Photo: Nicola Kast, "Luftwaffenhelferin," 2008

The platinum-selling rapper and Shaniqua Tompkins,...

Source: E! Online - Top Stories | 17 Jul 2008 | 9:35 pm

‘Chinese Democracy’ to Be Four Albums, Claims Now-Fired Video-Game Spokesman

Now that "Shackler's Revenge," a track allegedly from Guns N' Roses century-in-the-making Chinese Democracy, is officially making its debut on the soundtrack to upcoming video game Rock Band 2, some are wondering if this means the album might actually be released someday. So, an investigative journalist with huge balls and a vague affiliation with the Website New Guns N' Roses cornered an employee of MTV Games (RB2's developer) at this week's E3 conference, trying to land a scoop. After an on-the-record interview failed to glean the desired info, our intrepid reporter pretended to shut off his camera while the video-game spokesman dropped huge, exciting, probably false details about Democracy's purportedly impending release.

He claims it will actually be four albums released simultaneously, and that GN'R are in talks with MTV for a big promotional push to coincide with this September's Video Music Awards. Could this possibly be true? We doubt it. But if it is, Axl has probably already dispatched a team of ninjas to the offices of MTV Games.

"Chinese Democracy" Whispers Finally Get Some New Storylines [Idolator]

Earlier: Which Will Come Out First: ‘Chinese Democracy’ or ‘Where the Wild Things Are’?

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 17 Jul 2008 | 9:30 pm

Peter Braunstein Sentenced to 23 Years in Ohio

It must be Christmas in July, because we've been, er, blessed with some news about our favorite media fiend, Peter Braunstein. The former writer is currently serving eighteen-to-life in New York for dressing as a firefighter and then sexually assaulting a woman on Halloween in 2005, but today he was sentenced to an additional 23 years in prison in Ohio for attacking a Cincinnati man while he was on the run. (Ohio, why you always gotta get involved in our business?)

Of course, Braunstein simply cannot emerge before an audience without dropping some serious wisdom, and like a psychopathic Santa, our man delivered the goodies.

• "There was an absurdist quality to this proceeding."
Translation: Dude's a hell of a lot more lucid than we give him credit for.

• "[I'll] orchestrate my own murder … It's not very hard. I've always been kind of a Hamlet character."
Translation: Peter has ambitious plans for prison-community theater.

• "In my life, I had various careers and wore various hats (but) I was always trying to keep all these demons inside me caged. It just came out of the woodwork and I became a psychopath."
Translation: This all could have been prevented with a good career counselor.

• "When I had freedom I had to make decisions. Do I become a criminal? Do I continue to let my rage build until I become a homicidal maniac? Do I commit suicide? In jail, I have peace."
Translation: Prison is a lot like the ashram part of Eat Pray Love.

• "That place [Rikers] was some sort of a Gladiator's ring."
Translation: ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?
—Jessica Coen

Fire fiend Peter Braunstein gets 23 years - in Ohio [NYDN]
Related: Sex and the City: The Horror Movie [NYM]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 17 Jul 2008 | 9:20 pm

Meet the New Girl: Ubah Hassan

The latest Italian Vogue brought back some iconic stars, cemented working girls, and cast major light on rising newbies. One of our favorite youngsters, a girl who has gone largely under the radar compared to Arlenis or Jourdan, is Ubah Hassan. The long-haired beauty hails from Somalia (yes, homeland of Iman as well). She signed with Click Model Management last year, and this year has been making her name in glossies. She scored a spread in Allure’s April issue. But, of course, her biggest claim to fame up is being snapped by Steven Meisel for Italian Vogue. The shot of her rocking a floor-length leopard-print gown alone is worth the exchange rate. —Kendall Herbst

Model Profile: Ubah Hassan

Browse thousands more sexy photos of your favorite models and learn more about them in our Model Manual .

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 17 Jul 2008 | 9:10 pm

What Happened in Brolin, Wright Bar Brawl?

Police video of a Saturday bar brawl may explain why the actors were arrested.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 17 Jul 2008 | 9:02 pm

Stand-up Act Proves Ricky Gervais Irritating in Real Life

The idea that we want to be buds with the people we revere doesn’t apply to Ricky Gervais, who sold out the Theater at MSG last night. That’s because Gervais isn’t so much a comic as a clown, a fount, onscreen, of humiliation. Last night he displayed some of the unsettling characteristics of his most brilliantly pathetic creation, The Office character David Brent — the high-pitched squeal, bug-eyed punch-line delivery, running-his-hand-through-his-hair bit.

Not that the adulatory crowd seemed to mind. Gervais came out in a crown and cape — with mini-fireworks going off on each end of a giant, Diddy-like “Ricky” sign, and an announcer ticking off Gervais’s accomplishments — to big cheers. But after a lead-in about his charity work, he told ten minutes of cancer jokes and set the tone for an awkward, underwhelming evening of material. This was to be expected, perhaps: Gervais — unlike local opener Todd Barry, who killed in the half-empty, lit-up venue — doesn’t actually have a proper stand-up background. But though we sat through painfully unfunny bits about how obesity isn’t a disease and musical AIDS-consolation cards that play parody songs like “So You Had a Bad Gay,” we still like to think of Ricky as infallible (at least until his upcoming film projects prove us conclusively wrong). So we’ll leave you with last night’s best moment: “I don’t know who invented glory holes … I don’t know who said, ‘Ooh, I love cocks, but I hate faces!’” —Amos Barshad

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 17 Jul 2008 | 9:00 pm

batting a thousand with society for rational dress

Society for Rational Dress's Fall '08 lookbook reads like a manual on great personal style. While it's still too early for a fur-lined muff and it may never be quite the right time for a jumpsuit with a waist so high it belts over your chest, there are plenty of looks to lust over right now. I love the paper-bag waist on this skirt and the buckles on the top, which make it into more of a dramatic bat-wing silhouette. Perfect to wear to the opening night of "The Dark Knight."

