Wrote the Journal:
Reporters for an independent television channel used the urinals as a backdrop to interview best-selling author Gail Sheehy, who’s been following the campaign for her work on a book about the Clintons. The channel had wanted to speak with Ms. Sheehy on camera about the Clintons’ relations with the media, and the author suggested that the toilets provided “a perfect visual.”
[WSJ]
For people who are anti-sprawl activists — or have baser motives — a new-built house sitting empty in a previously rural area evidently makes a ripe target for an attack by fire.
You have to love the distinction between people who want to burn down a house for morally pure anti-sprawl reasons and people who want to burn down a house for "baser motives."
Times: House Fires With a Message in the Northwest
[via NewsBusters]
Seltzer's adulatory press was her unraveling. After a profile last week in the House & Home section of the Times, Jones' older sister called her publisher to rat her out.
Seltzer told the Times the whole thing started after she spent time with some people from the wrong side of the tracks:
Ms. Seltzer said she had met some gang members during a short stint she said she spent at “Grant” high school “in the Valley.” (A Google search identifies Ulysses S. Grant High School, a school on 34 acres in the Valley Glen neighborhood in the east central San Fernando Valley.) “It opened my mind to the fact that not everybody is as they are portrayed on the news,” she said. “Everything’s not that black and white or gray or brown.”
... Ms. Seltzer, who writes in an author’s note to the book that she “combined characters and changed names, dates, and places,” said that these characters and incidents were in part based on friends’ experiences. “I had a couple of friends who had moms who were like my mom and that’s where Big Mom comes from — from being in the house all the time and watching what goes on. One of my best friend’s little brother was killed two years ago, shot,” she said.
Ms. Seltzer added that she wrote the book “sitting at the Starbucks at the corner of Crenshaw and Stockyard. People would come in and say, ‘What are you doing?’ because I would be sitting there all day every day. I would talk to kids who were Black Panthers and kids who were gang members and kids who were not gang members.”
From before she was caught, here are Seltzer's rules of the street, which she said were conveyed to her by a compatriot in the drug trade. Her publisher would have been wise to follow them, particularly given the moral landscape in the memoir trade these days, which at this point would startle even the most hardened blood or crip:
¶ “Trust no one. Even your own momma will sell you out for the right price or if she gets scared enough.”
¶ “War has no room for diplomacy, war is outright vicious. Never expect mercy and never show it.”
¶ “There is no greater sin in war than ignorance. Never speak or act on anything you aren’t 100 percent sure of, or someone will expose your mistake and take you down for it.”
Times: Author Admits Acclaimed Memoir Is Fantasy
Related: Review - However Mean the Streets, Have an Exit Strategy (Times)
Related: Profile - A Refugee From Gangland (Times)
(Thanks to Josh for the tip.)
Steve-O's neighbor has delivered his own brand of "Jackass"-kicking.
The MTV stuntmeister was arrested Monday on suspicion of vandalism and drug possession at his Hollywood apartment...
* Julia: But I really like blogging.
* Julia: and people - most people - like reading it.
* [redacted]: more people are reading the negative stories about you than are reading your blog.
* Julia: you're right.
* [redacted]: of course you also have life choices to change
* Julia: yeah, yeah, I get all the disadvantages (ruinous personal life) with none of the benefits.
* [redacted]: yes
* [redacted]: to change that will take sacrifice
* Julia: what do you consider sacrifice? free alcohol that I didn't even drink? hahah
* [redacted]: sacrifice means stepping away from the camera
* [redacted]: honing in on your work
* Julia: oh.
* [redacted]: it means letting the world know less about you for a bit
* [redacted]: whom do you want to be?
* [redacted]: oprah?
* [redacted]: tyra?
* Julia: yeah, I hear you.
* Julia: should i just tone down the blogging?
* Julia: or stop it completely?
* Julia: and what if my future is a videoblog?
* [readacted]: put more thought into the messages you're sending with it
* [readacted]: run everything by rachel sklar
* [readacted]: you won't want to listen to her recommendations
* [readacted]: but you should
* Julia: HAHAHAH
* Julia: I'm so worried that then ... I won't be able to have any FUN!!!
* [redacted]: right
* [redacted]: winning at life is hard work!
* Julia: I always thought an exception could be made. ;)
From left, Lanvin, John Galliano, Elie Saab.Photo: Imaxtree
• John Galliano exuded brilliance with gypsy pants and sheer floral dresses.
• Elie Saab knows how to work a stripe.
• Marc Jacobs's collection for Louis Vuitton was reminiscent of his own shown at New York Fashion Week. And we agree with the critics: Those wide-thighed pants don't even look good on the models.
