Heidi Klum: Business and Pleasure in NYC
Heidi Klum: Business and Pleasure in NYC
With her high-profile career and demanding family life, it’s a wonder Heidi Klum ever finds time to sleep! The German supermodel was spotted balancing work and family in New York City yesterday.
Decked out in a sexy black dress and snakeskin Christian Louboutin heels, Klum was seen having lunch with her friends at the uber-trendy Barbuto restaurant in Manhattan.
Earlier in the day, Heidi tended to her professional duties at a photo shoot. And she took her kids and parents along with her, making sure to get some quality time with the fam.
The “Project Runway” babe recently told press the secret to her deep relationship with husband Seal. “There are many, many things. But I would say love is the most important thing. Seal and I feel very lucky that we found each other. He’s my best friend. He would never go in through a door first. He always opens the door for me and steps back so I walk through.”
And they’re still leaving the door open for adding to their brood. “So many people say, ‘I am so done.’ That hasn’t come out of my mouth, and it hasn’t come out of Seal’s mouth, either. I feel like we still have one coming.”
Kristin Cavallari’s Irie Weekend Golfing
Kristin Cavallari’s Irie Weekend Golfing
She’s known for many things, but golfing certainly isn’t one of them. Nonetheless, Kristin Cavallari was doing her thing at the Miami Beach Golf Course over the weekend.
The Laguna Beach babe was in town for the Irie Weekend 2008 Celebrity Golf Tournament, an event hosted by DJ Irie to benefit Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Miami.
And while Kristin may not have had the best golfing skills out there, she sure looked good trying, sporting a sleeveless cream-colored minidress complete with massive platform heels.
Also hitting the links for the kids were Timbaland, Kevin Federline, Brody Jenner, Danny Masterson, and Nick Cannon.
30 Days: Same Sex Parenting
Usually the teasers for 30 Days are pretty innocuous. They give an idea about what the topic is and show some reactions from both sides. This week, however, I had the feeling I was going to be pissed.
The part that stuck out the most was the sound byte of Kati saying, “It confirms the option of becoming gay.” A person who would let that comment come out of their mouth is clearly uneducated on a great many things and I hoped that we’d get to see some redeeming qualities in her.
I had to laugh when Spurlock said Kati was going from Leave it to Beaver to My Two Dads. I’ve seen both of those shows many times and while the Beav can certainly be classified as a kid from a “typical American home,” I never got the idea that Paul Reiser and Greg Evigan played gay lovers. I guess I need to rent that show on DVD.
When we meet Kati, she seems reasonable and starts off by making what sounds like a valid point. She believes that two parents of the same sex are ill-equipped to give their child the life lessons that can only be provided by two different sexes. Now, I’m sure we’ll get plenty of comments from experts, and I welcome them, but since I am nothing close to an expert, I have to concede that she may have a point. I have never met a boy raised by two men, but I can picture him growing up with an inordinate amount of insensitivity to women and their specific issues. So far Kati seems harmless.
Dennis and Thomas come across like superheroes. Not only did they adopt four boys who started out as foster kids, but their son Josh has special needs and couldn’t even speak when he came to live with them. All lionizing aside, I am forced to admit that I could never do what they do. I only have two kids and while I’ve known them all their lives, there are still days when I want to drop them a Goodwill bin. That, of course, says more about me than it does them, but I’m sure you get the point.
The tensions begin after dinner on the first night. While it’s clear that Kati is a sweet person and a loving mother, she is very vocal about her religion and how it informs her opinions on many things. Obviously, she interprets the Bible to say that homosexuality is wrong and that’s something I can live with. She has a right to her beliefs, as do we all, but she seems to have a respect for the beliefs of others. The first red flag comes when she is asked if she believes that growing up in foster care without a permanent home is preferable to a same-sex household. To paraphrase her answer, she says yes. I assume that’s because she believes that the “immoral” influence does more damage than the lack of a stable home. Again, while I think this is a fairly ludicrous way of thinking, I don’t fault her for her beliefs.
It’s at Kati’s lunch with a pair of lesbian parents and their daughter that she first shows her ignorance. First of all, Kati is under the impression that being gay is a choice. I know that there are probably people reading this review who agree with her, but you are wrong. Being gay is no more a choice than being black, Jewish or female. The only choice homosexuals have is whether or not to lie to themselves and/or their loved ones about who they are. Let me reiterate, in case I am being unclear, if you believe that homosexuality is a choice, you are free to believe that, but you are wrong.
