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Leia1912

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About Leia1912

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    Link from another gossip board
  1. Leia1912

    What are you reading?

    Just popping in to throw some love at "The Historian." It's a slow-builder, so if you are having trouble getting into it, that's normal. Just keep pushing and suddenly it will start to read much faster. (TH really reminded me of an older writing style, which I liked. And I like the history, too, since that's my job!)
  2. Leia1912

    Paul & Stella McCartney clan

    The legal expert on MSNBC pointed out one of the factors in determining a divorce settlement is "lost opportunity"--that in a marriage, one party might put aside his/her professional interests in order to be married. The celebrity divorce lawyer began to laugh that marrying Paul didn't limit Heather's opportunities; it *gave* her opportunities.Along those lines, I was thinking, like you, colorine, that if she does continue to go after his money, she's really never going to be taken seriously as a professional again--because nobody would work with her, given the public hatred. She's destroying any chances she has for a post-divorce positive image, and that should be worth millions in itself to her. Example: Sarah Ferguson was a no-namer before marriage to Prince Andrew (to international media), and she survived post-divorce, and even got a lot of media and PR opportunities, because she had a fundamentally likeable image that wasn't completely destroyed by the divorce.
  3. Leia1912

    Paul & Stella McCartney clan

    It just hit MSNBC--she's turned down a 45 mill/settlement. The divorce lawyer they're interviewing (no connection to the Bitch) said it is because she wants to talk about "some behaviors" of Paul's, which should drive up the settlement-->so it appears she is preparing to criticize Paul for *something*.
  4. Leia1912

    Paul & Stella McCartney clan

    Okay, I just saw something revolting. Lainey is claiming that in her verbal hardball with Paul McCartney over the divorce settlement, Heather Mills has threatened to claim that Paul showed pedophile tendencies around his baby daughter. If that's the case and she did say such a thing, I hope the British press gets wind of this--she'll have to flee the country.
  5. Leia1912

    What are you reading?

    Trizzie writes: I'm feeling ya, Trizzie. I read it through because I, er, am all kinds of anal about leaving a book without finishing it, even if I hate it. (Heart of Darkness, for example.) It was interesting, though not just my cup o' tea. I ultimately prefer my reading fun as well as stimulating. Okay, a couple of mentions for you: Karen Harper, I think, The Other Boleyn: NOT The Other Boleyn Girl, to be turned into a movie. (Which is a pity, because beyond some nnnnnice scenes, there's a yummy love interest.) The story revolves around Mary Boleyn. I think this book was originally written in the 1970s/80s--Harper since does Elizabethan mystery, I think, but this book is just straight-up historical fiction. ETA the title is The Last Boleyn. --and not because I've read it lately, but because I recently saw it again on my shelf and almost teared up at the memory: Phantom, by Susan Kay. This is on my list of books I wish I'd written (along with the Harry Potter series). It's a first-person historical fic novel of the Phantom of the Opera's life, birth-death, and Erik here is just *sob* perfect.
  6. Leia1912

    Star Jones

    Defamer is reporting (via MediaTakeOut) that Big Gay Al has been suspiciously sighted at a divorce lawyer's office. Given Ted Casablanca's BI (Quelle Surprise), it seems Star's star continues to fall! MediaTakeOut.com is reporting that husband Al Reynolds was spotted slinking into the offices of a prominent New York divorce attorney: Last week Al Reynolds visited the offices of the divorce law firm Blank Rome LLP in New York's Chrysler building. MediaTakeOut.com spoke exclusively with a building employee who first noticed Star's soon-to-be-ex. According to the witness, "Al walked up to the security desk and signed in to visit [one of the Blank Rome's divorce lawyers] Stanford Lotwin." [...] After remaining upstairs for nearly two hours, Al tried to quietly sneak out of the building. But before he could leave, the witness tells MediaTakeOut.com, "I walked up to him and said 'Al, is that you', and Al ran out of the building - almost knocking over a pregnant woman."
  7. Hehehe. Henry is played by Alessandro Nivola. Enjoy!
  8. Hey, it could get published. There are many, er, non-traditional Austen books on the market. Emma Tennant published one that had Jane Austen's Emma as a lesbian, for example. (I myself wish for one in which Fanny Price from "Mansfield Park" runs off with Henry Crawford after all--watch the 1999 film of "Mansfield Park" to see a really yummy Henry.)
  9. Leia1912

    What are you reading?

