Britney's Hair For Sale: Crass Exploitation?

Yesterday Dark And Bright reported on Britney Spear's shocking new look and out-of-control behaviour, and it seems that the singer's fragility is already being exploited.

The owner of the salon where Britney Spears shaved off her hair is selling the singer's locks for more than £500,000.

Esther Tognozzi has set up a special website for the sale and is throwing in Britney's abandoned drinks can and cigarette lighter.

Her husband, JT Tognozzi, said some of the proceeds from the sale would go to charity,
including one which supplies wigs to children with cancer, which is rather ironic, as Britney was pictured last night in a nightclub wearing a cheap-looking blonde hairpiece to cover up her shorn scalp.Apparently she stormed out of the club after the DJ played her single Hit Me Baby One More Time.Stressy much?

He also said "We still don't know why Britney chose our shop.We'll probably never know" which seems rather a stupid thing to say.Maybe because she just happened to be there at the time? Maybe because it was near the tattoo parlour she was visiting? It's not as if he was questioning why she shot herself, just why she went to their hairdressers, which hardly seems important.

A search on eBay for "Britney Spears hair" reveals dozens of supposed clumps of the popstar's tresses - some of it not even the right colour! In reference to the frauds,Mr Tognozzi said "It's pretty crazy all the frauds and stuff that's out there, They're not even in our state."

Dr Linda Papadopoulos, a psychologist who has given professional advice on Big Brother, believes that Britney may be suffering from post-natal depression,but that the singer might also be trying to make a statement along the lines of "'I've had this blonde pop princess imposed on me. You guys need to take heed now. I'm more than that, I'm different than that'."

Not Only Is She Bald, It Was Self-Inflicted!

I reported Britney Spears' new hairdo a couple of posts ago (scroll down for pictures!) and now it's come out that she was in a San Fernando Valley hair-salon on Friday night when she grabbed an electric clipper and shaved her own head.

The salon owner, Esther Tognozzi told CNN:

"I tried to talk her out of it. I said, 'Are you sure you're not having a bad day and tomorrow you'll feel differently about it? Why don't we wait a little bit?'

"She said 'No, I absolutely want it shaved off now.' Next thing I know, she grabbed the buzzer and she went to the back of my salon and she was shaving off her own hair. "

Thats pretty impulsive.And somewhat worrying.

Over the past few months she's got divorced, been accused of being a negligent parent, partied hard with Paris Hilton, ruined her image by being photographed without knickers on four seperate occasions, got a new boyfriend, been dumped by him, checked into rehab, checked out less than twenty-four hours later, and got a new tattoo (a pair of pink and red lips on her wrist) just before she shaved her head.

Christ, she's been a busy girl! I got tired just typing that list!

According to Yahoo! News:

Professor Cary Cooper, professor of psychology and health at Lancaster University, and an expert on stress, said: "She's obviously quite a disturbed girl at the moment, she doesn't know who or what she is. She obviously needs some help, and needs somebody to take hold, because her behaviour is very erratic. I think it's a call for help. She's saying, 'I'm very confused, I'm not in control of myself at the moment, I need a fresh start, I need help'. "

He refers to the dramatic head-shaving incident thus:"To me, it's a symbolic act, saying, 'Help, I'm not altogether here' - and it's certainly drawn attention to her."

Lets hope she listens.

Fashion at the BRIT Awards

I read this on the net and thought "This has to be blogged." So here it is:

Compost Heap: If Tim Burton directed a remake of "Mary Poppins" with his permanently frumpy and frizzy wife Helena Bonham Carter as the titular, umbrella-wielding nanny, and there was a scene in which she must fish her young charges out of a lake crammed with taffeta-chomping piranhas, the result would look exactly like Imogen Heap at the Grammys. The Best New Artist nominee fills the calculatingly kooky void left by the once swan-swaddled Bjork by kitting herself out in an oddball Bride of Swamp Creature costume. Her bog-inspired accoutrements include a moss-sprouting mane, nonslip lily pads lifted from the bottom of her tub and a hapless frog that's hoping against hope this isn't the day when a kiss from his true love turns him back into a prince.

Britney Spears Is Bald!

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=entertainment&id=5042740
SHERMAN OAKS, February 16, 2007 - Britney Spears is back in the U.S., and she's sporting a brand new look.
Spears was photographed at the valley tattoo shop "Body and Soul" in Sherman Oaks, getting a tattoo reportedly of a pair of red and pink lips on her wrist. But the biggest change to the pop singer's style? She shaved her head bald.
Spears could be seen inside the tattoo parlor with her head fully exposed, but as she left the shop she was led by her bodyguard straight to a waiting SUV. Spears had her head covered with a hooded sweatshirt to hide her new noggin.
The sidewalk outside the shop was filled with fans, onlookers and paparazzi. Some fans that were interviewed after Spears departed declared the new look less than flattering.

Anita Blake comics

Ok, so once again I apologise for the lack of updates.But I do have an excuse, I spent a lovely Valentines Day in London.And managed to stumble upon the Forbidden Planet megastore! It was as if I'd died and gone to geek heaven...

