This makes us shudder.Photo: Getty Images

• Walnuts!
• 45 seconds of Mike Gravel not saying anything.
• "Heidi Montag is a very talented actress."
• "Hill-Rod"

  We'd link to downloadable mp3s of those classic moments, but we really don't want anyone to actually have "political ringtones." Except "God DAMN America," that one's awesome.




"Janice Min at Us Weekly is like a family member to us," Spencer said. "We love her. If my mom and her are e-mailing me at the same time, I'm like, 'Uh, Janice or my mom?' "


It's a real romance. Or parasitic relationship. One of those things.

And the couple just keeps dreaming bigger and bigger. Heidi would like to keep pursuing her music, hoping to be "as big as Britney Spears and Madonna" one day. Spencer just wants to make money and be famous and maybe have his own reality show. And they both feel they deserve it. After all, what they do is hard work. Sort of:

"No celebrity does anything, really," Spencer said. "Unless you're a famous athlete who actually physically does something, like, how much work is reading lines from a script? We're improv TV personalities. That's way harder."

Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt: "We're entertainers" [LAT]



A brief, rather neutral note about my piece was followed by an explosion of scathing retorts, such as: "Gag. Please DON'T move to BK. We don't want you either." It hurt. I took every mean comment to heart. In two years of writing easygoing columns about local demolition derbies and ratty old hotels, I had received a steady stream of sweet e-mails but never really made any waves. This tsunami of attention was utterly insane.

I recently reviewed the comments, and as far as I can tell, what pissed these readers off was: 1) "West Bushwick," as I had called my friends' neighborhood, is apparently just some real-estate/hipster-neighborhood-renaming conspiracy that Insiders otherwise know as "East Williamsburg," which, according to said Insiders, sucks. 2) I had, without a smidgen of irony, announced I was moving to Brooklyn because it was cool. Which is, obviously, a very uncool thing to do. Anyway, she moved to San Francisco, and it's so much better! Screw you, Williamsburg, Gawker commenters, and hipsters:

"I eschewed the Ithaca-to-Williamsburg trend and went west to San Francisco. It is, surprisingly, almost more packed with bandanna babies than Brooklyn. They lounge in Dolores Park with organic sandwiches and two-buck Chuck as if it were stale bagels and PBR on Bedford Avenue.

They are similar: name-dropping obscure bands, writing novels "secretly" and being endearingly vain. But in the Mission's sweet-smelling cloud of tolerance, hipsters are relaxed and just a bit more lovable. Being from somewhere else is a good thing. It's expected, interesting. There's no convenient Internet venue through which to pick on people, as they lick their own outsider wounds. Instead, people comment on restaurants and farmers' markets. They're usually nice. Helpful. Memories of 1967 still linger in the Bay Area, and people are a little goofy for my East Coast taste. But, thank God, they don't take themselves very seriously—they're way cool with being cool.

Hipster Attack Revisited: Why I'm Scared of Brooklyn [Newsweek Online]


Speed Racer's got it all wrong. The trouble's not with the story, the acting, or the seizure-inducing art direction — there's nothing wrong with those (unless you're over 11). The problem lies in the conceit, the very foundation on which this unfortunate movie rests. For the future of competitive racing isn't in driving electric Kool-Aid acid cars around a track at six hundred miles an hour. No, the future is at your very fingertips. The future is TypeRacing.

Spend a few minutes on typeracer.com and you enter a world where tiny race cars are powered by typing as fast as you can, a utopian paradise with no global dependence on fossil fuels. You don't need gas; all you need are ten fingers and a cool head to beat your opponents in this race. Each driver transcribes passages from popular songs, movies, and books, and whoever types the fastest wins. Our office has been TypeRacing all day, everyone shouting out words per minute like high scores, calling each other suckas for any score less than 90. And just as Speed Racer is unbeatable on his chosen field of play — the neon-riddled raceways of Cosmopolis — so is there TypeRacing's user "PotBoiler," whose superhuman WPM score of 219 seems untouchable.

