Anna Nicole Smith Dies (To Spite Rosie)

THE FAMOUS BIMBO SEALS HER PLACE IN POPULAR CULTURE  

On Thursday morning’s episode of The View, professional complainer (that’s a compliment) Rosie O’Donnell openly expressed her wish for Anna Nicole Smith to disappear from TV for good (click here for the video clip).  Little did she know Ms. Smith would crush those dreams, just three short hours later, when she unexpectedly died at a Hollywood, Florida casino.  Could Donald Trump have put Anna Nicole up to it?

In a turn of events that (frankly) should not surprise anybody,  the 39-year old Smith decided to join her son and octogenarian billionaire husband in the afterlife.  While the cause of death has yet to be determined, one can’t help think she may have followed Marilyn Monroe’s tragic career path a little too closely.  Of course we all know Marilyn had the one thing Anna Nicole lacked: Talent.  That didn’t keep her from getting famous.

The Old Star Trek Series Gets A Face-lift

A TV CLASSIC USES CGI TECHNOLOGY TO SMOOTH ITS ROUGH EDGES

Put me down as one of those sci-fi geeks that has combed over the three original seasons of Star Trek to no end.  When word got out last year that producers were planning to revisit the series in order to ‘tweak’ a few things, I was skeptical.  Were fans in for a pleasant surprise or major disappointment?

I am pleased to report that my fears were put to rest as soon as the ‘new’ episodes began to air last fall.  The kind of shock generated by the CGI (Computer-generated imagery) revisionism George Lucas sprinkled over his original Star Wars films was avoided.  Producers had not changed the overall impact of the episodes as much as they had improved what was already there. 

Things they didn’t change: Those cheesy rubber aliens,  Captain Kirk’s over-acting,  Dr. McCoy’s bitterness,  Spock’s pointy ears,  and Scotty’s inability to get the Enterprise fixed in time to be safe.

Things they changed:  Planets that seem more realistic,  updated shots of the Enterprise in space,  better laser beams shooting from phasers,  and some minor adjustments to the ship’s control panels.