Signs of the Apocalypse:
Part Three

Victoria Beckham and Mary Kate Olsen are sorta cool?

So maybe it’s the summer weather, or maybe I’m just mellowing with age, but yesterday I was surprised twice by two people I wouldn’t have thought could’ve surprised me.
The first one was Victoria Beckham. I don’t know if you caught her TV special, but I happened upon it and decided to stop flipping channels. I was expecting to be given tonnes of free ammunition to snark away on her and her husband. All I know about her is that she was the scowl-y Spice Girl who gave the worst performance in the dreaded Spice World and sang the least on their many hits. I’ve seen many pictures of her over the years, and while I think she’s got great style, I figured her for a bitch and a stupid one at that.

Well, gentle reader, I was wrong. This lady was funny, charming and seemed to get her own joke. I know, it seems impossible and I wouldn’t believe it had I not watched the show. And, yes, I know she knew she was being filmed and they could’ve edited out all the bad stuff, but you can’t fake the funny and Posh is hilarious. At one point, she goes to her neighbours Ladies Luncheon where a bunch of Plastic Surgery LA Women are sitting around drinking and welcoming their new neighbour to America. While being gracious and polite, you could also see that she found these dames as crazy as you or I would. There was a moment when one of the ladies, clad in a powder blue business suit, opened her red lipstick-clad, stretched to all hell mouth and let out what she referred to as her “dolphin call” which was exactly that: A loud, squeaky series of noises that she repeated over and over for her audience. The look on Posh’s face during this was priceless, hilarious and I fell for her right then. The clip below has her run-in with a certain blogger who shall go un-named and her luncheon.



See? Funny, no?

Later in the show, Victoria wanted to buy her husband a watch and because the paparazzi followed her so closely she didn’t want the surprise ruined for her husband when pictures of her watch-shopping showed up in the tabs. So, she went to a Sex shop, bought a blow up doll and had her gays dress it, do its hair and makeup and sent the car out as a decoy. She then proceeded to buy the watch with privacy.

I guess I didn’t expect Posh Spice to be so down to earth and funny. She was intelligent, and she knows how to make good TV. Add the impeccable style and suddenly, this chick doesn’t seem all that bad. I totally get why she’s famous now. Sorta.

My second surprise came when I was watching MK Olsen on the news (Access Hollywood) being interviewed for her role on Weeds. I love Weeds and if you haven’t seen Mary Louise Parker’s Showtime sitcom about a suburban widow who takes over her dead husband’s business of selling pot, you are missing one of the better shows out there. Now entering its third season, Weeds has added MK to the cast as a Christian girl dating the main character’s son.

For those of you not up on your Olsens, MK was the one who went to anorexia rehab. Now I love me some Olsen Twins but it's only because I love their crazy style. Sometimes they look like crazy old ladies from Old Money and sometimes they’re strutting around in giant high heels in all black. When they’re not doing that, they’re doing an oversized boho thing that totally works for them and separates them from the rest of the pack. This is a very short clip where MK talks about her style and she just made me laugh by seeming down to earth and in on the joke. She actually seems like she’d be fun to have a drink with. Try saying that about 90% of the younger actors out there.



So, gentle reader, do you think I’m mellowing or are these two examples of not so annoying stars? Or are we so used to vapidity and banality that these two moments seem super fresh and real? Or, was I just in a really good mood?