Source: The Style File | 17 Jul 2008 | 8:45 pm

A Look Into the Crystal Baseball: Predictions for the Season

Baseball’s second half begins tonight, and since yesterday was literally the most boring day on the sports calendar (Kurt-Asle Arvesen won yesterday’s Tour de France stage, if you’re interested), the local papers took the opportunity to look ahead to the season’s final couple of months. John Harper in the Daily News comes right out and hands the National League East to the Mets; Mike Vaccaro thinks they’re thisclose — while cautioning that there’s a long way to go. (We take that to mean that he totally thinks the Mets will win the division, but that he’s a little gun-shy after last season’s disastrous end.) And while it may be dangerous to make long-term predictions in the midst of a nine-game winning streak that has the Mets playing their best baseball of the year, the numbers don’t lie: According to Baseball Prospectus, the Mets have a 60 percent change of making the postseason — higher even than the first-place Phillies.

The Yankees, on the other hand, would appear to be buried, and the evidence is overwhelming. They’ve got countless injuries, an inconsistent lineup, and a captain arguably having his worst season. And we don’t even know where to begin with A-Rod. Plus, for once, they’re chasing not just Boston but Tampa Bay. Still, there’s this sense that the Yankees will make it somehow. (See glass-half-full stories like this one in Newsday). The argument tends to go something like this: “Well, they’re the Yankees, and they always make it.” And that’s true; they’ve climbed out of some pretty spectacular holes in recent years, and five and half games out of the wild card is far from insurmountable. But again, the numbers don’t lie: Baseball Prospectus lists their odds of making it at just 8.7 percent. And that sounds about right to us. —Joe DeLessio

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 17 Jul 2008 | 8:40 pm

New Sega videogame heroine moves like a model, kills with her hair

A curvy new heroine that walks like a runway model but has ankle pistols and deadly hair is getting ready to make her mark in a Sega videogame world packed with macho action heroes.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 17 Jul 2008 | 8:39 pm

New videogame heroine moves like a model, kills with her hair (AFP)

AFP - A curvy new heroine that walks like a runway model but has ankle pistols and deadly hair is getting ready to make her mark in a videogame world packed with macho action heroes.

Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 17 Jul 2008 | 8:38 pm

David Yurman’s New Shades: Glam in Every Way

It's no secret that designers put on expensive runway shows and jump through all sorts of hoops to get the Sarah Jessica Parkers and Cate Blanchetts of the world into their dresses. And they throw extravagant anniversary parties and associate themselves with a sense of luxury and cache for one simple reason: to sell more perfume, pantyhose, and sunglasses.

Jewelry companies are catching on to the idea of lucrative licensing agreements and are now scrambling to be the next names providing saucer-size shades to Mary-Kate doppelgängers everywhere. Bulgari has been doing sunglasses for a few years, Tiffany & Company followed suit this spring, and last night, David Yurman held a rooftop party at his Tribeca headquarters to unveil the company's own line of luxury eyewear. There are shades for guys and dolls, all adorned with the appropriate Yurman signatures: silver rope detailing, oversize precious stones, and hefty price tags. They hit stores this fall, starting at $395 and going all the way up to a whopping $1,100. Sounds like a rather precious way to roll incognito, but hey, if they're good enough for Kate Moss… —Tracey Lomrantz

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 17 Jul 2008 | 8:35 pm

Photographer Edith Maybin’s Daughter Primps Up, Hose Down

Photographer Edith Maybin’s mother wore Marks and Spencer pantyhose in her day, the kind bunching up around the ankles of Maybin’s dreamy preteen daughter here as she slumps in an old chair after a day of mother-daughter playtime. The image is one in a series titled The Tenby Document on view at Edwynn Houk Gallery through August 28, for which mommy Maybin presents her 21st-century daughter in compelling Victorian settings, sometimes superimposing her own body onto her daughters and blurring the narrative between three generations of Marks and Spencer ladies. —Emma Pearse

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 17 Jul 2008 | 8:30 pm

Billy Joel’s Epic Shea Concert Moves Us to Tears

In our circles, one doesn’t necessarily broadcast the fact that one is totally psyched about seeing Billy Joel play the second-to-last concert ever at Shea Stadium. He’s not MGMT, after all. To say you like Billy Joel is to tell the world you also like Jumbotron close-ups of his fingers flying across the piano, 50-foot-tall screens showing people holding hands at sunset during “These Are the Times to Remember,” choruses of men and women in uniform singing “Goodbye Saigon,” and pictures of Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe and Stalin and Elvis mixed with images of actual fire during “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” Well, world, we shed a tear when the entire stadium linked arms and sang “Piano Man.” We freely admit to the cheesiness of our soul. We loved every second of last night’s show.

Joel still lives in Long Island, and at this event he made clear he was playing to a home crowd. “I remember when this place was built. I was 13 or 14, and now they’re going to tear it down. And I’m still playing,” he said, shaking his head in awe. The video screens were cityscapes; the video itself was projected in the shape of the skyline. Joel opened, as every Mets game does, with the national anthem, then moved into “Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway),” a borough-name-dropping song in which only Queens survives the destruction of the city. In the original lyrics, the Yankees are spared; this time, Joel spared the Mets and Shea. Later in the night Don Henley played his own baseball-themed “The Boys of Thunder” and Tony Bennett joined Joel in a duet of “New York State of Mind” that brought down the house.

Granted, Joel might have amped up the New York pandering a bit owing to some controversy. Last night had originally been billed the “Last Play at Shea,” but Joel later added a show on Friday. He was visibly upset as he explained himself to the booing crowd. “I want to apologize to those of you who bought tickets thinking this was the last show at Shea,” he said (this was greeted with a chorus of jeers). “I know. I suck. A lot of scalpers got a hold of tickets and a lot people who wanted to go couldn’t get in. They don’t enforce the frickin’ laws in this state anymore!”

