Mary-Kate Olsen has just issued the following statement in the wake of Heath Ledger's death:
"Heath was a friend. His death is a tragic loss. My thoughts are with his family during this very difficult time."
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MILEY CYRUS: THE REAL-LIFE DISNEY PRINCESS, 15
Currently on a sold-out tour as her Disney darling alter-ego Hannah Montana, Cyrus does it all - singing, dancing, acting, and merchandise deals - with nothing but smiles. The superstar earned $3.5 million last year.
TAYLOR SWIFT: THE COUNTRY DARLING, 18
After Swift's self-titled debut album sold 2 million copies, her record label gave her a tricked-out pink 2008 Chevy Silverado as a birthday gift that the home-schooled high school senior donated to a children's camp.
RIHANNA: THE HITMAKER, 19
Her "Umbrella" was the song of the summer - spending seven weeks at the top of the charts - but the singer says she's not done yet: "I'm looking at getting into film, and I'm working on my own businesses." She's already hawking a line of umbrellas.
VANESSA HUDGENS: THE DREAM TEEN QUEEN, 19
Despite a nude photo scandal, the actress-singer made $2 million last year thanks to the Disney juggernaut High School Musical. "It's time for a new generation," she says. "To be a part of that is really cool."
ASHLEY TISDALE: THE HIGH SCHOOL HOTTIE, 22
HSM made her a star - and her new nose gave her plenty of attention - but what gets Tisdale most excited? "I have a Barbie doll coming out," she tells Us (not to be confused with her HSM doll).
THE CHEETAH GIRLS: THE TRIPLE THREAT: BRYAN, 23, WILLIAMS, 21, BAILON, 24
Sex may sell, but so does the made-for-Disney Channel girl group's messages of self-acceptance and female empowerment: their first CD sold more than 2 million copies and their tour raked in $26 million.
BLAKE LIVELY, THE GOSSIP QUEEN, 20
The Gossip Girl star says her school days helped prep for her role on the CW hit: "I was in all advanced placement classes, six clubs, cheerleading. And I was class president."
AMANDA BYNES: THE MULTITASKER, 21
Last year alone, Bynes starred in the blockbuster musical Hairspray, the romantic comedy Sydney White and launched her own clothing line, Dear. All that and she's twice been on Forbes' list of the 100 most powerful celebrities.
RAVEN SYMONE: THE MINI-MOGUL, 22
Dubbed the $400 Million Woman by Ebony for the estimated revenue her That's So Raven show has brought Disney, Symone just launched Ravensymonepresents.com.
ELLEN PAGE: THE QUIRKY BREAKOUT, 20
Starring in the indie hit Juno is just the beginning for this actress: she's been nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her performance and costar Jennifer Garner dubbed her "the most powerful woman in Hollywood."
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TRACEY Edmonds broke up with Eddie Murphy right before they were about to make their Bora Bora wedding legal because Murphy became bossy and physically intimidating, and insisted his mother accompany them on their honeymoon. "That was kind of the last straw," said a friend of the beautiful bride. "She was happy to sign a prenup - she has her own money. She was very accommodating. But then it was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Eddie became very controlling and they got into a huge fight. He started screaming at her and grabbed her. She was scared." The friend added, "She was even willing to change her name to Tracey Murphy, and all the wedding invites and place cards had her labeled as such." A rep for Edmonds declined to comment, while a rep for Murphy said, "We won't comment any further on this." Last week, Murphy said, "After much consideration and discussion, we have jointly decided that we will forgo having a legal ceremony as it is not necessary to define our relationship further . . . we have decided to remain friends." We doubt there's much friendship left.
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John Barrowman, who stars in the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood, told SCI FI Wire that he's open to playing omnisexual time traveler Capt. Jack Harkness for years to come.
"If I was asked to do Jack for the next five or six years I would do it with a big smile on my face, because I absolutely love playing him," Barrowman said in an interview. "When the time comes for us to close the page on Torchwood and Jack Harkness, I'm also then happy to do that when that decision is made. But I think it's got a bit of a life out there. Let's hope we get [season] three, [season] four and, hopefully, [season] five."
