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September 27, 2004
KATHLEEN NAMPHY
Adventurer, scholar, fearless broad; Mt. Damavand at dawn
It was with some humility that I read the obituary of this woman in the SF Comical. She died at age 69 climbing Iran's highest mountain, but that's nothing:
- •Father was forest ranger. Grew up home-schooled in Cascades, 60 miles from nearest town
• Enrolled in University of Washington at 15. Won Fulbright grant to study Elizabethan drama at Oxford.
• Studied tribal languages in Amazon basin. Wrote grammar of Amazonian tribal language.
• At age 21, drove Volkswagen Beetle from Germany to Burma, hiked thru Hindu Kush to retrace steps of Marco Polo & Alexander. Trapped by landslide in India, underwent appendectomy without anesthesia while reading medical manual aloud to doctors. Hiked 500 miles on foot from Thailand to Vietnam. Worked her way across Pacific in laundry room of cruise ship.
• Won gold medal in high jump at East-West Games, Moscow 1957
• Lived in Iran from trapping animals for American zoos
• Taught at American University in Beirut for 7 years.
• First woman to reach base camp on Mt. Everest in 1950s. Scaled Mt. Whitney, hiked Mojave Desert solo every spring.
• Professor emeritus in English at Stanford for 30 years
• Cancer survivor. Diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease in early 80s. In 1990, doctors removed one breast & most of right shoulder muscle. Learned to carry 40 lb pack on left side.
• Scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro last year (2nd time), raising $10,000 for breast cancer research
• Peace activist. Taught poetry at Baghdad University 2002-03.
• Fell last month while descending (!) 18,600 ft Mt. Damavand in Albroz Mtns in Iran.
Posted by Jeff at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2004
NIGHT OF THE LITTLE GREEN FOOTBALLS
News professional Mary Mapes: "God save me from this living HELL of little green footballs"
Besieged CBS news producer Mary Mapes has filed a lawsuit against Little Green Footballs' Charles Johnson, & several other "internet pajamacocci," claiming their portrayal of her as a "scheming partisan bitch-troll from Hell" contributed to an "unfriendly work environment" in the CBS newsroom.
The alleged harassment began after Johnson & other layabouts identified Mapes as the news professional who'd green-lighted the pathetic, transparent Natl Guard forgery. That day, Mapes found a little green football on her desk. Soon, little green footballs began metastisizing like tribbles: spilling out of drawers, exploding from microwave popcorn, pouring from the taps in the executive washroom .
Mapes said the footballs appeared to be made from foam rubber fluorescent green earplugs. The giggling & snickering in the newsroom got so bad, Mapes had to sprint to her office while being pelted with little green footballs. Mapes is suing Johnson for $112 million, calling him "a loathsome, bike-riding Lynndie England wannabe" who created her "own private Abu Ghraib." "I don't care if he did win a National Book Award!" Mapes fumed.
Posted by Jeff at 07:48 PM
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"I'm not easy to offend, but this speech was gob-smackingly vile." Andrew Sullivan on Zell Miller* [Ed. note: According to Oxford English Dictionary of Expatriate Slang, gob-smackingly is common Brit slang denoting icky; post-asparagus fellatio; British cuisine; Morrissey; Are You Being Served?] "The vile genetic inheritance of Bill and Hillary Clinton may live on to plague us in the future." John Derbyshire on Chelsea Clinton "Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed." Shakespeare's Sonnet #121 "Our liberal ideas are branded as disgusting & vile. When Bush is reelected, Americans won't have to worry about journalists that don't follow party line or the ministry of propaganda - we'll all be in prison or dead." Michael Berglin, one of the entertaining lunatics who writes for Russian tabloid Pravda LARD WAS VILE NUN. [Anagram for Andrew Sullivan] "Even though Gibson didn't nail anybody's