Whilst alternately squealing like the massive fan-girl that I am, and swooning at the array of merchandise, I came across the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter comicbook.

For those of you who have not yet heard of the Anita Blake novels, they are the trashiest, fastest-paced, sexy horror novels you will ever come across.Little plot, but lots of ultraviolence, angst, and vampire-sex.They've been described as Buffy for grown-ups (a disputable title, but then I worship at Whedon's feet) and whilst they'll never win any prizes for thought-provoking literature, the Anita-verse is an engrossing world that makes for a very fun read.

And now we can experience it in full colour! And as an added incentive, check out this promo of Anita looking tres Michelle Rodriguez.

Buffy Fanfiction With A Twist...

Twisting The Hellmouth http://www.tthfanfic.com/ is a great Buffy fanfiction site that houses literally thousands of crossovers involving other fandoms.

Okay, so some of it is a bit shit, yes, but if you've ever thought that Spike would make a kick-ass Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, that Anita Blake could take Buffy in a fight, or that Oz had the soul of a Jedi, there's something out there for you!

Latest Fanfiction News

There have been updates to the Buffy and Spike sections of The Ultimate Buffy Fanfiction Pairing List, with two new Spuffy sites added, and Sugar And Spike a Spike-centric site (well,duh) thats won lots of awards.

And also there has been a raz-de-maree of girlslash! And if you love femfic, you'll know how hard good girl-slash is to find.So without further ado, these sections are also updated!

Cordelia
Darla
Dawn
Drusilla
Lilah

Look Away Now, Guys...

I find this animated diagram of a vasectomy absolutely hilarious!

All together now, "snippedy-snip!"

That is all.

Anne Hathaway-Secretly Gay?

Scarlet magazine's online weekly, Harlot featured this juicy tidbit in their gossip column:


"Which young Hollywood actress is a closet lesbian? She's been trying to make her image a bit racier by wearing semi-transparent dresses on the red carpet, and is rather worried that her orientation may affect her career. Who would have known the devil wears sensible shoes?"


Is that a glaring hint that the starlet in question could be The Devil Wears Prada actress Anne Hathaway? Excuse me while I pray to my big lesbian goddess in the sky (yes, Gina Gershon!) that it is so!

And judging by that dress, it is...

This article is running away with me.Originally it was just what you see above, but then I decided to do more research, and I throwed up this:

http://celebrities.netscape.com/story/2006/12/29/anne-hathaway-hangs-out-at-a-new-york-gay-bar-after-being-turned-away-at-another-club/



Well, the URL kind of gives that one away! To save you the trouble of clicking on it, the meat of the story is "Anne Hathaway spent the Friday night before Christmas living it up at a New York gay bar", which does at least go to show that even if she isn't queer, she's queer-friendly.


Although, one could say she's already proved how gay-friendly she is by playing the wife of a gay man in Brokeback Mountain (in which she gave a stellar performance, in my opinion).

All of which looked quite promising for my hopes, until I found out that her brother is gay, which explains why she might be so pro-LGBT.

But then I found this quote from The New York Post:

"This actress was always the goody goody.

She has worked hard to change that image by doing less family friendly films and making sure to wear enough see through dresses on the red carpet.

She wanted to lose the squeaky clean image to get better roles, but also to sell the idea that she was sexy and desirable to men.

She has no desire for men, just wants the world to perceive her as a sex symbol.

Everything was going according to plan until her last movie for which there were raves.

There she met another actress and love was in the air. They were inseparable for the entire shoot and even got an apartment to share.

Once filming ended, our actress decided to end the relationship for fear it would damage her career.

The new lover who has been quietly out for sometime and is quite the scene stealer thinks our actress should get smart and stop pretending and start living."

Most of this is just confirming the snippet from Harlot, but the reference to a romance with a co-star intrigued me, so I thought I would do some more digging.

Emily Blunt, Anne's co-star in The Devil Wears Prada starred in My Summer Of Love (http://imdb.com/title/tt0382189/) as a sexy, precocious young teenager who indulges in a lesbian romance, which makes her a possible candidate.

However, Heather Matarazzo (The girl Anne is hugging on the right) who appeared in both of The Princess Diaries films has a massive list of queer credentials.

She played a journalist from lesbian magazine Curve in (very) lesbian drama The L Word (double the lez!), appeared as herself in Fabulous! The Story Of Queer Cinema, has been interviewed on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, oh yeah, and her IMDb profile (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000525/bio) says that she is actually gay!

"In April 2005, she was the keynote speaker at the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network of Boston's 15th annual conference, at Brookline High School, where she described her struggle to gain acceptance of her sexuality. "It was such a burden, because I had to pretend to be this person that I wasn't.""

AND, tellingly:

"Became great friends with Anne Hathaway during the shooting of The Princess Diaries (2001). They still call each other frequently and hope to be friends for the rest of their lives."