BBC Video released the first season of Torchwood on DVD earlier this week, and BBC America will kick off season two this weekend. Barrowman said that the season opener is indicative of "more character-based stories" to come.
"You're going to learn an awful lot more about Toshiko [Naoko Mori], Owen [Burn Gorman], Ianto [Gareth David-Lloyd] and Gwen [Eve Myles]," Barrowman said. "You're going to also see much more of Jack's history. Our time travel in Torchwood is different. [In] Doctor Who, the Doctor gets in a TARDIS and travels. Our time travel is done through memory. So you're going to go back in time with Jack through his memory. You're going to see the future through what he's seen in his memory."
Barrowman said to expect new shocks and more tears. "We have one episode--and Eve and I always laugh about this--where there's a wedding, a typical family wedding, where everything just goes wrong," he said. The second season premiere of Torchwood, featuring guest star James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) airs Jan. 26 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
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Miss Britney Jean Spears, when told to wear a coat against getting sick ... said "I'm already very sick, but in a good way." Oh, lordy.
TMZ caught Spears making two late-night trips to Rite-Aid, where she also attempted metaphysical philosophy by saying Heath Ledger is "... still here, no one ever really dies."
Later, British Brit worked out at 24 Hour Fitness for more than two hours ... BTW, she started working out at 1:30 AM and stayed for more than two hours. Welcome to her world.
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Led Zeppelin fans hoping for a full reunion tour have been given a boost in the form of a Japanese press conference.
Fansite Royal-Orleans.com reports guitarist Jimmy Page will hold a meeting with the media at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Shinjyuku on Monday.
Details about the subject of the press conference have not been released, but fans hope it's to announce more Led Zeppelin dates.
The group members reunited for a tribute to Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun in London last month, and stories about a full tour have been rampant ever since.
Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones have yet to confirm any of the tour rumours.
Reports have suggested the band could earn well over GBP100 million from a full-scale world tour.
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The first, provisionally titled The Ways of Mitchell and Webb is scheduled to hit bookshops in time for Christmas 2009, with the second coming out a year later.
Publishers Fourth Estate promise a ‘lavish, fully-illustrated volume running to several hundred pages’.
Editor John Elliott said: ‘It will be a lot of fun working with David and Rob, and their books will be comedy classics—like everything they do.’
Mitchell added: ‘We're confident that, through this book, we can make Christmas 2009 the funniest in two millennia (barring tragic natural disasters).’
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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Are you having a good time here?
Alan Rickman: Yeah, it's like 1995, maybe, or '94, that I was here before. It seems like it's still a small town, but something else is going on.
Something else, like swag?
Well you get taken around places, and then it's, I dunno, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon or something. [Laughs]
Bottle Shock is the second film you've made with director Randy Miller [after 2007's Nobel Son]. I'm guessing you get along.
I love working with Randy and Jody [Savin, the cowriter]. God knows it's happened before that directors and writers build up a repertory of actors. I think it's sort of sound economics on some level. You can step straight into work because you understand the language.
You play a connoisseur of wine in this movie. How about in real life?
I love wine. I think it's kind of a miracle, the way it grows, the fact that the vines will play along with somebody that bothers to understand them. I spend quite a bit of time in Italy. A friend of mine has a vineyard there. Good wine, good food, people talking in a beautiful surrounding — you don't really need much else.
Are you going to use your Vegas hotel room voucher?
[Laughs]
That was funny, that you, and you alone, won one.
It was a bit funny. But strangely enough, a friend of mine and his wife live in Vegas. And because I'm not likely to be there in the next year, I've given it to them because they really need a break. I'm gonna give them three days in a hotel, just up the road from their house. They can take a fake vacation and maybe take their daughter and let her play in the pool and all of that.
Okay, I think your wranglers are giving me the signal, but I have to say, even before I got to the end of the Harry Potter books —
Before you go any further, I never, ever talk about that character. Number one, because it's not fair on kids who haven't read to the end. And for me to say anything — there's a bit of it that just should be left innocent. It's real storytelling, what she's done, and I'm part of that. So I just never talk about it.
