(Playbill) Playbill - Complete casting has been announced for the pre-Broadway U.S. premiere of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage, the London and Toronto hit, which begins Sept. 28 at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre.
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 4 Aug 2008 | 9:56 pm

Music Review: Jamey Johnson CD (AP)

AP - Jamey Johnson, "That Lonesome Song" (Mercury Nashville)

Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 4 Aug 2008 | 9:47 pm

'Pineapple's' Franco Is a Serious Stoner

James Franco plays a slacker in "Pineapple Express" -- in life, he's scholarly.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 4 Aug 2008 | 9:46 pm

Artist Mario Ybarra Jr. Is Delightfully Misinformed on the Mating Rituals of Squirrels

The scenes unfolding among the citizens of Mario Ybarra Jr.'s "Black Squirrel Society" are surprisingly (and comically) human considering they take place atop wooden stumps. Take these two starry-eyed squirrels: He is clutching a bouquet of red roses, and is that a fresh manicure on her claws? Ybarra's characters show us the modern family in all its terror and bliss: more Six Feet Under than Beatrix Potter. Large-scale paintings of squirrels at war and at peace make up another part of the furry epic at Lehmann Maupin's Chrystie Street Gallery through August 8. —Sadye Teiser

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 4 Aug 2008 | 9:45 pm

The Six Faces of ‘Pop’ Finally Revealed!

We've been waiting for Pop's fall issue for weeks now, and with the covers (yes, plural) just released, we have to say the wait was well worth it. There are six alternate covers featuring Naomi Campbell, Natalia Vodianova, Jourdan Dunn, Agyness Deyn, Amber Valletta, and — here’s the surprise casting — Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue babe Oluchi Onweagba. The eclectic cast is all styled in Prada's strangely sexy lacework, and weren't shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot, who usually shoot the magazine, but rather by the rising photog Sebastian Faena. We love how each girl brings a little something extra into her cover. But what's truly great to see is fashion finally (finally!) embracing different kinds of beauty. First Italian Vogue, now this. Let's see if a mainstream American publication will take the hint next… Check out more covers after the jump. —James Lim

Pop's MySpace Page

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 4 Aug 2008 | 9:40 pm

Want to Work for Diddy? Good Luck

Diddy's new reality competition shows he's as frank and hard-driving as ever.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 4 Aug 2008 | 9:36 pm

Music Review: Keith Anderson's new CD (AP)

AP - Keith Anderson, "C'Mon!" (Columbia Nashville)

Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 4 Aug 2008 | 9:30 pm

The Aspiring Cool Best Friend With Benefits

Once a week, Daily Intel takes a peek at what your friends and neighbors are doing behind doors left slightly ajar. Today, the Aspiring Cool Best Friend With Benefits: female, 25, producer, Hell’s Kitchen, straight, single.

DAY ONE
12:15 a.m.: Come home to my apartment with Pseudo Boyfriend. He’s my best friend of one year, best friend with benefits of six months. He recently said that he thinks I'm in love with him and he's not feeling that — he enjoys random hookups too much to settle down with anyone right now. I laughed it off — I've had my random hookups too! But I think he may be right.
12:20 a.m.: On my couch smoking and talking. We're a little buzzed from three drinks chugged at a too crowded club in midtown.
12:34 a.m.: My hand slips onto his thigh. A little playful poking turns into him getting me off with his fingers, me giving him a blow job. He seems winded afterward; tells me it was very good.
1:11 a.m.: Leaving, Pseudo says he doesn't want to see me for three days. He's got that hard-to-get asshole thing down pat, but he's also more fun to hook up with and better at it than any guy I've ever been with. Such is the appeal of the bad boy.

1:12 a.m.: Open phone and see text from ex. We were together for five years but broke up six months ago because I cheated on him with Pseudo, though he doesn't know that. (If Pseudo's a 9 in bed, Ex is a 4. Although Ex is better at postcoital cuddling.) Part of me wants to salvage our relationship: He's good to me, good for me, family loves him. The rest wants to move the hell on. He's mad that I went out with Pseudo tonight. We're all in the same circle of friends; Ex thinks Pseudo is after me. Don't respond, go to sleep.

DAY TWO
10:19 a.m.: At work, wondering how three drinks equals a hangover. See that Pseudo has signed on to Gchat. I need to work on being harder to get. Don't message first, don't message first…
10:20 a.m.: Now Ex is on too. Ugh.
10:21 a.m.: I cave and message Pseudo, "How are you feeling?" I have no self-control.
10:22 a.m.: Ex messages me to say he's done with my bullshit, is swearing me off for life, and wants his keys back. I tell him to stop being so dramatic.
10:23 a.m.: Pseudo signs off after two one-word messages and no good-bye. Grr.
11:37 a.m.: An e-mail from Pseudo! Rejoice. Exchange a few messages about weekend plans.
1:45 p.m.: Run into former boss while getting off the elevator. I used to have fantasies about him and his (probably faux) mahogany desk. Consider reviving them.
9:54 p.m.: Having drinks with girlfriend, confess to her that I may like Pseudo. I haven't told anyone that we're more than friends for fear of my social network self-combusting. She asks how things would change he and I hooked up. I hope I'm a good liar.
11:35 p.m.: Tired, horny. Also feeling guilty about blowing off the ex earlier. But texting/calling will lead to an argument, and breaking out my vibrator will not. Get off, go to sleep.

DAY THREE
10:35 a.m.: Pseudo and I are four e-mails deep, discussing plans for tonight/the weekend. He says he's staying in and watching TV tonight.
11:06 a.m.: Gchat Ex, ask what's up. He's particularly unresponsive. Ex says he's being unresponsive because if I'm friends with Pseudo, he doesn't want to have anything to do with me. When did guys get so dramatic?
2:55 p.m.: Pseudo Gchats me. Looks like he might be interested in hanging out tonight after all.
9:30 p.m.: Meet up with Ex and friends at bar. Ex and I barely say a word to each other. Text Pseudo to see if he's up for doing anything. No response.
11:35 p.m.: Back home. Guessing Pseudo passed out in front of the TV hours ago. Contemplate masturbating but too tired. Opt for sleep.

DAY THREE
2:10 a.m.: Woken up by cell ringing. It's Pseudo. Says he smells of sex, drugs, and alcohol. I'm mildly offended and more than a little intrigued — I know Pseudo's been with other girls since we've started hooking up, but it's been a while since his last fling. Possessive Pseudo girlfriend in me asks if he wants to come over for a drink, he says yes.
2:18 a.m.: Pseudo arrives, indeed reeking of booze, but not so much of sex and drugs. Says his night started out innocently enough with drinks with a co-worker, ended with her molesting him. Does he really think I believe that? Falls into my bed, asks me to take care of him, promptly starts snoring. Loudly.
3:30 a.m.: Unable to sleep through Pseudo's snoring. Wonder why the hell he came over if he was just going to pass out.
7 a.m.: Hung-over and stumbling, Pseudo leaves. That visit was so not worth losing four hours of sleep.

