Reuters - Big Hollywood studios will take a back
seat at this year's Venice film festival, with the competition
lineup highlighting independent U.S. cinema, Italian
productions and Japanese animation movies.Reuters - Big Hollywood studios will take a back
seat at this year's Venice film festival, with the competition
lineup highlighting independent U.S. cinema, Italian
productions and Japanese animation movies.
Reuters - Big Hollywood studios will take a back
seat at this year's Venice film festival, with the competition
lineup highlighting independent U.S. cinema, Italian
(AP)
AP - LAS VEGAS (AP) Police say they have confiscated a gun belonging to Jerry Lewis that was found in the 82-year-old entertainer's carryon bag as he prepared to fly to Detroit from Las Vegas.
AP - LAS VEGAS (AP) Police say they have confiscated a gun belonging to Jerry Lewis that was found in the 82-year-old entertainer's carryon bag as he prepared to fly to Detroit from Las Vegas.
Not even Batman can save Time Warner stock Reuters - By Paul Bond LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "The Dark Knight" has taken in $324.3 million (163.7 million pounds) at the North American box office so far and is on its way to becoming one of the biggest movies of all time. 'The Dark Knight' enters 'Titanic' territory Europe welcomes 'Knight' |
Obama in Berlin.Photo: Carsten Koall/Getty Image News
The size of the last group will no doubt come as a surprise to pundits who spent so much time last week — and still! — holding forth about the political impact that Obama’s whirlwind jaunt was certain to have. (God knows that an absence of information has never rendered them opinionless.) The initial reaction to the trip was as fawning as it was banal: Gosh, he looked so presidential! Golly, he was gaffe-free! And hey, didja see that three-pointer? Talk about a man of destiny! Then came the inevitable backlash: Presumptuous! Arrogant! Ego-tripping! Talk about a hot dog!
The truth of the matter is that, at this stage, none of us can know what the lasting implications of Obama’s foreign whistle-stop will be. The images of him in the Middle East certainly struck me as giving him gravitas. (And the Maliki endorsement of his troop-withdrawal timetable was a ginormous political gift.) The images of Obama in Berlin, by contrast, may be effectively used against him. (See this early, and kinda funny, effort from the Republican National Committee.) But the nature of the trip — which will either work or not on an unconscious level, either assuaging inchoate doubts about Obama or exacerbating them — won’t be known until Election Day, if ever.
But that doesn’t mean Obama’s trip wasn’t instructive or clarifying — about both him and his campaign. In fact, I can think of five things that Obama’s odyssey brought into focus.
1. The Obama campaign has some stones.
In certain quarters, it’s becoming conventional wisdom that the Obama campaign is playing it too safe, that it’s too controlled and too controlling. And though there may be something to the criticism in general, the world tour suggested that when Obama’s people perceive the potential payoff to be high, they are willing to roll the dice. A trip of this kind is risky business, fraught with peril — the kind of gambit few politicians without the resources, diplomatic infrastructure, and security apparatus of the White House behind them would’ve had the nerve even to contemplate. Which brings us to …
2. The Obama campaign scales — but isn’t perfect.
The organizational prowess displayed during the Democratic-nomination fight by the guys and gals in Chicago is already the stuff of legend, and justifiably so. But Obama's international trip was in a different league from anything his squad had attempted before: an undertaking of gargantuan logistical complexity and political sensitivity. Yet the Obamans pulled it off in a sweat-free style reminiscent of their candidate's recent forays to the gym. For Democrats concerned that Team Obama might lack sufficient general-election experience to take its game to the next level, last week should have provided ample reassurance. At the same time, though, the decision not to visit the troops hospitalized in Landstuhl, Germany, was clearly a bonehead move — one which suggests that, for all their savvy, the Obamans still don’t fully grasp the nature (and the resonance) of the attacks that McCain and his people plan to build their campaign around.
3. On foreign policy, Obama = Bush.
Okay, that’s an overstatement designed to be provocative, but it’s not a million miles from the truth — and, counterintuitively, it’s also not such a bad thing, at least politically speaking. What the Middle East portion of Obama’s trip highlighted is that on Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Israel, his positions all fit quite comfortably into what the Council on Foreign Relation’s Walter Russell Mead calls “a loose bipartisan consensus” now emerging on policy toward the region — a consensus, Mead argues, that’s “closer to Bush's views than to those of the antiwar activists who propelled [Obama] to [his party’s] nomination.” A painful thought for some on the left, to be sure. But a fact that robs McCain of a potentially powerful point of contrast.
4. Even so, Obama is vulnerable on the surge.
It’s now taken as read that on a central question of military policy viz the central foreign entanglement of our time (and also one of the central political issues of the election), McCain was right and Obama was wrong. Unlike the war itself, this is an issue where Obama actually had to cast a vote in the Senate. With McCain driving the media narrative, Obama was asked repeatedly on the trip to recant his original position. His answers weren’t merely poor and grudging, but veered into the realm of falsehood when he suggested in interviews that he’d always believed the surge would reduce the mayhem in Iraq. In fact, he said at the time of its announcement, "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse." This is a question that Obama is going to be peppered with again and again, and he needs a better reply. The argument that judgment trumps experience in foreign policy worked in the Democratic primary, when the debate was over the authorization of the war itself. But now the debate is going to be more forward-looking, and McCain can claim his judgment on the surge as a means of bringing a measure of peace and stability to Iraq trumped Obama’s.
