So this is a shout out to one of the most successful event planners in the business!! I picked superwoman up from the airport and of course she is surrounded by other film people talking about what events and what films to see etc. Leading up to this moment I did not get to hear much of what was going with her events, meaning how many was she doing? what days? etc. I took her to Earls restaurant on King a place those from out west love to hang out, and we actually found friends that we graduated with from University from out west. None the less I was anxiously awaiting Danielle to tell me what I would be helping her with- well I wasnt expecting her response as she said ten events in four days at the Soho/Grey Goose house. I was completely floored!!! I had never heard of such a thing being possible and was about to learn and find out how it would all come together.
Now to clarify what Soho/Grey Goose house is…a pop-up venue where the staff,team and chef come from Los Angeles, New York and London to cater and service all the guests who come to the film parties as well as their private members. Now Grey Goose was the major sponsor of the venue, so they had their team their as well, headed by Dimi Lesinska the global ambassador of Grey Goose, who travels the world in celebration of an amazing brand. Dimi creates the most fantastic cocktails for the events!!! Such drinks as the Toronto Tower and the Northern starlet!!!
Now interestingly enough between the two luxury brand companies you have Danielle Pelland a five foot four-French Canadian brunette as a buffer between the film companies having their parties at the venue and Soho House and Grey Goose. This is what Danielle does best, which is bring people together. I have been to enough events of hers that I know what a “Danielle” event is compared to the “other” parties. The other parties are usually ones where the sponsor does not fit the demographics or even the theme of the film party. Danielle’s parties are becoming extremely exclusive and chalked full of talent inside. This making her other collaborators extremely excited about the results to which she far exceeds.
The first party held at Soho/Grey Goose house was a cocktail party for “Ides of March” starring George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamati and Philip Seymour-Hoffman. It was a small intimate gathering before the gala premiere of the film across the street at the Roy Thomson Hall. I was fortunate enough to go to the gala premiere screening and attend the Alliance after party that had surprise guest Cee-lo perform. It was an amazing evening that ended back at Soho where Mark Wahlbergs film “Broken City” had a small cocktail gathering as well as Tilda Swintons movie “We need to talk about Kevin” was taking place simultaneously. Now admist the parties was Danielle coordinating and overseeing the events, making sure that everyone was happy and things were running smoothly. Did I forget to mention that Danielle was 8 months pregnant??!!! It was interesting to see how people reacted to her being pregnant, apparently Mark Wahlberg adored her belly and every time George Clooney would walk by her he would bless or touch her belly!! I am sure that there would be many woman envious of this interaction that was occurring. Highly entertaining stuff and a great icebreaker.
Day two of events was Ryan Goslings “Drive” and Rachel Weisz’ “Dangerous Method”. This was a Saturday which meant that everyone was out and in full force. This was the most insane night at the Soho/Grey Goose House as almost every A-list celeb that was in town was inside sipping on some fine Grey Goose cocktails. The party streamed from three floors. The first floor was where you would find George Clooney, Stacy Keebler and Bono hanging out and the talented music producer/director/DJ Zen Freeman spinning for the hundreds inside.                                   On the second floor the music continued and filled up so tight with celebs. If you were up there you would have seen Alexander Skaarsgard, Paul Giamatti, Emily Blunt, Evan Rachel Wood, Juliette Lewis all dancing and having fun.                                     On the third floor was the games room where guests could chill a little more quietly and play ping-pong, I believe I may have seen Paul Haggis chatting up there to be exact.  Some of  the most interesting areas of the party were actually the stairwells, as celebs were coming in and out of the venue and going up and down the stairs. At one point I recall K’naan pretending to fall down the stairs to bump into me and saying ” this is a great way to meet people” I replied “are you okay??” and laughed and continued on my way. I definitely will not forget the ambience in Soho because there was mobs of fans outside and all you could see were the flashing lights, telling you that celebs were either coming in or coming out. It was very exciting. That was a very late night….and for very good reasons.

