When news junkies have spent three days watching a guy hanging out on top of a construction crane blocks from your studios, we do not want to see a Breaking News crawl when he finally comes down. We want to see him come down live, dammit! We don't want to watch a rerun of Aaron Brown. He was boring the first time around!
Of course, I am the only person in America sitting at home, drinking rum and watching this guy hanging out on his little white crane on Peachtree. So you probably shouldn't listen to me anyway.
Grudging love (but just for Anderson Cooper, who I always adore),
Dana
5.28.2005
5.25.2005
You'll never walk...aw hell...
Well, maybe 2005 is just going to be a good year the teams I follow. Or maybe if the Titans are hurting, all of my out-of-town teams decide to overachieve or something. But I'm so happy for Liverpool, who pulled out a thrilling win over AC Milan today. If anyone saw this coming at the half, they would have to be lying. But they did it, and their long-suffering fans deserve this. Congrats.
5.24.2005
When Celebrities Should Really Just Shut Up
Apparently Tom Cruise doesn't have enough to do promoting his new movie, trying to get MI:3 off the ground, and making a fool out of himself with his new girlfriend on Oprah. He's now trying to telling fellow actors what they're doing wrong with their brain chemistry.
See, Cruise is a Scientologist, a sect that is apparently not too fond of psychiatry as a field. And Brooke Shields, whom he acted with in Endless Love almost 25 years ago, recently released a book detailing her battle with postpartum depression. In it, she mentioned being prescribed Paxil, taking it for awhile, going off of it when she felt better, then going way off the deep end and ending up going back on the meds. Very riveting story, and very much not abnormal for anyone who's ever been through clinical depression themselves. But apparently Tom Cruise doesn't think so, and he saw fit to say so to Access:Hollywood's Billy Bush:
"These drugs are dangerous. I have actually helped people come off," Cruise maintains to Bush. "When you talk about postpartum, you can take people today, women, and what you do is you use vitamins. There is a hormonal thing that is going on, scientifically, you can prove that. But when you talk about emotional, chemical imbalances in people, there is no science behind that. You can use vitamins to help a woman through those things."
Okay, Tom, I'd really like to know if you've ever really spent a day truly depressed in your life. Or at least in the way Brooke described in her book, parts of which I've read. When she was having severe mood swings and having delusional thoughts of throwing her baby against a wall, she should have been taking vitamins?
See, it is true that there are chemicals involved here, and that certain vitamins and mineral supplements can help you control your levels of these chemicals. One of those, 5-HTP, is good at keeping an even level of serotonin in your bloodstream. These supplements are excellent, and a lot of people should be taking them who aren't. But when you enter a major depressive state, your body needs help producing serotinin beyond what it can naturally produce. And there are often other factors involved beyond just the chemicals, like learning how to deal with the emotions that are causing the problems in the first place.
But since Tom Cruise is such a star and seems so perfect and believable, some woman somewhere who's having a horrible time will hear what he says and think that he's right. They won't get the help they need and will turn to a bottle off multivitamins instead of turning to a crisis hotline. Just like people everyday are told by their pastors that they'll feel better if they turn away from sin and pray harder. Or some college professor tells a student that they're just not living up to their potential and need to quit being lazy and get to class or else. Or their buddies tell their friend to just have another beer and don't worry about it. It's amazing how people are so willing to accept a chronic illness of the body like arthritis or lupus, but refuse to believe that you can have an illness of your mind that's treatable but also deadly. And because of that, people go into a state of denial.
I've been around a lot of depressive people, and there are two things that you get very good at doing. One is maintaining a veneer of perfection. Even if you are a complete mess otherwise, the outside world only sees a polished version. The second thing is that you become a cocoon. You isolate yourself from the world, and only tell those few around you trust how you really feel. You're not looking for all the answers because the answers look out of reach, but you really need a glimpse of understanding, or just a hug. But instead you might end up getting a metaphorical slap in the face or a turned back. When the people you turn to tell you to "snap out of it" and give you their quick cures, or end up rejecting you altogether, that's the worst thing in the world, because it only pushes you further into the spiral.
