Day Editor's note: This clip presents the evidence for my counterpoint, John Mayer: Actually That Bad

"If it doesn't render me a superior Pog trader, I'll pass." "He was afraid to come out of the green room He was as nude as an hombre could be The heating system was poor in the theater It was cold to a major degree One two three four, why was he so shy Senor? He had an itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie Argentinian-actor peenie To be shown at the opera that day He had an itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie Argentinian-actor peenie In the green room he wanted to stay. He was afraid to uncover his peter For the photographer who would be there He knew he'd lose more than one centimeter To the chill in the opera house air! One, two, three, four, what was Juan so bashful for? He had an itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie Argentinian-actor peenie To expose for the first time that day He had an itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie Argentinian-actor peenie It was cold in the theater that day! "

[That one was your doing, people!]

Fashion Scoops: D&G BRICKS [WWD]
Memo Pad: Tax Probe [WWD]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 10:10 pm

Chuck Klosterman on the ‘Difference Between Hipsters and Retards’

We admit it: We harbor a secret crush on Chuck Klosterman. He has a nerdy hotness about him not unlike what Natalie Portman must have seen in Moby. We even almost joined the Facebook group "If Chuck Klosterman spit in my face, I'd stop taking showers," but then we promised our career counselor we wouldn't. Er, anyway, last night we went to the Highline Ballroom for a reading of his upcoming novel, Downtown Owl (even though we found it a little hard to follow). Over the course of the next half hour, we learned a few things about our little demigod:

• Chuck used to have a few nicknames back in the day: Curtains (after a pair of unfortunate sweatpants his mom made him), Facehead (also interchangeable with Headface), and Joaquin Andujar.
• Chuck does not think that rock and roll is dead. In fact, he thinks "it is pretty good right now."
• No one ever has sex in Chuck's books because he identifies more with people being rejected.
• Chuck is going to be teaching in Germany for fourteen weeks and what he will miss most is his girlfriend.

We raised our hand to ask a question. So, how do nerdy guys get chicks? "Well," Chuck said, "it's like this. You used to be able to tell the difference between hipsters and homeless people. Now, it's between hipsters and retards. I mean, either that guy in the corner in orange safety pants holding a protest sign and wearing a top hat is mentally disabled or he is the coolest fucking guy you will ever know." And in that moment, nerdy Chuck Klosterman got just a little bit hotter. —Lauren Salazar

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 7 Mar 2008 | 10:10 pm

Fall Start for Simpson Trial

Like most sequels, O.J. Simpson's follow-up to the Trial of the Century is experiencing some delays in production. A Nevada judge Friday agreed to postpone the footballer's trial on...

Source: E! Online - Top Stories | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:51 pm

Portishead Makes Triumphant Return to Sounding Like Portishead

1. Portishead, "Silence" These guys haven't released an album since 1998. But they're back! And they sound more or less the way they did in 1998. [Nocna Hudba]

2. Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood, "Dear Mr. Fantasy"
Winwood and Clapton played a Blind Faith reunion on Monday at Madison Square Garden, after which both, presumably, reunited with their chiropractors. [Inrumford]

3. Hadouken!, "Get Smashed Gate Crash"
In the classic Capcom video game Street Fighter II, hadouken! was the sound you heard just before being hit in the face by a fireball. Seems like an appropriate name for these guys. [Badical Beats]

4. Say Hi, "Toil and Trouble"
Formerly known as Say Hi to Your Mom, these guys are a lot less specific these days about whom they send their greetings to. Fortunately, they still sound the same. [Here Comes the Flood]

5. Willie Hustle, "Money Dance"
Up-and-comer Willie Hustle proudly guarantees that "if you don't like this shit, you don't like money." So, we are ambivalent about money. [Notes From a Different Kitchen]

6. Liam Finn, "Second Chance"
Finn tears down the house on Letterman with this raw performance of his new single. Watch the video for his Inigo Montoya "I'm really left-handed" moment. [Culture Bully]

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:45 pm

Poet Julia Hartwig Links Freedom With Having an Iron Will

Julia Hartwig is a poet too little known in America: Countryman Czeslaw Milosz called her “the grande dame of Polish poetry.” This volume is a slim but excellent survey of 50 years of her work. Her obsession is the waxing and waning of freedom, both metaphorically and literally, in nature. For Hartwig, it can be assured only through the exercise of iron will: “All our effort put into building the conviction / we won’t surrender to sheer force.”

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:29 pm

Review: 'Wire' junkies get one last fix

Stringer is dead. Omar is dead. And soon, "The Wire" will be, too. CNN reviewers Jo Parker and Rachel Clarke say there's much to admire about the final show.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:20 pm

A Star Trek fan

A Star Trek fan flashes the Vulcan "Live Long and Prosper" hand sign as he waits to get into to hear actors from the famed television show speak, on the third day of a 2006 Star Trek convention in Las...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:15 pm

Is There a Park Slope in Baghdad?

