Celebrities Are Boring Hacks

That being said...

I was reading an article on Salon.com about celebrity bloggers - I was reading it because Wil Wheaton found it interesting and was proud of having been mentioned. (Note: If you're not checking in on WilWheatonDotNet occasionally, you're missing out on some good blog - witty writer, regular guy, clever - a good read.)

Any old way, lots of celebrities blog, some with purpose (generally self-promotion) or at least an entertaining story, and some, well, not so much. Loved Zach Braff's blog for a laugh, though it's now become apparent that was not meant to last but just to drum up support for Garden State; love Wil's blog for content; love Britney's "Stream of Consciousness" (are we really supposed to believe that woman lies in any sort of conscious state at any given moment in any day?) for the sheer vapidity.

But while reading this Salon article, I fell into two worthwhile (and personal favourite) celebrities with something to say - not irritating political rhetoric or "thanks for coming out to support my latest blah blah blah" crap, but something of real interest, maybe something outside of what we would normally know of them.

Of course we know I worship Jeff Bridges for his easy acting style (so natural it's creepy), but he's also an accomplished photographer, musician, and artist. (Did you know he did all the drawings and paintings in The Door In The Floor?) His site showcases all his talents, and has a handwritten journal/doodlebook to boot. Interesting guy - he'd be interesting if he was my next-door neighbour, so I can't hold his celebrity against him. (And okay, yeah, there's some self-promotion in there for sure, but what do you expect?)

And it's downright criminal to call Sir Ian McKellen a "celebrity", since he's more a god of sorts, but he has a site too, and there are a LOT of writings on there. You have to kind of dig for it, but there's a bunch of journal material written during the filming of Lord of the Rings that's really interesting. And as one of the most outspoken and proud gay actors in the world, he's written and spoken a great deal on the subject, and that's all on there too and definitely worth taking the time to read and think about. He's an extremely commendable human being who will take the time to share his writing if someone's willing to take the time to read it.

And that's all bloggers are, I guess. It's nice to know that someone making a zillion times more money than me is just as inclined to babble on incessantly about something or nothing as I am.