Britney Spears was taken from her home in an ambulance after a custodial standoff involving her children that lasted nearly three hours. She was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Officer Jason Lee of the Los Angeles Police Department said that Spears appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance.
That’s some Bon Voyage party!
Officers were called to Spears’ house around 8 p.m. to respond to a custodial dispute with ex-husband Kevin Federline over their sons, 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James, Lee said. By about 10:30 p.m., six police cars, two ambulances and a fire truck had entered the gated-community that includes Spears’ house. Spears turned over the children around 10:50 p.m., Lee said.
Lots of crap went down in 2007. Much of it disturbing - Bhutto’s assassination, the Virginia Tech massacre, Pekka-Eric Auvinen, Microsoft Vista.
Some of it was funny. Or strange. Or both.
Here are the top 10 oddest stories:
10. Bad Newz: Michael Vick gets busted for dogfighting.
In July, Atlanta QB Michael Vick is indicted on charges related to Bad Newz Kennels, an interstate dog fighting ring. Allegations include gambling and brutal killings of some dogs, including drowning, shooting, and electrocution. Vick is currently serving a 23 month sentence and is suspended from the Falcons.
According to WVEC, one of the 49 dogs found had to be euthanized because it was “aggressive to the point the evaluation couldn’t be completed and it has a history of biting people.”
Vick has listed some of his real estate for sale. His endorsement deals with Nike have been terminated.
9. Jim Cramer Meltdown
August 3rd. At the beginning of the subprime mortgage debacle, Jim Cramer gives an outburst on CNBC.
Poor, poor Cramer. We hope he’ll get by ok!
8. Aqua Dots date rape toys.
Aqua Dots, for sorority girls aged 18 and up.
A woman’s son eats a toy made in China and starts vomiting. Apparently, the toy, which is called Aqua Dots (”beads that can be arranged into designs and fused when sprayed with water”), contains a chemical that metabolizes into GHB (gamma hydroxy butyrate) when eaten. Yes, GHB, drug of choice for bodybuilders, ravers, and frat boys.
Aqua Dots is manufactured in China by Australian-owned Moose Enterprises, and is really a kind of toy called “bindeez”. The tainted toys were manufactured at the Wangqi Product Factory in Shenzhen, China, where a cheap toxic chemical (1,4-Butanediol) was substituted for the specified one (1,5-Pentanediol).
The toy was subjected to a multi-national recall.
7. The I-35W Mississippi River Bridge Collapse
August 1st. The I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota between University Avenue and Washington Avenue collapses at 6:05 pm CST during the later part of rush hour, killing 13 people. The bridge was a steel truss arch bridge consisting of 8 lanes, and over 1900 feet in length.
Not particularly odd, as such a thing happens all over the world, except for the fact that it happened in the U.S., which usually doesn’t experience this kind of infrastructure collapse.
The cause of the collapse has not yet been determined as of end-of-year 2007.
6. Paris Hilton goes to jail.
Why a rich socialite insists on driving is a mystery, but at this point everyone has given up trying to figure Paris Hilton out. Arrested in 2006 on a DUI, she was pulled over in January for driving on a suspended license, and pulled over again in February for going 70 in a 35 zone, with headlights off at night!
For violating her probation, she was sentenced in May to 45 days in jail. A petition surfaced to get the Governator to pardon her. A counter-petition was started to maintain her sentence.
In June, Hilton checked into the Lynwood, California facility to begin her jail term. In an unexpected turn of events, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca signed orders on the morning of June 7, reassigning Hilton to 40 days of home confinement with an electronic monitoring device due to an unspecified medical condition.
“My message to those who don’t like celebrities is that punishing celebrities more than the average American is not justice” - Sheriff Baca
Judge Michael Sauer summoned her to reappear in court the following morning. At the hearing he sent her back to jail to serve out her original sentence. Upon hearing the sentence, Hilton shouted, “It’s not right!” and started screaming. She was moved back to the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood on June 13. She served 22 days.
5. Nappy Headed Hos. The Imus Incident
April 4th. During a discussion about the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship, Don Imus characterized the Rutgers University women’s basketball team players as “rough girls” commenting on their tattoos. His executive producer Bernard McGuirk responded in his familiar “urban-speak” vernacular by referring to them as “hardcore ho’s”. The “urban-speak” banter continued with Imus describing the girls as “nappy-headed hos” and McGuirk remarking that the two teams looked like the “jigaboos versus the wannabes” mentioned in Spike Lee’s film, School Daze; apparently referring to the two teams’ differing appearances.
IMUS: That’s some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and—
McGUIRK: Some hard-core hos, Tom.
IMUS: That’s some nappy-headed hos there. I’m gonna tell you that now, man, that’s some—woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like—kinda like—I don’t know.
McGUIRK: A Spike Lee thing.
As a result, CBS Radio dropped Imus’ show. However, in December, Imus returned through ABC Radio networks.
