The Cosmopolitan Blog

I always suspected that Anderson Cooper had a really dry sense of humor, but on his AC360 program on CNN, you only ever get to catch a glimmer of it. Which is fine, since his show is serious, tackles world issues, and offers informative and interesting viewpoints.

But if you were wondering who Anderson Cooper really is, here’s an eye opener. He’s co-hosting Live with Regis and Kelly, and he’s talking about the show called “Living Lohan”, a show about Lindsay Lohan’s family (mainly her mom and her sister). It uses Lindsay’s name, but Lindsay never actually appears on the show. According to Cooper, the show “is just atrocious”.

Anyway, this is hilarious, i was cracking up, from beginning to end. Anderson Cooper’s laughter is infectious. I think i may have a crush on him now

I guess i believe in taking pride in what you do. And i realize that, for an actor, a commercial is probably not something that you’re super proud of. And yet still, sometimes, there’s a performance that just strikes you, because the actor really nails it.

See my post earlier about the commercial with the little girl who drinks her brother’s Cool Quencher, gives him those big eyes and says “I love you” so perfectly.

And then there’s this guy in this Honda commercial. When he says “But, does it come in blue” and the lines that follow are just priceless. How the “car salesman” kept a straight-face, i really don’t know.

So i went to see Sex and the City. Twice. Loved it. Warning: if you’re not a fan of the series, don’t even bother with the movie. If you’re a guy, don’t bother either. Well, generally, if you don’t like shopping, shoes, girl talk or New York City, don’t go.

I loved it. But i was it’s exact audience. And while they know they’re alienating the entire non-gay male audience, they also know that chances are, most girls will go twice. I wanted to know what happened to the girls. I wanted to know if Big and Carrie would make it. I even wanted to know if Samantha and Smith forever was possible. So this didn’t disappoint.

It was as shallow and girlie as i could have wished for. I turned my brain off, sat back, and lapped it up. I am in love with New York, so any movie that makes the city a character, i’m all for.

While i don’t exactly relate to any one girl, because i think each of them is actually 1 type of stereotype, the truth is we all have a bit of each of them inside us, which is why girls relate. I adore Carrie for her need to love, for her fashion sense, for her mix of carefree and care-a-lot attitude, for being so confused about feelings all the time, for asking such existential questions, for just being a real woman. I love Charlotte because she dares to dream and i think we all shoud. I love Miranda because she’s so dedicated to making her life perfect than she sometimes forgets to live in the now, which is something i do often. And i love Samantha. Who doesn’t? She’s the liberated woman we sometimes wish we all were… in smaller doses

First time i saw it, was with a bunch of girlfriends. As it should be. Second time, i went with my boyfriend. Yes, girls, i have the ONLY boyfriend in the world who actually enjoyed the movie :). There were 3 other guys in our party that 2nd time, and none of them enjoyed it. I don’t blame them.

This is very cool. I should have blogged about this ages ago. Basically, this website: Giveaway of the Day, every day, advertises a new software, and for exactly 24 hours, you can download it for free. No strings attached. No trial period. No adware or spyware. Honest to goodness free software. And yes, it’s a 100% legal. My best advise is subscribe to the RSS feed. That way, every day, you’re told what the software of the day is. If you’re interested, you go to the website and download it. If you’re not, you don’t do anything.

They encourage word of mouth, so here’s me doing my part. Because the more people come and download the free software, the more companies will be willing to do this for the free exposure, right? I mean the thinking is, if i like a publisher’s software, i might now know his name, and even though i got his first product free, i might return to him for my future needs. Waow, a situation were everyone’s happy, how great is this?

Check it out, seriously: http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/
This is the link to the RSS feed: http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/feed/

…If you’re wondering why i put it in “The ‘isms’ I believe in” category of the blog, it’s because, in this case, the ‘ism’ I believe in is free-ism

You know how, when you think of The Beatles or Elvis Presley, any image you have of them in your head, they’re always accompanied by shots of their hysterical screaming fans? These girls that are crying, and fainting, and screaming, and hugging, and dropping like flies at the sight of their idol? ok, well, that’s fine, i mean, it’s the Beatles, i guess they were hot for their time, and it’s Elvis, you know, he had… um… the hips :-S

So, I guess the fans remain the same for modern day stars, like Justin Timberlake or Tom Cruise. But you could imagine how women might get excited to even see someone like Oprah, right? It’s just, well, cuz she’s a woman, there’s not the sex appeal part that woman see in Elvis or Justin, and yet, i’ve seen The Oprah Show, and they do get excited as well, not quite to that extend, but when she enters the room, they jump up, scream a bit, wave, jump up and down and clap joyfully.