DAY FOUR
10:05 a.m.: Get into huge fight with Ex via Gchat. He's still mad that I'm friends with Pseudo. Thank God he has no way of knowing about last night. Gchat bickering plus lack of sleep equals headache.
12:21 p.m.: Run into ex-boss again. Kind of digging the preppy douche-bag look he's sporting — pink button-down tucked into designer jeans.
7:10 p.m.: Agree to dinner with Ex to resolve Gchat argument. Half a bottle of wine puts us on much better terms.
7:43 p.m.: Confessing recent hookup activity. He went out with a 28-year-old? I divulge making out with a co-worker and a random dude at a bar but don't even think about mentioning Pseudo. Ex would probably crack that bottle of wine over my head.
8:06 p.m.: Ex asks to get back together. No. Tell him maybe in the future, but right now, no, no, no.
2:20 a.m.: At a bar with Pseudo and other friends. Ex drunk-texts me: "Wanna fuck?" NO. Make up excuse about having my period and to placate him, say maybe in a few days.
3:17 a.m.: Half-bottle of wine plus mucho beer plus a few rounds of shots leads to me texting Pseudo, "Let's get out of here and go back to my place."
3:18 a.m.: Pseudo texts back, "I don't feel like dealing with you." WTF is his problem?
3:30 a.m.: Back at my place, alone. Buzzer rings. It's Pseudo. This guy is such a fucking piece of work.
3:35 a.m.: Wow, he's wasted too. That explains the antagonistic text.
3:42 a.m.: Pseudo passes out on my couch with beer in hand. Guess I'm not getting any tonight. Pass out in my bed.

DAY FIVE
1:11 p.m.: Wake up horny. Vaguely remember Pseudo leaving around ten. Thought of using vibrator makes head hurt more.
11:45 p.m.: At a bar with Pseudo and best girlfriend. Ex drunk-texts me again, wants to know what I'm doing. Make up a story that involves Best GF but not Pseudo.
5:17 a.m.: Thanks to an abundance of stimulants, Pseudo, Best GF, and I are at my place, wide awake, drinking, smoking, and talking. Pseudo reveals that he wants his next relationship to have marriage potential (he and his last girlfriend broke up over a year ago). Wonder if he considers our hookup arrangement to have marriage potential.
10:05 a.m.: Hoping Pseudo will stay longer, but he leaves my place shortly after Best GF. I don't even want sex at this point, just want to lie next to him. Ugh, I really do like this guy.
1:30 p.m.: Ex calls and wakes me up. Says he needs to talk in person. It's too hard for him to be friends with me while we're broken up. How does he choose the worst times to start serious relationship talks?
3:20 p.m.: At Ex's apartment. Tell him to do what he needs to do because I can't handle the serious relationship conversations anymore. There's a 90 percent chance he's going to cave after four days and drunk-text me anyway.
7:49 p.m.: Text Pseudo and tell him about convo with Ex. Pseudo replies that he's sorry, he hopes I end up getting what I want. What the hell does that mean? I have no idea what I want, clearly.

DAY SIX
9:47 a.m.: Initiate the daily e-mail chain with Pseudo by asking how his morning's going and what he did last night. Is it bad that the best part of work is by far e-mailing back and forth with him?
10:31 a.m.: Pseudo asks how I'm feeling after yesterday's convo with the Ex. Wonder where the hell this thing with me and Pseudo is going. Is he asking because he wants to know if I'm really through with Ex? Wish I had the balls to confront him, but I don't want to ruin our arrangement. I'm supposed to be his hot, good-in-bed best friend, not his insecure wannabe girlfriend.
7:48 p.m.: Text Pseudo to see if he's doing anything tonight. He says he's still tired from the weekend. Happy that he's not sexing it up with another girl.
9 p.m.: Running on treadmill watching Rock of Love reruns.
11:54 p.m.: Annoyed that relationship woes have been taken precedence over sex. Take matters into own hands. Check up on a few favorite sex blogs, plug in vibrator. Mission accomplished.

DAY SEVEN
11:21 a.m.: Pseudo e-mails me first.
3:57 p.m.: Ex messages me on Gchat. I ask if he'd be interested in hanging out with our friends this week. He says no — he's busy at work and wants to hang out with other people. I think he's trying to make me jealous. It's working, a little.
9:17 p.m.: The work/gym/TV weekday routine is getting boring. Text Pseudo and ask if he'd be down to do something tomorrow night. He says probably. There's the motivation I need to hit the treadmill.
10:35 p.m.: Get a text from friend who drunkenly confessed a crush on me a few months ago. He's sweet, but I'm not interested in another friends-with-benefits situation. He asks if I want to meet him at a bar in Murray Hill. Not tonight, sweetheart, I'm saving my dalliances for tomorrow.

TOTALS: One act of fellatio; one hand job from Pseudo Boyfriend; two acts of masturbation with vibrator; one in person request from Ex to get back together, with refusal; one drunk text request for sex from Ex; one temporary promise of silent treatment from Ex, which lasts 47 hours.

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 4 Aug 2008 | 9:15 pm

Aimee Mann Sates Cult With Cornball Musings

Aimee Mann was punchy Friday night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. “I’m super punchy!” she exclaimed early on. “Who knows what I’ll say?” Here’s a sampling: “You guys are so fucking lucky to live in New York … with all the good-looking hipsters”; “I like you, you’re very willing”; “I know I sound like a total douche bag”; “Snow White is a fucking moron”; “Fuck you, Phil Collins!” (for nabbing the Oscar her Magnolia songs were up for). This in addition to telling a long, long story about writing a song for Shrek the Third (which included the line, “My toilet seat is golden, and my toilet is fur-lined. Wouldn’t that be disgusting?”) and actually singing “Free Bird” when somebody shouted “Free Bird.”

