Olympic Obsession - I Believe

I BELIEVE!!
Like many, I have been glued to my television screen due to the Olympics and since it is being held in Canada this year, I have to say, I'm pretty proud to be Canadian! With Alexandre Bilodeau's first gold medal win for Canada, the "I Believe" song (which I posted above), to Joannie Rochette's emotional skate two days after the death of her mother, these Olympics have been a whirlwind of emotions.

I've watched and followed sports that I thought I would have never enjoyed watching before and I have fallen in love with athletes because of their Olympic journey!

I am in love with these Olympics, or more obsessed with them!

I literally PVR everything and anything and make sure I don't miss any gold medal action in any sport. :)

But then again, the Olympics are not perfect by any means, but I'd have to say, those added controversies make it that more interesting!

Let me give you some examples:

Sven Kramer, Olympic speedskater who competes from the Netherlands, exploded towards an NBC reporter after she asked him to look into a camera and tell viewers who he is, what he does and so on. This offended him and responded by saying "Are you stupid?" to the reporter.

Here is the video below

Then there is Dale Begg-Smith (pictured below, hes the angry looking one), a Canadian (who coincidently was born in Vancouver, BC) who competes for Australia. He won the silver medal in moguls behind Alexandre Bilodeau. When he first arrive in Canada, he snubbed Canadian media and only spoke with Australian reporters. His excuse was, he only does what he was told.

To read the full article about his snub, CLICK HERE!

I think these Olympics just get better and better everyday (with or without the controversies) and I wish it would never end!

But, if you want to see more drama over the past Olympics, CLICK HERE (courtesy of businessinsider.com) for the top 12 Worst Olympic controversies/PR disasters!

Rose :)

In case you missed it...

Tiger Woods' Press Conference

Enjoy

I got a little teary eyed in the end when he hugged his mom, but then I remembered what he did and took those tears back, lol!

Rose :)

Kevin Smith, producer of Good Will Hunting and director of Zach and Miri make a Porno, was ejected from a Southwest Airlines plane friday because he was dubbed "too fat."

Smith said that a pilot felt that he didn't fit properly on the seat and he needed to be removed from the flight or buy another seat.

After this incident happened, Smith took to his Twitter page and said, "I'm way fat, but I'm not there just yet," and "If you look like me, you may be ejected from Southwest Air." Also posting the picture above with his tweet.

Yesterday, Smith and Southwest Airlines spokesperson, Linda Rutherford, traded words through blogging and this is what each party had to say...

SWA:

"I (Linda) had the chance this afternoon to speak directly with director Kevin Smith. I let him know that in my 18 years here at Southwest, I have never dealt with a situation like what has been unfolding in the last 48 hours. I let Kevin know we have refunded his airfare. I told him we made a mistake in trying to board him as a standby passenger and then remove him. And I told him we were sorry."

Smith:

In a post titled "My Boring A** Life," he wrote, "Linda told me that, before I got anywhere near the plane (remember: I was hoping to get on standby), they were having a space issue on board with another passenger who'd purchased two seats, and they were having a problem moving already-seated passengers to accommodate this person. Enter me, who -- Linda admitted -- WAS NOT A PROBLEM. She fully acknowledged that I wasn't bounced by the Pilot… BECAUSE THE PILOT PROBABLY DIDN'T EVEN SEE ME.

"According to Linda, with the melee surrounding boarding and finding a second seat for the other passenger, the Pilot called for a quick settlement of any outstanding issues so that they might take off. And even though I was already planted in my arm-rest lower-able, seat-belt-buckle-able seat, I got the hook."

After this, Rutherford had called Smith telling him she had posted a new blog post and wanted his opinion on it.

Rutherford said to Smith that the people seated next to him were complaining he was oversized and they were leaning away from him because he was taking a lot of room. Smith replied and said that those people were already leaning away once he got to his seat and he even asked them if he was a problem and the passengers had said no.