All great sports reflect shared cultural experiences; they mirror some common facet of real-life human existence. Boxing is fighting. Football is warfare. Wrestling is sex. The auto racing of Speed Racer bears no resemblance to any driving you've done in your everyday life; it's more like some nightmarish game of pinball in which you're the ball. But wasting every day of your life at a computer keyboard? That's TypeRacing. —Nick Confalone

TypeRacer [Official site]




Weezer, Weezer
Official Release Date: June 24
The Verdict: Since making dubious returns to the sound of their early, fan-loved classic albums seems to be paying dividends for bands these days, Weezer, too, has decided to give it a go on their sixth record, eight-tenths of which hit the Internet yesterday. In the face of logic and history, we were still holding on to crazy hopes that this might be another Pinkerton, mostly based on the goofily charming single "Pork and Beans." On a first listen, though, it barely sounds like another Maladroit. We really like "Troublemaker" and "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)," either of which is probably good enough to have been on 2000's "The Green Album," but everything else is pretty forgettable, more or less in line with 2005's Make Believe. Worst of all, Rivers Cuomo has loosened his death grip on creative control, and even allowed a song written and sung by rhythm guitarist Brian Bell, who sounds a little like Uncle Kracker.



Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 8 May 2008 | 9:30 pm
Let’s Never Hear About Austrian Incest Dad Ever Again

Photo: Getty Images
If you’re like us and you prefer not to vomit all over your keyboard whenever you log on to a news Website, you’ve probably had about enough of this ongoing story revolving around a deranged Austrian dad who (spoiler alert: if you have a pretty decent opinion of the human race, it will be spoiled by reading further) locked his daughter in a secret underground lair and raped her, to the tune of seven children (one of which died, three of which never saw the world outside the incest dungeon), over the course of 24 years. We could probably understand the justification for making this news when it first came out: The pure shock, plus the feat of finding the newest most despicable person in the world — these are the two major components of most cable-news stories. But this has gone on way past its expiration date. CNN has featured the story so often that they need only to refer to “Incest Dad” in the headlines. (Needless to say, they don’t give you the T-shirt option on that one.) Look, CNN, MSNBC, whoever: We get it. This dude is terrible. But we seriously doubt there is anybody clamoring for this trickle of new, horrible details you’re supplying on a daily basis. Please never cover this again. —Dan Amira
Incest dad: I cared for my secret family [CNN]



Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 8 May 2008 | 9:25 pm
'CSI' Investigator Charged for Drugs
Gary Dourdan was charged with felony possession of cocaine, heroin and E.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 8 May 2008 | 9:24 pm
Breaking: Nina Garcia Heading to ‘Marie Claire’

Photo: Getty Images
Yes, it looks like she shan't be unemployed much longer. According to Fashion Week Daily, Nina Garcia is thisclose to landing a major position at Marie Claire. So at last the puzzle has been completed! Let's review its pieces, shall we? Garcia was spotted leaving the Hearst building earlier this month to frenzied speculation she might wind up at one of its titles. Garcia's judgeship on Project Runway hangs in the balance since she's no longer at Elle, which will sponsor the show through the next season, its last on Bravo. Marie Claire will reportedly take over as sponsor once the show moves to Lifetime, thus allowing Garcia to reign as queen bee to all things TV fashion. We can't wait to see what she does with Marie Claire, since the title's not exactly heralded for its fashion coverage. It will be similarly interesting to see what happens to Elle's fashion coverage in Garcia's absence.
Now we just need to figure out how she'll get that judge's seat for the next season of Runway, airing this summer. Harvey Weinstein really wants her there, but if she's not at Elle, can they make it happen? Okay, so maybe the puzzle's almost completed. Gosh, this is like fashion Clue, isn't it?
Nina Garcia to Go From Hachette to … Hachette? [Fashion Week Daily]




Second, it's experiencing the same pressure to cut costs that is affecting other print publishing groups—except more so. Lagardere, the French company which owns Hachette, recently disclosed its US revenues were flat—and that was not even counting the revenues sacrificed when Premiere folded. The firm is moving out of the 40th floor of its Manhattan headquarters to save on rent; business trips have been curtailed; and editors are forced to print stories from inventory because editorial budgets do not allow new commissions.

