And you thought I was going to talk about the winter storm, didn't you? Don't worry. I'll get there. I have a few thoughts. But, while I'm putting them in order, first things first.
BRITNEY IS BALD!
In this picture (that I took from TMZ.com, which got it from KABC), you can see that Britney has no hair. I believe that this was in or near the tattoo parlor that she went to after she shaved her head, which was pretty much the first thing she did after enduring less than 24 hours of rehab.
Now, if you read the STORY on TMZ.com, it tells you that Britney told someone at the tattoo parlor that she shaved her head because she is tired of people touching her.
OK. Here's my take. If I were some sort of celebrity and had people following me around and taking my picture everywhere I go, I'd probably freak out, too.
As a member of the media, I suppose I share some of the blame for promoting the celebrity fishbowl culture that currently exists. When Hugh Grant got busted several years ago, did I show his mugshot on my newscast? Yep. Nick Nolte? Yep. Paris Hilton arriving home after her arrest for DUI? Yep. I routinely put stories such as that in my newscasts. I think they have a certain amount of news value: well-known people breaking the law, or getting married, or getting divorced. It's interesting.
What's not interesting, is a celebrity doing routine and mundane things. For example, the aforementioned TMZ.com recently featured a brief video clip of one of the Olsen twins picking up her dog from the groomer. The girl drove herself to the shop, got out of the car, walked into the shop, got her dog, walked back to the car, put the dog in the car, got into the car herself, and left. And, she did it all while about 10 photographers snapped her every move. Why? Where is the news value in that? As far as I know, this Olsen twin isn't making headlines for anything scandalous these days. So, can't she pick up her dog in peace?
Now, compare the Olsen twin to Britney Spears. If Olsen is, pardon the pun, hounded when she does something as routine as picking up a pet, imagine what Spears must go through. She's a much bigger star, so she probably has 20 photographers following her everywhere she goes. Where is someone like Britney Spears supposed to go for some alone time? Maybe if she keeps doing crazy stuff, she'll get some alone time whether she wants it or not.