• Miu Miu put each model's initials on her outfit, which looked like futuristic gymwear.
• Hermès spiced up plain black and earth-tone pieces with paisley and fringe.
• Chado Ralph Rucci used sprightly feathers and did interesting things with seams.
• Chloé showed bare legs and little chiffon dresses that seemed an usual choice for fall.
• Nina Ricci showed mostly pantsuits in amber hues.
• Kenzo showed busy prints and sweaterdresses with stunning construction.
• Paul & Joe sent bare-legged models down the runway in dresses with fawnlike animal prints.
• The big, furry cone hats at Vanessa Bruno distracted from her nice but simple collection of flowy pants and pretty dresses.
Seven of Nine is now mother to Two of Two.
Jeri Ryan welcomed a daughter, her first child with restaurateur hubby Christophe Eme, on Sunday in Los Angeles, "People" reports.
Gisele...See? A cruel thing to do, but not a human rights violation. At least when my vile middle-school classmate tortured frogs, he made them suffer. The puppy surely died on impact. It has the trappings of sadness, but how does that make it much worse than a euthanization?
Logically, we know this soldier has possibly killed people in Iraq, so it feels misplaced to vent about a puppy in a war zone; emotionally, we find hurting a helpless puppy beyond reproach. If the video weren't shot in Iraq (if it were, say, some tweens torturing a dog in a backyard -- you'll find plenty of this on YouTube), the tension wouldn't be there, and it wouldn't be today's viral hit. The contradiction -- people vs. puppies; war vs. peace-keeping -- will probably catapult this thing to network nightly news.
You may remember that back in November, when Franklin reviewed the Greatest Show of Our Time in The New Yorker, she callously dismissed the original text, as crafted by Nightingale graduate author Cecily von Ziegesar. "I’ve been told that some kids in Manhattan’s private-school population resent the way they’ve been depicted in the show," she wrote at the time, adding parenthetically, and cattily, ‘Or maybe they just want to distance themselves from a Nightingale graduate who can write a paragraph like this: “There was a box of orange Tic Tacs in her pocket with only one Tic Tac left. Serena fished the Tic Tac out and put it on her tongue, but she was so worried about her future, she could barely taste it.’”
Now, Janet Malcolm has revisited the series, and her review carries none of Franklin's snideness. In fact, quite the opposite. The prose, she declares, is Nabokovian. The character of Nate "is a kind of Vronsky manqué." Von Ziegesar's "designated reader is an adolescent girl, but the reader she seems to have firmly in mind as she writes is a literate, even literary, adult."
"Only someone very hard-hearted wouldn’t laugh" at the situations the characters find themselves in, she writes. "The way von Ziegesar implicates us in her empathic examination of youth’s callousness is the Waughish achievement of these strange, complicated books."
Then, like any sharp-tongued lady of letters, she smooths things over with her colleague, only to plunge the knife straight into Nancy's hard little heart:
The television series based on the “Gossip Girl” books was reviewed here by Nancy Franklin (November 26, 2007). I completely share Nancy’s (or should I say Nanci’s?) dim view of the adaptation. It is related to the original only in the names and outlines of the characters…Without von Ziegesar’s fast, mocking commentary to propel them, the TV episodes are sluggish and crass—a move from Barneys to Kmart.
Actually, wait, what? Nancy's/Nanci's? We don't actually even understand what that means. Also, the TV show is sluggish and crass? Ouch. Maybe that was our hard little heart Malcolm stabbed.
Advanced Placement [NYer]
Intel's slavish coverage of Gossip Girl
Tights by Bebaroque: swirly!Photo: Vogue.co.uk
Runway Pop Fuels Spring Power [WWD]
TIGHTS FANTASTIC [British Vogue]
We would wager on this popping up on "The Office" any week now. Comparing it to "macho stunts like chainsaw racing," though, is a stretch. PowerPoint karaoke champs can be cool without outside reference points! A video of yourself dominating at this game could be a good way to get hired by Gawker, I imagine.