Unlike the opening of the John Varvatos store in the former CBGB last month, there were no protesters outside last night's preview opening of Rogan Gregory's new Rogan store on the corner of Bond and Bowery. Perhaps the CFDA-winning Mr. Gregory and his line of sleek eighties-inspired wares doesn't register on the radar of the bleeding-heart set. Nevertheless, the black-clad indie fashion crowd knew where to gather. Blonde Redhead made a visit (naturally), Mr. Waris Ahluwalia showed (but of course), and Jennifer Esposito of Samantha Who looked lovably out of place.
Far from the rarefied air of Barneys, where his Target line will go on sale on Friday, the enviro-friendly designer seemed quite at home in his new retail space, which featured "green" dual-flush toilets (thank you oh so much). Located in the old Bouwerie Lane Theater, the store is a minimalist match to Gregory's aesthetic, featuring a mirrored back wall (with which several partygoers collided) and sharp metal racks for the clothes (which we can only presume were fabulous, as the party was too packed to see a single thread). But what of the gentrification of New York's beloved, unwashed Bowery? Gregory, who stocked his bar with 40-ounce malt-liquor bottles, was appropriately attuned. "Bowery is a little cracky, but it's got soul and integrity," he said. "I only hope we can contribute to that." Certainly the forties were a good first step. —Gabriel Bell



Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 8 May 2008 | 9:00 pm
Can ‘Glory Days’ Still Find Glory at the Tonys?

Photo: Scott Suchman
The announcement that the musical Glory Days would close after only one official performance isn't just a blow to the musical's creative team, including its wet-behind-the-ears creators (24-year-old librettist James Gardiner and 23-year-old songwriter Nick Blaemire). It also might mean the show's Tony chances — not just for the thin Best Musical race, where some thought the show might have a shot, but for technical categories as well — are nil. Does it have a chance?
Certainly it is tough for a show that gets panned by the Times to get nominated, though it's not at all unheard of. Glory Days wasn't Moose Murders; its reviews were gentle pans, not scathing, vicious diatribes. Certainly closing early doesn't send a good message to Tony voters, but shows that didn't do well commercially have been nominated before. But the buzz in Broadway chat rooms is that Glory Days may be out of luck for a simple reason — closing after a single performance means that most members of the Tony nominating committee may not have even had a chance to see the show. In fact, one All That Chat commenter claims that the show isn't even eligible:
The rules state that the producers have to invite the Tony Voters to at least eight performances, at least one of which must actually take place before the show closes, in order to be eligible. The GLORY DAYS invitation clearly states "any performance between May 8 and June 12" so although they fulfilled the first part of the rule by inviting us, they did not give any performances to which we were invited to that makes them ineligible.
Glory Days' closing may be the best thing that ever happened to Xanadu; that show was viewed by many as battling it out with Glory Days and big-budget behemoth Young Frankenstein for the final two nominations. (It seems nearly certain that critical faves In the Heights and Passing Strange will be nominated.) Now Xanadu, against all odds, may be roller-skating onto national TV on Tony night.
Earlier: ‘Glory Days’ Has Its Glory Day



Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 8 May 2008 | 9:00 pm
The Night Marchers Revel in Their Grizzled, Underground Supergroup Status

Photo: Nathaniel Shannon
A narrow demographic of overwhelmingly broad-shouldered, tattooed men at the outer fringe of youth crammed into the Mercury Lounge last night to watch the Night Marchers hammer their guitars as if they were drums. And the actual drummer? The notoriously hard-hitting Jim Kimball still clobbers with conviction, but also swung and boogied with ease. Though the Night Marchers are a supergroup of players from at least eight nineties bands worth remembering, it was clear the crowd was worshipping in the church of the beloved guitar-swinging rock-a-holic bandleader Jon "Speedo" Reis, formally of Rocket From the Crypt, and not his Night Marchers. Some even called out for Rocket songs.
Does SoCal translate to Manhattan anymore? Reis's nasally San Diego surf-punk bark gets intense on the band's record, but thankfully, a significant chunk of touring has left him sounding more mauled than mall. His banter about a discarded Parliament fanned by the Santa Anta winds starting a wildfire landed, but only with those who'd followed the Witch Fire in the New York Times. It was a comfort to everyone else that he looks enough like Jerry Lee Lewis to make one uncomfortable with the notion of leaving him alone with a loved one. What was most striking, though, was how tyrannically tight the entire group sounded, no doubt as a result of wasting their youths in various incarnations of the same punk bar band. As they launched into the Bo Diddley vamp "Branded," it was clear they know their crowd, and themselves, as Reis sang "just 38 and I don't mind dyin'." —Mishka Shubaly



Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 8 May 2008 | 8:30 pm
Valentino Garavani Leads a Very Fancy Life

Valentino, looking down his nose at you.Photo: Getty Images
A documentary about Valentino Garavani called Valentino: The Last Emperor will premiere at Cannes Film Festival this month. We've been craving a fashion flick since Lagerfeld Confidential came out last year. It's tough to hold a candle to the Kaiser's iPods, rings, and general manner of existing, but the Valentino doc sounds promising. André Leon Talley makes a cameo, and it includes some dramatic bits that unfolded when Alessandra Facchinetti took over the label after VaVa retired earlier this year. Director Matt Tyrnauer, Vanity Fair's editor-at-large and the author of Valentino Garavani: Una Grande Storia Italiana, spilled a few more details to Fashion Week Daily:
"He and Giancarlo [Giammetti] maintained a certain level of Italian elegance and style-you know, three meals a day with waiters with white gloves, for example. The boats in the summer, the skiing in the winter...it's a kind of ultra moda couture lifestyle that might have been much more common 50 years ago, when there were Italian playboys personified by Agnelli," Tyrnauer told The Daily. "But they have upheld that tradition and done it in the most extraordinary way. To see that from the inside was pretty amazing."
We can't wait to ogle such a fancy lifestyle, seeing as ours consists mainly of spooning peanut butter straight from the jar. (Don't judge, you know you do it too.)
Après Moi, la Déluge [Fashion Week Daily]



Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 8 May 2008 | 8:30 pm
Time Warner closing two studios
Read full story for latest details.



Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 8 May 2008 | 8:09 pm
Artist Gerry Snyder Knows Where Teletubbies Go After They Die

Gerry Snyder's Limbo (2008)Courtesy of Claire Oliver.
Gerry Snyder's oil paintings are about the size of a midtown office window and portray bulbous, cuddly creatures floating and frolicking in hazy, bleeding landscapes — we see life-size gummy bears playing with sprinklers in the Garden of Eden. Be terrified at Claire Oliver gallery through May 17. —Emma Pearse



Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 8 May 2008 | 8:00 pm
Everybody's Sexy in Stuyvesant Town!
Greenpoint: Someone's getting artsy in the subway to protest the oil spills here. [Gothamist]
East Village: Just a day after we linked to a bitchy new blog satirizing the newly gentrified Stuy Town, there comes word that, to boost rentals, 3,800 units have been given "condo-style" makeovers. Meawhile, check out the hatefully young, hip, and pretty people on Stuy Town's glossy marketing site. Please say they're models and not the complex's next wave! [Curbed]
Park Slope: Is this cozy-chair bus station for real? Plus, the F stop at Fourth and 9th's getting a face-lift. [Gowanus Lounge via all.growns.up]
Red Hook: Ikea, which opens here next month, has hired 300 folks for the store from around the city, but won't say how many are from the hood. Locals, however, say that Hook hires are as high as 40 percent. [NYDN]
Tribeca: Dog urine is killing the hood's noble trees! And we're not talking a few teaspoons from a cute cocker...more like steaming gallons from a Great Dane! [Tribeca Trib]
Upper East Side: A huge hive of bees took over a newspaper vending machine on Second Avenue and 75th, transfixing locals. Seems that, true to UES form, they were just following the queen bee. [NYP]
Woodside: Queens beep Helen Marshall managed recently to point out dangerous cracks in an Amtrak overpass and look fashionable for spring at the same time. [Queens Crap]



Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 8 May 2008 | 8:00 pm
Matt Lauer Shows Us FDR’s Secret Train
If you’re like us and have always been obsessed with that secret subway stop beneath the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, today is your day! As part of the Today show’s “Access Granted” series, Matt Lauer visits the now-abandoned subway track that was used as a special VIP entrance for fancy-pants rich people with their own private subway cars.
The storied Track 61 was also used by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, so he could enter and leave the hotel without the public realizing he couldn’t walk unassisted because of his polio. Lauer shows us FDR’s private train car, still down on the tracks. The armored car features bulletproof glass and special suspension to support the president’s paralyzed lower body. The train was also a safety measure in case FDR needed to be spirited out of New York City in the event of a national catastrophe.
Watch the video and marvel that there was ever a time when presidents tried to hide their handicaps, as opposed to more current administrations, which like to parade them out in the open like a 2-year-old boy who’s just discovered his wee-wee. —Noelle Hancock
Matt Lauer Goes Underground for “Secret” Train Car [Gothamist]



Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 8 May 2008 | 7:35 pm
Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ Campaign Isn't Real!

