WWMKD?

NEW YORK - A massage therapist who discovered a lifeless Heath Ledger in his Manhattan apartment made her first call to Mary-Kate Olsen, according to an in-depth timeline police released Wednesday of the moments surrounding the Australian-born actor's death.

At 2:45 p.m., massage therapist Diana Wolozin showed up for her appointment with Ledger, who didn't answer when she knocked on his door. She then tried to call him on his cell phone, but again got no response. She went into the bedroom, set up her massage table and again tried to wake Ledger.

Wolozin told police that Ledger was cold to the touch, but that she assumed he was just unconscious. She grabbed his cell phone and called Mary Kate Olsen, whose number was programmed into the phone. Wolozin knew that the "Full House" star and Ledger were friends, and she asked Olsen for advice on what she should do next.

Olsen, who also lives in Manhattan but was in California at the time, responded by saying she would send over her private security guards to help deal with the situation. In the ensuing moments, Wolozin realized that Ledger might be dead. She called Olsen again, then called 911. The emergency operator provided Wolozin directions on how to do CPR, but it was too late. Paramedics arrived minutes later — at about the same time as Olsen's security guards.

WP: WTF?

Failed Justice at Work

One of the three victims of San Francisco Zoo tiger attack was intoxicated and admitted to yelling and waving at the animal while standing atop the railing of the big cat enclosure, police said in court documents filed Thursday.
Paul Dhaliwal, 19, told the father of Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, who was killed, that the three yelled and waved at the tiger but insisted they never threw anything into its pen to provoke the cat, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Sousa's father, Carlos Sousa Sr., said Dhaliwal told him the three stood on a 3-foot-tall metal railing a few feet from the edge of the tiger moat. "When they got down they heard a noise in the bushes, and the tiger was jumping out of the bushes on him (Paul Dhaliwal)," the documents said. Police found a partial shoe print that matched Paul Dhaliwal's on top of the railing, Matthews said in the documents. The affidavit also cites multiple reports of a group of young men taunting animals at the zoo, the Chronicle reported.

Toxicology results for Dhaliwal showed that his blood alcohol level was 0.16 — twice the legal limit for driving, according to the affidavit. His 24-year-old brother, Kulbir, and Sousa also had alcohol in their blood but within the legal limit, Matthews wrote. All three also had marijuana in their systems, Matthews said. Kulbir Dhaliwal told police that the three had smoked pot and each had "a couple shots of vodka" before leaving San Jose for the zoo on Christmas Day, the affidavit said. Police found a small amount of marijuana in Kulbir Dhaliwal's 2002 BMW, which the victims rode to the zoo, as well as a partially filled bottle of vodka, according to court documents.

Zoo spokesman Sam Singer said he had not seen the documents but believed the victims did taunt the animal, even though they claim they hadn't. "Those brothers painted a completely different picture to the public and the press," Singer said. "Now it's starting to come out that what they said is not true."

WP: All I have to say is, why did the tiger have to be shot in all of this mess? If a person retaliated against his provokers, he wouldn't be sentenced to death. He'd be arrested and put on trial. The tiger wasn't even given a fair trial, despite the pending incriminating evidence in his favor.

Adventures in Passporting

Recently, I've had to get a new passport as ten years had past since I got my last one. Naturally, the U.S. Government wants you to have a new, up-to-date photograph. I would rather take the photo at home, but with the U.S. Government's stringent rules of photo size, head placement, background color, etc., I'd rather get one from someplace that does passport photos regularly. Getting one, though, was quite the challenge for me, unlike it was 10 years ago.

After completing the paperwork that I picked up at the Post Office, I first attempted to get my photo taken at a Rite Aid Pharmacy late one Sunday morning. No customers were in the store yet (it was a church-going day, you know). I walked over to the photo department and looked around for someone. The clerk at the store registers came over and asked if I needed help. I asked about a passport photo. He said that they do do them...but the photo department person hasn't arrived yet. "They're supposed to be here...but they're not yet. I don't know where they are," he said. Fine. I left and figured I'd swing by another time.

The next day, I went to another Rite Aid on my lunch hour, near my job. Lo and behold, someone was working behind the counter (a plus!) and I noticed a sign about passport photos (another plus!). Despite the sign, I asked her if they did passport photos there. She made a face and said honestly, "Yes, we do...but they've been getting rejected due to the lighting in here." I see. I question as to why they don't remedy that situation (doesn't Rite Aid stock lightbulbs?) and leave.