[via Tax Prof Blog]
Call or email to schedule a private 20 minute appointment to talk money
specifics with Rob Slifer, residential mortgage broker, Professional
Advantage. Following money, meet with Eve Levine, residential real
estate broker, The Corcoran Group, to look at current listings available
on the market right now!Here's a flyer for one of their old events:
1. Gnarls Barkley, "Save Your Soul"
The last leaked track from Gnarls' upcoming second album was too fast, and now this one is too slow. We can only hope that the next one will be exactly the right tempo. [Stereogum]
2. Madonna feat. Timbaland and Justin Timberlake, "4 Minutes to Save the Planet"
Warner Bros. is sending takedown notices to any MP3 blog crazy enough to post Madonna's underwhelming new single, so in all likelihood, you only have four minutes to click this link. [Pop Music Kingdom]
3. Dmitry Fyodorov, "1987"
This bass-heavy dance track chronicles the struggles of the Russian Olympic hockey team on their way to a gold medal in the 1988 games. This should please the enormous clubgoing hockey-fiend demographic. [Hot Biscuits]
4. Lupe Fiasco, "Paris, Tokyo"
Lupe shows up in a suit with a smooth jazz band for an appearance on the Tonight Show and comes across looking even less hip than Jay Leno. [Culture Bully]
5. G3rst, "Hotel California in Fire and Flames"
This mash-up of a Dragonforce track with the Eagles' tired classic really makes us smile, mostly because we're imagining how cranky it would make Don Henley. [Culture Bully] —Ehren Gresehover
American movies are filthy and depraved nowadays, sure, but in the years before the Hays Code passed in 1934, Hollywood turned out flicks that make even us blush. This set, the second in a series, collects five more features starring loose women, wannabe child murderers, gold diggers, and gangsters. Start with Three on a Match: Set in New York, it’s about three ladies who lunch, and is more than a little like Sex and the City — if Samantha was a dissolute chorus girl and Carrie fell for a mobster.
We've been telling all our friends that this weekend’s Saturday Night Live was funny. But when pressed, we had to admit the only forward-worthy bit was this Ellen Page–Andy Samberg digital short. So what made us speak so highly of the episode, then? Well, Wilco played well, and we could fast-forward through the politician cameos and other unpromising bits. But mostly it was the overall affection we have toward the current cast — an affection that derives not from their work on their show, but because of their affiliations with other esteemed comedy institutions like 30 Rock (Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudekis, Fred Armisen), Arrested Development (Amy Poehler), and the Apatow Universe (Wiig, Bill Hader). Andy Samberg, of course, earned the respect of comedy geeks everywhere for his work with the Internet-based Lonely Island, which — like all these cred-giving humor side projects — is, if not alt-comedy, at least illuminated by the reflected glow of alt-comedy, unlike SNL, which at this point is as mainstream a comedy institution as you're ever going to find.
All that is a far cry from the days where the only place to see SNL cast members outside the show were Lorne Michaels’s shitty spinoff cash-ins. In fact, the only recent unsuccessful extracurricular SNLer project we could think of was last summer’s Michaels-produced Hot Rod, which starred Samberg and Hader. In Michaels’s defense, of course, he’s the guy who hired all these talented comedians in the first place. So why, then — especially given his reputation as a Master of Psychology whose distant-father approach has a staff of thousands of people working 80 hours a week to please him — does everyone else who works with the SNL cast seem to get more out of them than he does? —Ben Mathis-Lilley
Drew Barrymore is phoning home for Africa.
The "E.T." star personally pledged $1 million of her own money Monday to the World Food Program, a United Nations initiative that aims to...
You too can ruin your career!Photo: Getty Images
Seemingly on her way to stardom after winning the Best Actress Oscar a week ago, Marion Cotillard has stumbled upon what just may be the most surefire way imaginable to instantly erase all American goodwill and devastate her box-office potential:
Step 1: Posit that 9/11 was a conspiracy designed to renovate the Twin Towers without having to pay for costly rewiring.
Step 2: After denigrating America's greatest tragedy, question the validity of America’s greatest accomplishment: landing a man on the moon.
Step 3: Be French.
Step 4: When confronted with your conspiracy theories, claim they were taken out of context, but don’t disown them.
Step 5: In fact, remind America that it’s not the only one that makes movies and that you can simply film in other places.
Done. That’s all it takes to complete the Marion Cotillard “Five-Step Plan for Destroying a Burgeoning Acting Career.” It’s that easy, friends. —Dan Amira
Marion Cotillard 'in shock' over 9/11 row, but will not apologise [Times Online]
Photo: Courtesy of Salon Selectives
MAKEUP
• Jenni Kayne partnered with Beauty.com to create makeup bag that doubles as a clutch in a patterned pink print. The bag comes with samples from brands like Urban Decay, L'Occitane, and Lorac and is free with a $75 purchase starting March 11. [Beauty Blogging Junkie]
• Guerlain's limited-edition spring Fleur de Feu eye-shadow palette has sold out online but is still available at Bloomingdale’s for $67. [Bella Sugar]
Stuart Karten Design's Epidermits Interactive Pet Photo by Carin Krasner. Image courtesy of Stuart Karten Design, Inc.