hand to anything this time, Paparazzi is just vile." Roger Moore on Mel Gibson-produced Paparazzi "A fresh vile of maggots, which costs about $70, can be shipped overnight." Article on new maggot therapy. [Probably typo, unless this is actual word for a collection of maggots] "Al Franken is a vile human being." Bill O'Reilly, to Ann Coulter "Behold, I am vile." Job 40:4 "It is the most vile anti-family anti-gay acceptance speech in the history of presidential politics." National Stonewall Democrats spokesperson John Marble on Bush "The Swift Boat Veterans ad is beyond vile." William Saletan in Slate "Vile slander." Eric Alterman, on being included in Andrew Sullivan's Fifth Column roundup "Just a few weeks ago another councillor was accused of white slavery & now a member of the same team has seen her right to privacy violated by this vile montage." Spanish mayor Pedro Acebo on sensational nude pic scandal involving councilwoman Gloria Constantino, anchorwoman Maria del Mar de las Heras, & unidentified man, possibly Acebo's brother "I think the actions of the president are the most vile & hateful words ever spoken by a sitting president." Rosie O'Donnell, about You-Know-Who *To see if Andrew is easily offended, see Ace of â™
Posted by Jeff at 02:55 PM
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I'm so sick of rival bloggers grabbing the Incredible Shrinking Rather headlines. Rusty makes me sick, Ace makes me sick, Powerline makes me sick, Bill makes me sick, Charles makes me sick, Jeff G really makes me sick, Frank J gives me reflux, & the Llamas make me DEATHLY ILL. So I ran with the Lucy Ramirez lead. I began by calling the thousands of women named Lucy Ramirez in the Houston metro area. I got them to talk by saying I was a paramedic working on their husband. We found the little Bush-bashing bitch at the Motorhead Poultryworks & Gift Shoppe where she ran the gut-sucker, & cornered her in the breakroom. She was a Section 8 blonde in a white smock, combing her eyelashes with a toothpick & eating a jumbo tub of Hooters Hot Pot BBQ Chicken Wings. "Are those real or Memorex?" I demanded. "Como?" "Game's over, Ramirez. I'm a BLOGGER. Be afraid." "Quien es el huero loco??" she said. I grabbed her wrist. "This is a citizen's arrest!" I announced. That's when she decked me with the hot wings. UPDATE: I'm countersuing, but have faith in my unimpeachable source. Developing. (More Lucy skullduggery from George Gaskell, Crazy Neocon, & Right on Red, who's barking up the wrong livestock)
Posted by Jeff at 11:27 AM
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Julienne-thin actress. Known for offbeat roles. 5'5, 103. Real name: Selma Blair Beitner. BFA University of Michigan. Studied acting at Stella Adler, moonlighted as cigarette girl at gentlemen's club: "I got more tips because I was so sad and skinny." Early roles: Cyane in Xena episode, Pretzel Cart Lesbian in The Broccoli Theory, Voiceover as Cici's Friend on Phone in Scream 2 (to Sarah Michele Geller), Drugged Woman in Arresting Gena, Girl Mike Hits On in Can't Hardly Wait. Auditioned for Buffy lead but lost to Geller. Next up: Ursula Udders in John Waters' A Dirty Shame. On Ursula's giant gazongas: "No one has ever really noticed my breasts much at all in my real life so that was a real departure for me." On The Sweetest Thing: "I've always felt like a tomboy, especially beside Christina Applegate and Cameron Diaz. God bless anyone who looks at the three of us & still finds me sexy." On her normal childhood: "In fourth grade, I made a girl eat staples because I wanted her satin pants. She didn't die, though, and now we're friends." On the Hollywood scene: "Actors are usually just too good looking. I'm suspect about the attention I receive from really good-looking guys." On her drivers license: "I look like a lesbian in a correctional facility." On movies vs TV: I prefer doing films because they light you a lot better." On her reputation: "I really have no idea why people think I'm weird, unless it's because I carry a hanky and like fine writing papers."