But very much to his credit, Joel played like this was his last concert on earth. When the cameras zoomed in on his face, it was tomato red and covered in sweat. He joked that he hasn’t created a new album in fifteen years, which is awesome because he played only songs we know. And he filled the show with little extras, like John Mayer playing guitar on “These Are the Times to Remember” and John Mellencamp guesting on “Taking Back America.” Joel also played tribute to the Beatles — whose 1965 concert at Shea, as the stadium’s first musical act, represented the height of Beatlemania — by ending the main part of the two-and-a-half-hour set with “Please Please Me.” The encore, of course, he closed with “Piano Man.” This is our Billy Joel, the city’s unabashedly cheesy and unexpectedly profound musical ambassador. “Thank you, Shea Stadium,” he said, waving good-bye with a tear in his eye. “Don’t take shit from anybody.” —Jada Yuan

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 17 Jul 2008 | 8:00 pm

Body Found at McCarren Pool

Hey, did you see the Breeders at McCarren Pool this weekend? We did. It was fun. We had no idea, however, that we were probably sharing the venue with badly decomposed body. ABC reports on the discovery that was made this morning:

Parks workers told police a foul odor had been coming from a shed at the pool for months. The workers reportedly found the body when they went to the shed to retrieve some equipment.

And we thought it was just the collective smell of stinky hipsters.*

Decomposing Body Found Near Pool [ABCNews]

*Sorry, we know, we're awful.

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 17 Jul 2008 | 8:00 pm

Keira Knightley and Jessica Simpson Land September Covers

The fat, highly anticipated September fall fashion magazines are almost upon us. Can't you just feel their weight in your arms right now? Vogue is taking a risk with its cover girl, Keira Knightley. Knightley last appeared on the June 2007 cover, which was the second-lowest seller of that half of the year, moving just 405,000 copies. Still, that's a lot more than Gwyneth Paltrow's May 2008 cover, which sold just 310,000 copies.

Elle, on the other hand is playing it safe with Jessica Simpson on its September issue (she has a country-music album coming out later this year, so, uh, mark your calendars). Yes, she, Jessica Simpson, is safe. Her March 2007 cover was the magazine's best-selling issue last year, even beating out Lindsay Lohan's September cover. And the September 2004 issue she appeared on sold the most issues of the past seven years, moving 483,100 copies. We know the numbers don't lie, but that is just baffling.

Other September cover girls include Penélope Cruz for Glamour, Blake Lively for Cosmopolitan, and Vanessa Hudgens for Teen Vogue.

Memo Pad: Judging The Books By Their Covers [WWD]

Related: ‘Vogue’ Shape-Issue Numbers Were Bad, But Gwyneth’s Were Worse

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 17 Jul 2008 | 7:50 pm

karen millen picks a daisy

Nothing adds cachet to an established brand quite like the sparkle of golden youth—particularly when the young'un in question boasts rock-star roots and model looks. Cue U.K. high-street brand Karen Millen's inspired idea to enlist Daisy Lowe (daughter of Gavin Rossdale and Pearl Lowe and all-around London It girl) to star in its holiday ad campaign. The video will be shown on the Karen Millen site once the Grace Jones-meets-goth Victoriana collection lands in stores this fall. But first, Style.com has an exclusive look.

Source: The Style File | 17 Jul 2008 | 7:32 pm

New Girl Talk Album Spawns Crazily Ambitious YouTube Mash-Up Project

In what's surely one of the most awesome, flagrant, and work-intensive copyright violations we've ever seen, an enterprising YouTube user has set about creating videos for every track on Girl Talk's new album, Feed the Animals, by editing together clips of performance footage from all of their component mashed-up songs (he's made it through three fourteenths of the album's track list so far). Above, in BunnyGreenHouse's amazingly constructed video for "Still Here," Youngbloodz, Procul Harum, and Lil' Jon vie for attention before Blackstreet and the Penny Hardaway puppet reinterpret "No Diggity" over Kanye's "Flashing Lights" and Radiohead's "15 Step." What have you ever done with your life?

BunnyGreenHouse's Channel [YouTube via Fimoculous]

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 17 Jul 2008 | 7:30 pm

Au Revoir, New York ‘Literary’ Scene!

A few days ago, a post on the blog Jess and Josh Talk About Stuff caught our eye. It was written by 20-year-old Jessica Roy, an NYU student, and though it was short and vague, it indicated that the author had just recently suffered her first really demoralizing New York Media Experience. We quote:

It is, unfortunately, not enough to be honest in this city. I will not give blowjobs for bylines. I will not laugh at peoples' unfunny jokes because I want them to be impressed by me. I will not become someone else so that I can be absorbed into this elite, nefarious world where people trade intellect like currency … I am getting out of New York for awhile, from August-January … New York is not a place for serious people.

It got us thinking all of the things that had happened to us and our friends when we were younger that have could put us off writing forever. Like when a Vanity Fair editor said our friend could "make the words do the mambo, but you don't have any new ideas." Or the time an Observer editor responded to a friend's pitch by saying, "Sorry, we only do INTERESTING stories." Or just those times when we've realized: Everyone knows each other. And it's kind of awful.

Until the other night, when the people whose Internet personas I had admired appeared to me in the flesh.

On Saturday night, Leon Neyfakh of the New York Observer picked my friend Alec Niedenthal and me up in downtown Brooklyn. Alec is a 17-year-old literary whiz kid and friend of mine whom Leon had written about in the Observer after Alec wrote an incendiary letter to the New York Times. He'd come to New York to meet with a potential publisher.

We walked with Leon to another guy’s house. I'll call him Sebastian. Along the way we plucked up a couple of n+1 interns, underage Lolitas in slutty dresses. They were sucking lollipops and carrying six packs of Blue Moon. These girls seemed like they would fuck anyone for a byline, and the men were even worse, charming them with discussions about Gaddis’ The Recognitions or the glory of the em dash. Everything I had begun to suspect — that n+1 was a place where old guys who never got laid in high school finally have their pick of the fine young crop — felt wholly true in those moments leading up to entering Sebastian's house. I felt suddenly hollowed.