To her audience, the chatter came down like the word of God. The devotion she inspires makes all the more sense seeing her in person: Slightly butchy in her dress (T-shirt with a vest; shit-kicking boots), and with chiseled features and perfectly ironed, centered-parted hair, she’s like a sculptor’s ideal of womanly authority. It didn’t hurt that her set, which drew heavily from her new album, Smilers, showcased her seemingly omniscient sense for heartbreak and longing. Not that everything went perfectly. When she opened the floor to requests in the encore and found that she could no longer sing “Humpty Dumpty” so low, then struggled to keep the melody in a different key, the audience piped up, buoying her whenever (but only when) she veered out of tune. “I’d like to give every one of you a big, wet kiss,” she said at show’s end, pricking the ears of the men wielding cameras just in front of the stage. “But then you’d get my cold sore.” —Nick Catucci

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 4 Aug 2008 | 9:15 pm

Mary-Kate: No Idea Where Heath Got Drugs

Feds may subpoena Olsen who has refused questions about Heath's death.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 4 Aug 2008 | 9:11 pm

from latex leggings to the proper tee

Kova & T designers Dasha Zhukova and Christina Tang are getting pretty tired of their reputation as the latex-leggings girls. And with good reason: Kova & T was launched, after all, because Zhukova and Tang decided to whip up the perfect pair of jeans, and these days, the old friends have turned their attention to making the perfect tees. Kova & T's resort collection is a paean to the sportswear staple: There are shrunken burn-out tees, fitted tunic tees, bias-cut tank top tees, draped T-shirt dresses, and even a T-shirt jumper that looks just about right for any summer getaway. "Dasha and I are always trying to figure out what we want to wear that we can't find," says Tang, "and lately, we really want to wear T-shirts—they work with everything. Shorts, jeans, a cute little miniskirt…" As she goes on to note, any of the new Kova & T tees also look pretty good with a pair of leggings. Latex optional.

Source: The Style File | 4 Aug 2008 | 9:02 pm

Gucci’s Sales Increase, But Does Its Cachet?

Gucci posted its second-quarter earnings at the end of July, boasting profit increases of 4.5 percent. It sounds like good news, sure enough. But leave it to fashion to get all Mean Girl–y. Recent Internet and business chatter has questioned Gucci's powerhouse status, saying the brand isn't what it once was. Their words, not ours: “The return of profit momentum doesn’t necessarily mean a revival in the label’s cachet,” Sara Gay Forden wrote for Bloomberg News. What's the problem? Fashion elitists say coming out with cheaper items, like a $620 bag covered in GG print, is ruining Gucci's prestige identity. It's a Catch-22 — on one hand, cheaper items don't match with the brand's identity and aspirational appeal. Yet on the other, it makes them affordable and attainable so people can actually buy them. Really, did Gucci do such a bad thing by making a few of their bags less expensive? Is it so awful that people may actually be able to afford the real Gucci totes, and not just the Canal Street fakes? Let's not forget the headline here, in the midst of These Economic Times: Gucci's sales increased. Maybe these catty naysayers are just a little jealous? —Sharon Clott

Gucci's Owner Posts Fashionably Late Sales Increase [Business Week]

Where Is Gucci's Cachet? [Fashion United]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 4 Aug 2008 | 9:00 pm

Music Review: Singer Lloyd's new CD falls short (AP)

AP - Lloyd, "Lessons In Love" (Universal Motown)

Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 4 Aug 2008 | 8:48 pm

What’s Up With Batman’s Voice in ‘The Dark Knight’? Isn’t It Obvious?

Three weeks after its release, is there anything left to be said about The Dark Knight? Probably not, but as the film's box-office races past $400 million, we suppose we can't blame the AP for trying. "What's with Batman's voice in Dark Knight?" they ask today, noting that the weird, growling voice Christian Bale gives Batman — "the offspring of Clint Eastwood and a grizzly bear" has been called out as a distraction (a writer for MSNBC says it's something akin to "Brenda Vaccaro doing a Miles Davis impression).

Okay, that Vaccaro-Davis line is pretty good, and not to be all "Leave Bruce Wayne alone!" but here's the thing: He's Bruce Wayne and he's famous! He's a millionaire playboy, he's a man about town, and probably quite a number of people are in a position to recognize him. He has to disguise his voice! What are his other options? Affect a British accent, like Madonna? Hold up signs? That would make it pretty hard to toss off witty remarks while holding people in headlocks, wouldn't it?

Furthermore, the allegedly goofy voice distracts from what? The otherwise unassuming appearance and manner of the guy with the cape, the horned hood, and the zillion-dollar mini-vehicle with the on-board rocket launchers? Is the sound you hear coming from behind his RUBBER MASK not adequately Average Joe–ish? Not consistent with the dark, mysterious, caped do-gooders from your town? What brand of realism are we supposed to be attempting here? Don't these criticisms amount to "he talks like a cartoon character"? Is he not, in fact, a cartoon character? Also, how come nobody ever heard Superman's non-raspy voice and realized that he was really Clark Kent? —Linda Holmes

What's with Batman's voice in 'Dark Knight'? [AP]

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 4 Aug 2008 | 8:45 pm

`Pineapple Express' tastes familiar (AP)

AP - The formula is pretty familiar by now in these Judd Apatow-produced comedies. A couple of buddies get into trouble, and as they try to bumble their way out of it, their friendship only grows stronger.
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 4 Aug 2008 | 8:39 pm

USA Basketball Team in Possible Massage-Related Scandal

The USA’s Olympic basketball team, charged with turning around the country’s impotent showings in the last few international tournaments, will be one of the most watched teams in the Beijing Games. Considering the spotlight, and some past instances of diva-ish behavior among the set of millionaires, players like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James were expected to keep their noses clean, or as clean as possible while walking through all that smog. The goal is a gold medal, not headlines. So far, they’ve done just fine; smoking some exhibition opponents, avoiding any offense to the sneaker companies by not mentioning the word “Tibet.” All good.

But with their first game — against the host country — approaching this Saturday, the local papers are already ganging up on Team USA. That is to say: They’re accusing stars LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwyane Wade of soliciting prostitutes. Well, not prostitutes exactly — “female technicians.” Let us explain.

The blog Black Sports Online (which has some history covering this sort of thing) dug up a copy of what it calls “the Chinese version of the National Inquiry” — we assume they mean the National Enquirer, which begs the question: What in the world would the Chinese version of the National Enquirer be allowed to cover? — that claims the three stars spent their first week in Macau (staying at the Venetian, of course) engaging the local massage talents. Even worse: They left a bad tip! Using Australian money, for some reason!

Cue the hilariously awkward translation:

Wednesday 0:30, James, Wade and Anthony at a staff member, accompanied by walking out, "Shen Gong" to Macao a "fight to" the "gold fish tank"-style sauna and entertainment centre. They arranged by hotel limousine to the pier near places of entertainment, it is worth mentioning that the three Taiwan Qingchejiancong, and no special security measures. It is learnt that the "playing the" sauna and massage services entertainment center about 90 minutes AUD 1500, the three stars in "fighting the" selection of all Vietnamese women technicians, said Macao and Vietnam technicians in the best massage techniques and the most Popular. Hong Kong paparazzi after a special interview for the provision of services NBA superstar female technicians, three female technicians at the beginning of work before, have learned about the identity of the person, such as James, has more than once because of previous service for celebrities, so they do not show Special surprise, it is said that the three VIPs only to the 200 Australian dollars as a tip, it is hardly generous.

(If you can read Chinese and maybe help us out, the original story is here.)

