.::. 22.06.2009: When your 15 minutes are up

Time for a bit of social commentary!

This week has seen what may become the downfall of blogger and 'television personality' Perez Hilton. It started with a verbal attack from Mark Ronson on Twitter, and continued with an alleged physical attack by rapper and Black Eyed Peas-member Will.I.Am in Toronto last night. Don't get me wrong - I never think that violence is called for. But how many celebrities and public personas wouldn't like to give Perez a right good ole smack in the face? This is a man who has made a fortune, by and large, by beating down others, spreading false rumours, and generally behaving like an obnoxious twat. There have been numerous disputes between him and various celebrities over the past few years, which have shown him swinging between allegiances from one day to the next - the verbal fight with Lily Allen is a great example here. Perez was never a fan and on several occasions over the past few months tried to beat down Lily, who seemingly ended up winning the fight. Perez now seems to be trying to get back in Lily's good cards as he's probably realised that the fight with Lily earned her, and not him, newer fans.

If Perez could only ease on his tweeting and blog posting for ONE single minute, and take a step back and look at his 'career'... He might just realise the above. But it's not to say it would refrain him from doing it, because after all it's the general public's obsession with celebrity culture that has enabled Perez to keep going and bringing the dosh in through his blogging. He's obviously even cashing in on this alleged physical attack through hits on his site and Twitter. After the incident last night, Perez didn't even call the police, but rather Tweeted saying 'I was assaulted by Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas and his security guards. I am bleeding. Please, I need to file a police report. No joke'. Uhm... You have a phone in your hands, what about calling the police yourself? Was he so out of it he didn't think of that himself, or was it him desperately trying to gather attention and publication? The cynical in me definitely thinks it's the latter.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Perez Hilton in any way. I admire him for the work he's done in the campaign against Proposition 8 in California, the publicity he's given to a vast number of very valuable charities that work for a good cause, and how he's a big source for new and current music. But I don't approve of his favourism when it comes to celebrities and his endless campaigns against some of them: his Britney Spears bashing during her 2007/2008 breakdown and his campaign to get Clay Aiken 'out of the closet' are only two of many examples.

When it comes to this alleged assault last night, Will.i.am is calling Perez a liar. And vice versa. I'm not going to say who's right and who's wrong, but it does make for good entertainment value. Cos we all love a bit of 'celebrity juice' as Perez calls it, don't we? Our obsession with celebrities and celebrity culture and the analysis and study of it has always fascinated me, and some day I might just have to write a book on it. A blog entry simply won't do! To quote Perez himself in his video responce to Will.I.Am: 'I write about other people's drama's. I don't want my own personal drama's in the media'. Oh really?

Meanwhile, the founder of Twitter must be having a treat today. Have a good week folks!

-Bjorn @ 5:36pm

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.::. 28.05.2009: Summer and all that it brings

I know it's technically not summer yet, but I'm sat boiling in London at the moment so it might as well be! I've had a manic few weeks with exam revision, coursework, gigs and summer preparations - hence the lack of updates. Currently taking a break from exam revision to do a quick post!

I'll be packing my bags and heading back to Norway for most of the summer next week. While ideally I'd love to stay in London I've got an amazing summer job opportunity back home, and I can't wait to see the family and all my mates back home again. So if I just forget about all the summer festivals, gigs and happenings I'll be missing out on in London, I should have a great time :-)

I've also been busy preparing for my year out - I'm hoping to do work experience/internships at various publications/companies this autumn, and if all goes according to plan I'll be taking off to Australia in February 2010 as part of the Global Environmental Journalism Incentive. I'll (hopefully) be studying at the Uni of Technology in Sydney for five months, doing a few modules on environmental reporting and a couple more of my own choice. It's an incredible opportunity and while there's still a bit to go before I get given the all-clear, I'm crossing my fingers! More to come on this later, definitely.

It's been a good year so far for me and gigs - so far I've seen La Roux (twice!), Lily Allen and Girls Aloud, in addition to a few slightly more obscure indie bands (such as Cloud Control) - and tonight I'm off to see Little Boots in action at Heaven. I think there's a lot going for this very talented girl, and while her debut single is yet to take off properly I think we'll be hearing a lot more about her over the summer. A review of the gig in question, plus reviews of her debut album 'Hands' and La Roux's self-titled debut - both out next month - should be up here soon. Watch this space!

Last but not least I've got the two main photos on the site replaced with brand new ones, taken by my uni mate Catherine Doherty last week. She's a talented one! Right, gotta run - so that's gotta be all for now...

-Bjorn @ 5:30pm

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.::. 24.04.2009: Spring, conspiracy theories & paparazzi

Spring's here, finally! The sun's been shining over London for the past few days which has left me, and seemingly most others, in a sickingly good mood. I'm not gonna head into detail about the clichéd imagery of flowers blooming, couples holding hands and the warm sunshine hitting your pale winter skin but come on - it's a very nice feeling.

I'm off uni for now and while most of my exams are too far away to revise for just yet (no, really!) I've been reading up on some stuff on my own. I recently finished 'The Rough Guide To Conspiracy Theories' - what can I say, I'm a sucker for them! - and a few of the cases listed got me interested in doing some researching on my own. I started reading up on the 9/11 conspiracies, and I gotta say... It's scary what length some people have gone to in order to convince others that the whole thing was a con. I'll gladly admit that there are some dodgy factors involved (such as the supposedly live footage broadcast on networks such as CNN and CBS) but some of them are just too far out. Say the government was behind it all in order to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq - why kill nearly 3,000 people and tear down the World Trade Centre in order to do so? I'm not gonna go too heavily into detail but if you're a conspiracy theory freak like me, Debunking911.com is a good place to start.

In other news... Last weekend I had my (catastrophic) acting debut in a short movie called 'Paparazzi'. Alex Vasquez, one of my best friends and a student at the London Film Academy, invited me along to take part in an assignment he had. The short film, shot over a day down in sunny Fulham Broadway, involves around a celebrity and her stalker paparazzi, with her boyfriend (me) playing a minor part. You can see it in it's full glory here. Starring Elyse Meena, Darren Harrington and myself, and directed and edited by Alex Vasquez.

Have a good weekend - I hear the sun won't last but I'm really hoping it will. Not quite done soaking it all up yet ;-)


-Bjorn @ 10:58am

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.::. 20.04.2009: Welcome to BjornThomassen.com!

After weeks of hard work I can finally take a deep breath of relief as BjornThomassen.com is live and online! In addition to being a general online portfolio showcasing my work, this site will also function as my personal blog which will take a critical look at current news and affairs, ongoings in the musical world, daily occurrances and other interesting bits and bobs.

Have a browse around and come back soon for more content! Let me know if anything is not working as it should by emailing me at contact@bjornthomassen.com. Should you have any other enquiries please do not hesitate to get in touch at the same address. For any interesting press releases or mailing lists you think I should know about or take part in, please email press@bjornthomassen.com.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you here again soon!

-Bjorn @ 00:51am

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