No Sleep Till Brooklyn...Cemetery

Is it time for us to re-reconsider The Anna Nicole Smith Corollary? The ANS (Anna Nicole Smith) Corollary states that when a star's life is spiraling out of control, s/he is often as safe a pick as an elderly selection.

The question to further examine is “why does this happen?” Off the cuff – we would have assumed it was due to public pressures, drugs usage, partying, Paris Hilton, etc. But one LA Times contributor, Gayle Greene, suggests that it may stem from something much more basic: Insomnia. Is it possible that these celebrities are drugging themselves to death in an eternal battle against the Sand Man?

Let’s start with the founder of The ANS Corollary, Anna Nicole Smith. Greene suggests that she may have been X’d in a search for Z’s:

Anna Nicole Smith? Chloral hydrate, again. She told friends she'd built up a tolerance to it; she would have needed more to get the same effect. She was obviously mixing it with other medications -- there were four benzodiazepines in her bloodstream: Valium, Serax, Ativan and Klonopin, in addition to an antihistamine and a GABA agonist -- all of which can be taken for sleep. (emphasis ours)

Other potential sleep victims, suggested by Greene:

• Heath Ledger
• Elvis Presley
• Judy Garland
• Marilyn Monroe (the grandmother of The ANS Corollary-?)

If Greene is right, and her theory is at least interesting enough to keep us awake, may we suggest a few other candidates to watch out for:

• KISS – they want to rock and roll all night. Insomnia?
• Tyler Durden- Need I remind you?
• New York City – The city that never sleeps. Never???
• And of course…
  

Jessie Spano. Maybe this is all a case of celebrities getting so excited, that they get so scared.

[LA Times]

Actor Brad Renfro Dead at 25

We'll have to wait for further info to see if this is a fulfillment of The Anna Nicole Smith Corollary. As of now, here's what we know:

Actor Brad Renfro is dead, the Los Angeles County Coroner confirmed to “Access Hollywood.”

According to the coroner’s office, a Brad Barron Renfro, with the same date of birth as the actor, died today. They have no cause of death yet; the investigation is pending.

Renfro was 25 years old.

[MSNBC]

Bucket Lists, Happiness, and You People More Famous Than You

Hard to say this wasn't unexpected. With "The Bucket List" winning the weekend box office, now is the time for reporters to discover that people have made their own "bucket lists," or things to do before you die. But that's not news in 2008. After all, these lists have been commonplace for some time; to wit, a movie based on the concept is now in theaters. Today's news is about digging into the reason people make these lists. And what might the inspiration be? You guessed it, happiness!

What constitutes true happiness? Two weeks ago, cries of "Happy New Year!" rang out across the land, but how do we make it happen?

But wait, there's more! Who cares about the happiness of the average person when you can learn about the happiness of famous people?

Maybe having money, looks, youth, fame, professional success, and heartthrob status would do it. Or maybe not, to judge by comments from a fellow most observers would assume to be sitting at the top of the world: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

"Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me?" Brady asked in a "60 Minutes" interview from 2005 that was rebroadcast a few weeks ago. "I mean, maybe a lot of people would say 'Hey man, this is what is.' I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Me, I think, 'God, it's got to be more than this.' I mean this isn't, this can't be what it's all cracked up to be."

If you want more "Deep Thoughts" from additional celebrities, click the link above. But the thing to keep in mind here is that celebrity misery, especially among young celebrities, could take a disastrous toll, leading to potential celebrity death, and the fruition of The Anna Nicole Smith Corollary. (Consider this the third post in the "ANS Corollary posts happen in threes" theorem, and expect not to hear about it for awhile. Or at least until Britney gives us no choice.)

Moreover, there is genuine life-and-death philosophy discussed that we at BDPE take very seriously.

Author and TV host John Izzo asked 235 elderly people how and where they found happiness. "I've always been interested in the question of why some people live well and die happy, and some people die as if they missed the party," explains Izzo. So he asked his interviewees, who ranged in age from 60 to 106, such questions as "What brought happiness to your life?", "What do you wish you'd learned sooner?", and "What do you regret?"

"Almost no one regretted something they tried in their life that didn't work out, yet almost everyone said they wished they had risked more," Izzo says. "They said the greatest fear at the end of life is not death or failure. It's that you didn't even try."

Reminds me of the quote on The Death Pool's official Death Cup: "The opposite of life is not death, it's indifference." -- Elie Wiesel

[Boston Globe]

Staying Healthy in the Spotlight

Let's talk about health, baby. Let's talk about you and me. Let's talk about all the good things and the bad things that may be.

That's the message being sent by rapper Emimem's mother. Eminem, had he been taken in DP 2008, would have fit into the Anna Nicole Smith Corollary. It seems to us that celebrities are more likely to have mental breakdowns that lead to long-term health concerns and, at times, their untimely deaths.

[Eminem's] family and friends fear his massive weight gain is causing him long-term health woes but the deeply depressed star refuses to stop binge eating. His mother Debbie Nelson, who has just written a book "My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem" about her son, says he is barely recognisable nowadays.

Debbie, whose book was published last month, says: "I fear for him every waking moment. I worry about his health all the time." Eminem's mother fears he is also heading for an early grave if he doesn't totally change his life style.

