AP: Title, print run on Woodward book announced (AP)

AP - NEW YORK (AP) — The suspense didn't quite compare to the identity of "Deep Throat," but we now know the name of Bob Woodward's fourth investigative work on the Bush administration, just three weeks before the book's release.

Spears custody fight's hefty price tag

(Reuters)

Reuters - Stage and screen star Laurence Fishburne's last turn as a series regular on network television was the role of Cowboy Curtis on the 1980s kids show "Pee-wee's Playhouse."

Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 19 Aug 2008 | 7:50 am

Meet the new teams on 'The Amazing Race' (AP)

AP - An ex-NFL player and his estranged wife, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and her actor brother, recent divorcees, a pair of Southern belles and fraternity brothers are among the 11 two-person teams hurrying for the finish line — and the $1 million grand prize — on the upcoming 13th edition of CBS' "The Amazing Race."
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 19 Aug 2008 | 7:28 am

Meet the new teams on 'The Amazing Race'

An ex-NFL player and his estranged wife, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and her actor brother, recent divorcees, a pair of Southern belles and fraternity brothers are among the 11...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsEnter | 19 Aug 2008 | 7:28 am

Video shows vicious attack on Brooklyn woman, 85 - Newsday

Video shows vicious attack on Brooklyn woman, 85 Newsday - 5 hours ago BY ROCCO PARASCANDOLA | rocco.parascandola@newsday.com Detectives investigating a string of muggings are furious about the latest attack - a Brooklyn elevator assault captured on video - in which an 85-year-old woman is choked unconscious, ... Time line of thug's reign of terror New York Daily News Video Catches Thief Choking, Robbing Elderly Woman 1010 Wins New York Times - WNBC - Newsday - New York Daily News all 13 news articles

Source: Google News - Entertainment | 19 Aug 2008 | 7:17 am

New gems from Xbox Live Arcade (AP)

AP - I'm a sucker for big, juicy games with flashy graphics, block-rockin' audio and tons of things to do. This summer has been unusually rich in such ambitious productions, with high-profile releases like "Metal Gear Solid 4," "Ninja Gaiden II" and "Grid."
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 19 Aug 2008 | 7:12 am

Vietnamese officials release Gary Glitter from prison, move to deport him

BINH THUAN, Vietnam - Vietnamese authorities freed British glam rocker Gary Glitter on Tuesday after nearly three years in prison on child molestation charges, then moved immediately to...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsEnter | 19 Aug 2008 | 6:10 am

Obama book falls victim to booksellers' rivalry (AP)

AP - A new book about Sen. Barack Obama has intensified a rivalry between two powerful competitors: Barnes & Noble, Inc. and Amazon.com.

Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 19 Aug 2008 | 5:35 am

"Dark Knight" reclaims box-office heights overseas (Reuters)

Reuters - Warner Bros.' "The Dark Knight" regained the overseas box-office lead -- even as it relinquished the No. 1 domestic position after a four-week stand -- reaching a foreign gross of $328.6 million with its

Schur signs overall deal with UMS

Coen brothers cast 'Serious' men

Reuters - The off-kilter comic rhythms of Rainn Wilson are exploited to excellent effect in "The Rocker," a derivative rock satire that is far more enjoyable than one would have a right to expect.

Britney Owes Big Money for Custody Battle

Jonas Brothers drop by White House

Jessica Alba Mouths Off

Jossen fills ABC's top creative spot

Christina Applegate "100 Percent Clear" of Cancer

Sightings: Victoria, Rosie and Leo

Heidi Montag Compares Herself to Jesus, Prompt Us to Consider ‘Hills’ Boycott

Heidi Montag and Jesus: The resemblance is uncanny.Photo: Getty Images

As we watched the marathon, we started feeling a little angry because we realized nothing ever happens on this show, which would be forgivable if Lauren Conrad and her frenemies didn't take themselves so damn seriously. We know Lauren does because she always looks so sad, as if her bursting fame has permanently shattered her once-vivacious spirit. We know Heidi does because she now sees herself biblically. Yeah, really. She told the Chicago Sun-Times of her feud with Lauren:

"There were rumors about a sex tape, but I had nothing to do with that. God knows the truth in all of this, and at the end of the day, that is the only thing that matters. Jesus was persecuted, and I'm going to get persecuted, ya know?"

