I thought this funny, sophisticated New Yorker would come up with something a little more hip than Christmas cards featuring her and her entire family, (yes even the dog!) in cheesy skating costumes.  I know she was on Skating with the Stars but that show is just not my cup of tea.  She should stick to promoting her Skinnygirl Margaritas…now that’s what I’d like to see on ice!

Bethenny Frankel may have the world's cheesiest Christmas card. So much for this New York fashionista!

Originally it seemed like Bethenny Frankel was one of those quasi-celebrities who was really just famous for being famous.  A semi-aspiring actress in the 90’s, Bethenny first hit the radar when she competed on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, coming in second.  She then was seen as one of the original housewives on The Real Housewives of New York City.  Bethenny opted not to return for a fourth season in 2010 and instead starred in her own spin-off on Bravo’s  Bethenny Getting Married, which documented preparations for her then upcoming nuptials to fiancé Jason Hoppy, in addition to her humorous preparations for the birth of her first child, daughter Bryn. The premiere gave Bravo its highest ratings ever for a series debut with over 2 million viewers.  Bethenny and family, including her beloved dog Cookie, can currently be seen on their latest reality show on Bravo, Bethenny Ever After.

Turns out however, Bethenny is more than a reality show staple…she is also quite the businesswoman!  She attended the Natural Gourmet Culinary Institute and became a natural foods chef, forming her own company called BethennyBakes which specialized in providing custom delivered wheat, egg and dairy free baked goods and meals.  In 2009, Bethenny switched gears and launched her own line of all natural, low fat cocktails called Skinnygirl, starting with Skinnygirl Margarita and is expanding the line soon with Skinnygirl Sangria.  Yum! Can’t wait to try it.  Bethenny has also put out 2 books, a fitness DVD and is also currently working on a skincare line.  She’s a busy gal! Obviously Bethenny is well aware that fame is fickle and is looking to cash in as much as possible before her 15 minutes are up.

Her cheesy Christmas card aside, I happen to like Bethenny Frankel and wish her well in all her endeavors…but please, Bethenny, come up with something better for next year’s Christmas cards.

OMG! Were you one of the lucky Bieber tween fans to receive one of Justin’s 2010 photo Christmas cards from your BFF this year? Or maybe you were lucky enough to find a Justin Bieber look-alike doll under the Christmas tree left by Santa Claus? The business of selling Justin Bieber is big business. A cottage industry has evolved around young Master Bieber that sells not just music but singing dolls, jigsaw puzzles, watches, nail polish, life-size cardboard cut-outs, tee shirts and books to name just a few items that yielded over $100 million in 2010 alone.

Justin Bieber is everywhere. He has even managed to infiltrate Christmas!

Is he being used by those who purportedly are mentoring him? Will he survive all this youthful celebrity or go the route of others such as Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus to name a few? Speaking of Miley, she impersonated Bieber in a skit on Saturday Night Live in 2011 making fun of herself as well as Justin with references to her smoking salvia, his infantile stardom and his recent bad behavior using an inappropriate finger gesture.

Justin Bieber recently turned the ripe old age of 17 and celebrated by getting his windswept doo cut into a more mature manly haircut resembling that of Ellen DeGeneneres. Then he appeared on her show and gave a lock of his shorn hair to Ellen for her birthday. All this drama over hair! This is something Moms do when their toddlers get their first haircut but seems out of place for someone turning 17. But then again Justin’s most recent hit “Baby-Baby-Baby” is perhaps self-titled?

Justin Bieber is being guided through his new found celebrity by another child musical prodigy- Usher. He was discovered singing on You Tube and practically overnight became a teenage heart throb singing sensation. Justin was born to an 18 year old Canadian teenager who raised him as a single mom living in low income housing. He was interested in soccer, hockey and chess as a youngster but kept his musical interests a secret. He taught himself to play piano, drums, guitar and trumpet. The rest is history.

The fact is that Justin Bieber has 4 albums in the Top 40, performed for the Obama family at the White House in 2009, guest starred on CSI and appeared as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live in 2010 to mention just a few highlights in his brief career. Justin is supposedly a Christian who talks casually and apparently uninformed about sex and abortion and gave the finger to paparazzi who were bothering him on his birthday date with his new girlfriend (an older woman) 18 year old Disney star Selena Gomez. Like him or not, the Biebs is an interesting phenomenon that should be watched closely for many reasons in the next few years to come. If nothing else, Justin and his fans can live for the moment, have fun and grow up together.

Many words have been used to describe Trent Reznor over the past two decades. Genius. Tortured. Angry. Creative. Intelligent. Talented. And now we can add esteemed to the list.