Day three’s events held a dinner for the cast of “Albert Knobbs”, “DeepBlue Sea” and “Your Sisters sister” all three went off without a hitch.
Day four, the last day,  a cocktail party for Gerald Butler and Ralph Fiennes                ” Coriolanus” to which Danielle Pelland had introduced me to Gerard Butler and he whole heartedly made fun of my handshake and to which I decided to invite him to Danielle’s Baby shower as it coincided with a surfing movie he is filming in Los Angeles in and around the same time. I thought it was funny.
Upstairs was the secret dinner for Madonnas film she directed “W.E.” a small dinner with some surprising guests; Jeanne Beker and Tanya Kim. This dinner was hosted by The Weinstein Company, which turned into a bigger party for hundreds more guests affiliated with the Weinstein Company. This had to have been a great last hoorah for the Soho/Grey Goose house as guests were dancing on tables and chairs and kicking their shoes off!!! As I described it, it was like that scene from “True Blood” where everyone becomes entranced by the Maenad /nymph character dancing and being free-minus the nudity though, it really was fun watching everyone let loose, have fun and be very sweaty.
Now ten events later the Soho/Grey Goose house is finished and everyone who was a part of it, was packing up their things and heading back to Los Angeles, New York or London. It came and went extremely fast, but the press and publicity still lingering around creating the hype that Soho/Grey Goose was the best place to be at TIFF!! It wasn’t until late Monday night that I started getting texts are you at Soho??? People in Toronto were just catching on about this place, the answer was no, it came and went. The funny thing is I had mentioned months before about the pop-up as I was checking in on the renovations of the venue months before, for Danielle Pelland. And all weekend people were asking me what I was doing and I would say Soho, they just did not get it. A lot of Torontonians have missed the boat on this one. I guess there is always next year.
One of the things I loved about the festival was hearing how much everyone loves Toronto!! They love the restaurants, the people, the weather!! I think Torontonians are very hospitable and accommodating people to all the guests from out-of-town, this the complete opposite of Cannes France who the people there could care less about the service or the dollars being pumped into their economy. The Toronto film festival is one of the best film festivals and its right in our own backyard. Something to which David Whitaker president & CEO of tourism should be very happy with. Toronto got a lot of amazing press and a fair bit of it came from Danielle Pellands big events held at The Soho/Grey Goose house. Danielle was responsible for getting some of the talent to do fun things for the camera and media that hyped Toronto up.
As you can see I have a lot to say about the film fest which is why I say I get caught up in lalalaland so I must escape from it and return back to reality which is just like an escape watching a movie…

Staying current not trendy can be very exhausting because you constantly have to be on the look out for whats hot and happening.  I love when I am so far ahead of the game that certain pieces that have been bought will sit in a closet for a few months because I am not entirely sure how to wear it, but then its style and look is discovered and its like winning a jackpot as far as fashion goes!!!  I found these D&G beige trouser pants at a boutique store in Winnipeg, “Swank” a great little store, that were so ahead of the game that they got marked down to nearly nothing and I snagged them and they sat in my closet for so long because they were out at the time but also really high fashion for Winnipeg.  Well it turns out that they were back in and finally they were shown off in all their trendy glory.

Included in personal style would be things like fragrance to which I have a whole theory on how to go about this, that is art in-itself…I prefer to go to the South of France and have someone at a parfumerie sit down with me and show me all their fragrances that have to be exclusive to France.  To which all the key notes must be explained and then tested. Usually once a few parfums have been narrowed down it is a must to walk around, go shopping and come back to see how the parfum has settled with my personal pH.  And yes everyone has different pH’s especially fairer-skinned people, it changes dramatically for us.  Once the parfum of the year has been discovered it is pure aromatic bliss for myself and for others.  Now once upon a time choosing a parfum had been as simple as heading down to Shoppers Drug Mart and finding one that looked cool, was popular amidst peers and was relatively inexpensive. You can see how the art of personal style really evolves.  It’s as though a wonderful back story and lead up has been created for something so simple and daily but yet can be romanticized and treasured.

I would like to also mention that reading materials, music, friends, restaurants, travel destinations and even computers all help to create your personal style.  Just imagine how all of those things have evolved in your life to be where they are now.  I know that my personal style is nowhere close to where its going to evolve and I am excited about discovering it further.  Right now at this moment if you asked me about anything contributing to my personal style I would have a back story.  Perhaps the art of personal style and its journey is very romanticized and brings some excitement even if for a moment in our lives.

