TresSugar

London Opera Gimmick to Bring Culture to Tabloid Masses

CitizenSugar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:15:15 -0700

For a publicity stunt at London's Royal Opera House, the controversy may not be over 'til that fat lady, you know whats. It's elite vs. lowbrow, and it's hard to see who's in the right.

Here's the gimmick: the opera house limited tickets to a prestigious premiere to readers of The Sun, a tabloid newspaper, in a bid to attract a more diverse audience and upset the image that the opera is just for the elite. Ticket prices for good seats usually run $400 (that's a high note!) so the Sun deal reserves all 2,200 seats for readers at prices from $15 to $60. The head of the opera says, "we have so many opportunities to open up our doors to more people and I'm thrilled that we're able to invite those who have never been to the Opera House before to experience a first-night performance."

Nice right? Who can find fault with that? To find out, read more.

The deputy editor of Opera magazine for one, who said, "the ticket deal will put the backs up of a lot of the loyal audiences who already have to jump through a lot of hoops to get tickets." More local reactions to the story say that it's all well and good to market the high arts to the "common masses" especially since the arts, including opera, was originally meant for everyone. The blunter reactions accuse the masses of having "no interest" in such high-minded pursuits. So the elite don't want to share - therefore the opera is doing a righteous thing, right?

But what about this? By targeting the deal to readers of a tabloid paper with the giveaway, isn't the opera reinforcing a stereotype? That if you read this paper, certainly you can't afford to, nor have you ever been to something so fancy. Here, we'll even give a discount to you so you can finally see what you've been missing. A little backhanded, perhaps?

Is this a great idea, or are they being unintentionally elitist by trying to be inclusive?

Source

If tabloids were about muppets...

GiggleSugar — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 03:00:00 -0800

Cookie Monster dishes about his life, his loves, and his plans for a cookie-binging free future: "Me will always be Cookie Monster, but me will no longer be a cookie monster."

Source

Classy Ladies: 20 Actresses Who Are College Grads

TresSugar — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:00:00 -0700

When Emma Watson arrived at Brown University earlier this month, the paparazzi were ready. They snapped up pictures of what looked like her freshman orientation, while tabloids made up stories that she arrived by helicopter, which she later denied. But I believe her. A chance to be normal is a common reason for celebs to put their careers aside and start college. What's not the norm? Graduating. Check out these 20 actresses who have.

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Do Tell: How Do You Play Games to Keep Relationships Alive?

TresSugar — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:00:00 -0700

Last night, our long, Upper East Side-less Summer came to a welcomed end when Gossip Girl's third season premiered. (Check out BuzzSugar for their favorite WTF moments.) While it lacked the melodrama I've come to love and expect, I was happy to see Blair and Chuck haven't let monogamy interfere with their Shakespearean scheming.

This year, instead of playing each other, they're on the same team, fooling unsuspecting girls into Chuck's arms so that scorned woman Blair can storm in and unleash her faux rage. When the girls run out, Blair and Chuck make out. It's beautiful, really.

The game is an aphrodisiac for Blair at first, who says a relationship's three-month mark is not a milestone but a gravestone, until sage Serena - the one who spent her Summer seeking her father's attention by posing for tabloids - gives Blair advice: make sure you're doing it to keep your interest and not out of fear of losing his. Not bad, S!

While games we play may not be so elaborate and evil - though we welcome your stories if they are! - staging fights in public, pretending you're meeting your significant other for the first time, or even straight-up role play are all viable ways to play games. Do you play games to keep relationships alive? And, if so, has it ever gone wrong?

Source: CW

Do, Dump, or Marry? Brad Pitt

TresSugar — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Brad Pitt is an accomplished actor and a doting dad, and his humanitarian work has made him a potential politician. He's also pretty damn hot, although I'm not sure what I think about the goatee.

