book reviews, celebrities

Repost: A review of Kate Coyne’s I’m Your Biggest Fan…

Here’s a repost of a book review I wrote for the original OH blog on August 12, 2016. I’m still trying to wake up and figure out what today’s topic will be. It appears here as/is.

I wrote this morning’s blog post not realizing that I was very close to finishing Kate Coyne’s very entertaining book, I’m Your Biggest Fan: Awkward Encounters and Assorted Misadventures in Celebrity Journalism.  I downloaded this book last month after its June 2016 release, thinking I’d sail right through it.  It actually took some time to finish Coyne’s eye opening story about how she came to be a celebrity journalist.  I have to admit really enjoying the ride.

Kate Coyne is presently working for People magazine.  It’s her job to meet and mingle with celebrities.  She got her start working for the NY Post’sinfamous “Page Six”, then spent several years at Good Housekeeping.  But Coyne writes that she’s always been mesmerized by celebrities and she grew up in a place where she would run into stars by chance.  As a child, she was an autograph hunter and her parents actually encouraged her to rub elbows with celebrities.  One time, Kate Coyne’s family went on vacation in the Caribbean, where they ran into George Michael and his handsome “friend”.  With a push from her mother, Coyne approached Michael and scored his signature. 

In another story, as a girl on vacation, Coyne met Cameron Douglas, son of movie star Michael Douglas.  Coyne writes of spending the day with him, building sandcastles and exploring.  It was before Cameron Douglas’s well publicized battles with drug addiction.  He was a charming and thoughtful young man and Coyne really enjoyed her time with him.  

Years later, while working for the gossip section “Page Six”, Coyne ran into Michael Douglas at a bar.  She struck up a conversation with him and, once he discovered she worked for “Page Six”, he rudely told her she should find another job before her soul turned black.  She never forgot that encounter with Mr. Douglas and was tempted to bring it up when their paths crossed again after Coyne started working for People.  Instead, she talked to Michael Douglas about playing with his son while they were on vacation.  Douglas, who at that time was recovering from throat cancer, was very happy to talk about his son and Coyne was glad she hadn’t mentioned their earlier encounter.

I really enjoyed reading Kate Coyne’s book, mainly because I, too, am a bit mesmerized by celebrities.  I get the sense that Coyne and I are about the same age, so some of her anecdotes about her celebrity sightings as a teenager hit close to home for me.  Also, she just seems like a very likable and relatable person.  I felt like she’d be fun to drink wine with, even if she does rub elbows with the rich and famous on a regular basis.

I’m Your Biggest Fan is chock full of interesting stories about Coyne’s encounters with A listers like Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Jennifer Lopez, Neil Patrick Harris, and even Wynonna Judd.  She’s not afraid to admit to being starstruck, even though her work involves meeting stars.  I found Coyne’s self-deprecating wit charming and engaging.  She keeps her tales light and entertaining.  She also reminds readers that television is where the magazine’s real bread and butter is.  For instance, she’s spent a lot of time talking to Kate Gosselin.  Back before Jon and Kate split up, they were constantly profiled in People. After their divorce, interest intensified for a bit, even though Kate Gosselin is hardly an “A lister”. 

Many of Coyne’s anecdotes are funny.  Some are a bit mortifying.  For instance, she writes about trying the L.A. diet fad involving juice.  “Green juice” is apparently ubiquitous in Los Angeles.  Everybody’s drinking it and eating “clean” so they can be super thin.  Coyne, who admits to not being “naturally thin” and trying many different diets in an attempt to stay slim, gave green juice a go.  She drank it almost exclusively for over a month, lost lots of weight, went to a party, and then… suffered the consequences of not eating real food for a month.  Coyne manages to make this story funny and entertaining, even as it also serves as a warning to those who might be tempted to subsist on green juice.  I can already tell that if I ever tried it, Mr. Bill would have a fit.

I think I’m Your Biggest Fan would appeal most to readers who are looking for something fun to read on the beach.  It’s definitely heavy on gossip.  I also enjoyed reading this book because I myself enjoy writing.  Coyne gives readers a look at what being a celebrity journalist is like.  Who knows?  She may even inspire a new crop of journalists. 

