Below are the 6 most recent journal entries recorded in adriennesmith's LiveJournal:

Sunday, August 21st, 2005
12:57 pm	Balehead Book: Biography A Privacy Maintained With the recent birth of his beautiful baby daughter, the question of privacy once again torments Christian Bale. Constantly striving to maintian a level of seclusion has no doubt been an undertaking. Even now, biographies are sparce in information due to how guarded he is. Fans of Christian have always been very repectful of his need to be private and love him even more for it. Born on January 30, 1974, Christian Charles Phillip Bale was the youngest of four and the only boy. It was on this day, in Harverfordwest, Pembrokshire, that David and Jenny gave birth to the beloved actor. With his three sisters, Sharon, Erin and Louise, his family travelled the world to follow his parent's careers. While Christian considers his childhood home to be England, he has also lived in Potugal and the United States. His present residence, when he is not on site, is in California. David Bale, a pilot, entrepreneur, environmentalist, and animal rights activist was said to be the most decent man to ever walk the earth. He passed on his love for animals to Christian and also his love for travel. Gloria Steinem, the author, journalist, and advocate of women's rights married David in September of 2000. After only three years of marriage, David died in December of 2003. Very little is known about Christian's mother, Jenny other than that she was a performer for the Circus. Most of what is reported about Christian's life growing up is related to his career. Only a mention of college in Southern California in the mid 1990's gives the hint that he was not only educated through experience, but also attended classes. Dedicated to his work and tight lipped about his life, there is no other information on this man until his relationship with Sibi. Christian met Sibi (aka Sandra) Blasic through their mutual friend, Wynona Rider. Sibi was an assistant to Wynona and Christian was in the Film, Little Women with her. There is no question as to the love that is between these two people. Without advertising the fact verbally, the body language between these two suggests a mutual appreciation of each other and a love that will stand the test of time. It is no surprise than that on January 29th, 2000, Christian and Sibi were married. Together, they have two dogs and three cats, all strays that Christian found and now with the latest edition their happy family is complete. It is unknown whether they will have anymore children as they are deeply engrossed in early experiences of this one. With all of the stardom and fame, the fans and the Paparazzi, it is lovely to know that Christian remains private. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
1:59 am	The Writing on Baleheads: Updated Separating the Actor from the Man Growing up, the life of an actor certainly had its challenges for Christian Bale. Between trying to develop as a normal child to dealing with harassing phone calls from crazed fans, the life of entertainment was not all that it was cracked up to be. By the time he was a teen, Christian reached a point in his career where he wasn’t sure he wanted to be an actor anymore. Ultimately, he decided he would not let the negative aspects of the career consume him. From the age of ten, Christian acted in commercials and small parts in “made for TV” movies. It was in 1987, however, that he showed his natural talent in the Stephen Speilberg movie, Empire of the Sun. The acting community appreciated his role in this film with an award created specifically for him. This award was for Outstanding Juvenile Performance. Even though this was not his first job as an actor, it was the first time that his face was thrust into the limelight. Like a disease riden society, Christian wanted to run away from Hollywood and the whole business of acting. In his own words he explains that children “should be anonymous…making mistakes”. Not giving up, Christian continued to play small roles. Then, in 1992, he starred in Newsies. Not a fan of musicals, he tried getting out of having to sing and dance. Eventually, however, the energy of the performance inhaled him, leading him to raise the roof in this classic. It was from this movie that Christian’s real stardom began. Teen magazines were flocking to get a glimpse of what this actor was going to do next. It was around this time that he was asked to do photoshoots, and his teenage face began to spring up everywhere. Still deep in innocence, he did his best not to be affected by the imminent fame. His friends began, at this time, to complain that he was becoming self-obsorbed, and so it was time for a reality check. After movies like Swing Kids and Little Women, those who were following his career came to understand that Christian was working towards a versitile filmography. While his fame continued with