The best part of the conversation comes when the daughter of the lesbian couple shows Kati the flaw in her logic. She explains that her Mom grew up in a Catholic family with two different sex parents and she ended up being gay. So how does it make sense that a same-sex household can make you more inclined to be a homosexual? The answer is, it doesn’t and the fact that Kati sits there silently affirms that.
What becomes very clear at this point is that Kati is very controlling. I applaud her for stepping into such an unfamiliar situation. But it’s clear that she needs to learn that there are too many things in the universe that she can not control if she is going to be a happy person and a successful parent.
As always, Spurlock makes an effort to show a reasonable argument against same-sex marriage. Sadly, the effort is a complete failure. The sad story of the woman raised by her single gay father only goes to affirm the fact that no child should be raised by an inappropriate douchebag. Are we to believe that if her father had brought home women and discussed his sexual activities with them in front of his daughter that she would have grown up issue-free?
I was really pleased to see the tension breaker Spurlock included when he took a visit to the sperm bank. Not only did it remind us that having and raising children is a very lucrative business for a lot of people but the conversation he had about sperm donation made me laugh out loud.
The scene around the fire made me really sad. Not just because I felt sorry for Kati but because, as we saw last week with George the hunter, when people are being attacked, they will never concede to another point of view. Josh’s relatives (The Pancakes?) stood there with their arms crossed and made accusations when they should have been trying to build some understanding on both parts. What gets me is that this family that has admittedly failed at raising their own son has the nerve to tell Kati what’s best for kids. I hope those smores covered up the taste of irony in their mouths.
At the end of the thirty days, it was clear that there would be no happy ending and yet, this episode was my favorite of all three seasons. I really liked the point Kati made about how everyone in America should be able to respect each other while expressing their individual beliefs. The best part was how Kati was able to see the value in really examining how people with opposing viewpoints live. Even though she won’t change her beliefs, at least she won’t be talking “through her hat” anymore. How great would it be if we could all do that?
30 Days: 30 Days in a Wheelchair
Being confined to a wheelchair is one of my own personal worst fears. Whenever I see someone in a wheelchair, I can’t help but selfishly imagine how much it would suck for me. My mind immediately starts listing all the things I wouldn’t be able to do or at least do without any difficulty. For this reason, I was very interested in this week’s episode.
As with most episodes, Spurlock makes this one about more than just a pro football player in a wheelchair. He manages to point out that the issues of stem cell research, the war in Iraq and equal rights for the differently-abled are all connected.
I’m not a football fan so Ray Crockett was unknown to me. That isn’t to say I wasn’t impressed by his accomplishments as an athlete and a father. Not to mention the fact that he witnessed fellow athlete, Mike Utley, sustain an injury that did, in fact, paralyze him from the chest down.
One of the first things we “learn,” along with Ray, is that spinal injuries can happen to anyone at any time. I’m sure there are jobs or activities that make a person more prone to damaging their spines but the truth is anyone who gets in a car is at risk.
One of the most striking parts of the episode was seeing Crockett struggle to get along in his beautiful estate. The giant shower and raised bed seemed to be more inconvenient now that he is confined to a wheelchair. Also, witnessing Ray watch his sons play basketball outside was very powerful.
Another effect of Ray’s confinement is how his wife, April, has to adjust to the situation. Being well-off, April is used to setting her own schedule and being able to count on Ray for many things. Now, however, she is a full-time, chauffeur/valet/caregiver and much more. It was brilliant how Spurlock so deftly showed us the simple fact that these kinds of injuries have far-reaching repercussions.
Just when you think you have a good understanding of how tough things are, Spurlock brings out the big guns. In Ray’s support group, we meet a man who who became a quadriplegic one month before the birth of his daughter. Seeing his baby standing in front of him, eager to be picked up by him is truly heart breaking.
My favorite part of the experience had to be seeing Ray take part in a wheelchair rugby game. I’ve seen wheelchair basketball before and was amazed at how rough it was but it pales in comparison to what these rugby players do to each other.
When Ray actually takes part in a match, he learns that not all athletes are built the same. While he is certainly in great shape, his upper body strength is far below what it needs to be to keep up. Once again, when I think about how often I avoid getting exercise, it’s all put into perspective.
In my many years of watching TV, I’ve seen a plethora of stories designed to teach me how lucky I am that I can see, walk, hear, talk, breed, vote, etc. However, it takes a guy like Morgan Spurlock to go the extra step and point out the little things that I didn’t even know I was taking for granted.