The Insider: Contributed by celebritymound

You never hear the good things about taking cocaine

celebritymound — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:07:27 GMT

LILY ALLEN has defended drug use, slammed Christianity and attacked her own record label – in her most controversial ever interview. Criticising the ‘hysteria’ around cocaine, she said: “The only story is that drugs are bad and they will kill you - you will become a prostitute, a rapist or a dealer. But that’s not true. “I know lots of people who take cocaine three nights a week and get up and go to work. “But we never hear that side of the story. “I wish people wouldn’t sensationalise it. “Some people are just bad at taking drugs.” Lily admits taking cocaine – because she felt left out when those around her were doing it – but says she didn’t enjoy the experience. The singer’s comments have caused outrage among Sun readers, politicians and drug charities who have labelled her “sick”, “naïve” and “misguided”. Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve said: “There is no doubt that drugs fuel crime and wreck lives. “It’s naïve to assume there isn’t human misery and suffering associated with every drug transaction somewhere along the line.” MySun users have been debating Lily’s comments below this article - with some agreeing but many angry at the star. One wrote: “How can she say there’s nothing wrong with cocaine? “My best mate died in front of me at just 23 years old in June 2007 - leaving his son without a dad and this was all because he had the same attitude. “She makes me sick!” David Raynes, from the National Drugs Prevention Alliance, said: “When someone like Lily Allen makes these remarks she is only harming young people who will at some point in their lives have to make a decision about taking drugs. “We already have a major drug culture in the UK and she is affecting that.” A spokesman for drug and alcohol treatment charity Addaction told The Sun: “These comments are misguided. “There isn’t a ‘good’ or right way to take drugs and cocaine poses huge health risks to anyone using it - particularly if you drink alcohol with it. “Fortunately, independent research carried out by Addaction last year showed the vast majority of young people, 86 per cent, aren’t influenced by celebrities when it comes to drugs and booze.” Speaking about religion in the interview with Word magazine, Lily continued: “I don’t like Christianity much. “I was brought up in a Catholic school and they told me gays, adultery and drugs were bad. “All my mum’s friends were gay, my dad was having affairs and there were drugs in the house when I was a kid, so it was a bit cruel.” Even record label EMI didn’t escape Lily’s wrath – as she talked candidly about her earnings. She added: “I got £50,000 for my first album and I sold a lot of records. “Twenty years ago, I’d have been booked in at the Ritz with five grams of cocaine on my table and 10 bunches of flowers. Some new clothes. A chauffeur on 24-hour call. “Now I’m lucky to get an Oyster card. I ask for a hotel in Paris and I get a two-star place in the eighth arrondissement on my own. “I’m like: ‘Do you want me to get raped and killed?’” (source)

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Josh & Sean are no Milk-toasts

celebritymound — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:07:26 GMT

“Milk” stars Sean Penn and Josh Brolin charbroiled each other at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards Monday night, turning the gala into a rip-roaring roast. Penn started the scorching as he presented Brolin with the evening’s Best Supporting Actor award. “I’m sorry it took until your 40s for you to be recognized,” he quipped to Brolin. “I wrote [Josh] off as I do all square-jawed actors. But bit by bit — as he became older and older — I realized he’s going to become such an asset to the film industry.” Brolin, still seated at his table, responded with a wide smirk — and a flash of his middle finger. But when he took the stage, the honoree gave what was surely the best acceptance speech of the night. “Quite the actor, that Sean Penn,” the two-time SAG winner nearly whispered into the mic. “He’s not an a—hole … like Russell Crowe. “We’ve all known Sean as an actor who doesn’t smile very much. Sean, you smiled a lot in this film. You’re going to win an Oscar. Just because you smiled so much.” To the 40 or so film critics assembled at the Strata gala — along with such industry heavyweights as Penelope Cruz, Harvey Weinstein, Paul Haggis and Tony Kushner — Brolin had some pointed words. “I’ve had the gamut of reviews over the past few years, the worst being from Ben Brantley [chief theater critic of The New York Times]. The critics of NYC have written incredible reviews … except for Ben Brantley’s. F— you, Ben. God, I hate that mother—.” While “Milk” was the big winner with three awards, “WALL-E” cleaned up in the animated category. Sigourney Weaver, who voiced a spaceship computer, presented Best Animated Film honors to “WALL-E” writer/director Andrew Stanton. “The last time my evil-science frame of mind came around, I swore I was done,” Weaver said, referencing her “Alien” films. “But then I was approached for ‘WALL-E.’ I’ve been offered bigger parts — I only had 30 lines — but then I met Andrew. And the first thing I told him was, ‘I have so many ideas.’ He listened to each and every one.” Stanton admitted that making the film — which features characters who usually communicate with body language and robotic sounds — was difficult. “Writing this made me realize I needed to care deeper than the audience did. And if they didn’t have a brain, maybe they’d get one,” he said. “I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to speak to the minority of the audience, which isn’t the way Pixar films usually have been made.” (source)

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Lautner back as Jacob Black in `Twilight sequel

celebritymound — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:07:25 GMT

Taylor Lautner will be back to morph into the monstrous Jacob Black in the “Twilight” sequel “New Moon.” There had been talk that a bigger, buffer, more menacing actor might play the role when the second of Stephenie Meyer’s hugely successful vampire novels hits movie screens come Nov. 20. Lautner, by comparison, appears lean and sweet-faced in part one. But distributor Summit Entertainment and director Chris Weitz confirmed Wednesday that Lautner would be returning. Stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson will also be returning as the saga’s doomed young lovers, high schooler Bella Swan and brooding vampire Edward Cullen. Catherine Hardwicke’s “Twilight” opened at No. 1 with a whopping $69.6 million at the box office in November, the biggest opening ever for a female director. It has since grossed about $177 million domestically.

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Roseanne Barr is on the side of the Palestinians in the conflict in the Gaza Strip

celebritymound — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:07:24 GMT

“Israel is a NAZI state,” she blogged with capital letters on her Web site. And on her Jan. 6 talk show on radio station KCAA-AM in San Bernardino, Calif., she blasted conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg’s “right-wing Israel uber alles crap.” Roseanne, who is Jewish, also denounced “warmongering American rabbis . . . who are enriching themselves on weapon sales.” She said that pro-Israel Christian evangelicals believe, “The faster every Jew in Israel dies, the faster the evangelicals mistakenly believe that their idea of Jesus will return.” At one point she proclaimed, “I hate everybody, I hope the whole world blows itself up!” She ended her show with her own peace plan; “Israel has enough money to pay each and every Palestinian to not shoot at them.” But 33 seconds later she had moved on, saying, “I gotta lose some weight, my hips ache.” (source)

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The sexual secrets of Barbie and Ken

celebritymound — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:07:23 GMT

BARBIE and Ken are beloved by millions of children - but the people behind the world’s most popular dolls were involved in unsavory sexual behavior they kept secret for years, a new book reveals. In “Toy Monster: The Big, Bad World of Mattel,” out next month, Jerry Oppenheimer reveals that Jack Ryan, the Yale-educated designer who popularized Barbie, was a “full-blown seventies-style swinger” with “a manic need for sexual gratification.” Staging orgies at his Bel-Air mansion, Ryan, whose wives included Zsa Zsa Gabor, surrounded himself with busty Barbie clones, including Gwen Florea, who was the “voice of Barbie” in a line of talking dolls. The book quotes her: “He once said to me he loved me being tall so he could stick his nose in my boobs when he hugged me.” Ryan’s friend, Stephen Gnass, confides to the author: “When Jack talked about creating Barbie . . . it was like listening to somebody talk about a sexual episode, almost like listening to a sexual pervert . . .” Ryan took calls at Mattel from a madam and patronized “high-class call girls to streetwalkers,” including a “very thin and child-like” hooker. The book claims that Ryan “somehow rationalized that he was the only man in her life” until he was diagnosed with gonorrhea. Barbie and Ken were named after the kids of Mattel founders Ruth and Elliot Handler - an honor that plagued Ken, who “grew up embarrassed and humiliated by having an anatomically incorrect boy doll named after him . . . [with] no hint of genitalia.” Despite marrying and having three kids, Ken was a closeted gay, Oppenheimer says. “To all those who knew him Ken Handler was a wonderful father, a loving husband . . . But there was another side to Ken. And in 1990 he was formally diagnosed with AIDS. His parents and wife were shocked.” He died in 1994 in Greenwich Village, but obits didn’t mention the disease. (source)

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Pete Wentz Tells Magazine He Pops Ambien Like Skittles

celebritymound — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:07:22 GMT

Concerns For Pete Wentz’s Health On a personal level, Pete Wentz is on top of the world as hubby to pop princess Ashlee Simpson and dad to their first child, Bronx Mowgli. Professionally, his band Fall Out Boy continues to rock. But all of that doesn’t mean the 29-year-old is all smiles. Wentz recently turned up to a breakfast interview at the Beverly Hills Hotel for the upcoming issue Blender Magazine (which hits stands nationwide on Jan. 13) half-an-hour late, reportedly looking worse-for-wear with dark circles around his eyes and a jaundiced-like pale complexion. He told the reporter that he is lucky to get three hours sleep per night and “pops Ambien like Tropical Skittles.” “I can take three Xanax bars and not feel a thing. It’s kind of scary,” he added. Wentz was also overheard by another diner discussing his extreme paranoia and his confrontation with an intruder a few nights earlier. We’re told the bassist was in his kitchen when he saw a man in the security monitor scaling the fence, prompting him to run outside. Wentz claimed the intruder then hopped in his car and sped off, smashing the Range Rover on the way. According to a Pete pal, the musician’s health is causing a little concern. “He’s always been very hard-working and creative but with the band and the baby and everything that’s going on he’s probably rundown,” said the source. (source)

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Surgeon of Kanye Wests Mom Sentenced

celebritymound — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:07:56 GMT

The plastic surgeon who operated on Kanye West’s mother the day before she died has been sentenced to a year in jail for drunken driving, according to the Associated Press. Dr. Jan Adams pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor DUI last June. Authorities say his Jaguar was spotted traveling the wrong way on Interstate 680 near Cordelia, California. The surgeon’s blood alcohol level was .20 percent. Solano County Court Commissioner Ray Wieser sentenced Adams, 54, on Monday. His jail time will likely begin on Feb. 6, as he still needs time to address a probation violation case in L.A. Adams performed a breast reduction, tummy tuck and liposuction on Donda West a day before she died in 2007. The Associated Press reports that an autopsy blamed heart disease coupled with complications from the surgery. (source)

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90210 scoop: Tori Spelling in final talks to rev up Bev

celebritymound — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:07:56 GMT

I’d love to say I hate to say “I told you so,” but who are we kidding? I love to (and I think perversely, you kinda like it when I do, too). And back in November I told you that by the end of 90210 V. 2.0’s freshman year Tori Spelling would likely be back among the fold as former virgin Donna Martin. Now, a show rep confirms that Spelling is in “final negotiations” to return for multiple episodes, adding that her deal could close as early as today. Reportedly, a big point of contention for Spelling, who’s currently in Vancouver shooting her big Smallville return, was the threat of crossing paths again with sworn frenemy Shannen Doherty. But since the artist formerly known as Brenda Walsh has wrapped for the season, the set will be a Shan-free zone when La Spelling reports for duty on the last few eps. So whad’ya think, folks? Are you psyched that Donna will once again be walking the halls of West Beverly High? Or are you just bummed that David Silver (the notorious BAG) won’t be joining her? (source)

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Michael Jackson leases pricey Bel Air estate

celebritymound — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:07:55 GMT

The King of Pop is back - in town, that is. Michael Jackson has signed a yearlong lease on a mansion in the swanky Bel Air area of the city, a spokesman for the singer said Wednesday. Jackson has been staying in the estate for about a month, said spokesman Tohme Tohme, who called the property “a little bit more than an average home.” The lease agreement is for $100,000 a month. The home has seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms and 12 fireplaces. Jackson, 50, relocated to the city with his three children to be closer to Hollywood and the entertainment industry, said Tohme, promising that “the second half (of his career) will be better than the first.”

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Eli Manning Gets A Lap Dance From His Wife

celebritymound — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:07:54 GMT

WE don’t know what else Eli Manning got for his 28th birthday, but his wife gave him a sexy lap dance. The Giants QB and teammates Shaun O’Hara, David Diehl, Amani Toomer, Brandon Jacobs and Kevin Boss hit Tenjune on Little West 12th Street Friday. After a few rounds of tequila shots, our spy said Eli’s wife, Abby (above), “gave him a special lap dance” while Beyoncé’s hit, “Single Ladies,” blared. “They were trying to hide, but everyone on the dance floor could see them.” (source)

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Britney And Boys Before Bryans Wedding

celebritymound — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:01:19 GMT

Check out these awesome pictures of Britney, her mom Lynne and her boys Jayden James and Sean Preston! The photos were taken just before they all headed out to brother Bryan’s Louisiana wedding on New Year’s Eve! (source)

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Biggest Loser Champ Michelle Is Engaged!

celebritymound — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:07:31 GMT

Nine days after Michelle Aguilar won NBC’s The Biggest Loser, her boyfriend of four months, Micah Whitehead, popped the question, she tells Us Weekly in its latest issue (on stands now). “I was so shocked!” she tells Us. The 27-year-old Aguilar — who lost an impressive 110 lbs. (she went from 242 to 132 lbs.) — tells Us shopping for a wedding dress now is “absolutely liberating. “Before, you have that fear: ‘Hey, can you pull me a size 20?’” says Aguilar, who is now a size 4 to 6. What girl wants to say that?” She tells Us she “absolutely” plans to use some of her $250,000 Loser prize money to pay for the wedding. They plan to wed in spring or fall 2009. For more on Michelle — including how her drastic weight-loss may have helped her get engaged — pick up the new issue of Us Weekly! (source)

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Meet Playboy founder Hugh Hefners other girlfriend, Crystal Harris

celebritymound — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:08:29 GMT

Hugh Hefner has quietly added a new girlfriend to his posse. And she’s a “good girl.” “I’m a good girl, for the most part,” new Hef gal pal Crystal Harris writes on her MySpace page. The 22-year-old lesser-known girlfriend has frequently been photographed by the 82-year-old Playboy founder’s side, but never got a proper public introduction after former girlfriends Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson exited the Playboy Mansion. Instead, fellow girlfriends - and 19-year-old twins - Karissa and Kristina Shannon nabbed headlines with their arrest records and, well, twindom, in the aftermath of the shake-up. Harris introduced herself on an E! online message board over the holidays, telling fans that “Hef gave me permission to fill people in on the new updates as a voice from the mansion.” No other girlfriends are in the mix at this time, she says, but “there are a couple that we have interest in. … As for now, it is just us three.” Despite her low-key status, Harris already has a fan site, but seems to focus most of her attention on her MySpace page. “I believe in opening your heart and letting your walls down, it is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all,” Harris says on her site, which is peppered with Disney characters, cute animals, inspirational quotes and plenty of pink. And, of course, the ubiquitous lingerie photos. Harris hasn’t posed for her boyfriend’s magazine, but did appear in a series of topless and semi-nude photos as a Co-ed of the Week on Playboy.com in late October under the name “Crystal Carter.” Pin-up moments aside, the 34-25-34 San Diego State University psychology student and PETA supporter lists “the rain, the seasons, fast cars, good food, volunteering, great company, caring and honest people, the ocean and animals” among her interests. Harris was first spotted with Hefner - and the twins - in early October after Madison announced her split from the playboy, but has been cropped out of photos of the crew on more than one occasion. E! has remained vague on whether they’ll renew hit series “The Girls Next Door,” which made Hefner’s former girlfriends reality TV stars, with the publisher’s new flames. (source)