As for marriage material? Jennifer Aniston infamously declared that her ex-husband was missing a "sensitivity chip." And it seems marrying Brad might get you trapped in a tabloid-fueled love triangle for many years to come.

Luckily for those of you who haven't had enough of Brad over the years, there's much more to come. His new film Inglourious Basterds comes out this weekend and the commercials for it seem to be on repeat.

Word du Jour: Famesque

TresSugar — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:30:07 -0700

To be famesque, a celebrity's fame must be disproportionate to the success he or she has in the field he or she is purportedly famous for - say acting, singing, or professional sports. A famesque person loses at the box office, but wins in the tabloids at the supermarket check-out line. Most importantly, perhaps, a famesque person never had real fame. In other words, they're not has-beens, they're never-weres.

Amy Argetsinger, who coined the term in a Washington Post article published yesterday, cites a few examples, including Sienna Miller and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Anna Kournikova seems like another natural addition to the group, and I suppose Paris Hilton doesn't make the cut because she doesn't have an actual day job besides being Paris Hilton. A famesque person must have something she's supposedly famous for, besides being famous. Argetsinger writes:

The truly famesque possess the seeming gravitas that comes with a title and the suggestion of a job - actor, singer, pro athlete. It's just that . . . you've never seen them act, or heard them sing, or watched them play. Instead: You read about them. A lot.

Who's your favorite famesque person?

Have Cafe Novelists Replaced Boozin' Writers?

TresSugar — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:30:07 -0700

In the past, the writer's life was often a lush life. Many great American novelists - including Ernest Hemingway and John Cheever - were notorious drunks. In fact, according to an article by Tom Shone in the new issue of More Intelligent Life, five of America's seven Nobel literary laureates were alcoholics:

In America William Faulkner and Scott Fitzgerald were the Paris and Britney of their day, caught in the funhouse mirror of fame, their careers a vivid tabloid mash-up of hospitalizations and electroshock therapies.

Rehab wasn't something people did back in the '30s. Neither was recovery-centric memoir writing. When F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a story for Esquire chronicling his struggles, Hemingway told him to cast his "balls into the sea-if you have any balls left."

Ever since rehab went mainstream in the 1960s, Shone observes, the boozing writer stereotype is less typical. Both Cheever and Raymond Carver came out of rehab and kept writing; Stephen King got sober after an intervention. So where have all the overindulgent writers gone?

Front Page: UK Papers Accused of Spying on Famous People

TresSugar — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:00:50 -0700

British police are investigating the tabloid News of the World and other papers for allegedly paying private investigators to obtain private phone numbers, bank statements, and voice mail messages from top celebrities and politicians. - AP
Violence erupted across Iran, as Iranians held a new wave of demonstrations. Baton-wielding police officers broke up the protests. - BBC News
Last week, US jobless claims dropped to the lowest since the beginning of last year, signaling that layoffs may be slowing. - New York Times
A new study shows that obesity is hitting California's economy. - LA Times
The Feds have busted a huge dog-fighting ring, rescuing about 350 dogs. - CNN

Air New Zealand's Naked Safety Video

TresSugar — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:00:00 -0700

I don't know about you, but I zone out during those safety videos flight attendants play right before takeoff. As masks are dropping and arms are waving instructional demonstrations, I'm either reading a tabloid or staring out the window.

Air New Zealand has found a way to get wayward passengers like myself to pay attention. Their "Bare Essentials of Safety" in-flight safety video features real (and naked!) employees in nothing but body paint applied to resemble their uniforms. Not only does this send the message that there are no hidden fares (get it, they're not hiding anything?), they get pervs like me to pay attention to safety tips. Hey, whatever works!

Happy Caturday!

TresSugar — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:37:28 -0700

Everyone has their happy place. For me, it's hanging out in bed with a good tabloid, maybe some highbrow littra-chuh while eating bon bons. For this silly cat? It's crawling into people's clothes and pretending she's a worm. Hey, whatever floats your boat!