The “Chinese National Inquiry” also has photos, though they’re pretty much just a shot of the three players walking around juxtaposed with a pixilated Asian woman on the phone. But those fans alarmed by this poorly translated and even more poorly sourced item needn’t worry about Kobe Bryant. According to the translation, he “was not too much of the harvest.” We take this to mean that Kobe won't need to buy another diamond when he returns to the States. Whew. —Will Leitch

Lebron, DWade & Carmello Getting Their Hong Kong Freak On [Black Sports Online]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 4 Aug 2008 | 8:30 pm

hugo boss' chain reaction

Hugo Boss is premiering its jewelry collection this fall. Each of the brand's lines (BOSS Black and BOSS Orange) will have an assortment of necklaces, rings, bracelets, and earrings to choose from at various price points. This necklace from the BOSS Black Twist collection is one piece that caught my eye. Made up of various interwoven chains, it has an edgy feel that feels right for fall. BOSS Black Twist collection designed by Ingo Wilts, $400. Available at Hugo Boss, NYC, (212) 485-1800, www.hugoboss.com.

Source: The Style File | 4 Aug 2008 | 8:29 pm

Kate Moss Vacations With Wedding-Band-Less Marc Jacobs

Marc Jacobs and Brazilian boyfriend Lorenzo Martone were spotted enjoying some downtime on the Spanish island of Formentera this weekend. And we say "boyfriend" rather than "husband" because after carefully inspecting all the photos from the wire of this outing we saw no wedding bands, which is enough to debunk the highly questionable rumor. (At least for now.) But who cares about that when they're hanging out with Kate Moss (wearing one of her Topshop tops, no less) and her mom, Linda, and daughter Lila Grace? We're assuming Jacobs et al didn't just bump into Moss and Co. on the beach like one bumps into people he or she knows on the L train, since Formentera seems almost exactly the opposite of a crowded subway. But more important, we didn't know Moss and Jacobs were close enough pals to freaking plan vacations together. It brings to mind the time Moss was in New York and she was spotted chatting up Robert Duffy on Mercer Street. What gives, Jacobs? Is Moss an imminent campaign star for Louis Vuitton or Marc Jacobs? Are Moss and Co. imminent campaign stars for family-themed ads? And while we're asking questions: Could Lila Grace be any more fabulous? We know everybody fusses over Suri Cruise, but does she stage her own photo shoots with Marc Jacobs and Kate Moss? No. She certainly doesn't.

Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone Get Their Beach On With Kate Moss [Fashionologie]

Related: Spotted: Kate Moss Chatting With Robert Duffy
So About Marc Jacobs Getting Hitched…

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 4 Aug 2008 | 8:20 pm

New York Legends Crowd Rock the Bells

New York City represented mightily at Rock the Bells in Jones Beach last night: Of the nine main stage acts, seven — including the regrouped headliners A Tribe Called Quest — were hometown heroes. Which says more about the vintage taste of festival organizer Chang Weisberg than the vitality of the local scene — apart from the self-styled revolutionary Harlem M.C. Immortal Technique, all of the NYC acts had roots dating back a decade or more. But that doesn’t take away from the fest’s extremely satisfying nineties unity vibe, where nary a soul could get through a set without a pal bounding onstage.

Long Island’s De La Soul got the family thing cooking in the scorching daylight, when an ebullient, sweater-clad Q-Tip and a portlier-than-ever Biz Markie juiced the crowd. Staten Island’s Raekwon and Ghostface came equipped with Wu infantryman Cappadona, as well as the ghost of ODB and about half of Stapleton Houses. Brooklyn’s Mos Def, rocking a Bed-Stuy basketball jersey, had the day’s first big surprise: After nearly ten minutes of Mos’s quasi–New Age ramblings, buddy Talib Kweli popped out and the duo destroyed the backpacker classic “Definition.” (Pharoahe Monch, doing the massive “Simon Says,” was the cherry on top.)

As the sun set, Redman and Method Man (representing Newark and S.I., respectively) got things really rocking — the combination of their outsize personalities, cameos from Slick Rick and EPMD, and that part in “Da Rockwilder” where everyone goes “la la la la la la la” was perfect for the stadium crowd. (Also: Stay tuned, apparently, for How High 2.) Nas, next up, didn’t need much help stealing the night’s festivities — his whip-tight band boomed through a sick Illmatic medley while Queensbridge’s finest verged on declaring himself a wild-card candidate in 2008 (“Let me be the voice of the people and I’ll die for you!”). But help he did have, as the atonal organs of “Success” summoned none other than Jay-Z from the backstage hordes. It was a giant, raucous moment, the kind of grab-your-buddy-by-the-arm, oh-shit moments you brave these exhausting all-day festivals for. But it wasn’t the best part of the evening.

That would come later, at the tail end of Tribe’s bubbly set. As Q-Tip jumped into the stands for the grand finale of “Award Tour,” the stage was crowded with M.C.s scrambling for mikes — including Busta Rhymes, who had sprinted out earlier to do his snarling, monstrous verse on “Scenario.” Amid the chaos, Busta spotted Mos Def, giddily grooving toward the huge D.J. stand. They made eye contact and walked over, grinning from ear to ear, like they themselves couldn’t believe they were all there, and gave each other dap. Meanwhile, Tip, tweaking the song’s chorus, skipped the shout-outs to New Jersey, North Carolina, and Virginia to focus on just one place — “New York! New York!” —Amos Barshad

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 4 Aug 2008 | 8:15 pm

Newman at his best on `Harps and Angels' (AP)

AP - Randy Newman, "Harps and Angels" (Nonesuch)

Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 4 Aug 2008 | 8:00 pm

Michael Lohan: God Created 48-Year-Old Men and 24-Year-Old Women to Be Together

Michael Lohan and his girlfriend, 24-year-old Erin Muller, were hanging out by the pool at a party for Social Life magazine this weekend, the Observer reports. He was wearing slacks and a striped shirt, the paper says. No word on what Muller was wearing, but "She has a great family and I love her dad," Mr. Lohan, 48, told the Observer. They do sound like nice people who care about their daughter's health: "My parents don't know that I can drink most guys under the table," Muller told Hollywood Poker two years ago, when she appeared as Miss September in their calendar. Just like Michael! He cares about his 22-year-old daughter's health. He had this to say about Lindsay's relationship with Samantha Ronson. "I'm a Christian and I believe that God created men and women to procreate and be together," he said. "Anything apart from that will just hold you back in life. I don't pry into Lindsay's personal life, but if that is the lifestyle she's involved in, then it's between her and God. All I care about is that she's staying clean."

Devorah Rose Wants Cityfile to, Like, Get a Life, Okay? [NYO]
Earlier: Michael Lohan Would Never Speak To A Tabloid About His Family!

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 4 Aug 2008 | 8:00 pm

Russian Novelist Aleksander Solzhenitsyn Dies at 89

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was an epic researcher, a fair stylist, a proud grouch, and, last but absolutely not least, a kind of Western pop icon. He would rain righteous indignation on the last epithet, but it happens to be true. The Gulag Archipelago did less for its homeland, where it was reiteration of the obvious for some and treasonous slander for others, than for the West: Here, the book ended the Western liberal romance with communism even more decisively than the sight of Soviet tanks rolling into Prague.

In his later years, Solzhenitsyn was celebrated less in his homeland (he was deported in 1974) than in the West. He happened to fit with Western notions of the Great Russian Writer — we had a real, live Tolstoy in our midst! American pop culture had fun embracing him, too: A particularly memorable episode of Seinfeld featured a pompous Russian-writer character named Yuri Testikoff who was based on Solzhenitsyn. And that beard — every gnomic utterance about the evils of rock and roll, say, or American waffling in Vietnam, was rendered profound by filtering through that beard.

Thing is, a Tolstoy makes a terrible houseguest. Once in the U.S., Solzhenitsyn retreated behind a formidable fence and emerged only for the occasional get-off-my-lawn jeremiad about the decadence and weakness of the Western culture. Unlike, say, Nabokov, whose gratitude to America was deep and genuine even after he departed for Montreux, Switzerland, Solzhenitsyn never shrank from iterating that his tenure on these shores was a strictly temporary arrangement.

In 1991, he turned his sight back on his homeland, publishing a massive op-ed called "Kak Nam Obustroit’ Rossiyu," roughly translatable as "How We Ought to Arrange Things in Russia." The tension was right there in the headline. Obustroit’ was a very peculiar, somewhat archaic word choice: Solzhenitsyn, it seemed, saw Russia’s future in its past. His 1994 return there had a touch of messianic spectacle — he alighted at the country’s easternmost tip and then took a train to Moscow — and, before the Russian elections of 1996, there was brief talk of his running for president (nothing came of it). Thereafter, the Russians remained as perplexed about what to do with the surly prophet in their midst as the Americans were in the eighties. He was given his own TV show, and he tried on the role of a hectoring public intellectual, with soporific results. His last major work was a two-tome treatise on Jews and Russia that some considered anti-Semitic. It would have been more controversial, had anyone really read it.

Applying the standards of Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn is unfair and misleading; Solzhenitsyn was less a novelist than a letopisets, a chronicler. Taken as a whole, his body of work comprises not a writerly oeuvre, but the most unequivocally moral judgment of the Soviet attempt to subjugate the individual. But, gladly, the very existence of Solzhenitsyn's work also renders that attempt a glorious failure. —Michael Idov

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 4 Aug 2008 | 7:45 pm

Carla Bruni Talks Lovers, Drug Lyrics With Barbara Walters

We're assuming most of you didn't stay in on Friday night to watch Barbara Walters interview Carla Bruni on 20/20. But you may as well have — because as far as we're concerned, Carla, as one of the most addictive people on the planet, is giving alcohol a run for its money. And what do you think Babs and Carla's girl chat was about, hm? Sex, drugs, and rock and roll! Well, basically those things. Babs asks Bruni what the lyrics in her new album (coming out in the U.S. this week) mean. "'I am a child despite my 30 lovers' — is that autobiographical?" Babs pries. "No, of course not," Carla answers. "But twenty lovers doesn't sound good, ten lovers doesn't sound good … I'm talking about phonetics for the song." But that's not a good enough answer for Babs, God bless her. "So not 30 lovers — how many lovers?" she asks. "I never counted my lovers," Bruni counters. "I was 40 years old when I met my husband and of course I was not a 19-year-old young woman, so I have a past. And I can joke about it in my song, but the truth is I have a past and I don't think it's shocking, you know? I think it would be shocking for me to pretend not to have any past." Amen. Watch the whole video here, and hear Babs ask about the lyric about the orgy and the one about Afghan heroin and Columbian white powder.

The Fascinating First Lady of France [ABC News]

Related: Carla Bruni: ‘My Guy, I Roll Him Up and Smoke Him’

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 4 Aug 2008 | 7:40 pm

Steve Rattner, the Saddest Little Billionaire on Fifth Avenue

Quadrangle Group founder Steve Rattner is an enigmatic man. He and his wife, former DNC fund-raising chair Maureen White, have been heavily involved in Democratic politics since the Clinton days. Rattner himself has had a quixotic rise through the industries of finance and journalism — he went from being a hotshot young Times reporter to a crack investment banker, winding up at the No. 2 spot at Lazard Frères before he went into private equity. So why is he so sad? Newsweek thinks it knows:

Though Rattner has cultivated the rich and powerful and become indispensable to them as a financier and fund-raiser, the brass ring still eludes this ambitious, 56-year-old former journalist. Among his many accomplishments in the financial world, running a top Wall Street firm is — glaringly — not one of them. (He came close at the prestigious Lazard Frères, making it as high as deputy CEO of the New York branch.) Nor has he managed to snare a cabinet post in D.C., something friends and associates say he has long coveted.

Newsweek explains how Rattner has carefully been plotting a way to get into a key post in Washington. Friends say he wants to be the secretary of the Treasury, but like with everybody else, friends of rich people can be two-faced. "He has the brainpower for the job," says KKR chief Henry Kravis supportively, just before pulling the rug out from under him. "Ask the average guy if he knows or has heard of [Clinton Treasury secretary Robert] Rubin, chances are he has. But not Rattner." Ouch. Other "friends" also take swipes:

Some point accusingly to Rattner's newfound support of Obama — he and White have been trying to bring Hillary holdouts to the fold, and they are looking to raise at least $1 million for him. "I think he and Maureen want to be in a position to have something out of it," says one Clinton fund-raiser on Wall Street.

Is it possible to be a "social climber" when you are a billionaire titan of industry? Apparently so. In an excerpt from columnist Michael Wolff's book Autumn of the Moguls reprinted in New York in 2003, Wolff describes exactly this scenario — with Rattner himself. "[He] has the advantage of being an active and willing social climber but not being sleazy. He is very smooth," wrote Wolff. "He has a certain degree of Wasp aestheticism — or Wasp envy. Formality. Reserve. Efficiency. Soft-spokenness. (He is a kind of perfect museum-board member.)" Or kind of a perfect Obama supporter? We'll just have to wait to see if this is Rattner's year.

