Heartfelt, country-wide apologies
First things first. Britney Spears is publicly defending herself after being lambasted by, um, lots of people for recent photos in which she was caught holding her infant son on her lap while driving a car.
According to the BBC's website, Britney claims she was trying to flee the paparazzi. She said: "I instinctively took measures to get my baby and me out of harm's way, but the paparazzi continued to stalk us."
The crazy Mrs. Spears continues: "Because of a recent incident when I was trapped in my car without my baby by a throng of paparazzi, I was terrified that this time the physically aggressive paparazzi would put both me and my baby in danger… I instinctively took measures to get my baby and me out of harm's way, but the paparazzi continued to stalk us, and took photos of us which were sold to the media."
Hmm. Her baby, Sean Preston, is only -- what -- 6 months old? Yep, I'd say he definitely shoulda been in a car seat. Or a baby bug. Or whatever the hell those things are called that they put babies in when they try to ride in cars like little adults.
I've been trying to find pics of this world-stopping incident, but haven't come across 'em yet. If you see any, please let me know. Inquiring minds…
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In other news, remember that other crazy lady, Chan Marshall (a.k.a. Cat Power), whom I blogged about on Friday? Welp, turns out her entire U.S. tour has been suddenly and dramatically cancelled. Her record label, Matador, claims the cancellation is "due to health reasons." Or it might be -- finally -- time for the funny farm. Just kidding, CM; I still love you. Inquiring minds…
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I will end today's post on a 6-percent-less pop culture-obsessed note. My esteemed colleague Matthew Wheeland just blogged about a new spin on the overblown Muhammed cartoon drama (Iran's top newspaper just "announced it would retaliate by running images satirising the Holocaust.")
My good friend B., who lives in Aalborg, Denmark, just sent me this new link about the cartoon fiasco. It's an "open apology," my friend explains, "to Denmark and Norway about the craziness in the Middle East… It's the first sign of reasonable voices in the whole Muhammad cartoon [melee]. Wish the Danes had been this reasonable from the start."
This mysterious "Sorry Norway Denmark" site isn't attributed to anyone in particular -- but the page claims to have been created by "a group of Arab and Muslim youth" with the intent of
"[apologizing] whole-heartedly to the people of Norway and Denmark for any offense this sorry episode may have caused, to any European who has been harassed or intimidated, to the staff of the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Embassies in Syria whose workplace has been destroyed and for any distress this whole affair may have caused to anyone."
