Does It Even Get Any Weirder...?

There are some thing in life that are so weird, we just accept them. For me, the life and death of Michael Jackson is one of those things. Jackson was arguably one of the most talented entertainers who ever lived. His "Thriller" album is still hard to beat, even 30 years later. Every time I listen to it, it still sounds fresh and innovative. But, unfortunately, Jackson was a very strange person, and his private life reflected that fact. I was never entirely convinced that his preoccupation with little boys was anything more than just friendship. Child molesters will often create an atmosphere where children feel comfortable, and in my opinion, Jackson's Neverland Ranch was a typical child molester's lair. If anyone in any of our neighbourhoods ~~ Mr. Smith or Mr. Jones down the street ~~ had participated in such behaviour, the outcome of the trials would have been much different. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... But Jackson is gone, and we will never know for sure.

And now, his personal physician, Dr. Murray, is on trial for Jackson's strange death ~~ yet another trial involving the strange life and death of Michael Jackson. At the time of his death, Jackson had been given propofol (an anesthetic), and two anti-anxiety benzodiazepines ~~ lorazepam and midazolam ~~ to help him sleep. During the autopsy, midazolam, diazepam, lidocaine and ephedrine were also found in Jackson's body. Now Dr. Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter, and he is also accused of using the wrong type of CPR to try to revive Jackson. Weird? No more so than the rest of Jackson's life.

Jackson's career was on a downhill slide at the time of his death. He had been trying to revive it, but I think as with everything in life, times moves on, and fresh, new weird things arrive on the scene. Lady Gaga, anyone? Consider this: Lady Gaga wasn't even "born this way" yet when "Thriller" was first released. She was born four years later.

In a way, Jackson's weird death is his immortality. His death revived his record sales, and he has stayed front and center on the scene in a ghoulish way for the past two years, and will probably continue to do so for a long time yet. There is no such thing as bad publicity. Was his "Thriller" album prescient? Did he have a sense of what was to happen? Who knows? As long as Dr. Murray's trial continues, Michael Jackson will be in the headlines every day. His corpse will continue to be dug up and examined every morning, and laid to rest again in the evening. Every detail of his life, eating habits, sleep, friends, family, recreation, medications ~~ all his privacy ~~ will be open for the world to examine. I ask you, does it get any weirder than that?

Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y'alls neighborhood
And whosoever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
Must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpse's shell

I'm gonna thrill you tonight
(Thriller thriller)
I'm gonna thrill you tonight
(Thriller night thriller))
I'm gonna thrill you tonight
Ooh babe I'm gonna thrill you tonight
Thriller night babe

The Balance Sheet

Do you ever get the feeling sometimes that somewhere, there is a room full of accountants keeping a ledger or a balance sheet of your life?  And do you ever get the feeling sometimes that the debits far outweight the credits?  I have been feeling that way lately.  My mother once told me that she thought of me as a catalyst. "Cat·a·lyst: One that precipitates a process or event, especially without being involved in or changed by the consequences."  How did I get to be that way?  I don't know, but I do know it is tiring.  I enjoy having fun in my life as much as anyone, but fun seems to be towards the bottom the credit column.  In fact, I would say I'm in the red.  I have never been the sort of person for whom other folks like to "do" things.  I am always the one who "does".  A few weeks ago a good friend of mine said to me, "If you ever want to go anywhere on the weekend, and you need a car, please let me know.  I know it's difficult to get around the Lower Mainland if you don't have a car, and I'm happy to help out."  I was in shock.  People just never make offers to me like that.  In fact, I would never feel comfortable accepting her offer, but it's sort of like the Oscars, you know?  It's wonderful just to be nominated.

How does one become an enjoyer of life?  I need some lessons.  What I would really like to do is to quit my job and spend a life of dissipation and debauchery.  Well, maybe not debauchery, but a little bit of dissipation would be nice.  I would love to spend every waking moment, just enjoying the pleasures the day had to offer.  A day at the spa?  Bring it on.  Win a lottery and spend six months on a tropical island?  I'm there.  Hire a housekeeper to vacuum and dust while I sip coffee?  *Deep sigh...*

A couple of days ago I was ~~ yet again ~~ kept awake all night by the noisy neighbours.  A developer by the name of Robert Helgason purchased the house next door and renovated it in 2004.  He split the house into three suites, and then lied to the City of Vancouver Planning department, saying that it was only two suites (a duplex), and thereby got away with renting it out.  It is in fact three suites, and nine very noisy people live there.  It is the bane of my existance.  It is the thing that tipped the balance sheet for me.  Can you see the bay window on the left behind the trellis?  That is my bedroom, and it is less than ten feet away from party central.  The City of Vancouver Planning Department is within walking distance of where I work, and I think I will pay them a visit.  I'm very resourceful, but I'm also sort of like The Incredible Hulk.  "Don't make me angry; you wouldn't like me when I'm angry..."