Dumbo: Last night was the first night that passersby could see Adriana Varella's giant Applied Kinetics projection installation at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge. There are no pictures yet, so go tonight and see it yourself. [DumboNYC]
East Village: A funny guerilla-marketing tactic for a Black Lips show has finally made our favorite advertising blogger smile! With black lips! [Copyranter]
Park Slope: After a kind of annoying string of posts on a couple of real-estate blogs about what neighborhoods are the "Park Slope"s of other cities, this blog just gets right down to business: What is the Park Slope of Iraq? [Gowanus Lounge]

Soho: Just south of the contentious Trump Soho, there's a development that can make everybody happy — a lovely sculpture garden near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. [NYT]
West Village: Residents on Community Board 2 were adamant that NYU should not transform parts of Washington Street into a pedestrian-only walkway. Some even "infused a lot of hostility into the entire discussion." We thought walkways made people happy! [Streetsblog]
Williamsburg: Gene Kaufman is bringing two new residential buildings and one hotel into the hood. [Curbed]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:15 pm

Tom Brady's Cologne Hits Shelves; Fake-Eyelash Lessons by Laura Mercier

FRAGRANCE:
• Get ready to see Tom Brady's face plastered all over Kmart. He's the face of Stetson Fresh cologne, which hits stores this month and is under $20 at the discount retailer. [Now Smell This]

EYES:
• Laura Mercier lash experts hunker down at Henri Bendel for lessons on how to apply fake eyelashes so you can be just like J.Lo. Laura Mercier's are $18 a pair. [Style.com]

HAIR:
• Stylist Kevin Murphy rolls out a hair-care line free of the common allergens paraben and sulfate. [WWD]

NAILS:
• Sephora is the only U.S. retailer to import Dior’s Poison Blue nail polish. Chanel’s variation, Blue Satin, sold out instantly, so get thee to Sephora if you want designer blue nails. [Fashionista]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:13 pm

Artist Zhang Xiaotao Says Wear a Seat Belt

In Passage, Chinese painter Zhang Xiaotao demonstrates what — in all its starkly unapologetic reality — would have happened if Will Smith’s Agent J had pressed the red button. Xiaotao’s work is part of the group exhibition “Semiosis,” open as of yesterday at Chelsea’s ChinaSquare gallery. —Rachel Wolff

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:00 pm

Seinfeld Not Revisiting Seinfeld

Another show about nothing? Nothing doing. Jerry Seinfeld and NBC have denied a report in the New York Post claiming the comic is in talks to star as himself in a sitcom similar in style to...

Source: E! Online - Top Stories | 7 Mar 2008 | 8:52 pm

Big-voiced 'Idol' finalist a shy, giggling teen

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 7 Mar 2008 | 8:20 pm

Heilemann: Can Obama Handle the Awakened Media Beast?

So what to make of Monstergate? On the surface, the campaign controversy du jour could hardly be a more straightforward story. A few days ago, Samantha Power, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author and Harvard scholar who served until a few hours ago as one of Barack Obama's top foreign-policy advisers, was quoted by the Edinburgh-based daily The Scotsman heaping scorn on Hillary Clinton: "She's a monster, too — that is off the record — she is stooping to anything … You just look at her and think, 'Ergh.'" This morning, as word of the incendiary indiscretion spread (the story led the Today show) and the fever mounted, a number of congressional Clinton backers demanded that Power resign from the campaign. "It's really a test for Obama," said Representative Nita Lowey of New York, and she was right. For months now, Obama has vowed to fire anyone on his staff who "is involved in trying to tear people down personally,” as he put in December. So Power's exit late this morning was, in a sense, inevitable.

But Monstergate, I think, reflects something deeper: the fact that many of the people around Obama have grown accustomed to, shall we say, a forgiving national press corps. Retroactive declarations of off-the-recordness happen all the time. Whether the journalist confronted with one chooses to let it slide or be a hard-ass is a matter of discretion. How much do you like the source? How much do you need the source? It's fair to say that many people in Obama's circle believe that Clinton is in fact a monster. Many have said something similar to reporters. And this was not the first time one of them slipped up on attribution. But until now, the press, as part of a broader pattern of kid-gloves treatment of Obama, has largely chosen to let those mistakes pass. And that has bred a certain sloppiness — one that, in the case of Power, has now come back to bite them.

This sloppiness is not confined to dealing with the press. Much has been written about the case of Obama's economic guru, Austan Goolsbee, and the Canadians, but it's worth revisiting in the context of Monstergate. In telling the Canucks to pay no attention to his boss' saber-rattling on NAFTA, Goolsbee was being candid and stating the plain truth: Nobody who knows Obama believes for a second that he is anything but a staunch free trader; they know that he has no intention of trashing the trade treaty. But Goolsbee was also being sloppy. And so was the campaign in its ludicrously transparent, transparently ludicrous efforts to mislead the press about what occurred. (The Canadians contacted Goolsbee not in his capacity as Obama's guy on economics but merely as a University of Chicago academic? As Bill Clinton might put it, Give me a break!) The whole imbroglio fairly reeked of an operation that had become accustomed — too accustomed for its own good — to a sleepy, besotted press corps.

By now, of course, it's clear to anyone with two eyes in his head that the kid-gloves days are over for Obama. Suddenly, the press is treating him more like it has handled Clinton since, er, day one. As a front-runner, in other words. The shift in tone and temper is coming as something of a shock to Obamaland, and not least to the candidate himself. In a post a few days ago, I remarked on the somewhat contentious news conference that Obama held last Monday in San Antonio, the one that ended with reporters annoyed at its brevity and Obama saying, plaintively, "C'mon, guys, I just answered, like, eight questions." Last night at dinner with two of the savviest political analysts I know, one of them maintained that this was an utterance infinitely revealing about Obama — the equivalent of "It depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is" for WJC or "No controlling legal authority" for Al Gore. I'm not sure I'd go quite that far, but I do believe that it speaks volumes about BHO's mind-set and expectations regarding the national media. (Let’s not forget that Obama himself at first denied that the Goolsbee meeting with the Canadians ever took place.) It also gives off the distinct whiff of arrogance and entitlement that’s lately been emanating from him. Eight questions! OMG! That's, like, three more than I usually answer — and five more than I should have to answer!"