When do you go back to shoot Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?
They're shooting six [now], and I start shooting my part of it beginning of February.
It's a bigger part for you this time.
Ahh.... There's important stuff. [Smiles]
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According to Publishers Marketplace, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx's ex-wife, former "Baywatch" babe Donna D'Errico, is shopping for a publisher for a proposed book titled "Letters from Rehab", which "consists of letters that Donna D'Errico-Sixx received from Nikki during his rehab in 2001 and her thoughts on their content." D'Errico is also looking to publish her memoir, "Both Eyes Forward", with "a firm focus on her marriage and divorce from Sixx." The memoir "contains D'Errico's early history, a chapter on her 'Baywatch' career and co-workers, and an inspirational ending regarding life for her and the children after Sixx," according to the site.
Nikki and Donna separated in April 2006 and formally divorced in June 2007.
Sixx and D'Errico reached a settlement on November 28 on the division of assets in their divorce, bringing an end to a bitter trial.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas Trent Lewis signed a judgment making the settlement terms official, although details of the accord — other than that both sides agreed to waive spousal support — were not made public.
In a recent interview, Donna spoke about her marriage to Sixx and the reasons for its eventual collapse. "I raised Nikki's three kids for 10 years and came to love them very much," she is quoted as saying. "When we separated, I rented a house large enough for all of them to come visit. They never came. I was devastated and couldn't understand why until I found out he was telling them things about me that weren't true. He told them I kept them from their biological mom. That just wasn't true, but it made a good story — and made me look bad. He is very good at manipulation and using words to his advantage. . . Nikki was always making up stories about me that were just outrageous and I felt I had to rebut each one. It became scary to see how he defined me with his stories."
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Singer Ali Campbell is leaving the reggae band UB40 after selling tens of millions of records worldwide in a career spanning nearly 30 years, a spokesman for the group said on Friday.
Campbell will quit after performing his last concerts with the band next month in Australia, New Zealand and Uganda.
In separate statements, Campbell blamed "intolerable management difficulties", while the band said the singer was keen to pursue his solo career.
"I have been deeply unhappy with administrative practices and with many decisions that have been made in recent years," Campbell said. "Suffice to say I felt I had no other option but to resign from my band.
"This decision has not been taken lightly and has come as a result of a long, painful and agonising thought process."
The remaining members of the group said they were saddened by Campbell's decision.
A statement said: "They have been together for a long time and their relationship as band members and friends is almost like a marriage."
The band was formed in the West Midlands during the economic slump of the late 1970s, taking their name from an official unemployment benefits form.
With their catchy mix of pop and reggae, the band went on to sell an estimated 70 million records, tour the world six times and top the UK singles chart three times.
In 1983, they enjoyed a number one hit around the world, including the United States, with a version of Neil Diamond's song "Red Red Wine".
Other hits include: "I Got You Babe", "Cherry Oh Baby" and "Rat In Mi Kitchen".
The rest of the group will continue to record and perform and no decision has been taken on replacing Campbell.
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1. PMS is not a lame excuse to be able to yell at you. It's a great excuse.
2. We really can pump our own gas. It's just that we've got this fantasy of you as a '30s-era full-service station attendant. You'd look so cute in the hat.
3. We're not complimented when you call your ex a slut. She dated you, too. So what are we?
4. We're smart enough to know that smell is always the dog.
5. Yes, we can dish it out.
6. No, we can't take it.
7. We want to raise children. We just don't want you to be one of them.
8. Women are meant to talk and men to listen. We don't want to be fixed; we want to be heard.
9. When we ask if you've had any work done, it's because we want to know what our kids will really look like.
10. When we ask you how we look, it's okay to lie; when we ask you how she looks, you better lie.
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Ashlee Simpson has opted for darker tresses in an effort to distance herself from her controversial big sis, Jessica, an OK! Magazine report claims. The twenty-three year old singer debuted her new auburn hair color late last week and she’s hoping that it will maked everyone forget that Jess is her sister. “She thinks everything Jessica touches is bad luck. She actually said, ‘I want to avoid the Jessica jinx. She refuses to risk being called a poor man’s version of Jessica. She’s doing what’s best for her career, and she knows that the public has turned it’s back on her sister.”