Smith concluded his latest blog post with this statement,

"You guys screwed up, SWA; why's it so hard to own up to it?"

"So, Linda: I appreciate the effort you made, the time you spent with me on the phone, and the work you put into this. You, too, were a reasonable cat during our conversation,"

"Southwest, I appreciate you refunding my airfare. But if you're not gonna admit I wasn't 'Too Fat To Fly,' then I'll cover it."

To read Smith's full blog, CLICK HERE

To read Southwest Airlines' full blog, CLICK HERE

Rose :)

The Ultimate Douche Bag

His name: John Mayer!

You know that saying, quit while you're ahead? Well Mayer isn't familiar with this at all.

In a recent interview with Playboy Magazine, Mayer just let everything out! He was racist, talked about his sexual urges, his love for porn, and his spontaneous 30 second make out session with Perez Hilton!

Wow! You ask any question, no matter how inappropriate it is, and this guy will answer it with the most ridiculously blunt answers ever.

Here are a couple excerpts from his interview courtesy of perezhilton.com,

MAYER: It depends on what I picked up. My two biggest hits are “Your Body Is a Wonderland” and “Daughters.” If you think those songs are pandering, then you’ll think I’m a douche bag. It’s like I come on very strong. I am a very…I’m just very. V-E-R-Y. And if you can’t handle very, then I’m a douche bag. But I think the world needs a little very. That’s why black people love me.

PLAYBOY: Because you’re very?

MAYER: Someone asked me the other day, “What does it feel like now to have a hood pass?” And by the way, it’s sort of a contradiction in terms, because if you really had a hood pass, you could call it a n****r pass. Why are you pulling a punch and calling it a hood pass if you really have a hood pass? But I said, “I can’t really have a hood pass. I’ve never walked into a restaurant, asked for a table and been told, ‘We’re full.’"

PLAYBOY: It is true; a lot of rappers love you. You recorded with Common and Kanye West, played live with Jay-Z.

MAYER: What is being black? It’s making the most of your life, not taking a single moment for granted. Taking something that’s seen as a struggle and making it work for you, or you’ll die inside. Not to say that my struggle is like the collective struggle of black America. But maybe my struggle is similar to one black dude’s.

PLAYBOY: Do black women throw themselves at you?

MAYER: I don’t think I open myself to it. My dick is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a fuckin’ David Duke cock. I’m going to start dating separately from my dick.

PLAYBOY: Let’s put some names out there. Let’s get specific.

MAYER: I always thought Holly Robinson Peete was gorgeous. Every white dude loved Hilary from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. And Kerry Washington. She’s superhot, and she’s also white-girl crazy. Kerry Washington would break your heart like a white girl. Just all of a sudden she’d be like, “Yeah, I sucked his dick. Whatever.” And you’d be like, “What? We weren’t talking about that.” That’s what “Heartbreak Warfare” is all about, when a girl uses jealousy as a tactic.

To read more of Mayer's absurd comments, CLICK HERE!

Someone needs to get this guy a better PR person who can tell this guy to shut his mouth!

Rose :)

Forever 2+1=How much we'll pay you!

I have been shopping at Forever 21 for years now and I didn't find out until now how bad they actually screw over their employees.

In a PBS documentary called Made in LA, employees expose Forever 21's disgraceful treatment it has towards its employees.

The award-winning documentary follows the story of three Latina immigrants who are working in Los Angeles garment sweatshops and are on a three-year journey to win basic labour protections from the retailer, Forever 21. This documentary shows the struggles and courage each woman go through as they embark on a journey to get equal rights as employees.

One of the employees, Guadalupe Hernandez says she earned, "$4 per hour working 10 hours a day 6 days a week in a factory with no running water adn no bathroom."

Owners of the clothing business, Don-Won Chang and Jin Sook are known to be strong Christian believers and are known to discriminate employees based on religion especially if they do not follow the same beliefs as they do. However, if an employee is will to go on a Christian mission or become "born again" Christians, they promise better pay and a promotion.