Let's be clear. Few campaigns I've ever covered have been run with as much skill and discipline as Obama's has. His chief strategist, David Axelrod, handles the press with aplomb and savvy. Robert Gibbs, his communications czar, is one tough cookie. But the rest of Obama's adjutants — and the candidate himself — had better get with the program. The Media Beast, after months of blissful slumber, is now awake and as grouchy as an undercaffeinated grizzly bear. And the Clinton campaign has no intention of letting it return to sleep. Unless and until all of Team Obama understand what that means, there are going to be a lot more days like this. Days that end with blood and severed limbs all over the floor. —John Heilemann

Earlier: Now the Fun Starts: Obama Goes Negative
Samantha Power Thinks Hillary Clinton Is a Problem From Hell
John McCain Brings All the Billionaires to the Yard

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.

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 7 Mar 2008 | 8:17 pm

Terrence Howard Likes the Pain

Tennessee Williams wrote the character of Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as a man of "calm indifference," an ex-football star saddled with alcoholism, a broken leg, and an unrequited love for his buddy Skipper, who's just committed suicide. It's quite a challenge to get inside that head, and Terrence Howard, who plays Brick in the new production that just opened on Broadway last night, freely admits that he needed help. He studied past performances by Paul Newman and Tommy Lee Jones, as well as "did a lot of reading" on their thoughts about the role. "Newman says he finally understood the character Brick when he did Cool Hand Luke," Howard said at the opening night after-party. "It took fourteen or fifteen years for it to sink in, that calm indifference that Tennessee planted in him in 1958. And I think that what I've learned about Brick will inform every performance that I ever do for the rest of my life." So what, exactly did he learn? "Listen. Listen to the birds. See the clouds."

We're not sure exactly what the birds have been telling Howard lately, but one must have talked him into portraying his Brick as a man who also has quite a bit of indifference to his body … and pain. His Brick lunges and limps and crashes to the floor, and that's the way Howard likes it.

"Oh yeah, I've hurt myself," Howard said. "You have to, along the way. I'm happiest when I do get hurt. Because then it gives me something very real to respond to." His director, Debbie Allen, agreed. "It's good for him! It's good for him to feel that pain!" she said. "Terrence is the kind who goes for it so hard that he does hurt himself every now and then. But it's all right. He never cries about it. He just uses it onstage." "It happens probably once every three weeks," Howard said. "The knees take a beating, and the toes, because they drag along the carpet when I'm coming after Maggie, and every once in a while, you'll hit your elbow on the table."

What about co-star Anika Noni Rose? Does she ever feel the pain during the heated fight in which he tries to kill her by swinging at her with his crutch, hitting a chair instead? "No, never," he said. "It's perfectly choreographed." "That's crap!" Rose laughed. "Of course I've gotten hit by with the crutch! That's what happens onstage. Usually it's something like the chair is out of position, and if the chair is not where it's supposed to be, things go awry. Or a piece of the crutch breaks and flies off and hits me. That man is strong! Every time he hits something, it bends or breaks. We go through a new crutch every night. It's ridiculous." And in any case, she seems to like the pain as well. "Whatever," she said, laughing. "Worse things have happened." —Jada Yuan

Related: Oh, the Mendacity [NYM]

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 8:15 pm

Dude Picks the Exact Wrong Moment to Send ‘We Did It’ Letter

We don’t know what the chances of a coincidence like this happening are, but the fact that the letters and photos received on Capitol Hill yesterday and the Times Square bombing have nothing to do with one another is a total mindfuck. To recap: Yesterday afternoon, as many as 100 members of Congress received a holiday-card-like photo showing a man in front of the Times Square recruiting center that was bombed earlier that morning. On it was written the sinister message, “We Did It, Happy New Year.” Along with the card was what’s described as a “twenty-page rambling rant,” the kind reclusive cabin-dwellers write to Congress on a daily basis.

And yet somehow, the FBI has concluded the letters and the bombing in Times Square are completely unrelated. “It was just an incredibly unbelievable coincidence,” a law-enforcement official told the AP. Either this is one of those bad FBI lies (“Relax, we’re not abusing our powers”), or something screwy happened in the space-time continuum. A Los Angeles antiwar activist who has been cleared of any wrongdoing apparently sent the letters and photos. “We Did It” was not sinister at all but celebratory; it was referring to the Democratic victories in the 2006 midterm elections, as in, “We Did It! Yay!” We can only imagine the poor guy’s surprise when the FBI stormed his cabin. —Dan Amira

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 7 Mar 2008 | 8:00 pm

Review: '10,000 BC' should be left to rot

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 7 Mar 2008 | 7:33 pm

Derek Lam Doesn't Knock Knockoffs

Designers like Narciso Rodriguez and Diane Von Furstenberg are trying to pass a law to help fight the knockoff industry, but Derek Lam isn't bothered by it. "There's no such thing as original design, and I'd be the last person to say that I hadn't been inspired by people like Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent," said Lam last night at a launch party for his new sunglasses line at ILORI. "In a way, that's what fashion's about." Lam doesn't mind when retailers like Zara reference his designs but isn't so into the Canal Street racket (which, he helpfully pointed out, helps fuel the drug trade). "If Zara's inspired by something, I'm done with the collection for that season. I move on to the next. It keeps me creative." As for his new shades, "They're the best for covering up a hangover — that's what sunglasses are made for." But do they work for the haggard look on the campaign trail? Lam had no remedy for Hillary Clinton but did pick out a cat-eyed pair for Michelle Obama. We swooned. Are you reading this, Zara designers? We need a pair, stat. —Amy Preiser

