Risë Birnbaum and "the buzz"

Elbow, Elbow, Wrist, Wrist

With the looming nuptials of the Prince and soon-to-be Princess, the world is buzzing with wedding preparations. The Royal Public Relations Services have been working hard to fill our screens with pictures to play on our childhood fantasies of one day being Princess and get us excited for the big day.

But with the exception of Philadelphia native Princess Grace, who showed us our Princess dreams can come true, it’s not likely in the cards for most of us.  Why?  Mostly, because we chose to leave our British ancestry behind a wet trail of tea leaves, along with pretty much any chance of becoming a Princess. 

After reading (and reading…and reading) about this wedding, I’m starting to think being a Princess is not all it’s cracked up to be. Princess Catherine has lots of work ahead of her to be a royal. At first it just seemed a bit odd that she will no longer be Kate Middleton, but rather Princess Catherine and then I learned it will officially be "Her Royal Highness Princess William of Wales." No royal blood, no royal title.

All in all the wedding is exciting and has shown what a lot of good publicity can do. Between pre-game shows and celebrities in large hats eating appetizers and sipping champagne, the media frenzy itself is enough to entertain for hours.  

I haven’t seen a social media campaign executed so well since the presidential election. Did you know you can send a video message of congrats to the couple on the official YouTube Wedding Book?

With Twitter followers hanging on every word, a live stream of the wedding on YouTube, a Royal website … this is not your typical fairytale wedding. This wedding is going viral. Using all of today’s communications and social media tools to distribute their news, England is showing it’s not all cricket and scones. 

Thanks to the Twitter feed, we now know:

• The Royal Invitation List (complete with Kate’s local bar owner and postman)
• The Royal Seating Plan
• And, The Royal Flowers

With all the hype, is there any place on the planet not planning a royal banquet to watch the royal wedding on the royal screen? And, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.  So, yes, we at zcomm have developed a royal contest, too. As regal as the royal party is, America has a special brand of ruling class all our own. Check it out to vote for these American “royals” and win $100 restaurant.com gift card.  And for the record, we will be holding a high tea and ordering in some scones here at zcomm to celebrate the wedding.

TWO AND A HALF MEN

Who knew Charlie Sheen was the “half” in Two and a Half Men? Half man and half wingnut. The sitcom star is on a roll with winning lines including “I have Adonis DNA and Tiger Blood.” “Yeah, I am on a drug. It's called Charlie Sheen! It's not available, because if you try it once, you will die.” “People can’t process me with a normal brain.” And the ever-popular, "I'm underpaid.”  

However, with the amount of publicity he has drummed up, including several morning shows and coverage from Perez to People, maybe he is underpaid. TV hasn’t had this much fight since Shannen Doherty took on Beverly Hills. Charlie, if you could try for controversial instead of insane you may just get this PR stuff right. 

In the PR biz you book TV or radio interviews so your celebrity spokesperson can deliver message points to millions of viewers and listeners.  In Charlie’s case, his message is loud and clear – he is crazy!

It’s evidently not enough that CBS fired the guy and closed up shop for the popular show this season, but now the celebrity partyer has gone above and beyond. He would like a raise!  Yup, you heard right.  Charlie now wants $3 million an episode...and he’s demanding CBS gives a public apology.  And this is after he trashed-talked show producer Chuck Lorrie, CBS, AA...you name it. He believes that CBS is taking away his money and that’s where he draws the line. When asked if he was angry, his answer was “no, just passionate.”

This is almost better than the Tiger Woods controversy and definitely better than the Academy Awards.

Speaking of PR types, Charlie’s longtime publicist just resigned. Can anyone blame him?  I think we are past the point of salvaging this guy.  Best bet now is to just keep playing out the crazy man routine and own it!

Usually when there’s a celebrity PR crisis, the celeb in the crosshairs manages to humbly apologize and go into rehab.  But not Charlie!  He’ll continue to do back-to-back interviews where you can almost see the steam coming out of his ears (I bet there’s a lack of gray matter in between to hold it in).

How will this end?  He sure is funny on the TV show and, according to him, has several movie offers on the table.  But, here’s my guess:  Charlie is destined to find himself the subject of SNL skits, South Park plots and Family Guy jokes- but the damage will be short-lived.  Because crazy as he is, the man sure can make a funny sitcom.

LeBRON: PUT A RING ON IT

I shouldn’t even be writing about this, but need to vent.  First, why should a pro ball player get all the hype (and I know from hype) vs. teacher, firefighter, cop, fisherman and every other hard-working, low-paid guy/gal out there?  Yeah, I know the answer – ticket sales.  But, it’s all so backwards.  Check out the news – oil gushing in the Gulf, consumers not spending, guns back on the streets, Greece going under, Somalia under siege and still not enough new housing in New Orleans.

Not only are we rewarding the wrong folks, but we’re tuning in (not me) to a TV spectacle out of Connecticut to see this as-of-yet NBA champ turn down his hometown Cavs to turn up the Heat.

I say put a ring on it.  If LeBron is going to cash a check for over $19 million a year (not counting endorsements) shouldn’t he already have some NBA jewelry? Is he really King without bling? 

So he’ll make a smidge less than he could have with the Cavs or NY.  He can still spend plenty on South Beach clubs, hot cars and the greenest golf courses with no state income tax.

LeBron said “I’m going to take my talents to South Beach…that was the conclusion I woke up with this morning.”  Oh, give me a break.

Somehow our country needs to get a new perspective on all this stuff.  Sports is a guy with big sneakers and a basketball and a teacher shapes the next generation.  Basketball in one hand…brain in the other.   Not a tough choice.  Can you imagine the numbers of teachers we’d be recruiting and landing if we paid them what LeBron is getting paid?

So, bottom line, even with a ring it’s wrong.  If kids stopped looking at the pros as heroes and Wheaties stopped putting them on their box we’d all be much better off.