teens, the rest of the world still knew very little about him. Even with a blockbuster movie such as Pocahontas, the animation hid his face and the ability to recognise his vast talent. When Velvet Goldmine and Metroland still left him with no recognition for his acting ability, Christian knew it was time for a radical decision. Mary Harron had just such a role for him in the year 2000. She had wanted Christian to play the part of Patrick Bateman right from the very begining. American Psycho was the ultimate piece for Christian to show his true acting ability and Patrick was a character like no other that he had played before. It would demand of him a complete change of appearance, from getting his British teeth straightened, to bulking up to an almost unrealistic physique. Christian was “Psyched” to say the least. After almost losing the part to Leonardo DiCaprio because of the Financial Guru’s maniacal ideas about selling a movie with box office names, Christian was relieved when Mary stood behind him and eventually won the battle of keeping him in the part. During the promotional interviews for American Psycho, Christian was again faced with personal questions. He received inquiries about everything from what kind of underwear he wore, to details about his new wife, Sibi Blasic. By this time, however, Christian was twenty-six years old and he had his answers all worked out. He was an actor, a character on film and not in real life. To blend the two, to him, was detrimental to his career. To know too much about his personal life would take away from his ability to be convincing as a new character on the big screen. The public would have to understand that knowing about the kind of underwear he wore was not important to knowing about his acting ability in the upcoming film. By this time, Christian had made the conscious decision that he would chose roles that would be less predictable. American Psycho was opening doors for him from all angles. In order by year of release, Christian portrayed Jesus, a racist rich scumbag and a romantic Greek in the movies Mary, Mother of Jesus, Shaft and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Shaft proved to be popular with male audiences. Next to American Psycho, this was the first time that men were taking notice of Christian. Entire websites were popping up about what a great “jerk” he played. On top of that, other webpages were becomming noticed. Entire sites were devoting to the appreciation of not only his acting and good looks, but every aspect of his career. Christian’s next installment, while not a huge hit at the box office, was by far one of the most popular movies among his fans. Equilibrium, today, is on the verge of becoming a cult classic. People, who knew little or nothing about Christian’s career, have gone to great lengths to buy all of his movies and learn all they can about him based on their almost obsessive love for this movie. Duly noted, by this time, Christian’s Fame on the internet had increased to innumerable proportions. The term “Balehead” was forever linked to Christian Bale and the fans who loved him. By the time that Laurel Canyon and Reign of Fire were released, fans were waiting and counting the days until they could purchase their own copy of the movies. Today, Christian stands behind his decision to keep his private life out of the media. This is, however, highly respected by “Baleheads”. In fact, their admiration for him ususally encompasses their appreciation for his decision not to sacrifice his morals and to stand by his beliefs when it comes to viewing acting as a career and not a way of life. All of this, for certain, is placed under a larger microscope with the release of his latest, most challenging roles of Trevor Reznik in the Machinist and Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins. Luckily, for Christian and his fans, he has grown enough to be able to handle the hype that accompanies recognition. “Baleheads” are ready for the world to finally know what they have known all along, that Christian is one of the best performing and least appreciated actors of the last twenty years. Copyright August 2005 By Adrienne Smith (Comment on this)
1:58 am	New Chapter for Balehead book Updated A Balehead is Born Most Baleheads begin their trek into the world of Christian Bale, by their love of one movie or another. While it may not be their first time seeing Christian, his image lingers in the crevices of the mind. By far, the effects of American Psycho and Equilibrium are the most prominent with Baleheads that can be found roaming the internet today. These two movies focus deeply on the acting ability of this man, and also on the beauty. Once one of these movies has had its effect on the not yet Balehead, they find that they want to watch the movie a monumental number of times. Then if it is a rental, they will go out and buy the movie, or they will rent it again just to watch it