Related: Mr. Rodriguez Goes to Washington (for Copyright Protection)

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 7:30 pm

Lin-Manuel Miranda of ‘In the Heights’ on No Longer Being in the Heights

It's been a heady year for 28-year-old Lin-Manuel Miranda. Around this time in 2007, In the Heights — the hip-hop- and salsa-infused musical about life in his hometown hood, Washington Heights, that he conceived while a student at Wesleyan — opened on a $2.5 million budget at 37 Arts, with him in the lead. It elicited loving reviews and loud ovations from both Latino teens and white old-timers alike. Now the show’s taking Broadway, opening tonight at the Richard Rodgers with a $10 million budget, a retooled book and score, and high hopes that it can re-create the crossover appeal it found last year. Vulture talked to Miranda before a recent afternoon rehearsal and found that, despite spending the past year schmoozing with Stephen Schwartz and John Kander, he sounded like the same witty, no-bullshit Nueva Yorker that captured hearts last year.

So what’s different about the show from last year’s incarnation?
The only new lead we have is Carlos Gomez [who plays Kevin, the father of Nina, who's torn between the Heights and her new life at Stanford]. We've added four more people to the mix, a bigger ensemble, and more swings. Off Broadway, if more than three people were sick, we'd have to do a cut show. Sunday night we'll put in Javi [Munoz], one of my understudies, so I can watch the show and take some notes. I'll have to wear a disguise so the audience doesn't kill me for not being in it. Last year, I wasn't in it the night Raúl Esparza came.

Was he pissed?
No, we talked, and he loved the show. But it is my face on the poster. I got hit with a purse once by a woman who was angry I wasn't in it the night she came.

And now your budget is four times the size it was last time around. How has that changed things?
Off Broadway, I used my own belt for my own pants, and now I have a belt for every pair of pants [in the show], none of which are mine.

You've talked about some people criticizing the show for not showing enough gangs and drugs.
Yeah, one guy said to me, "I lived there and there was a lot of domestic violence." And I was like, "Maybe in your house." It was jarring for people who haven't spent time in Washington Heights to not see scenes like the one in Shaft — where the drug deal takes place in the Heights. But if I'd tried to put that in, I wouldn't have been honest with my experience there. That stuff existed, but it wasn't central to my upbringing.

And are you rolling around any new musical ideas?
I have an idea for a big musical that I won't be able to write for about another ten years because I'm not old enough.

Is it about being brokenhearted or something?
I could write about that tomorrow! No, it would take place in and around the Civil War. But I don't want to jump into another original musical right away, since I'm going to be in this show for a little while. I've been talking to Stephen Schwartz about working on a little thing.

Wow, you're really working with musical-theater royalty. Who else have you met?
John Kander's become a really good friend in this process and has been a big champion of the show. I got to meet Arthur Laurents a couple of months ago. And Stephen Flaherty, or Ahrens and Flaherty, who wrote Ragtime. And Jeanine Tesori [who composed Thoroughly Modern Millie]. I'm meeting all my heroes.

Do you still live in the Heights?
I was living in Inwood, and the rent practically doubled, so I said, "For this, I'll live in midtown," so now I live closer to the theater district. But my dream is to buy a place up in the Heights — I really miss my neighborhood, because my parents and my girlfriend still live there, so I'm uptown as much as possible. Down here I don't have a place where they’ll press my ham and cheese in a toaster.
–Tim Murphy

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 7:30 pm

Bethenny Frankel Tortures Ikea Employees Until They Give Her What She Wants

Name: Bethenny Frankel
Age: 37
Neighborhood: Upper East Side
Occupation: Health-conscious celebrity chef, star of The Real Housewives of New York City, Health-magazine columnist, Pepperidge Farm Baked Naturals spokeswoman.

Who's your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
My dog, Cookie (who is the long-lost twin of Rachel Bilson's dog, Thurman Murman).

What's the best meal you've eaten in New York?
I'm a huge fan of Craft. I love assorted mushrooms, an eclectic à la carte menu, and I love when the dessert is as wonderful as the meal itself. I also love Tom Colicchio. He's a humble, talented, real guy.

In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
No two days are the same. Today, I wrote ten healthy recipes for Pepperidge Farm, wrote an article for Health, and created a new recipe — vegan chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting.

Would you still live here on a $35,000 salary?
I lived here when all I had was $8,000 in my bank account and no salary. Now I have a successful brand, Bethennybakes, I'm a spokesperson for Pepperidge Farm and Health magazine, and I still live in the same apartment. New Yorkers make it work.

What's the last thing you saw on Broadway?
Jersey Boys.

Do you give money to panhandlers?
No.

What's your drink?
"Skinny girls margarita"™ Recipe: Patròn Silver on the rocks, four limes, and a tiny splash of Cointreau.

How often do you prepare your own meals?
I either cook or bake every day.

What's your favorite medication?
Sleep.

What's hanging above your sofa?
An Ikea $99 mirror that is eight feet long; rich, dark wood; and looks exactly like one in Crate & Barrel for over $1,000. Ikea stopped making them, and I literally tortured the manager until he allowed me to buy it off the wall (an unprecedented breaking of their store policy).