The next day, I'm leaving work and I get a call from a friend who's heard about my woes. He says that a co-worker of his just had their passport photo taken at a different Rite Aid and didn't have any problems. On my way home from work, I swung by there. Mind you, this is a new Rite Aid and is one of the swankier areas of the city. I go inside and see NOBODY behind the photo counter. There's only a customer standing there...patiently waiting. I stand behind him, figuring he knows what he's doing. "I've been here half an hour," he says. "Nobody's come?" I ask him. "No." I look around the store. There's NOBODY working inside there except for a very elderly woman behind one of the main registers, and she has a line of five people. I leave...

...and go to the nearby Walgreens. I walk up to the photo counter and see three customers...waiting. And NOBODY behind the counter.

A week later, on the way home from work, I decide to try another Walgreens. Naturally, a man is waiting at the photo counter and there's NOBODY manning the post. I ask him if he's been waiting long. He says that he has been there a little while. I decide to wait a minute or two with him. The woman at the front register with three customers in line asks for help over the P.A. system. Out of the nearby store office come (very slowly) two personnel. One, a manager, the other, a beauty specialist (according to her nametag) who must work in the cosmetics area of the store. Seeing that there are people waiting at the photo counter (imagine that?), the manager (a man) tells the beauty specialist (we'll call her Pearl) to go behind there while he attends the front register. The customer in front of me tells Pearl that he just needs something hanging behind the counter (I, on the other hand, would have reached back and grabbed it myself, after my many experiences with many stores' photo personnel). Pearls hands him the items and moves on to me. I tell her that I want to get a passport photo (I've already read that they offer it on their signage). "Oh, well, you'll have to wait until he comes back," she politely says, pointing at the manager over at the register. "Of course I do," I state. Behind me other people have come to drop off their photos for developing. Naturally, Pearl is clueless how to do it. Why the manager didn't recommend SHE go over to the register and HE work the photo counter, I'll never know. Scratch that: I do. It's called NOT THINKING. And, sadly, too many people in customer service jobs today follow that philosophy.

Just then, Naomi, another Walgreens employee, walks by. "Oh, here's Naomi. She works in the photo department. After she clocks in, she can help you." Oh good, I think. Naturally, Naomi walks slow, takes her time clocking in, taking off her jacket, etc. She pulls out a digital camera and snaps a photo of me. I'm halfway there! Then she goes over to the customer photo machine (where you can do your own prints) and loads the photo into it. (Couldn't I have done that? What level of professional passport photo taking is this?) Because that apparently seems to be the ONLY photo machine working (what's that big machine in the back?) and someone is printing 200 photos on it, I stand there waiting for my photo's turn to be printed. I wait about 20 minutes longer than the 10 minutes I've already been there. By this time, Pearl, Naomi, and the Manager are all behind the photo counter, pretty much doing nothing, as we all wait for the last of the 200 photos to spit out. Mine finally prints and I'm on my way. Now I just have to hope that their lighting was good...

I Wanna Be A Rock Star...but I don't BLEEPing know how!

Nickelback's song "Rock Star" contains the following lyrics:

I'm through with standin' in line
To clubs I'll never get in
It's like the bottom of the ninth
And I'm never gonna win
This life hasn't turned out
Quite the way I want it to be
(Tell me what you want)

I want a brand new house
On an episode of Cribs
And a bathroom I can play baseball in
And a king size tub big enough
For ten plus me
(Yeah, so tell what you need)

I'll need a credit card that's got no limit
And a big black jet with a bedroom in it
Gonna join the mile high club
At thirty-seven thousand feet
--(Been there done that)--

I want a new tour bus full of old guitars
My own star on Hollywood Boulevard
Somewhere between Cher and
James Dean is fine for me
(So how you gonna do it?)

I'm gonna trade this life for fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair and change my name

[CHORUS]
'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blonde hair
And well...

Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar

I wanna be great like Elvis without the tassels
Hire eight body guards that love to beat up assholes
Sign a couple autographs
So I can eat my meals for free
(I'll have the quesadilla, ha ha)

I'm gonna dress my ass
With the latest fashion
Get a front door key to the Playboy mansion
Gonna date a centerfold that loves to
Blow my money for me

(So how you gonna do it?)