I used to have a subscription to People.  I also used to pick it up in the checkout aisle.  For some reason, I lost interest in People and quit following it some years ago.  Maybe I’ll buy another issue, especially since Coyne writes that since 2013, People has quit using paparazzi photos of the children of stars.  While I don’t know if that makes People a class act, per se, it does sort of elevate the magazine in my eyes.  Maybe I’d see it as somewhat classier than Us Weekly, anyway. 

Anyway, if you enjoy reading about celebrities, I’m Your Biggest Fan might be just the ticket for you.  I enjoyed it.  I think it rates a solid four stars.

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healthcare, law, politicians, politics, Reality TV, sexism

“Activist judges” in South Carolina have defied the right wing alpha MALES, and I am so here for it!

Featured photo is in the public domain.

Yesterday was an interesting day. After I wrote my too long and too opinionated review of Jamie Lynn Spears’ book, Things I Should Have Said, I waited all day for the Amazon guy to show up with my latest toys. I bought an Amazon Echo Dot for my bedroom, as well as a couple of “smart” power strips that I can’t figure out how to configure. I was inspired to make that purchase because Bill bought me an Echo Dot for my office. I don’t really need one for either place, since I have so many other devices, to include my big desktop iMac computer that is outfitted with Siri. But they are nice to have… and it’s kind of fun when Alexa gives me a notification that turns its ring yellow. Makes me think of all the 70s era space travel shows I missed when I was a kid.

While I was waiting for my delivery, I noticed some exciting news coming out of South Carolina, the state where I spent three years earning my “overeducated housewife” status. The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the six week abortion law is unconstitutional. The law has been struck down, as the majority of the five justices determined “that the law that restricted abortions after detectable fetal cardiac activity [is] ‘an unreasonable restriction upon a woman’s right to privacy’.” Thanks to the 3-2 decision, abortion is now, once again, legal in South Carolina until 20 weeks gestation. This ruling comes almost two years after current South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed into law the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act. That law made abortion illegal after six weeks of pregnancy, except in limited situations such as pregnancies that would endanger the pregnant person’s life or were caused by rape or incest.

I was heartened to read the comments by Justice Kaye G. Hearn, who wrote the opinion of the majority. She stated, “Few decisions in life are more private than the decision whether to terminate a pregnancy. Our privacy right must be implicated by restrictions on that decision.”

Naturally, some people were rattled by Justice Hearn’s statement. I noticed the ones who were quoted in the Washington Post article link I unlocked were all MEN. Governor McMaster tweeted, “Our State Supreme Court has found a right in our Constitution which was never intended by the people of South Carolina. With this opinion, the Court has clearly exceeded its authority. The people have spoken through their elected representatives multiple times on this issue.

McMaster added that he “look[s] forward to working with the General Assembly to correct this error.”

I find McMaster’s wording very intriguing. He wrote, “Our State Supreme Court has found a ‘right’ in our Constitution…” That’s right, Henry. It is a RIGHT. I lived in South Carolina and worked in maternal and child health and healthcare policy there. I know about South Carolina’s moronic and ineffective approach to preventing unintended pregnancies… Just tell the girls to abstain.

Well, it’s not their public health approach, really. I found the public health folks working at the Department of Health and Environmental Control to be quite intelligent and informed on the issue, including why it’s important that women have access to abortion healthcare. It’s the right wing MALE legislators who have their heads firmly lodged in their asses. These same folks have no desire whatsoever to do anything to help people who find themselves unintentionally pregnant. They don’t give a damn about making sure those babies are born healthy to people who are prepared to raise them. It’s all about fear and shame, and telling women to keep their mouths closed and their legs crossed. Ridiculous… and completely unrealistic.