4. The Boston Mooninite scare
January 31st. In Boston, devices used in a guerrilla marketing campaign for the animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force are mistaken for improvised explosive devices. The devices were really LED placards featuring Ignignokt and Err. Boston police and bomb squad is called in, as well as fire trucks, ambulances, and TV crews.
The first media reports that the event was a hoax occurred around 1 p.m. Interference Inc. (the marketing firm that created the campaign) notified their client, Cartoon Network. Turner Broadcasting System issued a statement concerning the event at around 4:30 p.m.
“We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger. The packages in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger. They are part of an outdoor marketing campaign in 10 cities in support of Adult Swim’s animated television show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. They have been in place for two to three weeks in Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia.
Kevin Pereira, co-host of G4 TV’s Attack of the Show, dubbed the scare Aqua-Gate. The LA Times editorials said “Emergency personnel and anti-terrorism squads shut down more than a dozen highways, transit stations and other locations across the city Wednesday after receiving reports about multiple suspicious devices. The slender, placemat-sized items had dozens of colored lights, exposed wires and circuitry, and were powered by a row of D batteries wrapped in black tape. In other words, they looked like an upscale version of Hasbro’s Lite-Brite, a toy for artistic grade-schoolers.”
“We all thought it was pretty funny,” said one student. “The majority of us recognize the difference between a bomb and a Lite-Brite,” said another. One resident said that the police response was “silly and insane”, and that “We’re the laughingstock”.
3. Britney Spears loses her mind (and hair).
Having filed for divorce from K-Fed in 2006, Spears was in an off-shore drug rehabilitation facility in Antigua for less than 24 hours on February 16. The following night, Spears went to a haircutting studio in Tarzana, California and shaved her hair off with clippers. A few days later, on February 20, she admitted herself to a treatment facility in Malibu, California. While leaving the facility briefly, she quickly returned on February 22. Spears left the rehabilitation center on March 20. Throughout early 2007, Spears embarked on a series of behaviors that received much attention from the media, including attacking the paparazzi with an umbrella.
In September, Spears was ordered to undergo random drug and alcohol testings and to attend parenting counseling. Spears and Federline continued to share joint custody of their two children on a conditional basis. A few days later, she was officially charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run and driving without a license. If convicted, she could face a year in jail. Spears lost physical custody of her children to Federline on October 1, with the court ruling that Federline will keep full custody of the children.
Spears attempts a comeback by appearing on the MTV Video Music Awards show, which everyone agrees was a disaster. Despite her performance, the single “Gimme More” was a commercial success, rendering everyone’s speculation of the end of her career premature.
2. Don’t Tase Me, Bro! The University of Florida Taser incident.
September 17th. “Don’t Tase Me, Bro!” becomes the number one catch-phrase of 2007 thanks to UF student Andrew Meyer, who, after hurling a bunch of nonsense at speaker John Kerry, is tased by campus security. Meyer was a 21 year old fourth year undergrad telecommunications student.
Meyer spoke for approximately 1.5 minutes, beginning by citing the book Armed Madhouse and its author Greg Palast’s description of the 2004 U.S. presidential election and reports of election irregularities. Meyer questioned Kerry’s concession of the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Kerry’s support or lack of support of the movement to impeach George W. Bush, and Kerry’s involvement in the Yale University secret society known as Skull and Bones.
After the incident, Meyer was arrested for inciting a riot and charged with resisting an officer and disturbing the peace. Meyer spent one night in the Alachua County Jail and was released the following morning. The government plans to drop their prosecution of Meyer’s case if he completes a voluntary 18-month probation. He plans to return as a student in the spring of 2008.
1. Anna Nicole Smith dies from an accidental drug overdose
February 8th - For one who watches TV news regularly, this event feels like it has been casting a huge shadow over everything else that happened in 2007, except maybe for the Virginia Tech Massacre. Maybe.
Smith was found unresponsive in room 607 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Ultimately her death was ruled an accidental drug overdose of the sedative chloral hydrate that became increasingly lethal when combined with other prescription drugs in her system, specifically 4 benzodiazepines: Klonopin (Clonazepam), Ativan (Lorazepam), Serax (Oxazepam), and Valium (Diazepam). Furthermore, she had taken Benadryl (Diphenhydramine) and Topamax (Toprimate), an anticonvulsant GABA agonist, which likely contributed to the sedative effect of chloral hydrate and the benzodiazepines.
Anna Nicole with Larry Birkhead
After Smith’s death, various legal battles began regarding: the will, the paternity of her daughter, and her final resting place, which resulted in the delay of her burial. Smith was finally buried March 2 at Nassau’s Lakeview Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum in a plot adjacent to her son, Daniel.