Now that Mr. Ford has evolved into this multi-faceted god, I have discovered a whole new personality at hand.  Although I am not sure about his attitude I do believe that he has a point and may he be the first to say what other designers have dared not say.  Here is what all the fuss is about:

“I do not understand everyone’s need to see everything online the day after a show,” he says. “I don’t think it ultimately serves the customer, which is the whole point of my business—not to serve journalists or the fashion system. To put something out that’s going to be in a store in six months, and to see it on a starlet, ranked in US magazine next week? My customer doesn’t want to wear the same thing she saw on a starlet!”(Vogue)

This quote drives me crazy in so many ways!  It’s obvious that within his god status that exclusivity is his new claim to fame.  It registers that he no longer wants to design for real women anymore.  Only women who are pretty much royalty should don his clothes.  Can he be anymore narcissistic?  Suggesting a worshipping of the rich and famous and a fear of belonging to the average or mediocre,  meaning worthless and despicable(Nernberg).  Applying this narcissism Mr. Ford has said:

“I’ll wait to see who’s nominated for the Oscars. Then I will offer to dress one person.”(Vogue)

  Good for him good for that person see you on the red carpet! 

In defense of his ego he does have a point though of not wanting to be in the fashion tabloid magazine section.  With mainstream media you have all these d-list reality celebrities on the red carpet wearing designers whose pieces become tacky and commercialized.  The clothes become worthless and over-played.  Although, this type of marketing does help boutiques sell sell sell!  As I experienced in a boutique in Los Angeles, a sales clerk shows me a dress and mentions Kim Kardashian wore this dress and it is selling like gold!  I personally wanted to vomit with the selling feature she threw at me, do I look like everyone else who wants to look like Kim Kardashian???  I know that every alledged male thinks she’s hot-but I am not dressing for those men but rather myself.  Perhaps I have a little of Mr. Fords narcissism in me too when it comes to fashion. 

In conclusion, I suppose that all artists rebel at some point in their career, fighting the system that helped them soar to new heights.  They wouldn’t be artists if they weren’t constantly pushing the envelope in mainstream society, although not entirely original, as any publicity good or bad is still good publicity.  This is the key.  His collection will surely sell out before it even hits the average/mediocre people so Mr. Ford won’t have to worry.

Okay so I am not going to bash Lindsanity but rather offer my thoughts and opinions on this seemingly like train wreck.  Apparently this is the last magazine cover you will see of Lindsay before she goes to the slammer.  Unfortunately it is all cover because Lindsay never gave the magazine an interview and they went to print anyways obviously because of the sales they will get, and when she does get out of the slammer it kind of carries over another issue for them-perhaps….THE NEW LINDSAY!  yeah right.

On a side note you got to hand it to the american justice system, who for once in this media driven day and age is finally showing some real-reality TV-one of which that does not portray “hooking-up”, sweet sixteen bashes, teenage pregnancies and going to the club as the trendy and fun thing to do.  Finally young people are seeing other young people in front of a judge  going to jail for crimes that they should be going to jail for.  For too long the media has portrayed young people as invincible because they come from wealthy families and can get away it.  The footage of Lindsay is exactly what young people need to be watching and get through their undeveloped brains  that being a celebrity is not all it’s cracked up to be.  Lets hope that since Lindsay hasn’t done much acting lately that her reaction and tears are real and not just a show to the judge.  None the less, it is a chance for Lindsay to get clean and sober and face her demons-one I am going to mention her mother  Dina!

Now Lindsay has modelled and acted since she was three years old and is only 23 as we speak if you read about her life it’s easy to see that she grew up too fast and has had no guidance or management at all.  If  her parents were smart they would get her the heck out of the Los Angeles scene and protect her.  It is obvious her parents live off their children as all of them are in modelling or showbiz and out to make a buck off of them.  It is really disgusting that her parents have no class and have contributed to the downward spiral of Lindsay’s demise.  And I assume that you are all familiar with her parents divorce, the abuse and endless domestic disputes that probably added to Lindsay’s addictions.

Now I know that a lot of other celebrities make fun of her, and you cannot blame them she gives them lots to go on.  But has anyone other than her high profiled attorney come to her defense and suggested that perhaps as a young lady her brain has not fully developed, and doesn’t understand consequences therefore not understanding the meaning of her behaviour?   Lots of drugs and alcohol would also contribute, anyways Lindsay will have a brief amount of time, with no one around her, which maybe Lindsay will find a nice break, in this case it’s really sad that going to jail would be a nice break for her, but its kind of true.  Unfortunately though I just don’t feel like this stint in jail is long enough for her, she will most likely get off on good behaviour within 23 days of the 90.  I am sure the judge would agree she needs the 90 days.