5. Obama is in McCain’s head — Obama needs to get McCain a little bit in his.
As I argued recently in the magazine, McCain’s annoyance with what he sees as the infatuation of the press with The One, as his campaign has dubbed Obama, has reached Hillary Clinton–esque proportions. His envy of Obama’s rock-star status is acute as well, and made all the more searing by the fact that he views his opponent as a lightweight, a line-cutter, a hypocrite, and a phony. But Obama’s voyage and the adulation it received seemed to push McCain over the edge and his campaign into a harshly negative new mode. Obama’s responses have been far from the kind of bare-knuckled rejoinders that some Democrats would like to see. (While abroad, he said he was “disappointed” that McCain had accused him of being willing to “lose a war in order to win a political campaign.”) Is it possible that McCain’s sheer awfulness as a candidate and the wanton ineptness of his operation has lulled Obama into thinking he’s got this thing in the bag? Fearful Democrats worry that it has. And they hope that his bounceless return from abroad will steel his spine for the war at home. —John Heilemann
We have one word for this Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince teaser that just went online: Creepy. Here, we see Harry's nemesis Voldemort as blossoming evildoer Tom Riddle, played by...
Does Sam Lutfi want back in the Britney picture? Or does he just not want some stinkin' judge telling him what to do (let alone some stinkin' commissioner)?
Sources tell E! News...
Forget about Lindsay Lohan getting into trouble.
Now it's her mom, Dina, and sister, Ali, who have gotten themselves into a bit of a skirmish.
Depending on whom you...
The hazing continues for Scott Michael Foster.
The 23-year-old Greek star was charged Tuesday with two misdemeanor DUI counts stemming from his arrest last week in Hollywood following a...
Here's a match made in…a lab?
With Amy Winehouse long out of commission, Alicia Keys has signed on to lend her sultry, soulful pipes to the new theme song being readied for the...
We also got a preview of André "3000" Benjamin's spread and Sasha Pivovarova's spread with Dhani Harrison, son of Beatle George Harrison (no, we don't know why they pose together, but does Fashion Rocks really need "reasons"?).
Sasha Pivovarova, Dhani Harrison, and André "3000" Benjamin.Photo: Fashion Rocks
Photo: Courtesy Geoffrey Raymond
"The financial community skews raunchy with its humor," he explained to us this afternoon. "The first annotated painting I did was Rupert Murdoch, and somebody wrote 'fuck' right above his head, which kind of annoyed me. They also wrote some nasty stuff about Jimmy Cayne on his picture, but I let that slide. I figured they (and he) had earned it."
So far, notable quotables include the following:
• "What have you done 4 me, Jackass!"
• "What do you pay for gas?"
• "Bring back Paul Volcker."
• "Don't worry, the fall to the bottom is not very far."
• "I can't believe I'm missing the Tour de France for this."
The Geoffrey Raymond Show at Andes Art & Antiques [Geoffrey Raymond's Blog]
Sure, Mad Men isn't as big as a rain delay yet, but please, one thing at a time.
The Rat Pack-era drama, which netted nearly as many Emmy nominations this month as it did viewers...
Photo: Getty Images
As indicated earlier, Paterson will call the State Legislature back into session in late August. He cited the size of the state workforce, spending, and property taxes as targets for cuts. "Next year's budget process starts now!" he vowed. If families are shortening their vacations owing to gas prices and job cuts, he reasoned, their representatives can as well, in order to fix the problem. "For too long we have done less with more, and paid more with less," he added. "It is time for New York and other governments to cut up our credit cards."
Despite his hearty rhetoric, Paterson didn't get into specifics about his plans to solve the crisis which he calls "devastating." In an earlier interview with ABC 7, he ruled out tax increases for now, and his mentions of health care and education during the speech could mean he has the powerful, obstinate unions in those sectors in his sights. For a full analysis of what Paterson faces in the coming weeks, check out Chris Smith's preview from earlier today. The state's financial plan will be officially released tomorrow.
Earlier: Chris Smith on Today's Budget Speech: a Fresh Start for Both State and Governor?
Check out that condition.Photo: eBay.com
This old pair of LEVI'S were found in a mine in the Rand Mining District, on the Mojave Desert,. California. They are covered in candlewax from the candle's the miner was using to light the tunnel he was working in. They were found with and old paper bag with the name of a mercantile store which operated between 1895 and 1898 in the town or Randsburg. Their was also a gunny sack with the initials A.P.K. and Randsburg marked on it. A.P.K. is through to be Adam P. Kuffel who was a partner in the mercantile store.
So if you thought $10K for a pair of 120-year-old dirty pants was a tad on the high side, you can see it's the extras that make these a must-have. How many jeans that you buy come with rotting candle wax, a paper bag, and a burlap sack typically used for carrying grains or potatoes? Yeah, we thought so. But if you really wanted the dirt from the pants pockets along with all that, you're out of luck. One eBay user asked the seller if he'd consider selling just that dirt, but the seller replied he lost that when he turned the pockets inside out to look for a stamp. We bet he feels foolish.
