Strollerderby : kate winslet

Separate Planes: Sensible Idea or Touch of the Crazies?

Madeline Holler — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:25:00 GMT

Back before I had kids, a friend told me how her parents, who traveled frequently overseas, always booked separate flights. If one of the planes went down, they reasoned, their children wouldn't be orphans.

I thought their gloomy scenarios were a little over the top -- did they also always take separate cars? Then I became a parent.

Suddenly, their precaution seemed entirely reasonable. Though I've never intentionally booked separate flights for my husband and me, leaving my kids without either of their parents was what I thought about the few times we've flown without our kids -- how could I have been so careless and cruel ...

Am I right or am I crazy? And before you answer, know that this year's favorite actress Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes not only think it's NOT crazy, but they go the extra frequent flier mile and refuse to get on a plane together -- ever. They've got some 9/11 and threatened hijacking near misses to fuel their insecurities.

Has this ever crossed your mind? Do you and your partner fly separately? Come on, Kate, Sam, my friend's parents' and I can't be the only ones, right?

Photo: telegraph.co.uk

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Morning News – Drunken Jokers With Bionic Limbs And Flying Cars

Brett Singer — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Happy Friday, everyone!

Comments on yesterday's Morning News got pretty heated. I considered doing nothing but stories about puppies, rainbows and sunshine today, but decided that was no fun. And as it turns out, the "Crossfire"-esque commenting has morphed into an interesting back and forth between persons of differing political persuasions. Thank you to everyone from both sides of the aisle who weighed in; check out the debate here.

Diane Sawyer appeared to be drunk during the Inauguration coverage on ABC. Was she celebrating Obama's victory? Is she a McCain voter trying to forget? No one knows. While it's not completely certain that she was nipping at the sauce, this video makes a darn good case for it.

Caroline Kennedy (Schlossberg) did indeed bail on her quest to be a Senator without the hassle of actually winning an election. The New York Times is reporting that "Problems involving taxes and a household employee" were uncovered during the vetting process, so she bowed out. Whenever information like this is "suddenly" discovered, I always wonder how it is that nobody knew about it until it was too late. As in, Ms. Kennedy (Schlossberg) must have known that she had a tax issue, right? Also, it's still unclear if New York Governor David Paterson would have picked Kennedy (Schlossberg) or not. Um, it kind of doesn't matter anymore, folks. Let it go. Paterson will reportedly announce his choice today; convention wisdom says Andrew "HUD? What's a HUD?" Cuomo will get Hillary Clinton's old seat. (Hillary is now officially Secretary of State, by the way – she started work yesterday.) UPDATE: I was wrong, wrong, wrong -- the Times is reporting that Governor Paterson has selected Kirsten Gillibrand as Hillary Clinton's replacement in the Senate. Ms. Gillibrand is a congresswoman from upstate NY who is mother to two young children and has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, according to the Times. I'm mentioning the mom thing because this is a parenting web site, and the NRA endorsement because that makes her a potentially controversial choice, since most Democrats aren't big NRA folks. (Gillibrand's official bio page is getting jammed with web traffic, but here's Google's cached version.)

Interesting tidbit about the Roberts Oath Flub (Flubgate, anyone?) – a certain Senator Barack Obama voted against the Chief Justice's confirmation in 2005.

In business news, the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the "conflicting reports" regarding Steve Jobs health. First he said he wasn't that sick, then he said he was leaving for six months, blah blah blah. Personally, I thought "hormone imbalance" sounded pretty serious when it was first announced. If only the SEC had been equally diligent about Bernie Madoff, poor Kevin Bacon wouldn't be reading the script for "Footloose 2". (I'm only joking about "Footloose 2." I hope. Kevin is looking for work though, so if you hear of anything, give him a ring.)

A very cool medical story from England: 19-year-old British college student Evan Reynolds now has a bionic hand. Reynolds lost his appendage three years ago, and can operate his new prosthetic limb by thought. ''It's so sensitive I can grip a bottle of water or a paper cup without crushing it and even swing a racket," he says. ''All I have to do is imagine picking something up or gripping it and the fingers and thumb move automatically." Like I said: very cool.

