August 2007 Archives

Some Britons may have come to regret their queen-bashing, flower-tossing, and mile-long queues to sign her "Book of Remembrance," but for many, Peter Singer points out in a recent column, Diana has become something akin to a saint.

"Some had a 'Diana room' in their homes, filled with memorabilia of the princess," he writes of Diana fans he encountered at the opening of the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain in London in 2004. "Their lives, it seemed, now revolved around a woman who had been dead for seven years." From the near mythic rumors about the circumstances of her death to sculptures portraying her as the Virgin Mary, Diana worship, says Singer, a professor of bioethics at Princeton University, "as absurd as any cult."

Absurd, maybe, but the canonization of Diana goes on.

For those of us diehard Buffy/Angel fans who can't seem to get over the fact that so far nothing can truly replace Buffy and Angel (and probably Spike, too), at least on the small screen, and for those of us who revel in a good dose of the paranormal now and again (and again and again), I propose my all time favorite vampire novels as a fix!

1. The "Twilight" series by Stephenie Meyer. When I picked up "Twilight," the first time I read the entire book in a single sitting--all 600 pages of it. Then I read it again. And again. And then I prayed that Meyer would meet her impossible deadlines (which she did, thank God) and deliver us books two and three, "New Moon" and "Eclipse" respectively. Both of these books resemble her first novel in the way that reading them is like experiencing a temporary but insanely intense drug addiction.

The "Twilight" series introduces readers to the best paranormal love triangle ever, with Edward Cullen playing the role as the sexiest 17-year-old vampire heartthrob with the most chivalrous sense of virtue the world has ever known. Jacob Black is his long-haired, sweet-natured rival (whose quirk I won't give away, since it's a spoiler), and Bella is the human caught between these two gorgeous, unusual suitors. The rival between Edward and Jacob is so fiery it has even jumps off of the page. In addition to T-shirts that say "I heart Edward Cullen," you can purchase baby tee's that say "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob" depending on your preference. I'm "Team Edward" all the way. And I'm already counting the days 'til the release of book four, "Breaking Dawn," due out next summer.

We here at Idol Chatter can fulminate all we want about media coverage of Owen Wilson's suicide attempt, but Therese Borchard over at Beyond Blue, a blog all about mental health, can actually speak to how we can process and understand this sad news. Check out her post here. The most instructive part of her comments, to me, was this:

"What triggered it?" is everyone’s first question, a query that has always annoyed me. As if his break-up with Kate Hudson was the rationale behind his slashed left wrist and stomach full of pills. Such justification is our way of staying out of it, of segregating ourselves from those who can’t handle messy breakups. By assigning pain to a specific event or circumstance, we can hypothetically remain immune to that hopelessness inherit to a suicide attempt. Because we’re not dating Kate Hudson. And if we were, surely a breakup wouldn't take us to that pathetic place.

As a child, I remember hearing adults talk about the day JFK was shot, recounting with vivid detail where they were when they heard the news. I knew, even as a child, that the death of the president had been a historic tagedy, but sensed that there was an emotional resonance I couldn’t connect with; a personal aspect that I couldn't quite grasp. Later, I learned that many people of that generation shared a common sorrow over idealism and hope they felt died that day in Dallas. And yet, it seemed that my generation had never experienced such a visceral, unifying, moment.

Other than distinctly recalling laying on my living room’s shag carpet watching television when I heard about the U.S. bombing of Libya in 1986, I don’t remember where I was during many of the great breaking news stories of the last three decades. But I can describe to you in exhaustive detail where I was the night Diana died, though I won’t. Simply put, I was staying at a friend’s apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn, watching "Saturday Night Live" (Spice Girls were the guests that night).

At that point, Diana had been rushed to the hospital and had not yet passed away, but I still felt this immense despondency. I was never a devoted royals watcher, so the reaction confused me. But I stood vigil at the television, taking in every iota of information. This is, I thought to myself, my JFK moment.

In between all of the big-budget action adventures and horror films in theaters earlier in the year, one thriller slipped under the radar, but resurfaced on DVD a few weeks ago. "The Lookout" could have been nothing more than another cat and mouse crime caper, but this movie surprised me with a fresh premise, some truly interesting characters, and a strong redemptive theme. "The Lookout" might not be quite at the level of a few of the film noirs it honors, like "Memento," but I still enjoyed it enough to recommend it as my DVD pick for this week.

The anti-hero in need of salvation in this tale is Chris Pratt (a fabulous Joseph Gorden-Levitt of "Third Rock from the Sun" fame), a teen who was once a popular, revered, but arrogant and selfish hockey player. One night while driving on a dark country road with friends, Chris pulls a crazy stunt that leaves two of his pals dead and his girlfriend permanently disfigured. Chris also sustains life-changing injuries including brain damage.

A few years after the accident, Chris is now a shell of his former self. He works as a night janitor at a bank because he is not capable of doing much else. He is estranged from his wealthy family and lives with an eccentric blind man (Jeff Daniels ) in a rundown apartment.