TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG ... THAT IS THE QUESTION FOR CELEBRITIES (AND THEIR PUBLICISTS).Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer In the beginning there was fan mail, and form letters sent in reply with autographed (possibly even genuine) glossy photos, and it was good enough. These days more and more stars of television, movies and music are using Web logs, better-known as blogs, to interact with fans. They can post personal photos, vent on headlines, quell rumors and pour their hearts out. And they can do it all from an office, home or whatever far-flung location they find themselves in while filming or playing concerts. It's a clear improvement over the days when studio underlings or personal assistants suffered a thousand paper cuts in an effort to keep up a celebrity's image with public contact. But with a few clicks, a blog can undo years of work by publicists who have formed a celebrity's image and keep it polished with all the right interviews and personal appearances. Veteran publicist Carol Marshall, whose clients at her eponymous public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most firm include Jimmy Smits, Peter Jackson and Shohreh Aghdashloo Shohreh Aghdashloo (Persian: شهره آغداشلو, born 11 May 1952) is an Academy Award-nominated Iranian-American actress and self-proclaimed activist. , says she has not interfered with a client's desire to blog, but she would have some advice if asked. ``My first question would be, what is your purpose for doing it? If their motivation is to get themselves exposure, I wouldn't recommend it, because that's just antics. ``If you're looking to spread the word about a charity, or have something to say about a cause that's important to you, then I say go for it.'' The experts at about.com say what sets a blog apart from an ordinary Web site is frequent updates, personal insights and links to other sites. The copy should be peppered with first-person pronouns. The best blogs, they say, bear the clear voice of the celebrity author, not some support staffer. It's a time commitment not everyone can keep, what with work itself and promotional appearances. ``I'm amazed that people have time to write them and other people have time to read them,'' Marshall said. Celebrity bloggers have included Alyssa Milano Alyssa Jayne Milano (born December 191972) is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Samantha Micelli in the sitcom Who's the Boss? and Phoebe Halliwell on the supernatural series Charmed. , Anna Kournikova Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova (Russian: Анна Сергеевна Курникова (listen , Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. For most of its career, the group has consisted of vocalist Anthony Kiedis, guitarist John Frusciante, bassist Michael "Flea" Balzary, and drummer Chad Smith. , Melanie Griffith and Michael Moore. In addition to their devout fans, readers of celebrity blogs include other bloggers (which sometimes makes for a circuitous cir·cu·i·tous adj. Being or taking a roundabout, lengthy course: took a circuitous route to avoid the accident site. Google search) and mainstream entertainment journalists looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. nuggets Nuggets can refer to several branches of interest:
Pete Townshend used a blog to respond to his arrest for accessing child pornography Child pornography is the visual representation of minors under the age of 18 engaged in sexual activity or the visual representation of minors engaging in lewd or erotic behavior designed to arouse the viewer's sexual interest. on the Internet. (Authorities concluded it was research, as he claimed.) Britney Spears' pregnancy announcement and several celebs' political statements have gone from their blogs straight to People magazine and ``Entertainment Tonight.'' A veteran of publicity power shop PMK/HBH, Marshall recalled her first job at Solters Roskin Friedman, where publicists had to come up with five items a day to feed to gossip and entertainment columnists to ensure their clients' names were in ink. ``These are the new columns,'' she said. Stars who blog may be motivated by a desire to present themselves honestly, without all the packaging by agents, managers and other professional handlers. ``Some people would view it as taking control back into their own hands,'' Marshall said. ``I don't think it always works out that way because some people just put their feet in their mouths.'' Isn't that the hope of many fans who read celebrity blogs? Valerie Kuklenski, (818) 713-3750 valerie.kuklenski(at)dailynews.com WHAT YOU'LL FIND Here is what some celebs are writing about: JEFF BRIDGES: He gets an A for the personal touch. The whole thing is handwritten hand·write tr.v. hand·wrote , hand·writ·ten , hand·writ·ing, hand·writes To write by hand. [Back-formation from handwritten.] Adj. 1. and hand drawn, even the scribbly link buttons. Kind of feels like peeking over Bridges' shoulder while he doodles Doodles can mean the following:
DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. and his mom, Dorothy's, memoir. (Hey, he's gotta make a buck now and then.) www.jeffbridges.com. ROSIE O'DONNELL: The home page of her popular TV talk show has morphed into her own free-form poetry on various subjects. Once you get used to the e.e. cummings style of no capitalization and rare punctuation, she rewards visitors with nearly daily updates. Subjects range from Broadway news to her family of four kids to politics and social issues. Look for occasional pearls of wisdom such as ``life without a tv show is hard.'' www.rosie.com. BRITNEY SPEARS: Pregnancy seems to have distracted the pop queen from regularly updating the ``stream of consciousness'' area of her official Web site. In a March 30 posting, she complained about ``false tabloids'' such as Star, In Touch and US Weekly. In the ``dog's crib'' area, she posts snapshots of her Chihuahua, Lily, in various states of overdress with gushy gush·y adj. gush·i·er, gush·i·est Marked by excessive displays of sentiment or enthusiasm. gush  i·ly adv. commentary, a habit one hopes will be cured by motherhood. www.britneyspears.com. Spears detractors may want to check out a ``Fetus Spears'' blog launched by an uncredited un·cred·it·ed adj. 1. Not having been credited, as on a ledger: an uncredited deposit. 2. Not having been accorded due recognition: an uncredited discovery. writer on March 29, two weeks before Spears announced her pregnancy but while rumors of such were swirling in the previously mentioned tabloids. The ``fetus'' complains about its mother's singing, speculates about whether it will be given sunglasses at delivery to better cope with all the cameras, and calls for a match against Fetus Garner, the Jennifer Garner/Ben Affleck babe-to-be. http://www.liquidgeneration.com/blog/fetusblog/blogger.html.<WIL See WinBatch. WHEATON: The former child and teen star who made his name in the film ``Stand by Me'' and the TV series ``Star Trek: The Next Generation'' is still a working actor and a proud geek A technically oriented person. It has typically implied a "nerdy" or "weird" personality, someone with limited social skills who likes to tinker with scientific or high-tech projects. The origin of the term dates back to the late 1800s. to boot. His blog is deeply personal with lots of insights on his home life with wife Anne and stepsons Nolan and Ryan, his political concerns, his work as a writer and, more recently, a rather graphic description of his sinus infection symptoms. (Apology accepted.) Wheaton updates daily - sometimes a few times a day - offering often compelling reading for non-geeks and non-Trekkers. www.wilwheaton.net. DAVE BARRY: The syndicated humorist's newspaper columns already are bloggish in nature, with references to his misadventures at home and at work, so Barry uses his blog most often to link to other writings that strike him as interesting or funny. This week, one link delivered a video jigsaw puzzle of a sky diver. There is the occasional personal note, though, such as his admonition Any formal verbal statement made during a trial by a judge to advise and caution the jury on their duty as jurors, on the admissibility or nonadmissibility of evidence, or on the purpose for which any evidence admitted may be considered by them. to the news media to pull back on the Deep Throat coverage, lest it merge somehow with all the ink spilled on the Runaway Bride and result in a morphed story of ``The Runaway Throat or Deep Bride.'' weblog See blog and Web log. (World-Wide Web) weblog - (Commonly "blog") Any kind of diary published on the World-Wide Web, usually written by an individual (a "blogger") but also by corporate bodies. .herald.com/column/davebarry. BARBRA STREISAND: Within the actor/director/diva's Web site are links to ``statements'' and ``truth alerts.'' ``Statements'' are the text of speeches she has delivered or others' words she has found inspiring, generally on politics. ``Truth alerts'' is where she sticks a pin in whatever reportage she has found about herself that is inaccurate. Should be updated more frequently if she wants site traffic. Look for this high-profile patron of the Democratic Party to get busy with statements in the months leading to the 2006 midterm elections. www.barbrastreisand.com. JAMIE OLIVER: Food Network's ``Naked Chef'' bares his soul in the ``Jamie's Diary,'' section of his site, which recently picked up a Webby Award for best celebrity/fan site. He journals from the road, posts recipes of his own and gives readers a way to share theirs as well. www.jamieoliver.com. AL ROKER: The affable TV weatherman and author expounds on family vacations and other personal tales in his journal. He took a break from journaling for a couple of months but returned Monday with snapshots of and high praise for the ``smokin' '' performance by the Black Eyed Peas This article is about the American hip hop group. For the vegetable, see Black-eyed pea. The Black Eyed Peas are an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California, who have enjoyed worldwide pop success. The group is currently composed of will.i.am, apl.de. on ``The Today Show.'' www.alroker.com/journal.cfm. WILLIAM SHATNER: In the appropriately titled ``Bill's Space'' section of his site, the ``Star Trek'' and ``Boston Legal'' star gushes in various entries about his guest-star Emmy last fall and his Golden Globe in January. He even has an entry with a Q&A with Denny Crain, his ``Boston Legal'' alter ego A doctrine used by the courts to ignore the corporate status of a group of stockholders, officers, and directors of a corporation in reference to their limited liability so that they may be held personally liable for their actions when they have acted fraudulently or unjustly or when , with emphasis on the word ego. No question that Shatner himself is the author of these writings. He should post more often. www.williamshatner.com. - V.K. CAPTION(S): 6 photos, box Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) BLOG World Now even celebs are weighing in (2 -- 4) no caption (Web Sites) (5) WHEATON (6) Jamie's Diary Box: WHAT YOU'LL FIND (see text) |
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