Oh, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the 81st Academy Awards. Some were surprised that Heath Ledger got a Best Supporting Actor nod for his performance as The Joker in "The Dark Knight", but the real surprise to me was Robert Downey Jr.'s nomination for "Tropic Thunder." Not only is it a comedy, it was also a controversial one as I recall (that whole "retard" thing). Personally, I think Ledger will win. If he does, it won't be undeserved -- he gave an incredible performance. Brad Brevet says that Kate Winslet's nomination for "The Reader" is "fishy"; I admit that I couldn't read the full post, which actually quotes Academy voting rules. I was surprised that Clint Eastwood didn't get some love for "Gran Torino," but hey, you can't win 'em all.

The mother who named one of her children Adolf Hitler wants her kids back. "The parents insist they're not racists and want only to honor the heritage of the Third Reich," says the Daily News. What can one say to that?

Finally, someone has actually made a flying car! Terrafugia, the company that makes the vehicle (called the "Transition") calls it a "roadable aircraft," which doesn't exactly trip off the tongue. It goes 500 miles on a full tank of regular unleaded gasoline, and features folding wings. Bottom line: IT IS A CAR THAT FLIES. It also costs $194,000 and probably requires a good-sized garage with access to a ready supply of fuel. So it's not exactly ready for mass consumption. However, IT IS A CAR THAT FLIES. Did I mention that?

Have a great weekend!

Image: Times Online

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Best of FameCrawler: Week of January 16th

Whit Honea — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Mr. Roarke Dead; Gen-Xer In Mourning

Golden Globe 2009 - List of Winners

Britney in Sex and the City Sequel?

Kate Hudson is a Hussy

Update! Jen & Ben Reveal Daughter's Name!!

Are Ashanti and Nelly Expecting a Baby Together?

Take a Number: Lance Armstrong Will Fall in Love With You Next

Heath Ledger Wins Golden Globe

Guess Who's Getting Married In April?

Oprah French Kisses Kate Winslet's Breasts!

You Just Got Bacon'd!

WTF, Brad And Angie? Srsly.

Best of FameCrawler: Week of January 2nd

Whit Honea — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Kate Winslet Looks Good Naked

Tripp Johnston Speaks Out: Take My Family, Please.

Is Jennifer Garner in Labor?

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony: It's Over

Josh & Anna Duggar: Premarital Sex

Charles Barkley - DUI, Gun and Oral Sex: Still Not a Role Model?

Public Sex and New Year's Orgasms with Jordan and Peter

Snow, Fur And Sarah Palin In A Bikini

Ani DiFranco Has a Trick Baby

Mariah Carey Eats Oysters, Therefore is Not Pregnant

When Baby Daddies Attack

Heath Ledger is Haunting Michelle for Closure

New York Mamas Join Kate Winslet for a Great Cause

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:43:00 GMT

Kate Winslet is joining thousands of New York mamas to help fight the good figh t: Finding a bone marrow donor for Lisa Gershowitz Flynn, a 41-year-old mother of two young children recently diagnosed with a deadly form of Leukemia and has only weeks to live.

Winslet is using her celebrity to promote the website GiftforLisa.com and hopes her partnership with thousands of New York mamas will find a donor for Lisa.

Ms. Flynn has been diagnosed with a Acute Myelogenous Leukemia and needs to find a bone marrow donor of Eastern European descent. Go to her website to find out more..

Kate Winslet Moves Kids To NYC To Avoid London Paparazzi

Alisyn — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:05:00 GMT

Kate Winslet, like Jen Garner, is one of those celebrity moms who actually seems like she's on a relatively even keel. Like a lot of celebrity parents today, Kate has had a hard time reconciling the fact that she's a famous movie star, with the fact that she is a mom (to Mia, 6, and Joe, 3). Kate and her second husband (and Joe's dad), director Sam Mendes, have been splitting their time between England and NYC for the past 3 years. But Kate recently revealed that the family will now be full-time NYC residents, due to the fact that British paparazzi hound them like crazy in the U.K., making it hard for their kids to have normal lives.

"You'd see them (photographers) hiding in the trees and try desperately to ignore them because you don't want your child affected by it. It's weird and freaky. You just don't want someone you don't know taking a photograph of your small child. It's sick. It's better in New York. New Yorkers are much more respectful, not just the press but the people."

I can't help but compare the Winslet-Mendes clan to another famous British family living stateside, who have moved their small children here for the opposite reason, and are pandering to the paparazzi in the most self-serving and desperate way possible. Not that there's anything wrong with that... um, except there is. I'm just saying. Kate and Sam seem like they are really trying to do right by their children, and I wish them good luck.

[Via Celebrity Baby Blog]