even more. The following website gives a great explaination to the first signs of becoming a Balehead: You Might be a Balehead If… http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Coast/6807/CB/Balehead/ Once the prospective Balehead has made the decision to look up Christian Bale on the internet, their chances of becoming a Balehead exponentially increase. The easiest site on the internet to find information on Christian is the imdb site which is one of the first hits when searching for him on Google, Lycos and Altavista. This site has a compreshensive information page with facts, films, and a few photos. It is an excellent place to start, but definitely not the place to finish. While this site will probably lead the surfer to Christian’s website, unfortunately, it is under construction and has been this way for some time. Christian himself admits to not being very up to date with computers, and who ever created this page has not made comment to the status of when it will be made available again. There is however, at this moment a sneak peek at the new Batman Begins website, which offers a trailer and a few photos. All Baleheads around the world are wishing that the website would get moving again. The newest member of the Balehead community need not fret, however. There may not be an official site, but there are many sites that can be explored that have lots of information on this man. E! Online has a comprehensive section devoted to Christian that is really worth a look. http://www.eonline.com/Facts/People/Bio/0,128,212,00.html From interviews, to media coverage, this place has a much more indepth look at the celebrity and his view of stardom. While there are many sites out there that the Balehead will want to check out, none compare to the all-inclusiveness of “Christian Bale: An Unofficial Appreciation” http://www.christianbale.net/ This website, created by a Balehead who calls herself Cleric Preston, has absolutely everything that a sponge hungry Balehead could dream of finding. Beautifully organized and flawlessly designed, this website offers News, Profile Information, Pictures, Media, a Forum Chat Board, Quotes and Games, just to name a few. This site is updated on a daily basis, and the creator is always willing to take advice on how to improve the site. For photographs of Christian, one of the best sites to check out is “Pigeon's Christian Bale Fansite” http://www5.famille.ne.jp/%7Es_film/b_top.html . While most of the site is in Japanese, the gallery is still so extensive that it is really worth checking out. It is around this time that the Balehead is beginning to question whether they are getting too hung up over this celebrity. They are in need of the knowledge that there are others out there that have the same interest in him as them. As with several other sites, the Unofficial Appreciation site has a section that allows the internet user to chat with other Baleheads. This community environment not only gives the newcomer a sense of belonging, it also puts their new fascination into real perspective. Once the Balehead has posted a certain number of posts on the chat forum, they will find that their status on the board will change. On Cleric’s site, they will find that they start off as a Sweeper (One Star) and work their way up to a Grammaton Cleric Fourth Class (two star), then to Third Class (Three Stars), then Second (Four Stars) and Finally to a Grammaton Cleric First Class (Five Stars). Cleric, of course, is the Tetragrammaton. This encourages the member to post and to become a regular. By the time they have reached Third Class, the chat board really becomes like a home. From here in, the Balehead can be found roaming the internet looking for the latest information on Christian Bale. Some search for themselves, while others search in order to help out their fellow Baleheads to keep their websites up to date. Days until the openings of new movies are counted, photos of premiers are fawned over the very next day and news articles are read and commented on daily. Family members become accustomed to knowing the second that a new Bale movie is coming out and get used to seeing the older movies for the fourteenth time. So begins the journey of another fan of Christian Bale. Copyright August 2005 By Adrienne Smith (Comment on this)
1:46 am	Working Outline for Balehead Book Baleheads: An Appreciation of the Actor, Christian Bale and His Fans Section 1: The Man a) A Privacy Maintained - Completed b) Separating the Actor from the Man - Completed c) The Grounded Philosophies - Beliefs Section 2: The Actor a) For the Love of the Art - Talent b) What Draws Us In - Charisma c) Unique Beauty Stops The Heart - Looks Section 3: The Fan a) A Balehead is Born - Completed b) Friendships Are Made - Post Boards c) A Global Experience - Locations c) The Art for the Love - Fan Art d) The Balehead's Wish - Meeting Christian Section 4: The News a) His Point of View - Interviews b) Fact and Fiction - Articles c) The Critical Consensus - Reviews Section 5: The Future a) From the Eyes of a Child - Fatherhood's Affect on Career b) The Forks in The Road - Roles yet to be explored c) Immortality Through Recognition - The Future of Baleheads Copyright August 2005 By Adrienne Smith (Comment on this)
Monday, September 20th, 2004
1:48 pm	Quotes Excerpts from: "The Cult of Christian Bale" (By Liz Goodman) "Christian Bale is now more famous for his fans than for his movies...Even a rabid 14-year-old fan calls him only "semi-famous."...Sure, lots of 26-year-old working actors have fan clubs. But how many 26-year-olds have fan clubs that are more than a decade old?...It's the longevity and constancy of his fans' devotion...There are fans who have followed his career since 1987...Bale has clearly moved light years away from the darling tyke of Empire of the Sun, but his fans are willing to go with him...How many actors with that kind of fan base can knowingly alienate their fans' tastes by playing a gay glam rock fan who jerks off over posters of his favorite idol - and still keep their love?...More often, his fans - even those who still wished he'd do another movie like Little Women - praised his courage in taking "difficult" roles...I admit it. After reading 200 plus posts on the Christian Bale fan club message board, I'm a fan of his fans. I love their kooky obsession with a 1992 Disney musical about labor agitation and...It tickles me that they knew his dog's name and breed but nothing about his upcoming wedding." Post by Xenia Onatopp Bale Well, reality-speaking, I know where I stand. And I also know that I'm not CB's type of woman,so I accepted that bitter truth. Besides, I don't have any resources to stalk him or attend his movie premieres abroad. I can't afford a plane ticket to US or anywhere in the world. Not to mention it's difficult to get a US,Canadian or UK visas here in Philippines. I'm just contented to watching his movies and seeing his images on the net. Post by MaWa Hm, I always considered myself of being immune to all kinds of celebrity fascinations. But one day I saw Equilibrium... And I remembered him. I thought that this guy is incredibly talented. His awesome performance in Equilibrium made me want to see more of his movies - and after watching Empire of the Sun and American Psycho I was completely wasted! I became 100% sure that he has real talent. And besides - this man is so extremely handsome, especially as John Preston!!!! Jesus, during watching EQ my heart almost stopped!! I couldn't cope with it. I went crazy and I fell in love. I guess it's incurable... Post by Xenia Onatopp Bale Hey,gals, would you like to tell the whole world why you love Christian Bale? For me, I fell in love with him for the following reasons: 1. He's a class-act. 2. He's not a foul-mouthed fool. He's so corteous. 3.He's a gifted and dedicated actor. 4.He's down-to-earth person and keeps a low profile. 5.Last,but not the least,do I need to say he's extremely handsome and soooo *******HOT!!!!!!?? Post by Cleric Preston Well, all I can say is that I watched Equilibrium and the movie and especially his performance just blew me away like no other movie or actor had done for a long long time. Post by mrsbateman I have known him as a good actor for a while, but it was in American Psycho, at that wonderfully brilliant sexy scene (threesome) that I my jaw dropped completely!!! Then I saw the Equilibrium dvd on the movie store and saw his name, couldn't resist, watched and once again couldn't believe how good as an actor and how gorgeous as a man he was... since that I'm completely wasted!!! So, I fell in love with him because he is one hell of an actor, gorgeous, hot, and look like a such interesting man outside the screen... Plus, his dancing the swing is one more extraordinary thing that I thought only a dream man could do!!! I love him!!! What now?? Post by WhitNickname 1) He is SOOOO HOTTTTTTTTTTT.............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2) I watch the newsies like every night because he's a good actor! 3) He likes animals( me too) 4) He is not a foul mouth! 5) He is normal, he isn't weird or anything like that. 6) I think that he is a nice person, im pretty sure, but I don't know that, I haven't met him 7) I have about 15 more reasons, i just don't feel like typing right now, LOL Post by SpaceNaut I love Mr. Bale because he is truly one of the most underrated actors today. What I like about underrated actors is that their talent is rarity in Hollywood. In my opinion, I believe that Christian should have gotten at least a nomination for Empire of the Sun, and American Psycho. Another reason why I love Christian is because...you guessed it--He's HAWT!!!! Post by Peka I love him because: -he's handsome (sorry... f***king handsome) -very dedicated actor -in his movies and interviews, seems to be a very courteous and nice person, and I