How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
Anything above $40 (what I paid until this year), but that's not fair because Warren Tricomi gives me the "model rate." It must be for being a "model" citizen.

When's bedtime?
As early as possible.

Which do you prefer, the old Times Square or the new Times Square?
I spend no time in Times Square.

What do you think of Donald Trump?
I like that he says, "Do what you love, and you'll be successful." This quote defines my life.

What do you hate most about living in New York?
I love New York.

Who is your mortal enemy?
Enemies are negative. I focus my energy on positive role models and people who inspire me.

When's the last time you drove a car?
Last summer.

Who should be the next president?
In the nation of yoga, sleep, surfing, and snowboarding, ME.

Times, Post, or Daily News?
I love them all.

Where do you go to be alone?
My bed, but Cookie is always with me.

What makes someone a New Yorker?
It's in their blood.

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 7 Mar 2008 | 7:30 pm

Model, rights campaigner goes missing

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 7 Mar 2008 | 7:16 pm

Brad Paisley, Sugarland Lead CMT Noms

Paisley's 'Online,' Sugarland's 'Stay' videos up for CMT awards.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 7 Mar 2008 | 7:06 pm

No Hipster Tyke-Rocker, Just the King of All Tyke Rock

Here’s a throwback to simpler times, when kids’ music sounded like kids’ music. This soothing and sometimes silly collection of animal-themed faves proves that the “Eensy Weensy Spider” can still enthrall. There are classics (from “Baa Baa Black Sheep” to “Baby Beluga”) and songs introducing new friends (“Octopus’s Garden”). And if lyrics about “taking us to the zoo” give her the wrong idea, skip to the sleepiest take on “Goodnight, Irene” to date.

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 7:00 pm

Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair to Teach at Yale University

Tony Blair, fresh into his first year of retirement from helming the United Kingdom, will take up a position as a fellow at Yale in the fall. A press release from the university announces:

Mr. Blair will lead a seminar at Yale and participate in a number of events around the campus. The course in which he will participate with Yale faculty will examine issues of faith and globalization. His efforts at Yale relate to the work of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation that he will be launching later this year.

Blair will be a "Howland Distinguished Fellow," a post once filled by Indira Ghandi. Blair's son Euan is currently studying for a master's degree in international relations at the school. In 2006, it was reported that Harvard, Princeton, and Yale all competed for Euan's affections when he was choosing schools, and in the end he selected Yale, which gave him a full scholarship. A prescient move, it would now seem.

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 7 Mar 2008 | 6:46 pm

‘New York’ Critic Sam Anderson Enlivens National Book Critics Circle Awards

Every awards show has to address the same problem: How do you make the ceremony long and borderline tedious enough to signify the momentousness of the occasion? Last night’s National Book Critics Circle Awards were not exactly a black-tie affair — it’s free, for God’s sake — but the event in the New School auditorium did achieve the requisite level of pomp by having three levels of introduction: President John Freeman introduced a member of one of the six prize-judging panels, who announced the nominees before … introducing another panelist, who gave a longish description of the winning book, sometimes opaque enough so that you only realized who the winner was when he or she got up onstage.

The winners themselves were well deserving, if a little on the predictable side, including Alex Ross for criticism, Mary Jo Bang for poetry, Edwidge Danticat for her tough, sad memoir, and Junot Díaz for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. We’d love to have seen Díaz, ever a live wire, come up and give a profanity-laced, Tolkien-referencing acceptance speech, but it was not to be, as he happens to be in Venezuela. Instead there was his (and Danticat’s) agent Nicole Aragi, who said nothing, and editor Sean McDonald, who gave a wry little speech but never his own name (Mr. Frey’s onetime editor was perhaps lying low during Fake-Memoirist Week II). Best speech of the night has to go to the year’s winner of the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, Sam Anderson, who gave a rousing defense of the art of criticism (and we’re not just saying that because he’s OUR book critic). He may have compared himself to Aristotle and God, but we assure you it was with due humility. —Boris Kachka

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 6:45 pm

John McCain Brings All the Billionaires to the Yard

John McCain is coming to New York next Tuesday for a giant fund-raiser to power his national campaign, reports Elizabeth Benjamin at the Daily News. It sounds like it's going to be a doozy — the host committee includes Henry Kissinger, Alfonse D'Amato, Woody Johnson, Georgette Mosbacher, and Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain. Tickets are either $1,000 or $2,300 per person (get it? The most you can donate to one candidate?), and it will take place at the Plaza. So glamorous. But let's get down to business (literally). How many billionaires will be in attendance? And how many billions do they represent? From Forbes.com's most recent list, we count five: Henry Kravis (the world's 178th-richest man, worth $5.5 billion), Ray Dalio (worth $4 billion), Louis Bacon (worth $1.7 billion), Marc Rowan (worth $1.5 billion), and Robert Fisher ($1.4 billion). That's a total of over $14 billion in the room with the Republican presidential nominee. There are several dozen other multimillionaires on the list, plus Lord knows how many buying tickets — so we'll conservatively push that number over the $15 billion barrier. At first, we wondered how on earth any of the Democrats could get that much money into one room. And then we remembered that all Hillary needs to do is have Warren Buffet hold another fund-raiser, and she'd be in the company of quadruple that amount. Nobody else would even need to show up.