1890's -201 Levi's- Great Condition [eBay via Kottke]
Courtesy of Bantam
Could anyone actually make a movie out of Foundation? We have our doubts, expressed after the jump in chart form. —Ehren Gresehover
 Lord of the Rings |
Foundation |
|
| Story line | A band of strangers must gather together to help destroy a magic ring and triumph over the evil demon Sauron. | A group of academics must write an encyclopedia of all human knowledge, to save human civilization from societal upheaval. |
| Most powerful hero | Gandalf, a sword-wielding wizard who rides a horse. | Hari Seldon, a math-wielding social scientist who rides a wheelchair. |
| Villain | Sauron, a badass, muscle-bound warrior demon who sees the world with his giant flaming eye. | The Mule, a 120-pound weakling who uses his mental powers to become emperor, and who sees the world over his giant, protruding nose. |
| High-concept focal point | The One Ring, which turns its wearer invisible and wields ultimate power. | Psychohistory, a mathematical theory that predicts the behavior of extremely large groups of human beings, rendering the wielder invisible to girls. |
| Best-developed female character | Eowyn, who navigates gender expectations and true love while kicking ass and saving the world. | N/A. |
Shaye, Lynne on for 'Foundation' [HR]
2. R. Kelly, "Might Be Mine"
By track seven, Kelly's enthusiasm for the baby-making process has cooled somewhat when he receives a phone call from a lawyer threatening a paternity suit. If our legislators really cared about the teenage-pregnancy epidemic, they'd find a way to get this song included on all future pressings of the Juno soundtrack. [YouTube]
3. R. Kelly, "Relief"
We're not musicologists, but we're pretty sure this is the first-ever song in which angels are credited for an R&B singer's acquittal on sex charges. [YouTube]
4. R. Kelly, "Son of a Bitch"
Accompanied by just a piano, Kelly rattles off a list of the things that make sex good for him. One of them, weirdly, is when you yell the name of this song. [YouTube]
5. R. Kelly, "Two Seater"
Kellz does a surprisingly impressive Rick Ross impression on this rapped track, which — even more surprisingly! — is actually about a car. [YouTube]
Earlier: Leaked: R. Kelly’s New Album Even Dirtier Than We Expected
NEW R. KELLY ALBUM LEAKS!
"Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson hold their
breath while approached by a homeless man on the
streets of Manhattan." Thanks, WireImage.Photo: WireImage
Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson's Romantic Day in N.Y.C. [People via Gothamist]
Now we know the secret to that volume.Photo: Getty Images
You know, I was very nervous with that particular booking. I was highly screened before I was even allowed to walk into her room — and I totally understand that. Whatever it took for me to be booked with her … It’s just great working with her. She’s never picky; she never asks me for things I probably can’t do. She’s very understanding.
Then again, it's not like Team Obama-Wright have many options because, well, America would absolutely freak out if she did anything close to experiment with her style (but let's be honest: "Flip-flopper" allegations get so old, so fast). Wright continues:
The foundation of any hairstyle is the cut. That’s one thing we focus on doing very well here at Fekkai. With that, I am able to switch the hair into like maybe two, three different looks. We try not to give her too many different variations. People want to see her with the same style, especially when it comes to politics; there’s a lot of scrutiny when you’re in that arena.…Sometimes I flat-iron her hair under, or I use a ceramic curling iron to flip it out at the ends a little bit. With a flat iron she’s going to be able to lock the moisture in the hair. Because she has to get her hair done so often, the flat iron is probably the best tool for her. For an updo, I might do some cascading curls according to how formal the event she’s attending is, but mostly I give her a clean sweep up.
Cascading curls?! That sounds so lovely. Dramatic and daring. But is America ready for that? We're not even sure we're ready for that. We can only take so much fabulous.
Bella Interview: Johnny Wright, Hairstylist [BellaSugar]
Whether you bang out Friday puzzles and know a four-letter toiletry product is (almost) always “ATRA” or mull over Sunday puzzles for days, you'll dig the clue-by-clue musings of this blog. Outed last year as SUNY Binghamton professor Michael Sharp, “Rex” knows all the puzzle writers by reputation, and takes delight in clever cluing. Will Shortz is a regular reader, maybe because Rex always admits when a puzzle is needlessly thorny or a clue too obscure (see his “Natick Principle”).
George Lucas: Mr Emperor strikes back [Times UK via Ain't It Cool News]
Starflash by M.A.C.Photo: Courtesy of M.A.C
MAKEUP
• The Starflash collection from M.A.C is now available online. Saturated Starflash eye shadows include Star by Night, a cerulean blue, and Talent Pool, a deep aquamarine. [Temptalia]
• Revlon sold a group of its Brazilian brands for $104 million to Hypermarcas, a Brazilian consumer-products group. That's $94 million after taxes, and reps from Revlon said they didn't know how they were going to spend the money yet. [Cosmetic News]
NAILS
• Rodeo Drive by Chanel is "grapier" than other violet colors. Think purple, not lavender. [Casual Lavish]
HAIR
• A Texas public school district told the family of a 5-year-old that he can't enroll in kindergarten because his hair is too long (it reaches his chest) and goes against the dress code. Backward. [BellaSugar]
Photo: Getty Images
Decades of overspending on health care, schools, and pensions — much of it to prop up Bruno's Republican majority in the State Senate — are combining with the broader economic meltdown to sink New York State into a gargantuan hole. Even if the looming deficit is smaller, as a percentage of the budget, than it was in 1995, when George Pataki took office, the shortfall is a certified crisis because the global context is worse. Eliot Spitzer warned that the state's finances were dangerously out of whack even before he was elected governor, but he could never manufacture a genuine sense of urgency in the rest of Albany — especially because spending big money helps preserve the Legislature's power. So Spitzer quickly devolved into provoking other, very different crises, which is why the bill is now landing in the lap of the accidental governor, David Paterson.
And it's exactly that nickname Paterson will try to erase tonight with a live, televised speech at 5:10. Whatever the policy particulars of Paterson's (five-minute!) address, the political message is that he wants to use this moment to prove he's something more than the product of a hooker scandal, that he isn't (just) the blind guy with the complicated marital and romantic history. It would be a truly hopeful opening in state politics — if only something, anything, in Paterson had undergone in his professional life seemed like good preparation for whittling down a $6 billion deficit while his hands are tied by an obstreperous Legislature.
The early glimpses of what Paterson will say in an hour aren't especially encouraging. No doubt the governor will do a fine, frightening job of describing the problem. And it's good that he's going to summon the Legislature back into a special session, and push to finish off the property-tax cap. But Paterson apparently isn't planning to challenge the Legislature to do anything truly difficult, like reopen this year's budget, the one in which the governor went along with an increase in state spending higher than the rate of inflation. Need more gloomy signs? Sheldon Silver, the dark prince of delay, has already brushed off Paterson's worries, telling the Daily News this morning that Paterson is being "overly cautious" and that Silver would prefer to wait until October to get to work.