From the "just because we can doesn't mean we should" department, California-based design firm Stuart Karten has postmodernized the Chia Pet. These grotesque, wrinkly balls of flesh (they're made of engineered human tissue) come fully customized — your four-legged creature can be tanned, tattooed, or pierced to your desired specifications. Billed as "part pet and part fashion accessory," it can be displayed on your mantel or taken out to brunch. Either way, it's sure to generate questionable gawks and uncomfortable conversation. To see an Epidermits Interactive Pet in the flesh (ha!), stop by MoMA's "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition, up through May 12. —Rachel Wolff
Things are really starting to pick up over at the CW.
The net announced early full-season pickups for six of its star series Monday, with four dramas, one comedy and the original fierce-fest...
From left, Carolina Herrera, John Galliano, and James Coviello.Photos: Imaxtree
Photo: Getty Images
When we were invited to a private viewing of Twyla Tharp's new ballet for American Ballet Theatre, we weren't sure how to feel. We love Twyla, and her ballets — insouciant yet elegant — are an ABT specialty. But the last Twyla work this town saw was her oh-so-unfortunate Dylan musical, The Times They Are A-Changin', and we were still smarting from the visual overload of trampolining people-as-circus-animals. Plus, costume designer Norma Kamali was running 40 minutes late, and when Twyla told the first cast to skedaddle because "nothing we love like repeating, is there?" we're not gonna lie — we were a little scared of the tiny, bespectacled choreographer.
But we're happy to announce that Twyla is back to fine fighting form with this ballet. Here's what we know about the as-yet-untitled piece, which premieres as part of ABT's spring season on June 3.
It's a roughly three-section work starring most of the company's major stars. It starts with typically Tharpian solos — all looping combinations, slack arms, carefree leaps, and playfully combative duets — for dynamos Ethan Stiefel (back from an injury, and looking fierce) and Herman Cornejo. Gillian Murphy and David Hallberg — two dancers whose work is often too pristine — get a charming comic duet. And the score by Danny Elfman, often thumping and wildly percussive, reminds us a great deal of the pulse Philip Glass's music gave to one of Twyla's greatest works, In the Upper Room.
Kamali's costumes are in the embryonic stage (she was viewing the ballet for the first time), but we did see Twyla introduce her to Stiefel and Cornejo (she identified them by their character names, Rogue and Rabbit, and instructed Cornejo to remove his hoodie in Kamali's presence — the better to see his abs). And she pulled over star Paloma Herrera to compliment her "incredible presence, very inspiring for me." A vibrant score, a return to signature Twyla, and costumes befitting a gorgeous Argentine ballerina? We finally know how to feel: excited. —Rebecca Milzoff
Astoria: Voters here should be proud of Councilman Peter Vallone for protecting them against the hordes of parachute jumpers in the city. [NYS]
Carroll Gardens: The MTA was removing asbestos from the Carroll Street subway station all weekend but didn’t bother to notify the neighbors or even close the hazmat-filled dumpster. [Gowanus Lounge]
Clinton Hill: The health store at 478 Myrtle is perhaps overly ambitious: The grand opening sign is up, but the shelves are bare. [Clinton Hill Blog]
East Village: Does the MTA’s fare hike improve service? Let’s ask the eight buses lined up on First Avenue this morning, all trying to stop at 14th Street. [East Village Idiot]
Morningside Heights: The buds are just beginning on the cherry trees up here. We’re almost out of this wretched season. [Weblicist of Manhattan]
West Midwood: A new rendering for a Brooklyn College dorm is out, and it doesn’t look at all like the previous one.[Brooklyn Junction]
Williamsburg: Beneficent owner is posting flyers to get his Highland Western terrier laid. [New York Shitty]
Schamus at last night's screening.Photo: Getty Images
In his opening remarks at Sunday's screening of the British period comedy Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Focus Features CEO James Schamus described the challenge of filming in Europe with the falling dollar as "that Sophie's Choice between ordering a pizza or paying for your kids' college education." We caught up with Schamus later in the Tribeca Grand lobby and asked him to elaborate. "Well, everything on the menu [in London] has the same number next to it as you have in a restaurant in New York," he told us, laughing. "It's just double the price."
The Miss Pettigrew shoot was born during sunnier economic times, Schamus told us. "At the end of the day, we commenced the commitment to this film under a very different paradigm, before George Bush blew out the American dollar and the economy. And so he really has not been too friendly to those of us who like to make movies around the world." On top of that, he says, the U.K. changed the tax deals for movie shoots just as the company green-lit the picture. "It killed us," Schamus said. "They used to have wonderful tax incentives, and those are all gone."
