Britney Spears' new look; early McBain

Ed here: As the grandfather of four girls, I naturally worry about how they'll fare in the wold. So damned many pitfalls and temptations. Thus I don't find anything amusing in the terrible mental disintegration of Britney Spears. Where the fuck are her parents in all this? God knows she's been their ATM machine for years. As (almost) always, Ray Richmond of the Hollywood Reporter and the Past Deadline website offers true wisdom on the subject. The following is an excerpt from his recent column:

Ray Richmond Hollywood Reporter

And what reason does Britney give for getting rid of her hair? Why, her hair extensions were too tight, of course, which is a bit like having a hangnail on your right ring finger and deciding to just lop off the entire digit.

So anyway, after she shaves her head Britney evidently figures, hey, the evening is young -- and I've got this hot new Sinead O'Connor look I need to show off! So she hightails it to a tattoo parlor in Sherman Oaks and reportedly gets a black, white and pink cross on her lower hip and a pair of red and pink lips on her wrist.

The jokes aside, this is all very sad, of course, the way this young woman is so acting out in order to...well...something. From drunken binges to pantyless shots in limousines to close shaves, the lass appears to be imploding before our very eyes. This wouldn't be nearly so tragic save for the fact she's the mother of two young children. Somebody in a position of authority needs to sit her down in a room and break it to Britney that this is a very good way of A. Getting social services interested in taking away your kids and B. Making sure you make Lindsay Lohan look like a Jehovah's Witness by comparison.

The hair will grow back. I fear that the brain may not.

Death in The Navy

Read a great old Gold Medal by one Richard Marsten a/k/a Evan Hunter a/k/a Ed McBain this afternoon. Fine fudmental storytelling and enough energy to put steroid users to shame. He had it from the git-go. This is out under numerous titles. Worth a look if you want to see how th basics are done by a master.