Sebastian lives with his parents in a multi-million-dollar brownstone in Brooklyn. There were Persian rugs and chandeliers; the fireplace mantle had pictures of Sebastian wearing a suit as a child. On his parents’ armoire sat a set of old keys and a couple of grams of coke for anyone who might be interested. I felt sad for him, for having all of these assholes in his house who made fun of him for making peach Cosmos. He was an empty trust-fund hipster in his parents’ mansion where all the literary kids came to play.

Everyone there went to Columbia or Harvard or Yale. They argued over grammar and syntax, the difference between a metaphor and a metonymy. Someone sparked a joint and everyone drank and simmered in their own self-congratulatory pseudo-intellectualism. For the first time in my life I felt intellectually inferior. I could not name my favorite passage in The Recognitions. I was tongue-tied.

After that, we were off to a birthday party off the Smith Street F stop in Brooklyn. It was a party for Carla Blumenkranz, who wrote a story called "In Search of Gawker" for n+1 last winter. Emily Gould was there. Alec ditched me to continue sucking up to Leon, and Leon loved it because to him Alec is a protégé. They will feed off of each other and help each other succeed even though they don't actually care about one another. Eventually Keith Gessen showed up. He is short in person with messy hair. I heard him saying he will "try to take himself more seriously."

Someone introduced me to Moe from Jezebel, with whom I'd had short correspondence about an article I'd written on my blog recently. I was drunk and mumbled, "I've read your Jezebel posts." Immediately, I felt like an idiot. I'd broken the No. 1 rule of these parties: Know and read everything about everyone, comment on it or criticize it on your Tumblr, but never mention it in real life.

This way we can maintain two separate spheres: one, where we are so honest that we hurt each other, and another, where we are so dishonest that we hurt each other even more.

A guy I am friendly with who used to work for Gawker, Jon, came up behind me, "Do you want to meet Emily Gould?"

"No," I said. "I don't want it to be awkward." She was talking to Alec, Keith Gessen, and Leon. The guy who maintains the All the Sad Young Gossip Girls Tumblr told me that Keith stole Emily from Leon when they were dating.

"How are they all talking, then?" I asked.

"Everyone here is frenemies," Jon observed.

At that point I began to feel sick.

It just was all so fucking fake. These people that I had admired my entire New York existence — they all disappointed me. I don't understand how people can exist in such a dishonest way and still call themselves writers. Isn't it the responsibility of a writer to be honest? And why would you uphold a conversation with someone whom you're going to talk shit on while walking back to the G train? They're living in a box, where they only talk to others who have read Gessen's book and think it sucks but will tell him it's brilliant because they need his approval.

I did not move to New York to return to high school, but that's exactly what it felt like.

I feel lost at this point. I don't want to be part of the media world if this is what's in store for me. I suppose it's possible to participate in it, and be a writer, without actually becoming a member. But this tiny concentration of hyper-intellectuals has become a juggernaut that subtly controls everything that happens in the industry.

Yeah, we know. But remember, sometimes it feels like that.

Any talent that Alec has could be stripped from him because from now on, he's no longer writing for himself, he's writing for Gessen, for Emily Gould, with her tattoos and her book deal, for the fucking New York Times Book Review, where he initially targeted the rage that brought him to this very spot.

This experience has left me to grapple with learning how to remain an honest writer in New York: In truth, I'm not sure it can be done.

And so Jessica Roy will depart for a semester abroad in Paris in September. She will continue to maintain her blog — which will probably become wildly popular and, upon her return, she'll be owning these godforsaken media parties. Hang in, little one. Paris is a good place to get just jaded enough to come back to this town and run the show.

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 17 Jul 2008 | 7:15 pm

‘Project Runway’ Returns: Our Early Thoughts

With all the drama around Project Runway's imminent move to more silver-haired pastures (we STILL can't imagine flipping to Lifetime for something other than old Tori Spelling movies), we greeted last night's premiere of its swan-song season on Bravo with fear. What if the departing honchos gave into temptation to stick it to Harvey Weinstein by running Runway into the ground?

Fortunately, at first blush things are promising. Reprising old favorites like the grocery-store challenge, with corn-husk sorcerer Austin Scarlett judging it, reminded us why we fell in love with the show in the first place. Throw in Tim Gunn lecturing the designers for lacking originality, a character contestant (Stella) whose makeup reminds us of Cher, and the season's theme apparently shaping up to being Heidi Klum's Upper Thighs — did her legs develop a fabric allergy? — we can only conclude that the tingly sensation in our extremities must be…optimism. Here's our take on this season's crop of competitors, and who, in the words of our favorite life coach, just might make it work.

FRONT-RUNNERS: It's tough to argue with last night's top three. Of all the tablecloth offerings, Korto's maybe-overwhelming canary kimono looked the LEAST like a portable picnic, Daniel made molding plastic cups look easy and chic; and Kelli's innovative marbled vacuum-bag dress simply rocked. Anyone who looks at a spiral notebook and sees hook-and-eye closures, rather than acid flashbacks to geometry class, is a true hero. Her win was much deserved.

DARK HORSES: Weaving a top from mop heads shows Terri may have a keen eye for detail, and we dug Kenley's dodgeball bodice and cool, angular skirt. But so far, Jerell intrigues us most. Between the fascinator and the Koosh-ball sleeve, maybe his dress looked like Cirque du Soleil as costumed by Pat Field, but admit it: You'd totally go see that show, even without a purse flask.

WTF ARE THEY DOING THERE? Judging from his shapeless cylinder dress, which somehow managed to be hideous and Dullsville, we suspect Suede is just there to be the Token Faux-Hawk. And although it took us twenty minutes to figure out which, exactly, of the cast’s several young dark-haired women Emily is, we knew her bizarre Jell-O-mold-style neck ruff left something to be desired. Like taste.

