The Urban Prepper: March 2008

Jessica Simpson Hospitalized

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt To Make France The Birthplace Of Their New Children

Celebrity Birthdays in ARIES: Weekend Edition

Rapper T.I. Pleads Guilty To Charges; Sentencing Delayed To March 2009

Today's Celebrity Birthdays in ARIES

Rapper Remy Ma Convicted On Four Charges In Manhattan Criminal Court

Rapper T.I. Expected To Plead Guilty To Charges Today In Court; Faces Several Years In Prison

Broadway Musical "Rent" Extended For 3 Months in NYC

Today's Celebrity Birthdays in ARIES

Robin Williams and His Wife Ending Their Marriage

Danity Kane's "Welcome To The Dollhouse" Is The #1 Album In The Country

Richie Sambora Arrested For Suspicion of DUI

George Michael Touring In The U.S. After 17 Year Hiatus

Pamela Anderson Officially Divorced From Rick Salomon

Tyra Banks Has a Scary, Real-Life Michael Myers Type Stalker in NYC

Husband Of British Singer Corinne Bailey Rae Found Dead Of Apparent Drug Overdose

Rapper Eve Allegedly Pushes Woman Down Flight Of Stairs

Flashback Film Of The Day: "Mulholland Dr."

"Sex And The City: The Movie" Offical Teaser Trailer

Flashback TV Show Of The Day: Melrose Place

So it's a slow news day on this cold Saturday morning in New York City. I decided while watching the old classic Aaron Spelling soap opera/drama Melrose Place earlier that "Melrose Place" itself would be a great thing to bring attention to today.Melrose Place is an American primetime soap opera that ran between 1992 and 1999, created by Darren Star for the FOX network and executive produced by the late Aaron Spelling. A spinoff from Beverly Hills 90210, though not featuring any permanent cast members crossing over, Melrose Place is set in a small apartment courtyard complex in the West Hollywood district of Los Angeles, where several young individuals reside, each with their own dreams and drives. The show's popularity led to a rash of similar nighttime serials about sexy, powerful women, such as Models, Inc. on Fox and Savannah on the WB (now the CW), which were short-lived.

Like its 90210, the show struggled in its first season with low ratings. However, with the arrival of more interesting characters and over-the-top storylines, ratings increased. The show was cancelled after its seventh season. In 2004, the network SOAPnet began repeating the series. Seasons 1 through 3 are currently available on DVD, and the fourth season is set to arrive on April 15, 2008.

Melrose Place's blend of melodrama, black humor, unapologetic sexuality, and shocking moments have helped the show remain relevant and popular in the years since the show went off the air. Besides launching numerous careers (most notably, Marcia Cross, Doug Savant, Kristin Davis and Alyssa Milano later landed starring roles on Desperate Housewives, Sex and the City and Charmed respectively), the show helped resuscitate the careers of Courtney Thorne-Smith and Heather Locklear.

The formula of sex and over-the-top storylines led Aaron Spelling to revamp 90210 as an over-the-top soap opera-style show when Melrose Place overshadowed 90210 in popularity in the mid-1990s.

The show also has become the standard bearer for shocking storyline twists in the prime time drama genre, with classic moments such as character Kimberly Shaw (played by Marcia Cross of "Desperate Housewives") pulling off a wig while looking into a mirror, revealing that she was bald and had scars on her head from brain surgery in the final seconds of an episode.

Melrose Place airs with two episodes in a row Monday-Friday at 11am and 12pm and Saturday Mornings at 6am and 7am (Eastern Time; U.S.) on SOAPnet cable network. Check your local listings.

