Archive for January 6th, 2008

Who are your googlegangers?

Posted by Ian in geekery on January 6th, 2008

I heard this on the radio this morning and laughed.

The American Dialect Society selected “subprime” as its word of the year for 2007.

But the one I liked was its choice for “most creative” word of 2007 - “googleganger”.  a googleganger is “a person with your name who shows up when you Google yourself,”.

So, having heard this term for the first time, I couldn’t resist a good old vanity google to find my googlegangers.  I’ve got to say there are stacks of us …. journalists, CEOs, sportsmen, academics, all sorts of people, even the actual real me is on the net.  Wow, I’m impressed with how much we get around …. and its not like my name is Smith, or something that common.

So, do you have any interesting/famous googlegangers?

Technorati tags: , ,

News from the Trailer Park

Posted by Ian in bogans & dickheads, entertainment on January 6th, 2008

Britney Spears is in the news almost every day, and for just about everything except her music.  She is clearly a very troubled individual, and yesterday’s episode is stark evidence of that.

Police were called to Spears’ home  on Thursday  over a family custodial argument that they tried to resolve “peacefully by court order”, police officer Jason Lee said.  After nearly three hours, Spears reportedly handed over her children and was taken away on a stretcher.   It is reported that police found the singer under the influence of an unknown substance, and she was taken to hospital for medical evaluation.  Spears was not arrested, and “there was no actual crime”, a police spokeswoman said.

Sure, I bet if she was a normal member of the public, somewhere in that standoff with the police, and given she was affected by some, no doubt, illegal drug or other, the police would have found some criminal charges somewhere.

Britney Spears

Spears “needs an enormous amount of help to find out why the erratic behavior,” said Ruth Schreibman, a marriage and family therapist who does not treat the pop star.

“Is she bipolar? Is she depressed? Is it postpartum depression? Is it drugs and alcohol?” she said. “There’s just so much attention and it’s such an accelerated speed of life that how can there be any normalcy?”

More likely too much spoilt brat unable to cope with reality.  Too many hangers on telling her how wonderful she is?

And then we have younger sister, Jamie Lynn.  My kids sometimes watch “Zoey 101” in which she appears, and we’ve often joked that we hoped she turns out better than Britney (no doubt being Britney Spears’ sister played more of a role in her getting the part than anything like actual talent).  Well, the answer to that seems to be, no, its very likely she’s heading down the same path.  16 year old Jamie Lynn is pregnant.

Jamie Lynn Spears

Spears’ mother, Lynne, added:

 “I didn’t believe it because Jamie Lynn’s always been so conscientious. She’s never late for her curfew. I was in shock. I mean, this is my 16-year-old baby.”

Not conscientious enough it seems.  Nor was Mum Spears in knowing what her daughter was up to.  But clearly she wasn’t too upset by her 16 year old’s pregnancy …. she sold the story to a magazine for a reputed $1m.  Nice one Mum - I can just picture the conversation in the family trailer (JL:  Mum, I’m pregnant.  Mum:  Oh shit, now how can we cash in on that?)

I shouldn’t really joke about Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney clearly has serious mental health issues, and I’m sure being a 16/17 year old mother is more than challenging … but the family seems to be such a train wreck (not to mention being publicity whores) that they make themselves a joke already.  I actually find it rather sad that there are people who don’t see Britney in particular as a joke, but as some sort of role model.  (Same goes for Paris Hilton).

My remedy for these girls.  Attention/publicity deprivation. Ignore them until such time as they actually do something worthwhile, like make good music, or become a quality actor, and don’t reward their other antics with any publicity at all.    Starve them of attention, hopefully they’ll vanish into obscurity.

Ha, ha!  As if thats going to happen!

Update (!3/01/2008):  Jamie Lynn Spears’ boyfriend, Casey Aldridge, is denying responsibiity for impregnating her.  Rumours have swirled that Jamie Lynn is in fact pregnant by an older TV producer.  Chances are she was auditioning for a new part ….acting ability wouldn’t have got her the job.