- Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Ryan Gosling pens letter of support for PETA

“Drive” star Ryan Gosling has hopped on board with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to challenge the slaughterhouse euthanizing process of turkeys and chickens.

The Canadian actor penned a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on behalf of PETA, in opposition to the USDA’s approved method of killing the birds. According to Us Weekly, the method is slow and painful and suffocates the birds in foam.

“If dogs and cats were killed in this way, the person committing these acts would be charged with cruelty to animals,” Mr. Gosling wrote. “Won’t you please end the foam-based suffocation practice immediately?”

The 30-year-old, who played a womanizing cad in this summer’s hit romantic comedy “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” most recently made news for breaking up a New York City fight between an artist and another man. While the video initially made the actor look like a chivalrous hero, Mr. Gosling later told MTV News that he regretted intervening because he learned afterward that the man reportedly had stolen a painting from the artist.

“I’m embarrassed. I think that guy really was stealing that other guy’s painting, so I should have just kept my nose out of it,” Mr. Gosling told MTV. “It was sad, because it turns out that I said to the guy, ’Why are you doing this?’ He said, ’Well, he tried to steal my painting.’ I said, ’How do you know?’ and he said, ’Well, he comes here every day and looks at my paintings,’ which means the guy was a fan, and so he wanted the painting so bad he had to steal it because he couldn’t afford it.”

Mr. Gosling, who portrayed many a girl’s dream boyfriend in the 2004 drama “The Notebook,” had more to say about stepping into the altercation.

“So he finally steals the painting, and then he’s getting his [rear] kicked by his hero, and then the guy from ’The Notebook’ shows up and makes it weirder. It’s just — the whole thing, nobody wins, nobody won,” Mr. Gosling said.

Read more: dailycaller.com/2011/09/10/the-notebook-actor-comes-to-bat-for-peta-takes-on-slaughterhouses

Smells like name-dropping: Huntsman refers to Cobain

You can’t claim the pop-culture-savvy card if your references are 20 years old.

But that’s what GOP presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman Jr. did during Monday’s debate.

Calling into question the Social Security debate between former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Mr. Huntsman said, “I don’t think anything should be off the table, except maybe some of the drama that’s been on this floor today. I don’t know if that was written by Kurt Cobain or not.”

The former governor of Utah was alluding to Mr. Romney’s book, “No Apology,” which sounds only slightly similar to Nirvana’s 1993 song “All Apologies.” The single was written by the band’s frontman, Cobain, who committed suicide a year later.

After Mr. Huntsman mentioned Cobain, former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic began tweeting about the presidential candidate.

“Kurt Cobain Lives in the GOP presidential debate! Kurt supported Jerry Brown for president in 1992,” Mr. Novoselic wrote of Cobain. “I’ve never seen heroin — seriously. I’m addicted to oil though: Olive Oil!!! #Huntsman.”

Mr. Novoselic continued that he’s pro-Huntsman, “OK — I’m now officially interested. #huntsman … I’ll campaign for @JonHuntsman and if elected, he’ll nominate me for Dept. Of Bass Tossers. I will go down in flames in Senate confirmation.”

While the Huntsman-Novoselic warm fuzzies could be perceived as cute, the Twitterverse wasn’t so touched by the random reference.

“I have an announcement: All Kurt Cobain and 90s grunge jokes have been made. Please cease and desist all further efforts. #999isajoke,” wrote one Twitter user.

“Jon Huntsman makes bizarre Kurt Cobain joke in a GOP debate & the only man to get the reference is Wolf Blitzer. #Tweetthepress,” tweeted another.

Caleb Howe of RedState gave his 2 cents with the tweet, “Huntsman has referenced Kurt Cobain and heroin so far in this debate. He’s clearly after the all-important early 90s grunge scene voters.”

Mr. Howe was referencing another statement made by Mr. Huntsman during the debate: “This country needs to wean itself from its heroinlike addiction to foreign oil.”

Cobain famously struggled with heroin addiction.

Read more: dailycaller.com/2011/09/13/smells-like-name-dropping-hunstman-references-kurt-cobain-during-debate

’Sex and the City’ prequel to air on CW network

Teeny-bopper network CW reportedly will be home to “The Carrie Diaries,” a prequel to “Sex and the City,” the wildly popular HBO television series that inspired two movies.

“The Carrie Diaries,” which follows the high school life of Carrie Bradshaw before she becomes an iconic New York City sex columnist, is the first of two prequel books. Earlier this year, “Sex and the City” author Candace Bushnell released the second book in the prequel saga, “Summer and the City,” which takes readers through the months before Bradshaw is supposed to start college.

“Gossip Girl” executive producer Josh Schwartz is lined up to produce “The Carrie Diaries” and former “Sex and the City” writer Amy B. Harris is scheduled to adapt the series.

“Sex and the City” producer Michael Patrick King said last month that he was “not working on any ’Sex and the City’ prequel” and that he had no desire to see the show focus on a younger, more naive version of Bradshaw.

“My Carrie Bradshaw started at 33, and I took her to 43. I didn’t even want to know who Carrie Bradshaw’s parents were because I thought she only existed in Manhattan,” Mr. King said at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour in Southern California. “So for me, the idea of going backwards and making her less evolved … is something that I don’t imagine doing.”

“Sex and the City” may have been Ms. Bushnell’s biggest success, but her other work hasn’t gone unnoticed by the entertainment industry. Another of her novels, “One Fifth Avenue,” soon will debut on ABC as a drama.

Read more: dailycaller.com/2011/09/12/cw-to-air-sex-and-the-city-prequel

Compiled by Laura Donovan © 2011 the Daily Caller.

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