AND WHAT ABOUT NINA? After her unceremonious booting from Elle, we wanted Heidi Klum to introduce Nina as a “fashionable lady of leisure,” since she hasn’t started at Marie Claire yet. But Heidi stuck to the script, and the Elle “editor-at-large” title felt like a stale compromise designed to prevent Bravo's brass from torching the Elle offices as payback for screwing with their judging panel.

SHUT UP, YOU’RE ALREADY ANNOYING: Hard-core tanorexic Blayne referred to his tiny, diaper-tastic, deeply contrived onesie as “girlicious” so often that he probably owes Robin Antin royalties. Worse, he and Suede appear to be moonlighting on America’s Next Top Christian Siriano, which is tiresome at best. Did we mention that Suede refers to himself in the third person? Stop that.

SHUT UP, NOW KISS US: True confessions: We hated Christian early on but ended up rooting for him. Ergo, we’ll probably be madly in love with Blayne and Suede sometime within the next three weeks.

BIGGEST SIGN THAT IT'S ALL GOING TO BE OKAY: Tim Gunn and Michael Kors. The teaser for the rest of the season included Gunn trilling, "Holla at your boy," Kors calling something "slutty, slutty, SLUTTY," and Gunn likening a design to "a pterodactyl out of a gay Jurassic Park." As long as our boys stay in such fine form, we'll follow them anywhere. Yes, even to Lifetime. —The Fug Girls

Related: Most Fabulous and Hideous Project Runway Looks
Check out the Cut's complete Project Runway coverage.
Plus: New York's Guide to Project Runway
And for more of the Fug Girls' genius, do enjoy their complete archive.

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 17 Jul 2008 | 7:08 pm

Cut Chemist on ‘Juno,’ DJ Shadow, and Spinning in the Ladies’ Room

He's the stuff of legends, at least in turntable lore. L.A. native and former Jurassic Five spinmeister Cut Chemist, along with his partner DJ Shadow, made history as the first ever D.J.'s to headline the Hollywood Bowl, and tonight the duo comes to McCarren Park to play the last stop on their tour for The Hard Sell, the final installment of their collaborative trilogy. Cut talked to Vulture about working with Shadow, his weirdest location for a gig ever (a burned-out pool doesn’t come close), and what, if anything, will be the demise of the White Stripes.

You and DJ Shadow have a great dynamic onstage. How would you characterize him as a partner?
It’s like a good-cop, bad-cop routine I guess. I’m the bad cop. He sticks to the game plan, and I’m the one who tries to improvise it and throw away the script.

So you’re like the Hutch to his Starsky?
There you go. Wait, am I Starsky? I mean, I'm not totally going to make him out to be a square peg. He’s got his own bats in his belfry. It’s like two mountain climbers. We can’t make it up there alone.

You used to be kind of a holdout with regard to finding music online. Any blogs you check out these days?
Well, that’s the thing. I gotta be a secret squirrel about it. That’s the thing. Oh, man, forget it. I am such a hypocrite. I found out about this stuff from someone's blog and then I’m like, Hell no!

Well, any up-and-coming talent that’s inspiring to you now?
With all the technology now, seems like everybody can make music. That can be good and bad, but sometimes when people don’t know exactly what they’re doing, they make some really cool, naïve stuff. When people really start to figure out what they’re doing, that’s when the stuff starts to go downhill.

Any examples?
I think if Meg White were to play the drums any better, that group would not be as successful. There's just something about her naïve, sloppy drumming that makes that shit work; it's just so swinging. I hope she's not taking drumming lessons because that could be the end of the White Stripes as we know it.

Do more people recognize you now that you had a role in Juno?
Okay, so I have been doing music for, what, fifteen, twenty years? Twenty years versus five seconds onscreen. And yes, that five seconds onscreen has meant more. People are like, Oh, the guy in Juno, the chemistry teacher. It's like, Oh yeah? He's also done a little bit of music too. Go check it out.

Any other cameos coming up?
Well, now that you ask. The Juno people are doing a new movie and I am in it again. It's a bit of a stretch. I am playing a D.J. A lot of coaching needed for that one. But it's not really as big of a role.

So it's three seconds instead of five?
Yeah, but at least they're still calling me up.

And you're coming to Brooklyn next week, playing a drained-out pool.
Yeah, what is this place? At least it's not the weirdest place I ever D.J.-ed. That was at this bar in Melbourne. They got the idea to have me D.J. in the women's toilet, but it was still a working bathroom!

Wait, were you in a stall?
I was by the sinks. And there was a line of people waiting to use the bathroom. But there were other people in there dancing. I’m just glad it wasn't the men's room.

Wow. Well, here they usually set up a Slip 'n' Slide. Will you be taking a turn?
[Laughs] Yeah, like in between the sets! There’s actually a part during the show where we used to take a dinner break. There’s this 45 that we play, it’s a wonderful, long minute-and-a-half drum solo, and so we were like, What are we going to do during that? So Shadow came up with this wonderful idea to come out with lawn chairs and have waiters serve us gazpacho soup to it. And so maybe we strike that and we just go on the Slip 'n' Slide for a minute and a half.

Maybe you could combine it with a dinner break. Go down the Slip 'n' Slide eating a chicken leg.
Maybe a big turkey leg. I am going to advance that idea. Call my manager.
–Lauren Salazar

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 17 Jul 2008 | 6:45 pm

Alba wanted baby's name to be unique

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 17 Jul 2008 | 6:44 pm

Rachel Zoe Might Be Finished at Halston, Too

Yesterday, we learned Halston's head designer, Marco Zanini, seems to be finished at the label, after designing just two collections. Reports have now emerged that Rachel Zoe is out the door, too. Zoe was hired as a creative consultant to advise on red-carpet and celebrity styling. But when she didn't show up to the label's fashion show in February, speculation ran rampant that she didn't see eye to eye creatively with Zanini. And Halston has yet to make an impact on the red carpet. But considering Zoe's got a clothing line, fragrance, and reality series in the works, it might not be such a bad idea for her to step away for a little "me" time. How else will she successfully build the Rachel Zoe–branded empire the world's been longing for?