Being Mr. Big [Newsweek]
Related: Autumn of the Moguls [NYM]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 4 Aug 2008 | 7:15 pm

The Sweet, Swede Sounds of Lykke Li, and Other Culture Highlights From This Week’s ‘New York’

In this week's issue of New York, Emma Pearse interviews Swedish songwriter Lykke Li. Justin Davidson asks if it's possible to steer his son's taste in music (maybe!). David Edelstein reviews Pineapple Express, Elegy, and Frozen River. Vulture's Lane Brown and Dan Kois remember five actors who owe their careers to pot. Logan Hill asks Ben Kingsley how hard it was to play a sex maniac in his new movie (“I practically wore my own clothes,” says Kingsley). And Sam Anderson searches James Wood's How Fiction Works for clues on how mankind might survive the coming Woodspocalypse. Plus, what's up with Madonna's face? Jonathan Van Meter investigates.

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 4 Aug 2008 | 7:15 pm

ladies and gentlemen, the sex beatles

Jean Touitou has an interesting remedy for jet lag. The A.P.C. impresario was not super-psyched that he had to travel 12 hours to Tokyo for his latest store opening, so to make some extra fun for himself, he decided to put on a show. "I said to myself, I'll travel to play live songs I've never sung before, with people I've never played with," he recalls. "I told the audience, 'the name of this band is the Sex Beatles.' Hell, no one laughed." Maybe if Touitou decides to reunite the Sex Beatles for a performance at the other recently opened A.P.C. store, on rue Marseille in Paris, his audience will get the joke. And next time, he's committed to function over form, at least musically. "I'm going to stick to a poor-boy's guitar; the 1960 335 Gibson I used in Tokyo went out of tune in the humidity. I wanted to look good with that red guitar. Ah, fashion."

Source: The Style File | 4 Aug 2008 | 7:08 pm

Meet the New Girl: Georgina Stojilkovic

One of this year's biggest breakout stars comes in the form of 19-year-old Georgina Stojilkovic from Serbia. The pillow-lipped teen has been making small waves since 2006, but it wasn't until this past February, when she hit the runways for Vera Wang, Dries Van Noten, and Yves Saint Laurent that she turned heads. Post shows, Stojilkovic was immediately flown to shoot the cover of Numéro photographed by Greg Kadel, a coup most models wait years to book. She shares that honor with previous cover girl Snejana Onopka and one of our all-time favorites, Liya Kebede. Now, with her first couture show season under her belt, she has cemented her status as a rising star after opening for Armani Privé and closing for both Christian Dior and Valentino. Pretty darn impressive, no? —James Lim

Model Profile: Georgina Stojilkovic
Browse through all the beautiful girls and boys making waves in fashion in our Model Manual.

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 4 Aug 2008 | 6:55 pm

We Demand More Silly ‘Mad Men’ Blogs!

Now that Internet hysteria over Mad Men has inexplicably inspired hilarious, advice-giving blogs with names like What Would Don Draper Do? ("Teach your eight-year-old daughter to bar tend") and What Would Joan Holloway Do? ("Marlboros are for tramps"), how about one written from the perspective of our favorite character, Pete Campbell? We're always looking for ways to be more sniveling!

What Would Don Draper Do? [Tumblr via Defamer]
What Would Joan Holloway Do? [Tumblr via Fimoculous]

Update: Thanks, Internet!

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 4 Aug 2008 | 6:30 pm

Meredith Whitney Has Housing Woes of Her Own

FINANCE
• Did ball-busting Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney skin that zebra on her wall herself? [DealBreaker via Fortune]
• Here's an anniversary no one wants to celebrate: The credit crunch turns one year old. [DealBreaker]
• Carl Icahn's WCI Communications is filing for bankruptcy. [NYT]

MEDIA
• Regardless of whether Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal takeover was a vanity play or a business move, there haven't been any widespread cutbacks at the Journal, even though more than 6,000 newspaper jobs elsewhere have been axed this year. Plus, subscriptions actually went up for the six months ending in March. That's not to say the Journal isn't without problems: News Corp.'s stock has dropped 40 percent since last fall. [Variety]
• Meanwhile, broadsheets are no longer trophies for titans. [NYT]
• Say good-bye to the boys on the bus: John McCain's camp is limiting reporters' access to the presidential hopeful. [WP]
• Playgirl is folding. [FishbowlNY/Mediabistro]

REAL ESTATE
• Two huge apartments next to each other at 740 Park Avenue are on the market for a combined $73 million — and an enterprising billionaire could combine the two duplexes. But will the co-op board allow it to happen? [NYT]
• Investors are concerned about Tishman Speyer's $5.4 billion Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village purchase after revenue from rents dropped 4.2 percent last year. [NYP]
• A Bank of America executive bought a converted warehouse in the far West Village from a painter for $17 million. [Real Deal]

LAW
• Aides to then–New York governor Eliot Spitzer thought Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's investigation of Spitzer administration efforts to discredit a political rival were overly aggressively and possibly politically motivated. [Law.com]
• A ten-step guide to saying good-bye to the firm where you worked this summer. [Corporette]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 4 Aug 2008 | 6:30 pm

Giorgio Armani’s Bullfighter Outfit Draws Ire in Italy

We can understand why Giorgio Armani wanted to dress bullfighter Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez for the historic Goyesca de Ronda bullfight next month. After all, Ordóñez looks like a dashing sort of fellow who embodies an Armani-esque style sensibility. And who wouldn't want to make a glitzy old-school cape-tight-pants combo given the special occasion? But now the designer's facing the ire of animal-rights activists in Italy. WWD reports the 100% Animalisti group plastered posters with angry slogans on the Emporio Armani megastore in Milan early Friday morning. Not only are they upset Armani's supporting a bullfighter, they're especially disgruntled that it makes Armani look like a hypocrite. See, Armani appears in Italian ads with other celebrities urging his countrymen not to abandon their pets when they trot off for vacation, all the while declaring his love of animals. So 100% Animalisti called his support of Ordóñez "particularly despicable." Touchy stuff. Maybe Giorgio should find a male figure skater to outfit the next time he gets a hankering to design something glitzy, caped, and tight?

Hairy Concerns [WWD]
Armani matador design under fire [ANSA.it]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 4 Aug 2008 | 6:10 pm

James Franco Is Living the Dream

"Who would have thought I'd play a Spicoli-like character and then make out with Spicoli in the same year?" —James Franco on his roles in Pineapple Express and Milk [USAT]

"They actually offered it to me first, but I was doing 12 days on a Jackie Collins mini-series, and I had to turn it down because they wouldn't let me out of my contract. It was the best script I've ever read, the cherriest role I've ever read. The worst actor in the world could have taken that role and walked away a movie star. It breaks my heart." —Grant Show on having to turn down Brad Pitt's role in Thelma and Louise [NYT]

"I was into some trash. It wasn't even prestigious trash, like the taste that Tarantino has. I mean trash." —David Gordon Green on the movies that inspired his work on Pineapple Express [NYT]

"I don't embarrass easily, but we went to a restaurant, and I like to sit with my back to the restaurant. We got there, and she sat in that chair, so my wife told her, 'Daddy likes to sit in that chair.' She gave this look and said, 'Oh, Daddy, you're not that famous.'" —Randy Newman [LAT]

"Seriously — I'm boring. I like red wine. I'm a wannabe camera geek in my personal life. I haven't had enough trigger time on Halo 3." —Brendan Fraser [Guardian]

"I remember having this really straight meeting at Disney about who was going to finish the score when Hans got killed." —Hans Zimmer on his plans to go to South Africa to record the choirs for the Lion King soundtrack [EW]

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 4 Aug 2008 | 6:00 pm

mary-kate on the down low

Mary-Kate Olsen is out to cover her itty-bitty behind. The actress is refusing to talk to the Feds about her involvement in Heath Ledger's death unless she is granted immunity from prosecution. Wonder who will play MK in the inevitable "Law &: Order" episode? We hear that Ashley's a dead ringer.