But here’s something i just DON’T get, maybe someone can explain this to me. So the audience of The Oprah Show get “kinda” excited when they see Oprah arrive, but when she stands up and says “today is Oprah’s favorite things day”, something happens that i don’t even think happened when John Lennon walked on stage. Oprah says those 6 words, and it’s INSTANT mass-hysteria, and i mean mass-hysteria like it’s not even conceivable. And it lasts for like 5 minutes. The women jump up from their chairs, and they YELL these shrills that should be illegal. Then, they start crying, hyper-ventilating, hugging the total stranger standing next to them, some of them in shock, some gesturing like they’re about to throw up from the excitement, some of them throwing their arms up in the air and thanking God, and they’re crying, and crying… It’s like some supreme being just came down from the Heavens and promised to take away all their pains, stop all wars and remove world hunger. Cuz honestly, a reaction like that should NOT be caused by something so materialistic, it seems wrong, somehow.

I honestly don’t get it. I love Oprah, you know that. But this? I REALLY don’t get it. Why? I mean i get it, she’s gonna tell you everything she loves right now, and then give one of each thing to each audience member, so, by the end of the afternoon, each person has walked away with about $2K worth of gifts. That’s awesome, great, congrats, i’m happy for you. But why hyper-ventilate? Why faint?

I swear, Oprah and to stand there for 5 minutes, saying “Calm down, relax, ssshh, it’s ok” and she has this look of bewilderment, and it took the women 5 minutes to calm down.

This has got to be acting right? I mean, seriously? Ok, the gifts were cool, the main ones were: a stove-top range cooker thing worth $800, a GPS system, a $200 gift card for any Courtyard Marriott (um, hello, can i just point out that a Courtyard Marriott is NOT a super luxurious hotel, it’s just like your average Holiday Inn?). Other gifts include a range of makeup, some clothes and swimsuits, a CD and a weekender bag. Then her friend Gail introduced this blush brush (yes, yes, a makeup brush) that’s valued at $75 and told them they were each getting one, and the mass-hysterial begun again: they were up on their feet screaming and clapping.

Ok, maybe it’s just the fact that these women know they’re now using all the products Oprah uses. Because, I mean, you can go on game shows and win way more, right? So it can’t purely be the money value. The worst part is that i fear that this is just companies sponsoring this show and telling Oprah what to showcase, i don’t even think she necessarily uses all this stuff, does she? Sorry, try as I may, I really still don’t get it. If you’re gonna thank the Lord for something, please! Don’t let it be for a makeup brush!

But maybe i’m totally missing something. I try to be as open as possible with anything i come across in my life, and i want to understand this. Can someone share some insight? Please post a comment.

These two are my all time top favorite commercials. The McCain Cool Quenchers “Arm Wrestle” / “I Love You” commercial is priceless, with the little girls expression and the way she swallows her last gulp as she says “I love you”:

The second is the perfect commercial, because it combines all the elements for a great ad: a catchy tune, humor, emotion and cute animals: it’s “the new all jeep liberty” Jeep Commercial. Again, the priceless look is the driver’s look as the wolf swallows the birds:

Well, the time i thought would never happened… is happening! Lost writers are finally revealing what direction they always meant this show to take. I still feel as confused and Lost (the real reason for the name of the show, i believe, was to reflect how the audience would feel when watching) at the end of every episode, but now, at least, it seems we’re being told what the “secret theory” is behind the show. Can it be classified as sci-fi-ish? Not yet. But it’s definitely taking that turn.

Basically, the island has a special power. At first, we thought it simply somehow cured illness (Locke’s legs, Rose’s cancer…). But since the last episode, a seemingly-forever-young Richard Alpert (Ben’s right hand “Other” man), is apparently the same age the day Locke is born, the day he meets Ben as Ben escaped from the Dharma compoud, and the day he recruited Juliet to the island. So, it would seem that this island holds the secret to eternal life. Eternal life with no NEW life, since they can’t have babies on the island. And of course, eternal life so long as you are not killed (i.e. shot, dead from plane crash,

What’s confusing to me is that, if time goes by at different speeds on the island and in the real world, then the curing of diseases and the eternal life contradictory, right? I mean eternal life would suggest that time goes more slowly on the island (takes longer to get older), while healing powers might make us believe that time goes faster on the island (thus healing faster).

One of my thoughts, right now, is that, while they’re only on day 90-or-so on the island (meaning they’re now December 2004, since their plane crashed when we started watching, September 04), the world outside has actually been following the normal timeline, and everyone is already in 2008. But i don’t think that’s quite accurate, or still unprovable.

Either way, the island is special enough (even if it’s just the healing powers) that people are willing to kill for it. We now have 2 nemeses, Ben versus Charles Widmore, both of them realizing the value of the island. We know Widmore wants to control the island (and kill all survivors, for fear they might leak the truth, why the Oceanic 6 haven’t yet, is still to be determined).