Nelson compares Eminem's recent struggles with those of the late Elvis Presley. Presley's family can take some consolation in knowing that Presley was the top dead celebrity money earner in 2007. Although Eminem's death won't leave his mom with as much as $49 million a year, Nelson's bound to be well-off for the rest of her life if her son were to die.

Yet, it's evident that Nelson sees this economic stability as coming with a certain cost. When a young person is considering entering a career in the spotlight, it's important for him or her to understand the drawbacks to the lifestyle. For Eminem, a long history of physical illness - dating back to his childhood - has only been complicated by his recent struggles with mental and emotional difficulties.

But even for those celebrities who are more averse to mental breakdowns, the physical burdens on their bodies can take their toll. More and more stories - celebrities and non-celebrities - have been surfacing about young athletes who die suddenly from silent heart disease. Studies are under way to determine who is at risk.

It's not known precisely how many athletes are at risk for sudden death from heart problems like these — or how many actually die each year. Most deaths aren't publicized because they happen in young athletes who are just beginning their high school or college sports careers.

To gather more information, Dr. Barry Maron, of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, established a registry of sudden deaths in young athletes. Since 1985, the registry has collected almost 1,900 reports of sudden deaths in young athletes who participated in competitive sports. The most frequent cause of death was hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a condition where the muscles of the left lower chamber of the heart thicken and enlarge.

Even though actor Michael Conrad has been dead since 1983, his character Phil Esterhaus' words on Hill Street Blues remain just as relevant today: "Hey, let's be careful out there."

[Thisislondon.co.uk]
[Allentown Morning Call]
[NPR]

If Britney Spears is in Rehab... Does that mean Amy Winehouse is a Slave 4 Me?

God, I hope not. I really hope not. That would be the worst slavery since, um, America. Plus, I wouldn't want New Jersey to have to issue another statement.

There are two people this year selected under the Anna Nicole Smith Corollary, and as you may have guessed from the headline, they are Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse.

The average age of people picked in this year's deathpool is 79.625 years of age. Spears and Winehouse are 26 and 24, respectively. Why pick them, then? The Anna Nicole Smith Corollary. The ANS (Anna Nicole Smith) Corollary states that when a star's life is spiraling out of control, s/he is often as safe a pick as an elderly selection.

Is there a better chance of Dick Clark dropping like the New Year's ball or of Britney Spears needing her stomach pumped worse than Penny Lane at the end of "Almost Famous?" Was it so obvious that Betty Ford would die before Amy Winehouse stepped into her rehab facility? Which came first- the chicken or the egg? Some questions are not meant to be answered...

OR ARE THEY???

2008 certainly is not the first time someone has been picked based on the ANS Corollary. In 2007, when the ANS Corollary was officially titled, the following people all took up roster spots:

1. Maurice Clarett
2. Nicole Richie
3. Jayceon "The Game" Taylor

In 2006, ANS Corollary picks included:

1. Courtney Love
2. Kate Moss
3. Mary-Kate Olsen

And this year, the ANS Corollary poster children are Winehouse and Spears. So... are they caught in the spiral or somehow standing in the eye of the tornado? Unsurprisingly, they are as swept up as Dorothy. They, too, may be headed to the Emerald City.

Winehouse is still saying "No, no, no" to rehab:

Amy Winehouse reportedly shocked passengers at Gatwick airport when she was violently sick after a champagne binge. "Amy didn't waste any time getting stuck into the free booze. She wasn't looking well, but that didn't stop her guzzling the bubbly. She was sitting down, and just erupted vomit on the carpet," an onlooker told the London Lite.

I know... I know... you're worried. But it's okay. She was still able to board the plane to spend a few days in the Carribean with her ex-boyfriend while her husband (Blake Fielder-Civil, on "the Garden of eden's" roster, and a ANS Corollary role model in his own right) is in prison. There is little as heartwarming as a happy ending...

The spiral continues for Spears, as well. Spears, who is in danger of losing custody of her children, at least has her whole life in perspective:

“Those boys are her everything, and she’s said repeatedly that life isn’t worth living if she can’t have her babies with her,” says the friend.

Why continue performing, then? I am glad you asked:

“The only reason she’s doing this is because she wants them to look up to her onstage and be like, ‘That’s my mama,’ and be proud of her. She’d put her life before them and die for Jayden and Preston. They’re her whole world.”

I know I would be proud of my mom for "Gimme Gimme." Oh, and by "proud" I mean "irreversibly scarred for life and in need of continuous therapy."

Well, "Angelos or Bust" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadeadphia" have staked some hopes to the circuity of Spears and Winehouse's Spirals. But they are not the only ones. There is a website where you can bet on when Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse will die. And you can win prizes!:

When is Britney Going to Die?
Description:
“We’ll all have a date with our maker someday, but like Amy Winehouse, Britney Spears just can’t seem to wait.
A couple of years ago she looks stunning and was a wet dream for every man. But for some reason Britney also landed in a self-destruction derby.
Guess her final breath and be crowned Mr. Or Mrs. Death. Winner will be rewarded with a PS3.”

PS3? Please. Do it here and win the coveted Death Cup.

[Metro]
[ShowbizSpy]
[2Snaps]