Heath Ledger: Too Young, Too Soon, Too Beloved to be Gone


I'm sure you all were just as shocked and heartbroken as I was yesterday to learn of the tragic death of Heath Ledger.

He was such a talented and bright young star that had so much yet to give. My heart goes out to his daughter Matilda, her mother Michelle Williams, and his family and friends.

I spent last night remembering Heath Ledger by watching his work in three of his films: A Knight's Tale, Brokeback Mountain, and Casanova. His Oscar-nominated performance in Brokeback Mountain is just amazingly tender, emotional and conflicted and expressed the kind of career he chose, one that wasn't afraid to take risks. I'm very much looking forward to his performance in Batman as the Joker this summer.

One of my favorite lines from A Knight's Tale is: "Change your stars". Heath Ledger changed his stars... and shined brighter than most.

My heart is just broken that such a beautiful and talented young man is gone. He will truly be missed.

Labels: Batman, Brokeback Mountain, change your stars, heartbroken, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, The Joker, tragic death

  posted by Matildakay at 4:21 PM 0 comments

Adventures in Hollywood: The search for Johnny Depp and how I broke Batman’s heart.
Disclaimer: Johnny Depp obsession liberally indulged.

Once upon a time two Smalltown Girls set out for a Hollywood adventure.



Chingpea and I were on a mission to explore the dirty streets of Hollywood, the gritty underbelly of the celebrity’s city, the place where people walk on the stars instead of looking at them in the sky. We were on a mission to find Johnny Depp on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

We left Bakersfield with a tentative agenda of shopping, sightseeing, searching for Johnny Depp and exploring Hollywood. There was no way we would get everything on our list done in one day, but we intended to have fun trying.

We stopped at Ikea in Burbank before reaching Hollywood. Ikea is a dangerous place. I could go broke at Ikea. After buying a few items, we rummaged through a few near by vintage clothing stores where I found a really cool top for six bucks.

Next we headed to West Hollywood and poked around the Bodhi Tree Bookstore next door to the Urth Caffe, which has been featured on the HBO series Entourage, before eating lunch. We planned to eat at the Urth Caffe, but it was extremely packed so we ate at a little place across the street whose dry tasteless chicken, the company of friends and literary talk was much more memorable than its name.

After lunch, too late for the Max Factor Museum, we began our search for Johnny Depp on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. First we went to Graumans Chinese Theatre where the stars handprints and footprints adorn the cement courtyard memorialized for all time.



We compared hand and foot sizes with Hollywood’s elite: Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, Mickey Rooney, Lucille Ball, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, even our governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was there. So were newcomers: Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and George Clooney. And then we spotted Johnny Depp’s block of cement nearer to the theatre and surrounded by girls.



We both screamed in delight and ran over to where Johnny Depp once kneeled and stood while making his Hollywood cement memorial.





All poise was lost as we indulged our Johnny Depp obsessions as true groupies would with cameras flashing and laughter ringing in our ears.









Once we had stood and kneeled where Johnny Depp had, we ran into a few good men outside the Kodak theatre, Batman, Captain Jack and Davy Jones. We waited our turn to take photos with Captain Jack and Davy Jones while three women giddily posed with them.

“Where are you ladies from on this fine evening?” Batman took my hand and kissed it.

“Bakersfield.”

“Ah Bakersfield.” Batman said still holding my hand.

“Would you ladies like to have your photo taken with a dark knight?”



“I’m sorry. But we’re waiting for photos with the pirates.” I said breaking Batman’s heart.

Rejected. Batman bowed over my hand and backed away watching as Chingpea and I took a photo with Captain Jack and Davy Jones.



I felt bad for breaking Batman’s heart but Batman doesn't hold a candle to Johnny Depp in my book. So we left Batman, Captain Jack and Davy Jones to find other fans and we began our search for Johnny Depp’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Thanks to a crafty google search, we had a general idea of where Johnny’s star was located on Hollywood Blvd. We walked up and down both sides of the 7000 block of Hollywood Blvd. several times searching the names of every star for Johnny Depp to no avail. We couldn’t find his star. Chingpea and I were feeling quite dejected and about to give up when we decided to ask at the El Capitan theatre’s box office if they knew where Johnny Depp’s star was located.

“It’s just down the block a little ways in front of the Roosevelt Hotel.” The box office worker pointed.

Our eyes followed her pointing finger, which led to our coveted prize, Johnny Depp’s star.

“Thanks!” We took off walking briskly almost skipping towards the Roosevelt Hotel while searching the names on the stars.

When we finally found Johnny’s star, it had smeared gum on it. Chingpea tried to clean off the gum with her shoe so we could get a good photo with Johnny’s star.





The end of our search for Johnny’s star was the triumph of our adventures in Hollywood that day. But not the end of our Hollywood adventures, for we’re going back to Hollywood soon for more adventures and the Max Factor Museum.

Labels: Batman, Captain Jack, Entourage, HBO, Hollywood, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Ikea, Johnny Depp, Max Factor Museum, obsession, Smalltown Girls, Urth Caffe

  posted by Matildakay at 9:35 PM 1 comments