*Jumps up and down in excitement*She could well be Anne's secret co-star lover! If indeed Anne is actually gay.But I think the facts speak for themselves.And even if she isn't gay, she is still of course a good actress and a pretty nice person.

My apologies for the sloppy structuring of this article.It was originally quite short, but the idea ran away with me.My research was throwing up so much good stuff, and I wanted to get it up as soon as possible.

Crispay Soup Chef In Art-Porn Shock!

Everyone remembers Lara Perkins, the Crispay Soup Chef who stole Dana's heart in the first season of The L Word, right ?
With her cute button-nose, sexy strawberry-blonde hair, and way with grilled vegetables, Lauren Lee Smith won our hearts and a whole legion of lesbian fans.


However, the Canadian actress is definitely not shagging girls in her new film Lie With Me.


She plays Leila "a sexually voracious young woman who connects with men through brief physical encounters."
She meets David, played by Six Feet Under's Eric Balfour at a house party and "later, as she has casual sex with a stranger just behind the house, David and his girlfriend mirror her actions in their car. Leila and David's eyes lock as they watch each other having sex with others, a courtship ritual that initiates their own sexual affair." Whoah.


Now, it may be a little disappointing that this is a het romance, but that scene sounds sexy enough to set the screen on fire! Us watching them watching each other...Voyeuristic much?



Apparently the film contains pretty much every kind of sex act imaginable, and the main stars spend about half the film naked and I'm not entirely sure, but a certain amount of the sex in the film is unsimulated.I doubt the majority is real, but Wikipedia seems pretty sure that it contains "unsimulated genital fondling".


Now that just puts me off.I'm by no means a prude, so it is just the fact that I'm used to thinking of Lauren Lee as sweet and rather innocent Lara that makes me feel unconfortable about this film?


I suppose at this point I should apologise for including all those screenshots of such a filth-fest, but I have no excuse, rather than to provide a contrast between the two roles.

The Adventures Of Emo-Boy!

I found this in Waterstones at Piccadilly, and the title just made me laugh so hard that I knew I'd have to put it on the site: "Emo Boy: Nobody Cares About Anything Anyway, So Why Don't We All Just Die?"



Here's the Amazon synopsis:

"Poor Emo Boy - he's unpopular, unloved and has no family. Not only does he need to deal with things like pondering suicide and questioning his sexual identity, but he's also got these emo super powers that only seem to bring destruction and disaster, causing everyone to hate him more than they already do."

Isn't that the ultimate emo superpower? The power to make your life even worse?

And as well as the usual poetry-writing, unrequited love, and "Nobody understands me" traumas of the average teenager:

" His first love suffers a head explosion, the football team wants him dead and he got an F in English. No wonder, he's so depressed!"

I think it sounds like a brilliant satire of the state of the nation's youth.And bloody funny.

What A Load Of Bull...

This story is freaky, not just because the general weirdness if it, but because I practically predicted it.Somehow, during a discussion about the bizarre ingredients found in some hair products (crushed pearls, that sort of thing) I mentioned that semen might be quite good, due to the high protein content.(I have some weird converstaions, okay?)

Anyway, obviously Hari's of Chelsea has read my mind.They are now offering a forty-five minute treatment that "involves massaging a protein-rich mixture of bull semen and a plant root into the client's hair" according to the press release.And the Metro says "The semen is refrigerated before use and doesn't smell. It leaves your hair looking wonderfully soft and thick."

I might try it...

Spice up your lovelife...

You may have noticed that there has been a slight haitus on Dark And Bright, my fault as I was in London all of Friday, and asleep most of Saturday.

However, I did find some inspiration in the form of the Agent Provocateur store in Notting Hill. Having been a fan of their website for a long time, it was great to get my mitss on the actual products! And after stealing every piece of Agent ephemeria I could get hold of, I found these:

Say hello to someone you love with a sexy e-valentine from Agent Provocateur http://www.agentprovocateur.com/valentines/main.html

Now really, what better way to seduce someone than with beautiful young women in gorgeous lingerie?

Lacey Online!

Tammy Lynn Micheals (The L Word's Lacey and Mrs Melissa Etheridge) has her very own blog right here on Blogspot!

http://hollywoodfarmgirl.blogspot.com/

It's mostly written in Haiku form, which is...interesting.

I love how she lists Melissa Etheridge as one of her favourite musicians!

Also, I found this quote from Teen Vogue - Spring 2001, which really backs up Tammy Lynn Micheals' Dykon status:

"It was only the fourth or fifth episode of Popular, and I was in the hair-and-makeup trailer, going over my lines for the next scene."You have to lose weight," Betty ordered, rolling up the tape measure. "You've gotten very heavy, Tammy."
My jaw dropped. My heart raced. I began to sweat icicles. ...
Even though I had heard about Hollywood's obsession with thinness, I never though I'd be seeing the issue face-to-face --- especially at size 4.
So instead of dutifully striving to meet those unrealistic standards, I challenged them. I spoke to one of our producers, a woman who was visibly angry.She told me not to lose the weight and to forget Betty's remarks. Betty didn't come back after the first season. I got support. It was so great."