Now one thing I have learned about addiction is that the people who are addicted to whatever usually do not like themselves when they are sober, they get depressed at the very thought of being with them-actual-selves.  This in it self is very interesting because at some point in your life you start out with yourself and then how do you get so far from yourself that you do not even know who you are anymore?  Damn addictive personalities….really there are two ways that people can go and that is down into the ground or up and above living with the demons beneath and always knowing they are there.  For example other celebs that have risen are Robert Downey Junior, his career and talents bounced back.   The hot new actor in Inception Tom hardy, a former alcoholic and crack-head, his career has taken off in a way that I bet he never expected now that he is clean and sober.  So there is hope, but it’s most likely she will fall off the wagon again.

I hope one day that Lindsay can write a book about all the vultures that helped bring her down in Hollywood, because I guarantee that a lot of people had a hand in destroying her.  Hollywood has plenty of vultures and one thing I have learned about Los Angeles is that it will eat you up and spit you out so you better know who you are or you will get lost.

A funny side note and what inspired this article was the fact that my sister and I had the pleasure of seeing her at the Amfar After Party in Cannes, France which was funny because she was supposed be at a DUI hearing on May 20th in California and so a warrant was issued for her arrest and here she was at a party at the Hotel du Cap for one of the biggest aids fundraisers.  She apparently told the judge that her passport was stolen and here she was in the South of France, completely busted and tonnes of witnesses including myself wondering what the hell was she doing here???  I believe that her reps in California posted bail that same night, I mean she has to be a complete moron not to think that someone at the party, umm for instance say the press would leak this little tidbit of info of her whereabouts!  I am sure that her lying to the judge and her absent whereabouts were immediate grounds for going to jail.  None the less she was back in the USA 4 days later for her hearing.  Bad bad girl Lindsay…but thank you for the entertainment!!!!  And did I mention that she looked liked her makeup had been on her face for a month, just black upon smudged black makeup…exactly how the tabloid magazines have portrayed her too.  It is interesting to see how fast she wiped off her face at the hearings because she looked completely different, I am sure her lawyers had guided her to at least esthetically looked cleaned up!

So I guess we will see if this humiliating experience will change her or if she will peril into the depths of destruction again.  All the best to her and getting rid of all the vultures that surround her.

Goldie Hawn – Kate Hudson

This is the most popular and well-known combo.  These two have to be the most adorable people on-screen and in real life.  Kate was clearly guided into a Hollywood career and turned out to be entertaining and actually really good at acting.

Lisa Marie Presley – Riley Keough

Wow! Are you kidding me??? Thats Elvis’ daughter and granddaughter what a pair!! I imagine that the Elvis estate entitles them to never have to work again but nice work with Riley who models for D&G and Dior and many others….if you actually look at her transformation she really only gets hotter the older she gets.  I guess rock royalty paves the way for this young lady…as I also discovered she is an actress too in the runaways with Dakota Fanning.  Definitely keep your eye on this young lady!

Colleen Farrington – Diane Lane

Now this is the mother-daughter combo that started all this….Diane Lane has to be one of the classiest ladies in Hollywood, probably because she grew up in it.  Her Mother was a playmate in 1957  and her father was an acting coach who managed her also.  This is the stuff that Hollywood is made of, she is just one of the first ones to grow up, all the way to 44 yrs of age.  I had the pleasure of seeing her beauty twice at the 63rd film festival in Cannes,  France and she is as flawless in person as on-screen.  Her mothers pictures in the 1957  issue of Playboy can be found online, if your curious.

Jerry Hall – Elizabeth Jagger

This combo is crazy because I have seen the picture on the right a thousand times in magazines and had no idea that it was Mick Jagger’s oldest daughter.  This ad she models for Lancome but is also an aspiring actress too.  Now Jerry Hall was one of the most sought after models in her hay-day, a very lucky lady discovered on a beach in the French Riviera.  This is a very lucky mother daughter combo whose father also rock royalty helped pave the way for a very successful life and career.

Honourable mentions for hot combos:

Susan Sarandon – Eva Amurri

need I say more….

Bebe Buell – Liv Tyler

Seriously this is ridiculous how beautiful Liv’s mother is….Bebe was a rock groupie/Playboy playmate and is linked to many famous rock stars such as David Bowie, Rod Stewart and Elvis Costello, but with a little sorting out Steven Tyler of Aerosmith was the winner-I think how interesting to not really know which famous rocker is your dad, or to imagine the possibilities of how each life could have been different.  None the less Liv has had a somewhat successful career in acting and comes off as a really sweet and down-to-earth kind of gal.

