Volunteers will be strapped to a wooden board and have water poured over their face to simulate drowning.

Participants should look on it, Power's assistant says, "as an old-fashioned Coney Island–style ride" that "will hopefully settle the question of what waterboarding is like … whether it is torture or fun/crazy/scary." Hmmm. We suspect if you're a prisoner who is most definitely not having this done voluntarily, there's no way you'd see it as fun. But for everyone else? Well, it's pretty hot out. You do what you need to do to cool down. Full press release after the jump.

LAWYERS WANTED FOR NYC WATERBOARDING EVENT +++ Step Up And Ride the Waterboard of Terror +++ An Experimental Art Event Presented by Steve Powers and Creative Time

WANTED—Fifty courageous lawyers willing to be waterboarded for five
seconds. Volunteers will be strapped to a wooden board and have water
poured over their face to simulate drowning. You will be required to
sign a release and attend one short training session prior to the
event.

IS IT SAFE? Yes. The waterboarding will be carefully supervised and
last for a maximum of five seconds. Trained medical personnel will be
on hand. Volunteers will be able to stop the waterboarding at any time
by ringing a bell.

WHEN? July 2008, exact details TBA

WHERE? New York City, exact details TBA

WHY? We're interested in whether waterboarding is torture. Now that
this question has been handed over to the courts, who better to answer
it than trained legal professionals?

INTERESTED? QUESTIONS? Send your name and contact info to Steve Powers
at ridethewaterboard@gmail.com.

Related: Three Young Men Try Waterboarding And Tell the Tale [WSJ]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 27 Jun 2008 | 8:00 pm

Artist Rachel Selekman Cuts the Middleman Out of Flower-Watering

Is this Big Edie Beale's watering can? So overgrown, like it's been left outside too long and sprouted alien limbs (along with some lovely yellow flowers). It's hanging like a chandelier from the ceiling of Metaphor Contemporary Art in Brooklyn through July 20. —Emma Pearse

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 27 Jun 2008 | 8:00 pm

Steve & Barry’s May Never Open Downtown, Since They Have No Money

Have you been wondering when, oh when the Steve & Barry's will finally open in the old Tower Records space on Broadway and West 4th Street? The answer could be never, since the retailer has some money problems. Namely they don't have any. The Shophound reports:

Steve & Barrys has retained the services of Conway, Del Genio, Gries & Co., a restructuring firm specializing in turnarounds while Goldman Sachs Group scrambles to scrape together $30 million in emergency financing to cover a string of unpaid bills that are just coming to light.

Despite growing their volume to nearly $1 billion, their profit margins are still so narrow that the chain was unable to properly finance its rapid expansion plans leaving local contractors, advertising bills and even some longtime vendors unpaid. There are rumors that the retailer may have to file bankruptcy as early as next week.

The reason they're low on cash? Their clothes are ridiculously cheap! Though the brand garnered much attention with celebrity-designed lines like Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten, it can't have been that profitable, since every piece costs under $20.

We tried calling Steve & Barry's this morning, but they don't disclose the number of their corporate office and only have a toll-free number. So then we tried to call a random store in Massachusetts to see if they could put us through to corporate. When we finally got kind, real people on the line, they were obviously in another country (bad phone connections and all). It seems if you want to call a Steve & Barry's store in America, you (logically) have to be patched through from the other side of the world. Maybe the outsourcing is a cost-cutter? we thought. Or just a total waste of money.

Business Update: Steve & Barry's On The Ropes [Shophound]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 27 Jun 2008 | 7:45 pm

Alanis Morissette

Canadian singer Alanis Morissette performs on stage to lauch the first ever Rock in Rio Festival in Spain in Arganda del Rey near Madrid.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 27 Jun 2008 | 7:34 pm

‘Bolt’ Trailer: The Anti-‘Wall-E’?

Tagline: "One unlikely team is on a mission to get back home…"

Translation: And by "unlikely," we mean a dog and a cat — not a robot and a cockroach, lest there be any confusion.

The Verdict: While Pixar plays box-office chicken with protagonists who get less adorable every year (cars, rat, waste-management robot … deer tick? Cancer cell?), Disney's other animation studio seems to be going the more traditional route with this Cute Overload–style on-the-road movie starring a dog, a cat, and a wisecracking hamster. So, when families with small children are inevitably disappointed by Wall-E's wordless, postapocalyptic, environmentalist, anti-consumerist tone poem this weekend, at least they'll have Bolt to look forward to in November (let's hope by then the kids have stopped crying). Plus, this thing should probably sell a few landfills' worth of stuffed animals.

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 27 Jun 2008 | 7:30 pm

Steve Nash, Jason Kidd Play Soccer

Forget Austria. On Wednesday, the real soccer action was not at the Euro 2008 semifinals, but at Sara Roosevelt Park in Chinatown, where Phoenix Suns superstar Steve Nash brought some of his famous friends to play a little fútbol. The game was a collaboration between Nash and Claudio Reyna, former captain of the U.S. soccer team and current captain of the Red Bull New York soccer team. Though the game was free, the ensuing after-party and silent auction, at the Replay store on Prince Street, raised money for both of their foundations. Nash, a longtime soccer fan and player, thought New York would be the perfect venue for an all-star exhibition game. “It makes sense,” to hold the event in New York, said Reyna. “We both live here. It’s an international city, and I think we showed tonight how many soccer fans we have … to have people just walk to get here, it was an easy decision.”

Walk they did — about 500 people lined the field, scaled the fence surrounding the field, and climbed trees overlooking the field to watch the game, which featured San Antonio Spurs Dallas Mavericks star Jason Kidd, Phoenix’s Leandro Barbosa and Raja Bell, and Golden State Warriors point guard Baron Davis in his first-ever career soccer game. (Despite a yellow card and several missed headers, he earned an A for enthusiasm. “BD was the MVP,” said Nash after the game.) Jozy Altidore, Salomon Kalou, and World Cup winner Thierry Henry represented the soccer world. The turnout was larger than expected, and both Nash and Reyna hope to make the game an annual event. But what are the odds of having Nash & Co. go up against the soccer pros in a game of hoops?

“That’s an idea we’ve thrown around, but I like playing soccer too much,” said Nash. “I play enough basketball.” —Kate Dailey

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 27 Jun 2008 | 7:17 pm

Review: Smith barely saves `Hancock' (AP)

AP - "Hancock" demonstrates why Will Smith gets paid the big bucks.
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 27 Jun 2008 | 7:14 pm

Maroon 5 Rock the Hell Out of ‘Good Morning America’

We're not ashamed to admit that Good Morning America's Morning Concert Series is one of our summertime pastimes (it is arguably, by the way, less crowded than the Today show performances) — or that today at 8:30 a.m. we made our way to Bryant Park to witness Maroon 5, with their suntans, shades, and shagga-rific hairstyles, serenade lucky fans and commuters. The band opened with "If I Never See Your Face Again," joined not by Rihanna, guest vocalist on the album, but the aroma of freshly cut grass instead. Between songs Adam Levine's lucky makeup artist mopped the sweat from his brow and retouched his face as he flashed the thumbs-up to stagehands and joyous front-row tweens. Things, however, took a turn for the odd as balloons of various shapes were released: stars, peace signs — and crosses (which you can check out after the jump) that made us wonder whether someone was trying to tell us that God loves Maroon 5 and the squeaky-clean crowds they attract. (A television producer, perhaps?) Between the crosses and Levine constantly throwing his thumbs up, we were reminded of “Buddy Jesus” from Dogma. Our musings, though, were interrupted by young girl's gleeful cry of "It's the broken-smile song!," the opening bars of "She Will Be Loved," and a massive crowd sing-along that was probably heard up in heaven. —Lauren Salazar

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 27 Jun 2008 | 7:00 pm

Video: Tom Ford in His Massive New Milan Store

Tom Ford opened his first European store in Milan this week. Lucky duck Suzy Menkes got a private tour of the new Ford palace with Tommy Boy himself. It's five floors, 12,000 square feet and drenched in Fordian impeccability. Ford explains he wants the store to feel like a house. He adds a "layer of specialty" with the exclusive sale of fragrance "Italian Cyprus" in the perfumery. The store also offers every kind of leather good imaginable, cuff links, jewelry, riding boots, luggage, canes, walking sticks, and fur hats. Why bestow such Fordian fabulousness on Milan? Unlike Giorgio Armani, Ford thinks Italy is one of those places where men dress really well. Do watch and enjoy Ford's soothing voice and affected accent.

Tom Ford tours his new store in Milan [IHT]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 27 Jun 2008 | 7:00 pm

Kanye's Mom's Surgeon Busted for DUI

Plastic surgeon who operated on Donda West before she died arrested in Calif.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 27 Jun 2008 | 6:56 pm

Hot & Heavy Action for Jolie in 'Wanted'

Review: Far-Fetched and Silly, 'Wanted' Still Shines.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 27 Jun 2008 | 6:42 pm

Chaunce Hayden Says He Talked About a Sex Tape, But He Didn't TALK About It

Steppin' Out columnist Chaunce Hayden reached out to us after news broke yesterday that he was being sued for $10 million by Lynsi Smigo, fiancée of radio host Gregg "Opie" Hughes. Hayden claims that he didn't do much to spread the word about a (in the end, fictional) sex tape between Smigo and MTV star Bam Margera beyond alerting "Page Six" to the tip. "Neither myself or any other employee of Steppin' Out magazine, published anything at anytime to suggest that Ms. Smigo was involved in a sex tape," Hayden wrote in an official statement he helpfully sent along. "In fact, I went as far as to print that Ms. Smigo was not involved in a sex tape despite what Page Six of the New York Post suggested." He said he told Bill Hoffman at "Page Six" that he hadn't seen a tape, but he had heard the story. In April, "Page Six" ran with it anyway. In the lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday, Smigo's lawyers claim that Hayden did write a column about the sex tape, and that is part of their $10 million complaint. Chaunce forwarded us the article in question, and we've put it after the jump. All this "he said sex tape, she said sex tape" business is a little hard to follow, but it helps a little if you read the column. It's kind of like listening to a radio D.J., but on paper.

Earlier: Chaunce Hayden Could End Up Costing the ‘Post’ $10 Million

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 27 Jun 2008 | 6:35 pm

Documentarian Les Blank on ‘All in This Tea’ and Going Too Far With Werner Herzog

At first glance, the subjects of esteemed filmmaker Les Blank’s 40-plus-year career as a documentarian appear to have little to do with one another: After all, this is a man who followed up films about Werner Herzog (Burden of Dreams and Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe) with films about garlic, polka music, and women with gap teeth. His latest, All in This Tea — made in collaboration with Gina Leibrecht and opening today at Cinema Village — follows David Lee Hoffman, an American tea expert and importer, as he travels around China looking for and discoursing about tea. Hoffman is a classic Blank visionary: A man determined to go anywhere and do anything to find the absolute best leaves, and who won’t let anything stand in his way. Blank talked to Vulture about pissing off Werner Herzog, battling Indians in South America (or at least considering it), and why that Lipton tea you’re drinking might actually be dust swept up from a factory floor.

So how did you first get interested in tea?
I met David Hoffman at the annual Himalaya Fair, which is just a couple of blocks from my house in Berkeley. He was there in his tent, giving out teas, and we got talking. I was also looking for a project I could also use to learn digital filmmaking. And I was ready for some adventure; my life had gotten too boring. So pretty soon I got a plane ticket, a video camera, a manual for the camera, and I was off.

You actually had to bring the manual with you?
Yes. I had previously shot a wedding, and a memorial service using video, and I brought a high-quality microphone, but when I plugged the microphone into the camera, it shut off the sound. So what I wound up filming had no sound.

Were they frustrated that they got the great Les Blank to film their event, only to have him screw up the sound?
Yes. But I was the most frustrated.

Watching this film, I kept thinking, Boy, I’d love to have some of that tea, but I bet it’s ridiculously expensive.
We had a scene in the film that I liked very much, but which we ended up not using: David takes a box of regular teabag tea, like Lipton, and he opens one of the teabags and all this dust flies out. He explains that you can measure the dust that comes out of a teabag and then price according to how much you pay for it, and it’s on a level with the very finest tea. And it really is dust — it’s the stuff they sweep off the floor when they’re making the good tea. Also, you can take the fine quality tea and then re-steep it over and over again, so you get your money’s worth.

I really enjoyed that the film doesn’t feel like a polemic, like so many other documentaries today.
My approach is to see what’s there and to tell the stories I find. It’s a problem for me, in fact, because I don’t approach things the way Morgan Spurlock or Michael Moore do. I suppose if I was doing it to make money, then I’d do it the way Michael Moore does it, but I like to think I’m creating a lasting work of art that people will still come to years later. I’ve been able to keep my head above water.

A lot of your films are about other artists. Do you find yourself butting heads with them when you’re shooting?
I try to give the artist a lot of room, but sometimes I might step out of line. During Burden of Dreams, I got a bit exasperated with Herzog [who was filming Fitzcarraldo, in the Amazonian jungle], and said, “Why don’t you just shoot the ship going up the hill and then turn the damn thing around and just bring it back down and no one will ever know you didn’t go across the top?” He was furious. I knew I’d gone too far.

You’ve made movies about a lot of extreme personalities over the years. What’s the craziest thing you ever shot?
I came close to doing something else that was crazy on Burden of Dreams. The neighboring Indians attacked the first day we were there. They tried to kill some of Herzog’s Indians, and the Indians we were with decided to form a war party to go and avenge them. Herzog said, “If you were a documentarian worth your salt, you’d take your camera and go with the raiding party.” The thought horrified me, so I told Werner that I would do it only if he would do it, thinking that there was no way he would. And he said, “Sure, we’ll meet at daybreak.” I couldn’t sleep a wink that night. He came into my tent in the morning and said that he’d thought about it and didn’t think it would look good for the director of a film to go on a war party. So we didn’t go, and he never got to find out how terrified I was. —Bilge Ebiri

Earlier: Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe in ‘Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe’

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 27 Jun 2008 | 6:30 pm

Tale of botched terror war marred by errors (AP)

AP - "Hunting Bin Laden" (Skyhorse Publishing. 229 pages. $24.95), by Rob Schultheis: Veteran war correspondent Rob Schultheis draws a line in the sand early in his new book, "Hunting Bin Laden."
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 27 Jun 2008 | 6:29 pm

How Did Hathaway's Ex Get to A-Listers?

Raffaello Follieri was able to cozy up to Anne Hathaway and other powerful folks
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 27 Jun 2008 | 6:20 pm

The New Billionaire Boys Club Limited-Edition Hat Is Going Fast!

Today Pharrell's Billionaire Boys Club releases a limited-edition New Era hat that pays homage to New York City. The brand is known for its Swarovski-studded hoodies and hats emblazoned with BBC, but this hat flaunts the letters NYC. It's also blue-and-orange, which would match nicely to Knicks and Mets jerseys. Sneakerheads are going crazy over this $75 piece, a redesigned version of a blue-and-white hat BBC released in January that sold out on its first day in the store. But BBC only made 100 of the NYC caps, so if you want one you better act fast! At around 10 a.m. this morning we spotted a long line of BBC fans eager to get their paws on one of these puppies outside the BBC store at 456 West Broadway. The store manager tells us they're not sold out just yet, but they are going fast. If you miss your chance you can probably buy one on eBay down the line, for, we're guessing, twice the price. You see, we know these things because we're just so street.—Sharon Clott

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 27 Jun 2008 | 6:15 pm

Rise and fall and rise of China to great power (AP)

AP - "Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 to the Present" (Ecco. 763 pages. $34.95), by Jonathan Fenby: In 1776, the 13 American colonies began their two-century march to making the United States the world's only remaining superpower.

Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 27 Jun 2008 | 6:04 pm

Stevie Wonder Didn’t Know So Many People Were Licking and Sucking

"The good thing about satellite radio is that there's a freedom of expression that happens. I'm not going to let my kids listen to raw (stuff), but I might a little. (Sings a little bit of Lil Wayne's "Lollipop.") I didn't know so many people were licking and sucking … it's all over the place!" —Stevie Wonder [AP via Yahoo]

"That's an actor's dream to have your actual face up there. I thought, 'Maybe I'll be the last one to ever be live in a Pixar movie and then I'll be kind of a trivia question." —Fred Willard on his role in WALL-E [Parade]

"He's the most insincere car salesman I could think of." —WALL-E director Andrew Stanton on casting Fred Willard [Cinema Blend]

"I ain't back down. I ain't scared of dude or nothing like that. I just told him how I felt when he spoke on me. This ain't no beef or drama. I'm 17 years old and he's I-don't-know-how-old." —Soulja Boy on Ice-T [MTV]

"Recently I was sitting at a restaurant here in Hollywood and a couple of girls who I didn't know were talking with us, and one of them leaned over to my buddy and asked, 'Is your friend a porn star?'" —Swingtown's Grant Show on his mustache [TV Guide]

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 27 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm

Amy Winehouse's uphill battle

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 27 Jun 2008 | 5:57 pm

Pixar Perfect Again: 4-Stars For 'WALL-E'

Review: "WALL-E" is bound to be another Pixar blockbuster.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 27 Jun 2008 | 5:46 pm

Ben Affleck to Play a Reporter … in Real Life

MEDIA
• What's this we hear? Does Condé Nast want to buy Rolling Stone? [Folio]
• CBS thinks it's "unreasonable and oppressive" that the government is requesting to review the un-broadcast parts of a 60 Minutes interview with an officer who is being prosecuted over the attack on Haditha. [NYT]
• Following in the grand tradition of fellow actor-vists like Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, and Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck will report live from eastern Congo on Nightline next week. [Reuters]

REAL ESTATE
• Spider-Man and urban climbers alike might soon face harsh penalties for scaling buildings if the city passes new legislation making crawling up skyscrapers illegal. "We don't want our city to become Disneyland for base jumpers or climbers," says the chairman of the City Council's Committee on Public Safety. [NYT]
• Is FiDi the new Tribeca? (It will never be as cool as SHNOT.) [Curbed]
• A Brooklyn real-estate firm that asked a black client if she was Jewish is being sued for racial discrimination. [Metro]

LAW
• Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been shaking up Wall Street, trying to fight industry practices that his office believes have hurt investors, borrowers, and homeowners, but has avoided the big public brawls that defined Eliot Spitzer's crusading tenure. [NYT]
• Summer associates are keeping a low profile this summer, much to the dismay of legal-gossip bloggers. [Above the Law]
• Attorneys from the elite law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton filed into court to watch as Cleary's lawyer, Roy Reardon of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, tried to defend the firm against a sanctions order. Reardon argued that the decision by a New York judge who said the firm had shown "a willingness to operate in the murky area between zealous advocacy and improper conduct" was "stark and harsh." [Law.com]

FINANCE
• A report suggests that banks might have to reduce their staffing levels by 20 percent to maintain profitability, which means that the bloodletting on Wall Street might have only just begun: Staffing levels at Goldman have fallen only one percent, and at Merrill Lynch, 2 percent. And Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers levels have dropped just 2 and 9 percent, respectively. [DealBook/NYT]
• The 9.4 percent slide on the Dow Jones this month makes it the worst June since the Great Depression. That's something to be, well, depressed about. [NYP]
• JPMorgan changed the cafeteria prices at the Bear Stearns building. [DealBreaker]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 27 Jun 2008 | 5:45 pm

Ska-Beated Video Features Jamaican M.C., Ants, Ducks …

“Hangin' Around” might become this year's grade-school summer hit. Debbie Cavalier's "friends" are faculty members at the Berklee College of Music joined by Jamaican rapper DJ Logix, and they know how to make a ska beat bop as well as any skatalite. Backing them up in this video: an addictively rhythmic animated wallpaper of the animal groups the song's about — an army of ants, a clutch of ducks, a crash of rhinoceros, and other totally chantable names.

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 27 Jun 2008 | 5:30 pm

The song that won't die

Natasha Bedingfield strutted onto the Irving Plaza Stage in Manhattan earlier this week, sporting an elaborate faux hawk, black shorts and a fierce pair of thigh-high boots. She delivered tracks from her latest album, "A Pocket Full of Sunshine," and during her hourlong set, the UK-bred artist sang about love and loss.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 27 Jun 2008 | 5:26 pm

Uma Thurman Engaged to Swiss Multimillionaire, Rep Says

Uma Thurman is engaged to her Swiss multimillionaire boyfriend, Arpad "Arki" Busson, her rep told People magazine.
Source: FOXNews.com | 27 Jun 2008 | 5:24 pm

Burberry’s New Deyn-less Fall Ads

Burberry's fall ads are out! Where Agyness Deyn once posed, Rosie Huntington-Whitley and actor Sam Riley now stand. Huntington-Whitley isn't really a surprise, since the model attended the Met gala with Burberry designer Christopher Bailey. And Riley caught the designer's eye in the 2007 movie Control, in which he played Joy Division's Ian Curtis. Bailey thought the actor felt right for the mood of this campaign.

Speaking of this ad's mood, it's quite different from that of the last Burberry one, which starred Deyn and had a rock-and-roll feel. Though it had been suggested Deyn was axed from the fall ads because she's too famous, we now understand why she wasn't cast. She just doesn't epitomize the type of girl who would wear a ruched knee-length skirt for a walk through a foggy forest.

But Bailey couldn't let Deyn go entirely. She'll still appear in ads for Burberry fragrance The Beat. "Agyness is a huge part of the Burberry family and a personal friend," Bailey said. Aw.

Memo Pad: BURBERRY'S NEW COUPLE [WWD]
The Newest It-Couple [British Vogue]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 27 Jun 2008 | 5:20 pm

‘Real Housewife’ Jill Zarin: Simon Van Kempen Drinks Too Much

Cindy Adams gets Real Housewives of New York City star Jill Zarin to open up in her column today, and she discovers that each of the cast members got paid only $8,000 for the first season. But next season, they'll be paid a bit more. "The first season I could about buy myself a Birkin bag," Zarin said. "Now I can buy the bag, get my hair done, and go on vacation." The fabrics guru said that producers had already talked to other socialites about joining the cast, too:

"I can tell you it was two months of negotiations, and I know they were warming up other possible ladies. Like, as a backup plan, they'd already done casting and audition tapes. I heard maybe architect Campion Platt's wife, Tatiana, and Jana Bullock, who's a social type, in case [chef] Bethenny Frankel, Countess LuAnn de Lesseps, [jewelry designer] Ramona Singer, all of whom I brought in, and that other one didn't come to terms."

"That other one"? Splendid. She's referring to Alex McCord, whom she apparently loathes.

"I do not speak to those two. First of all, he drinks too much. And is very insulting. And they are not invited to my July Fourth party in the Hamptons, which is very big and which is my fifth annual and which everybody wants to come to. She and I will keep doing the show, of course, but I will have nothing to do with her otherwise."

This next season cannot start soon enough.

THE REAL CATFIGHTS OF NYC [NYP]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 27 Jun 2008 | 5:00 pm

Reality Check: 'So You Think You Can Dance' Keeps Us on Toes

We all expect a good plot twist at the movies, but who knew we’d get so many in a week of "So You Think You Can Dance"?
Source: FOXNews.com | 27 Jun 2008 | 5:00 pm

Wim Wenders to head Venice film festival jury

German director Wim Wenders, seen here in May 2008, will head the jury of this year's Venice film festival, organisers said Friday.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 27 Jun 2008 | 4:55 pm

Review: 'Wall-E' is the best of the year

The most consistent production unit in Hollywood just hit another home run. "Wall-E," the Pixar film about a lonely robot seeking companionship on an abandoned Earth, is the best film of the year so far.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 27 Jun 2008 | 4:51 pm

The Broceliande forest in the heart of western French region called Brittany

A picture taken on June 24, 2008 in Paimpont shows the Broceliande forest in the heart of western French region called Brittany. The legend of Britian's King Arthur will take hold of the city of Rennes...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 27 Jun 2008 | 4:41 pm

The golden tree in the Broceliande forest

A picture taken on June 24, 2008 in Paimpont shows the golden tree in the Broceliande forest in the heart of western French region called Brittany. The legend of Britian's King Arthur will take hold of...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 27 Jun 2008 | 4:41 pm

The pathway leading to the "miroir aux fees" (the fairies's miror) lake in the Broceliande forest

A picture taken on June 24, 2008 in Paimpont shows the pathway leading to the "miroir aux fees" (the fairies's miror) lake in the Broceliande forest in the heart of western French region called Brittany...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 27 Jun 2008 | 4:41 pm

The Broceliande forest

A picture taken on June 24, 2008 in Paimpont shows the Broceliande forest in the heart of western French region called Brittany. The legend of Britian's King Arthur will take hold of the city of Rennes...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 27 Jun 2008 | 4:41 pm

The "miroir aux fees" (the fairies's miror) lake in the Broceliande forest

A picture taken on June 24, 2008 in Paimpont shows the "miroir aux fees" (the fairies's miror) lake in the Broceliande forest in the heart of western French region called Brittany. The legend of Britian's...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 27 Jun 2008 | 4:41 pm

Fugs at the BET Awards: Where the Ceremony Gets in the Way of the Party

When it comes to awards shows, we’ve got home viewing down to a science: booze, chips, and quickly pausing the TiVo on pissy facial expressions and unexpected nip slips. But we'd always been curious how the viewer experience compares to attending the show. So we were stoked to be tottering toward the Shrine Auditorium in L.A. on Tuesday night, with tickets in hand, ready to watch the BET Awards in person. Would we bump into anyone at the cash bar or pass toilet paper to Ashanti under the stall door? And most important, could we sit through an entire televised event without the comfort of our sweatpants? The answers: Yes, no, and… sort of.

Interestingly, when sitting in the auditorium as attendees, the actual awards felt beside the point. We'd assumed we were in for an enhanced version of the at-home experience: performances requiring us to stab forks into our hands just to keep ourselves awake, and that thrilling split-second between the opening of the envelope and the reading of the winner's name, during which we'd gnaw our fingernails to the cuticle. Instead, it was the opposite. Granted, the Academy Awards might be different, because 90 percent of Oscar-nominated songs are gag-worthy — plus, Amy Adams got no backdrop, whereas T-Pain got a whole circus set on Tuesday — but the ten or so BET musical acts seriously ruled. The 13-year-olds inside us are still squealing at seeing En Vogue perform with Alicia Keys, and you can’t beat hearing 5,000 people sing "Let's Stay Together" in chorus with Al Green.

So it's understandable that the crowd's energy petered out when it came time to present a statuette, because really, that was just a good opportunity to rest your feet between songs. The guy in front of us completely ignored anything without music in favor of reading WWE sites on his BlackBerry, and the security guards spent Quincy Jones's acceptance speech discussing how hot Queen Latifah looked (they had a point). Little wonder that, of the sixteen categories our programs promised, only seven actually happened during the show. Even the nominees seemed to care less about winning — or listening to host D.L. Hughley's tired banter — than about the concert aspect, with Rihanna's most-enthusiastic ovation going to T-Pain's performance with Big Boi and Ludacris.

Given how chill these things come across on television, we were surprised that during the live show's commercial breaks, mayhem reigned. People ran around gossiping until the last possible second, forcing the mob of security guards to frantically hustle them back to their seats with five seconds to spare. A loudspeaker beseeched seat-fillers to get up so that, say, Nelly, wouldn't have to cop a squat on the floor. At one point we saw security deny seats to a guy in a giant mascot head — complete with faux-blinged grill — and two pals, only to spy one of them onstage ten minutes later standing behind Lil Wayne. "What the hell is he doing up there?" the guard muttered, paging his comrades backstage. "And WHY is he wearing a jacket when it's 100 degrees?" Two good questions that tragically went unanswered.

But it was at the beginning of the festivities that we learned the most important lesson of all: Gabrielle Union is way smarter than we are. While quaffing Preshow Beer #2, we spied the actress grabbing some liquid courage with her girlfriends — a strapless bra peeking out of the top of her flowing, probably panty-unfriendly white dress — and overheard her confessing that she'd also brought snacks. She had the right idea. The run time was a par-for-the-course three hours, but we underestimated how loudly our Bud-lined stomachs would be growling at the 90-minute mark. No wonder celebrities always go to In-N-Out Burger after the Oscars: If you’ve been living on twigs to fit into your dress, by the time the whole shebang is over you’re probably ready to eat your date’s arm. That postshow Big Mac was the best thing we've ever tasted, but as God is our witness, we’ll never watch an awards show without munchies again. Score at least one for watching from home. —The Fug Girls

For more of the Fugs' celebrity wisdom, check out their complete archive.

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 27 Jun 2008 | 4:30 pm

Wait, Are We Over Anderson Cooper’s Overconcern?

JPRESS: Okay, so can we talk about this entry on Anderson Cooper's blog about how he wants to tell Robert Mugabe "Enough is enough"?
CHRISTAL: What about it?
JPRESS: Let's start with the line: "We sit and we watch, that’s all it seems we’re able to do."
JPRESS: I think that I am over his sanctimoniousness.
CHRISTAL: Wait, wait, wait.
JPRESS: It was cute when he was new, when he was, like, earnest and furrowy because he CARED. But…
CHRISTAL: Are you turning against MANDERSON?
CHRISTAL: Our blimp-bicepted hero?
JPRESS: I think I may be out of love with him.
CHRISTAL: He who carries the fleshy white melons of the world on his shoulders?
JPRESS: First of all, remember, I am a girl, and he is…
JPRESS: You know
CHRISTAL: Short?

JPRESS: Anyway, I used to like the way he furrowed his brow in concern, the time he cried…
JPRESS: (times)
CHRISTAL: There was a time when you lost your heart in the milky embrace of that cleft!
JPRESS: Well, that's what I'm talking about, the cleft. It used to be a hollow I wanted to lovingly stuff with raisins. But lately it seems to have gotten deeper, more sinister. Like an abyss from which pours anger. This really petulant, childish anger.
CHRISTAL: I see what you're getting at. Saying "enough is enough" to Robert Mugabe is like asking Denise Richards, "When will you learn?"
JPRESS: Exactly! It's like saying, "Amy Winehouse should really go to rehab." Or, "Those Janjaweed who attack the villages are just terrible."
CHRISTAL: But here's the thing: Nobody else on CNN is doing that, you know, having genuine and totally obvious reactions of indignation. Whereas EVERYONE on Fox News is doing that.
JPRESS: So because Fox is doing it it's okay? This is very old-fashioned of me, but I want CNN to give me news. I don't want them to emote. I don't need them to tell me how to feel.
CHRISTAL: Yeah, but the point of his show is that it's looking at things from different points of view. Anderson is just doing what Bill O'Reilly does, but with reasonable feelings instead of subtle, ingrained xenophobia, homophobia, and fear of change.
JPRESS: Okay, but even so, Anderson doesn't really have a particularly interesting point of view. He's just like [furrow] "Why do people hurt people?"
JPRESS: His point of view is like: "Bad people are bad."
CHRISTAL: Yes! That's his opinion. Bad people are bad.
CHRISTAL: Suffering sucks.
CHRISTAL: And Kathy Griffin is HILARIOUS.
JPRESS: See, but you don't need to say she's hilarious, because she just is. Like you don't need to show with your cleft that Sudanese refugees are sad, because they just are.
CHRISTAL: I think his overblown caring cushions the blow in a way. It's like he's sharing some of the feeling with you, so you don't have to bear the full burden of all this bad news. It's a complete package, pain included.
JPRESS: But that's just it! He's not sharing your pain. He is not unburdening you! He is burdening you by actively inflicting guilt! "We sit and we watch, that’s all it seems we’re able to do??" You're like, "I suck, man. I'm just sitting here watching and eating a Pizza Pocket," and Anderson is Out in the World. Squinting at the needy!
CHRISTAL: Does this all go back to your being angry about being a blogger and not being a real journalist?
JPRESS: THEY ARE CLASS ISSUES!
JPRESS: Maybe.
CHRISTAL: Can't we just talk about his arms?
JPRESS: Sigh.

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 27 Jun 2008 | 4:30 pm

Miley Cyrus: 'Still Hurts' to Think About Vanity Fair

Teen superstar Miley Cyrus says it "still hurts" to think about the controversial Vanity Fair photo that showed the 15-year-old in what some categorized as a seductive pose, bare-backed and wrapped in a sheet.
Source: FOXNews.com | 27 Jun 2008 | 3:50 pm

Hulk Hogan: Brooke Has Forgiven Me for Fling

Hulk Hogan is happy to have reconciled with his daughter, Brooke, after he had a brief fling with one of her close friends.
Source: FOXNews.com | 27 Jun 2008 | 3:47 pm

Verne Troyer Sues Over Sex Tape

"Austin Powers" actor Verne Troyer is suing TMZ for violating his rights by publishing and airing portions of his sex tape, TMZ reports.
Source: FOXNews.com | 27 Jun 2008 | 3:46 pm

Some Stars 'Wanted,' Madonna Wants More

McAvoy & Jolie on their latest big screen roles; Madonna on her documentary.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 27 Jun 2008 | 3:41 pm

Before Kissing Girl, Katy Perry Sang to God

Pop star's new image has Christian fan base confused and questioning.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 27 Jun 2008 | 3:23 pm

Bizarre origins of wedding traditions

If the throngs of crazed customers clutching registry printouts at the Crate and Barrel are any indication, wedding season is once again upon us.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 27 Jun 2008 | 3:02 pm

FOX411: Will Smith's $150 Million Disaster

'Hancock' is one of the worst family holiday weekend releases of recent memory — and jaw-droppingly so. There's nothing funny, witty or clever, or even developed beyond an idea that should never have been executed in this way.
Source: FOXNews.com | 27 Jun 2008 | 2:55 pm

Paris Makes Good on Promise to Do Good

Paris Hilton makes an "extremely generous" donation to LA's Childrens Hospital.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 27 Jun 2008 | 2:43 pm

Steven Tyler Says Rehab Was for Meds Dependency

Steven Tyler sought the 'safe environment' of rehab last month to recover from more than just surgery -- the Aerosmith frontman now says was fighting a dependency on pain and sleep medication.
Source: FOXNews.com | 27 Jun 2008 | 2:34 pm

Pop Tarts: Emmy Rossum Won't Rule Out Going Nude

It seems Emmy Rossum won't rule out flashing at least some flesh for a film role.
Source: FOXNews.com | 27 Jun 2008 | 2:32 pm

Restaurant Featured in Tom Cruise's 'Top Gun' Gutted By Fire

The restaurant featured in the Tom Cruise movie "Top Gun" has been gutted by a fire Thursday.
Source: FOXNews.com | 27 Jun 2008 | 2:00 pm

Clooney to actors: Can't we all get along?

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 27 Jun 2008 | 1:52 pm

Kanye West's Mom's Plastic Surgeon Arrested

The plastic surgeon who operated on Kanye West's mother before she died last fall has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.
Source: FOXNews.com | 27 Jun 2008 | 1:51 pm

Louis Vuitton: Little Tramp Insouciance (Fashion Wire Daily)

Fashion Wire Daily - There's a fine line between understated and dull, a narrow gap twixt quiet elegance and predictable formulism, and one cleverly negotiated – happily on the right side - at Louis Vuitton on Thursday in Paris when it presented its latest men's collection.

Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 27 Jun 2008 | 1:48 pm

Dries Van Noten: There In His Cars (Fashion Wire Daily)

Fashion Wire Daily - Making clothes that manage to look rather proper yet also seriously hip is a delicate balancing act, but one managed with aplomb and panache by Dries Van Noten on Thursday in Paris, the opening day of the spring 2009 men's shows.

Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 27 Jun 2008 | 12:50 pm

Is Heath Ledger's Joker that good?

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 27 Jun 2008 | 12:40 pm

Vatican paper says pope does not wear Prada (AP)

AP - VATICAN CITY (AP) — The devil may wear Prada — but the pope does not. According to the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, the bright red loafers that Pope Benedict XVI wears are not designed by the Milanese fashion house, as has long been rumored.

Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 27 Jun 2008 | 9:44 am