Steve-O Released From Psychiatric Care and Enters Rehab

Steve-O says he was fed alcohol as an infant and details his use of marijuana, LSD, amphetamines and nitrous oxide in his most recent MySpace blog. The actor was involuntarily committed to L.A's Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after suicidal behavior last week."It is not my intention to glorify my history as a drug abuser with elaborate stories about having sex in lavatories on airplanes after snorting amphetamines off the toilet at the tender age of seventeen," Steve writes."Mom was very alcoholic, and I feel that is a gross understatementHere is the blog entry from Steve-O's MySpace page:You Should All Know I Am In RehabA) HOW I GOT INTO ALCOHOL AND DRUGS1) Mom was very alcoholic, and I feel that is a grossunderstatement. I’d love to say that I first took toalcohol out of affection for my mother (there wasnever any shortage of that for me) but I think thetruth is that I was always powerless over it. I know Iwas always powerless over alcoholism, because it hadsuch a grip on Mom’s adulthood and my childhood, and Inever chose to fight it. Until now. Dad was acorporate executive whose job required the family totravel the world fairly extensively and both Mom andDad were quite self conscious of how they wereperceived by others. We were frequently on airplanesand, before Mom and Dad would find themselves in theembarrassing position of being caught by otherpassengers with a crying baby, I was fed alcohol.Obviously I don’t have recollections from the timewhen I was a baby, so this account is pieced togetherfrom vague memories of being told stories that aresimilar or exactly the same. Mom’s alcoholism trulyreared its ugly head when I was eight and nine yearsold, it was in 1983 that she lied to the family abouthaving lymph node cancer so that she would have anexplanation for staying in bed drunk at all hours. Iforgave my Mom very easily for her act of dishonesty,my love for her was unconditional. At this point in mylife I find myself hoping that I will be able toforgive myself for similarly selfish acts that my ownaddiction led me to commit. I can’t believe I justcalled out my own dead Mom for what’s surely the worstlie she ever told. I also can’t believe I ever pickedup my first drink on my own after the way alcoholruined her life. God, I miss my Mom. I think I waseight years old when I was introduced to the familytradition of children partaking in an alcoholicbeverage of their choice, just one, only on New Year’sEve, each year. I think it was right away that I knewI wasn’t interested in beer, rather that I wantedscotch whiskey. I can’t really remember, after all,what alcoholic remembers the first drink they pickedup. The first time I vomited from truly drinking "toomuch" alcohol, I was twelve years old, that I’m quitesure of. I’m also quite sure that everything Iremember taking interest in from childhood, andonwards, I poured myself into with an unhealthy"excessive/compulsive’ attitude about it. Baseball.Heavy metal music. Skateboarding. Drinking. Drugs. Ohyeah, and the video camera...2) I didn’t first try marijuana (it was actually hashthe first time) because I randomly bumped into it. Itried it because I had made a decision to find it. Itried it again the day after that, as I recall, and, Ibelieve the next day as well. Overnight, when I hadjust turned sixteen years old, I became a"stoner/druggie." Shortly thereafter, I was taking LSDon a regular basis. It was my prerogative to try justabout any drug I could get my hands on. It is not myintention to glorify my history as a drug abuser withelaborate stories about having sex in lavatories onairplanes after snorting amphetamines off the toiletat the tender age of seventeen. I will simply say thatwhen I was interviewed about it all upon checking intothis rehab facility, it became frighteningly clear tome how lucky I am to still have any chance whatsoeverat leading a happy, fulfilling, and meaningful life. Iam so lucky, there is no doubt in my mind that I havea Higher Power that is incredibly interested in mesucceeding.B) ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL MY ALCOHOL/DRUG USE1) The first time I made an effort to stop drinking,because I was an alcoholic, I was eighteen years old.I recall looking up Alcoholics Anonymous, but notmaking it to any meetings, and after, perhaps (I can’tremember exactly), nineteen days of not drinking, backto back, doing the same number of vodka shots back toback. Mom forced me into a rehab facility when I wastwenty years old (she was sober at the time, I was injail, and going to rehab was my only chance to seesunlight before court). Sobriety lasted for two and ahalf months after the sun’s rays met my face, and itended as brutally as it had when I