    You can get a lot of information about Terry Pratchett here: L-Space, a site that was spun off years ago from conversations between TP and his fans on UseNet. (In his last book, he actually had tributes to some of his old friends from the Net.) Just FYI, he's often referred to on that site by his userID, PTerry. This is a text version of the L-Space reading guide to the majority of his works, those set in his fantasy land, the Discworld: Terry Pratchett reading guide. You don't have to read all of the books, or read them in chronological order to generally get the idea of what's going on. It's easier to just dive in under a character group you might like, reading those books in chronological order, and then go exploring through the books as you like. I myself started with the books on the witches, because I wanted to read and understand what was going on in the Phantom send-up, Maskerade; that book involved the witch characters. But I especially recommend the books that involve the Watch, the lowly city cops, since they tend to be more accessible to the lay reader, I think. The 'Watch' Series --------------- Guards! Guards!** Men At Arms** Feet Of Clay** Jingo** The Fifth Elephant Night Watch** Monstrous Regiment* (minor element) Thud (One of those ** books I read during a rehab from surgery; I'd laugh till I hurt myself, take a breath, then read again, just because I was so hooked. I think it was Jingo, but I'm not sure.) You can look over the main ideas parodied for all Discworld books in this article from Wikipedia: Discworld on Wikipedia. The Death books are also great--the Hogfather, a book about Christmas, is especially a riot. Death's mighty steed is named Binky, a detail that makes me giggle every time the horse appears in the text. You can also step outside Terry Pratchett's usual fare, the Discworld, and read his book he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman, Good Omens. It's about a devil and an angel who have been locked in eternal battle, and now that Apocolypse is at hand (back in the day when cars had cassette players), they're just not really feeling like ending the universe and all that negative stuff. This book is *hysterical*, and I heard it was to be made into a major film--no idea if that's the truth or not.
  10. Leia1912

    What are you reading?

    Yeah, Foucault's Pendulum made my brain sweat! It's a good book but definitely a challenge. In regards Wicked--I had mixed emotions about it. On the one hand, it wasn't the book I wanted it to be--it wasn't a fun, easy, fanciful read. Instead, it's alternately political and poetic. (Son of a Witch is much more of a pop book than Wicked and I think it's the influence of the softened Broadway show. The Broadway show reworked the book to put the Girl Power angle front and center, making it a story of sisterhood rather than the diversity of points the author covers in the novel.) I've read the author's other books for adults (he's done takes on Snow White, Cinderella, and an original novel that plays with Dickens) and they're of the same sort--not the most fun books, but still, interesting. The success of Wicked apparently was the grounds for all of these re-takes; before Wicked, all of his books were kids' literature, I think. I just finished Lost and Found by Carolyn Parkhurst (or Pankhurst?) It is about an "Amazing Race"-style TV show, and each chapter is from the viewpoint of a participant on the show. It was okay--Just from the title, you can guess there's going to be a fluffy emotional journey involved. Also, the author seems to lean really hard on sex and sexuality issues in this book (e.g., one of the teams is a wife and hubby who are Christians who claim to have been redeemed from homosexuality). By the time the book closed, I felt like the story had just skimmed over the top of the plot material, that it could have been a much richer, more rewarding ride. (Besides, as a reality TV fan, I loved the show aspect of the book!) If you want really fun books to read, one of the members of my literary hall of fame would be Terry Pratchett. He's a British writer and you can find his books in the US under sci-fi/fantasy. You might be leery of a fantasy world, thinking, "Oh, Lord, it's Dungeons and Dragons!" but what Pratchett does is take real-world issues, set them in a hysterical parody world centered on a fantasy version of London, and send them up for mockery. He has *tons* of characters, including Death (one of my favorites--Death is great lover of humanity!), a well-meaning but inept bunch of cops, a bawdy witch whose favorite song is "The Hedgehog Can't Be Buggered," and so on. (Just from that song alone, you get a sense of TP's humor.) Plus, what's really fun about TP is that he weaves into his books all sorts of cultural references/word play jokes. When TP's "on," his books are really killer. You have to read a couple to really appreciate TP's world, though, so if they don't grab you from the start, keep reading!
  11. I'd recommend "Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: Pride and Prejudice Continues," by Linda Berdoll. It's a very sexy, very smart extension of P&P--*lots* of snarky, wink-wink double entendres. I was disappointed in the recent follow-up ("Darcy and Elizabeth"), which had major plot issues--like the author decided to jump back into the setting/characters without really knowing what the point of the book was. The first book was really fun, though, in a "I-know-this-is-fluff-but-by-God-let's-live-it-up" sort of way.
  12. Leia1912