What's the only thing American TV execs fear more than sliding ratings? Nipples. First there was that whole Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" at the Super Bowl. Now the networks have refused to air the new ad for Calvin Klein's Secret Obsession. Apparently the commercial's star, Eva Mendes, shows a little too much décolletage. "Boob tube"—such a misnomer.

Source: The Style File | 4 Aug 2008 | 5:52 pm

We Call Photoshop on the ‘People’ Pics of the Brangelina Twins

Did you hear? People magazine paid $14 million for the rights to shoot and publish photos of Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon, the twin babies of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. That's twice the amount that a celebrity weekly has ever paid for infant snaps because, you know, there are two of them. And they're the most important babies to ever be born in the world, after Jesus and JonBenet Ramsey. And this cover of People is adorable, right?

In that cover photo, it looks like Vivienne Marcheline — clearly the Ashley half of this Olsen-like combo — is sporting a giant grin. She may even be laughing. Hold on. These babies are purported to be a mere 3 weeks old! Parenting magazine says that babies don't smile from exterior stimulation until two to four months — even if said exterior stimulation is the most beautiful pair of humans in the entire world. Conspiracy! Photoshop! Something! There could be a perfectly logical explanation, of course. The babies could have been born earlier than reported to avoid paparazzi attention, as has been rumored. Or Angelina and Brad, predicting their future acting careers, are already lying about the infants' ages. Or these babies could be hyperadvanced super geniuses — in which case, for photos of the genetically perfect future of humanity, the $14 million People paid was probably a bargain.

Meet Vivienne & Knox Jolie-Pitt [People]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 4 Aug 2008 | 5:45 pm

Reunion Rumors Surround Jackson 5 Award Reception

There's a possibility for a Jacksons reunion of sorts — the brothers are set to be honored as BMI Icons at its annual Urban Awards next month.
Source: FOXNews.com | 4 Aug 2008 | 5:24 pm

Jimmy Cayne Almost Died Trying to Save Bear Stearns

We'd like to imagine that William D. Cohan's epic interview with Jimmy Cayne in Fortune today took place in the former Bear Stearns CEO's $27.4 million Plaza apartment. The two have just viewed a pirated copy of Pineapple Express on the big screen, and now Cayne's ready to talk. "This story about smoking marijuana with some woman in a bathroom at a tournament site is pure fiction," the chief says, sputtering as he exhales. He hands Cohan the doobie. It was actually behind Denny's, Cayne explains, and afterward he was like, "I'm gonna eat 50 eggs," like Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke, but when they got in there, he actually had a hankering for waffles — but anyway Cohan bungles his tape recorder during that part because he's baked. He manages to get it working by the time Cayne, his inhibitions lowered by the powers of Maui Waui, really opens up and tells him about how he almost died this past September when he got sepsis in his prostate, and about his struggles with commercial airlines (like he doesn't know they exist), and a couple of embarrassing stories about Alan "Ace" Greenberg, since he's still pretty cheesed off at Alan for charging him sucker prices when he dumped his stock back in March. Anyway here's one: Back in the eighties, Cayne says, Greenberg was "increasingly concerned about the risk of contracting AIDS" (per Fortune; we imagine Cayne said this in a more colorful manner) and so:

"He decides he's going to get married," Cayne says. "And he's one of the guys that's dating Barbara Walters … He says to me, 'I've decided I'm going to marry Barbara Walters.' The very next day in the papers she's engaged to Merv Adelson. I never said a word. Now normally — you know, if it was one of my buddies — I'd say, you know, 'Pretty good call there, pal. You're marrying her, except that she's marrying somebody else … That's called bigamy.'"

Other things he told Cohan:

• On September 11, when Bear's stock was nosediving after the implosion of two hedge funds; Cayne went into the hospital with a prostate infection. Doctors gave him a 50/50 chance of survival. He kept the whole thing quiet because he feared a public disclosure about his health could further damage the firm.

• Growing up, Cayne wanted to be a "bookie." Instead he drove a cab, sold photocopiers, and worked for his father-in-law's scrap-iron business. He came to New York with the aim of becoming a professional bridge player.

• When he met his now-wife, she told him to "get a serious job, or get a new girlfriend."

• He bonded with Alan Greenberg over their shared love of bridge, but he refused to call him "Ace" and billed those who used the nickname in his presence $100.

• He bonded with Joe Lewis, on whom he unloaded $860.4 million worth of shares last September, over "a shared love of gin rummy."

• Why he resigned in January: "The options were limited," Cayne says. "When you become roadkill, when you happen to have lost some weight and you're not really healthy, but you know one thing — you know that you have worked your ass off and you're not smart enough to know the answer — that's tough."

• He was late to the meeting where Bear decided to sell to JPMorgan because he couldn't find a private plane to take him to New York from Detroit, where he was playing in a bridge tournament. (He placed sixteenth.)

• He's sorry about all that, by the way: "I didn't stop it. I didn't rein in the leverage."

• But actually he doesn't think it was totally his fault. He thinks principals at Goldman Sachs, Paulson & Co., and Dallas-based Hayman Capital conspired to bring down Bear Stearns.

Then he was like, "Dude, you want a fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookie? I got some."

