Billy Crystal to Replace Eddie Murphy as Oscar Host

It's official. Billy Crystal will host the 84th Academy Awards ceremony Feburay 26, 2012 on ABC.  Brian Grazer and Don Mischer will take over for Brett Ratner as producers.

"I'm thrilled to welcome Billy back to the Oscar® stage," said Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Tom Sherak  in a press release on the Oscar website. "He's a comic legend and Oscar icon, and it feels good to have him back where he belongs."

Always a fan favorite, the 63-year-old Crystal is a logical choice. It will be the comedian's ninth time as host of the show, second only to Bob Hope who hosted 19 times. The question now seems to be whether or not Crystal can pull young viewers as well as he is likely to attract viewers from the Baby Boomer and Gen X demographics.

Crystal is quoted in the same release:  "Some of the best moments of my career have happened on the Oscar stage. I am thrilled to be back there. Actually, I am doing this so that the young woman in my pharmacy will stop asking me my name when I pick up my prescriptions."

Fans Go Wilde in Paris Cemetery

Famed writer and poet Oscar Wilde just can't seem to rest in peace. Fans of the Irishman, who wrote the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and the play "The Importance of Being Earnest," is buried in the well-known Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

It all started in the late 1990s when one woman -- presumably -- decided to give the monument a little kiss. Since then, visitors have been planting smooches all over it. Some have even taken to drawing lipstick hearts and graffiti on it. One might think that lipstick kisses on a stone monument would be harmless, but according to Wilde's grandson, Merlin Holland, they are not. The grease from the lipstick sinks into the stone and each time it's cleaned, the stone is rendered more porous. 

In an effort to salvage the monument, Holland plans to have it restored (that includes replacing the castrated angel's private parts) and then surrounded by glass. 

Wilde died broke in Paris in 1900. The monument in his honor was erected in 1914.

Cancer ... Again!

For the third time in four years, I have cancer yet again. It's ovarian cancer again. Because of new findings, I'm not only being bombarded with the same chemotherapy regimen -- Carboplatin and Taxol -- that I received the first time, but I'm also getting Avastin, which slows down the progression of the disease. The trouble with Avastin is that it isn't especially effective overall in some cases. It also has potentially fatal side effects. Considering recurrent ovarian cancer is usually fatal anyway, what do I have to lose? My hope is that I will beat cancer once and for all and never have to deal with it EVER again.

My doctor said I have a 70% chance of beating the disease. I'm doing myself a favor this time around and eating better and exercising more. As a result, I feel better overall and function better during the day. Depression causes more problems than the side effects from the chemotherapy. 

Book Review: "The House of Mirth"

I saw the movie before I read the book. I liked both. The movie stayed very true to the book. It's one of the saddest stories I've ever read. I don't know what Edith Wharton's life was like -- biographies can only tell you so much -- but I've read three of her books and all three had endings that left me feeling depressed. Even though life was rough for Lily Bart, she seemed to me like a character who would prevail in the end even if that meant sucking it up and choosing to compromise. Read more ...

Tyra Banks Tries Something New With ANTM

As fans of Tyra Banks' America's Next Top Model (ANTM) have already noticed, there are no new faces this time around. Cycle 17 of the popular reality show brought back 14 "fan favorites" from cycles past. Sorry Jade fans, either she wasn't invited or her modeling dance card is too full.

Cycle 17's list of contestants is as follows:


Cycle 1's Good girl Shannon Stewart, who came in second to Adrianne Curry; Cycle 2's drama queen, Camille McDonald; party girl Brittany Bower from Cycle 4; wild child, Lisa D'Amato and the husky voiced Brittany "Bre" Scullark from Cycle 5; Cycle 9's resident drama queen, Bianca Golden; mannish (according to Miss J) Dominique Reihgard from Cycle 10; the fully converted transgender model, Isis King and va-va voom Sheena Sakai from Cycle 11; Cycle 12 first runner-up Allison Harvard; the bull castrater with a southern heart of gold, Laura Kirkpatrick from Cycle 13; Miss Ghetto Fabulous drama queen Angelea Preston from Cycle 14; Cycle 15's third runner-up, Kayla Ferrel; and last but certainly not least, Cycle 16's drama queen Alexandria Everett.

Of course, no cycle of ANTM would be complete without at least a little drama, and Cycle 17 promises not to disappoint. In fact, the cycle's first episode began with a little drama from none other than Bianca Golden, who some may remember got into a bit of a brawl with Nikki Blonsky and her family in an airport a few years ago. Apparently Scullark and Golden are close friends. Well, Scullark wanted to surprise Golden and kept her participation in Cycle 17 a secret. So, when the contestants all gathered together in their new temporary home, instead of greeting her "best friend" with a welcoming smile and a hug, Golden snubbed Scullark. Golden's ruffled feathers had settled by the end of the show.

