Dolph Lundgren & When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong

Dolph Lundgren was supposed to be the main story but something different happened. While photographing Dolph and his friend, I was repeatedly blocked and bumped much like when I used to play basketball. So after a few times, I held my position. I don't even know the pap's name, lets just call him saggy pants. By the way, the whole sagging pants fashion where a man's ass crack is showing started in the penal system. In prison, men who wear their pants low are saying they are "bottoms" that they are available for sex by other inmates so I don't get the fashion of men not in prison walking around free wearing their pants so low that you can almost see their balls. Only another man would find that attractive not a lady in my opinion. In the video, I remark, "Go back to prison!" because of his sagging pants just to be clear. Anyway, saggy pants accused me of physically attacking him. Now let's look at this logically why would I do that when my job is to get the best pictures and video possible of the the celeb that I'm shooting? Why would I have to attack to get a shot of Lundgren when I've shot him so many times in the past and want to shoot him in the future? Why would I fuck up a chance for a great video that possibly could be sold since Dolph Lundgren is hot right now due to Expendables 3. Lastly, I love Grace Jones, I would not mess with any old or new flames in her crew. But besides all that, it is so sad that saggy pants said in the video that "He has nothing to live for..." That is more disturbing than his tirade and his verbal abuse. For me it isn't that serious. I come across celebs all the time without really trying. I don't have to fight to photograph them or get them to chat with me. I'm not desperate for shots. They come to me so in the future when I have to shoot around someone like saggy pants. I'll ignore him. It is hard though to turn the other cheek when a person is threatening you. Seriously. If I was a man, it would be the norm for me to knock him out but because I'm a woman, it is a strange paradox.

R.I.P. Robin Williams

I have no photo to post of Robin Williams. I have never had the pleasure of photographing him. I was shocked to read that he took his life like most people. Depression, drug addiction, alcoholism and sobriety is a battle a never ending war.
Recently, I met Christopher Lambert and he reminded me my love for Queen, Freddie Mercury and David Bowie. One of my favorite songs is "Under Pressure".
Robin Williams spent most of his adult life making people who never met him in the flesh, Laugh.
Thanks Robin rest in peace.

Transients Drink In Public & Harass Passerbys Less Than A Week After Christine Calderon's Murder

I got a phone call from a friend who asked me if I heard about the lady who got stabbed in Hollywood. The person gave out incorrect news and said it was a "Character". On further investigation it turns out that it was three transients with signs who were panhandling for tips. Allegedly Christine Calderon took a picture and didn't give them a dollar so one of them, according to reports, Dustin Kinnear stabbed her to death while his partners in crime either held back her friend or participated in other ways with the subsequent murder.
If you know anything about KAT TALES TV, then you know besides doing entertainment pieces, I have also included several stories about Hollywood Boulevard: the growing problem with mental illness, drug, alcohol addiction and the increase in violence in America. It is unfortunate that one can't just walk down the street without being harassed by people begging for money or attention. This doesn't just happen in Hollywood, this is happening every where in every neighborhood. I don't have the answers and don't profess to have them but I do know I'm tired of being harassed when I go into a store or walk by a group of mostly men there has been several women who have joined into the fray. I don't like it. Something has to be done. It isn't safe nor has it ever really been for some of us. But we all have to do our part in coming up with solutions to the problem before more people lose their lives. Some say this dangerous situation began with Governor Ronald Reagan was in office and he shut down many of the mental health facilities in California. Then later as President Reagan closed more institutions.  Subsequently, America started to see a growing increase in the number of mentally ill and or drug addicted homeless looking for a place to go. All I know is every day the problem gets worse. The new Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti will have his hands full with this one.
In regards to the above videos, I was covering another story when I noticed these three men harassing people and one drinking in public. So I filmed the tail end of their shenanigans and what you see is what you get.

Time For Action: Ban Military-Style Assault Weapons

While driving on Sunset boulevard, KAT's thoughts on the recent massacre and America's love for guns and warfare.

