Do you have the Angelina pout? How about Drew Barrymore's dimples? Or the rugged salt and pepper look George Clooney sports?
We want to see Greater Lowell's celebs! Send us your friends, family or your own pic and tell us which celeb you are mistaken for.
Send your pics to rbriere@lowellsun.com
We may just make you famous.
Britney Spears celebrated her 26th birthday this weekend. She was not arrested, did not overdose, did not lose her kids, did not run anyone over so let's all go back to our boring lives.
We stepped out of Greater Lowell this week and interviewed Celtic rocker, Larry Kirwan, the lead singer of Irish band Black 47. Kirwan is a native of Ireland and now calls New York his home. Due to space restrictions in our print version of Steppin' Out, we could not publish the interview in its entirety. Below we have the full interview with Kirwan who chatted about The Beatles, Hillary Clinton and the war in Iraq.
Make sure to grab Steppin' Out every Thursday in The Sun.
WHO: Black 47
AKA: Larry Kirwan, lead vocals and Stratocaster; Geoffrey Blythe, tenor and saxophone; Joe Burcaw, bass; Thomas Hamlin, drums and percussion; Joseph Mulvanerty, uilleann pipes and flute; and Fred Parcells, trombone and pennywhistle
VISIT: www.black47.com
HISTROY: They are political and trying to make a statment about the war in Iraq, but they will josh with their fans and throw back a couple of pints. Black 47 has been telling tales through their tunes since 1989. Frontman, Larry Kirwan, is an accomplished muscian, writer, playwright and host his own Sirius radio show. Kirwan fit us into his busy schedule to chat about his life as an artist.
You are a muscian, radio host and playwright. How do find time for them all?
And a novelist. (Laughs). I am trying to finish off a new novel inbetween. I don’t watch TV. I stopped watching TV during the Gulf War. It was so slanted.
No reality TV then?
I have never seen that, but with all that I have been reading I am curious and may actually turn the TV on.
Song, novel or play writing — which is the most satisfying?
The music I get the most bang out of. It’s an immediate reaction on stage in front of people. Books and novels are great because you are writing it on your own, it’s a great feeling, but there is no feedback from the audience. A play is great to watch the actors interperet it.
What are your novels about?
I wrote an autobiography, “Green Suede Shoes” that came out two years ago, I also wrote “Liverpool Fantasty” about The Beatles if they never were famous.
Really, what happens to the Fab Four?
Paul goes to U.S. and becomes a Frank Sintra kind of singer. Then 25 years later, he goes back to England to look up the other three. John is unemployed and still singing, George is a Jesuit preist and Ringo plays drums with Gerry and the Pacemakers.
Sounds like a great movie. Your songs are part truth and fiction. Do you use the fictional details to embellish the story?
Sometimes I do that. There is almost a paralel line in life between fiction and truth. I take an incident, move it a distance away from myself, exagerate and build up some aspects of it. There’s an essence of the truth. I have never been a confessional songwriter like, Jackson Browne. I found it gets limiting after a while and it gets boring. If you take the great writers like Kerouac, I am sure he took the experiences with Neal Cassady as the basis and then embellished.
Do people think all the tales you sing about are true?
You see some of the songs the are about political figures, Bobby Kennedy or Bobby Sands, they’re real people. In essence I am trying to portray them, I try to get into their heads. It was part of my training as a playwright. Bobby Sands, I could not get into his head for 20 years. Then when I sing I am being that person on stage. Some of the other songs have a wild sense of humor with a basis of fact. I am not Bono, I don’t have three chords of truth. I have 53. (laughs).
Is there any current figure you would like to get into the head of?
Hillary Clinton would be an interesting one. She originally supported the war, and I can’t believe someone so intelligent like her would. She then becomes a Shakespearian figure, she tells a lie to further herself feeling she knows best. I think that is fascinating and that is the basis of her canidacy.
Do you think she will be the next president?
Probably. I would vote for her, though I totally disagree with her war policy, but giving who she is up against. Guiliani will probably blow us all up with his ego. I have big issues with her on the war, but isn’t it time to have a woman? Men have f$%*@# it up so much. Though I lived under Thatcher. So long as Hillary stays a women and does not become a man. That’s what happened to Thatcher, it becomes dangerous.
In your opinion, how has the music scene changed over the past two decades? Has it gotten better or worse?
I would not go into it now if I was just starting out. It does not have the same caché that it did. It used to be part of a youth movement. Now it is there for entertainment sake — kind of like a reality show. It has nothing to do with what is going on in the world. It’s just the fact that rock ‘n’ roll, rap, folk, country none are dealing with the real issues.
Do you think that is a reflection of our society?
It is. This war in Iraq is such a diseaster. They way we are allowing it to go on and continue is an indictment of the society. That is what artists are for, that is part of our job. People that are working around the clock trying to make ends meet find it hard to take a stance. It’s more the fault of the artist and the college student. They were tradiontally the ones who protested it. They seem totally disaffected.
Are there any current muscians out there that are taking a stance?
Neil Young. He is singing about the war. Some of the young hard core bands do it. The Dropkick Murphys do it, some of the Irish punk bands are engage like Flogging Molly. It doesn’t seem like regular rock ‘n’ roll has anything to do with that anymore. Our next album coming out in February is called “IRAQ”. It is writing in the point of view of the soldier. We stay in touch with a lot of our fans that are over there and this is what they are telling us. It describes what is going on there and it is not a pretty reality.
Do you think your music will have a lasting impact on people?
I don’t even think in those terms. I do it, to put it out there. In the end there will be Elvis, The Beatles and the Stones we’d be happy to even get a footnote.
For someone who has never been to a Black 47 concert, what can they expect?
I think it is a very uplifting mixture of seriousness in regards to the war, history and politics but the thing is we sing seroiusly, but we don’t take ourselves seriously. We are not preachers. There is a lot of humor. It’s the full breadth of the human experience — politics and history right through to outragousness and wash it all down with a couple of drinks. It’s fun.
Catch Black 47 at The Bull Run, 215 Great Road, Shirley next Friday, Dec. 14. Doors open at 6 p.m., show starts at 8 p.m. For more info visit www.bullrunrestaurant.com.
Word in Lowell is that production for the Micky Ward biopic, "The Fighter" has been paralyzed by the writer's strike.
Senator Steven Panagiotakis called out for building owner in Lowell to offer up their locations in order to host a sound stage to support the movie's filming on WCAP this monring.
We hope that the strike will not effect Brad Pitt's role as Ward' s brother Dickie Eklund. He recently pulled out of the film, "State of Play" because he was not pleased with the script but there was no one available to rewrite it. He was replaced by Russell Crowe.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. The month when all the excess, shallowness and superficial tendencies that we posses come bubbling to the surface. And what better way to celebrate than with the biggest guilty pleasure, celebrities.
And yes, I do believe that even humanitarian and queen of good deeds Angelina Jolie goes online to see how much the Cartier bracelet Brad bought her for Christmas is.
In the tradition of this column I have made my list. I do not need to check it twice. I know who has been naughty and nice. Who says celebrities have it all? Not I.
In looking over last year’s list with my celebrity-obsessed elves, I have discovered some of our glitterati are in need of the same presents. Michael Richards still needs a career and Prince William still needs moi.
Some received their gifts, but are now in need of another one. Britney Spears loved the week’s worth of undies we got her. Now we need to put her down for a new set of hair extensions, and don’t forget those two little boys she lost.
Nicole Richie ate the hamburger we sent her, along with some French fries, chicken nuggets, spicy chicken sandwich, a few tacos and a supersize milk shake. We’re not picking on her weight gain — she does have a bun in the oven. What the former waif needs is the smarts to not make Paris Hilton her child’s Godmother.
Rosie O’Donnell got her muzzle, courtesy of Barbara Walters. What she really needs now is a slot on Donald Trump’s The Apprentice. Wait, Trump needs his show to be renewed, which will happen if this writers’ strike continues. Wouldn’t that make for great television? The Ro and the Fro going at each other’s triple-chin-covered throats. Writers — who needs them?