Yes, Heidi Montag and Jesus Christ's situations were practically the same. Montag added she "always felt this crazy connection to God," has been religious since she was 2 years old, and wants to release a Christian album.

When we read all this after having watched the marathon of The Hills greatest non-moments and realized just how seriously Heidi still takes herself, we just wanted it all to go away. When Jesus gets involved, you know it's all gone too far, so we've vowed to lay off The Hills this season and inaugurate a whole new chapter in our lives. But sadly, just like those alcohol-induced promises to ourselves, we have a sinking feeling this one will last only until someone offers to buy us a drink. Sigh.

What a friend we have in Heidi [Chicago Sun-Times]

Heidi and Spencer Wanna Do It Like Brangelina

Afternoon Fix: Hollywood's Good Guys Help Heath Ledger's Daughter

Brad Pitt Makes a Green Splash With Kiehl's

Meet Winter Raymond, Overachiever

Photo: Elle

When 27-year-old Winter Raymond isn't slogging through her third year of law school in Boston, she's in Seoul, Korea, juggling a law firm internship, a fledgling company (Seoulplay, a concierge service for business travelers she launched last year) and burgeoning TV stardom on the Korean answer to The Dating Game, in which she hits the town with famous comedians.

Really? How is that even possible? It's like she's one of those characters from Heroes. Also she apparently does all this wearing $1,500 Jimmy Choo sandals and carrying a $2,595 Gucci bag. We, on the other hand, can't even put on earrings in the morning (the effort makes us nauseated). We totally hated her immediately. Then we saw a clip of her on Korean TV show Hello, Monday Night.

Guilty as charged.Photo: Courtesy of Prescriptives, Clinique, CK, M.A.C, Chanel

Photo: Raphaël Neal

Photo: Getty Images

Barack with his rising-sun logo.Photo: Getty Images

2. The National, "A Thousand Black Cities"
Ever the Olympics fan, Matt Berninger sings of a "ridiculous country" and "a thousand black cities" on this awesome new track, possibly referring to the ridiculously smoggy city of Beijing. [Fuel Friends]

3. Porno Mathematics, "Zelda Bitches"
This track by Porno Mathematics (whose members are listed as Jean, Claude and Van Damme) starts as a gamer's dream and ends up somewhere near Bikini Kill territory. [Penned Madness]

4. John Legend & André 3000, "Green Light (MSTRKRFT Remix)"
MSTRKRFT revs up the engine on this recent track by Legend and André 3000, blowing the doors off the original. [White Folks Get Crunk]

5. Squarepusher, "Delta-V"
"Delta V" is a term in physics for changing velocity and an eighties punk band, making the title of this new track from electronic-music superstar Tom Jenkinson extremely appropriate. [Pitchfork]

Music Review: Glen Campbell puts stamp on covers (AP)

AP - Glen Campbell, "Meet Glen Campbell" (Capitol)

‘Mad Men’: The Secrets Are Out

Photo courtesy of AMC

The Pitch:
The past isn’t even past.

The Campaign:
Mad Men has been teasing us with glimpses of Don’s past, since he doesn’t exactly blather about his secrets, not even to his wife. Meanwhile, Peggy — who increasingly seems to be Don’s true protégé — treats her present like Don’s past. At the office, Elisabeth Moss plays Peggy with lockjaw restraint, using nothing but the slightest shrug or modulated glance (and maybe we’re just imagining those) to indicate that she brings anything like her own life into her job. Nobody at Sterling Cooper has any clue about how fraught her life is at home.

At the start of episode four, Peggy practices that same stony restraint at her mother’s apartment, where her jealous sister and cloying mother host a meal for the cute visiting priest, played by Colin Hanks. Tom’s son looks a bit like Pete, with his boyish face and slicked-over hair, and he’s a Christian cool cat too, a godly man who plays the guitar, likes a drink, enjoys a cigarette, and, it seems, Peggy. He first catches her slipping out of a sermon about “hidden dangers” and then escorts her home after dinner, asking for her advice on selling ideas. “It’s Palm Sunday,” he says with flirty false modesty. “I mean, you’re on deck for Easter.”