Speaking of nemeses, Locke’s other nemesis is Jack, this revealed itself in season 2 when we realized that both men represent the “battle” between science and faith (represented by Jack vs. Locke).

Anyway, for all of you interested in the time issue on the island, read this on Lostpedia, the reference for all things lost. So what do you think the time thing is on the island? Is there a discrepency between the time on the island and the time on the real-world?

The Lost Season 4 premiere is on TV tonight, and so, i’ve spent some time watching recaps online (no, not spoilers, recaps)! It’s interesting what you realize when you watch a summarized version of the show. For example, on youtube, there’s an 8-minute video that summarizes Seasons 1-3, it’s awesome for someone who has actually seen the show to remind you of certain events.

One thing that transpires is the dedication with which Ben has been trying, all this time to block the signal to the island. The 1st time the signal was released was during the crazy event when the hatch blew up after Desmond chose not to turn the key. So, for a few minutes, the island was visible to the outside world, and that’s why Season 2 ended with us seeing those scientists/researchers up North somewhere, and their board lights up pinpointing the location of the island.

The ext time is when Charlie releases the signal just before dying, and so now, it is possible for them to use Neomi’s phone. And when Ben sees that, he becomes terrified, like we’ve never seen him before. Let’s not forget, Ben was a child when his dad was working for the Dharma initiative, and somehow, i think, something he saw there made him want to eliminate everyone from the Dharma initiative (and they all ended up in that mass grave in which he threw Locke).

Seeing Ben by the tower, litterally begging Jack not to make that call, telling him that The Others are actually the good people (although, um, that was pushing it, we do remember what they did to the Losties, don’t we?). But think about it. Locke suddenly sees Walt standing over him in the grave, and Walt obviously lets him in on something really important, telling him there’s work to do, and hours later, he’s hunted his group down and is threatening them if they make that call.

And now we also see that, in the future, Jack is obviously regretting his decision to leave the island, and even left me with the impression that maybe not everyone got off? Confused. Anyway, my thoughts are that Ben is in the casket, and he died, and now Jack realizes that Ben was right all along and he should ahve listened to him. When the funeral director asked him “friend or family” and he said “Neither”, it can only mean that it was someone that he hated (otherwise, why else would he be so upset), but that someone, he felt compelled to go visit, someone who was maybe not liked by many people (no one showed up), someone who maybe doesn’t have any family (again, no one showing up)… um, hello? Can you say BEN?

anway, your thoughts on who is in the casket please. VOTE NOW on the poll on the right hand side of this blog.as

Well Lost is back tomorrow, finally, and seeing that everything else on tv is not even worth the effort of hitting the ON button on your remote control, i have really high hopes for this return. If for some reason, you haven’t started watching lost, or, like a few people i know, you’re one season behind because you’d rather watch the full season on DVD, well, then… tough luck… i’m gonna be discussing what’s going on, so if you don’t want to know, STOP READING NOW!

ok, well, i’d love to hear from you. What’s going on? Why is Jack so upset that they left the island? How quickly did you get that this was a flash forward and not a flashback? Who is in the coffin? Who is Neomi and who does she work for? Who did they get rescued by? Who is Jacob? What convinced Locke not to leave the island? Were you sad to see Charlie die? Where is Walt, how did he suddenly appear to Locke? And for the love of all that’s unholy, what is Ben’s problem??? He’s soooo creepy, with his little beady eyes…

I have to say, this story is reeeeally complicated, and i’m actually thankful for the refresher we saw today. Actually, i’m gonna put a poll up for Lost viewers… i want your opinions on who you think is in the coffin. If none of the options you want are in the poll, feel free to reply to this post.

Well, that’s it, i’m just excited and can’t wait for tomorrow, only thing is, i might just record it, because if it’s anything like today, there was a commercial break every 7 minutes!!! Cheers ABC! Can’t you just pay your writers and give them what they want, so that we can get quality tv back and you don’t feel you have to triple on the advertising you feed us?

This is very sad, seeing a young life disappear before it gets a chance to fully grow. There was such promise in Heath Ledger’s career, you could tell this was an actor that would only get better as the years went by. I appreciate that he tried really hard to stay away from the typical teenage roles once he had gotten his foot in the door with “10 Things i Hate About You”.

He took risks and did really good in “Brokeback Mountain”, i found his performance really compelling, especially for a then-26-year-old. And just recently, he completed 2 movies i was really looking forward to seeing: one about Bob Dylan, and one where he plays The Joker. From what i understand on the stories of his death so far, it could be due to the lack of sleep over the past month caused by the stress of getting in the skin of his character as The Joker… that’s dedication pushed to the limit…

He leaves behind a little 2-year old girl (her mother is Michelle Williams who played in Brokeback Mountain, but who you might remember from her tragic role in Dawson’s Creek)… He was 28.

Anyway, this is very sad, very sad indeed.