No doubt the speech will be tinkered with right up until airtime. If Paterson is serious about salvaging the state's budget, and his own reelection chances, here are a few things he can do: Confront the health-care and teachers' unions by name. Declare that he'll introduce business and middle-class tax cuts and refuse any attempts to raise taxes. And cut a few of the pork projects scheduled for Joe Bruno's old district.
Paterson's great talent is as a conciliator, and maybe he can find a way to cajole and backslap the state down from the budget cliff. It would be the first happy surprise in the five ridiculously tumultuous months that he's been governor. —Chris Smith
Although it's still really warm in New York and hard to image putting on a cashmere sweater, we've got a tip for you: Super-talented menswear designer Victor Glemaud is doing a special limited-edition collaboration with Henri Bendel that's hitting stores next Tuesday. Glemaud's 100 percent cashmere double cardigan will be available in three color combinations, and only 50 of each color will be produced. Don't say we didn't warn you. Victor Glemaud for Henri Bendel double cardigan, $348, available at Henri Bendel, (212) 247-1100, www.henribendel.com.
Photo: Sara Krulwich/The New York Times/Redux
We recommend stretching before you continue:
She lifts weights and swims, she said, and has hiked the backwoods of her native New England for most of her life. She hasn’t smoked in many years and rarely drinks. She almost never eats red meat, save for the occasional lamb chop. She started practicing yoga about 30 years ago.
Still with us?
Ms. Parsons must navigate two sets of stairs (the stage depicts the Weston family’s sprawling Oklahoma house), smoke cigarettes, argue with pretty much everyone onstage, dance to an Eric Clapton song and verbally eviscerate 10 other characters in a family dinner scene.
And breathe…
In addition to her weight lifting and swimming (she swims for 30 minutes twice a week), she goes on 30-minute bike rides on two other days. She takes a break from exercise on Wednesdays and Saturdays, when she has two performances. At her summer home upstate, she also rides her bike or hikes or swims on Mondays, her day off. She played tennis for years and still cross-country skis. And she does yoga in her dressing room and at home whenever she gets a few minutes.
Wow, we are spent just from reading that, but apparently it's all in a day's work: “I don’t like to feel like a freak,” Parsons tells the Times. “I don’t want people coming to the show just to see what an 80-year-old looks like onstage. Isn’t that what actresses do?” Congratulations, Estelle, you have successfully made us feel bad about playing on Facebook last night. (But Friend us, okay?) On the other hand, thanks for pumping us up for this weekend when we're finally going to see the play. And to think we questioned our stamina for sitting through the three-and-a-half-hour show! —Lori Fradkin
The Role Is a Workout, but She’s Fit [NYT]
AP - Shia LaBeouf was not to blame for an early-morning car wreck in Los Angeles, authorities said Tuesday, pinning fault on the other driver for apparently running a red light.
Bay Ridge: Even though local Andrew El Khadi lost his battle to keep the Starbucks here open, he "humbled" the coffee giant and put coffeehouse preservation on a par with starving children in Africa. Let's at least give him some credit for that. [NYDN]
Brooklyn Heights: Not only is the illegal fruit stand in front of the Hotel St. George still there, it's expanding and putting up flashy signs. And isn't there a secret, wicked, gleeful part of you that hopes it just grows and grows? [McBrooklyn]
Bushwick: New urban legend: If you watch all six minutes of this video of some McKibbin Street kids just hanging out, you disappear inside and can never get out. [Gowanus Lounge]
Greenpoint: The aluminum-siding connoisseurs were out scouting perfect specimens on Calyer Street recently. [Newyorkshitty]
Middle Village: Okay: An amateur boxing match in Juniper Park (in Queens) posted on YouTube attracted the ire of city officials. And a reporter wrote about it. And now two wiseguy types have posted this video calling the reporter a "streeted-out street fag" and threatening to sic their cousin in Afghanistan on him. [Queens Crap]
Lower Manhattan: A lot of brash young male financial types make predictions about the market in this story, but take them with a grain of salt because most are sidewalk smokers and they probably play fast and loose with money as well as their lives. [NYO]
Soho: There is a new 150-room, quasi-funky Sheraton downtown with what Curbed thinks looks like a farmhouse wedged on top but to us looks like a red Monopoly hotel. [Curbed]
Photo: Getty Images, Deerhoof.com
1. Aaron Novik
Novik, a pretentious-sounding professional clarinetist (who insists that he is both a musician and an artist, "because he uses music as his medium of expression") turns in our favorite of the bunch, which starts out as a jazz meditation and ends up sounding like a Bulgarian wedding. A
2. Matthew Walker and the Hidden Messages
The London-based Walker recruited his band, the Hidden Messages, for this impressive version of "Fresh Born," the first time a Deerhoof song has ever been sung intelligibly. A-
3. Josh Richmond
Richmond's records a sort of Switched-On version with some alarming vocals. Not bad. C+
4. Savant Trigger
Savant Trigger is an electronic musician with a seizure-inducing MySpace page. Thankfully, his club mix is slightly easier on the senses. B-
5. Dr. David Sunderman
Dr. Sunderman is an electrical engineer, a professor, a music theorist, and an expert in speech conversion systems. He's also a scat-singing German Dave Matthews. D+
—Ehren Gresehover
Deerhoof [Official site]
Not as awkward as their other attempt today to rip off a Website designed for the young of America, however. In the above video from the RNC's YouTube site, which is a mock treatment of an "Obama ad in Berlin," they can only be trying to riff off of Huffington Post political "humor" page 236.com. Otherwise, we have no explanation for the misguided spoof and the complete lack of comedy.* The video imagines what an on-air spot would look like if Obama bought one on German television. (Why would he do that? No idea.) There's a techno theme and a David Hasselhoff joke, which we understand. But the rest of the patronizing xenophobia — and the Titanic reference — still mystify us.
