Star Gazing

HOLLYWOOD—We all know the cliche, "Money can't buy happiness," and yet the expression has undoubtedly lost its significance. Even the invaluable aspects of our daily lives such as love and camaraderie that were once deemed priceless can now be sold for a price. Can you really compare the wages of a law enforcement officer to that of a criminal...

HOLLYWOOD—Writing can be very therapeutic. You can write so you can deal with your emotions, the pain, hurt, anger, guilt, resentment, and through writing you release some of your emotions. Writing soothes the soul and it really works. According to a few studies, expressive writing can be used as a therapeutic tool for survivors of trauma and in psychiatric settings....

HOLLYWOOD—Hollywood flocks to the Tribeca Film Festival 2015. It's New York's most highest and prestigious film festival which kicked off on April 15, and will run through April 26. The film festival has grown both bigger and more comfortable, with 101 feature films, including documentaries from an array of nearly 5000 submissions. It has everything for all tastes, from music, art,...

HOLLYWOOD—Hollywood celebrities spend a month in hiding after the awards season wraps up. The very first party they attend is the Vanity Fair Party-which kicks off the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. The party brings an electric mix of personalities from the worlds of film, food, fashion, technology and sports attending the magazine's event at the New York State Supreme...

HOLLYWOOD—Who would have thought that Don McClean's "American Pie," original manuscript would sell for $1.2 million? Yes, the 16-page draft had expected to fetch as much as $1.5 at the Christie's sale, but $1.2 million isn't too shabby. McClean had hinted that the original manuscript would reveal the song's lyrical meaning, which has always been somewhat of a mystery. The...

HOLLYWOOD—Is country music dead? I don't think so. The genre of American popular music has been around for six generations, from hillbilly, rockabilly to the present alternative country. Country music consists of ballads and dance tunes with generally simple forms and harmonies accompanied by mostly string instruments such as banjos, electric and acoustic guitars, harmonicas and fiddles. While country...

HOLLYWOOD—The media gets blamed for either blowing things out of proportion, too much coverage, misquotes, fabrications, lack of coverage, bad reviews and going too far. Everyone seems to blame the press. Celebrity columnists are just as competent as investigative reporters, they both get the dirt. Investigative journalism is when reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as...

HOLLYWOOD—It was back in 2012, that Hollywood decided to release a plethora of sequels and franchises. It would be a risk-taker to release would-be originals that may or may not financially merit the pockets of movie execs, thus 2015, is no different. Hollywood decided to reap the rewards of sequels for this year once again. As you may know, sequels...

HOLLYWOOD—Forgery is more or less the white collar crime of signing another person's name to a document or check. Forgery is considered a serious offense subject to state and sometimes federal laws and penalties. More or less on the same level as cheating the IRS, for tax fraud. Then we have copyright laws that govern the reproduction of original creative...

HOLLYWOOD—Pop culture is full of contradictions. So many stories about the beginnings of fads, products, books and songs are always fun to tell, but you really can't be sure if they're true. There was always two versions of the origin of the rock n roll classic, "Blue Suede Shoes," each told by two very reliable sources. The story that Carl...