I'm gonna trade this life
For fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair
And change my name

'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars and
Live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blonde hair
And we'll hide out in the private rooms
With the latest dictionary of
Today's who's who
They'll get you anything
with that evil smile
Everybody's got a
Drug dealer on speed dial, well
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar

I'm gonna sing those songs
That offend the censors
Gonna pop my pills
From a Pez dispenser

WP: Unfortunately, if you're listening to it on the radio, you only hear about 75% of it. Why? Somewhere along the way, someone decided that the words "drugs" and "drug dealer" -- among others -- were too "racy" for radio! Since when did "drug" and "drug dealer" become curse words? And what happened to the days from the 60s when most songs were ABOUT drugs? Should the radio stop playing them?

I'm not advocating the use of drugs by any means. What's insane is that someone feels that "slap that bitch ho" is okay, but a common word like "drug" isn't. Where's the logic? Who's running this show? I'll stick to my CDs where I can hear songs in their entirety. And...guess what? They won't even influence me to take drugs? Oooh... Why? Because I have a brain with my own thoughts and can make my own life decisions. I grew up watching Bugs Bunny, and I have YET to drop an anvil on someone's head.

Congratulations!

Joel Madden says his newborn daughter with Nicole Richie has a healthy appetite.

WP: You'd be hungry too if you hadn't eaten in nine months...

What's wrong with THE KITE RUNNER?

Last year, the U.S. studio behind "The Kite Runner," based on the 2003 best-selling novel by U.S.-based Afghan author Khaled Hosseini, had to get its three young stars out of their homeland before the movie debut to protect them from a possible backlash. Why? They claim that it's because of the film's depiction of one boy's rape and other scenes of conflict between members of Pashtun and Hazara tribes.

WP: Tribes? What century are we in?

Ahmad Jaan Mahmoodzada, father of Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada who plays Hassan, has said in media interviews that he was not informed about the rape scene until just before it was shot.

WP: Um...did anyone read the script before signing on? Or perhaps even the book?

Not surprisingly, now Afghanistan has banned the import and exhibition of "The Kite Runner," a film about the troubled friendship of two Afghan boys, on the grounds that it could incite violence.

WP: After seeing the film a couple of weeks ago, I have this observation: the rape scene and portrayal of these "tribes" have nothing to do with why Afghanistan would want to ban the book, film, etc. It has to do with FACTS being shown that over the past few decades, Afghanistan has rapidly declined economically, politically, and socially due to the Taliban takeover. And that, my friends, is why they don't want their peoples to see the film. They don't want to remind their people how fucked up they are because they've reverted to some backwards society out of the BC era.

We're...off to see the Wizard!

Tom, Tom, Tom. Sigh... The least you could do is wear heels comparable to Katie. You look like a fucking midget idiot.

What's wrong with today's SUPERHERO movies?

As a lover of comic books and its characters during my youth and young adulthood, I think it's embarrassing at times what has been produced -- or even suggested -- for the silver (or small) screen. Although I haven't really picked up a comic book for about 15 years now, I have about 15-20 years of reading/studying under my belt, 25-30 very long boxes of comics in protective storage bags, and a few years of working a comic book store, I have a great fondness for the characters and still remember each and every one of them.

To me, the best comics I read didn't involve fighting. They involved the characters, their personalities, their strengths, their flaws, and their interactions with their family, friends, comrades, and archenemies. One such story involves a suicide in a Wonder Woman comic book. I vividly remember the emotion that swept through me as I read it. THAT is the sign of a good story and the sign of a well-used character.

The obvious film mistakes are Superman III and IV, as well as Batman & Robin. Where were their plots? Did the writers even know anything about the characters about which they wrote? Had they ever even picked up a comic book? Even X-Men 3: The Last Stand felt rushed and unfocused. For someone who loved the Dark Phoenix storyline in the original Uncanny X-Men comics and looked forward to the movie with great anticipation, it was a huge letdown. There was NO character depth. Jean Grey/Phoenix/Dark Phoenix was little more than a passing annoyance. The relationship between she and Cyclops in the comics was…magic! And every comic fan wept when she sacrificed herself for the good of the Earth and universe. In the movie…not so much.

Although many won't agree, I think a great job was done with the movies for The Hulk, the first Fantastic Four (Jessica Alba looked plastic in the second), and Daredevil. They felt “real” and “authentic.” I was very pleased to see Marvel Comics branching out, so to speak, by using characters that weren't their main bread and butter. DC Comics, on the other hand, and my preference for comic books and characters, has failed to capitalize on the many, many great characters they own.

