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01/25/2008: "Start The Death Watch?"

Here at the MarlinBlog, we like to laugh at the dumbass antics of celebrities as much as anyone - heck, it's more entertaining than most of the "product" that they produce. But as the recent deaths of actors Heath Ledger and Brad Renfro remind in a tragic way, life is precious and can easily be cut short - often through our own actions. How close have the Britneys and Lindsays and Parises of the world come to being the next Heath or Brad - probably without ever knowing it or realizing just how close to the edge they'd really come.

Just look at Spears. Never mind the absolute inability to act as an responsible parent, leading to the correct decision to strip her of her children - and her apparent indifference to it. But the constant party-party-party, the unintelligible choices she makes in the people she chooses to surround herself with, the string of incredibly stupid personal action decisions - like driving 80MPH to avoid the paparazzi ... at what point should be legitimately be concerned that her actions will inevitably lead to her own demise?

I'm not sure at this point who if anyone can get through to her. Clearly, her chain has slipped off the cog - several mental health professionals have said that her habit of periodically speaking with a British accent might actually be a multiple-personality syndrome - and there's no real indication that anyone can put it back on. She won't regain any custody of her children unless she can demonstrate that she can create a safe, nurturing environment - and I don't think anyone feels she's capable of that. Just look at her, leaving a drugstore - at 4AM this morning!! Hell, I'm a morning person, and even I don't do that ...

If you believe the Sun - home of the Page 3 Girl - then Spears' behavior is nothing new. They're running an interview with an uncle who spills the beans ...

He says Brit, 26, started drinking when she was a 13-year-old Mickey Mouse Club presenter and dabbled with drugs from the age of 14.

After her turbulent early years, Willie says she went "buck-wild" on turning 18, snorting cocaine on her birthday, adding: "She has tried just about everything - cocaine, crystal meth, ecstasy."

The really scary part?

He is also terrified she will mimic her tragic grandmother Emma Jean, who committed suicide aged 31.

I just hope those tattoos on her wrists say "left" and "right" and not "cut here" ...