McCain Returns for NY Cash [NYDN]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 7 Mar 2008 | 6:45 pm

Kelly Rowland Had Breast Enhancement

Kelly Rowland says she" feels complete," after breast enhancement surgery.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 7 Mar 2008 | 6:33 pm

CEOs Fry at Congressional Hearing!

Oh, not really. We're just exaggerating. That's what the media does, according to Chuck Prince and Angelo Mozilo, who have both offered up the line that the media has "grossly exaggerated" the amounts of their compensation in their testimony in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today. Over at Portfolio, Elizabeth Olson is live-blogging the event, which also stars former Merrill Lynch CEO Stan O'Neal, and she has reported that, among other things, Countrywide Financial CEO Mozilo looks "tan and confident," but unhappy. The day started out with a bang — chair Henry Waxman, who called for the hearing, wondered aloud whether the "hundreds of millions of dollars [the CEOs] were given represent a complete disconnect from reality," but Republican representative Tom Davis killed his joy by saying that they "should not degenerate into a sanctimonious search for scapegoats.… Punishing individual corporate executives with public floggings like this may be a politically satisfying ritual — like an island tribe sacrificing a virgin to a grumbling volcano." Indeed. Also, creative.

Credit C.E.O. Comp Under Fire, IV [Daily Brief/Portfolio]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 7 Mar 2008 | 6:20 pm

Contestants Turn on ‘Project Runway’

Has Project Runway gone stale? Season-four runner-up Jillian Lewis and winner Christian Siriano think so. Lewis tells WWD:

"Personally, watching it, they need to change the format or something to refresh the love people have for the show." … [Lewis] felt the show could last, "maybe another season or two. I love the show, but now it feels it's easier to predict what's going to happen."

Aw, is somebody being a sore loser? Just because Christian won the fan favorite award and the whole show and got Tim Gun to say the word "fierce" doesn't mean the show's over. But oddly enough, the big winner agreed with Stewart:

"This was a really hard season to beat, and I'm kinda worried about next season, because I feel like it'll be compared to our season," he said. "I'm thinking they need to change it up, but I don't want them to change it for the better 'cause then I'll be jealous."

Hold the phone. We're not tired of the show, honey. We're getting a little tired of your attitude. Yes, Siriano's talented, and yes, he let his fierceness shield down and cried in the finale. But didn't you just want to flatten his hair and slap him across the face now and again? Learn from the master, son: Tim Gunn will always make it work for us.

Running Off the Runway [WWD]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 6:15 pm

Justin Timberlake Feeling Productive

Justin Timberlake is looking to bring viewers back to NBC. The pop star is teaming with Reveille, the production company behind "Ugly Betty" and "The Office," to bring the...

Source: E! Online - Top Stories | 7 Mar 2008 | 6:12 pm

Lil Jon Promises Forthcoming Album Will Include All-New Bullshit

"Music now … it's just not fresh. I want my shit to be fresh like in the '80s, when you was waiting on that new Nice & Smooth album. Or that new De La Soul album. I wanna have people hear these songs and be like, 'This is not that same old bullshit." —Lil Jon [MTV]

''I dove in with both feet. If I didn't feel it was morally sound, or that it would be easily misinterpreted that I'm just C. Thomas Howell in [Soul Man], I would've stayed home.'' —Robert Downey Jr. on playing an actor who uses blackface in Tropic Thunder [EW]

"I worry about things I shouldn't worry about, that I don't need to be thinking about, like, what will the world be like for my children? And I don't have children! I think about my future children often." —Amy Adams [MTV]

"I think Huckabee has been incredibly effective, but the least smart thing I've seen him do is stand there with Chuck Norris. It's like, What — can't you get your own fans?" —George Clooney [NYT]

"The odds are always against you. You have got to go over the best material, and that should win out, not withstanding any track record. I don't care how many No. 1's you have written in the past, have you written a new No. 1?" —Clive Davis urges singers to stop writing songs [Reuters via Yahoo]

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 6:00 pm

Lisa Marie: Not Pudgy, Pregnant

The King's princess is getting ready to welcome a new subject. Lisa Marie Presley has confirmed, with excitement and yet a great deal of reluctance, that she and husband Michael Lockwood...

Source: E! Online - Top Stories | 7 Mar 2008 | 5:57 pm

Sorry, Seinfeld fans, report is false

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 7 Mar 2008 | 5:54 pm

Boy Band Mogul Pearlman Pleads Guilty

Boy band mogul Pearlman pleads guilty to federal charges of money laundering.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 7 Mar 2008 | 5:41 pm

Reality Check: 'Idol' Voting Right on the Money

While I know that the 36 million people who voted on 'American Idol' this week didn't make their selections solely to please me, I must say that I had the all-too-unfamiliar sensation of feeling that they had.
Source: FOXNews.com | 7 Mar 2008 | 5:22 pm

Swayze Projects Continue Despite Cancer

Patrick Swayze Doctor 'Optimistic' About Cancer Prognosis; His Projects to Go On
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 7 Mar 2008 | 5:18 pm

Victoria Beckham Sacrifices Her Sense of Self for British ‘Vogue’

We confess we were miffed when Victoria Beckham went nuts for Christian Siriano's collection in the Project Runway season finale and proclaimed she would love, even feel honored, to wear his clothes. Beckham may not be known for her minimalist fashion sense (when Roberto Cavalli designs your tour clothes, subtlety just isn't for you), but even we were surprised she went so gaga for Siriano's ruffle-and-feather parade.