Beyond Superman and Batman, DC hasn’t done much. Yet they have so many great stories in their comic books from which they can borrow. In the 80s, the New Teen Titans had some fantastic storylines courtesy of writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez. The introduction of and subsequent death of Terra was ingenious. She was a good girl trapped in a bad girl's body. She wanted to do what was right, but being bad came so much easier for her. In the late 80s/early 90s, Mike Grell wrote some very gritty stories for the Green Arrow. Before his tenure, I had never been interested in the Green Arrow. Grell made him human and occasionally “wrote” stories that didn’t even have any dialogue. Yet it held my interest throughout. THAT is another sign of a good story.

DC Comics failed to get The Flash TV series running (hahaha…). Why? Poor storylines. I couldn’t even watch it, despite John Wesley Shipp (from Guiding Light, one of my favorite shows as a kid) being super hot in tights. They attempted again with Birds of Prey. A great choice. Lesser known characters…that were even female! Oooh… But still…it didn’t fly. Why? I don’t think the writers and producers invested as much into the characters, didn’t trust that their viewers were already familiar with them, and – basically—didn’t know much about their mythos themselves. Sad. And they’re the ones on strike right now? Unless they’re worthy of a strike, they ought to find other occupations so that real writers can step in and provide quality entertainment.

I’m hesitant about the upcoming Justice League of America movie. Naturally, I’ll go see it. Probably two or three times in the theater. However, I think DC Comics is overstepping its boundaries with throwing too many characters into the ring at once, especially overused characters like Superman and Batman. Baby steps, DC, baby steps.

Do we really need another Superman origin movie? Let’s jump right in and see what else he’s about! How about an evil little Mister Mxyzptlk? Or let's bring Darkseid and the New Gods into it. Or even a decent story that adds a respectable Supergirl? And while we’re on the subject, I’m a little worried about the newest Batman film. While Heath Ledger looks like an interestingly different maniacal Joker, do we really need another Batman film with the Joker in it? How many villains does Batman have in his Rogues Gallery? I can’t even count that high.

If the Joker is to be used again, let's use him for something new. How about a Batgirl movie where the Joker shoots and paralyzes her (as in the one-shot comic The Killing Joke), and she later becomes The Oracle? Let’s use some OTHER CHARACTERS and storylines from comic books past.

How about a Teen Titans movie when the Titans were The New Teen Titans and on top of their game like in the 80s? Robin/Nightwing, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven. And later, the mute Jericho. Robin had his identity crisis, was making the transition from "Boy Wonder" to adult superhero, and began a complicated relationship with the alien Starfire. Starfire had her own troubles, being a princess who ran away from her planet and whose evil sister was extremely jealous of her. Cyborg went through the mental anguish of dealing with his new mechanical body. Raven had no emotions and fought the demons within her. Beast Boy was a nutty character who ragged on Cyborg, but highly admired him, and dealt with his own adoption issues. Jericho was the son of a Teen Titans villain who lost his ability speak at the hand of one of his father's enemies as a kid. It wasn't so much about the crimefighting as it was about their personal issues. THOSE were characters. (And please ignore the infantile Teen Titans cartoon series on The Cartoon Network. That was just an embarrassment to the legacy of the Teen Titans.)

How about The Outsiders when they first came on the scene? Geo-Force, Katana, Halo, Black Lightning, Metamorpho, and – later – Looker, along with their team captain, Batman (not necessary for the movie, though!). They were a bunch of misfits who banded together and worked well as a team as they learned to trust and rely on one another. Who doesn't love a story like that? For proof, see the unending number of sports team movies that have been made.

How about Booster Gold? He was a wealthy, sexy, arrogant SOB, but a great superhero in his own right. Perhaps teaming Booster Gold and Blue Beetle together in a superhero comedy? Their friendship was cemented in Justice League International, a great comedic comic.

And, for Marvel, how about their Canadian group Alpha Flight and the outing of Northstar, the first major gay comic character?

Or a Power Pack movie that even the youngest of kids could enjoy? When the Power kid siblings first came on the comics scene in 1984, they had some amazing adventures that both kids and adults could relate to, especially when they dealt with issues such as sexual abuse, drug abuse, kidnapping, runaways, etc. That’s POWERful stuff!

My point…and I do have one…is: let’s get to making GREAT superhero movies. Older comic fans will love them for the sheer nostalgia, younger comic book fans will appreciate them for the adventures they may have missed, and non-comic book fans will love them for their inviting, interest-holding stories. And it just might help at increasing comic book sales in the process! Let’s be done with reinventing the wheel or trying to create “super” scripts like Superman vs. Batman. Focus on the little people. They have stories to tell, too. Look at what NBC did with Heroes.