RNC: 'Obama TV Ad in Berlin' [Politico]
*Okay, okay. It doesn't completely lack comedy. It's just not the kind of comedy the RNC intended.
Okay, so you probably won't get to sit there, but you could sit two
rows behind there.Photo-illustration: Getty Images
Win! An expense-paid NYC Trip to Fashion Week Plus a Shopping Spree
One of the pleasures of this edition of Albert Camus’s late-life notebooks is in skipping around: Certainly, they can be read straight through, but the compact philosophical aphorisms sprinkled among the longer passages — which include fascinating drafts of letters to friends — encourage a hopscotcher’s approach. What runs from start to finish is an unrelieved moral tension that is the hallmark of all of Camus’s output: “Fear of my trade and my vocation. Faithful, there is ruin; faithless, there is nothing.”
Erkka Nissinen has one intricate imagination. At Lombard-Freid Projects through this Friday, she is showing a collection of kindergarten-flavored video art — part Tamy-Ben Tor, part Todd Solondz, part Romper Room. Overweight chefs with Santa beards sing a medley in one; in another, a “complete moron” narrates “Where is my yogurt? I’m so hungry and I’m looking for my yogurt.” Here a PG clip of a longer video in which a transvestite office worker expresses his innermost desires to a panda bear. —Emma Pearse
Courtesy of Lomard-Freid Projects.
Mike & Chris' new shoe collection is arriving in stores any day now, but it was only after wrapping up manufacture of the debut styles that designer Mike Gonzalez realized just how shoe-obsessed he really was. "We transferred our production to the factory in Italy that makes Lanvin," explains Gonzalez, "and it was like a whole world of possibilities opened up for us, seeing what they could do." Consequently, Mike & Chris has expanded its shoe collection for spring 2009, doing for seventies-influenced footwear what the brand has already done for the leather jacket: Update the classics with some streetwise wit. "There's nothing exactly analogous to the hoodie," says Gonzalez, "but it's like, I grew up in Silver Lake, before it was 'Silver Lake.' I'm used to some mix."
E! Online - Does Sam Lutfi want back in the Britney picture? Or does he just not want some stinkin' judge telling him what to do (let alone some stinkin' commissioner)?
Turns out, Shia LaBeouf was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. With the wrong blood-alcohol level.
As the 22-year-old Transformers star spends the next month recovering from...
SUPPORT SYSTEM: Dita Von Teese, hitting London to shoot a new ad campaign for Wonderbra.
STRAIGHTEN UP: Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale, touching up their hair during...
That Naomi Campbell, she's a feisty one. She's proven on many occasions just how violent her temper is, so it's nice to see the softer side of the supermodel.
By softer side,...
A growing boy needs his calcium.Photo courtesy of Showtime
Nancy, in other words, needs money. And that means pot to sell, sell, sell. She calls in her old dealer friends to see what the market can sustain: Marvin, U-Turn's chunky lieutenant-slash-murderer, who hilariously claims he lost ten pounds; Lupita, the sharp-tongued, businesslike housekeeper; Sanjay and the massive 2-week-old baby from his one-night stand; and Clinique, who apparently shot the giant baby out “like a Pez.” Sadly, Romany Malco’s Conrad is not among them, and nor is his ass.
Speaking of mother love: The theme is really growing legs. Celia takes a drug run to Mexico (for designer Botox) with her blooming lesbian daughter, Isabelle. And later, as things take a turn to the Freudian (Shakespearean? Just plain freaky?), Isabelle happens upon a stash of naked photos of Nancy, back during her early marital bliss. “Hi, Mrs. Botwin,” she croons, as Nancy enters the room — fresh from a severe spanking from the mayor of Tijuana. Which brings us back to the pot: Nancy trades the “punishment” for the connect, seeming, as she dazedly inspects her bright red right butt cheek in the mirror, like the punishment was what she really wanted in the first place. Which brings us back to the freaky sex stuff: A resplendent, almost 18-year-old Silas “getting his calcium” from the unnaturally perky MILF who owns a quaint cheese shop; and Shane making the bed vibrate with the photos of his own mother in nothing but a bowler hat as inspiration. Nancy’s parental insouciance seems to be manifesting some ominous Oedipal effects. Ew. —Emma Pearse
John "King of Pain" Maine.Photo: AP
He’ll have an MRI today, and though the Mets can afford to be a pitcher short for a bit thanks to off days, Maine had apparently not learned much from this year’s spate of toughing-it-out injuries, which have been killing the Yankees all season.
Jorge Posada admitted in April that his shoulder had been bothering him for weeks, but kept playing anyway. He returned in July before he was 100 percent and had to go back on the DL, where he’ll stay until at least spring training 2009. Also in April, Phil Hughes felt discomfort in his rib cage, but kept it to himself (a move known as the Carl Pavano Special) and made his next start, despite wincing on the bench when he breathed. He hasn’t pitched since. Then there’s Alex Rodriguez, who, after missing a few days with a strained quad (coinciding with the birth of his daughter), returned to the lineup cautioning that he still felt pain and would have to take it easy. He didn’t heed his own advice, though, and played through it and went on the DL days later.
Maine said last night he expects to make his next start Sunday in Houston, but John Maine, M.D., might want to keep quiet so that John Maine, starting pitcher, can return in one piece. —Joe DeLessio
THIS ONE HURTS [NYP]
Chan's got the goods.Photo: Melissa Hom
How do you find the pieces that you sell?