I don’t see how McMaster’s comments square with what happened to our federal rights to have abortions. For fifty years, women all across America had that right, and it was unceremoniously taken away from us by Trump’s trio of pro-life “activist judges”. Now, McHenry is accusing his own state’s Supreme Court judges of “exceeding their authority”, simply because he doesn’t agree with their interpretation of South Carolina’s Constitutional law. They were doing their jobs, Henry. You should do yours, and work for the betterment of ALL South Carolinians, not just your hyper-male, conservative, Republican buddies. 😉

The other quote in the article comes from another Republican male, Jeff Duncan, who says he’s “extremely disappointed” with the decision made by “activist judges” in South Carolina. Sounds to me like these judges are compassionate, Jeff. Do you have the same level of compassion for women who, for whatever personal, private reason, do not wish to be pregnant? Do you value the right to privacy for all people? Why should a woman who finds herself unintentionally pregnant have to justify terminating her pregnancy to ANYONE? It’s her BODY, Jeff; not yours. You will never face this choice. You will never have to deal with the multitude of changes that happen when someone gets pregnant. So kindly develop some compassion for the already born, and do what you can to make life better for them. Maybe then, your constituents might not feel like they need to have an abortion for reasons you don’t deem “acceptable”.

It seems to me that people who don’t like abortion should simply not have one. They should not lobby to take that right away from other people. Developing embryos and fetuses don’t have a concept of abortion, nor do they experience pain until quite late in pregnancy, beyond when the vast majority of people would consider having an abortion. And those who do, almost universally do so because the alternative to having one would be much worse.

Even MAGA idiot Donald Trump has recently opined about the foolishness of being extreme about taking away women’s abortion rights. He was recently complaining about the Republicans’ poor showing during the midterms. He said on his very own Truth Social:

“It wasn’t my fault that the Republicans didn’t live up to expectations in the midterms.” Then he added, “It was the ‘abortion issue’, poorly handled by many Republicans, especially those that firmly insisted on no exceptions, even in the case of rape, incest, or life of the mother, that lost large numbers of voters.” Then he finished with, “Also, the people that pushed so hard, for decades, against abortion, got their wish from the U.S. Supreme Court, & just plain disappeared, not to be seen again.”

Those comments are now prompting anti-abortion groups to fire back, and indeed, a bunch of Trump’s former supporters are turning on him. I guess they’re finally seeing what some of us have noticed all along. But, in this case, Trump is actually right. A lot of people in the United States are legitimately angry about abortion rights being taken away. And many of the pissed off among us are women who would ordinarily vote Republican. Those women, many of whom are business people whose livelihoods could be adversely affected by unintended pregnancies, don’t want to be forced back into the kitchen. Quite a few of the rest of them are, like I am, disgusted by the idea that they would have to explain to anyone why they want or need to have an abortion. It’s, quite frankly, no one else’s business, no matter what the reason is. And basic privacy is, if not a right, an expectation, especially when it comes to healthcare. Abortion is healthcare for the already born women who need it, even if it’s not for the developing embryos or fetuses who have the potential to be born.

I, for one, am so ready for this issue to be settled, once and for all. This constant back and forth ping ponging about abortion is ridiculous, and it’s preventing actual work from being done to help the rank and file already born people who are actually struggling to survive. When a person is having trouble paying their bills, the last thing they want to be is unexpectedly pregnant, especially when they live in a state that is notoriously stingy about funding social welfare programs. And I am SO SICK of MEN inserting themselves in this issue, especially since a lot of them don’t even know the first thing about pregnancy or even female anatomy. They just want control over women. It’s plain and simple. Of course, some of the idiot Republican males who are claiming to be “disappointed” about this decision would not hesitate to provide access to and pay for abortions for their knocked up daughters or mistresses, would they?

Moving on…

It was totally random that I reviewed Jamie Lynn Spears’ book yesterday, and she is now participating in a new Fox reality show called Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. I heard about the show yesterday, which also includes actress Beverley Mitchell, gymnast Nastia Liukin, Kate Gosselin (who has already washed out), and Dr. Drew Pinsky (also already eliminated). The first two episodes dropped on Wednesday, so I downloaded them yesterday and watched. I have to say, I found the show kind of boring and hokey. But… the cast mix is kind of interesting, given that it’s a mix of a lot of different kinds of people, to include reality TV stars, Olympic athletes, and actresses. I’ll probably watch the whole series and groan the whole time.

Yes… they’re REALLY going to let these “household names” die on TV. What bullshit. They must have really needed the money.

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