On February 9, it was revealed that Stern had custody of Smith’s child, Dannielynn. Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, the current husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, also claimed to be the father of the baby girl. Others who also claimed to be the daddy were Alexander Denk, an actor and a former bodyguard for Anna Nicole Smith, and Mark Hatten, a former boyfriend. On April 10, a Bahamian court determined from DNA evidence presented by court-appointed DNA expert Dr. Michael Baird that Larry Birkhead is the father of Dannielynn.
He’s a 19-year-old pipe layer; a deer-hunting, dirt-bike-riding former high school class president who still lives in his tiny Mississippi hometown. Casey Aldridge is an expectant father - and the mother is 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears. To hear Aldridge’s uncle tell it, the daddy-to-be isn’t quite ready to join Spears - the star of “Zoey 101″ and the sister of pop star Britney Spears - in the spotlight.
Britney’s Sister
Jackson said media were already swarming the southern Mississippi town - with a population of 1,073 at last census count - in search of Aldridge, not even 48 hours after the news came that Spears told OK! celebrity magazine about the pregnancy. She said she plans to raise the baby in her home state of Louisiana.
Casey Hooked up with Britney’s Sister! Sweet, dude!
Casey Aldridge could face statutory rape charges after getting Britney Spears’ sister pregnant at 16. He could face up to 10 years if convicted. Fox News reports that if the baby was conceived in Spears’ home state of Louisiana, the act could technically be considered “felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile.” Louisiana law defines this as “sexual intercourse with consent between someone age 19 or older and someone between age 12 and 17.” In Louisiana a person can only legally consent to sex at age 17. If aged 15 or 16, the other person involved must be no more than two years older for the act to be considered legal.
But Aldridge wouldn’t fare much better if the “carnal” act happened in California, where Spears lives while on the set of her Nickelodeon TV show Zoey 101. The Californian Penal Code states that any person who engages in an act of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor under 18 who is not more than three years younger than the perpetrator, is guilty of a misdemeanour and faces up to one year in a county jail.
High school girls here wondered aloud on Thursday why no one was talking about contraception. Parents across the country, on the other hand, commiserated over the Internet about how, thanks to Ms. Spears, they were facing a conversation with their 8-, 9-, and 10-year-olds about sex.
High school girls who had already had their hearts broken by the all-too-public life of Ms. Spears’s older sister, Britney, known as a hard-partying mother of two, worried that their younger sisters would be devastated by the news — or, worse, that their sisters might think it was “cool” to be 16 and pregnant.
Dan Martinsen, a spokesman for Nickelodeon, said Thursday that “Zoey 101” was one of its most popular shows among viewers 9 to 14. “Nothing about the content, characters or the storytelling on our air has changed at all,” Mr. Martinsen said. He said that Nickelodeon was discussing a special on the issue with Linda Ellerbee, the television journalist who is the host of “Nick News.” “Whenever an issue becomes so prevalent that it’s inescapable,” Mr. Martinsen said, “her show is where we turn to help kids navigate and interpret and understand it.”
“I think it’s important that something be done,” Ellerbee told The Associated Press on Thursday. “But I think it’s important that it be done in a measured way, and not just to feed the beast of news stories. A Nickelodeon spokesman, Dan Martinsen, confirmed the discussions but said no decision had been made.
Such a nice girl. How could something like this happen?
And it’s not K-Fed this time. In Touch magazine reports some guy from Hawaii boned Bit Bit in June, and made a tape of it.
At least she looked almost reasonable in June. Skanky as hell, but not morbidly obese or bald or anything. He’s reluctant to make it public though. Why, because no one would want to see Britney in action any more? No, because he didn’t think his performance was all that great.
Well, if it does surface, at least you know at OddCulture we’re willing to take the gutpunch and post a review so you don’t have to subject yourself to the entire thing.
By now, talk of Britney’s uninspired performance at the Video Music Awards has been done to death.
Personally, I found out about it while flipping channels in a Novotel in Europe (yes, I mention this only to tell you that I recently was in Europe), stopping when CNN of all networks put up a crappy graphic of a tombstone with BRITNEY’S CAREER RIP on it. Later I sat through some portion of the actual footage. It wasn’t horrible, just uninspired and banal. She phoned it in.
If it were anyone else we wouldn’t be talking about it. But it was Britney, and it fell far short of amazing. I mean, she’s probably still in attractive-to-the-general-populace “McHitIt” territory, but for Brit she looked like hell.
So what do you do when your physique is mediocre and your career is coming to an end? Demand the cover of Maxim, of course:
“Brit’s in damage control mode now. She’s been talking to the folks at Maxim about doing a photo shoot,” a friend of the pop princess tells OK! exclusively, referring to the popular men’s magazine that has been a career-boosting showcase for celebrities like Jessica Alba and Eva Longoria. “She wants to be on the cover as quickly as they can shoot her.” Britney’s decision to go for men’s magazine cover stardom is based solely on her past success with selling herself as an object of desire.
Do not want. K? Thx. Bai. Maybe she should aim lower, you know, like Milfhunter or something. I don’t know.
