tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2282947435201830272012-01-29T12:20:40.449-08:00An unobstructed view of celebrity and the bullshit that surrounds it. No editors, no water back, just Benza...neat.AJ Benzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18219358084763039906noreply@blogger.comBlogger111100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228294743520183027.post-91901424453865223742009-10-11T04:47:00.000-07:002009-10-15T22:18:17.391-07:00

I ask forgiveness for those of you who know not where our little poker show aired. Though it wasn't too hard to find for the real poker fan out there - and in my day I've met hundreds of them.See, I was co-host with the very professional Gabe Kaplan on a show that posted No. 1 ratings for five straight seasons on GSN - the station that usually feeds you repeats of Lingo, antique Jeopardy episodes

AJ Benzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18219358084763039906noreply@blogger.com166tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228294743520183027.post-4284595916955454232009-09-10T21:14:00.000-07:002009-09-10T22:32:03.978-07:00

Outside of California's Hollywood elite, no one knew who the fuck Army Archerd was. Let's be real. They might've recognized the name or maybe even remarkably recalled that he spent 100 years as the last journalist all superstars spoke to on their last stop before entering the Academy Awards ceremony. But, in terms of what every state outside of California grew to learn about the inner workings of

AJ Benzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18219358084763039906noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228294743520183027.post-75213522851786789222009-08-12T15:07:00.000-07:002009-08-12T16:22:53.313-07:00

My 5-year-old daughter, Roxy, starts Kindergarten in less than a week. For she, it is the start of a wondrous, fun-filled journey where anxiety and adventure battle for space along with the shiny red apple in her new back-to-school backpack. It is three hours a day of independence - and a mere three blocks from our home - where her count of friends will grow to a small army and our chats on

AJ Benzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18219358084763039906noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228294743520183027.post-15625410243991063702009-07-26T04:25:00.000-07:002009-08-01T23:51:28.948-07:00

Boy you couldn't beat that lifelong newsman Walter Cronkite to deliver you the truth when it counted most, right? And you especially knew the standards in which he carried out his private life had to be as morally upstanding and above anyone's ideals. I mean, we're talking Cronkite here. Television's "Mr. America," and the most stoic, stand-up and honest man who, among other things, managed to

AJ Benzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18219358084763039906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228294743520183027.post-79895668426140935982009-07-22T21:39:00.000-07:002009-08-03T00:14:43.695-07:00

Damn. This column wasn't easy for me to write. And that's part of my problem - well, any writer's problem. It's hardest most to write what's closest to you. And what's closer to any of us than the old neighborhood and the original house we grew up in? Now imagine how hard it might be to pull the trigger on saying a final goodbye to that spot. I found myself doing just that a couple weeks ago,

AJ Benzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18219358084763039906noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228294743520183027.post-50733362279081637622009-06-26T17:24:00.000-07:002009-06-29T12:03:57.091-07:00

I wasn't kind to Michael Jackson in the 1990's.Mostly because I knew too much about Michael Jackson in the 1990's, from where I sat as a columnist for the NY Daily News. What especially disturbed me was his behavior toward underaged boys, and the remarkable extremes he went through so that regular folks would never, ever get to know the now infamous and, ahem!, alleged claims of child

AJ Benzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18219358084763039906noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228294743520183027.post-25865184460171136702009-06-23T14:05:00.000-07:002009-06-23T17:56:50.003-07:00

There I was yesterday, pissed off that I had to drive all the way from Burbank to West Los Angeles for a TV show pitch and then had to turn around and sit down with Taylor Dane by 12:30 so we could talk about me helping her write a book she feels is very important and empowering to women who are still single (like her) and have children (like her) and need to get out there and find a partner.

AJ Benzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18219358084763039906noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228294743520183027.post-13349761907030226872009-06-19T16:56:00.000-07:002009-06-23T17:44:07.053-07:00

The other night I find myself watching quite possibly the worst, tasteless, classless reality show on television. And that's saying something. I speak, of course, of "Kendra," the latest in a long, blonde line of Hugh Hefner's ex "girlfriends" who've gone on to the greater pastures of having their vapid lives televised so that idiots like me can sometimes accidentally tune in. In case you

AJ Benzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18219358084763039906noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228294743520183027.post-13637072117010658812009-06-03T21:47:00.000-07:002009-06-03T22:08:31.937-07:00

Grub Street did a really great job interviewing me for this story. Check it out and let me know what you think.http://www.grubstreet.ca/articles/interviews/ajb/ajbenza.htmSo my loyal followers...what's been bugging you on TV, in the movies or about celebrity life in general? I'm going to take a bite out of something. What should I rip into?

AJ Benzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18219358084763039906noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228294743520183027.post-11397080974843108442009-06-02T13:10:00.000-07:002009-06-02T16:01:20.955-07:00

GOD GRANTED ME a 47th birthday today. And that's eight years longer than I ever expected from the guy.It wasn't too long ago that I thought the 2.7 miles of sex, drugs and rock & roll that is Sunset Boulevard was going to take me down. Many of the streets that run perpendicular had a lot to do with my mindset too. As a matter of fact, Hollywood Boulevard fugured in a lot also. So did Melrose. My

AJ Benzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18219358084763039906noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228294743520183027.post-60069253309389014482009-05-30T14:17:00.000-07:002009-05-30T20:56:46.079-07:00

Repeat...this is not a blog. Now that I got your attention, be sure to check in regularly with my new "dot column." This writer has kept his mouth shut for six years. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Stay tuned.

AJ Benzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18219358084763039906noreply@blogger.com5