I only mentioned a few hot mama and hot daughter combos, feel free to do some of your own research and leave me a comment on others that you were shocked or surprised by.  I guarantee that there will be more that come up the woodwork.  Anyways next time your flipping through a magazine, watching a film or listening to the radio, it might just be someone famous’ kid.

You may ask why I think this, well all the dresses were uglier than the next, they all made very attractive actresses look like they had guts and their boobs cut in half.  None of them could walk in their dresses, and there were plenty of dress snafus on the stage, on the red carpet and at the parties.  I also thought the colors were some of the dullest I have ever seen, pale lifeless colours that did nothing for any of the actresses.  below is my exhibits:

I love Penelope Cruz sooooo much, but why so much fabric wrapped around her?  Her outfits from Nine were more glamorous and curvaceous, where have they hid her body?  This dress is by Donna Karan.  No offense but really out of all the designers in the world why Donna Karan?  And where is Penelope’s absolutely gorgeous hair? This hair-do is how I look when I go to bed and wake up, her stylist and hair dresser should be fired or at least refund her money.

I am sure by looking at this dress you would never guess in a million years that Chanel designed this.  This is by far one of the ugliest dresses I have seen.  This dress is a far cry away from the couture that Chanel usually pumps out, this looks like a potato sac.  Where is Sara Jessica Parkers extremely petite and athletic body?  The worst hair for a red carpet, dirty roots coming in and a rat’s nest behind her head who looked like Medusa on stage when she presented an award.  Are you that busy you couldn’t schedule an appointment at a salon?  Oscars come every year.  The girl has worn the coolest and most exotic dresses I have ever seen,  the lack of judgement is amazing, she should bring back Patricia field the stylist from Sex and the City immediately because this is awful, she is clearly nothing without her.  It’s dull and boring-what did you ever do to do Chanel?

Elizabeth Banks, Mirror mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all? You yes you!  If you want a sure way to look paler than you already are wear grey.  Blondes who are fair-skinned with light eyes cannot wear grey.  Didn’t her mother ever tell her that…as a child I was constantly reminded of certain colours if worn would make you look as though you were very sick and on your death-bed.  This dress is by Versace which pales-literally in comparison to Donatellas couture line that is bold and vibrant.  Donatella where did you go? what have you done with all the colour in the world?  Please bring it back.  And what has this dress done with Elizabeth’s boobs?  They are flattened like a pancake somewhere in there, where is the hoisting and padding that designers have done so well in the past to make actresses look voluptuous? Most extreme example is from the film La Dolce Vita wear the  actress Anita Ekberg wears a dress by Armani that is intoxicating and makes the shape of a women’s body irresistible.  This dress Elizabeth Banks wears actually makes her look flat and have a gut to which she is very skinny and petite.  Very disappointing…..Versace should not take any credit for this one….its a sleeper.

I just do not understand how these actresses cannot go through the couture gowns they see on the runway and pick one.  There are way better couture gowns on the runway then on the carpet.  It looked like a highschool graduation with all the pale pinks and yellows.  I really feel that these actresses changed who they are, a sparkle of personality or flare was not present.  I feel like if the awards were in New York it would have been done a thousand times better.  I feel like an award show of this caliber is better fitted in a city that thrives on upper-class galas and fundraisers, even European style would have been better.

If it were up to me and I could go online and pick couture dresses from any designer heres what I would have optioned out:  Balmain-so cool and edgy but super sexy and eye-catching, something that speaks to younger generations and where I think fashion will head.

and another…

I realize that older women would never go for this but lets face it-Demi Moore who is 50 could pull this off no problem.

Next on the list is Marchesa….I would have a really hard time picking just one of these dresses.  Vera Farmiga was wearing a Marchesa dress that did have some colour and ruffles, but still covering up such a hot lady that would look good in some of the choices I have picked out:

This dress is form-fitting and is a little bit of a tease as it shows off the legs, there are so many hollywood women who have great legs!This is a brilliant little number that is flirty and elegant.  This dress symbolizes class with a little bit of fun too.

I know that my choices are a little bit more edgier and perhaps younger, but isn’t that what Hollywood is trying to be?  Why dress our leading ladies down so that they look so much older than they are.  Millions of people watch the Oscars every year and make such a big deal of what they wear-well than design some dresses that are a big deal.  We need some of that sexiness from earlier eras of old Hollywood to come back.