Posted by Jeff at 10:27 PM
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She was a cinnamon-black woman with ice-green eyes like a Siamese, springy platinum dreads, & a pink tongue between pearl-white teeth like a half-clam. Did I mention I'm secretly terrified of black women? It's true, ever since that time — well, never mind. She leaned over, clicking her lacquered crimson press-on claws on the counter & frankly checking me out. "Look lover," she purred, "I'll let you have the Joe Wilson book for $10, cheap. $5 if you buy a whole carton." "He's a proven liar!" I said. "There's a lot of that going around," she laughed, then picked up a microphone. "ATTENTION," she thundered over the intercom, "paging Darwin, we have a REPUBLICAN who wants the Swift Vet thingy." I was briefly distracted by a Days of our Lives almanac, but she started in again. "ATTENTION SHOPPERS! For the next 10 minutes, all copies of Michael Moore books are ABSOLUTELY FREE!" "Bitch!" I yelled, before I was trampled. Finally I got lost & sat on a footstool to have a fruit wrap. A book jumped down off the shelf: Hillary's Living History. "You," I gasped. The little minx ruffled her pages against my leg. "Aren't you going to congratulate me on Operation Swift Vet?" she smirked. "You mean YOU—??" I said, & she nodded. "Face it, I'm IN for 2008. And I ALWAYS win in the end. Whitewater, Vince Foster, that Lewinsky cow, Rudy, those damn firefighters — I'm unstoppable." I woke up. Huh?? I was at the movies, where I'd dozed off during Catwoman. Phew! I curled up & went back to sleep...
Posted by Jeff at 03:29 PM
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This week, CBS News found itself up to its sphincter in a journalistic quagmire that threatened to annihilate any confidence the public had in it. Responding to questions about some memo kerfuffle, former 60 Minutes news exec Jonathon Klein urinated on the blogosphere, splattering your average blogger as "a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing."
So far, despite a media hurricane, Mr. Klein has neither apologized nor offered any evidence to back up his totally unprofessional charges. Since CBS News has apparently abandoned any pretense at journalistic standards, yours truly took it upon himself to shrug on a pair of semi-fresh boxers and poll my fellow webrats about their typical blogging ensemble. Are you listening, Mr. Klein?(Informed that this is not, in fact, the award-winning African-American author of the same name, Mapes said "Prove it!" ) Also named in the suit are various other "pajama coli":Bill from INDC Journal ("A vile, verminous little bedbug")
Michelle Malkin ("Where's internment now that we need it?")
Powerline ("Minneapolis?? Are you kidding me?")
Allahpundit ("Cheap Ramadan trash")
Ace of â™ ("A gob-smackingly vile little paramecium")
Rusty from MyPetJawa ("I've seen panty stains with better syntax")
Instapundit ("Proof you can jerk off & blog at the same time")
Jeff G from Protein Wisdom ("A suppurating sore with comments & trackback")
Wonkette ("Just because")September 23, 2004
WORD OF THE DAY: VILE
"John Derbyshire is a vile, loathsome toad." Brad Delong"Rude, vile pigs. That's what all of you are!" Elton John on Taiwan press. [Photographer: "Why don't you get out of Taiwan?" John: "We'd love to get out of Taiwan if it's full of people like you. Pig! Pig!"]"This description of what some believe is a vile sex act is the kind of statement Kobe’s been fighting to keep under wraps. That interrogation tape is so graphic we can't provide specifics, but it’s something Bryant likes doing during sex." Celebrity Justice Kobe coverage [Hint: it involves a woman's face]
"Vile Ann Coulter smears a war hero." Joe Conason, defending Max Cleland
"Sheep farmer Mr Andrew Vile said lambs were frolicking in his paddocks and some were twins or triplets." State of the paddocks from AustraliaVillians International League of Evil (V.I.L.E.), founded by klepto superdetective Carmen San DiegoSeptember 21, 2004
EXCLUSIVE: THE REAL LUCY RAMIREZ
Surveillance photo of Bush-hating forgery mistressmind Lucy Ramirez"Madam - CALM DOWN, okay?? I need to know, is he an organ donor? Does he know anything about FORGING DOCUMENTS?" When that didn't work, I said I was a CDC staffer who'd tracked an outbreak of the flesh-eating bacteria to their gyno. "Aren't you that idiot that called before?" one demanded. "No," I said quickly. "It's the same phone number!" I HATE CALLER ID!!So I flew to Houston & met my friend Suki from Splendora, who said I was nuts. "Look, I know the broad's name," I said. "A source told me she's in the poultry business. Vamos!" We began hitting the poultry farms, posing as Church's Fried Chicken scouts with some IDs we'd forged at Kinkos. And I hate chickens; they can smell fear.September 20, 2004
THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE WORLD OF SELMA BLAIR
Before & afterMost famous for: French-kissing Sarah Michele Geller in Cruel Intentions, for which she received Best Kiss from MTV Movie Awards. Did not rehearse for kiss. Hellboy black Prada dress sold for $178 on Ebay; black turtleneck available for $23.59. Married Ahmet Zappa at Carrie Fisher's mansion after 6-month romance. Previous boyfriend: Jason Schwartzman.