Where in the World Is Marco Zanini? [Fashion Week Daily]
Related: Halston Lets Its Head Designer Go

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 17 Jul 2008 | 6:40 pm

Devorah Rose on the Red Carpet: A Psychodrama

Today the blog Guest of a Guest has a diary entry by Devorah Rose, aspiring reality star and editor of Social Life magazine, from the Paws for Fashion event earlier this week. The party is best known for being the place we all learned that Lauren Conrad is a dog-hating diva. But yeah, Devorah was there, too. You probably don't quite know who she is — this video of her with socialblogger Emily Brill will help — but we promise you, in watching the above video post, you will see into the young woman's soul. It is a full 1:08 of her on the red carpet, holding a small dog. It is mesmerizing.

Devorah’s Diary: Paws For Style [Guest of a Guest]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 17 Jul 2008 | 6:31 pm

a whole lot moore

Julianne Moore can't be accused of not stretching her range this year. Not only did she take on incest in "Savage Grace," but she had a Paris Vogue "makeover"—appearing on the cover of the May issue in flagrant décolletage, leopard-print panties, and stilettos. Just four months later, she graces the cover of Psychologies magazine in her more usual girl-next-door guise. Her "On the Couch" interview is sandwiched between articles on what your possessions reveal about you (jazz records indicate an open personality), "switching off," and eco getaways.

Source: The Style File | 17 Jul 2008 | 6:30 pm

Basic Cable Shows Break into Emmy Race

AMC and FX hits scored Emmy nominations for the first time ever.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 17 Jul 2008 | 6:08 pm

Review: 'Dark Knight' a stunning film

According to a Russian proverb, God makes the priests. Jesters come from the devil. You can imagine where the Joker came from, particularly as portrayed by Heath Ledger. The actor's brilliant performance helps make "The Dark Knight" a terrific film.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 17 Jul 2008 | 6:01 pm

Manhattan Theatre Club Director Fires Latest Salvo in War Between Airlines and Passengers

Lynne Meadow was flying back from Rome to New York last summer when a chatty flight attendant accidentally roused her from her sleep. She quietly shushed the young man, Chris Boone, and went back to sleep. Little did the Manhattan Theatre Club executive director know, this small move was to spark a drawn-out, uncomfortable ordeal. After dealing with a different crew member over some problems with her fold-out movie monitor (must have been first class – ooh!), she eventually approached Boone again. Having mistakenly broken her TV screen, she apologetically brought the entire object (it had snapped off) to Boone. The Sun describes what happened next:

Mr. Boone, who had noticed the many requests Ms. Meadow had made to the staff during the flight, confronted her in anger when she showed him the screen, the complaint says, exclaiming: "You destroyed airline property! There is no way this could have come off by itself." Ms. Meadow claims she followed him into the galley, where he said, "From the moment you 'shushed' me during takeoff, I knew there would not be enough attendants on this plane to take care of you." Mr. Boone, she said, would not hear her explanation and told her, "The authorities will deal with you on the ground." At that, she began to cry and was comforted by other flight attendants.

When the flight was over, four or more Port Authority police officers met her, the suit claims, and detained her in front of the other passengers. She had to surrender her passport, was denied a phone call, and, following a police interview, was transferred to an agent from the FBI. After an hour, she was released without charges and her passport was returned.

This report comes from a complaint that Meadow filed with the New York State Supreme Court, charging Continental Airlines and Boone with "emotional distress and humiliation and for providing her with faulty equipment on the flight."

In our recent post about a group of passengers who were so antagonistic to their flight crew that the plane never left the ground, the comments revealed a tremendous amount of anger on the parts of both passengers and airline staff. We sense a lot more stories like this coming in the near future. Is the air-travel industry the only one in which the companies and clientele are engaged in actual battle?

Passenger Sues Airline, Claiming Humiliation by a Flight Attendant [NYS]

Earlier: Airline Travelers’ Bill of Rights Overturned on Appeal. You Will Stay in Your Seat and Like It, Hear?
Is Delta-Suing Dad a Jerk, or a Voice of the People?
Angry New Yorkers Scare Crew Off American Airlines Flight
Naomi Campbell Banned, Skies Return to Friendly
Related: Gridlock at 30,000 Feet: What went so catastrophically wrong [NYM]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 17 Jul 2008 | 5:46 pm

‘Project Runway’ Scores Five Emmy Noms; Heidi Klum Scores Two

On the heels of season five's debut last night, Project Runway scored five Emmy nominations this morning for Outstanding Picture Editing, Cinematography, Direction, Host, and Reality Series. That means Heidi Klum technically scored two since she's an executive producer and host of the show.

We have to say, we love the Klumster (who else can make a red leopard dress look amazing like she did on last night's episode?), but it's a shame there's no room in these categories to give love to Tim Gunn. "Make it work" might be getting old and slightly irritating, but did you see him in the preview of the upcoming season telling a designer her dress looked like a pterodactyl out of gay Jurassic Park? Let's give Tim Gunn an honorary award for five seasons of fabulous quips before Project moves to Lifetime and disappears from the nominees list altogether.

The 60th Primetime Emmy® Awards and Creative Arts Emmy® Awards Nominees are… [Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 17 Jul 2008 | 5:40 pm

JPMorgan Chase Profits Fall 53 Percent

FINANCE
• There's chink in Jamie Dimon's armor: JPMorgan Chase reported that its second-quarter profits dropped 53 percent, to about $2 billion. Yet the profit surpassed analysts' average estimate by about 10 cents per share. [DealBook/NYT]
• It's a good day for BlackRock chairman Laurence Fink: His investment firm reported that profits climbed 23 percent, to $274 million, in the second quarter. [DealBook/NYT]
• On Monday, banking stocks took one of their steepest dives since the eighties. Yesterday, however, the stocks rallied, making their biggest one-day comeback in sixteen years as the Dow Jones climbed 2.5 percent. [NYT]

MEDIA
• Ratings might be dropping at the Peacock Network, but wunderkind Ben Silverman has increased NBC Universal's profits by over 50 percent in his division. "We're managing for margins and not for ratings," he says. [NYP]
• Even though S.I. Newhouse isn't planning on retiring anytime soon, the elephant in the room still begs: Who is the Condé Nast king's heir apparent? [WWD]
• Apparently Howard Stern has a sensitive side. When the shock jock learned about the breakup of Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman, he said he "got so upset I had to go take a walk." [NYP]

REAL ESTATE
• The withering economy hasn't shrunk costs of the fanciest beach mansions, it seems. The median price for homes in Southampton Village is up 78.5 percent, to $3.1 million, while some pads have sold for as much as $60 million recently. Elsewhere out east, however, prices are dropping. In Speonk, New York, for example, prices have plunged 49 percent, to $316,000. [NYP]
• Do other prominent people get a break on their rent at Harlem's Lenox Terrace, where Representative Charles Rangel lives? [NYT]
• Merrill Lynch isn't moving to one of the new ground-zero towers, which means that with no private tenants in sight, developer Larry Silverstein might have a problem raising money for the site's construction. [NYT]
• Queens is a hotter market than Brooklyn. [Curbed]

LAW
• Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman attorneys might be getting iPhones, but they're also getting pink slips. [Above the Law]
• Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver can't be held liable for a $500,000 settlement the state reached with a staffer who was involved in a sexual encounter with Silver's former chief counsel. [Law.com]
• Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau is being asked to prosecute hedge-fund manager Stuart Sugarman, who was implicated in the Equinox "You go girl!" spinning lawsuit. [Above the Law]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 17 Jul 2008 | 5:04 pm

‘Vogue’ and IMG Make a Web-Based Model Reality Series

Vogue and IMG may fill the void left by the MTV's Eighth and Ocean and VH1's The Agency, that gaping emptiness that no other model reality show has quite been able to fill (Tyson and Tyra, we still love you — but you're almost above what we're talking about here). The magazine and fashion company will air an "elaborate" reality TV series about models on Vogue.tv starting August 19. The Internet show will also be syndicated on sites like Hulu.com and Veoh.com. Called Model.Live, the show will follow three models as they try to get work at Fashion Weeks in New York, Paris, Milan, and London.

The producers plan to keep the show as real as possible. They'll document castings for the jobs the girls get rejected for as well as those they book. If issues surrounding race or disordered eating surface, they plan to "meet them head-on." Express sponsors the series, so IMG Models in America and Europe will stock their closets with Express clothes. But The Wall Street Journal notes, "In the interest of authenticity, the models won't be required to wear them." Well, of course not. You can't ask a model to wear Express to a Lagerfeld casting!

The only stuff we won't get to see? Anything involving "controversial behavior like smoking or drinking" because they "don't want to embarrass anybody." Even so, the show looks quite intriguing.

Vogue Models a New Reality Series [WSJ]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 17 Jul 2008 | 4:40 pm

when in berlin, art is the thing

Twin events on the eve of Berlin fashion week riffed on fashion and art's increasingly fruitful relationship. The stately Unter den Linden Strasse featured a chic vernissage garden party for Friday 13th's "Into the Woods" group show. "Art serves as an intellectual base camp and archive of forms and ideas for fashion," exclaims the exhibition text by former Qvest magazine editor Joachim Bessing. Over at ProjektGalerie, meanwhile, a scrappy and sassy showing of Japanese photographer Fumi Nagasaka's film and stills of a male model in sordid cinematic scenes drew the fashion crowd's more downtown faction. And who should we spot there but Iekeliene Stange, in Berlin to walk in Hugo Boss' show today. Of where she chose to spend her single night in the city, she said, "Where else should one be in Berlin, rather than at an art opening?"

Source: The Style File | 17 Jul 2008 | 4:15 pm

ABC: Katherine Heigl Sticking With 'Grey's Anatomy'

Katherine Heigl is sticking with "Grey's Anatomy" despite voicing displeasure about last season's script quality, the network's programming chief said.
Source: FOXNews.com | 17 Jul 2008 | 4:10 pm

Frogger, anyone? Gamers revel in nostalgia

It was the ultimate 30th birthday present for Rob O'Hara. His wife joined forces with friends and family in 2003 to bring a dream of his to life in the Yukon, Oklahoma, couple's backyard.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 17 Jul 2008 | 4:10 pm

Batman: Ledger, Movie, Best of the Year

Heath Ledger steals the show in "The Dark Knight," in theaters Friday.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 17 Jul 2008 | 4:08 pm

Singer Bkjork performing

Earlier this year China warned foreign artists that they must adhere to the country's laws after Icelandic singer Bjork, seen here on July 14, 2008, called for Tibetan independence during a March concert...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 17 Jul 2008 | 4:07 pm

Gerard Mortier

Paris Opera director Gerard Mortier in 2007. The Paris Opera, seen here in 2007, is bringing modern productions of the Western operatic repetoire to Japan in a tour of unprecedented size set against the...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 17 Jul 2008 | 4:06 pm

the mole truth about sarah jessica parker

A "friend" of Sarah Jessica Parker confirms the actress' removal of her trademark chin marking, so call us convinced.

Reality TV just got real-er. Vogue's foray into the genre with catwalk chronicle Model.Live just jammed up your TiVo.

In other reality TV news, L.A. boutique Kitson has taken "The Hills" heroine Lauren Conrad's clothing line off the racks. We imagine this move, at least, was unscripted.

