James Hirsen
Sunday, March 24, 2002

This year, Oscar got a new home. The Kodak Theatre was the setting for the 74th Annual Academy Awards show. But the plans hit some snags.

The venue was smaller than last year's and, as a result, a lot of people who wanted to attend the ceremony found themselves without seats.

In other bad news, the Awards site became the subject of a lawsuit. A group claimed that the theater violated laws designed to provide access for the disabled.

In a third blow, Oscar had some unprecedented security problems to deal with in the wake of Sept. 11. Streets around Hollywood Blvd., home of the famous Chinese and El Capitan theaters, had to be closed. Aircraft was banned from overhead. And security personnel and local and federal police officers were everywhere.

The way things were going, there was cause for concern. But on a cheerier note, the Left Coast Report was relieved to find out that at least airport security workers were otherwise occupied.

Bye Bye Bye, Lance

'N Sync member Lance Bass has announced that he wants to become an astronaut. He dreams of being the first entertainer in space.

Bass isn't the only star with stars in his eyes. He's in a three-way space race with Steven Spielberg and Michael Jackson.

In the first step toward becoming a real-life rocket-man, the boy-band crooner took a trip to Moscow for a series of tests.

The Left Coast Report hopes Bass doesn't take it too hard, but plenty of other entertainers have already traveled to the outer limits of deep space: Shirley MacLaine, Elton John, Anne Heche, Ed Asner, Elizabeth Taylor, Bob Dylan ...

The Lesser-Known Side of Moore

Michael Moore, self-proclaimed champion of the working man, has received a lot of attention for his films, speeches and books, which mainly criticize American corporations.

But Peter Rowe of the San Diego Union Tribune has documented another side of Moore.

It seems a revealing incident occurred when Moore appeared at San Diego's Marston Middle School recently. An event that featured a speech and book signing by Moore was scheduled to end at 11 p.m.

At 11:15 p.m., George Waller, a custodian at the school, asked Moore to stop signing books so he could clean up the auditorium.

Apparently Moore refused. Waller told the San Diego Union Tribune, "He didn't care that I had to work the next day. He didn't care that I had already put in a full day. I think he just wanted to sell books. He was all about the money."

The Left Coast Report points out that limousine liberals such as Moore are living proof that hypocrisy is not exclusive to any political persuasion.

Miss Uncongeniality

While shooting a new film in Brooklyn, actress Sandra Bullock was all set to be given a commemorative 9-11 T-shirt from some New York City firefighters. The only problem was Bullock failed to meet with the group of N.Y.'s finest.

One witness told the New York Daily News that "She [Bullock] stood not 5 feet away and didn't even acknowledge them. Then she sat down in one of those director's chairs and was talking and laughing with [co-star] Hugh Grant and her friends for a long time."

The source also said that after witnessing Bullock's treatment of the firefighters, some students from an Iowa Christian college who had been waiting to see Bullock decided to pose with the firefighters instead.

Although the firefighters eventually left, some of the film crew felt bad enough about what had happened that they went to the nearby firehouse after the shoot and purchased several T-shirts.

Bullock's L.A. spokesperson pointed out that no appointment had been made and that Bullock had tried to find the firefighters but they were already gone. The spokesperson also noted that Bullock had visited Engine Co. 6 on March 11 and spent half an hour.

Bullock tells Biography magazine that she, Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts have formed a coalition of sorts. "We all have an agreement. I said, 'Listen, Meg, you've got to stay blond, and Julia, you can go red – but don't go any darker than a light brown, because I'm going to be the brunette' … It's like an AA thing. We all go to meetings and we talk about being The Girls Next Door."

The Left Coast Report says if this Sandra Bullock is the girl next door, it's time to move to a better neighborhood.

Sundancing With Stupidity

Apparently the Sundance catalogue doesn't just contain overpriced items. It contains some bone-headed ideas from an actor turned expert.

According to Sterling Rome of CNSNews.com, portions of a letter written by Robert Redford are revealed in the 2002 edition of the catalogue.

Redford writes: "I think of the word – open. How relevant it is in this time. How important to our future. Events of this past year seized us from behind like a mugging in a dark alley. Perhaps we were too closed, too preoccupied to see it coming. Were we too closed in our own self-absorption and self-interest? Not open or interested in others - other cultures, other views, other voices? We seemed closed in our own success and greed."

The Left Coast Report thinks too many raindrops have fallen on this guy's head. What's like a "mugging in a dark alley" is the lack of logic and depth of a statement that implies if only we were more interested in other cultures, hijacking vermin would never have intentionally killed thousands of innocent people.

Arnie's Got a Brand-New Bust

A new work of art will soon be on display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California.

The Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, unveiled to the public a bronze bust of former President Ronald Reagan. Schwarzenegger commissioned artist Robert Berks to create the work.

The Left Coast Report would like to thank Arnold for the beautiful tribute to the Gipper.

Writer Helps Yates Escape Death

Suzanne O'Malley writes for the TV series "Law and Order." Park Dietz is a forensic psychiatrist who consults for the series. Neither could ever have dreamed that their paths might one day cross in a real-life multiple murder trial.

O'Malley was on assignment for "Dateline: NBC" when she heard some disturbing testimony: Andrea Yates was sane when she drowned her children. The peculiar thing was Dietz, a witness for the prosecution, was the doctor who was testifying.

The New York Post reports that Dietz also testified "Law and Order" was Yates' favorite program. He added that Yates had patterned the children's tragic murders after an episode in which a mother drowns her kids but is later acquitted through use of a post-partum depression defense.

O'Malley was unaware of any episode that had ever been written or aired containing such a plot line. So she passed the information on to Yates' lawyer.

The night before Yates' sentencing, Dietz was forced to admit that he had falsely testified, and in turn, the prosecutor was forced to give up asking for the death penalty.

The Left Coast Report commends O'Malley for acting to protect a commodity that sadly, within the information and entertainment media these days, appears to be in short supply. It's called the truth.

The Left Coast Report is put together by James L. Hirsen and the staff of NewsMax.

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