On her role as Ursula Udders: "The breasts were four body casts, and mould making, so it was basically four hours of prosthetics every day. First gluing them down, then the makeup. I've been naked in front of everyone. I heard people were going through the studio dumpsters every day looking for a piece of Ursula Udders."Traumatized by randy gay stripper: "I get plucked out of the crowd to sit on a stool and they ask me to undress the gentleman on stage, and I thought, Oh, you know there will be a bow-tie and some slinky tuxedo panty or something. For a gay guy, he was real excited. He's asking me, 'Undo the pants,' and I'm like, 'Ooh, my husband will get mad at me,' and he's saying, 'Trust me, your husband won't care.' I'm just mortified and I look up, and sure enough there's about 10 inches two inches from me, and it was a bit much, if you know what I mean."On her offbeat roles: "If you are just playing the foil to the beautiful, glamorous ones, it's bound to be the opposite, so you get me. As an actress, it would be a waste for me to try and play the glamour part, because truthfully, I am really not at all that."On her art: "I think getting to tell stories fills anyone with a void. I mean, we read and write stories, we like stories read to us and we like to watch movies. Therefore all of us can fill a void or fill some moment at least, and get some better understanding of ourselves."September 19, 2004
THE VAST BOOK CLERK CONSPIRACY
When Little Green Footballs alleged the book clerks of America were conspiring to hide all the Swift Vets books, I was skeptical, so I drove to the Barnes & Noble megastore, which is the size of Ikea, to see for myself. "Excuse me," I asked the pneumatic babe at the register, "do you have Unfit for—" "NO," she snapped. "But it's #1," I pointed out. "Not in my end zone," she sneered.This was Berkeley, so the entire store froze. People gasped & glared, some pointing like pod people. She rang off. "It's his day off," she shrugged. "FINE!" I said. "I'll find it myself!!" So there I was, wandering thru 5 acres of book stacks while that witch taunted me over the intercom: "You're cold, baby, rrrrrrreal cold! Oh, you're freezing!""You'll never get away with it," I breathed. I stumbled away from her but an enormously fat book blocked my way: Rosie O'Donnell's Find Me. "Neener neener!" her hideous mug slavered, then snapped the fruit wrap right outta my hand. Suddenly all the books jumped down & attacked me like a shark pack of liberal matrons: Maureen Dowd, Molly Ivins, Helen Thomas, David Brock. "No!" I screamed, "noooo..."September 15, 2004
PAJAMAGATE
| BLOGGER | USUAL BLOGGING ATTIRE | |
| Wonkette | Racerback plunge bra with underwire cups; Jockey no-fly midway briefs; patent clogs with faux-fur trim | |
| Matthew Yglesias | Baby Einstein embroidered bib; Fussy Boyâ„¢ white snowflake booties | |
| Baldilocks |
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| Charles from LGF | Deodorant; hairnet; TAG Heuer chronograph watch; naturist, admits owns no pajamas | |
| Frank J | Wife beater, bandoleers, cigar, samurai sword | |
| Miss O'Hara | Chlorophyll-green charmeuse split-skirt frock with Mandarin collar; Sheer Caress control-top pantyhose; Bible **Update: Rcvd snippy email from someone claiming to be Miss O'Hara, who wants it known she does not wear pantyhose & most certainly does not need control-tops | |
| Boi from Troy | Durango buffalo leather chaps; Boi Watch cotton boxers; brushed-metal mesh circuit necklace; yellow bandana on right bicep **UPDATE: BFT claims dark blue left; Dan Rather has doubts | |
| Michelle Malkin |
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| Duncan | Humorous chicken-with-head-cut-off costume with dangling appendage & Media Matters puppet strings | |
| Daily Kos | Blood of Dead Americansâ„¢ skin-brightening Mesopotamian Mud facial moisturizer; anti-imperialist insurgent shora; Shrek mask | |
| Godless & Razib at Gene Expression | Drew Carey eyeglasses with photogrey lenses, floods, stained clip-on tie, 4-year-old condom in back pocket | |
| Jeff at Protein Wisdom |