Later, the priest stops by to see Peggy’s family and drops off a copy of his sermon for her, asking after her and slighting Peggy’s sister. Uh-oh. The next time we see Peggy’s sister, she’s in a confessional, speaking to the lovely Mr. Hanks. She apologizes for taking the Lord’s name in vain, stealing a few coins from the laundromat — and, oh yeah, did I mention my slut sister had a kid out of wedlock and is a total tramp? Yeah, that too. It’s a brutal scene — portraying Peggy’s sister as both utterly manipulative and seriously disturbed. Either way, when Peggy bumps into the cute priest on Easter Sunday, he calmly hands her an egg (oh, the fertility metaphors!) and says, “For the little one.” Then he walks away — gobsmacking the typically unflappable Peggy, perhaps because she, like us, isn’t sure if he’s disgusted by her loose ways or, perhaps, turned on?

Meanwhile, at the Draper household, Don and Betty tie one on with a little help from their midget bartenders, who have learned that the proper recipe for a Bloody Mary is nine parts vodka, one part tomato juice. Mom and Dad kick the kids out of the living room and dance to Betty’s favorite high-school tune (Ms. America loves Bing Crosby; Don says he “sounds like Christmas” and grabs her ass). On the couch, the sight of Betty reading Babylon Revisited is yet another echo of her husband’s affairs (the book was recommended by her stableboy friend), and it’s a reminder that the show uses books as indicators of private betrayal, a naughty way to disappear into some charged fantasy, even while sitting next to your spouse. Next thing they know, Mom and Dad are drunk on their bed, which Bobby breaks — and both kids are starving because the parents forgot to fix dinner. Oops! Happiness is a problem, yes, but so is maintaining this delicate balance. Every pleasure has its cost.

Of course, Betty’s still clashing with the kids — “I’m here all day, outnumbered,” she screams — and she wants Don to spank her son. And as the momentum builds at home — Bobby breaks the hi-fi and burns his face on the griddle — Mrs. Barrett reemerges (!!), apparently still turned on by Don’s dominating, crotch-grabbing performance, and she convinces him to lock the office door behind them (Don’s definitely got his mojo working again). More important, the American Airlines crew bumps up their meeting to Good Friday and Don has to scramble, scheduling an impromptu bring-your-daughter-to-work-and-get-her-drunk-on-rye-day (her questions about sex, race, and booze give you a sense of the Draper family’s values). At an all-office meeting, Don goes alpha, marching out with his creative team and then locking himself in his office, eventually emerging to make a grand, oracular pronouncement, shot in wide angle like he’s Patton standing before the troops: “There is no such thing as American history, only a frontier. This is not about apologies…”

Of course, the actual pitch meeting goes south just before it begins, when Duck finds out that his ringer inside American has been fired. “We’ve got to deliver a stillborn baby,” says Don, nailing him but still smarting over the loss of Mohawk Airlines. And Don’s bad day is just beginning. Back at home, Betty is furious with the kids again, demanding that Don hit the little hellion. Instead, Don marches upstairs. After yelling, Betty pushes him — and Don pushes back. Immediately mortified by what he’s done, he sinks onto the bed, where Bobby, spookily prescient, like some relative of Dakota Fanning, finds him and asks about his father. “Did your daddy get mad? … What did your daddy look like?… We need to find you a new daddy.”

Lying down later that night, Betty demands that Don say something — and he says what’s only too obvious by this point. “My father beat the hell out of me,” Don says, “and all it did was make me fantasize about the day I could murder him.”

We’ll assume this is just Oedipal, but we’re not going to rule out an actual murder just yet. But it’s certainly evidence of Don’s understanding of power — not just a revulsion toward dominating violence (it turns him on, with Barrett) but a preference for silence or blunt, unyielding forthrightness. After all, he won this round with Duck without throwing a punch.

The Early Results
Terrific, as always, but this Sunday there were some cracks in the mortar. The parallels are a bit heavy-handed. If you’re going to reveal that Don was beaten as a child, do you need to drive it home so hard? Does Peggy really have to spell it out with such an on-the-nose line like, “You think you’d be the man you are today if your father didn’t hit you?” And do you have to mirror Don’s struggle with his American Airlines campaign (particularly, his cry that there’s “no such thing as American history”)? It seems a little too cute and neat for a show that’s most brilliant when messy. And while it’s surprising to see Don shove Betty, it’s not so shocking, coming so soon after last episode’s much more disturbing episode with Mrs. Barrett. But Peggy was the episode’s true star, more perplexing than ever.