If Tom Cruise really does feel true concern for Brooke Shields' well-being, the place to express that isn't on a tabloid TV program. That's not a place that's she's going to watch, say, "Wow, he's right! Get me his number!" and change her path. He should have tried to talk to her personally and privately. But moreover, even if he wanted to expressconcern about her physical and mental health, he should respect her ability to make her own decisions about them. Because even if it's not his own personal way, she's now happy and she's alive, along with her baby. And in the end, isn't that what matters?
See, Cruise is a Scientologist, a sect that is apparently not too fond of psychiatry as a field. And Brooke Shields, whom he acted with in Endless Love almost 25 years ago, recently released a book detailing her battle with postpartum depression. In it, she mentioned being prescribed Paxil, taking it for awhile, going off of it when she felt better, then going way off the deep end and ending up going back on the meds. Very riveting story, and very much not abnormal for anyone who's ever been through clinical depression themselves. But apparently Tom Cruise doesn't think so, and he saw fit to say so to Access:Hollywood's Billy Bush:
"These drugs are dangerous. I have actually helped people come off," Cruise maintains to Bush. "When you talk about postpartum, you can take people today, women, and what you do is you use vitamins. There is a hormonal thing that is going on, scientifically, you can prove that. But when you talk about emotional, chemical imbalances in people, there is no science behind that. You can use vitamins to help a woman through those things."
Okay, Tom, I'd really like to know if you've ever really spent a day truly depressed in your life. Or at least in the way Brooke described in her book, parts of which I've read. When she was having severe mood swings and having delusional thoughts of throwing her baby against a wall, she should have been taking vitamins?
See, it is true that there are chemicals involved here, and that certain vitamins and mineral supplements can help you control your levels of these chemicals. One of those, 5-HTP, is good at keeping an even level of serotonin in your bloodstream. These supplements are excellent, and a lot of people should be taking them who aren't. But when you enter a major depressive state, your body needs help producing serotinin beyond what it can naturally produce. And there are often other factors involved beyond just the chemicals, like learning how to deal with the emotions that are causing the problems in the first place.
But since Tom Cruise is such a star and seems so perfect and believable, some woman somewhere who's having a horrible time will hear what he says and think that he's right. They won't get the help they need and will turn to a bottle off multivitamins instead of turning to a crisis hotline. Just like people everyday are told by their pastors that they'll feel better if they turn away from sin and pray harder. Or some college professor tells a student that they're just not living up to their potential and need to quit being lazy and get to class or else. Or their buddies tell their friend to just have another beer and don't worry about it. It's amazing how people are so willing to accept a chronic illness of the body like arthritis or lupus, but refuse to believe that you can have an illness of your mind that's treatable but also deadly. And because of that, people go into a state of denial.
I've been around a lot of depressive people, and there are two things that you get very good at doing. One is maintaining a veneer of perfection. Even if you are a complete mess otherwise, the outside world only sees a polished version. The second thing is that you become a cocoon. You isolate yourself from the world, and only tell those few around you trust how you really feel. You're not looking for all the answers because the answers look out of reach, but you really need a glimpse of understanding, or just a hug. But instead you might end up getting a metaphorical slap in the face or a turned back. When the people you turn to tell you to "snap out of it" and give you their quick cures, or end up rejecting you altogether, that's the worst thing in the world, because it only pushes you further into the spiral.
If Tom Cruise really does feel true concern for Brooke Shields' well-being, the place to express that isn't on a tabloid TV program. That's not a place that's she's going to watch, say, "Wow, he's right! Get me his number!" and change her path. He should have tried to talk to her personally and privately. But moreover, even if he wanted to expressconcern about her physical and mental health, he should respect her ability to make her own decisions about them. Because even if it's not his own personal way, she's now happy and she's alive, along with her baby. And in the end, isn't that what matters?