The Trials of Jimmy Cayne [Fortune]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 4 Aug 2008 | 5:00 pm

Music Review-Johnny Flynn (AP)

AP - Johnny Flynn, "A Larum" (Lost Highway)
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 4 Aug 2008 | 4:32 pm

Music Review: Phish bassist Gordon's new CD (AP)

AP - Mike Gordon, "The Green Sparrow" (Rounder)
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 4 Aug 2008 | 4:21 pm

Music Review: Lovely singing by Carrie Rodriguez (AP)

AP - Carrie Rodriguez, "She Ain't Me" (Manhattan/Back Porch)
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 4 Aug 2008 | 4:20 pm

Brangelina Babies Make Photo Debut

People Magazine has released the first photos of the Brangelina twins in a 19-page spread.
Source: FOXNews.com | 4 Aug 2008 | 4:17 pm

dorothy lee designs by the numbers

"I think there are a lot of girls who want beautiful, well-made, detail-driven clothes, you know, girls who totally get it," says L.A.-based designer Dorothy Lee. "But out of those, there's a certain percentage that's going to look at a price tag and go, no. I wanted to make a brand for those girls." Figuring that there was a market to be serviced, the onetime statistics major launched her eponymous label for fall '07, putting her numbers fluency to use in the service of keeping costs low enough to make girlish frocks and separates that look a lot more expensive than they are. "Sometimes it's about making smart fabric choices, and sometimes it's just about figuring out how to tell a story with one significant detail," explains Lee, who goes on to note that her design and business discipline combined have already allowed her to break even on her brand. How's that for good stats?

—Maya Singer

Photo: Courtesy of Dorothy Lee

Source: The Style File | 4 Aug 2008 | 4:02 pm

Paris Hilton's Mother Criticizes McCain Ad

Kathy Hilton slammed John McCain for his ad involving her daughter Paris and a comparison to Barack Obama after she and her husband donated $4,600 to his presidential campaign, TMZ reported.
Source: FOXNews.com | 4 Aug 2008 | 3:58 pm

Christina Applegate Battles Breast Cancer

The 36-year-old actress is expected to recover, a publicist says.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 4 Aug 2008 | 3:53 pm

Mary-Kate Olsen Refuses to Talk to Feds Without Immunity

Actress Mary-Kate Olsen has refused to answer questions from federal authorities investigating the accidental overdose of actor Heath Ledger until she receives immunity from prosecution, The New York Post reported.
Source: FOXNews.com | 4 Aug 2008 | 3:47 pm

Jolie-Pitt twins' pix appear

Pictures of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's newborn twins have been published for the first time after a magazine bidding war which news agencies claim topped $14 million.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 4 Aug 2008 | 3:41 pm

beatrice coron's paper cuts

On New York's hot streets these days, what French-born, Big Apple-dwelling Beatrice Coron terms "human interactions with the urban environment" are usually uncomfortable, sweaty, and testy. But the intricate images Coron creates by slicing into painted paper with an X-Acto knife tell a different story. Her delicate silhouettes, currently on display at the city's Grady Alexis Gallery, create complex scenes of people at work and play. Their lacy beauty not only previews one of Fall's biggest runway trends, it reminds us of the unexpected beauty of urban life—think of her work as an antidote to the sweltering world outside.

—Ana Finel Honigman

Photo: Beatrice Coron

Source: The Style File | 4 Aug 2008 | 3:34 pm

What's with Batman's voice in 'Dark Knight'?

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 4 Aug 2008 | 3:17 pm

Swedish pop group Abba

Swedish pop group Abba (from left to right) Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson, pose during the Eurovision Song Festival, 1974. ABBA were back on top of the British...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 4 Aug 2008 | 3:09 pm

A woman reads the magazine Hello featuring the photo of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

A woman reads the magazine Hello featuring on its cover exclusive photo of the children of US actor couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in Madrid. The world's most glamorous twins -- born three weeks ago...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 4 Aug 2008 | 2:42 pm

Bernie Mac in hospital with pneumonia

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 4 Aug 2008 | 2:06 pm

New '90210': Same Zip Code, New Drama

The new "Beverly Hills 90210" has similarities to the original.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 4 Aug 2008 | 1:51 pm

the way of the curl

To have curly hair is to be stranded in the gulf between theory and practice. In theory, I would like to be OK with my curly hair. In practice, I spend untold hours relaxing, blow-drying, flat-ironing, and fearing rain. In theory, I would like fashion to embrace curls, to spare a moment again for big, bonkers hair. In practice… Well, in practice I may be onto something. "It's nice to see wider, wilder, sexier hair," says Eugene Soulieman, the stylist who ringleted up Maryna Linchuk in the August issue of Vogue (above). "Think Helmut Newton, early seventies Saint Laurent, Guy Bourdin photos." Emboldened by Soulieman's endorsement, Ive been letting my curls run free this summer. Alas, this has prompted yet another discovery: "Without the right care, curly hair is all knots and frizz," warns stylist Ricardo Rojas, who is something of a missionary when it comes to conditioning. At his brand new salon on the Lower East Side, the Oribe alum and former keeper of Donatella's locks offers two different kinds of intensive conditioning treatments, and he sells (and swears by) the Kérastase line Oleo Curl. "Conditioning the hair the right way will allow the curl to define itself," he says. "The goal is to let the hair do what it naturally wants to do." Theory, meet practice.

—Maya Singer

Source: The Style File | 4 Aug 2008 | 1:48 pm

star power

Attention horoscope skeptics: Meet Aurora, an astrologist who studied at both Brown and in India, where, she says, "[the field] is esteemed, even by the educated and professional classes." The five-times great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt and the great-granddaughter of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (founder of the Whitney Museum), Aurora spent much of her Manhattan childhood reading up on horoscopes and the stars—in the sky, in glossy magazines, and at family dinners. Now 26, she's made her interest a full-time job, with both a private astrology practice and a year-old Web site. And she ain't bad. "My very first post for the site was a look at the chart for the moving day of the Beckhams to the U.S., and I noticed that the placement of the sun and moon in the sixth house suggested that medical problems could put a damper on their life in Los Angeles," she says, referencing David's sidelining foot injury. "I also accurately predicted the Taurus baby boom this spring—Cate Blanchett, Jessica Alba, Tori Spelling." Although she's now based in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Aurora comes back to New York at least once a month for special readings; that's when she sees her fashion fans, like Cat Deeley, Cory Kennedy, Charlotte Ronson, Annelise Peterson, and Arden Wohl. ("I find that personal style falls very much under the realm of astrological influence. My monthly Fashion Idol column demonstrates how major fashion designers create collections that are in line with their signs and charts," she says.) Although Aurora has a loyal following online, she prefers her in-person meetings, and is available for appointments when she's in New York, which is next scheduled for mid August. "For me, astrology should be fun and uplifting. But more than anything, I like to use astrology as a tool to empower people, to allow them to understand themselves better. And all of my consultations are completely private, of course."

—Derek Blasberg

Photo: Derek Blasberg

Source: The Style File | 4 Aug 2008 | 1:44 pm

Lindsay Lohan: Chief's 'gay' remark out of line

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 4 Aug 2008 | 1:28 pm

Cusack says new film finds happy medium

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 4 Aug 2008 | 1:10 pm

Rushdie: Bodyguard's book 'a bunch of lies'

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 4 Aug 2008 | 12:53 pm

Hands Off, Luxe Brands Tell Some Celebs

Some high-end brands would rather not have certain celebs touting their goods.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 4 Aug 2008 | 11:17 am

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