How crazy is that?!?

Also, not only do they pay their employees $4 an hour in Los Angeles, they do third party contract work overseas and also put employees in even harsher sweatshop conditions.

Other retailers that have been a target of sweatshop controversy include:

"P.Diddy" Combs' Sean Jean line

There were accusations that P.Diddy's Sean Jean line relied on Honduran women, who were being paid in pennies by the hour, to sew and stitch t-shirts that s for more than $40 a piece.

P.Diddy made a public apology and said this is an important issue to him and made sure that all and any of his merchandise that had his name on it were treated fair.

The Gap

Two years ago, British newspaper, The Observer, found children who were as young as 10 years old, making Gap clothing in a sweatshop in New Delhi, India. The children said they were not being paid because they were told they were still trainees.

Gap responded quickly and said the sweatshop was being run by a subcontractor that a vendor had hired and was in violation of Gap's policies and said that all product made in sweatshops will be destroyed and will not be sold.

In Gap's policies the company requires its suppliers to guarantee they do not use child labour to make any of their clothing. They reassured the public that they have stopped working with other factories and "forcefully reiterate the prohibition on any child labor" especially in India.

Gap faced tough times after the child labour controversy and it heavily impacted its brand. Two weeks after the controversy arose Gap got on their marketing and PR wagon. They provided it's customers 30% discount vouchers, involved themselves heavily with the Product Red charity and the clothing line launched clothing and accessories with "Product Red" with celebrities supporting the cause. This slowly got Gap back up in sales.

It is either Forever 21 owners should clean up their act, or else they have a lot of marketing and public relations to do to clean up their image.

Wow. Maybe buyers (including myself) should think twice before purchasing clothing from a company like this, no matter how nice the clothes appear to be.

So, if you shop at a retailer like Forever 21, will you continue to buy clothing from them?

I'd say, NO!

Rose :)

90s stars comeback!

A couple of my favourite 90s TV stars are coming back to the big screen.

Former teenage actors, Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) and Joey Lawrence (Blossom) are coming back in a new ABC show called "Melissa and Joey."

Hart will star as a politician who hires a male nanny (Lawrence) or also known as a manny, to take care of her niece and nephew when her sister winds up in jail.

This new half-hour show is based on ABC Family original movie titled, My Fake Fiance, which was a rating hit for the station last year and where the two actors had stared in.

The show will hit the air later this year.

Rose :)

Oscars! Oscars! Read all about it!

It is an exciting day today, why?

Because the Oscar nominations came out today.

“Avatar” (Craziest movie of all time) leads the race with nine nominations and that includes best picture, best director, and best cinematography. “The Hurt Locker” also has nine nominations that include best picture, actor in a leading role and best original screenplay (but, I haven’t actually heard of this movie until now)

I would make predictions of who I think would win, but I don’t think it’s fair since I have only seen two (Avatar and The Blind Side) out of the ten movies nominated. Right?

Rather...

I would like to talk about my love for the Oscars and everything about it. I love the glitz, the glam, who’s going to be there, what they are wearing and so on. Oh and yes, I will have a post-Oscars blog!!

I remember being in Los Angeles a few years back and one of the things I really wanted to do is go to the Kodak Theatre because that is where the Oscars are held and walk the streets where the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located. When I got there, I didn’t think it would be such a long street and there were stars in areas that walking should not be permitted (aka “the Ghetto”), but I walked as far as my legs took me or it was more like, I quit after the names started being unfamiliar to me! Lol.

Pictures from the Kodak Theatre when I was there Summer of '07

Cool right?!? This was actually the day before the 2007 American Idol finale, I totally wanted to watch, but my flight back home was the next day. BOO-URNS!

But one day I hope, I can go to Hollywood and just watch some kind of award show or even the Oscars! Sounds like a plan to me! Who is with me?!?

Anyways, CLICK HERE to see the full list of all nominations for the 2010 Oscars. Enjoy!

Rose :)