If I had a magic wand, this would definitely happen...
"9 to 5 II" (or however you'd title it...since they'd probably be retirees, maybe "11-8"?) : When I was 5ish, that song was my very favorite thing in the world. My mom was a Home-Ec teacher, and I'd wander the halls of her school singing it over and over to poor defenseless students. Then my clueless parents let me watch the movie when it came out on TV, which I guess was okay, since most of it went over my head anyway (I just thought that the women really, really enjoyed cigarettes, and I didn't really get the sexual harassment stuff.) It was a really cool movie, and pretty revolutionary for its time, I think, since the women actually took charge and took names. Now that it's been 20 years or so and that glass ceiling's supposedly been busted and we've got this new era of political correctness in place, this could be a good place to see if things really have changed for the better, or if we're just shoving things into the closet.
This would definitely not happen...
Live Aid II: Bono and Sir Bob Geldorf had supposedly squelched this rumor yesterday, saying that the situation in Africa is too grave for one concert to make a difference, and that it would minimize the situation. I agree. What is needed for African relief is a worldwide concerted effort along the lines of the tsunami relief effort, not just one concert. However, my primary, selfish reason that I don't want LAII is because it would most likely suck compared to the first. Anyone remember who was on last Christmas' "Don't They Know It's Christmas?" Neither do I. (Except for Bono, who I would gladly listen to singing "Do Re Mi" all afternoon long.) And why does it have to be the same thing? Live Aid was in the 80s. The 90s was Lollapollooza and all its imitators. Is this all that the 2000s going to be - rehashes? We've already had a Woodstock that turned into a riot. Let's not take a chance on ruining another great memory and actually figure out how to do something original for a change.
(Note to self: Buy DVD of original LA.)
"9 to 5 II" (or however you'd title it...since they'd probably be retirees, maybe "11-8"?) : When I was 5ish, that song was my very favorite thing in the world. My mom was a Home-Ec teacher, and I'd wander the halls of her school singing it over and over to poor defenseless students. Then my clueless parents let me watch the movie when it came out on TV, which I guess was okay, since most of it went over my head anyway (I just thought that the women really, really enjoyed cigarettes, and I didn't really get the sexual harassment stuff.) It was a really cool movie, and pretty revolutionary for its time, I think, since the women actually took charge and took names. Now that it's been 20 years or so and that glass ceiling's supposedly been busted and we've got this new era of political correctness in place, this could be a good place to see if things really have changed for the better, or if we're just shoving things into the closet.
This would definitely not happen...
Live Aid II: Bono and Sir Bob Geldorf had supposedly squelched this rumor yesterday, saying that the situation in Africa is too grave for one concert to make a difference, and that it would minimize the situation. I agree. What is needed for African relief is a worldwide concerted effort along the lines of the tsunami relief effort, not just one concert. However, my primary, selfish reason that I don't want LAII is because it would most likely suck compared to the first. Anyone remember who was on last Christmas' "Don't They Know It's Christmas?" Neither do I. (Except for Bono, who I would gladly listen to singing "Do Re Mi" all afternoon long.) And why does it have to be the same thing? Live Aid was in the 80s. The 90s was Lollapollooza and all its imitators. Is this all that the 2000s going to be - rehashes? We've already had a Woodstock that turned into a riot. Let's not take a chance on ruining another great memory and actually figure out how to do something original for a change.
(Note to self: Buy DVD of original LA.)
5.23.2005
Continuing the Titans Lineup at the CJC...
Titans wide receiver Tyrone Calico cited on May 12th for public indecency after being caught rockin' and rollin' with an 18-year-old in the back of an SUV....
...And across Middle Tennessee, guys at sports bars and outta earshot of their wives are slapping each other's backs and praising Calico's prowess to the gods.
...And across Middle Tennessee, guys at sports bars and outta earshot of their wives are slapping each other's backs and praising Calico's prowess to the gods.
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