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Certainly friends, definitely party pals and maybe more, Heath Ledger and Mary-Kate Olsen first met over the summer of 2006, at the time he was living at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood, PEOPLE has learned.
More recently, "Mary-Kate and Heath were casually dating for three months before Heath's death," a source has told PEOPLE. "They were hooking up, but neither were particularly interested in making it exclusive."
As for what drew the two together, says the source, "They had a bond that was based on partying, and they had the same tastes in partying ... like, in terms of where they liked to hang out in New York, what time they would want to go out. They just had the same sensibility."
At the time of their first becoming acquainted – the summer after Ledger's Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain – Ledger and Olsen were spotted together having lunch at the Chateau with a group of friends, and Ledger was described as being charmed by Olsen, who made him laugh as he would scarf down a big meal.
"Mary-Kate made him laugh a lot," an eyewitness recalled.
Both the New York Post and Daily News reported this week that Ledger, 28, and the Olsen twin, 21, were dating.
Linked By a Phone Call
Whatever their relationship, the two were again linked when reports surfaced that she received two phone calls from masseuse Diana Wolozin, who arrived for an appointment at the actor's New York City apartment on Tuesday only to find him dead in his bedroom.
Wolozin, aware that Ledger and Olsen were friends, used the speed dial on Ledger's cell phone to call Olsen in California to ask for help, sources said. Olsen told the masseuse she would call her security people in New York to assist in the matter.
Things were far more carefree back in the summer of '06, "They were all talking about scripts and telling funny stories about directors and people in the biz," remembers the eyewitness. They also shared something else in common: Both smoked Marlboro Reds.
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The latest national enquirer featuring katie holmes front & center with a supposed 'secret' pregnancy...with her ex-boyfriend! (who i'm assuming must be chris klein) lately it has all been about tom cruise and his crazy secrets coming out (thanks to andrew morton's explosive new unauthorized biography) so maybe it's time to reveal some of katie's secrets! although a secret pregnancy does seem a little far fetched - i'm more inclined to believe there are lies about little suri that could destroy their marriage (gosh i hope it's not anything like rosemary's baby - could you imagine katie found out she gave birth to l. ron hubbard's baby? that would be insane!)
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Singer Amy Winehouse has been admitted into rehab in a battle to kick her addiction to drugs. A statement from her record company, Universal said she entered the facility "after talks with her record label, management, family and doctors".
Film of the singer apparently smoking a crack pipe emerged earlier this week.
Earlier, Ms Winehouse's father admitted he asked for his London-based daughter to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act to help her stop taking drugs.
But Mitch Winehouse told radio station BBC London 94.9 he had been told she could not be sectioned because she was not at risk of hurting herself.
Universal said the star had entered the rehab clinic "to continue her ongoing recovery against drug addiction".
Grammy preparations
In a statement, the firm said: "She has come to understand that she requires specialist treatment to continue her ongoing recovery from drug addiction and prepare for her planned appearance at the Grammy Awards.
"Amy entered the facility by mutual agreement and continues to receive the full support of all concerned."
The singer has cancelled a scheduled appearance at the NRJ Awards in France at the weekend.
Mr Winehouse told the BBC the film of his daughter was "horrible".
He also told host Vanessa Feltz that, while his daughter had taken small steps towards recovery with visits to counsellors and private doctors, she was in denial about her condition.
"You might consider taking drugs is a danger to herself, but unfortunately the authorities don't," he said.
He added: "Part of the problem is she doesn't think she's got a problem. She thinks she can do what she does recreationally and get on with the rest of her life."
"The moment she says she wants to go into a facility, within half an hour she will be in a facility. But unless she wants to do it of her own accord, it's pointless."
"You can't lock the key and say, 'you can't come out before you're better'. That's called abduction," he added.
Winehouse is still planning to perform at the Grammys in Los Angeles next month - but will need to get a visa before travelling to the US.
However, her arrest and fine last year in Norway for possession of cannabis could cause problems.
Mr Winehouse said: "Because she has a drugs conviction, at this moment in time she can't go into the States.
"We are working to rectify that and it will be rectified within the next week or so. We are working on it to be able to go to the Grammys."
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Johnny Depp is poised to replace tragic Heath Ledger in his latest film role, reports UK’s The Sun.
Heath, who was found dead Tuesday in New York, was six weeks away from finishing fantasy flick The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Now director Terry Gilliman wants his pal Johnny to film the remaining scenes.
A studio source said: “There is a point in the film when Heath falls through a magic mirror. He could change into another character after that and that is where Johnny would come in.
“It’s a weird, fantasy, time-travel movie so Heath’s character could easily change appearance. It would be a poignant moment.
“Johnny’s not working at the moment so everyone is praying he will do it.”
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Tests on a $20 bill found at the Lower Manhattan apartment where "Brokeback Mountain" actor Heath Ledger died yielded no drug residue, New York Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said.
The bill was collected to see whether it had been used to snort illegal drugs because of the way it was folded, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said earlier.
The Academy Award-nominated actor was found dead Tuesday. He was 28.
An autopsy Wednesday morning was inconclusive, and a cause-of-death determination will take 10 to 14 days, a medical examiner's spokeswoman said.
"There were no illegal drugs found" in the apartment, Kelly said on Wednesday. He said there were prescription drugs, in their bottles, not strewn around as previously reported.
Two law enforcement officials who asked not to be named said six types of prescription drugs, including an antihistamine and pills to treat anxiety and insomnia, were found in the apartment, according to The Associated Press.
A publicist for Ledger told CNN Thursday that the actor was suffering from the flu and had been prescribed antibiotics during recent filming for "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" in London.
New details are emerging about the moments before and after Ledger's death.
The masseuse who discovered Ledger's body at the apartment at 421 Broome St. in SoHo called actress Mary-Kate Olsen, a friend of Ledger's, twice before calling 911, a police source with knowledge of the investigation said.
A housekeeper, identified by the source as Teresa Solomon, arrived at the apartment about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, the police source said.
She went into Ledger's bedroom to change a light bulb in an adjoining bathroom about 1 p.m., saw him on the bed face down with a sheet pulled up around his shoulders and heard him snoring, the source said.
Masseuse Diana Wolozin arrived at the apartment about 2:45 p.m. to give Ledger a massage, according to the police source. About 15 minutes later, when he had not come out of the bedroom and the door remained closed, she went in, saw him lying in bed, and set up a massage table nearby.
She shook Ledger, but he did not respond, so she used his cell phone to call Olsen in California, knowing Olsen was a friend of Ledger's, the source said.
Wolozin told Olsen that Ledger was unconscious, according to the NYPD source.
Olsen told her she would call private security people in New York. After getting off the phone, Wolozin tried to wake Ledger again, then called Olsen back to tell her she believed the situation was an emergency and was calling 911.
In the 911 call, at 3:26 p.m., Wolozin told authorities Ledger was not breathing. While on the phone with dispatchers, Wolozin tried to perform CPR on Ledger, but he was unresponsive.
Emergency personnel arrived seven minutes later, according to the police source, at about the same time as a private security person summoned by Olsen.
The medical technicians performed CPR on Ledger and used a cardiac defibrillator, but their efforts were in vain and he was pronounced dead at 3:36 p.m. By then, two other private security people summoned by Olsen had arrived, as well as police.
Olsen is not the apartment's owner, as had been reported, her publicist told CNN.
Ledger's family on Wednesday called his death "very tragic, untimely and accidental." Watch family and other Australians mourn actor »
Ledger's former fiancee, actress Michelle Williams, returned with their 2-year-old daughter, Matilda, to her Brooklyn home Wednesday night. She has been filming a movie in Sweden.
Condolences poured in from Ledger's friends and co-stars.