I am lucky enough to have connections. I went to F.I.T., so most of my old friends are designers now or related to magazine business.
What makes your shop different from other consignment stores?
I try not to compare! But I do a lot of research to make sure what I have is at the same or lower price than other places. Certain things like a designer bag, I know could sell for over $1,000. But for me, you can find a Chanel bag for $400. Or a Birkin bag, I just sold one for $3,000 — it was a good-condition bag that first sold at $8,000! But I don’t want to scare off everybody. We also have Marc by Marc Jacobs for $25. So the price point is suitable for everybody.
What can we expect to be stocked this fall?
A lot of pencil skirts, high pumps, wool jackets. We have all kinds of cashmere from Scotland, from basic black to yellow, priced from $80 to $150. And there’s a 100 percent cashmere Chanel sweater set for $500, tags still attached. Normally, that’s around $2,000.
What trends do you personally love for fall?
We will look more like women. We’ve been wearing so many jeans, so many flip-flops, cotton T-shirts. So I’m very excited about a more put-together look. More dresses and skirts and accessories. Form-fitting.
Are there any trends you wish would go away?
The baby-doll dress. All the women who’ve been wearing the baby-doll dress must have gained ten pounds because they haven’t really noticed their stomachs. I also dislike baggy jeans. I prefer slim — not skinny — jeans with a pair of flats. Very chic.
Photo: Melissa Hom
Which designer do you wear the most?
That’s tough. I guess I pretty much love the Italian designers. I can’t say a particular one. But any clothing from Italy, I tend to love and keep forever. It’s well cut, and that makes a huge difference.
What was the first designer item was that you bought?
I treated myself to a beige cashmere Chanel sweater. Classic. I still have it.
Where do you shop?
I love discount! I love Woodbury Commons and Filene's. Don’t laugh: I do go to Forever 21 and Old Navy. You don’t have to have Moschino summer shorts. Not everything has to be expensive.
What are you lusting after right now?
I think we have enough bags and shoes for the time being; now we want sunglasses. So this is the new accessory and always more than one pair. I want aviators with no name, no Ray-Ban on the lens.
What’s one thing that every woman should have in her closet?
A nice black blazer, very important.
Photo Courtesy CW
This is great news for online fans — though Daily Intel editors Chris and Jessica will still be watching it during its original broadcast. See, on September 1, after the premiere episode at 8 p.m., we'll resume our exhaustive reality recaps. That's right, we lingered on here for an entire year, not getting promoted on purpose, because we know they're the only reason you keep coming back. Aren't we generous? You know you love us.
CW Puts ‘Gossip Girl’ Episodes Back on Its Website [TVWeek]
Earlier: 'Gossip Girl': It's Baaaaaack
Related: The Genius of 'Gossip Girl' [NYM]
Courtesy of Knopf
Surprisingly, maybe so!
The reviews of Netherland in the U.K. have been respectful but, with the exception of Sean O'Hagan's in the Guardian, not rapturous. Some, including Benjamin Kunkel's overcomplicated critique in the London Review of Books, have been downright mixed. Meanwhile, one early favorite seems to be Booker of Bookers winner Rushdie, despite his novel's poor showing in the States. This will please Financial Times reviewer John Sutherland, who despite admitting to not really understanding what The Enchantress of Florence was about, declared he'd "curry [his] proof copy and eat it," Werner Herzog style, if it didn't win the Booker.
The ‘Man Booker Dozen’ is announced [Official site]
Of Medicis and Mughals [FT via Sarah Weinman]
Related: Fun With Wickets [NYM]
‘Netherland’ Is Everywhere; How Long Before Hipsters Start Playing Cricket?
E! Online - The hazing continues for Scott Michael Foster.
Naomi Campbell's pissed. Look out.Photo: showstudio.com
I am virtually never allowed to photograph black models for the magazines, fashion houses, cosmetic brands, perfume companies and advertising clients I work for. Whenever I ask to use a black model I am given excuses such as “Black models are not aspirational in some markets” or “they do not reflect the brands values,” normally, however, no reason is given.
He goes on to say black models are "virtually unrepresented" in the fashion industry. And at the end of the two-minute film, Naomi puts those guns to use. Naomi wielding a weapon hits a little too close to home (it had to be said), but at least her rage is directed toward a good target. This one's a must-see.
POLITICAL FASHION: 'Untitled' by Nick Knight [SHOWstudio]
After a Woodward and Bernstein-esque shakedown of Marc Jacobs' inner circle, fashion journalists have concluded that the designer did not get married this weekend. Except maybe he did. Come now, MJ, speak up—small, inquiring minds need to know.
We can say with some confidence, however, that Peter Som is not getting married. But he IS staying at Bill Blass, at least for now. Hard to keep up, isn't it?
"The Hills" "reality" TV star Audrina Partridge insists her Epic Records job isn't just a construct of the show. OK, so what does she do there? "You know, I don't know my title," she told the L.A. Times. "The Hills" is like totally real, you guys.
Marc and Lorenzo, sitting in a legally binding tree?Photo: WireImage
Last week Fashionista breathlessly relayed that Jacobs and Martone would get married in France (technically that's not possible since gays cannot legally marry in France; they can only sign a civil solidarity pact — but the point is still the point). But the Internet, like us, got excited, put on its stylish high-waters, and welcomed the rumor flood. While we were all busy oohing and aahing, however, The Daily decided it wouldn't rest until it knew the truth, so they did what any hard-hitting team of journalists investigating matters of far-reaching global importance would: They checked Facebook and put in a few calls to France. Here are their findings:
• On Friday Jacobs changed his Facebook status to "Marc Jacobs is very busy."