He declined to talk numbers but said that Focus is determined to continue to work overseas despite the disastrous exchange rate. "We love making movies in the U.K. and in Europe," Schamus said. "I don't know who we're going to have to hold hostage in order to make the next one over there, but we're trying." —Bennett Marcus
Related: Interactive Party Lines at the Miss Pettigrew opening
Photo: iStockphoto
Photo Illustration: Getty Images, iStockphoto
And just like that, we saved ourselves $6 million. Guess you're feeling pretty silly NOW, People magazine.
Earlier: And On the Third Day, The Lopez Twins Rose From the Womb
The house band at the Double Deuce has lost its leader.
Grammy-nominated guitar great Jeff Healey, who rocked Patrick Swayze's "Road House," died Sunday at a hospital in Toronto...
DJ Jazzy Jeff. At the Rose Center for Earth and Space.Photo: Alia Kahan
We like our $6,000 jackets without Lily Allen's sunglasses.Photo: Getty Images, Imaxtree
Those Studs Weigh More Than Her [DListed]
Photo: Nicole Rivelli/HBO
Episode title: "Late Editions"
Opening quote: "Deserve got nuthin' to do with it." —Snoop
We guess this must be the triumph before the fall, because as this week's episode opens, Freamon sees his months of hard work and investigative misconduct pay off. Monk, Cheese, and other lieutenants get caught dirty; Bunk arrests Chris on his murder rap; Marlo gets pulled in on a conspiracy charge. (Freamon makes a big show of picking up Marlo's phone, then picking up the clock Marlo's been taking pictures of, we guess to pretend like he's just figuring it all out.) That night, Carcetti — desperate for good news on the crime front — is ebullient ("We did not give up on this investigation," he declares about the investigation they gave up on). Freamon's drunk and goofier than we've ever seen him: "Chardene better be awake," he says, swaying happily, "because I do believe Lester Freamon's in the mood for love." We'd like to take a mental snapshot of Lester in this moment because he is so, so dear, and we're pretty sure the shit is about to hit the fan.
In lockup, Marlo and his men are not at all in a mood for love. Marlo's found out that Omar was calling him out by name on the streets and is furious: "My name is my name!" he shouts in a bravura scene as his lieutenants look abashed. The affidavits say "a source of information" tipped the police off to the phones; we know that source is Lester's illegal wiretap, but the gangsters think it's a snitch, and suspicion falls on Michael.
Gus has his suspicions too, and he's got a reporter friend following up on Jayson Scott Templeton's too perfect stories. Nerese contradicts one of Templeton's tales, and a vet with an awesome-looking prosthetic hand confides in Gus that there were incorrect details in the story about the homeless Iraq veteran as well. Meanwhile, the Sun's management team is positioning Templeton for a Pulitzer.
On Bubbles's one-year anniversary of sobriety, he makes an impassioned speech to his NA group, one that rivals Marlo's blunter monologue as an (in vain, we're sure) Emmy moment. "Ain't no shame in holding on to grief," he says, thinking of Sherrod, "as long as you make room for other things too." Meanwhile, Bubs's old buddy Kima meets with Daniels to fess up about McNulty's fake serial killer. Pearlman can't believe it, but the two of them head down to evidence control — Daniels wincing a little at where he once was exiled and, we're sure, dwelling on the distinct possibility that he could be there again soon. (Who's there now? None other than Auggie Polk, the drunk who washed out of Daniels's investigative unit way back in season one. "Beats workin'," he says.) They dial the number on McNulty's wiretap authorization and watch, horrified, as Marlo's impounded phone springs to life.
And then there's Snoop. Cold-blooded, casually vicious Snoop. Is it too late to say that we never quite bought Snoop as a character? Sure, we know that she's based, right down to her name, on Felicia Pearson, who was famously discovered by Michael K. Williams in a Baltimore club shortly after finishing a stint for second-degree murder. Be that as it may, though, she seemed the Wire character who most represented David Simon's tendency to drop life experience — his or someone else's — directly into The Wire, whether it fit perfectly or not. Snoop may be as authentic as can be, but she never felt all that real, perhaps because she was never shown to have any inner life at all.
That all changes in this week's episode. With most of the crew in jail, Snoop comes to Michael's corner and tells him she needs him that night to help her kill Big Walter. "No need to bring your iron," she says. "I got a clean nine for you with shaved numbers." When Michael sees Snoop meet Big Walter, though, he knows it's a trap and plans his counterattack. That night, he asks Snoop to pull over in an alley, then pulls a gun on her. "Smart," she says coolly. "You always was." "What'd I do wrong?" Michael asks; he seems more hurt than angry, still a child for one last moment, wondering at the unfairness of it all. "It's how you carry yourself," Snoop answers. "Always apart, always asking why. You was never one of us, and you never could be."
