Marianne Faithful

Now here's a turn up for the books: Marianne Faithful in a role where she only plays being a tart.

Singer and actress Marianne Faithfull plays a grandmother in dire straights who becomes a sex worker in London's seedy Soho, in a touching yet hilarious movie that has lit up a hitherto subdued Berlin film festival.

"Irina Palm" follows Maggie, played by Faithfull, from the side of her sick grandson's hospital bed to a sex shop where, desperate to pay for the boy's medical treatment abroad, she accepts a job where her smooth-skinned hands are a key asset.

Taught by a younger woman, she learns to service clients who stand on the other side of a wall with a hole in it where they can be heard but not seen.

So legendary is her technique that queues of customers begin to form, a rival club seeks to poach her.

Much of the comedy derives from the horror etched on Faithfull's face as she goes to work, and the reaction of her straight-laced circle of friends when they discover what Maggie has been up to during the day.

 

Technorati tags: marianne faithful, sex

Lindsay Lohan Backs Out of Movie

The actress Lindsay Lohan has backed out of the movie she was due to make:

Actress Lindsay Lohan, who entered a Los Angeles rehab center last month, has backed out of the upcoming movie, "A Woman of No Importance."

Lohan is working on "I Know Who Killed Me," which had to stop filming briefly when she had an appendectomy and later entered the Wonderland Center in Los Angles, People magazine said.

"She doesn't want to just say, 'Yes,' everyone and compromise herself anymore," Lohan publicist Leslie Sloane said. "If anything has been learned, it's that what she needs comes first -- and right now she needs focus."

Sloane said Lohan plans to take it easy for the next few weeks so she can "focus on getting better."

Lohan will honor her commitment to do publicity work for her film "Georgia Rule," Sloane said.

She needs to be careful, actresses sometimes get sued for dropping out like this, as happened with Boxing Helena.

 

Technorati tags: Lindsay Lohan, Boxing Helena, A Woman of No Importance

Molly Ivins

Molly Ivins, who has just died, "will be missed " says President Bush:

Among the people who mourn the death of best-selling author and columnist Molly Ivins, George Bush, whom Ivins referred to as “Shrub,” expressed his admiration towards her as well as his sadness for the loss, in a statement released after her death Wednesday evening.

"Molly Ivins was a Texas original. She was loved by her readers and by her many friends, particularly in Central Texas.

"I respected her convictions, her passionate belief in the power of words, and her ability to turn a phrase. She fought her illness with that same passion. Her quick wit and commitment to her beliefs will be missed. Laura and I send our condolences to Molly Ivins' family and friends," Bush said.

Molly Ivins, 62, who made her living by poking fun at politicians, whether they were in her home state of Texas or the White House, passed away on Wednesday at her Austin home while in hospice care, after a long battle with breast cancer. Ivins revealed she was being treated for the disease the third time in early 2006.

I know it was Anne Richards who delivered the line but I think Molly Ivins wrote it, about G. Bush senior: "Poor George was born with a silver foot in his mouth".

 

Technorati tags: molly ivins, george bush, anne richards

Jermaine and Michael Jackson

It appears that Jermaine Jackson would like his borther, Michael Jackson, to convert to Islam.

Jermaine Jackson said on Monday he wants his brother Michael to convert to Islam; and he believes the reclusive superstar has given it serious thought.

"Michael, I feel, needs to become a Muslim because I think it's a great protection for him from all the things that he's been attacked with, which are false," said the former Jackson Five singer who now lives in Bahrain.

"There's a strength and protection there," Jackson told BBC Asian Newtwork after finishing runner-up to Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty in the "Celebrity Big Brother" TV reality show that was marred by accusations of racist bullying.

Jackson said he believed his brother had given conversion "serious thought" during long spells in Bahrain.

Not sure this is all that wise an idea. Islam can be pretty vicious when it comes to dealing with kiddie fiddlers.

 

Technorati tags: Jermaine Jackson, Michael Jackson, Big Brother

Windows Live

So does this windows live product actually work?

 

I'm trying it out on a number of blogs. So far it seems to keep up. Well, it has a couple of times so far anyway.

 

 

Technorati tags: windows live writer

Internet Entrepreneur

Just in case you were wondering how happy a man looks after he has made his fortune on the web, try looking at this page or a real life internet entrepreneur. Fascinating work he has done and no doubt pots of money made from it.

Washingtonienne Photos.

You may remember the blogger known as Washingtonienne. She was an intern on Capitol Hill with a penchant for having sex with those she worked with. With, as she said, her being paid for doing so.

After she had started her blog (called Washingtonienne, to hide her name) and started to tell everyone this it only took ten days or so for people to work out who she was. She was thus fired amongst a huge scandal.

This might have been the end of a career, you might think, but it merely led to another one. First she was hired to write a novel, probably a thinly disguised version of her adventures, then asked to do a photo shoot for Playboy. These photos from Playboy have, of course, ended up on the net.

So if you would like to see, in all its glory, just what it was that she was charging for, have a look at the Washingtonienne photos from Playboy over here.