think everyone agrees on that. -he's british (those guys are my weakpoint... the accent is sexy!) -Chris is hot! with capital "H", 100/10 HOT! Post by Adrienne Christian Bale is presently 5 months older than me. So I must have been around 17 or 18 When I first Discovered him in Newsies. I still to this day have not seen Empire of the sun or anything else from when he was younger, But as a teen I was blown away by his unique beauty in Newsies. The things that I love about him are the little things, Like his fangs, The shape of his eyes and the squareness of his jaw. I personally enjoy interviews with him much more than the movies as I enjoy seeing the real him as apposed to the characters that he plays. While I think he is a factastic actor, I feel that he has not done the best movies out there. I am really looking forward to the new Batman movie, as it will be very exciting to see him act in something that is well written. I have to admire someone though that enjoys the acting for the art itself and not for the results. That is someone who will continue to enjoy his job as time goes on. He is truly inspirational! Post by Adrienne Here is my take on this so far. I have never really been into any particular actor, singer or writer before Bale. I will grant you that I am the type of person that likes to read as much by an author that I like, but that has more to do with the style of writing than the person. My interest started innocently enough. I saw Newsies when I was young and never forgot how wonderful I thought he was in it at that age. But he really didn't affect any part of my life until about a month ago. It was at this time that I was checking out the Apple Trailers. I have always had a thing for movies and I go to see them on a regular basis. Apple Trailers is excellent for giving you the skinny on what is coming out soon. This was where I saw the trailer for the Machinist and for Batman Begins. I was instantly thrown by how gorgeous Bale looked in the sneak peaks on the Batman website...and thus started my "obsession" At first I was really amazed at the amount of information there was out there on a person who claims to keep himself cloistered from the public eye. But after a while I started to realize that it was all job related, and when it came to his personal life it was all pretty repetative. That was when I came across Queenie's page, by far the best page in the world when it comes to info on Bale. But more importantly, it was her respect for his privacy. A page that was strictly an appreciation. I knew that this was a place where I could get the info that I wanted and still feel comfortable about respecting his space. Post by Adrienne I don't think that any of us are really looking to actually find Bale or to meet him. No I am talking about the number of times that it enters your life. Do you find that you talk about him too much to your friends and family? Do they groan every time you rent a new movie or want to see something by him in the theatres? Are they hoping that this is a phase that you will grow out of...only you haven't? Or is this just something that you think about occasionally....and really doesn't affect any other part of your life? For me the effects have been mostly positive. Lance, luckily is a wonderful husband and is very accepting of this for me. He is happy that I appreciate his computer since everything looks so much better on it...and he is happy that my estrogen levels are up since this improves with our love life. Post by Peka I started my CB obsesion being a little girl, at 7 I thought he was very cute and I dreamed of him picking me up from school and buying me ice-creams. But I started liking him more and more!!! I have accepted the truth that maybe I'll never meet him and he's married and all that stuff. I love him, not only because his cute and sexy, but he's an amazing actor that is always surprising me!!! Post by mrsbateman Hi girls! I'm sorry that I have beem with so little time to dedicate to the boards, so I couldn't read all the thread, but I read what Adrienne was asking, about our experiences with celeb-obssesion and stuff and particularly with Bale. I first was hooked by him watching American Psycho. I was already fan of him, but not hooked, since he was in movies that I liked a lot like Swing Kids and Velvet Godmine. But when I saw American Psycho I was really in love, not only with Bale, but with Bateman and Easton Ellis works. The girls here already know me and they know how I embraced his works and Chris is a part of it since he played Patrick Bateman so well. I'm from Brazil and I never thought that I actually could have an experience of meeting a celebrity, but since I moved to London I have had great experiences and I've met some artists that I truly admire, like Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, Scarlett Johansson, Sophia Coppola, Tom Cruise, all this in movie premieres that I'm able to attend