More drama came when the contestants prepared for their first photo shoot. The theme was for each woman to pose in a way that was in keeping with who she was and/or how she'd appeared to ANTM's audience her first time on the show. So, Stewart, the good girl, posed as an angel. Ironically, she provided the photo shoot drama. She refused to put on a pair of lace shorts over a pair of very revealing bikini bottoms. Why, you ask? Because the lace shorts looked too much like underwear, she explained. She doesn't model underwear. Barely there string bikinis are OK, though. Confused? According to Mr. Jay, so is Stewart.

The night ended with the critique portion of panel being held in front of an audience of ANTM fans. Each contestant came down a catwalk to stand in front of the judges and hear what they had to say about her first photo. Every contestant, except Alexandria Everett, received a warm welcome. When Everett stepped up to the microphone, some people started booing; one person called her a bitch. Kudos to Everett for maintaining her composure, holding back her tears and graciously accepting the judges' less than glowing critique of her picture. If you're thinking the audience's reaction to each contestant made a difference, you're right. It did affect who went home that night. If you're thinking Everett was in the bottom two, you're right again.

Alas, Everett survived the first cut. It was party girl Brittany Bower who got the ax because, according to Banks, the audience couldn't remember her. Everett, on the other hand, "brought polarity." Some people said they hated her, while others said they loved her. One audience member said he hated her and loved her.

If week one is anything to go by, America's Next Top Model Cycle 17 will be anything but dull.

Book Review: "The Host"

I read "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer about two months ago. I checked it out of the library after reading an article about it. I loved it so much I finished it in two days, then I went straight to Amazon.com and bought it.

If you've ever read "The Puppet Masters" by Robert Heinlein or "The Body Snatchers" by Jack Finney, then you have some idea what "The Host" is about. In "The Body Snatchers," the situation is hopeless because the human is completely replaced by the pod person. In "The Host," a person has a chance of sorts. You don't have to vacate your body when a "Soul," as they're called, takes over. And therein lies the plot. The main character, Wanderer, takes over the body of a feisty young woman named Melanie who isn't giving up ownership of her body and mind without a fight.

"The Host" has more in common with Heinlein's book than it does with Finney's. Where it differs is that the Souls aren't connected. In "The Puppet Masters," the entities that took over the humans' bodies were telepathically connected to each other. The Souls are not. This subtle difference serves the uninhabited human characters of the book well in later chapters.

Rumor has it a film version is already in the works. I hope Hollywood does it right. They ruined Dean Koontz's books "The Watchers" and "Hideaway." They also did a poor job of adapting Robert Heinlein's book "Starship Troopers" for the big screen. I loved the book. I liked the movie, but when I read the book later, I thought the movie could have been much better if Hollywood had stuck closer to Heinlein's original story.

I give "The Host" ***** (5 stars) for drama, excitement and a pretty accurate picture of human nature.

You Can Have Love Without Marriage

Not everyone can be as lucky as Catherine Middleton and find herself walking down the aisle toward an actual prince. But if she chooses wisely, any woman can find herself walking down the aisle toward one prince of a guy … or not.

The first thing women need to do, if they want to increase their chances of finding their soul mates, is stop listening to friends and family members who tell them that they have to get married by a certain age or after they’ve been with their significant others for a certain amount of time. The word spinster can be stricken from the English language. The condition no longer exists. A woman doesn’t have to get married to sustain a loving, committed, monogamous, lasting relationship. Just ask Oprah Winfrey. It helps if a man and woman are in agreement. That doesn’t mean that you have to show your old fashioned, pro marriage man to the door with a polite, “Thanks, but no thanks.” If you love him, weigh the pros and cons of getting married along with the pros and cons of life without him.

The pros of marriage are no different from the pros of cohabiting, except at tax time. The government offers tax breaks to married couples that make the idea of meeting each other at the altar a little more appealing. But tax breaks should be an added incentive to do what you’re already inclined to do, not a catalyst to do what you might otherwise avoid like the plague.

When you get married, you’re not just pledging your troth; you’re also signing a contract. You sign your name to a legally binding agreement that most people don’t get out of unscathed. If you know that marriage is not for you, try to find out early on if your significant other feels the same way. Early on doesn’t mean the first or second date. If the relationship lasts at least six months and you feel like you're falling in love, then – if you just have to know – you could try broaching the subject. Now, unless you want to see your significant other disappear in a puff of smoke right before your eyes, do not take the direct approach. Subtlety rules here.

Try taking him to see a romantic comedy. These types of movies often end with a wedding or marriage proposal. Some have weddings as their central themes. Avoid these. Once the movie is over, don't baldly ask him if he wants to get married someday. You could find yourself staring at skid marks and nothing else. Try talking about the movie in general. What were your favorite parts? Did you like the ending or do you think those kinds of endings are cliché?

Tread carefully. Six months isn’t a very long time to be with someone. Despite what movies would lead you to believe, most whirlwind romances that lead to marriage also often lead to divorce. Wait another six months. If you’re still together and you’re still hopefully in love, maybe you could consider bringing the subject up then. But you don’t have to.

Sometimes, it’s better to leave well enough alone. As long as you and your man are happy, let that be enough. Who knows? You could end up like Oprah and Stedman, living, loving and growing old together … no rings attached.