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| Millionaire socialist Katrina vanden Heuvel | Tin foil hat; pannier hoops, skirt and bodice of vintage peach jacquard silk with scatter beads & ribbon roses | |
| John Derbyshire | ||
| Michele Catalano | Pauline Hansonâ„¢ jungle-print patio frock with spaghetti straps & garden trimmings | |
| Instapundit | Break-blogging athletic gear: Iridescent navy-blue polyester Taos warm-ups, Nike men's air Ultraposite with light-up shoelaces, Naypalm one-size-fits-all palm guard, Blastoff creatine | |
| My Pet Jawa |
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| Solomonia | Dora the Explorer fetish: pith hat, wig, yellow binoculars, adorable backpack, & foam rubber shoe covers | |
| Dean Esmay | Queen of All Evil odalisque love slave | |
| Betsy of Betsy's Place | Vivienne Westwood royal blue bumper dress with plaster-of-Paris legwarmers | |
| Armed Liberal |
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| Andrew Sullivan | White leather beaded wedding dress with matching jacket & Morticia train | |
| Patterico | ||
| Kim du Toit | Techniflo gas mask, relaxed fit bulletproof mid-length bathrobe by Monsanto, small armory | |
| Llama Butchers | ||
| Politburo |
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| Donald Luskin | Krugman Truth Squad union suit, Anti-stalker GPS monitoring anklet | |
| Bill at INDC Journal | ||
| Josh Marshall | Milla Jovanovich unisex Joan of Arc mail suit with flattering shoulder pads & Teflon jodhpurs | |
| Jimmy Taranto | ||
| Powerline | The exception: ratty old semi-sheer pj's with sagging crotch & no elastic, inside-out Minnesota Vikings sweatshirt, toast crumbs between toes | |
| Blog Quebecois | Underwear worn as Abu Ghraib over-the-head ear warmers | |
| Ace of â™ |
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| Allahpundit | Sea green one-size-fits-all Muslim prayer thobe with discreet dirty bomb pouch | |
| Wretcherd | ||
| Right on Red | Gore-Tex ECWCS trousers with zipper gussets & Hillbilly Jim possum-leather cap | |
| Wizbang | Hugh Hefner silk bathrobe with attachable blonde tomato & humorous boxers | |
| Venomous Kate | Black latex halter mini with Caribbean blue bodice, overflowing ashtray, bucket of martinis | |
| Michael Totten | ||
| Vodkapundit | 1940's alpaca pink rock'n'roll sweater with top button & neck loop | |
| Twisted Spinster | ||
| Lucianne Goldberg | Mug of warm milk, teddy bear, & brushed dalmation bathrobe | |
| Jeff from Beautiful Atrocities |
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Posted by Jeff at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2004
This is your brain | This is your brain on drugs | |
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This is your ass | This is your ass in prison | |
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1. Cheaper
2. High lasts 3 days
3. Crash lasts 3 weeks
4. House will be neurotically clean when you get out of the nuthouse
5. Current drug of choice among soulless Hollywood vampire glitterati
6. Effective means of removing unnecessary neurons
7. Quick way to new career as Keith Richards impersonator
8. DIY cocktail of fertilizer, Drano, turpentine, battery acid, strychnine, antifreeze, & ammonia not instantaneously lethal
9. Reduces risk of dying of old age
10. Promotes safer sex due to inability to obtain erection
11. Hospital emergency rooms required to resuscitate you even if you don't have insurance
Posted by Jeff at 01:11 PM | Comments (0)
September 13, 2004
THE REVOLUTION WILL BEGIN WITH PASTE & CONSTRUCTION PAPER
Hostess/artist/Jewish-American mommy Mishlei alerted me to the good news that, in the midst of so much strife, a Jewish/Arab grade school has quietlyd in Israel. Bridge Over the Wadi is the fourth cross-cultural schoold by Hand in Hand, & the first located in an Arab town. Two other schools, in Jerusalem & Galilee, have already outgrown their original campuses & are planning to move.Bridge Over the Wadi is located in the Arab town of Kafr Kara. The schoold September 1st with 106 children - half Jewish, half Arab - as well as two principals - a Jewish man & an Arab woman - and Jewish & Arab teachers for each class. The students study both the Koran & the Torah, & observe both Jewish & Muslim festivals.