Trent Reznor - Tortured artist to Oscar winner

It’s been quite a ride for the new Oscar winner since his days as a tortured musician breaking out with his band, Nine Inch Nails, in the late eighties. After years of dealing with drugs and other demons, he is now a married man with a new son, a new band, and plenty of awards to put on his mantle. While even a few years ago it would be kind of weird to picture such a mantle adorned with Christmas cards, right now it doesn’t seem so improbable.

Growing up in Western Pennsylvania, Reznor was a member of his high school marching band before joining up with synthesizer-based groups in his early twenties. His first album under the name Nine Inch Nails, Pretty Hate Machine, was released in 1989, and in 1994, The Downward Spiral hit, making Reznor a commercial success with its story of a man’s destruction.

Once Nine Inch Nails became famous, they became fair game for parody. While “Weird Al” Yankovic was adding the song “Closer” to one of his many polka parodies, Jeremy True was having a little fun with NIN’s “Terrible Lie” with a spoof called “Why Trent Reznor Hates Christmas”. It featured lyrics such as “I believed the Christmas songs… the Christmas songs that lied!”

Things are different these days, as the sober Reznor has taken an indefinite hiatus from touring with NIN and is now part of a new band, How to Destroy Angels, with his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and composer Atticus Ross, who shares credit for the award-winning soundtrack to The Social Network. Fiercely private about his personal life, Reznor married Maandig in 2009 and the couple had a son on (possibly) 10/10/10.

Reznor’s latest rumored project may see him acting as a vampire and writing the music for the upcoming film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Then it’s back to collaborating with Ross on the score for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which is slated to be released around Christmas. Could another Oscar winning score be in the stocking?

All Hank Steinbrenner wants for Christmas is for somebody to take him seriously!

It appears as if it’s going to be an interesting 2011 season for the New York Yankees, not only because their archrival Boston Red Sox look like they’re a better team, but also because Hank Steinbrenner, co-owner of the team along with his brother Hal, has apparently decided to be more vocal than he has been for the past two years.  His comments about the 2010 team—specifically his remarks about certain players (i.e. team captain Derek Jeter) being more interested in building mansions than concentrating on game-day pursuits (I don’t think there will be Christmas cards exchanged between the two this coming December)—spells trouble.

Hank, unlike his late father, George, who shot off his mouth for years but did so in a calculated way that showed how smart he really was, seems to spout off at the mouth before thinking things through.  Perhaps this is why Hal—more professional and businesslike in his dealings with the media—has been the spokesperson for ownership for the past couple of years.  Trying to come across as George Jr., Hank is actually showing himself to be more buffoon than intimidator.  He likes to speak his mind and usually does not regret what he says (although he did come out a day after his “mansion” remarks and say he didn’t really say what he said—shades of Yogi Berra?).

In any event, unless those in better control of things at Yankee headquarters in Tampa put a muzzle on their think-before-he-speaks head honcho, it may be an interesting, comical and perhaps quite a volatile season for the Bronx Bombers and the media members who cover them.   Who knows whom he might yet offend?  (Don’t write out those Christmas cards just yet!)

If we visited the ghosts of recent Christmases past in Charlie Sheen’s life, we’d see a pattern.

On Christmas Day 2009, Charlie was locked up on domestic violence allegations after allegedly grabbing his wife, Brooke Mueller, by the throat and violently pushing her. Although the couple was said to want to work things out, divorce filings were made in November of 2010 and a settlement seems to be imminent.

Charlie Sheen doesn't have a problem, Charlie Sheen is winning!

Just this last holiday, Charlie blew off his family, including brother Emilio Estevez, ex-wife Denise Richards, and his five children, to party it up, as he has been known to do for the past year. A lot has been said about his connections to porn stars, booze, and drugs as his downward decline is spiraling out of control. Even his cars have been victims as two of them mysteriously vanished from his property this year and one went over a cliff.

After being hospitalized for a “hiatal hernia,” the troubled star briefly went to rehab and is now being treated by an addiction specialist – while the cast and crew of his highly-ranked sitcom, Two and a Half Men, have to wait it out. Word on the internet is that he offered to pay a third of the crew’s missed salary if CBS would pony up the rest. Seeing as Charlie is the highest paid TV actor today and it’s entirely his fault that his crew is out of work, I’d say he should be paying two-thirds more than he’s offering. Just because you are a consummate professional on the set every day doesn’t mean your co-workers should suffer because of what you do on your own time. Besides, Two and a Half Men isn’t even that funny anymore – who the heck is still tuning in?

Charlie Sheen comes from an acting family headed by father Martin, whose last name he took when he became an actor. Known for roles in movie such as Platoon and Wall Street, Charlie’s bad boy image is long-winded and deserved. His role on his sitcom, in fact, is loosely based on reality!

While addiction is a serious issue and we hope that Charlie will beat his demons this time, here’s hoping that he makes amends to those he’s hurt in the recent past – and for a hefty bonus in the Christmas cards he gives out on set this coming year!