Heath Ledger Dead At 28

Heath Ledger was found in his SoHo, New York, apartment on January 22, 2008. The 28-year-old actor was found naked, sprawled out on the floor, with prescription sleeping pills on the nightstand by his housekeeper at roughly 3:30 p.m.

Heath Ledger, though he had appeared in a number of other quality films, was nominated to receive the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for his groundbreaking role as a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain. Other notable roles occupied by Heath Ledger include his first role in Clowning Around (1992), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), The Patriot (2000), A Knight's Tale (2001), Monster's Ball (2001), Four Feathers (2002), Lords of Dogtown (2005), and The Brothers Grimm (2005).

Though Heath Ledger had established himself long ago, and despite the fact that many consider his role in Brokeback Mountain his breakout gig, he was perhaps about to embark on his most exciting ride as an actor to date. The Dark Knight, sequel to 2005's Batman Begins, is set for release in July 2008, and Heath Ledger portrays the infamous Joker. While many critics question Heath Ledger's ability to top Jack Nicholson's Joker, the previews that are available throughout the internet prove Heath's chops.

Heath Ledger's Australian peers have emerged to give condolences to his family, such as Nicole Kidman, who has stated, "What a terrible tragedy. My heart goes out to Heath's family." Early reports that claimed that Heath Ledger was found in Mary-Kate Olsen's New York apartment have been retracted. Though there are no outward signs of suicide, police have not ruled it out as a possibility. Heath's ex-girlfriend and mother to his 2-year-old daughter, Michelle Williams, was reported to have boarded a plane in Utah to fly to New York once she heard the tragic news. Also, Naomi Watts, another Heath Ledger ex, pulled out of a press junket. Family, friends, and acquaintances have said that Heath Ledger appeared healthy and well in the weeks leading up to his death.

Still, not to detract from Heath Ledger's talent, but as with every celebrity death, the press comes out in droves to praise and hail the actor or singer, postmortem. If Heath had disappeared within the next couple of years, would anyone have missed him? Certainly, he didn't have the ability to draw a crowd or cause the media to swoon like other A-listers.

Rolling Stone Cover to Cover: The First 40 Years

What started in 1967 as an “underground” newspaper that embraced the hippie subculture while maintaining journalistic professionalism, Rolling Stone has long since become the authority on what’s relevant in music, entertainment and left-wing politics. And although Rolling Stone has made its share of mistakes with regards to its cover (read: Zack Efron, Fall Out Boy, King Kong, Borat, Avril Lavigne, The Rock, and the six-cover issue featuring ‘Nsync – and that’s just since 2000), it’s the cover that’s the coveted spot that often tells up-and-comers that they’ve arrived.

In 2007, Rolling Stone issued three unique issues that celebrated its 40 years of existence; and the issues must have been a smash because now the respected publication has released Rolling Stone Cover to Cover: The First 40 Years. Cover to Cover is a simple, easy-to-use DVD-ROM that allows you to search its digital archives from the last 40 years.

You can easily navigate to the issue of your choice using the “cover flow” type of technology or you can narrow your search by selecting a specific year. Once you’ve found the issue you want, call up the table of contents and find the article you’ve been looking for. If Rolling Stone has a particular writer that you like, you can search for every piece he has written for the publication. While reading the article (which appears on your screen as if you had a hardcopy issue spread out in front of you), you can easily zoom in and out to make reading easier.

Essentially, Rolling Stone Cover to Cover: The First 40 Years is your tour guide to the last 40 years of rock, pop, counterculture, and politics. So if you want to read timely articles about the death of John Lennon, Kurt Cobain or Saddam Hussein, or if you want to read about the cultural climate during every presidential campaign year since 1967, or if you just want to look at the charts and read the new release blurbs, then Rolling Stone Cover to Cover: The First 40 Years is a must-have.

So, what else is inside Rolling Stone Cover to Cover: The First 40 Years? Well, you get every issue up to and including 1026 and 98,000 articles appearing as they did when originally published. You also get a 208-page coffee table book that’s filled with photos that tell the tale of Rolling Stone’s history. They even threw in a one-year subscription.

Toy Dogs In Public Places

Christmas 2007 has come and gone, but it's not yet forgotten. My wife, 8-month-old daughter, and I were a part of that mess in Chicago the weekend before the holiest of nights that made the city feel more like a paparazzi-fest for the next Britney Spears fallout than a hub of major travel.