• A member of the press office at Louis Vuitton said Jacobs was in the building.
• A store manager at the Marc Jacobs Palais Royal boutique in Paris said he hadn't seen the designer and didn't know anything about his private life.
• A salesperson at the Bleecker Street Marc Jacobs store here had heard no reports confirming the rumor, adding, "I am sure they would have sent something out. But one of my friends told me about the marriage. I have no idea if it's true or not."
• Davé Cheung, chef at restaurant Davé, which Jacobs frequents, hadn't heard the rumor, but noted gays can't marry in France yet.
• Jacobs is taking a trip to Ibiza soon, but he's been planning it for months.
• A rep for Louis Vuitton in France said, "They're just rumors."
• A rep for Jacobs here said, "Marc did not get married — nor does he have any plans to."
That sure is a nice long list of facts. But today "Page Six" reports the two were "married in a civil solidarity pact" on Sunday in France. Here are their findings:
• An insider told the paper, "He's totally excited. He said he's head-over-heels in love with Lorenzo. His life is coming together now."
• Jacobs can't take a honeymoon yet since he's preparing for New York Fashion Week in September.
So … Fashion Week Daily, WTF? But oh, how tempting it is to believe "Page Six"! Especially when the rumor is this good. We guess we'll have to play hooky track him down in Ibiza and find out. If we return with our memories intact, we'll let you know what we find.
Marc Jacobs, Married? [Fashion Week Daily]
LOVING DESIGNS [NYP]
Related: Is Marc Jacobs Getting Married?
He'll always be Schnabulous to us.Photo: Patrick McMullan
From an Artforum interview with the painter Lisa Yuskavage:
The '80s came to me when Schnabel visited Yale in '85. He was at the height of his career, and he arrived with this long fur coat and a blond assistant to throw it to. He wore expensive clothing, a silk shirt and golden suspenders made of coins, and he walked up to all the boys, like Richard Phillips, and said, "You want a kiss?" He had a pocketful of Hershey Kisses and gave them to everybody.
We ask you: Has Matt Lauer's style ever caused a new decade to spontaneously occur? We rest our case.
The International Best-Dressed List [VF]
Carla Bruni, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Michelle ObamaPhoto: Getty Images, FilmMagic
Vanity Fair¹s 69th annual International Best-Dressed List in full:
INTERNATIONAL BEST-DRESSED LIST: WOMEN
H.R.H. CROWN PRINCESS MATHILDE OF BELGIUM
CARLA BRUNI-SARKOZY, model, singer, First Lady of France JULIA KOCH, mother of three
EVELYN LAUDER, cosmetics executive, photographer, philanthropist KATE MIDDLETON
MICHELLE OBAMA, vice president for community and external affairs, University of Chicago Hospitals (on leave)
SARAH JESSICA PARKER, actor, producer, entrepreneur
TILDA SWINTON, actor
DIANA TAYLOR, managing director, Wolfensohn & Co.; chairperson of the Hudson River Park Trust; New York City¹s de facto First Lady
IVANKA TRUMP, vice president of development and acquisitions, the Trump Organization; president, Ivanka Trump JewelryINTERNATIONAL BEST-DRESSED LIST: MEN
DAVID BECKHAM, midfielder, Los Angeles Galaxy
DANIEL CRAIG, actor
LAPO ELKANN, entrepreneur, founder of Italia Independent and Independent
Ideas,
international ambassador for Italy¹s Museo del Design (Triennale)
H.S.H. PRINCE HEINRICH VON UND ZU FÜRSTENBERG, entrepreneur
ZAC GOLDSMITH, director, The Ecologist magazine; environmental-policy
adviser to
Britain¹s Conservative Party
COUNT MANFREDI DELLA GHERARDESCA, art adviser, curator
MATT LAUER, Today show anchor
BRYAN LOURD, managing partner, Creative Artists Agency
MORLEY SAFER, 60 Minutes anchor
KANYE WEST, musicianHALL OF FAME
JONATHAN BECKER, photographer
H.R.H. CROWN PRINCE PAVLOS OF GREECE, investment-fund management
FRAN LEBOWITZ, writerCOUPLES
CHARLES FINCH, C.E.O., Finch & Partners, and SYDNEY FINCH, fashion
consultant
MITCH GLAZER, screenwriter, producer, and KELLY LYNCH, actor
BRAD PITT, actor, and ANGELINA JOLIE, actor, U.N. goodwill ambassadorSIBLINGS
ANDREA CLEMENTE, student, and PIETRO CLEMENTE, student
ALEXANDRA KOTUR, style director, Vogue, and FIONA KOTUR MARIN, handbag
designer
RAFAEL MEDINA, founder and co-owner, Scalpers, and LUIS MEDINA, director of
ShowmeFASHION PROFESSIONALS
STACEY BENDET, designer and owner, Alice + Olivia
CARINE ROITFELD, editor in chief, French Vogue
KATHERINE ROSS, senior vice president, communications, for LVMH North
America
CHRISTY TURLINGTON BURNS, model, designer, activist, motherFASHION ORIGINALS
IRIS APFEL, founder of Old World Weavers
KARL LAGERFELD, designer
JULIAN SCHNABEL, painter, sculptor, filmmaker
As is the wont of superheroes, the Posso the Spat girls slipped onto the radar in a peculiarly mild-mannered guise. A line of spats hardly seems the likeliest front on which to open a rebellion against by-the-book style—but L.A.-based best friends Vanessa Giovacchini and Marylouise Pels liked spats, and for the past year, spats is what they've been up to, along with deejaying nights at sundry top clubs all over the world. There have been ankle spats, and croc spats, and patent leather over-the-knee spats worthy of Catwoman, all of which the Posso ladies have been inclined to wear bare-legged, with short shorts and sandals, the better to show off the spats' essential spat-ness. Now, however, Giovacchini and Pels are testing the rest of their powers. "It's all based on quantum physics and our fascination with perfect angles," explains Pels of the dynamic duo's new accessories, which debut for fall. "Vanessa drew this shape that felt really futuristic, and so we decided to build a whole range around that one form." As Giovacchini notes, however, the Posso leather cuffs, belts, and bags also derived their design from interests decidedly present-tense. "There's a hidden pocket in the cuffs that fit cash and an ID," she says. In other words: Superheroines need to keep their hands free.
Lauren HuttonPhoto: WireImage
• Malcolm McLaren designed the Seditionaries label with Vivienne Westwood in the seventies, and now he alleges a guy named Simon Easton sold fakes of the label, including almost $160,000 worth to Damien Hirst. [WWD]
• Heidi Klum will host the Emmys along with Ryan Seacrest and the other three nominees in the Outstanding Reality TV Host category. The Emmy planners are trying to be modern. [TV Squad]
• Henri Bendel is opening three new stores, but Limited Brands, which owns the chain, is being hush-hush about where. [WWD]
• Lauren Hutton will appear in Mango's fall campaign. [WWD]
• Sportswear brands are cashing in on the Olympics by offering Asian-inspired wares. [NYS]
• Musician and photographer Bryan Adams collaborated with Guess on its fall campaign. [British Vogue]
• Prada's runway is known for turning models into stars, but booking Calvin Klein's show carries similar weight in New York. [Fashionologie]
• Agyness Deyn decided to change her name from Laura Hollins when she was starting out in modeling and not booking any gigs. She consulted a name analyst, who told her y's are lucky. [British Cosmopolitan]
• Lauren Conrad appears on the cover of September's Cosmo Girl with the headline "Lauren Lets Loose. 'I'm not a tortured soul.'" [Pop Crunch]
• Tim Gunn turns 55 today. Happy birthday, Tim! [AP]
Next time you set aside a day to catch up on personal grooming, add a lash-extension appointment to the waxing/brow shaping/mani/pedi routine. Having trickled down to mainstream favor from the streets of Koreatown, eyelash extensions are fast becoming as commonplace to salon service menus as blow-outs and polish changes. "My clients increase about 10 to 15 percent during summer," says Shu Uemura lash guru Soul Lee, adding that the painstaking process of gluing between 50 and 60 individual lashes into natural lash lines is hugely popular with brides, frequent beachgoers, and mascara junkies who can't be bothered to mix makeup and muggy weather. Lee, who's holding court at Barneys while the new Shu Uemura boutique is being built, says she does about three to four full extension sets a day, each of which takes approximately two hours to apply. A set costs about $400 (extensions last three weeks with optional maintenance ringing in at $150 per touch-up). According to Lee, the high price tag is a non-issue. "Once you get it done, it's like a drug. It's such a pick-me-up."
Thursday, July 24
After a 17-hour journey, I arrive in South Korea at about 4 p.m. local time. I'm met by two executives from the Galleria department store, who drive me to my hotel. After dinner at a very traditional Korean home-style restaurant called Aloc, we go to a dessert place called Miel that's owned by a friend of theirs. It was pretty interesting—the owner went to RISD and rotates the art on the walls monthly. As it turns out, another friend of the Galleria people throws a weekly party that's popular with the Korean fashion community, and it's tonight. It's called Life's a Beach, and most people had a kind of Hawaiian theme going on, with flower necklaces and bathing suits. But I'm barely awake, so I decide to go back to my hotel at about 1 a.m.
In the afternoon we go to the Galleria to visit my shops there and have a brief meeting with my staff. The Steven Alan shops here are women's only, and carry my line along with eight other designers like Mayle, 3.1 Phillip Lim, and Alexander Wang. We also have another concept here called Steven Alan Girl, which is geared to a much younger customer.
The Galleria people show me around an old neighborhood called Sam-chung Dong that's been historically preserved. We have some wine and dessert at a very old place called Ann, which has several exhibits on the wall of tobacco pipes and old cigarette packs dating back from ancient times. Then we drive back to the hotel. The 15-to-30-minute car trips are when I get some of my best sleep.
Saturday July 26
I'm wide awake at 6:30 a.m., watching a Korean drama without subtitles. I thought it might make me sleepy but it didn't. At 9:30 I get picked up and we go to a special jade sauna that's popular with politicians. In the afternoon we go to see some shops in the Apgujeong area. The first stop is Corso Como. They've done an excellent job of replicating the original in Milan. There are rooms full of apothecary items, furniture, men's and women's clothes, etc. Then we go to Boon the Shop, which is definitely one of the best stand-alone stores here. Aside from the Galleria, it's one of the best shopping experiences under one roof I've been to in South Korea. The building is four stories tall and they just added another building for men's clothing. Then we head to a pretty shopping street called Karo Su Gil, which is one of the few tree-lined streets in Seoul. It has a kind of Bleecker Street sensibility. At around 5 p.m. we head to In-sa Dong. This is one of the only old traditional shopping areas left in the city. There are several people selling pottery, handmade necklaces, and authentic traditional snack foods—even boiled caterpillars. We stop off for some desserts. The day ends at 4 a.m. with me watching CNN in my room.
The August issue of Nippon Vogue has a great feature called "Vogue Dictionary" that unfortunately has me lost in translation, since it isn't one. More useful is a recent Amazon.fr purchase: "Essentiels," an illustrated dictionary of clothing terms in French and English—with pictures! It's great to have when terms like "adjustable tab" and "buckle prong" aren't coming immediately to mind.
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