was eighteen.2) Although I mentioned amphetamines, and can’t saythat I’ve not accepted them on numerous occasions(especially in pill form), I’ve never purchased them(correction-bought the pills once) or sought them outwhen I wasn’t aware of their immediate presence. I’venever smoked crack before (despise the fictitious rapsong I wrote about smoking crack), but, powder cocaineis an entirely different story. I have been aware ofsignificant problems that snorting powder cocaine hascaused in my life for many years now, and, on numerousoccasions, made efforts to give up the habit, withvaried success. The longest I was able to abstain wasone year and six days, the second longest was roughlysix months, and, you get the idea.C) ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR1) The abusive behavior that I feel will haunt me forthe rest of my life can be summed up by the words"verbal and emotional attacks on my loved ones." As I’ve expressed before for this behavior, and only this behavior, I fear punishment by my Higher Power.2) I have done a great deal to damage my mind andbody. Like I said, I am beyond fortunate to have thischance at salvaging a happy, fulfilling, andmeaningful life. My luck will not last with continueduse of alcohol and drugs that are not prescribed to meby doctors that are aware of my addictions.D) SPIRITUAL ISSUES1) I believe that I was chosen by my HigherPower/Guardian Angels, and led to the spiritual pathwhich I am currently on. I try not to ask of God,rather, to work for what it is I want, and communicatewith God only in "Thank You’s." For my Higher Power Iam more grateful than I could possibly express.2) I used to consider myself agnostic, as recently asSeptember of 2006. I now consider myself, well,"spiritual," actually, let me say, "Thankful..."E) EFFECTS ON FAMILY, SIGNIFICANT OTHERS, FRIENDS1) I’ve already covered the communication problems with family members and expressed that I fear punishment for such problems.2) I’ve communicated to you all before that I , fairly recently got on both knees and proposed marriage to a girlfriend, in front of her Grandma. I also communicated that she later expressed that she completely changed her mind about getting married. Now I am in recovery and do not have a significant other. My friends are still my friends, but also understandthat my health requires that I not be around drugs and alcohol.F) EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS1) I do not have poor self esteem or anxiety issues.2) While I do have guilt issues related to pastbehavior, I am too excited about my future behaviorand the prospect of becoming a healthy parent to letthem remain an obstacle.G) WORK PROBLEMS1) I’ve never had problems making it to work or getting paid--the nature of my work almost embraced my addictions.2) There were jobs that I showed up to in absolutelyhorrible shape, and some of them ended prematurely dueto that fact.H) FINANCIAL PROBLEMS1) I have no financial problems.2) I have no second financial example.I) CONSEQUENCES OF BEHAVIOR1) While under the influence of drugs and alcohol, my behavior is so impossible to predict, it is unbelievable. I don’t know where to begin, anyone who has known me for so much as a couple of months, shit,even the police offices who arrested me this month can tell you that I’ve got to be the craziest mutherfukker they’ve ever laid eyes on.2) Really, I’m not trying to "toot my own horn," it’stime for me to "hang up my hat," to "throw in thetowel," it’s time for me to "call it quits."J) PREOCCUPATION WITH CHEMICALS1) I haven’t mentioned nitrous oxide, the drug I "fiend" for, by far, the most. I used to inhale thisgas by the cartridge, specifically, by the case (a case containing 600 cartridges). I would call a taxito come bring me, to pick up a case, and be searching under my mattress for cartridges while awaiting itsarrival. When it did arrive, I would bring mycartridge dispenser in the taxi and be dispensing the gas into my lungs for the entire ride home from the pick-up. When I say that I feel I was chosen by Guardian Angels, I say that quite literally. I had anumber of not-at-all-subtle experiences that indicatedto me that I had to give up the nitrous oxide, anddid, six months ago.2) Another drug that I haven’t mentioned is ketamine.It is also a drug that I had not-at-all-subtleexperiences on. Enough said.A GOODBYE LETTER TO MY DRUGS OF CHOICEAt this point,All you fucking things are good for is dying. I’m not ready to die. I’m ready to live. I’m ready to breathe(properly, even). I’m ready to fall in love. I’m ready to become ready to start a family. I’m ready to be happy, fulfilled and meaningful. Maybe I’ll see youfukkers if and/or when I’m ready to die.Steve-O

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