Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, is also Princess William of Wales, and her new crowd is the Princess Posse, a group of commoners who married heirs to thrones. Luckily, there’s not a ‘mean girl’ in the bunch. These young princesses in Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, and the Netherlands have done well as dignified wives and fecund mothers. Each faced challenges...
Prince William and Kate Middleton: Undercover Royal Ghostbusters
Don’t tell anyone but I think I may be on to something. I have a sneaking suspicion that Prince William and Kate Middleton are secretly hunting ghosts on behalf of the British Monarchy. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (as they are now officially known) are to move into refurbished apartments inside Kensington Palace and — as with so many...
Pink Floyd’s The Wall – Expanded, Remastered, Still Revealing
With the upcoming expansions of The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973), and Wish You Were Here (1975) on near horizons, and the exciting revelation that the long completed Wish You Were Here Guthrie-mixed SACD is finally being made available, it’s only fair to continue our Pink Floyd expansion wishes with The Wall, originally released in 1979. (Ok guys, where...
The Phantom Pirate of Execution Dock
With Captain Jack Sparrow entertaining cinema audiences in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, I thought I’d take a trip to east London on the trail of another pirate – this one of the supernatural variety. The waterfront neighbourhood of Wapping, to the east of the City of London, has changed enormously over the last few centuries. Once, this...
Kim Kardashian’s Nuptials Will Be Bigger Than The Royal Wedding
Just days after Kim Kardashian received a 20.5-carat engagement ring from her NBA star boyfriend, Kris Humphries, the wedding chatter has begun in a big way. A royally big way, in fact, as Kim has not minced words about wanting her nuptials to contend with William and Kate’s royal wedding which, incidentally, I sat up until 4am to watch with...
Hands Off Queen Elizabeth!
The Americans are coming! What will they do to Queen Elizabeth this time? When the Obamas met The Queen at Buckingham Palace in 2009, the historically significant aspects of the encounter were lost. Instead of focusing on the differences between the new President and the old one (the new one being young, African-American, and conspicuously intelligent), the press went bananas...
Celebrity Causes: Elisa Donovan for Web Wise Kids
For years I have been talking to teenagers about personal health issues driven by peer pressure, self-esteem, and bullying. Web Wise Kids, an organization that focuses on educating kids about online safety, provides another opportunity for me to help encourage kids in a positive way. Web Wise Kids (WWK) is a national non-profit organization, dedicated to promoting a culture of...
Greg Graffin PhD and Smart Rock Stars
Is there a doctor in the house? Bad Religion’s Greg Graffin, who earned his PhD in zoology in 2007 from Cornell University, is eschewing the road during the week to teach evolution at his old alma mater this fall, in what is the first of three courses he’s helping to develop for the Ivy League school. For the past few...
The Headless Boleyns Prepping for Annual Appearances
Heads up, folks! If she keeps to her supernatural schedule then now’s a great time to look out for Britain’s most famous phantom. When Anne Boleyn (or Bullen) married King Henry VIII she wasn’t his first wife. That dubious privilege had fallen to Catherine of Aragon, who had previously been married to Henry’s brother Arthur (he had died in 1502)....
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Inspired by Cinderella’s Ugly Step-sisters?
How bizarre is life? Just yesterday I was chatting with our lovely PR person Bronagh about Princess Beatrice’s hat/fascinator being auctioned off for charity, and she remarked how much Beatrice and Eugenie reminded her of Cinderella’s step-sisters. In the Disney version of Cinderella, the step-sisters were named Anastasia and Drizella, and described by Wiki as: “plain and socially awkward…and bitterly...