DWTStreet People Follow Up: I'm Not On Crack, I'm BiPolar

This is the original video of a girl who was dancing on Hollywood Boulevard...
She came up to me the other day and this is what went down...

DWTStreet People on Crack or Crystal Meth

Hollywood Boulevard is stranger than any movie. Homeless people with mental illness and drug problems are a constant reality that one can't hide from. Here is just one of the many instances of dancing on crack or crystal meth...

Hollywood Man In The Mirror

This man walks up and down Hollywood Boulevard almost every day that I'm there as a constant reminder cinematic moments happen while issues like what to do with the homeless and mentally challenged go unanswered...

Sundy Bloody Sunday on The Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Sunday was a sad day on Hollywood Blvd. Started it off with my butt getting slapped by a stranger. I would have happily punched him but he was in a wheel chair and with my luck someone would have seen me respond without seeing the initial attack and I would have looked like a bad person that beat up a disabled man. That was my first dealing with crazy. A short time after the BID patrol (I like to call them the Haliburton of Hollywood) were called because another mentally ill man who has had numerous run ins with law enforcement, was going to the bathroom in public at Hollywood & Highland (the mall). So about 8 bid patrol officers came as well as the fire department because at one time during the initial altercation the person was unresponsive. The BID patrol released the man and then he came back several times and they tried to escort him off the property. Finally after the 3rd or 4th time they handcuffed him and took him away. I watched the story unfold. Earlier in the day he asked my friend for money and my friend gave it to him. I got into a deep conversation with another photographer about Hollywood Blvd because he was photographing the mentally ill man with the Bozo type haircut being surrounded like hunted game by the BID. I reminded him that homeless and mentally ill people have little resources and little empathy in a world that believes everyone should pull themselves up from their own boot straps. It is the same world where during the Reagan administration cut mental health facilities and closed the doors on people getting help. I don't understand this world with the endless deep pockets for the military industrial complex fraudulent reasons to go into wars that deplete healthcare, education, libraries and so many of our civil liberties and rights. We can't cut military spending but we can cut human services to the bone? What kind of nation are we becoming? Are we becoming the STOICS? Only concerned with the false power of the Empire and disregarding and eliminating all those that need help? After a lengthy conversation while I pointed out the beautifully designed Freemason Building that houses the Jimmy Kimmel Show as well as the detailed faces of what appears to be busts of the Night Templar's or Famous Freemasons next door above the El Capitan owned by Disney, the photographer and I shook hands and he was on his way. A short time later I was talking to someone else when I heard a horrible crash. I turned to see a man bleeding stumbling in the street and another man with a bicycle bleeding as well. I ran in the street to help. Both men at first refused my, as well as two other's help. They both kept saying that were running late and they had to get where they were going. One was an actor in a play. His head was squirting blood. I grabbed his arm and begged him to sit on the ground. An off duty nurse talked to him to see if he was lucid while another man and I tried to stop the bleeding. I sat on the pavement trying to talk to both injured parties into stopping and taking care of themselves. It was crazy. The guy with the bike who had a huge gash on his head above an eye was saying repeatedly that he had to go to work. He couldn't be late. He couldn't loose his job. I joked men never listen to me while I held on to the other guy's head to put pressure on the bleeding. By that time someone had gotten napkins. I had blood all over my hands. I didn't have gloves. Oops. I didn't have time to freak out. Someone called 911. And the Fire Department came and took over while we tried to tell them what happened. I rushed to wash my hands and came back to the scene by that time the police arrived and were taking down the accident report. The guy on the bicycle needed stitches but refused to go to the hospital. The Firemen did what they could to close his wound and bandage his head. I saw him get back on his bike and ride furiously to work. The other guy was bandaged up and his friends arrived to take him to the hospital. He didn't want to be taken away in the ambulance to the hospital because he would have to pay for it so he waited and waited and waited for the friend with the car to pick him up at the curb but his friend couldn't because the street was cut off due to the Muppet Movie getting ready for some additional filming. So I told him to sit back down and a little while later a man comes over and starts laughing at the injured, bloodied guy with a huge bandage on his head. His wife comes over too and starts laughing while (the tourist I assume) is snapping pictures. Their little kids come over too to see the damage. I'm watching these so called adults laugh at a guy who just got into a serious accident and his wound is bleeding through the bandage and I ask them, "what are you laughing at?" They say "at the guy". I say incredulously what the hell are you laughing for? He just got hit!" They laugh some more and say "Oh I thought it was a movie!" I said I hope someone laughs at you when you get injured and takes pictures. What the hell is happening? Are people so dumb down with gutter entertainment and violent films that they can't distinguish between real blood and fake? Were they laughing the second time out of embarrassment? Or are they just that stupid, ignorant and careless. They snickered as they walked away. I turned around and the injured guy with his friends decided to walk down Hollywood to the corner of Highland so their other friend could pick them up. Before he left he thanked me and I warned him that he was going to feel pretty bad in a day or two and to take it slow. I watched them make that long walk as his head started to bleed more and his friends tried to help him walk. I thought to myself, what the hell is going on when so many hard working people are afraid to go to the hospital for lack of funds and afraid to loose their jobs after a health scare. Then I remembered that the same thing had happened to me a year before. So many of us are in the same boat. Healthcare is not affordable for us and we would rather do without than have bills we can't pay for. So for all those fools who think cutting our infrastructure is the right thing to do while so many US corporations and uber rich don't pay their fare share of taxes while the middle class dissolves into a pool of serfs, I say FUCK YOU! There are good hard working US Citizens that deserve healthcare and union jobs. It isn't Socialist. It is the right thing to do. All the trillions of our dollars that we Americans accept our government using in our name to fight endless and imaginary wars is a shame and a sham. Sunday Bloody Sunday. Why don't we cut at least 1/4th of Military Spending? And why don't we make sure U.S. Corporations are paying their taxes? Those are two simple suggestions that could help fund healthcare.