The balance sheet is long overdue for the credits and the debits of my life to be put into balance.  I'll never be a pampered princess, like one of the housewives of Beverly Hills/Spuzzum/Pouce Coupé, but I'm ready for some fun.  I'm fairly low maintenance and it doesn't take much to make me happy.  However, right now my account is empty and I'm taking donations.

Is There A Vaccination Against Ignorance...?

Edward Jenner Vaccinating a Boy
Eugene Ernest Hillemacher

In this age of global travel, can you imagine a world where smallpox still exists?  The world would be a very different place, one that I cannot even imagine.  The whole dynamic of travel would be very different from the one we experience now.  As with the threats of terrorism, many of our freedoms would be in jeopardy, not to mention our lives.  Smallpox was a scourge on humanity, a highly infectious communicable disease that killed over one-third of the people it infected, and left the survivors horribly disfigured.  Just in the 20th century alone, smallpox was responsible for an estimated 500 million deaths.

In 1796 an English physician by the name of Edward Jenner noticed that milkmaids who had been exposed to cowpox, did not develop smallpox. Jenner took the fluid from a cowpox pustule on a dairymaid's hand and inoculated an 8-year-old boy. Six weeks later, he exposed the boy to smallpox, and the boy did not develop smallpox, but remained well. Jenner coined the term "vaccine" from the word "vaca" which means "cow" in Latin. By 1800 about 100,000 people had been vaccinated worldwide. After vaccination campaigns throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the World Health Organization certified the eradication of smallpox in 1979. One of the scourges of mankind no longer exists.

Now, can you imagine a world without cancer? Scientists have long believed that many cancers are the result of viral infections, and if so, a vaccine can be developed to prevent those cancers. Can you imagine ~~ a vaccination against cancer? Another of the scourges of mankind could be eradicated, or at least greatly reduced. Well, such a vaccine exists right now. It is called Gardasil, and it protects folks from cancers that develop after they have been exposed to certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV), specifically HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18. HPV types 16 and 18 cause an estimated 70% of cervical cancers, and are responsible for most HPV-induced anal, vulvar, vaginal, and penile cancers. Farah Fawcett died of anal cancer at the age of 61. It is a horrible disease, and she died a horrible, protracted death.

Newflash: Human sexuality is here to stay, and unfortunately, along with it the sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are here to stay as well. And here is the shocking news: Of the 18.9 million new cases of STIs each year, 9.1 million (48%) occur among 15- to 24-year-olds, even though this age group represents only one-quarter of the sexually active population. According to a 2008 study by the CDC, an estimated 1 in 4 teenage girls has at least one STI at any given time.

There has been a lot of backlash against Gardasil in recent weeks ~~ thank you Michele Bachmann ~~ and I think it is unbelievably ignorant. It's not a moral issue, it's a medical issue. If there are opportunities to save millions of lives, how can anyone disagree with that? Vaccines have side effects? Oh, gosh, well, so do smallpox and cancer, the main side effect being death, the second side effect being permanent disfigurement. The smallpox vaccine was not without side effects and in a few cases, approximately 2 in one million, the side effects were severe. But if you really want to know the pros and cons of those odds, ask someone who has had smallpox or cancer.

Every human being on earth should be vaccinated with Gardasil, before they become sexually active. Period. Full stop. End of story. I feel very strongly about this, and I hope the scope of ignorance represented by people like Michele Bachmann will also be eradicated as soon as possible. Is there a vaccination against ignorance? Oh, how I wish...

Miss Jones and Mrs. Winters ... Worlds Apart

Now that school has started again for another year, I have been thinking lately about some of my teachers throughout the years. My favourite teacher was Miss Jones, my grade one teacher. I thought she was the sweetest, most beautiful, most intelligent person I had ever met. She was patient and gentle with all of the children. I remember one little boy ~~ Bobby ~~ who, it turned out, was severely intellectually challenged. He was a good-natured boy and everyone liked him, but the school work was beyond his intellectual capacity. He disappeared one day, several weeks into the school year, and we never saw him again. Miss Jones explained to us that Bobby had gone to a special school. I remember she had tears in her eyes when she told us, but we were too young to understand.  A few years ago we had a school reunion, and Miss Jones was there, much older but still very pretty.  It was wonderful to see her.  She hugged me and said she remembered what a cute little girl I was.  I realize now that Miss Jones was only 21 years old when I was in grade one.

It's amazing how a teacher can have an effect on a child's self-worth.  When I was in grade eight ~~ that alligator-infested swamp of middle school ~~ I had a teacher who didn't particularly like me.  She had three or four *favourites* and the rest of us were just ... well, the rest of us.  She seemed to take great care in pronouncing my name incorrectly, even though I told her several times that it was pronounced this way, not that way.  I realized years later that she was not a particularly inspired teacher, and probably didn't do it deliberately.  But, at an age where girls want to feel accepted by their peers, and by their teachers, she made it blatantly obvious that most of us were not ... just so.  She was very young at the time as well, only 21 or 22, and there is still a huge level of immaturity at that age.  I hope she became wiser in later years.

Mrs. Winters was a jock, and was also the girls' gym teacher.  She was married to the boys' gym teacher, Mr. Winters, and together they produced a gaggle of little jock-children.  I was never a jock.  I enjoyed sports such as ice-skating, bike-riding, hiking, swimming, but I loathed and despised competitive sports.  Oddly enough, however, I was good at baseball, and Mr. Winters said he had never met anyone who could hit a baseball the way I did.  I once hit a ball from the sports field all the way to the gymnasium, and knocked out a window.  Mr. Winters just stood and stared at me in amazement.  I felt that redeemed me somewhat with Mrs. Winters ~~ temporarily, anyway.

A few days ago I ran across Mrs. Winters on Facebook.  I sent her a friendly message, however, I doubt she will remember me, and I don't expect to hear back from her.  She probably would not recognize my name, in any case.  She never could get it right...

Toddlers and Tiaras ... the Sexploitation of Children...

This week's front cover of People Magazine features the reality show "Toddlers and Tiaras", a television show about children's beauty pageants. The inside cover features an advertisement for a new TV show called "The Playboy Club".  The tagline for the "The Playboy Club" reads "Don't let the fluffy tails fool you."  As soon as I opened the cover, the irony of the connection between the two articles hit me, along with the similarity of the over-the-shoulder glances of the little girl/woman in the photographs.

I'm not a prude, and I have no problem with the sexualization of adults.  Sexuality is an integral part of being human.  It's what makes the world go around.  But I do have a problem with the sexualization of little girls, and children's beauty pageants do just that.  Little girls are heavily made up to emphasize full lips and long eyelashes, they are spray tanned, hair sprayed, glittered and glamourized, and paraded around on a stage in revealing outfits in provocative poses, for adults to judge them.  Many of the judges are adult men, and I find that just a little bit creepy. The little girls range in age from about two years old to 14.  In the People Magazine article, one mother said that her little girl was on a beauty pageant stage when she was seven days old. That's right ~~ seven days old.

All little girls love to play dress-up. I remember clomping around in my mother's high heels, wearing lipstick from the samples the Avon lady left at our house. Sometimes I would put a towel on my head and pretend I had long hair. It was wonderful fun, and every little girl loves to do it, and my daughter loved to do it as well. But there is no way in the world my mother would ever have allowed me to look like this, nor would have I allowed my daughter to do this. What is wrong with the parents of these little girls?  Don't they understand the extent to which they are putting their children in harm's way?  The murder of JonBenét Ramsey has never been solved. For several years her parents were the prime suspects, until they were absolved of any blame. But just how responsible were they, indirectly?  Child beauty pageants are open to the public.  Anyone can attend them, and they're not regulated.  In fact, child beauty pageants have no regulations at all. The cost of entering the pageants is far more then any of the meagre winnings.  And yet, for a huge multi-billion dollar business exploiting children, there are no rules regarding child labor laws.  And make no mistake, these children are being exploited by the networks who televise these shows as well.

Reality TV has gotten out of control.  We are now privy to all aspects of people's personal lives.  I'm not really interested in what people eat, or what they hoard, or with whom they socialize/fight/sleep, or how much money they make at garage sales...  But I do think any reality show that involves children's private lives should be banned.  Children don't have a say in how much of their privacy is revealed to millions of people.  Childhood is the time when we ~~ the big people ~~ should be protecting children, not exploiting them.  This "Toddlers and Tiaras" show is creepy.  Please cancel it.

A Journey Of A Thousand Miles...

La Route De Rocquencourt
Camille Pissarro
1871

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". ~~ Laozi, Chinese philosopher.  Our lives are like a journey; or rather, our lives are like a series of journeys.  We're Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout in "Around the World in 80 Days". Part of our journey is on a steamship, part is on a train, occasionally we walk, sometimes we fly, but we always move forward.  And, like the old cliché, sometimes we hit a fork in the road and have to make a decision as to which road we will take.  Often we take the wrong road, and we cross the Rubicon and realize we cannot turn back. The best we can do is to continue along the road we're on until we find another crossroads. But, isn't that what makes life intesting?  Wouldn't it be boring continuing down the same road forever?  The same old scenery, the same old people, the same old sunrise and sunset.  Yawn.

The Road to Louveciennes
Camille Pissarro
1872

When we first start out on the journey, we think we are prepared for whatever is down the road. We have our passports, and our clean, shiny faces, and with great anticipation we take our first steps. However, it's not long before we discover there are bumps and bends in the road. And often there are wonderful adventures ~~ and misadventures ~~ to deter us. But that's okay, because I think the point of any journey is to enjoy it and have fun. My motto?  Laugh ~~ a lot.  And always be open to new opportunities, because they will find us at the most unusual times.  Much of the good fortune that befalls us is through serendipity, happenstance and just dumb luck.

"I say luck is when an opportunity comes along and you're prepared for it." ~~ Denzel Washington

The Railroad Crossing at Les Patis
Camille Pissarro
1876

Sometimes, if we're fortunate, we make the journey with someone else, and sometimes we make the journey alone.  I have always felt it is better to make the journey on one's own, than to make it with the wrong person.

"It's better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone else." ~~ Marilyn Monroe.

The exciting things about journeys are the opportunities along the way.  The generations that travelled along the road before us have bequeathed to us all their music, art, literature, scientific discoveries ~~ and so much more ~~ for us to enjoy and build upon.  They have given us the opportunity to say, "I was here...."  It's up to us to decide how we say it.  But the most important thing is to enjoy the journey, and not to get too stressed about the occasional boulder in the road.  Usually we make our way safely around them, and when we look back, we see the seemingly insurmountable rock was actually just a little pebble, and we laugh.

To Mac, who is setting out on a new journey down a new road ~~ at just the right time ~~ Happy Birthday...!

Sophie

I always vowed that the two things I would never post here on my boring-little-blog were recipes, or pictures of cats. The blogs are inundated with recipes and pictures of cats. Most of the recipes are ho-hum, and most of the cats are ~~ meh ~~ to say the least. But I have the world's funniest, cutest, sweetest, most affectionate cat visiting me right now, and she makes me laugh. She's fascinated with the laundry. As soon as I turn the machine on, she's over there like ... well ... a dirty shirt, watching in rapt, feline attention as the clothes tumble around in the soapy water.  It keeps her happy for hours.  For the most part, cats can sometimes be sort of ~~ independent.  They're not like dogs.  Cats don't come running when you call them; they would much rather take their own sweet time.  And when they do, they pretend not to be very interested in why you called them.  They'll stretch and yawn and look very bored.  "What does she want now...?"  But they're actually a lot of fun, when they so choose.  Sophie has made a thorough inspection of every house plant in my apartment, gazing into the soil for whatever might be living in there.  She has tested all the chairs, and has chosen a favourite one for sleeping.   And for some reason she loves to sit and watch me put on my makeup.  "What on earth is that lady doing to her face...?"  But her favourite activity, by far, is to sit and watch the laundry.  Well, as they say, whatever floats your boat...

They Always Get Their Man...?

I love the RCMP ~~ I really do. They're much more than Canada's national police force, they're an integral part of Canada's history.  They just so ~~ Canadian.  Who doesn't have a feeling of national pride, watching the men in the red coats, riding the beautiful black steeds in the Musical Ride?  They truly identify Canada as the land of the "True North Strong and Free". However, lately the RCMP have been doing some really dumb things, for which they are getting a bit of a bad rap, and in some cases it's well-deserved.

A few days ago an adorable little three-year old boy by the name of Kienan Hebert was abducted from his home in the middle of the night.  The abductor was identified, and an Amber Alert was issued throughout British Columbia and Alberta with the abductor's car and license plate.  Everyone was on high alert to look for this individual.  However, as the days wore on, hope dwindled as neither the little boy nor his abductor were found.  On Saturday,  Kienan's parents went on television and pleaded for the abductor to return the little boy, just drop him off at a gas station, or at his home, or anywhere where he could be found.  The abductor's mother even went on television and pleaded for his son to return the little boy.