Source: The Style File | 17 Jul 2008 | 3:47 pm

Killer of 'Curious George' writer spared

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 17 Jul 2008 | 3:23 pm

hugs and kisses from berlin

Berlin's homegrown chic bubbles up from the streets. And Berlin-based street artist XOOOOX, whose life-size, Banksy-style stencils of impeccably stylish women culled from the advertising of fashion houses such as Balenciaga and Chanel have adorned cities like Milan, Paris, and New York, gives that chic back. The women who inspire the art might never walk the streets where XOOOOX's art appears, but for those who do, the black-and-white images sprinkle élan and elegance free of charge. This evening, on the opening night of Berlin fashion week, the artist is launching "Molotov High Heels: New Works by Street Artist XOOOOX" at CircleCulture. She took some time out before the opening to chat with Style.com about her take on the world of high fashion.

Why do you reference high fashion and not mass-market editorial images and labels?

I use images of Mango and H&M adverts, too. It all depends on the motif and the quality of the pictures.

Are you affectionate toward or critical of high fashion?

It's a dislike for people who use high fashion to boost their self-esteem or get class. Either you have style or you don't, but you can't go into a fancy shop and buy it. It's all about your personality, and fashion is the code.

The girls you depict are usually more chic than showy. What is your personal taste in women's style?

I like it classic feminine. A simple elegant dress with pumps just does it.

Is fashion art?

No. The ideas and the inspiration process of a designer may have an artistic sense but as soon as the concept turns into fashion, it's loosing a huge amount of these values.

You have created work on the walls in major fashion capitals like Paris, New York, and Milan. Why Berlin?

I live here and this city is amazing. But from the point of view of fashion, I think, Berlin is highly overrated. Many people are afraid of being too chic or elegant.

Does "xoooox" stand for "hugs and kisses"? Are you satirizing fashion people's effusive, kissy-kissy greetings? Or are you actually suggesting that fashion can be a warm and positive force that brings people pleasure?

I didn't know the shortcut "xoxoxo" and its meaning when I created the name, but this interpretation is very good. "XOOOOX" is simple and noncommitted. You can flip and reflect the letters and it's always the same, like a strong mind which does not allow the influence of anything.

Source: The Style File | 17 Jul 2008 | 3:17 pm

Andy Dick's All Smiles Despite Arrest

The comedian allegedly exposed a teen's breasts; he's being held on $5,000 bail.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 17 Jul 2008 | 2:47 pm

Pop Tarts: Kim Kardashian Plans Big Family, Says Rear's Real

Kim Kardashian and NFL star Reggie Bush are undoubtedly one of Hollywood's hottest couples — and it seems they're getting ready not only to tie the knot but to flourish their family in a big way.
Source: FOXNews.com | 17 Jul 2008 | 2:03 pm

by the book: assouline opens up shop in nyc

Renovations in New York are always bittersweet. Take the recent refurb of the Plaza Hotel. While it's nice to see the old girl spruced up, it's hard to believe that any change to the Oak Bar, scheduled to reopen at the end of the summer, will top the original (but then how can you improve a watering hole that was the site of Cary Grant's kidnapping in "North By Northwest?"). One upgrade to the Plaza that we can endorse is the newly opened Assouline boutique, the first of its kind in North America (the original shop is in Place Saint Germaine des Prés in Paris). Whether you stop in to browse the impressive selection of fashion titles or decide that you need to have the publisher completely restock your library (Assouline will provide everything from books to shelves), the mezzanine-level shop provides a civilized oasis.

Source: The Style File | 17 Jul 2008 | 1:49 pm

the return of laetitia casta

the return of laetitia casta With the looming fall ad campaigns heralding the return of nineties supermodels in all of their thin-but-not-too-thin, moderately busty glory, Laetitia Casta is gearing up to party like it's 1999. The Corsican-born beauty, who's been walking the runway since the ripe old age of 15, is experiencing a resurgence these days (not that you ever left our hearts, Laetitia), snagging the cover of this month's Paris Vogue, plus a rumored spot in Louis Vuitton's high-profile, supers-only fall campaign. And since Ralph Lauren hand-picked her to star as the face of his new fragrance, Notorious (sultry ads shot by Michael Thompson to appear in your favorite glossies come September), she can add beauty icon to her ever-diversifying portfolio.

Source: The Style File | 17 Jul 2008 | 1:44 pm

Reality Check: 'American Idol' Kicks Off Season 8 Auditions

The Season 7 tour's still on the move, we've barely begun to forget that David Cook guy and record-label ejections have yet to begin, but a new season of 'American Idol' is already under way.
Source: FOXNews.com | 17 Jul 2008 | 1:31 pm

Wedding dresses worthy of fairy tales

If you weren't (or aren't) the kind of girl who always dreamed of a fairy tale wedding, tricked out in the Cinderella gown with the handsome prince, watch out: Reem Acra will change your mind.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 17 Jul 2008 | 1:19 pm

Emmy Irony: Silverman Gets Nod for 'Matt Damon' Song

The 37-year-old's song 'I'm F---ing Matt Damon,' became a YouTube favorite after it was made popular on now ex-boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel's snow
Source: FOXNews.com | 17 Jul 2008 | 12:52 pm

ABC: Heigl sticking with 'Grey's'

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 17 Jul 2008 | 12:30 pm

With Villains, It's All About the Voice

Critics say Ledger's voice in "Dark Knight" makes him a believable killer.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 17 Jul 2008 | 12:26 pm

Can American-Made Iraq Movie Succeed?

"Full Battle Rattle" tries to buck trend of war films bombing at the theater.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 17 Jul 2008 | 11:56 am

Police Have Video of Bar Brawl That Led to Brolin's Arrrest

Police said Wednesday they have video of a bar brawl in which members of a crew filming an Oliver Stone movie — including actors Josh Brolin and Jeffrey Wright — were arrested.
Source: FOXNews.com | 17 Jul 2008 | 10:52 am