Here is who made the 2007 list:
Amy Winehouse: a divorce, stability, sobriety and veneers.
O.J. Simpson: an orange jumpsuit to get a head start.
The Kardashian ladies: more brains than booty.
Scott Weiland: Lindsay Lohan’s sponsor.
The Beckhams: Goo Gone Stain Remover for their Mystic Tans.
Tila Tequila: a little less tequila.
Tom Brady: some good old-fashioned manners.
Katie Holmes: deprogramming with Nicole Kidman.
The Hills’ Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt: a purpose.
Lowellita: any of the writers’ jobs who are on strike.
Is anyone missing from this Christmas list? E-mail those who were snubbed to lowellita@lowellsun.com. For more on celebrities visit www.thesunblog.com/frosting.
So who would of thought Lowell could produce one of the best looking AND smartest men around?!?!? I don't know if anyone out there follows the VH1 reality show, America's Most Smartest Model, but a fellow Lowell High School classmate of mine is in the running. I am not sure what he wins, but it everyone should help out this hometown hottie.
He is asked a question daily, like explain communism to a five-year-old or should vegetarians eat animal crackers. His answers are pretty witty, so he gets my vote!
The end of the year lists are starting to come in! We have not got Blackwell's Worst dressed list yet, but we bet Britney is a shoe-in!
We do have the most pretentious public figures of 2007. Here they are in order from least to most:
10. Britney Spears
9. Kanye West
8. Tyra Banks
7. Victoria Beckham
6. Hillary Clinton
5. Tom Cruise
4. Rosie O'Donnell
3. Bill O'Reilly
2. Paris Hilton
And drum roll please..........
1. Donald Trump
People magazine is reporting that actress, Jessica Alba, is pregnant and due this spring. The actress has been dating Cash Warren for the past couple of years. No wedding plans yet for the two.
Congrats Jessica!
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but ... we are all going to die.
Yup, that is right, everyone is bound to kick the bucket, throw in the towel, push up some daisies from six feet under after biting the dust. It is that old cliché, there are only two things that are guaranteed in life: death and taxes.
By the looks of one of my year-end pay stubs, I am welcoming death to my doorstep. If a college graduate with both a full-time and part-time job could qualify for subsidized housing from their “take home income” but not their “gross income” — this has to be some kind of hell. If Mr. Joe Black comes a-knocking, I’ll allow him in and offer him a drink. I am in purgatory already.
I can see it now. The e-mails will be laced with, “But Lowellita, it’s the holidays” and, “Aren’t you supposed to be funny? Death is not a joke.”
Yes it is. And in my opinion, I am hilarious.
This December the grim reaper is making more media appearances than Santa Claus. Maybe he should replace his sickle with some bells, and make red his signature color instead of black. Although, black is more flattering, but I don’t think he is looking to make friends. If he was smart he would. He could fetch $15 a picture at any mall if he was merry instead of morbid. Americans favor thin people verse the morbidly obese, so Senor Reaper should make a killing.
Ha. I told you I was hilarious. And these days, death is a joke.
There are nightly news reports, magazine articles and talk shows that outline all the ways we are heading for eminent doom. Global warming, the 2008 election, fundamentalism and The Golden Compass, somehow all of these things are going to cause our demise.
Nothing is safe. Even toys — they’re poisonous — don’t give them to your kids. They will die.
Well, I have not yet, neither has my mother or my great aunt who is turning 80 next year. We all had Barbies and chewed on a few pink plastic high heels in our childhood. We all rode bikes without helmets, knee and elbow pads. We pricked our finger tips with tacks in order to initiate ourselves as “blood brothers” with our childhood friends.
Still here, maybe missing a few screws, but we made it. No lead poisoning, no missing limbs and no Hepatitis.
And school buses. Has anyone gotten stuck behind one lately? Since when do they stop at the end of every street? And if the parent drives them to the stop, let’s them sit on their heated seats as they wait, then why can’t they just drive them to school?