"He was a wonderful guy, he was a wonderful actor, he had a wonderful future ahead of him, and I liked him," actor Eric Roberts said Wednesday on CNN's "Larry King Live."
Roberts worked with Ledger in "The Dark Knight," the latest installment in the Batman series. The film is to open in July.
The role as arch villain The Joker disturbed Ledger, according to The Associated Press. He called the character a "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy."
"Last week, I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told The New York Times. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going."
He said prescription sleeping pills didn't help, according to AP.
Ledger was born in Perth, Australia, and named Heathcliff Andrew after the main characters of Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights." He began acting at a local theater as a child. Find out more about the actor »
Ledger's first American film was the teen comedy "10 Things I Hate About You" in 1999, and he immediately attracted attention from Hollywood. He passed up several scripts before taking a role in the Revolutionary War drama "The Patriot" in 2000 and "A Knight's Tale" in 2001. He also played a supporting role in "Monster's Ball," among other films.
But Ledger was perhaps best known for his 2005 portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback Mountain," about two cowboys who had a secret romantic relationship. The role earned him an Oscar nomination.
Asked how he felt about filming love scenes with another man, Ledger said he and his co-star Jake Gyllenhaal simply focused on their roles.
"We can't say that we weren't nervous about it," Ledger told Oprah Winfrey in 2006. "But once the first take was over, it's like, 'OK. So what? It's kissing another human being. How are we going to finish this scene? Let's get on with it and let's get out of here.' "
In light of Ledger's death, President Bush on Wednesday postponed an event surrounding the launch of a public-service ad campaign warning against the dangers of prescription drug abuse.
"We thought it would be better to postpone the event rather than run the risk of anyone thinking that we were being opportunistic in highlighting the issue," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
3 Things:
-Has anyone else noticed how the media is trying to make him out to be some kind of fucking junkie? There were no drugs "strewn" all over his loft; there was no ~drug residue~ on his $20 bill. He had four prescription drugs--no narcotics--which were ALL prescribed to him and in their original packages. Half of NYC is probably on those pills. Most likely, his medication combined with his pneumonia/his pneumonia meds resulted in his death or he just mistakenly took too much. I guess that story isn't as interesting talking/writing about how a "Young Star Succumbed to Excess." They should at least wait until the full autopsy report comes back before drawing comparisons btwn HL's death and those of River Phoenix/Chris Farley/etc.
-Please share your Heath Ledger memories/pics in the comments. Mine: Last Valentine's Day one of my best friends and I were both single so we ordered pad thai, drank wine, watched Brokeback Mountain and commiserated with one another over not having guys who loved us as much as Ennis loved Jack.
-Request of fellow posters There's going to be footage of HL's family while they're in mourning; there's not much anyone can do about that. It would be great if people could try to leave those photos/videos out of their posts.
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"She’s already growing to fast! So I am at home writing this blog before i head to the DCMA store, and then the DEAD EXEC studio to work. I swear it’s so hard to leave during the day, but always so rewarding to come home to the little family. I’ve always been a guy who loves to love.Probably one of the things that define me outside of my work is LOVE. I had no idea what love even was until Harlow came along.
Me and her mother feel like the luckiest two people alive right now. This time in our life has been amazing. We both look at our little girl every single moment everyday and know there is nothing we wouldn’t do to protect her and her perfect little innocence. It seems like you turn on the tv, or get online and its all bad news.
We dont want her to know any of that yet. I actually never want her to know any of the pain and suffering we see out in the world everyday, or how harsh people can be as a result of it. Having this baby has really made me realize we all start out that way, then somewhere along the way something happens and people go one way or the other. But all started out sweet and innocent just like my little daughter. The world could really make you bitter if you let it, but thats where music, and art come in to save the day.
You’ve got to surround yourself with the things you love. The whole point to DCMA and this site is a bunch of us friends doing what we love, surrounding ourselves with positivity. I want my kid to grow up around that.
My heart goes out to Heath ledger’s family. Too young. too soon. too loved to be gone. It almost seems pointless to say this with the state of the media today, but i hope people will respect what his child and her mother are going thru right now and give them space. May God be with them."
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