Original plans to locate the school on a nearby kibbutz would have been too costly. Asnat Riffkin, whose 2 children are enrolled: "We don't want the school to be too expensive for parents." The move to Kafr Kara caused some Jewish parents to withdraw, afraid for their kids' safety. Many Arab parents, on the other hand, saw the school as good opportunity for their children.
Kafr Kara resident Afnan Younis, whose 2 sons are enrolled: "We live here together. If each side understands the other, it will be better for all." Zohair Yahya: "Residents of Kafr Kara have excellent relations with their Jewish neighbors. We are not extremists, & understand the rules of democracy. Most Jewish adults know nothing about their Arab neighbors. Real friendships can flourish from a young age. This is the basis for a new Middle East. While the politicians talk, we are realizing this vision."
A film about the school is in production. See also Bridging the Gap Between Shalom & Salaam, Jewish-Arab School Preaches Equality & profiles of four families involved in cross-cultural schools.
Posted by Jeff at 11:15 PM | Comments (0)
September 11, 2004
Posted by Jeff at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)
September 09, 2004
AHMAD SHAH MASSOUD
Known as the Lion of the Panjshir & the Eagle of the Hindu Kush, Massoud was the legendary Tajik warlord who defied both the Soviets & the Taliban, until he was murdered by 2 Al Qaeda assassins on September 9 2001. Son of a police commander, Massoud's native tongue was Persian, but he was also fluent in French, Pashtu, Urdu, & had a working knowledge of Arabic. At 14, he organized the first volleyball team in his village, was an avid chess player (a skill that would later be useful) & reader of Persian verse.
He joined the Islamic movement at Kabul Polytechnic in 1973 in response to the spread of Marxist ideology. He split with Pakistani ISI puppet warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar over the latter's practice of terror. Massoud's brother: "He was never an extremist, neither in his private nor his public life. He believed that a moderate Islam could work in Afghanistan."
- After Soviet invasion in 1979, Massoud resorted to guerrilla warfare to defend Panjshir Valley. Robert Kaplan: "Massoud has to be considered one of the greatest leaders of guerrilla movements in the 20th Century." Sebastian Junger: "I found it impossible not to listen to Massoud. I watched everything he did."
Massoud survived many assassination attempts by Soviets, ISI, & rival warlords, but even the Soviets gave up & declared a truce with him in 1983. They broke the truce a year later with a full-scale invasion of Panjshir, but Massoud evacuated 130,000 people in just 2 weeks. The Soviets were defeated 8 times in Panjshir, leading to their defeat in Afghanistan, &, ultimately, the collapse of the Soviet empire.
After the Soviet withdrawal, Pakistan, Iran, & Uzbekistan maneuvered for control in what was mistakenly called a civil war. When the Pakistan-armed Taliban advanced on Kabul, Massoud withdrew to spare the civilian population, uniting the opposition forces. Olivier Roy & Christoph de Ponfilly: "Massoud always dreamed of a united & equal people in Afghanistan, & of free elections in this country."
On Sept 9 2001, Massoud was murdered by 2 suicide bombers sent by Bin Laden, who guessed that America would arm the Northern Alliance after Sept 11. Never in his darkest dreams did Bin Laden envision the storm that would sweep the Taliban out of power and scatter Al Qaeda all over the world. Junger's epitaph on Massoud: "Despite him not being able to see the defeat of the Taliban, his war is finally won." Pilgrims come from all over Afghanistan to pay their respects at his tomb in the Panjshir Valley.