As a result we spent two nights in a hotel that wasn't comped by the airline because our delays were due to weather and, therefore, not the airline's responsibility; we lost two valuable shopping days that we were indeed going to use to purchase some gifts that we were unwilling to entrust to baggage handlers; we also lost two days that we were obviously going to spend with family and friends; we didn't get our luggage until December 25, which meant that we ended up making a quick stop at Wal-Mart (of all places) to purchase some fresh clothes (socks, underwear, shirts) to wear to my family's Christmas Eve gift exchange, for which we thankfully made some online purchases and had delivered to my parents for our recipients; and we spent ungodly amounts of money at Chicago O'Hare for food.

We weren't alone either - on December 22, roughly 300 flights were canceled as a result of the weather in Chicago, which included wind gusts that reached 80 mph.

Nonetheless, my little family of three stuck it out like trench soldiers. Through it all, what really grated my nerves - especially when viewed next to a soldier (and there were plenty at O'Hare) dressed in his or her desert BDUs (combat fatigues) on his way home for the holidays - were the number of little stellas with Paris Hilton-inspired toy dogs.

Before I continue, I should make it clear that I blame the celebrities who carry toy dogs for the rise in their popularity. Now, I can understand wanting to dress the same way as your favorite celebrity, I can even understand following their daily lives on various gossip sites, but why, unless you have a special kind of love for the smaller canine breeds, would you want to carry such a dog as a Maltese? And if you're a straight man who carries a toy dog, you are either the most emasculated man on the planet or the most whipped.

But, if you want to carry a "companion" dog and dress it up in Prada sweaters or Harley leathers, that's your business. Where I draw the line is when you carry your little Shih Tzu into a public place. What ever happened to the laws or policies that state that you can't bring a dog into a mall, a school, and especially into an airport with the post-9/11 security measures in place unless it is an assistant dog for the blind? And, why can't I bring my 80-pound dogs with me into these very same places of public gathering? Are my dogs not my companions? Don't I have a dog for the right reasons? Or, do dogs have to be an accessory in order for me to bring them with me?

I feel for the members of our society who are allergic to dogs, cats, and dander in general and have to tolerate the leniency of the changing policies regarding bringing toy dogs into public places. And I would also complain and request the animal's removal if I were ever sitting within a 50-foot vicinity of someone holding a toy dog in an airport terminal; my rights, afterall, should supercede those of the animals'.

Oh, and dogs are meant to protect, train, teach, care for, and to befriend. They are not a hand bag or a doll meant for dressing up.

KISS Unleashes KISSOLOGY Vol. 3

You wanted the best, you got the best…

According to KissOnline.com, KISS will drop KISSOLOGY: The Ultimate KISS Collection Vol. 3 on December 18, 2007, which means that it’s definitely a stocking-stuffer item on the last-minute shopper’s list. And if your significant other or parents don’t get this requisite item for you, you can stick them in the “War Machine” and let them “Shout it Out Loud” until it’s “Hotter than Hell.”

KISS has amassed roughly 10 hours of footage that spans from 1992 to 2000 and bundled it onto four DVDs, as opposed to the three discs (plus a bonus disc) that came with KISSOLOGY Volumes 1 and 2. Where KISSOLOGY Vol. 1 set the bar and established KISS as the hardest working band in music and Vol. 2 saw the deconstruction of the original lineup, Vol. 3 proves that glam rock can, and did, survive Nirvana – despite multiple lineup changes to 50% of the band.

In addition to the five complete concerts (Detroit, 1992; Detroit, 1996; Los Angeles, 1998; New Jersey, 2000; and Queens, 1973), you’ll also be witness to portions of more than 100 other live shows. KISS has also provided commentary from members Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Bruce Kulick, and Tommy Thayer, and a 20-page booklet. You’re also going to get never-before-seen footage from the MTV Unplugged session (which is when the reunion began, back in 1995) and from the MTV VMAs, at which KISS performed from beneath the Brooklyn Bridge.

KISSOLOGY: The Ultimate KISS Collection Vol. 3 will burn you like the midday sun.

Check out the sneak peek of KISS performing an updated version of “Black Diamond” from their 1998 Halloween show on the Psycho Circus Tour: