George Lucas has been based in Marin County, California, since 1978, when he famously built his Skywalker Ranch. The facility sits on 19 km² of land, and contains a barn with animals, vineyards, a garden with fruits and vegetables used in the on-site restaurant, an outdoor swimming pool and fitness center, the man-made "Lake Ewok," a hilltop observatory, a 300-seat theatre called "The Stag," as well as multiple theater screening rooms, and parking that is mostly concealed underground to preserve the natural landscape.
Skywalker Sound was moved onto the ranch in 1987, now occupying the Technical Building.The Main House has a company research library under a stained-glass dome. Lucas does not live on the Ranch.
The ranch also has its own fire station, which is part of the Marin County Mutual Aid system, and is often called on to assist firefighters in nearby Marinwood.
Sounds pretty sweet, except that Lucas' rebellious neighbours are targetting his empire. But as some salty space pirate once said, "It's not wise to upset a Wookiee film legend."
So, you want to look like Courtney Love? Who doesn't?! The former Mrs. Kurt Cobain gave New York Magazine's Grub Street the rundown of her weekly "New York Diet." Here are a few exerpts. It's... kind of weird.
Friday, April 27
"Every day I have my house manager, Hershey — who I stole from the Mercer Hotel with André Balazs's blessing — wake me up with a hot washcloth for my face, a leg rub, and a plate of toast soldiers.
Then someone always gets chicken potpie and potato salad from D.D., you know, Dean & Deluca. If I can't afford D.D., I just don't eat.
One thing from living next to Paris Hilton in L.A. ... she always had a fresh cake in her house. So I make sure someone gets a full, fresh new one every day, like marzipan. My house manager tries to put it in the fridge, but I don't like refrigeration. I know, so 'Portlandia' of me. But I'm sorry, I'm from Portland!"
"That's what I eat. Every day. And then I need sugar from 4 a.m. to 5 a.m.."
Yesterday I posted about an ad campaign for Popchips featuring Ashton Kutcher portraying various characters on a dating website, worldwidelovers.com. In the ad, Ashton pretends to be several people of different ethnic/cultural backgrounds trying to find love.
One is an English guy with dreadlocks who apparently uses drugs. The idea there is that a. Ashton is using a British accent (how cheeky), and b. anyone with dreadlocks (read: Jamaican in spirit) smokes weed.
One is an effeminate European with a little pet dog and lots of attitude. At one point he claims to have stopped breathing to appear thinner (read: eating disorder, fashionistas must be thin).
One is a tattooed, bearded redneck, but wait... he seems to be sensitive? But that makes no sense! People with tattoos and beards must be lunkheaded neanderthals. This ad campaign is pushing some buttons, I tell ya!
Then there's Raj, a "Bollywood" producer looking for "the most delicious thing on the planet." Here's where the world seems to have stopped in it's tracks, jaws hitting the floor.
Amid all the rumours about Ashton Kutcher dating Rihanna, Ashton Kutcher dating Mila Kunis, even Ashton Kutcher dating his own step daughter, Ashton Kutcher is starring in an ad for a dating service.
In the ad, Ashton plays a Bollywood producer, an English stoner, a "Karl Lagerfeld" guy, a tattooed redneck, and then himself. All of them looking for love, all of them kind of odd.
It's supposed to be funny, and although it's more creepy than funny, what's creepier is that Ashton is associating himself with a dating website. Worldwidelovers.com, to be exact.
Except that it's not exact... as in it's a parody for Popchips, the "delicious, all-natural, healthier" chips that are "popped! Never fried, never baked." It took me a while to figure out what was going on. Popchips do turn up in the video, but only for a second, and it's when the "Lagerfeld" guy lets his dog lick a popchip before eating it himself. Gross!
Update: In the last 24 hours Kutcher and Popchips have gotten a lot of flack for the 'Raj' character, with critics calling the 'Bollywood producer' "racist and offensive". According to The Associated Press a spokeswoman for Popchips says the ad was "created to provoke a few laughs and was never intended to stereotype or offend anyone." She added that the company hopes "people can enjoy this in the spirit it was intended."