I can’t help but wonder if future generations would be better off getting sucked into a giant whirlpool as the polar ice cap melts from the greenhouse effect. It is our own fault, we are coddling the world leaders of the future. What happens when they don’t have a mommy or daddy to tell them, “Don’t touch that” or “Leave that alone”?
I forgot, we already have many of them in Washington today.
I told you I was hilarious. Oh and by the way, sorry to tell you but you are going to die.
Anyone agree? E-mail lowellita@lowellsun.com.
The show must go on.
Despite almost a foot of snow being dumped on Greater Lowell Thursday afternoon into the evening, the annual KISS 108 Jingle Ball at the Tsongas Arena went on as scheduled.
“It’s a radio show with seven major national acts that have four shows just this weekend in New York, Los Angeles and Florida. You can’t reschedule this type of show. The tickets say right on them ‘No refunds. No exchanges.’,” explained Craig Gates, general manager of the Tsongas Arena.
Since the majority of the fan base for acts like Avril Lavigne and Good Charlotte are tweens and teens, many parents called to complain about their decision to proceed with the concert. The arena received calls and e-mails from irate parents, as did the Boston radio station, Lowell and state police according to Gates. Many were concerned about the driving conditions. Overall about 5,000 ticketholders attended out of the 6,400 sold. It was ultimately KISS 108's decision to hold the concert.
One of those angry fathers was, Martin Kardenetz of Billerica. His 17-year-old daughter paid $126.50 for each of her two tickets, one of which was for her handicapped mother. Kardenetz was watching the forecast and logging onto the arena’s web site to see if there was any cancellation announcement.
It was ridiculous. They did not think up a contingency plan? We all have to suck it up and pay for it,” he said.
Kardenetz teenage daughter was very disappointed she could not attend the show. He offered to drive them, but after hearing horror stories about traffic jams and accidents, they decided it was not safe to venture out. He called SMG Management who informed him that there was nothing they could do about it.
“No matter what we couldn’t win. They were asking ‘how dare we put their children in danger’. But ultimately it is the parents’ decision on whether or not to let their kids go,” he said.
Gates called both the Lowell Police and the Department of Public Works to warn them that they were going through with the snow even with the foul weather.
There were a few hitches. The headliner, rapper producer extrodinaire, Timbaland, was stuck in a traffic snarl in Hartford, Conn. After going two miles in two hours, he decided they were not going to make it in time. It also took singer, Colbie Caillat, 45 minutes to arrive at the arena from The DoubleTree Hotel only a couple blocks away that ordinarily it is about a 10-minute walk. Morning on-air talents, Matt Segal and Billy Costa were also no-shows.
“Otherwise, it was a great show. People were so thrilled to get out of the snow and the traffic. It was great,” said Gates.
And we said it wouldn't last...WE WERE RIGHT!
Pamela Anderson has filed for divorce from her third husband, amatuer pornographer, Rick Salomon. The couple married in October and celebrated their two month anniversary on Dec. 6. She filed the papers on Friday but was spotted shopping with Rick on Sunday....strange.
They were not even together long enough to earn themselves a nick name. Too bad, so sad.
She told us she was trouble. She said she was no good. But she keeps telling us no, no, no to rehab. It's unfortunate because now Amy Winehouse has found herself behind bars. The throaty throwback singer with a beehive was arrested today when she turned herself in on charges stemming from her husband's arrest last month. Blake Fielder-Civil has been in jail ever since.
The pair are both being held on what the U.K. calls "perverting the course of justice". Similar to an obstruction case in the U.S.
Younger sister of fallen pop-princess Britney Spears is pregnant with her 18-year-old boyfriend's child. Jamie Lynn Spears, 16, star of Nickelodeon's high school show, "Zoey: 101" is as Madonna puts it "keepin' her baby!"
We're late getting anything up here on The Frosting due to chasing down local parents of tween girls reactions today. Look for a story in tomorrow's Lowell Sun by Rachel R. Briere.
The father and mama Spears met in church (aw, how cute). She is said to be 12 weeks along now. No word yet from the Britney camp.