Maybe her recent British Vogue shoot had something to do with her new ruffle love. Posh graces the cover of the issue hitting newsstands Monday, and the mag's Website has two, yes, two videos of Posh in all her behind-the-scenes glory. The first, a short montage with photographer Nick Knight, has our girl drowning in huge, billowing ruffled gowns. In numero dos, we find out that Posh agreed to give up final approval and let the editors go wild. Mon dieu! Is there Xanax around? How can the image-control freak that she is let this happen? Did she not have a massive spaz-out? "I think she got a little bit nervous when she saw the hair tongs coming out," editor Alexandra Shulman says. Now that's the kind of video we wanna see!

Video: Victoria Beckham — Behind the Scenes [British Vogue]
Video: The New Vogue — April 2008 [British Vogue]
Related: Victoria Beckham Launches Frock Line

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 5:10 pm

Pop Tarts: Adriana Lima Reveals Who's Sexy

'I love Russell Crowe,' she told Pop Tarts while showing off the brand new VS Biofit Uplift Bra.
Source: FOXNews.com | 7 Mar 2008 | 5:00 pm

Another Sad Day for Schwarzman

FINANCE
• Where has all of Steve Schwarzman's money gone? A report saying that his fund would earn less than half of what was predicted caused Blackstone's stock price to tumble. [NYP]
• Former Countrywide Financial, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch execs get ready to explain to Congress why they got huge paychecks as their shareholders lost billions. [DealBook/NYT]
• Financier Carl Icahn ups his stake in Motorola. [DealBook/NYT]

MEDIA
• The motto of The Wall Street Journal's new glossy supplement: "Don't disrespect rich people's respect for money." [WWD]
• Why aren't there more female sports reporters? Don't people who like to watch sports also like women? [Big Lead]
• Jerry Seinfeld is in talks with NBC to star in a show that sounds very similar to his old one. Which would be, you know, great. [NYP]

LAW
• New York City assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV faces charges of drunk driving. Not, unfortunately for us, on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. [NYT]
• Writer Walter Mosley's ex-wife claims she's entitled to 25 percent of the income from his books. [Law.com]
• Visa's lawyers could hit the big bucks if the credit-card company goes ahead with an IPO. [Law.com]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 7 Mar 2008 | 5:00 pm

'American Idol' Now Down to Final 12'

'Idol' Dumps Another 4 Contestants, Leaving 12 Finalist
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 7 Mar 2008 | 4:54 pm

Davis Dreaming of a Whitney Christmas

The end of Whitney Houston's long and winding comeback trail appears to be in sight. Looking to put her own tumultuous personal life behind her, Houston has been working on a new album...

Source: E! Online - Top Stories | 7 Mar 2008 | 4:29 pm

NBC Shoots Down Report of New Seinfeld Series

NBC and Jerry Seinfeld shot down a New York Post report Friday that the comic was in talks with the network about a new sitcom. The report, citing no sources, said Seinfeld would play himself in a New York series similar to "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
Source: FOXNews.com | 7 Mar 2008 | 4:12 pm

Boy band impresario pleads guilty

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 7 Mar 2008 | 4:04 pm

How to Wear Super-Skinny Leather Pants

On Wednesday night, Lindsay Lohan was snapped wearing shiny black leggings, and earlier this week Rihanna created a fuss when images of her running around Paris during Fashion Week in similar trousers surfaced. The look didn't do either starlet any favors, since the key to pulling off the super-tight leather pants look is ensuring you have the actual pants. A sliver of room between flesh and leather, after all, allows a gal to walk, cross her legs, and climb stairs, and all those other things that legs are good for.

Fortunately, we've just seen quite a few super-skinny leather pants that looked pretty great on the runways, like Givenchy's. And there are a few stars who know how to pull off the look. After the jump, we show you who wore 'em right and who wore 'em wrong.

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 3:35 pm

Review: Heist movie gets the 'Job' done

There really was a "Bank Job" -- though it's not quite the way it's portrayed in the new film. That film does a decent job of laying out an old-fashioned heist, and gives audiences their money's worth.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 7 Mar 2008 | 3:27 pm

Boy Band Mogul Lou Pearlman Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges

Pearlman pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges of conspiracy, money laundering and making false statements during a bankruptcy proceeding.
Source: FOXNews.com | 7 Mar 2008 | 3:26 pm

Paul & Joe Does Line With Pierre Cardin; London Design Students Make Bras From Wood

• Sophie Albou, founder and creative director of Paul & Joe, will do a collaborative line with Pierre Cardin to show her appreciation for the label. [British Vogue]

• Design students showed bras made from wood, suede, and leather, as well as bras with hoods, in an underwear-design competition in London. [Telegraph]

• Brazil's Fashion Weeks in Rio de Janeiro and São Paolo delivered, impressing buyers with lower-priced labels. [WWD]

• The people at Christie's explain how to spot a fake Hermès bag. [Times]

• Victoria Beckham tells British Vogue she doesn't go to the gym because she can't bear to wear flats. [WWD]

• Allure will launch Allure Spa, a magazine all about — get this — spas. [WWD]

• Danish supermodel May Andersen is designing a line of jeans. [British Vogue]

• Colin Farrell tried to hit on model Meghan Lowther when she was with her boyfriend at the Rose Bar. [NYP]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 3:11 pm

Junot Diaz wins big award for 'Oscar Wao'