Celebrity blowhard Rosie O'Donnell weighed in earlier this week with her two cents about Lindsay Lohan. In other words, a washed up has-been clung to the very last string of controversy she could grasp, as her own career quickly slips under the radar for the last time.
Rosie, on the Today Show, was suggesting that Lohan is not in a place in her life to be working at all, and that she should be taking time away from the Hollywood machine to take care of herself.
“I feel very sorry for (Lohan),” O'Donnell, who's last movie of note was 1996's Harriet the Spy (Remember that one?...No? Me neither.), said Tuesday. “I think she needs a lot of time away... She’s had a lot of trouble doing every single movie, including ‘SNL.' She was out and not in rehearsal. I think she’s not in a place to work."
Because Rosie was there at every day of filming for everything Lindsay has ever done, and knows the full story.
But not everyone celebrates the coming weekend with such joyeaux. Take this French cat, Henri, for instance. In typical French art house style, not only is the proverbial glass half empty, the milk dish of life is almost completely empty. I think he just needs some cat nip and a rubber mouse, but that's generally my solution for everything.
So, here's the thing about writing blogs, especially when you're getting paid to do it: you have to write about something. Some days there just isn't that much going on. Hollywood, you would think, is rife with juicy, debauched, craziness, 24/7, right? Wrong.
Often there isn't much worth writing more than a sentence or two about. Sure, someone is so insecure that they posted yet another bikini pic on Twitter (Rihanna), and two big name actors are finally getting married after 6 kids (Brangelina), but that's not news that's going to hold people's attention for very long.
That's why, often, bloggers or "journalists" make stuff up. And when one makes up something so almost believable, the rest will follow. So it is with Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis.
Charlie Sheen is world famous for his substance abuse problems, and his stubbornness when it comes to dealing with them. His public meltdown last year, which was precipitated by a crack cocaine binge of legend, saw the troubled star go on a public rampage in an obviously impaired state that drew as much attention to his addictions than to any point he was trying to get across.
Recently Sheen revealed to Matt Lauer on the Today show that he still drinks. Lauer responded that he didn't think he could find any addiction specialist who would say to Sheen "It's okay to drink." To which Sheen responded, "Well, if you do, I should probably go to that guy!"
Last month the Anger Management actor was seen drunk at a Guns & Roses concert, although he claimed he was sloppy because he rarely drinks, and his state proved that he can't handle his liquor like he used to.
Now a commercial for the Dutch brewing company Bavaria Global's latest alcohol-free brew, Bavaria Lemon, has been released starring Sheen. The commercial shows the actor leaving rehab, only to discover that everyone, from cops to a pregnant lady, is drinking beer all around him. The catch, he soon realizes, is that the beer has no alcohol.
Warning: Sheen says the f-word during the commercial, something Dutch may have missed.
Grammy award winning singer Mary J. Blige is back...singing about chicken. Or rather she was back, until Burger King pulled the ad yesterday. The fast food chain said that the ad was pulled due to "licensing issues," and not critics claiming an African American woman singing about chicken is racist.
The ad features Blige singing soulfully about a new “crispy” chicken sandwich, which is smothered in cheese and ranch dressing and wrapped in a flour tortilla wrap. She is standing on a stage, mic in hand, nowhere near any actual chicken. David Beckham, Jay Leno, Salma Hayek and others also appear in new Burger King ads, a campaign to promote their new, healthier menu.
Madonna's new album, MDNA, has been released to somewhat lukewarm reviews (again), but one critic had more biting words to say about her performance at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami this past Saturday. Electronic music star Deadmau5 called out the 53 year old pop icon for referring to the drug ecstasy during her performance.
"How many people in this crowd have seen Molly?" she asked the 150,000 in attendance. Molly is slang for MDMA, a key ingredient in ecstasy, a drug often associated with dance music. Madonna's new album is called MDNA, which some see as a play on words...or chemical terms.
While the crowd erupted in cheers at the suggestion that some of them were doing drugs, the Canadian producer took to his Twitter and Facebook accounts to voice his displeasure.
"Very classy there madonna. "HUR DUR HAS ANYONE SEEN MOLLY???" such a great message for the young music lovers at ultra...quite the f'n philanthropist. but hey, at least yer HIP AND TRENDY! f**cking cant smack my head hard enough right now."