She turns away and faces the window, resigned to the fact that she's lost the game. She tries neither to bargain nor to fight. Instead, she indulges herself in one quiet moment of vanity, the first glimpse we've ever seen inside her: "How my hair look, Mike?" she asks. "Look good, girl," he answers tenderly, and puts a bullet in her head.
Toys in Babeland's Mercer Street location. Photo: Robert K. Chin
Okay, he was kidding. But one mommy had a point: "How silly of the Post," she wrote. "Where do they think all the babies come from?" UrbanBaby doesn't seem to have heard the news of the new place yet, but they do have copious pages devoted to procuring sex toys. "Highly recommend," wrote one mother of a toddler. "Not-at-all embarrassing." Except one thing: "dildo I purchased is bigger than DH and he is a tad jealous." In fact, the only people who seem like they could be nervous about it are the owners of the Pink Pussycat, the mom-and-pop sex store across from Middle School 51 that's kept the neighborhood in lube since 2002. But maybe they can share the wealth? It seems like there's a big enough appetite. "There's one question the Post does not answer," said a commenter on Brownstoner. "Will the Toys in Babeland allow strollers?
Sex Toy Shop Has Bad Vibes in Park Slope [NYP]
*We fixed everyone's grammar and spelling from the message boards so it would be easier to read.
From left: Chloé and a double dose of Stella McCartney.Photos: Imaxtree
Chloé
A "pretty" collection for the Chloé girl featured all of her favorites: flowers, embellishments, detailing, and appliqués. There were organza dresses layered under tailored overcoats and coyote-trimmed jackets to crystal-detailed full skirts paired with shrunken cropped blazers. Overall, the collections was a combination of feminine looks with a masculine edge and luxurious pieces that inspire carefree simplicity.
View a slideshow of the Chloé collection.
Stella McCartney
Stella McCartney presented a strong, functional, and multifaceted collection featuring her signature chunky knits in solid and striped gun-metal grays as well as feminine silk dresses in both warm and cool palettes. Stella juxtaposed soft and sexy volume alongside heavy and chunky pieces. Highlights were fun and flirtatious off-the-shoulder dresses in stormy hued-wools, oversize scarves, washed-mohair sweaters, and playfully layered chiffon. Heavy platform knee-high wedges, booties, and stilettos complimented both head-to-toe knit dressing and flowy frocks.
View a slideshow of the Stella McCartney collection.
Tune in tomorrow to find out what Bird's Jen Mankins has to say!
From left, Costume National, Maison Martin Margiela, Stella McCartney.Photos: Imaxtree
The Game is in the clink.
The "How We Do" hip-hopster reported to Los Angeles' Twin Towers Correctional Facility to begin serving a 60-day sentence after pleading no contest last...
Max!Photo: Courtesy of Showtime
Hookups
Tina and Bette, on their way to therapy, get it on in an elevator where they're trapped after a power outage. This would have been hotter if (a) Bette had not announced she was going to have a panic attack when the elevator stopped, (b) they hadn't prefaced it with a chat about how they're good together because they both like to stay in on New Year's Eve, and (c) they weren't trapped in an elevator on their way to therapy.
Jodi's interpreter takes Max on a date that ends with a condom being unwrapped. Finally, somebody is paying attention to Max!
The ostensibly straight Molly Kroll dials up Shane because she's scared of the blackouts. Shane kindly instructs her latest infatuation on the ways of lesbianism until Molly's mom, Phyllis, busts in. If you thought that was the ultimate buzz kill, hang on: Shane overhears Molly telling her mother she digs Shane because she's simple and uneducated.
Since Tasha has nothing to do now that she has, you know, lost her entire military career, Alice gives her a grunty orgasm on the couch.
And last but not least, Jenny lures Niki back to the movie set at night with a love note, and they get naked on a bed on set (an OSHA violation if we've ever seen one) and reconcile.
Processing
There's only one serious plotline remaining this season, and it's the heart-wrenching one: Jodi remains blissfully unaware of Bette's inner turmoil, but Bette can no longer hide her passion for Tina. If the show can find a way to delicately deal with this — something more thoughtful than, say, throwing them all into a pit of Turkish oil to sort it out — we will be grateful.
Meanwhile, does The L Word have a problem with transsexuals or what? The perennially ignored Max finally gets to have an on-camera sit-down with Alice so she can half-heartedly apologize for criticizing his podcast on transsexuality, but rather than work the camera like she's been asked, Shane lackadaisically lets the lens wander around the room and totally ignores Max during his one moment of glory.
Niki accidentally kisses Adele in the dark thinking she's Jenny. At this rate, we'll find out the truth about Jenny's creeptastic assistant around the same time Hillary Clinton gets sworn into the Oval Office.