This years Oscars were a multitude of films and perhaps the subjects in the films and the current economic times symbolize through our clothes what is really going on behind the scenes but up front on the front lines for the first time.  I was browsing through many different designers and to be honest with you, there wasn’t a lot of colour from any of the hundreds of designers out there.  This perhaps influenced the stylists about what they could work from.  Regardless men or women who designed these dresses for the 82nd Oscars should be ashamed at themselves at what they chose for this years nominees and winners.  We have seen better and we will get better….once we embrace and regain our femaleness again.

Can you just picture yourself in the crowd, feeding off the energy of the people and mostly of the Dj?  Who is none other than Dennis Ferrer, a talented, passionate soulful house music Dj from New York.  I just absolutely love this promo video and absolutely love this song and how Dennis makes his work look so frickin’ cool.  Can you imagine having so much passion like that at your job…sooo jealous.

I realize that most North Americans are not big fans of house music, you don’t have to like it but it goes beyond what you are hearing and what you experience and feel when you are listening to something as great as this piece.  It is a matter of putting yourself in the moment and being free…the moment you forget whats going on around the exterior world is when you become free.  And this is something that is very hard to do as we grow older.

For example, as a child in dance class there were many opportunities for freedom and creativity for that hour I was away from my schoolwork,  friends and parents.  My teachers always taught us to leave your problems and your worries at the door, which was really hard sometimes, but oh how much better you felt though after that hour break of freedom.  It makes you mentally stronger and able to see things clearer.  I am sure that any sport or activity children engage in exercises this, and it is sad as adults how easily we forget to take a moment to ourselves.

When I  used to teach dance to little kids around the age of 4 and 5 I was in University and I used to get so angry and upset when I didn’t get the grades that I wanted or needed, but I would go teach my class and I would look into the children’s eyes and forget everything that was bothering me because it didn’t matter.  It was therapy that I was getting paid to do.  How lucky to have this experience and appreciate those moments.

As adults most of us have attempted Yoga, which also practices quieting the mind, and boy is it hard laying in the corpse pose for the beginning of the class, you fidget you squirm your mind doesn’t shut off because we fight it, our motor neurons won’t rest.  But that is why we practice and eventually we get it and we become good at it.

Dennis Ferrer is not my favourite Dj overall, but believe that his stuff he creates and mixes is getting better and better over time.  And when you have watched this video of him in action it is clear that he will continue to rise to the top as many other Dj’s have.  Most recently David Guetta has crossed over that European house/dance music and mixed it with popular artists in North America and become an instant hit here, hence all the nominations at the Grammy’s.

And I do have my hesitations about this crossover from Europe.  One of the main reasons I love travelling to Europe is to discover new house music songs in a country that is so talented at producing and presenting it!! Presentation is everything and so is the scenery and the ambiance.  You go to a lounge, club or party on a yacht and hear all this dance music and you dance and you socialize and meet new people.  It is Europe romanticizing everything, you  fall in love with the music.  My favourite part is then looking for all those fun songs I heard and making a cd so that those experiences can live on forever through music.  So it makes me a little sad and selfish to see it become mainstream in North America where it will become over- commercialized and over- endorsed by Disney where no one will ever know it existed.  I realize the business end of it too, more money.

So in conclusion this is a shout out to all the Dj’s who are doing their thing and making it big….Never stop showing passion for what you do and thank you for showing us through your music.

The accused Alexis was  involved in a group of young thieves who broke into many celebrity houses and toted the goods around at various nightclubs.  The total amount of stolen goods was around 3 million.  The “Bling Ring”  said to have stolen watches, purses, cash, drugs and clothes.  Now the most astonishing thing about this story is what Alexis actually said in Vanity Fairs article:

“I’m a firm believer in Karma,” she said, “and I think this situation was attracted into my life because it was supposed to be a huge learning lesson for me to grow and expand as a spiritual human being. I see myself being like an Angelina Jolie,” she said, “but even stronger, pushing even harder for the universe and for peace and for the health of our planet.” She was sounding almost like a real celebrity. “God didn’t give me these talents and looks to just sit around being a model or being famous. I want to lead a huge charity organization. I want to lead a country, for all I know.”