    Star Jones

    What happened in Stargate was this:ABC had been wanting Star out as of last fall, because her Q ratings were in the sewer. Barbara Walters went to bat with ABC to keep Star, asking them to give her time, that the audience would forget the wedding hell etc. The numbers did not bounce up as BW had hoped and the decision was made Star would not be coming back. BW kept fighting with ABC for Star, not wanting to a.) give up and b.) especially drop the bomb at a bad time (like when Star's book was coming out). At this point, Star was made aware of her situation--*before* Rosie was hired, according to ABC and BW. (Star has suggested she found out a day or two before Rosie, which BW has said repeatedly is a lie.) At the time, it was suggested to her that she find other employment and at the end of the season, they could then announce she was going on to great new projects. BW was especially wound up about "protecting Star" and not letting her be seen publicly as fired. At this point in time, she made repeated statements in the press about it being "Star's decision" to return in the fall--the idea being so that nobody would know Star's contract wasn't being renewed, so Star would come out publicly as a winner, not a firee. Okay, so fast-forward in time. It was agreed by all parties that they'd officially announce Star was going the last week of June, the Thursday of that week. On Tuesday of this week, Star went off-script and made an announcement that she was leaving the show. This bothered BW because a.) they'd agreed to do it Thursday, and by that time everyone--including Joy, Elisabeth--would know (nobody other than the producers, BW, and Star knew as of Tuesday), b.) BW was *still* trying to change ABC's minds, as of this 11th hour, so she felt hung out to dry by Star without warning making the announcement and c.) (the big one) without letting BW, ABC, etc., know, Star had done a pity-me story with People, saying she'd been cruelly fired, that she'd been blindsided by the news her contract wouldn't be picked up, that the shows about her wedding had brought in the biggest ratings so she *must* be popular, etc. It was transparently obvious to BW et al. that the reason Star decided to move up her "announcement" on the show was because the story would be out as of Tuesday afternoon, thanks to People's publishing schedule. And that was it. That's why BW feels "betrayed" (her words) and that Star chose to leave w/o dignity. In BW's mind, she's been fighting all year long to either keep Star or release her without the whole world knowing she'd been fired. Star sabotaged that effort, aired dirty laundry in public, and embarrassed Barbara Walters. This morning, either Star was informed that she should not come back to the View--ever--or Star refused to go in to work. Either way, ABC made the decision that Star was not welcome back. (She was supposed to leave in mid-July; they've fired her immediately, rather than let her work off her remaining days.) She was removed from the opening credits, removed from the Website, and BW went on, first thing, to announce Star was not welcome back at The View. That light you see on the horizon is a bridge being burned! And apparently it's all because Star couldn't wait 2 extra days to reveal her departure, and hold off on doing a People interview until she actually left the show/was about to leave the show.
  13. Leia1912

    Star Jones

    OMG, this is great. Barbara Walters just announced on The View that Star is not coming back to the view except for pre-recorded segments. She said that they'd been trying to work out a way for Star to leave "with dignity" but Star "chose otherwise." She said The View had made Star a Star, too. Not only is Star gone, but she was just publicly trashed by *Barbara Walters* on national TV!
  14. Leia1912

    Celebrity Acts of Dumbness

    Just to add to the dumbassness of Ben Roethlisberger--he didn't even have a license to drive his stupid motorcycle! He had an expired temp's license--expired since March!
  15. Leia1912

    Does anyone read historicals?

    *peeks into the Books board* I love historical fiction, too. Margaret George rocks. P. Gregory is inconsistent--her early stuff (Wideacre series) is just plain crazy, but her Tudor fiction is pretty good, and I enjoyed her recent take on Catherine of Aragon. If you're looking for a mix of history and fun, check out "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation" and "The Masque of the Black Tulip," both by Lauren Willig. The set-up is that an intrepid grad student is researching her dissertation, which is about female spies in the French Revolution era. (Women working like the Scarlet Pimpernel.) The plot flips back and forth between the present day (our student and the man at the house where she's doing her research--a man who happens to be gorgeous, naturally) and the past (generally involving mystery, adventure, lots of swashbuckling and lots of humor). The books are fluff but I curse the author for writing every female PhD student's dream story--you show up to look at archival documents and Mr. Gorgeous shows up!
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