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 7 Mar 2008 | 2:55 pm

'American Idol' down to its final 12

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 7 Mar 2008 | 2:44 pm

Rihanna Helps Leukemia Patient Find Bone Marrow Donor

A leukemia patient in dire need of a bone marrow transplant has found a donor after Grammy Award-winning singer Rihanna publicized her case, People magazine reported.
Source: FOXNews.com | 7 Mar 2008 | 2:22 pm

FOX411: Madonna Won't Perform at Rock Hall Show

Madonna won't perform at Monday night's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Show.
Source: FOXNews.com | 7 Mar 2008 | 2:17 pm

Sales and Events: Last Chance at 75 Percent Off Paul Stuart, 70 Percent Off Rachel Roy

STARTING TODAY:
• Victoria’s Secret lowered clearance prices at VictoriasSecret.com. Find camis, bras, panties, and beauty products up to 70 percent off. Panties are five for $15, and the Angels Secret Embrace bra is down to $14 from $45.

ENDING TODAY:
• Rachel Roy's blouses, slacks, and dresses are up to 70 percent off; the beaded Anza dress was $1,645 but is now $500. 148 W. 37th St., nr. Seventh Ave., second fl. (212-629-7170); noon–7.

• Men’s and women’s clothes and accessories from Paul Stuart are up to 75 percent off; a blue houndstooth suit was $1,084 but is now $271. 317 W. 33rd St., nr. Eighth Ave. (718-747-1656); 3/4–3/6 (9–6:30); 3/7 (9–5).

• Sweet kids’ gear from Jacadi and Rachel Riley is half off; a girl’s three-tiered dress with bloomers is now $35. 261 W. 36th St., nr. Seventh Ave., second fl. (212-947-8748); 3/4 and 3/6 (10–7); 3/5 and 3/7 (10–6).

EVENTS ON SATURDAY:
• Get fitted for the perfect pair of jeans at the J Brand “Perfect Fit” event. A complimentary organic J Brand tote comes with any purchase. Owl’s Lab, 20 E. 12th St., nr. Fifth Ave. (212-633-2672); 12–5.

• Bloomingdale's and Details magazine host Men's Denim Day. Buy two or more pairs of regularly priced jeans and get 20 percent off. Bloomingdale's, 504 Broadway, nr. Broome St. (212-729-5900); 1–5.

STARTING SATURDAY:
• Double-breasted wool jackets, pencil skirts, and printed halter dresses are up to 80 percent off at Johnson. Through 3/9. 179 Orchard St., nr. Houston St. (646-602-8668); cash only; noon–6.

ENDING SATURDAY:
• Find up to 80 percent off handbags, jewelry, apparel, and shoes at the Wink annual warehouse sale. The brands on sale include Alice + Olivia, Seychelles, and Rebecca Minkoff. 188 Columbus Ave., nr. 68th St.; (212-877-7727); 3/6-3/8 (11+7).

ENDING SUNDAY:
• Frames and shades from Oakley, LaFont, and Vera Wang are half off at 10/10 Optics; Ronit Furst hand-painted frames are now $115. 50. Madison Ave. at 26th St. (212-366-1010); Mon.–Thurs. 9:30–7; Fri. (9:30–5); Sun. (noon–5:30).

• Kid Robot's warehouse sale knocks up to 50 percent off select toys and apparel. 70 Greene St., nr. Spring St. (212-966-6688); Mon.–Sun. (11–8).

• Even though they’re not opening a shop in the city until 2009, Nau is taking 40 to 75 percent off their outdoorsy men’s and women’s clothes; a women’s cashmere wrap is $69. Openhouse Gallery, 201 Mulberry St., nr. Kenmare St. (646-356-8337); 3/6 (11–7); 3/7 and 3/8 (noon–8); 3/9 (noon–6).

For more deals, check out our Sales & Bargains calendar.

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 7 Mar 2008 | 1:40 pm

Barron Hilton Charged With DUI

Paris Hilton's 18-year-old brother was charged Thursday with four misdemeanor counts stemming from his Feb. 12 arrest on suspicion of drunken driving.
Source: FOXNews.com | 7 Mar 2008 | 1:20 pm

Kelly Rowland Has Breast Enhancement

Kelly Rowland tells People magazine in its March 17 issue that she had plastic surgery last October to bring her "from an A-cup to a B-cup."
Source: FOXNews.com | 7 Mar 2008 | 1:15 pm

Ex-Baseball Player Says He Refused Offer From Pellicano

Former baseball player Matt Williams testified Thursday that he refused an offer from private investigator Anthony Pellicano to wiretap the phone of his second wife.
Source: FOXNews.com | 7 Mar 2008 | 1:03 pm

Actress Kathy Brier (C) plays the role of Tracy Turnblad on Broadway in 2003

Actress Kathy Brier (C) plays the role of Tracy Turnblad in the Broadway musical "Hairspray" in New York City in 2003. The musical about a fat teenager obsessed with dancing has beaten box office records...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 7 Mar 2008 | 1:01 pm

A scene from "Hairspray" as performed on stage in the West End

An undated handout picture obtained on March 6 shows members of the cast of the musical "Hairspray" performing on stage in London's West End. The musical about a fat teenager obsessed with dancing has...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 7 Mar 2008 | 1:01 pm

A scene from "Hairspray" as performed in Las Vegas in 2006

Actress Chandra Lee Schwartz (L) and actor Terry Lavell perform during the opening night of the Broadway musical "Hairspray" in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2006. The musical about a fat teenager obsessed with...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 7 Mar 2008 | 1:01 pm