Paris Hilton failed to make her rumored cameo on an episode where every five seconds somebody said, “That's hot.” Just sayin'. —Chelsea Brady
Photo Illustration: Everett Bogue; Photos: Hulton
Archive
/Getty Images, iStockphoto
First they'll start using it in schools to quell complaints about the Presidential Fitness exam. Then a mad man will discover a way to change it so that it can be heard by all humans. He'll mount it on a truck and drag it through the streets of New York, laughing maniacally as helpless citizens scatter to avoid the horrible shriek. This man will call himself The Mosquito, and as New York becomes a bleak dystopia (because for some reason the device will also disable all machines), the police will become powerless and forced to name The Mosquito mayor for life. Yeah, that would be horrible. In reality, though, the Mosquito is just kind of a nuisance and wouldn’t even stop anyone from loitering in a particular spot if he was somewhat determined to stay, such as one youngster at Mann's building, who told WCBS that the device “doesn’t bother me,” and another said it bothered him “a little bit.” —Dan Amira
Gizmo Puts Teens Out on Their Ears [NYP]
Photo: Getty Images
"I was super into Dirty Dancing and the song 'She's Like the Wind.' It was like, 'That's the best romantic song ever written.' I wasn't introduced to a more artistic reality until much later." —Amy Adams [NYP]
"I would hope they would want to do theater. If one of my kids came to me and said, 'I want to be a movie star,' I would be, like, 'Go to your room.'" —Mary-Louise Parker on what she would do if one of her children wanted to be an actor [NYT]
"I really spent way too much time talking to person after person after person, about marketing and support, and how we're not just a chick show, we can do more than sell tampons." —Amy Sherman-Palladino on Gilmore Girls [NYT]
"No disrespect, but they do the shit that Diddy do. But even though Diddy don't write rhymes, he writes checks … They just steal rhymes." —Max B on Jim Jones [MTV]
"I think people think it's a little bit funny because when I come out at the beginning, I get an introduction, and the guy says, 'Now: The greatest songwriter in the world!' And I come out, and I'm so fat. It's unreal." —Daniel Johnston on the humor in The Devil and Daniel Johnston [A.V. Club]
The Peak of Tacky.Photo: Getty Images
Beckham has "picked up knowledge" from Roberto Cavalli and supposedly sought advice from pal Marc Jacobs. Though we normally roll our eyes when celebrities start clothing lines, we are veritably pumped about this one. What's wrong with having a little hope? After all, Beckham has come a long way from the infamous zebra dress we like to remember as the Peak of Tacky. After the jump, we take a look at some of our favorite Spice Girl's recent outfits for an indication of what we hope to see on the racks sometime soon. And homegirl isn't as bad as you'd think.
Left, Beckham performs at the Spice Girls reunion tour on February 18. We kind of like the seashell effect of her top but are on the fence about its cleavage-zoning strings. Right, Beckham takes her son to FAO Schwarz in New York on February 9, which was a Saturday, but we call it Sunday best.Photo: Getty Images
Left, Beckham in eveningwear at the Marc Jacobs show in New York on February 8. Right, Beckham in daywear at the Project Runway show in New York on February 8, which she guest-judged. Note the absence of cleavage in both.Photo: Wire Image, Getty Images
Left, Beckham near the Royalton Hotel on February 7 — we feel like capes can be fashionable and functional. Right, star power is ass power at Beckham's Saks Fifth Avenue promo event for her DVB denim line on January 30. Only she can pull off the back-of-outfit shot without turning her head.Photo: Getty Images
Left, Beckham backstage at the Spice Girls concert with Eva Longoria in Manchester on January 23. Skintight bronze with cleavage strings upstages a white shift dress any day. Right, Beckham with Roland Mouret at his menswear show in Paris on January 23. Victoria doesn't wear men.Photo: Getty Images
Beckham clutches purses, not Spice Girls, at the Roberto Cavalli menswear show in Milan on January 14.Photo: WireImage
We wouldn't be surprised to see those boob strings on a dress or two from her new line. Also, Beckham is one of the few people in the world to shun legwear even in New York in February, which we find both refreshing and uncomfortable. And if a celebrity designer is actually going to challenge us like that, we'll give her the benefit of the doubt.