In other baby news, British song bird Lily Allen, 22, is expecting as well.
It’s almost over. In less than a week we can let out a giant collective sigh. No more will our commutes be subjected to overdone pop versions of Christmas carols. Will someone tell Beyoncé to please leave the boughs of holly alone and stick with singing about booty-loving boyfriends?
The holidays are almost in the past — ah.
We can now end all the political correctness and go back to being our crass selves. Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas; ho, ho, ho or ha, ha, ha; a holiday tree or a Christmas tree — who cares? I am more tired of this bah-humbug banter than the daily video of Britney Spears going to Starbucks. It’s a waste of time.
No longer will I have to endure water-cooler debates about the myth that Xmas was created by those ungodly liberals in order to take the true meaning of Christmas away. No, more like my lazy liberal self would rather write the abbreviated version out on the 80 or so cards I am sending out.
By the way, can we stop with blaming all the liberals for the world’s anguish already? At least for the holidays.
In six more days, there will be no more airing of the mindless made-for-TV Christmas movies that star 90210 alums who find themselves trapped in a small town where Santa Claus has been banned by an Ebenezer Scrooge-like mayor and Della Reese plays an angel moonlighting as a penny candy store owner. If the writers were not already on strike, I would suggest the network fire those responsible for these atrocious two-hour specials.
Next week will mark the end of awkward run-ins with co-workers, who hand you a present and stand there expecting one back when it’s all you can do to muster up a thank you as you sink lower into your cubicle. What do they expect? For you to give them a gift with a card saying,
“Hey, thanks for using all of the fat-free cream I left in the office fridge and never replacing it, stealing my fancy felt-tip pens and asking me in front of the boss what I bought at the mall when you saw me there on the day I called in sick. Merry X-mas!”
In less than a week, there will be no more articles in the paper about stolen plastic Santas. What, are pink flamingos and gnomes second-class citizens of the lawn ornament world? Or are they just too tacky for people to pilfer from front yards?
The holidays are turning Lowellita into Scrooge. Anyone else with bah-humbugs send them to lowellita@lowellsun.com.
We here at the Frosting support all things hot on the Lowell scene. One of those happens to be Jared. As we posted before Lowell's own Jared is in the running to appear on the next season of the VH1 reality show, "America's Most Smartest Model".
All this hometown hottie needs us to do is vote for him. It's simple, do your civic duty and vote By clicking here!
p.s. There are also fabulous pics of him in different stages of undress. That's our present to you this holiday season.
And it is not Jamie Lynn Spears. The award for Idiot of the Week here at The Frosting goes to Phil Spector. And it is not because of his hair.
You would think after his mistrial for "allegedly" killing actress, Lana Clarkson, he would keep a low profile. NOPE. The nutty producer attend singer, Ike Turner's, funeral services and even gave a surprise speech. That's when things got strange and he started blaming Ike's ex, Tina, for making him look like a druggie wife beater in her biopic "What's Love Got to do With It". He went on to rip into Oprah as well,
"but I have an ambivalence towards Oprah Winfrey. She made Tina Turner's book into a bestseller, which demonized and vilified Ike. The book wouldn't have sold 10 books. It was badly written. It was a piece of trash and because Oprah idolized Tina, she didn't feel it wrong to vilify a 'brother.'"
Ah, coming from a perfect gentlemen who puts guns in women's mouths as part of foreplay. Nice Phil. I think that "wall of sound" should just drown out whatever you say.
I am 0 for 25. That is almost a worse record than the Spears siblings’ attempts not to get pregnant. Not that I think they even try. Are they not from Louisiana? Isn’t there such a thing as a southern belle anymore?
This pathetic showing on my part is not my attempt at trying to convince my boss to give me a raise — that would be a much poorer record. I am talking about the impossible feat of keeping a New Year’s resolution.
Last year, my New Year’s resolution was to not have a New Year’s resolution. It worked. So let me retract what I previously stated, now I can claim to have at least one win — like the Miami Dolphins. One for 25, that is not too shabby — better than Pamela Anderson’s chances of staying married longer than Michael Vick’s sentence.
