In the world that is Hollywood, cynicism is almost a given. I mean, there are times when it does seem like celebrities are jaded and shallow and just caught up on themselves. But not today!
Heath Ledger, before he passed away, was in the midst of filming "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus". To finish the film, a few different actors stepped into the role, playing different "versions" of Ledger's character - Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell.
Well, word has come out that due to the untimely death of Ledger, he hadn't updated his will and Matilda, his 2-year-old daughter, had been completely left out of it.
(Michelle Williams, with daughter Matilda)
When the three guys taking over Heath's role - Depp, Law, and Farrell - learned about this, they decided that they will donate all the money they earn from the role to Matilda!
How cool is that? I mean, just a super classy and exceptionally generous move on the parts of these actors that really didn't need to do anything at all. I think that with all the bad press actors and celebrities get these days, these guys deserve to be recognized for this.
Way to go, guys! I am very impressed!
Fuwa!
Monday 08-18-2008 4:58pm CT
What is Fuwa, you might ask?
Well, Fuwa is a they - and they are the official mascots for the Beijing Olympics!
"Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration, Fuwa will serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace -- and good wishes from China -- to children all over the world.
Designed to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China's most popular animals -- the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow -- and the Olympic Flame.
Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name -- a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.
When you put their names together -- Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni -- they say "Welcome to Beijing," offering a warm invitation that reflects the mission of Fuwa as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games.
Fuwa also embody both the landscape and the dreams and aspirations of people from every part of the vast country of China. In their origins and their headpieces, you can see the five elements of nature -- the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky -- all stylistically rendered in ways that represent the deep traditional influences of Chinese folk art and ornamentation."
I haven't seen these guys around much - only a couple times at the beach volleyball courts. But they are pretty darn cute!
I never realized there were official mascots for each Olympic Games. Click here to see other mascots from Olympic Games past! What are your favorites? And do you really remember seeing them around the games before? Let me know!!!
:)
Why I Didn't Make The Olympics
Friday 08-15-2008 7:18pm CT
A lot of us will be watching the Olympics again this weekend - really I can't get enough! The cool part about all these Olympic athletes is how they make the skills seem so effortless! Really, that's why they are so good! Just watching Michael Phelps in the water - he makes it look like he's not even trying!
But in reality, the stuff these athletes do is remarkably difficult! No matter what the event or skill is, you have to hand it to these guys. They are amazing! I mean, just look at what happens when regular people try their hand at Olympic events!
Luckily, all this weekend we get to watch the athletes, not the crazies, do their thing. Let me know how you are enjoying the Olympics, and what your favorite event is!
GO USA!!!
Semant-Olympics
Thursday 08-14-2008 4:41pm CT
I am absolutely addicted to the Olympics! I have gotten so little sleep in the last week that I will probably fall asleep halfway through typing this. But it's SO worth it! I mean, I can't turn the TV off, no matter how tired I am.
Like a lot of people, I got pulled into the Women's Gymnastics Team Event the other night. I was pulling so hard for those girls! I mean, they are such a great team and they have performed so well! But, as you know, one little fall can throw the whole shebang outta whack. And that's what happened to poor Alicia Sacramone.
Now, I was an athlete straight through college, and I know how hard it is to come back after you make an error. I was never good at it, that's why I never quite made it to the Olympics. So when Alicia Sacramone fell on the beam, I knew it was gonna be tough. But I think she faught back pretty well under the circumstances.
My problem with this whole thing, though, is the woman for NBC that interviewed Alicia after the medal ceremony. Now, the US Team just came off the podium from WINNING a silver medal! I mean, how many teams did they beat that night? But all the interviewer could ask was, essentially, how Alicia felt about LOSING the gold medal! Are you kidding me?
The US Women's Gymnastics Team just proved to the world that they are one of the best teams around! The only team better than them is a very good team from China - who worked as hard as the US did to earn themselves a gold medal! And all this poor girl is asked is how she feels about screwing up the US's chance at a gold medal?!?!?
I think that Alicia handled this crazy reporter like a champ. She's the team captain, and held it together very well with this harsh barage of questions, and believe me, the burden she put on her shoulders (she said herself that she felt that she blew it for the team) did NOT need to be added to by this reporter.
Plus, big kudos for Team USA rallying around their captain in the interview directly following. The same reporter tried to bring up the "loss" again (it seemed like she just wanted to see if she could make Alicia cry - which she didn't do), and Shawn Johnson kept reiterating, "We won the silver medal."
I say, WAY TO GO USA! These ladies put on a great show, and WON THE SILVER! That's HUGE! And I hate that our media decided to focus on what they didn't get, instead of what they did!
Don't listen to them, ladies! I think you did AMAZING!
© 2008