Photo: Courtesy of New Line
In case you didn't get enough spoilers from the trailer for the Sex and the City movie — which suggests that Steve cheats on Miranda, Samantha cheats on Smith Jared, and Big leaves Carrie at the altar — the four stars sat down with Logo recently and elaborated a little more on the plotlines. For instance, Cynthia Nixon says Steve's cheating is about "even more than unfaithfulness" and lets us know that we're going to see a lot more of crazy-eyed Anne Meara swooping around with her Alzheimer's. "Samantha is older," Kim Cattrall says, "And that in itself is huge." And something really bad goes down with Big and Carrie. "Something major happens that fundamentally changes who Carrie is," says Sarah Jessica Parker, adding carefully that, "basically, it's about the despair you feel when you’re 20 versus the despair you feel or the loss you feel when you’re 40." Wow! This sure sounds like it's going to be a fun night out with the girls! Then again, everyone knows SATC isn't about the plot. It's about the clothes. Only 88 more days! We can't wait!
From left, Sasha Pivovarova, Anna Gushina, Anabela Belikova.Photo: Getty Images
Also worth mentioning: Sasha Pivovarova made her only European appearance. Guess those nights staying in watching movies have nursed her back to health. —Kendall Herbst
MEDIA
• The Wall Street Journal wants a cut in its reporters' book deals. Also, they fired their longtime First Amendment lawyer Stuart Karle. "We're pissed," one reporter says. [NYO, Ad Age]
• Former Condé Nast execs James Truman and Mitch Fox are collaborating on a project that will combine "a green market and eco-technology with a Cirque du Soleil-like performance series." [WWD]
FINANCE
• Despite the fact that the president doesn't think America is headed toward an economic slowdown, finance guru Warren Buffett says that the country is in a recession "by any commonsense definition." [NYP]
• The Carlyle Group lured Oliver Sarkozy away from UBS, where the half-brother of French president Nicolas Sarkozy was one of the firm's top investment bankers. [DealBook/NYT]
•HBSC weathered the financial storm better than its competitors: The bank's profit rose 21 percent in 2007 despite the subprime meltdown. [CNN]
LAW
• Hedge-fund manager Phillip Goldstein looks to sue the SEC, claiming that his First Amendment rights are being violated by the fact that his fund can't advertise. [DealBook/FT]
• The U.S. seeks sanctions against Countrywide after the lender was allegedly involved in a questionable bankruptcy case. [DealBook/NYT]
• Esquire Bank, which specializes in providing products for attorneys and law firms, will open a second location near the Nassau County Court complex in Garden City, New Jersey. [Newsday]
Will Clinton break into a smile or a frown?Photo: Getty Images
• Vaughn Ververs writes that if Clinton fails to make up much ground in the delegate race after tomorrow's primary, as is expected, pressure will build for the Democrats to unify behind one nominee. [Horserace/CBS News]
• Glenn Thrush and Rick Pearson report that Clinton may have inadvertently revealed her intentions when she predicted the race "will go on a lot — while — longer." [Swamp/Chicago Tribune]
• Don Frederick believes that, despite the Clinton campaign's attempts to lower expectations, if Obama wins either Ohio or Texas tomorrow, talk of the end of the Clinton campaign will dominate the night. [Top of the Ticket/LAT]
• Jake Tapper predicts that tomorrow's results will be mixed and that even if Obama expands his delegate lead, Clinton will soldier on. [Political Punch/ABC News]
• Perry Bacon Jr. writes that Clinton doesn't exactly sound "Huckabeesque," in that she's taking a wait-and-see approach on staying in the race. [Trail/WP]
• Craig Crawford thinks it would be a terrible sign of weakness if Obama can't win in Ohio, and it wouldn't bode well for his chances in the general election. [CQ Politics]
• Mark Halperin lists ten reasons Clinton may stay in the race even if she loses tomorrow. No. 10: She really, really, really wants to win. [Page/Time]
• Patrick Healy says that Clinton feels momentum on her side and intends to stay in the race if she wins Ohio and loses Texas, looking ahead to favorable terrain in Pennsylvania. [NYT]
• Michael Crowley doesn't think that's going to work, considering that both states were must-wins according to her husband. [Stump/New Republic]
• John Broder writes that at a brief press conference this morning, Clinton gave no indication that she planned on dropping out of the race. [Caucus/NYT]
—Dan Amira
For a complete guide to presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain — from First Love to Most Embarrassing Gaffe — read the 2008 Electopedia.
Clockwise from left, Dylan Lauren, Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss, Pilar Guzman, Frédéric de Narp, Robert Hammond. Photo: crainsnewyork.com
Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss doesn't say anything about Jerry Seinfeld at all but does say in the beginning she "made a lot of mistakes"! Mmm-hmmm. And Dylan Lauren says that if she didn't own a candy store, she'd probably have ended up becoming a video ho. Actually she says "a backup dancer on MTV" but same diff. Does this mean the next time we go into Dylan's Candy Bar she'll show us how to crank the Soulja Boy dance?
40 Under 40 [Crain's NY]
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