Resolutions aside, New Year’s Eve is the ultimate amateur night, it blows both St. Patty’s Day and Thanksgiving Eve out of the water-downed cocktails that are served. Every December I try to convince myself and my friends that I am going to be staying on my couch with good ol’ Dick Clark. Never seems to happen. I end up waking up the next afternoon looking and feeling like Amy Winehouse after she received a late Christmas present from her dealer. My hair smells like it was washed with a cigarette ashes and Ice House-scented shampoo and there is confetti in places that even Britney Spears would be shocked to find.
Every year about this time people start making promises that they can never keep. It is not just me. I wonder what the divorce rate is for couples that are wed on New Year’s Eve? Not that it is better any other day of the calendar year.
When my morning migraine disappears on Tuesday, I will reflect upon 2007. Some things will come to mind. Television reruns, celebrity relapses and Rihanna’s “Umbrella” ella, ella, eh, eh! Actually those are things I would like to forget. The year 2007 will unfortunately go down as the year that Britney went berzerk, the Spice Girls reunited, Paris Hilton did a stint in the slammer and a MySpace-produced prostitute found her better half.
See ya 2007, we hardly even knew ya! And just maybe that is better.
Have any predictions for 2008? E-mail them to lowellita@lowellsun.com.
And the arrests continue to roll in. There must be some kind of record in 2007 for stars getting popped for DUIs! Now Mischa Barton was bagged early this monring in Los Angeles.
The star of the now canceled Fox hit, "The O.C." was pulled over at 2:45 a.m. for driving erratically in West Hollywood. She was then booked on driving on a suspended license, driving while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage and possesion of a narcotic.
Barton has been known to chum around with Nicole Richie and her ex is rocker/partier, Cisco Adler. She also has been photographed smoking pot and collasped at Nicole Richie's Memorial Dat party this past May.
The Frosting has exclusive inside information that will put a smile on everyone's face. Just in time for St. Patty's Day the Dropkick Murphys are set to tear up the Tsongas Arena on Saturday, March 15!
This is going to be one, if not THE biggest shows in 2008 that the venue will host.
Stay tuned to The Frosting for the 411 on ticket info. We will be the first to know.
The celebs are packing as much into 2007 as they can. In the last week we have had a pregancy announcement from the smaller Spears sister, an arrest of the "I am way too good for the "O.C." , but haven't done anything since" Mischa Barton and now we have a divorce!
Yes, that is right, after 11 years of marriage actors, Sean Penn and Robin Wright are calling it quits. The couple have two teenage children.
Maybe Robin didn't agree with his politics? I wonder....
There are still a few days left in 2007, maybe we can get a overdose too! Sick I know.
We're only one day away from saying so long to 2007. Is anyone upset? This will go down as the year of the three B's -- breakdowns, babies and Britney...b!tch. O.K. so maybe four B's.
Either I am getting old or this New Year's Eve is just lacking its usual party like the world is about to implode feeling. Maybe because we now know that due to Global Warming it will. Thanks Al, you couldn't give us a little bit of cushion with this hot button issue? Way to make an entire nation dependent on Zoloft. Someone should investigate if Gore is on the dole for one of these pharmaceutical companies that puts out anti-depressants. Just a thought.
Without shelling out a $25 cover to get into a local sports bar or traveling outside of the six mile radius of Lowell tomorrow night where is the action?
Has New Year's Eve finally jumped the shark?
What was the biggest story of this past year? Lindsay Lohan's first cocaine arrest? LiLo's second coke bust? Paris Hilton's stint in the pen? Nicole Richie's pregancy announcement? And how could we forget the death of Anna Nicole Smith and paternity brew-ha-ha that followed? Or what about those Vanessa Hudgens naked pics?
Any thoughts on the year that was 2007? Let's give the year a proper eulogy and bury it once and for all!
And for a complete guide to the ins and outs of 2008 grab a copy of Tuesday's edition of The Sun.
