Daydream, I fell asleep amid the flowers

There are certain commercials I find very effective and those are the ones that play music while displaying their items and this one from AT&T for Mother’s Day was one of the best. I am currently trying to find the first Razr commercial that featured AC/DC’s Back in Black.

The Pen May Lie but Sword Does Not

Misha Defonseca, “author” of Misha: A Memoir of the Holocaust Years

Margaret B. Jones aka Margaret Seltzer, “author” of Love and Consequences

James Frey, “author” of A Million Little Pieces

There seems to be an influx of false memories rolling down the river of late. The first known of this was Clifford Irving’s book The Autobiography of Howard Hughes. I am sure there was others before him, but he’s on of the famous one. Then there was James Frey and his A Million Little Pieces in which he even had Oprah fooled. Oprah brought James back on the show to talk about the lies and for her to do this just probably made the book even popular. I can’t say for sure, but as a collector, I like to keep books of this nature.

The James Frey hoax had a bit of a backlash in that readers demanded their money back. I didn’t. I have the original book before the disclaimer was introduced in the re-released copies. I also have the O J Simpson book, If I did It that was released by the money hungry Goldmans. But I digress.

Recently, there have been two memoirs that have been exposed for being lies. The first was a holocaust memoir titled Misha: A Memoir of the Holocaust Years by Misha Defonseca in which she states, as a Jewish child, she lived with a pack of wolves in the woods during the Holocaust. Well, my first clue that something wasn’t right is the “pack of wolves”. Unless your name is Tarzan or Lucan (for those of you from the 70’s and remember the Tv show), no one has ever been raised by a pack of wolves. The second memoir was by Margaret B. Jones (real name Margaret Seltzer) called Love and Consequence who claimed she was a foster child growing up in South Los Angels and survived by selling drugs the street gang The Bloods. Oh, did I mention that she claims she was abused as a child and that she’s half white and half Native American? You should look this one up because she’s a hum dinger. The author’s, or should I say, the liars true story is, she actually grew up with her biological family in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley.

I am not sure why these people feel the need to fabricate their stories.

I am currently editing my first novel, which so happens to be about the holocaust. The protagonist is in an unnamed concentration camp. My story, unlike the ones mentioned, is of fiction. It is what you would call a historical fiction novel. I am neither Jewish nor have a Jewish background. In addition, I do not know anyone who was in any of the camps. After I had completed by draft, I had the pleasure of meeting Gloria Lyons who did spend time in four camps. Her husband was able to escape the Holocaust by being sent to Budapest and then to America.

Of the two hoaxes to come about the one that irks me the most is the book about the Holocaust. The Holocaust is a subject near and dear to my heart. This is a subject that should not be played with nor doubted. When others come forth with their stories, are they going to be believed? Hard to say. These constant false memoirs are starting to turn into the boy who cried wolf.

P.O.W = Prisoner of Words – Alicia Keys

Whoopi Goldberg & Denise Richards on The View

A friend of mine has been watching the view for a few months now. I never watched the show and never really cared too until she began and I have to say I enjoy the show a great deal. The Hot Topics they have at the beginning of the show is what I really enjoy and for some of them, I wish I was at the table to cast my thoughts.

Recently, they had Denise Richards on their as a guest (not at the table, but a regular guest) and she was speaking about her divorce from Charlie Sheen and the stuff he has pulled with her and with regards to their divorce. She was also speaking about her new “reality” Tv show titled Denise Richards: It’s Complicated which begins 26 May 2008 on E!. Denise spoke about how she wants to protect her kids and such and Whoopi was questioning why would Denise, who wants to protect her kids, take on a “reality” show.

Denise does state, “They are in it very miminal,” which is probably true, but I also see Whoopi’s point of view that if Denise wants to keep her life private and her kids life private, why; 1. Do a reality Tv show, and 2. Have your kids on there?

Denise stated the time was right for her to do a “reality” show so people can see the real her and not what Charlie or the others have made her out to be. As for her kids, they are HER kids and if she wants to have them on the show for one second or one hour that’s her business. I personally think that if she’s going to do a “reality” Tv show about her life thnn that has to include her kids. Unlike Corey Feldman who did a “reality” Tv show with Corey Haim and excluded his (Feldman’s) son from the show. No one knew he had a son named Zen who is four or five now. Why exclude your kids from your life, whether its in real life or Tv?

Kamora Lee Simons has a “reality” Tv show called Life in the Fab Lane and her kids all over the show and I think its great. There’s a way to have your kids on YOUR show without exploiting them and I think Kamora Lee does a fantastic job. I have a feeling Denise will do the same thing.

I loved how Denise carried herself on The View when being confronted (and yes I do mean confronted) by Whoopi. Those kids are not Whoopi’s kids so she should not be so judgmental towards Denise for what she is doing. But as for what Denise is doing only time will tell if it was the right decision or one that will have a profound effect on her and her kids.

I do wish her the best of luck with her show, but more importantly, with her life from this point forward.