This is why she is 18…are you kidding me?  It’s ridiculous!!!!!  So in order for Alexis to learn how to live in society she has to commit a crime?  Especially one that is attracted to her?  I am pretty sure I do not know any girl who isn’t attracted to designer anything, doesn’t mean we go and steal it.    I think we all know from a very young age whats right and whats wrong.  Those that don’t will live a more challenged life.  I am pretty sure she doesn’t understand the meaning of Karma because if she did she would not have even considered  stealing from another person.  She can believe that a prosecution  in a court of law for if whats she done she is found guilty.  Another thing is her disillusionment with being a celebrity like Angelina Jolie.  I am not sure how an actress married with 6 kids is like an 18-year-old thief, but perhaps this 18-year-old should turn the TV off and see whats really going on in the real world.  Or even better yet have her parents find her something better to do with her spare time, like get a job.

Could this story be the first of many more teens who try to live up to these Hollywood stars?  Can we blame the media and society for presenting so much to teens at such a young age and that having it all, or living the life is overwhelming?  Because trying to have it all is overwhelming, and it is proven that even when you do have it all that it doesn’t necessarily make you any happier.

I have spent some time in California and my first experience there was very crazy and overwhelming.  I was energized by the people and the way things were and I took that energy and flow and brought it home with me to Canada where I flourished with my business ventures.   I guess being grounded and knowing who you are as a person is the most important because in California it will eat you up and spit you out.  It is obvious that Alexis does not know who she is yet and has a lot of growing up to do-probably behind bars.

Lastly I thought this article interesting because of the current economic times.  This teen is a reflection that perhaps Americans have learned nothing yet of this financially strained time.  And that they are still living beyond their means and values.  It is said by Henry Paulson former treasury chief  that:

“It just really comes back to all the virtues we’ve been taught since we were born:  hard work, education, having the proper skill set”.

Unfortunately the proper skill set for some is a chain link fence cutter, some pliers and a how to look hot wearing a great Louis Vuitton bag.

Confused?  Shocked?  Slightly disappointed by Michael Jackson?  I was too.  It is brought to my attention to bring to your attention that Michael Jackson copied Bob Fosse flat-out and went on to  make millions off the back of an artist who was clearly ahead of his time.  When I first saw this video I couldn’t believe it!  Everyone around me gave Michael Jackson so much credit for his dance moves, saying he is the pioneer of the pop industry.  I have never been convinced that Michael is as great as everyone thinks he is, which lead me to my mini investigation.

Growing up in the dance industry-choreography is a big part of what goes on stage and as a dancer it seems that you become more aware of who is choreographing.  Right now because of television shows such as So You Think You Can Dance-choreographers are finally getting the credit and acknowledgement they finally deserve.  My favourite choreographers are Brian Friedman,  Wade Robson and not to mention Rob Marshall and Bob Fosse.

Here is a little bit about Bob Fosse:

Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse (June 23, 1927 – September 23, 1987) was an American musical theater choreographer and director, screenwriter and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction. He was nominated for an Academy Award four times, winning for his direction of Cabaret.  (wikipedia)

Go and watch some Fosse films and you will really get an idea of how ahead of his time he was, a true artist that not many people to this day know much about.  It has been assumed that Michael Jackson created these dance moves all on his own, when dues to Bob Fosse should be given.

Another interesting point is the credit that www.youtube.com should be getting, for creating a platform from which archival footage is made possible to the public.  If we are just discovering this old footage now you can wonder how Michael Jackson got his hands on Bob Fosse’ footage to learn and study this choreography from 1974.  With the internet you can pause and playback as many times as you need to learn the steps.  How did Michael actually learn the choreography for his solo career?  Is it possible that the two had met at some point and Fosse was a choreographer for Michael?  Perhaps if so had Michael paid him to keep his mouth shut or pay him secretively for his moves?  I guess we will never know.  Until then so much credit should not be given to the so-called “King-of Pop”.  And I know it pains a lot of people to acknowledge this information made public a few years back, but it is the truth.

There is a Federal Copyright law of 1976 which went into effect in 1978 for Choreography.  But there is only evidence of one case that went to the courts and it was on behalf of George Balanchine’s Nutcracker.  Knowing this information, would  Fosse have challenged Michael anyways?  I doubt it.

In conclusion, no matter what you think about either artists, and you may like one better than the other, like both or like neither.  All that matters is how each artist has touched your life and shaped your experiences and dreams.  No one can copy or steal that away.