Info from detailed bio at Afgha.com
Posted by Jeff at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)
September 08, 2004
LO HARE POR TI
PAULINA RUBIO
Who is she: Mexican superstar singer
Who likes her: Latins, drag queens, gay men
Born June 17 1971, Mexico City
Height: 5'4
Nickname: La Chica Dorada (The Golden Girl)
Boyfriend: Ricardo Bofill, son of famous architect of same name, ex-husband of Chabeli Iglesias (Enrique's sister)
Can't stand: Thalia
Parents: Mexican actress Susana Dosamantes ("Rio Lobo" with John Wayne) & Spaniard Enrique Rubio.
Speaks Spanish, English, French, & Italian. Practices yoga & tai chi. Enrolled in Televisa arts academy at age 8. Joined Timbiriche (aka the Mexican Menudo) at age 11, made over a dozen albums. Group later added arch-enemy Thalia which ended in onstage catfight. First solo effort, La Chica Dorada, went platinum.
Starred in dreadful soap operas Baila Conmigo & Pobre Nina Rica. 2001 CD Paulina sold 2.5 million copies & named Billboard's Latin Album of the Year. First English CD, Border Girl, debuted at #11 on Billboard. 2004 CD Paulatina spawned hit Te Quisa Tanto, #1 on Billboard Latin for 8 weeks. Has homes in Barcelona, Mexico City, Acapulco, LA, & Miami. Owns French restaurant L'entrecote de Paris in South Beach. Excerpts from her interviews:
On cross-cultural music: "Music is like love - you can give a kiss in Spanish, French, or English, but it's still a kiss."
On crossover artists: "Carlos Santana & Gloria Estefan & Julio Iglesiasd the doors for all of us."
On sex-kitten image: "I'm a good-looking girl, but when you get down to it, what I do is music."
On infamous onstage catfight with Thalia: "She was 13; I was 12. I was trying to get the microphone, and she didn’t want to let me have it, so we started fighting. We were rolling all around on the floor. The audience didn’t know it was a real fight. I was little, but I was fast, and I won. I really wanted that microphone."
On comparisions to Madonna: "They can visualize me any way they want. I really don't care."
On performing: "My brother & father are both lawyers, & my mom is an actress, so you get the picture. It runs in the family."
On guilty pleasures: "The Mexican food they have in America isn't really authentic, but I actually love Taco Bell."
On Shakira: "Our boyfriends are very, very good friends, so we go out in Miami and do very simple things. We go to the beach and have fun, and when we're sharing the stage in some awards ceremony or something, we talk about cell phones, batteries, diets, love, movies. We just chill down."
On role models: "Wonder Woman was my favorite hero. I loved everything about her. My fantasy is that I possess special powers and use them to win men, but I still stay sweet, intelligent, and polite."
On ambition: "I want to conquer the universe."
On intellectuals. "I love philosophy a lot. I love to have a roundtable with my friends and just to talk about philosophers like Kafka, Nietzsche, Descartes, Socrates, Plato, Marx and Freud."
On confidence: I divide people into two groups: those who criticize me and those who love me. I don’t live for other people. My mom showed me that it’s better to live in your projects and not listen to other people."
On gender wars: "I'm a strong woman and sometimes if you're a strong man, when you love so much you start feeling fear. I don't know why. Maybe it's because you're not a girl."
On Miami: "I love it because it's sort of the capital of Latinos. It doesn't matter whether you're from Spain, or Mexico, it's simply a place where it seems like we are uniting more everyday."
On L.A.: "Los Angeles is very much a first world interpretation of Mexico. My parents have had a house there since 1980 and I love LA!"
On homosexuals: "I'm always around gay people. In fact, some of my closest friends are gay. In many ways, they enrich me with ideas and creativity."
Marc Anthony on Paulina: "She is a free spirit and so much fun."
On the Zen of performing: "It's like what I've learned from Deepak Chopra. He says that the law of energy, or karma, is both an action and a consequence."
On telenovelas: "I don’t like them anymore! I don’t watch them. I can’t even tolerate people around me watching them."
Leila Cobo, Billboard Latin American bureau chief on Paulina: "She's not a great singer, but she does take over the stage well."
Mom Susana Dosamantes on Paulina: "She's like an atomic battery."
Director Alfonso Cuaron (Y tu Mama Tambien) on Paulina: "She reminds me a lot of Salma Hayek. They are both fearless; they are both complete beautiful souls and a little nuts."
Posted by Jeff at 01:25 AM | Comments (10)