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Kate Hudson: Of Course, Im Happy About Lance Armstrongs Baby News!

celebritymound — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:08:27 GMT

Kate Hudson couldn’t be more thrilled for former fling Lance Armstrong, who is expecting a child with girlfriend Anna Hansen. Asked if she’s happy for her ex, she said at Monday’s NYC Bride Wars premiere, “Of course! Oh, yeah!” Hudson also said her new “I Do!” comedy — co-starring Anne Hathaway — hasn’t made her want to wed again. (She split from ex-husband Chris Robinson in 2006.) “I’m a girl. I think all girls, deep down, have that fairy tale thing,” she said, adding that she already had her “dream wedding. “I was so in love. It was such an amazing day — and it should be,” she said. “Relationships and love should be celebrated.” As for Bride Wars, she said she didn’t draw on any personal experiences from weddings she’s been to. “If I used some of the stories I had about weddings, this movie would be X-rated!” she joked. “I can’t even get into them!” When it comes to tying the knot, Hudson said, “people get so stressed out, freaked out. It can really bring out the best — and the worst — of what’s to come.” (source)

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Is There A New Carrie Fisher In Town?!

celebritymound — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:08:25 GMT

Mike Fisher, Carrie Underwood romantically linked Romance is in the air at Scotiabank Place. Ottawa Senators centre Mike Fisher and former American Idol singer Carrie Underwood are dating and the love match has apparently been going strong for months. Ms. Underwood, 25, was at the Sens-Toronto Maple Leafs game Saturday night where the Jumbotron “Hug Cam” at the Air Canada Centre spotted her in a private VIP box hugging two people sitting next to her. Mr. Fisher’s parents and his brother, Bud, also a hockey player, were in the box watching the team go down to the Leafs in a 3-1 battle. The romance apparently began after Mr. Fisher, 28, went backstage following Ms. Underwood’s March 21 concert at Scotiabank Place where she performed before 7,700 country fans. The couple hit it off, say observers, and then began dating some time after their initial meeting. The struggling Ottawa Senators are in Buffalo for a game Tuesday night against the Sabres. Reached Monday at practice, Mr. Fisher declined to talk to reporters about his romance with the country singer who is a multi-platinum recording artist and Grammy-award winner. “I can’t comment on anything in my personal life, so that’s about all I can say. I don’t really want to say anything,” he said. But indications are the romance continues to grow and that the country singer and vegetarian has already met most of Mr. Fisher’s family. On New Year’s Eve, Ms. Underwood and Mr. Fisher’s sister dropped into Rinaldo’s swanky digs on George Street for some deluxe pampering and pedicures. “She was here with Mike Fisher’s sister and the staff took good care of them,” said Pat Rinaldo. “She was very quiet, very sweet and pleasant. She wasn’t demanding at all, everyone loved her and a lot of people recognized her.” Ms. Underwood was being pampered prior to her going to a New Year’s Eve bash at Jason Spezza’s Westboro home where other players on the team were also guests. Ms. Underwood is scheduled to perform at the People’s Choice Awards Tuesday night where she is nominated for Favourite Female Artist, Favourite Star 35 and Under, and Favourite Country Song for the song Last Name. Ottawa fitness trainer Tony Greco, a close friend of Mr. Fisher, says he thinks the couple are made for each other. “I think it’s serious, I mean he’s really happy with her. They’re a perfect match,” said Mr. Greco. Mr. Fisher is a big country music fan and is known to have strong Christian values. In the off-season, he devotes his time to hockey camps in his hometown of Peterborough and Kingston through Hockey Ministries International. Ms. Underwood was raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma and began performing at the Free Will Baptist Church and area talent shows. She won season four of American Idol and parlayed that into great success in country recordings and concerts. She dated Chace Crawford, an actor from the TV-series Gossip Girl, but that relationship ended some time ago, according to news reports. (source)