Britney Spears She Isn't The Only One Dazed & Confused

Upon hearing Britney Spears conservatorship was renewed, I was going to write a diatribe about Britney Spears fans who idolize her even though she just goes through the motions when she performs. Many say she just lip syncs during her concerts and is just a shell of what she once was. I'm so confused. If Britney Spears is so ill why does she still perform? Why do we live in a culture that accepts a performer not even performing anymore? Are some of us that hypnotized? Maybe Britney Spears needs to retire take the time to get better if she can. The few times I've seen Ms. Spears or photographed her, nothing was behind her eyes. She seemed blank. Not there. Like a Zombie. So sad. I will never forget the first time I was made aware of Britney Spears on the Howie Mandel Show. I thought to myself something had changed. This child (underage) dancing like a sexualized woman in a School Girl sexy costume was marking a point in history. I thought something was wrong but I couldn't take my eyes off of her performance of "Baby One More Time".
You know the lyrics to songs say a lot if you listen to them. "My Emptiness is Killing Me". Also she sings about the only way she knows he cares if he hits her one more time. Bizarre lyrics really. If we fill our minds with abusive music lyrics, videos, movies and games without analyzing what we are listening to we have no idea what it is doing or the effect. Spears is probably being used to keep up the money train for the suits and the people who need her to keep working. 100's of people rely on her bank account. Britney seems more like a zombie than a person at 28. She has been trained to perform and to be sexually appetizing since childhood. No wonder she is past the breaking point. I don’t understand her boyfriend (who used to be her agent or manager) that would be a full time job of dealing with her mental issues. If people had her best interest in mind, they might let her retire, away from the spot light. Who knows the suits maybe the ones forcing her to go out to public places where they know she will be photographed. I hope Britney can get better.