And then the miraculous happened.  At approximately 3:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, the little boy's abductor dropped him off at his house, and then phoned 911 to alert the RCMP that the little boy was safely home.  The abductor then disappeared.

Okay, I know ... you can see where I am going with this.  You're way ahead of me.  You're thinking the same thing I'm thinking.  Would it not have been reasonable for one of the best police forces in the world to have had an invisible stake-out at the little boy's house, just in case...?  If there was even the most remote possibility that the abductor would do the right thing and return the little boy to his family, shouldn't someone ~~ anyone ~~ have thought, "Say, listen, we should probably keep someone posted under cover at a few locations, just in case..."

Doesn't that sound almost reasonable?

Police on Monday said they "facilitated" the safe return of Kienan Hebert after he was missing for four days, but would provide few details on how an abductor might have been able to return the three-year-old boy to his B.C. home undetected. RCMP spokesman Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said revealing too much could jeopardize the investigation, which is currently focused on finding Randall Hopley, 46, the main suspect in this abduction case. ~~ Montreal Gazette

In addition, according to the Montreal Gazette, driving to the Hebert house would have required passing the search-and-rescue command post at the entrance to the suburb, as the community has only one road in to it.  So, in the middle of one of the biggest manhunts conducted by the RCMP in British Columbia and Alberta, and with the whole community on the lookout for this man, he was able to slip back into town, return the little boy, and slip away again ~~ like a thief in the night.  The abductor ~~  a registered sex offender who had earlier attempted to take another child from his home ~~ is now off scott free, tripping the light fantastic, while the RCMP is trying to find him.

Oh my word, where's Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties when we need him?

What If...? If Only...

There is something that has always bothered me about the events on 9/11. When the North Tower was first hit by an airplane, the loudspeaker in the South Tower could clearly be heard telling people to stay where they were. I have often wondered who made that decision, and moreover, why they made it. Isn't preparedness half the battle? So many more lives could have been saved if there had been an orderly evacuation of both towers as soon as the first plane hit. Perhaps if there are any lessons to be learned from 9/11, this is one of them.

Where I work, we have regular seminars in every aspect of emergency preparedness, from earthquakes and fires, to chemical spills, possible terrorist attacks (we have containment level 3 laboratories), to the possibility of violence from clients or co-workers. Nothing is left to chance.

In the past few days there have been several documentaries on television, covering the events of 9/11.  It has reminded me what a huge tragedy that event was.  The people who lost their lives were just ordinary folks like all of us; they got up in the morning, brushed their teeth, had their morning coffee and went to work ~~ one of the places we all consider safe.  And like all of us, they relied on the decisions of other people to keep them safe.  But someone made a very unfortunate decision that day ~~ "Stay where you are...You are safe.".  As it turned out, the South Tower was the first to fall.  Would anyone have know it was also going to be hit by a plane?  Probably not.  Should they have anticipated that, under the circumstances, something else was going to happen?  Yes.  That is part of the decision-make process.

I do feel very bad for whomever made that decision.  It's something they are going to have to live with for the rest of their lives.  What if...?  If only...

Fresh Bouquets Of Pencils And Buttercups...

In Canada, today is the first day the children go back to school, clutching their fresh bouquets of pencils.  It is always a favourite time of year for me ~~ the true beginning of the year.  It's the time of year when we all start with a fresh, clean slate, and  what we write on it is completely up to us.  On Labour Day weekend, I spend my time cleaning out closets, taking inventory, throwing out old things and replacing anything that needs to be replaced.  This is a good time to do that in our lives, as well ~~ make a fresh start, as it were.

I remember when I was about five years old, lying in a field of buttercups thinking that soon I would be starting school, that my "real life" would begin, and there would be no more lying in fields of buttercups for me.  What a strange thought for a five-year-old, but I remember it very clearly, and I think of it whenever I see buttercups.  I can look back now, over the expanse of time, and wonder if my "real life" turned out the way I had expected.  No, it did not ~~ not even close.  I guess you could say life got in the way, and for most of us that is true.

But little Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often askew,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy! ~~ Robbie Burns

For all the little children who are starting out on their "real life" today, I wish you the best of luck.  Work hard, keep your eye on the goal.  Education, training and skill are the doorways to a good life, your own life.  Remember, no matter what happens, you have to live your own life on your own terms.