in London. So this is great and I certainly hope that one day I will have the same opportunity to meet Chris. I realise completely my situation of fan, I don't expect to create a bond with the person at all! This is absolutely impossible, but it's fun to see in person someone you really admire, maybe get some pictures and have an autograph. That's what I hope. My obssession is not severe, but i did cry when I saw those new pics of The Machinist premiere and Sibi beside him looking so happy! LOL! You will also notice that I;m a good humored person! Post by mrsbateman One thing that bothers me thought is that most of the people did not get what American Psycho is all about and call Patrick a "jerk", but from my point of view he wasn't a jerk at all!!! He was a desperate person in a deep personality crises, childhood traumas bursting out of his brains and his "hallucinations" were the way that he could get back in all that rotten society! Well, I already have been in major discussions about Patrick Bateman!LOL! Nevermind. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, September 5th, 2004
6:52 pm	The "Shun-Pike" Some days it's important to walk out the door and not know why. Part of freedom comes randomness. And this is what I am doing today. I have my hand gripping the handle and I am ready. Ready to have an adventure? Maybe. But maybe not. It's not about what's on the other side of the door. It's about the choice. It's about having the freedom to walk out the door for no reason at all. With no expectations of what will come on the other side. When I was a child, my Father would take my Mother and I for the Sunday Drive. The "Shun-Pike" is what he called it. I would squeal with excitement getting into the car, knowing that the next hour and a half was going to be completely unpredictable. We would drive out to the country and then at some point he would stop, turn to me and it would be my decision as to the direction we would go. Occasionally, I would chose based on which way I thought was prettier. Some days I would flip a coin. And some days I would close my eyes and chose the way my heart felt that we should go. I never knew where we were and sometimes it took us just as long to get home, but it was always one of my favourite things that me and my parents shared. In grade school, I used to worry my Mother to tears. It would take me three hours to get home from school. Occasionally, this was due to the fact that I would walk all of my friends home first before heading home myself. This was not to ensure their safety, but because of how much I loved talking to my friends one on one. Other times, however, my reason for arriving home so late was that I was "Shun-Piking". I would head away from my school in one direction and then when I came to an intersection, I would chose a direction...Left, Right, Straight or Back. And again, this decision was made many different ways. It always took me far from home (or so it seemed to a nine year old) but the freedom of choice was exhilarating. Growing up, I read. I read until my eyes were blood shot and I couldn't keep my lids open anymore. I read horror books and books on Ghosts, Vampires and Witches. My Mother could never understand why I read that crap. But I think deep down she was just glad that I was a reader as apposed to a drug dealer. As a teenager, my favourite types of books were "Choose Your Own Adventure". To me, they were like the drive with my parents or those walks home from school. "Shun-Piking". I could go through a story and completely at random affect the lives of the characters in a book. By turning to page 183 John would break up with his girlfriend, Jill and go out with Sara. On page 293 John killed Jill and ended up in jail or page 310 John makes up with Jill and Sara is screwed. Choosing randomly was sometimes more exciting than making the conscious wise and predictable choice since there really was no way of knowing how the adventure would end. I am where I am on this journey of life because of the choices I have had to make at different forks in the road. I have a wonderful husband because it took 30 bad relationships with the wrong men for me to find the right one. I have Jeremy because of the choices I made that led me to University in stead of staying in college, and to be with Lance instead of using him as I had the other men in my past. I have this beautiful little boy because of the wise and unwise choices I have made. I never regret any choice I have made in my journey because it has led me to the point where I am today. In a wonderful loving relationship with a man who treats me like gold. With a perfect little boy who breaks my heart every day with his beauty. I am exactly where I want to be. Today, however, I am going for a walk. A "Shun-Pike". As I open the door and see the setting sun stream through the space, I am truly grateful for the freedom that I have been afforded. (Comment on this)