Monday, February 25, 2008

Oscar Tribute Snubs

Brad Renfro was snubbed in the tribute to deceased entertain persons in last night's Oscars. Their explanation? "We can't pay tribute to everyone." I've heard that before.

Jonathan Brandis was also snubbed by the Oscar tribute segment despite having been in 46 projects. They claimed he was more widely known for TV work but any look at his filmography puts a lie to that.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Two Years Later

Today marks two years since Mother passed on. I feel I owe her a bit of an apology for not making better use of the time and the resources at my disposal. Still, you can’t exactly skip steps.

I ambled up to Brother’s at noon to try to sign those documents but no one was home. I wandered off to the bank and made a deposit and moved some money from savings to checking so I can pay my March bills online. It was off to the grocery to pick up food for kitty. I got a few piggy items. Nutella, ice cream, stamps. Ok, I don’t eat stamps. Not yet anyway. On my travels I took note of who was hiring.

The walk was comfortable and easy although my feet are groaning. I picked up “active maturity” food for kitty and am mixing it in with her other food. I’m hoping it’ll smooth things out for her digestion. It was cooler today than expected.

When I left there was a notice from the complex someone wants to repair my metering system next week. Yeah. Whatever. They probably think it’s broken because my use is not as high as surrounding apartment. I’m just frugal.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Coroner on Brad Renfro Cause of Death

Knoxville News Sentinel
An old demon defeated Knoxville-born actor Brad Renfro...

"The results have come back, and we have closed the case based on those results," said Craig Harvey, L.A. County chief coroner investigator.

"The cause of death was established as acute heroin/morphine intoxication," said Harvey. "The coroner has indicated the injury occurred by injection, and the coroner has ruled the death an accident."

Renfro had finished shooting "The Informers" with Winona Ryder and Billy Bob Thornton shortly before he died. He gained national recognition starring alongside Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones in his first film, "The Client," which he made the summer he turned 11.

Renfro's legal problems involving drugs began in 1998 when he was charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana seven weeks before his 16th birthday. He reached an agreement with Knox County prosecutors to submit to random drug screenings in order to avoid a juvenile record.

Renfro was sentenced by a judge in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in January 2001 to two years of probation for attempting to steal a yacht in August 2000. In May 2001, he was arrested in Knox County for underage consumption of alcohol. After he was arrested in Knoxville for public intoxication in January 2002, he spent a short stint in a Florida jail before being ordered to enter a three-month substance-abuse treatment program.

In November 2005, Renfro was arrested in Los Angeles for driving under the influence, but the incident that signaled the depth of his substance-abuse problems was his December 2005 arrest for attempting to buy heroin in L.A.'s skid row district. After a brief stint in jail on his DUI charge in March 2006, he entered a rehab program in lieu of jail for the heroin arrest...

Harvey speculated that Renfro's overdose could have occurred because the actor had not been using drugs in a while.

"Other people had told us that he was off of the injectables; he wasn't using anything injectable," said Harvey. "You have guys that … go to prison and they were IV drug users, and they're in prison for a period of time. Then they get out of prison, and the first thing they do is they'll score some drugs.

"They buy the same quantity or level of drugs that they were buying before they went into prison, and they use the same quantity or level they used and they'll end up overdosing immediately because their bodies detoxed while they were in prison. They don't take that into consideration.

"And I'm just wondering if he (Renfro) might have done essentially the same thing. He hadn't used it in so long, and when ultimately he did use it again he just simply used the same quantity he did before without thinking, not realizing his body no longer had the same tolerance to it as before."

Despite his legal problems and struggles with addiction, Renfro starred in 21 feature films, including "The Informers," and reportedly he had other film prospects on the horizon...

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

An "Accidental" Ending For Ledger



Two painkillers, two anti-anxiety meds and two sleep aids let to an "accidental overdose" and his death from "acute intoxication" according to the medical examiner. His drugs of choice were "oxycodone (OxyContin), hydrocodone (ibuprofen), diazepam (Valium), temazepam (Restoril), alprazolam (Xanax) and doxylamine (Unisom)"

NYC medical examiner rules Ledger died of accidental overdose

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

La-La-La La-La

What a fun time! This is the worst election cycle since 1976. Makes me sigh and grind my teeth. I wouldn't give you two cents for any of the remaining major candidates. (Duckie loves Hillary.)

There was good news this morning. CA Prop 93 failed. It was a sham attempt by termed out incumbents in the state legislature to get an additional 12 years. In the YES ads they claimed it reduced term limits from 14 years to 12 years while conveniently failing to mention the loophole for incumbents. Causing us a third statewide election this year, these same people said we couldn't afford an off-year election in 2005 for Schwarzenegger's reform agenda. Speaking of the governor, he support Prop 93 by itself even though earlier he refused to support it if it wasn't coupled with a redistricting proposal. The redistricting proposal never came.

L.A. voted to approve a 9% phone tax, publicized as a "tax cut" from 10% to 9%. Unfortunately, that existing 10% sales tax has been declared illegal by a court. So the "cut" is from a potential 0% to 9%. The opposition only raised thousands for advertising while the establishment had a few million to run ads.

I talked to Brother tonight. Apparently the estate lawyer sent him more papers to sign. WTH!? I guess it's not over yet. It'll be two years in several days. That's just stupid. He also thinks she's ended her private practice and joined a separate firm. Oh joy!

Sunday, February 03, 2008

RIP Brad Renfro's Grandmother, 76

Brad Renfro's grandmother, 76, dies

Joanne Barron Renfro, the grandmother of Knoxville-born actor Brad Renfro, died Friday. She was 76.

Mrs. Renfro raised her grandson from the time he was 5 years old at her home in North Knoxville's Lincoln Park community. Her grandson drew national attention at the age of 10 in 1993, when he was cast to star in the film adaptation of John Grisham's "The Client.

There's still no determination on Brad Renfro's cause of death.