And yes, there will still be fields of buttercups along the way.

Less, Please ... More, Please ...

This is my favourite time of year, and I have been away from my computer, enjoying our gorgeous end-of-summer weather. Yesterday as I was sitting in my hairdresser's waiting room, I picked up a People magazine, and saw that Jennifer Aniston is in love. Wait...! Again? I had to check the date on the issue.  How many times is this for poor Miss Aniston, since she was so unceremoniously dumped by Brad Pitt?  Six?  Seven?  Nine?  I couldn't help feeling sorry for her.  Can you imagine how humiliating it must be to have your love live ~~ or lack thereof ~~ played out on the front page of every celebrity magazine and website?  Everyone at some point has gone through a failed romance, and the effects on one's psyche are devastating.  We keep a brave face and soldier on, but that would be almost impossible when the whole world knows one is a loser unlucky in love.  I'm not a huge fan of Jennifer Aniston's movies.  She was sort of cute in "Friends" but that show launched almost 20 years ago, and ended almost a decade ago.  Perhaps Jennifer is past her "best by" date, and should keep a low profile for a while.  Is anyone else getting tired of reading about her?  I was thinking about that yesterday, and I have compiled my top-ten list of people I can do without forever for a while.  They're everywhere, and I don't understand why.

1.  Any of the Kardashians.  Who are they?  Who cares?
2.  All of the Housewives of Beverly Hills, New York, New Jersey, Orange County, and anywhere else these phony, plasticized women live.  Go away ... please.
3.  George Clooney.  Oh, I know, I know, you all love George Clooney, but isn't there something about him that is just slightly irritating?  Come on, admit it.
4.  Michele Bachmann.  Enough said.
5.  Gordon Ramsay.  If he would actually do some cooking, it would be great, but he spends his time swearing at people and insulting other folks who do cook.  Just shut the **** up already.
6.  Justin Bieber.  I am still convinced he is really a girl.  And I do apologize for the fact that he is Canadian.  The good news is, his "cuteness" has a very short shelf-life.
7.  Lindsay Lohan.  Enough said.
8.  Bethenny Frankel.  What can one say about this ghastly woman?  She's everywhere, with a voice that could strip varnish.  Do people actually watch her television show and admit it?  How did she happen?
9.  Celine Dion.  Again, she is Canadian, and again, my apologies.
10.  Hoarders.  Get help.  You're very sick.

Here is my list of people I would like to see more.  More please:

1.  Greg Kinnear.  He is one of the most talented, most under-rated actors in Hollywood.  He stole the movie "The Matador" from Pierce Brosnan.  Let's see more of Greg Kinnear, please.  He's rather easy on the eyes, too.  Move over, George Clooney.
2.  Lupe Ontiveros.  Who ... you ask?  Google her, go ahead, I'll wait.  Oh, yes ... you see, you don't recognize her name, but you recognize her face.  She steals every scene, in every movie she's in.
3. Zooey Deschanel. I think I have ice in my refrigerator freezer that is older than Zooey Deschanel, but she's sweet, funny and very, very talented.
4. Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Who knew the kid from "Third Rock from the Sun" would grow up to be such quirky, edgy talented actor?
5. Mia Wasikowska. Go ahead, Google her; I'll wait. Recognize her now? She's one of the most talented people around.
6. Hilary Farr and David Visentin. They're Canadian. You won't know them. I love them.
7. Russell Peters. He makes me laugh like no one else can make me laugh. He's completely politically incorrect and irreverent ~~ and a breath of fresh air. He recently had a small role in "The Source Code". More please.
8. Johnny Depp.  All Johnny Depp, all the time, is fine with me.  Has anyone seen "Rango"?  Oh my goodness, I swear he was slightly inebriated all through the whole movie, but wonderful.
9. Viola Davis.  Has there ever been a better actress?  Ever?  She plays rather plain, down-trodden women in such movies as "Doubt" and "The Help" and in real life she is absolutely gorgeous.  How does she transform herself?  Talent.
10. Bruce McGill.  Okay ... go ahead ... I'll wait while you Google him.  Again, you recognize the face, but not the name.  We need to see more of the amazing Bruce McGill.

I could list a lot more folks, both on the first list and the second, but perhaps I will leave that up to you.  If you had a list of folks that we could do without, who would be on it?  Conversely, who would be on your "more please" list?