! If this is a so-called special, where artists were easily within his reach yet some openly dissed him or ignored him, and the best he could do was change clothes in an alley at the end, putting on drag and trying to be Divine (sir, you are NOT Divine), what can be expected from the other shows? Torture.

Time to pack Mr. Craig

Sure, he was hounded by the paper. Of course, it was a police trap. Those are his arguments. Idaho Republican Larry Craig, from our esteemed and noble U.S. Senate, got caught with the hands in the cookie jar. Er, in this case, in a public restroom. Apparently pulling a George Michael. So, he pleaded guilty to the charge of disorderly conduct. He accepted the charges that he was attempting to engage in illicit sex with another man (a cop) in a bathroom. And now he is recanting. Not only is he a self-hating homo and a homophobe, but he is also delusional in maintaining he did nothing wrong. His fellow Republicans have left him twisting in the wind and so, Mr. Craig, it's time for you to leave the stage. And never come back.

Foul player

If you haven't been able to sleep ever since soccer player for Italy, defender Marco Materazzi, insulted French player Zinedine Zidane in the World Cup final, and wondered what he said that infuriated Zidane to the point of head-butting his rival, you can now relax: in typical milk-the-moment fashion, Materazzi has written an autobiography (yawn) and has revealed what he said.
"I prefer the whore that is your sister," is what caused the scandal, and those words the Italian discusses in his yet-to-be-launched book. Italy won the game, Materazzi got a book deal and Zidane saw his career vanish. Obviously, there's something very wrong with this picture. Materazzi may have won the battle, but he lost the war. What a joke of an athlete. He deserves for his book to be nothing but a foul.

The wrong pass

Does anyone smell rip off here? Let's see: so far, 32-year-old David Beckham, the Messiah who was to save soccer in this country, who's being paid by the L.A. Galaxy team more money than the GNP of Togo, has managed to: 1) sit on the bench, 2) hang out with Hollywood stars, 3) sprain his ankle, 4) play for 21 minutes, 5) collect his paychecks. If I were the owners of the team, I would be feeling really nervous, and would start downing a different kind of Becks to make the pain go away. A Becks beer.

Can we all say hypocrite in Spanish? 'Hipocrita'

Former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney, who's running for president of this country, has shifted what once was a moderate position on illegal immigration to one that makes fellow Republican Tom Tancredo's seem downright welcoming. So now the Mormon candidate who once governed quited adeptly a liberal state wants to win over the hardcore conservative base of his party. You know, those pious, God-fearing true Americans that praise the Lord while cavorting with prostitutes and male escorts. What does he do? Come down on immigrants hard. BUT... does he care to comment on the illegal Guatemalans (as reported by various media) that built his mansion? Guess he would say to that "I don't recall," one of the favorite lines of members in this administration.