Their skin does look suspiciously smooth…Photo: Courtesy of Dove Real Beauty
Dove's "Real Beauty" ad campaign raised many an eyebrow for using scantily clad non-models. Real gals in all their glory! What moxie! The ads intended to emphasize how distorted the world's vision of beauty is, especially with the army of hairstylists, makeup artists, and photo retouchers behind all the images we see in ads every day. However, it turns out the campaign ain't so real after all. Gasp! Expert photo retoucher Pascal Dangin, who works for Box Studios in New York, told The New Yorker he worked his magic on the ad photos.
“Do you know how much retouching was on that?” he asked. “But it was great to do, a challenge, to keep everyone’s skin and faces showing the mileage but not looking unattractive.”
Unilever didn't comment on the statement, but a spokeswoman for the agency who created the ads did:

[S]he said the agency is still attempting to collect details of his work, if any, on the ads.
"We are unsure right now what he did," the Ogilvy spokeswoman said. "He works with Annie Leibovitz, the photographer. And we don't have any record of him actually working on any of the Dove campaign.
"There was no retouching of the women," she said. "If there was a hair that was up in the air, that might have been the kind of retouching that was done. But until I know what he actually worked on, I can't comment on it."
Oh, step off your high horse, lady. This isn't really surprising. We all know nothing is natural these days. And after, like, seeing Nicole Kidman at the Oscars and learning what's really in Pinkberry yogurt and, you know, being alive, we've been trained to understand that just because people say things are natural doesn't mean we should believe them.
Dove's 'Real Beauty' Pics Could Be Big Phonies [Ad Age]
Pixel Perfect [NYer]



Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 8 May 2008 | 7:30 pm
The Surprise Guest at the Roman Polanski Documentary Premiere: The Woman in Question

Samantha GeimerPhoto: Getty Images
Big names like Dustin Hoffman and Sidney Lumet came out for Tuesday's premiere of the new HBO documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, which details the questionable judicial dealings that led to the director's now 30-year exile in France. But the surprise guest of the night was Samantha Geimer, the woman with whom Polanski had "unlawful sexual intercourse" at Jack Nicholson's house when she was 13. (He pleaded guilty and fled the country before his final sentencing.) Geimer had flown in from Hawaii, "a beautiful spot where no one is aware or even cares"; she's now happily married with three children and working as a "personal assistant, accountant, and bookkeeper" for a real-estate developer. Both her husband and her mother, who had taken her to the party where the incident took place, had gotten gussied up with her for the premiere. After all, Geimer's Polanski association usually means having to give uncomfortable interviews about her past — "Nothing as fabulous as this," she says. "We thought this would be really fun. We don't get many chances to come to New York, so I was really happy to come and see the city and do all this fabulous stuff. Got to be back to work on Friday or the boss will fire me."
Geimer, who bought a new dress and shoes at Saks just for the occasion, says that participating in the documentary was a strategic move. "Generally for me, it's just easier that if people want to talk to me, I talk to them," she says. "That way they don't sit out in front of my house and wait for me." Plus, she approves of the movie — "I didn't think somebody could make it that interesting" — and hopes it will quell some of the curiosity about what happened that night. "I'm glad [director Marina Zenovich] put the truth of the way it happened out there, because I don't want to have to tell people," she says. "It's nice that she went ahead and did it, so people can know the truth and I can just go, 'It's a great movie!'"
Coming to the premiere, likewise, was a way to try to get the press off her back. "I figure if I keep talking to people, maybe they'll get tired of me," she says. "That's one of my theories, that no one will want to talk to me anymore! Hasn't worked yet." The New York trip will be the final extent of her foray into fanciness, though. When Polanski sees the movie for the first time at Cannes, she says, "I'll be at my office working and with my kids, who, you know, treat me like a mom." Just as well, she says, "I never have [talked to him] since then. Ever." Has she even watched one of his movies since then? "No. Not really," she says. "Not for any reason except I haven't. They're not really my thing. I'm more of a comedy-action girl. We're going to see Iron Man this week." —Jada Yuan
See Michel Gondry, Emmy Rossum, Dustin Hoffman, and more at our complete coverage of HBO's premiere of Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.



Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 8 May 2008 | 7:30 pm
New Port Authority Chief Not So Sure About This Atlantic Yards

Rendering courtesy Atlantic Yards
Chris Ward, due to take over the Port Authority this month, suggests to us that he thinks Bruce Ratner should consider recruiting architects other than Frank Gehry for the Atlantic Yards. “Flatbush and Atlantic is a totally underused area and a major transportation hub, and I hope we don't lock ourselves into a design that does not allow other architecture or public space,” says Ward. That design is entirely Gehry's; even after Ratner admitted his multi-tower vision might not attract financing, public officials have kept the architect front and center. “Bruce, with his optimism, is probably feeling that he doesn't have to worry about those contingencies,” Ward continues. “But it would be worthwhile to pay attention to the real-estate risks there.” And, yes, he called him "Bruce": Ward worked under Ratner when the he ran Consumer Affairs in the Koch administration. Still, this warning should hearten the project's opponents: Ward will have a lot of influence over state spending if the developer needs a cash influx. —Alec Appelbaum



Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 8 May 2008 | 7:00 pm
Flight of the Conchords Set Their Keytar to ‘Stun’ at Show

From left: Hiphopopotamus, the Rhymenoceros.Photo: FilmMagic
Last night's Flight of the Conchords show at Town Hall was a decadent affair: Audience members tossed all manner of gifts onstage, from toy robots to eye patches, and the funnymen themselves luxuriated in extended versions of their songs, sometimes stopping in the middle for a pinch of conversation (as they did during especially lengthy version of "The Humans Are Dead"). “The reviewers will call this self-indulgence,” Jemaine Clement grandly pronounced at one point. But Jemaine and his partner, Bret McKenzie, have inspired such a cult, especially with their HBO show (now in between seasons), that a sense of decorum also pervaded: The inane shouts for certain songs were shushed by other audience members. "You're a self-policing audience," Bret observed. For all the dry banter and genuinely funny joke songs, the night's best, most fittingly conceptual part came during the mid-set break, where the boys set their Keytar to play Wham's "Last Christmas" while they stretched and grabbed a drink. —Elizabeth Black



Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 8 May 2008 | 6:45 pm
Lohan Solicits Volunteer Army of Leggings Models

Photo: Splash News
You know how wack it is that so few non-white models are cast for photo spreads and runway shows? And how the general standard of beauty often makes women feel bad about themselves? Well, Lindsay Lohan could ameliorate both those problems, just a tad at least. Tomorrow she's shooting the ads for her new line of lovely leggings and the casting call for models asks for girls with "diverse multi-cultural looks" and "off beauty." And here we were expecting LiLo to cast herself in the campaign (you know, for the obvious business reasons). But not only is she leaving her legging-clad self out of the ads, she's leaving out girls who look like her too, as the call also specified "no blondes please." It all sounded so revolutionary and wonderful! Until we learned she's not paying the models. The girl's had all sorts of interesting new roles — certainly she must be able to spare a few Gs for her pretty laborers. Besides, it's probably emotionally easier for her to part with cash than a bundle of free leggings.
LINDSAY LOHAN - LOHAN CASTS MODELS FOR NEW FASHION LINE [Contactmusic.com]
Related: Lindsay Lohan to Launch Legging Line



Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 8 May 2008 | 6:37 pm
Morgan Freeman Is Sick of Being the Dignified Older Gentleman

Photo: Getty Images
"You look at your last work and say, `That's four characters in a row that said, did, thought, acted the same. They're going to find me out any minute now.'" —Morgan Freeman on playing a character he calls "Mr. Gravitas" [AP via Yahoo]
"Female prison beauty pageant. It was done in Croatia and is a big number waiting to happen. It's empowering to women, it's empowering to prisoners. The whole idea of going from prisoner to hot babe is interesting." —reality-show legend Mike Darnell on his favorite reality-show idea that has yet to be produced in America [HR via Reuters]
"I heard these heels coming down the hallway. She was on the phone and I could hear, 'OK, perf. Oh, my God, that is so perf. Love you!' And then I saw her and I just said, 'Perf! I say that too,' and gave her this awkward, dorky hug. She was so accepting." —Lake Bell on meeting Cameron Diaz for the first time [LAT]
"The visors would fog over on the inside. So moments into fighting, I wouldn't be able to see. I hit two stunt guys, which I felt really bad about. But they were super cool. The thing you learn about stunt guys is it's sort of a badge of honor for them." —Matthew Fox on the Speed Racer stuntmen who view being punched by Matthew Fox as a badge of honor [LAT]
"Fast Food Nation was boring and aimed at yuppies, and yuppies don't eat fast food. Poultrygeist is aimed at the younger market, and at fat Al Gore riding around in his private jet with his big fat wife who wants us all to feel guilty about using up a little gas or smoking cigarettes when his family made its money off of tobacco." —Lloyd Kaufman, director of Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead [A.V. Club]



Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 8 May 2008 | 6:15 pm
'Sex and the City' tries to age gracefully
Read full story for latest details.



Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 8 May 2008 | 6:02 pm
’Tis the Season for Men to Wear Flowers

Photo: GQ Style
One of our favorite spring photo spreads comes in the new issue of British GQ Style. It accompanies an article encouraging men to embrace their secret love of flowers. From buying them as gifts for other men to wearing them on their lapels to simply decorating their house with them, there is no better time for men to get flowered than springtime. With male cosmetics, the proliferation of mirdles, and tight pants taking over men's runways, indulging in "feminine" stuff is quite the rage as of late. Besides, flowers are good for the male soul. A survey by the Society of American Florists reveals 60 percent of men would like to receive a bouquet on Valentine's Day. Furthermore, a Rutgers University study revealed men receiving flowers "demonstrated an increase in well-being and social interaction." Who would have thought!
From the Victorian makeup to the divine embellishments, the pics in the GQ spread make us smile. So smile with us, won't you? Prance through the jump for more dandyman flowery whimsy.

Photo: GQ Style

Photo: GQ Style

Bud Behaviour [GQ Style, not online]



Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 8 May 2008 | 5:49 pm
Star-Worthy Bridal Beauty Secrets
Here are tips every bride can use to look top-notch on her big day.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 8 May 2008 | 5:36 pm
Bar Refaeli Evades Military Service, Upsets People

Oh, the life…Photo: Getty Images
All Israelis must serve in the army when they turn 18 — unless, of course, they're special, like Bar Refaeli. Rather than go into the army, the 22-year-old model did other fun-young-gorgeous-person stuff like model and date Leonardo DiCaprio. But a group of Israeli parents of IDF soldiers aren't having any more of Refaeli's special treatment. The model signed a $300,000 campaign deal with Fox fashion chain, and the disgruntled parents threatened to organize a boycott of the chain if it didn't write into Refaeli's contract that she must complete her military service. Fox averted a boycott with a compromise:
Refaeli will represent the company and will simultaneously visit injured IDF soldiers hospitalized at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer every time she arrives in Israel. In addition, she will encourage soldiers to serve in the army.
The way in which her “service” will be carried out has not yet been determined. The conditions were brought forth to Refaeli and she agreed to comply and to fulfill her duty voluntarily.
But this still feels a little off. So she's going to encourage soldiers to fulfill their obligatory army duty while she avoids it herself? That will be a great sell: "Israel needs brave people like you to protect hot bodies like mine!"
Bar Refaeli: IDF’s new ‘enlistment officer’ [Ynetnews]
Model Bar Rafaeli Urged To Enlist In The Israeli Army [Models Blog]



Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 8 May 2008 | 5:15 pm
FOX 411: Barbara Walters Once Married to the Mob?
Barbara Walters' was briefly married to Lorimar Pictures president Merv Adelson, a man friendly with a long list of organized crime figures.
Source: FOXNews.com | 8 May 2008 | 3:51 pm
Radio Host Bernie Ward Admits Sending Child Porn
A San Francisco radio talk show host and former Catholic priest Bernie Ward could face at leaset five years in prison after admitting he downloaded and sent pornographic images of children.
Source: FOXNews.com | 8 May 2008 | 2:59 pm
Cosmetics Firm Lancome, Uma Thurman in Contract Dispute
The company asked for a ruling against the actress, who it says is demanding $1 million for unauthorized use of her name and face on Canadian billboards and Asian Web sites after her contract expired.
Source: FOXNews.com | 8 May 2008 | 12:54 pm
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