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Small Fla. town embraces Travolta during tragedy

celebritymound — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:08:24 GMT

This small central Florida town is about as far from Hollywood as you can get. Maybe that’s why actor John Travolta moved his family here. The town square features a fondue restaurant, the social scene revolves around ranchers’ soirees and horse riding is one of the main pastimes. Mobile home parks, peanut farms and moss-covered oak trees dot the landscape. There is little pretension or glitz. Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston seem to fit in: They appeared on the cover of this month’s Ocala Style magazine with big smiles, wearing jeans and sweaters. Now, with the death of their 16-year-old son Jett, this is where they have come to grieve. On Monday night - four days after Jett was found unconscious in the family’s vacation home in the Bahamas - Travolta and Preston flew back to Ocala. The city is welcoming them quietly and respectfully. Mayor Randy Ewers said the city sent the Travolta family condolences and would give them space and privacy. “They’re fantastic people, really family oriented,” Ewers said. “We want to respect their privacy as much as possible.” Doctors in the Bahamas performed an autopsy on Jett on Monday but did not release results. A Bahamas undertaker said the teen’s death certificate had “seizure” as the cause of death. The teen had a history of seizures; his body was cremated Monday and flown to the U.S. the same night. A memorial service for Jett will be held Thursday for family and close friends in Ocala, his publicist said. The Travoltas, who have been together since 1991, bought their unusual $8 million property in Ocala in 2003. The reason had nothing to do with the area’s famed thoroughbred horse farms: Travolta, an avid pilot, was looking for a home where he could fly his many planes, including a Boeing 707 airliner, right to his front door. The estate, located in a subdivision that boasts the largest private residential runway in the country, was featured on the cover of Architectural Digest in 2004. The style was inspired by Morris Lapidus, the architect of the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Eero Saarinen, designer of Washington Dulles International Airport. “If I can look out the bedroom and see the planes, I am happy,” Travolta told The Associated Press last year. His eldest son, Jett, and daughter, Ella, played happily around the mid-century compound. “We’ve got a big pool, a slide and a golf course,” Preston told Architectural Digest. “We’re a family who likes to play a lot.” And although that family traveled often for work - Travolta’s latest movie, “Bolt,” in which he does the voice for an animated dog, was just released - they also spent time in Ocala and the even smaller village of Anthony, which is right down the street from their home. “I love rubbing elbows with life and real people,” Travolta, 54, once told the local newspaper, the Star-Banner. “I don’t like living in ivory towers. I want to enjoy life the way everybody else does.” “He’s just, I don’t know, a normal person,” said Barbara Pound, a waitress at the Saddle Rack Cafe. She served him his favorite breakfast - a $6.49 western omelet - on a handful of occasions. “Nobody bothers him here. We let him have his peace.” Travolta once brought his son into the cafe and the boy “wouldn’t stop smiling,” said manager Jackie Gomillion. Others have spotted Travolta and his family cruising around in his classic Thunderbird or just shopping at the Gap in the local mall. Twice, Travolta hosted charity fundraisers around movie premieres at the local movie theater in Ocala where thousands of local fans showed up. Brent Johnson of Ocala once saw him at the gym at 5:30 a.m. “I thought to myself, I’m not going to harass him, but he came up to me and said, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’” Johnson said. “He asked about my kids and family. I think there’s a sense of pride here in Ocala that someone like that would want to live here.”

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