James Franco Is Sexy in His New Gucci Commercial

We told you James Franco has a sexy side.Photo: Getty Images

HAIR
• Anna Wintour gets her hair done every day. So did Princess Diana. Sounds like a pain in the ass. [Financial Times]

• Kate Hudson spent three years developing her hair-care line with David Babaii. She says, "I joke that it's like, you go up to people and say, I wanna make the only natural product that's going to be in Duane Reade! … And then you realize that you got a D in chemistry and there are people who dedicate their lives to formulating something that can sit on a shelf." [Editors' Blog/W]

• Alice Dellal is proud of her style, including her signature half-shaved head, and says it's "awkward" that it's spawned tons of copycats. If that is indeed true, then yes. Yes, it is. [Daily Mail]

SKIN
• Axe's commercial for its new skin scrubber that's smooth on one side and rough on the other features what is essentially car-wash machine made of sexy ladies who wash and dry a guy. How forward-thinking. [Feministing]

NAILS
• Chipped nail polish is causing this blogger to freak out about how she looks. Energy well spent. [Girls in the Beauty Department/Glamour]

'Fences' Has a Broadway Target of Spring 2009 (Playbill)

Mandalay nabs Oni Press' 'Julius'

Soho Knows ‘Rod Stewart Loves the Hamptons’

Photo: Getty Images

Inwood: This is a very charming paean to the neighborhood, apparently by one of the very proto-hipsters that will ruin its charm, but the best part is the pic of the corner of "Seaman" and "Cumming" Streets. No lie, morenos, it exists up here! [Bubbler via Manhattan's Peak]
Red Hook: Mobs of early-morning commuters wait and wait for the reviled-yet-relied-upon B61 buses every morning because their drivers hang out in a coffee klatsch at Ikea. So this blogger alleges, with picture to try to prove it. [Lost NYC]
Williamsburg: So all these hipsters dressed up as pandas for a Union Square happening called a Pandamonium and then converged on the hood via the L train, where the police pounced on them and stole their bamboo chews. Watch the video where some hipsterette keeps yelling, "Fucking bastards!" This is confusing; we thought panda was the term for kinda chunky gay Asian bear-type guys. [Gothamist]

Phelps drives Olympics to staggering ratings

Music Review: The Duhks are idealistic eclectics (AP)

AP - The Duhks, "Fast Paced World" (Sugar Hill)

EA withdraws Take-Two tender offer

Slint Song Inspires World’s Most Terrifying Children’s Book

Courtesy of David Martin Stack

Slint's "Good Morning Captain" Becomes Kids' Book [Pitchfork]

Developer Mark Mariani Shows Off His Own Personal Walden

Mark MarianiPhoto: Patrick McMullan

Out back, a battalion of gardeners was trimming boxwoods that had been sculpted in the shape of musical notes. "It's something Liberace should have done," Mariani said. The pool had rose petals floating in it. Allés led through the hedgerows to little cherub statues, corresponding to his wife and two children, then farther on to an orchard full of plums, figs, strawberries, olives, and pears. Inside, he showed me his basketball court and his movie theatre, where he urged me to sit in one of his plush velvet seats. He turned out the lights and out on a DVD of a Carlos Santana concert. "You like Santana?" Mraiani said. "I'm so glad he finally got noticed."

Thoreau would have approved entirely, we're sure.

A Greenwich State of Mind [NYer, print only]

Bravo Wants You to Host ‘Project Runway’ Tea Parties and Photograph Them

Photo-illustration: Getty Images, istockphoto

“Ideally, we want [fans] to feel invested and be brand ambassadors,” said Bravo senior vice president of digital and new media Lisa Hsia. Viewers should “taste” the brand, try it on and share it with their friends, she added.

The key word there is "share." So after you host your fantasy Project Runway tea party — and act out a scene in which Heidi Klum and Nina Garcia argue over who has more fashion-industry cred, while Michael Kors and Tim Gunn get into a sparring match with their witty one-liners — you can share your photos from the festivities on B-Hive.

Funny — when we started typing this we were going to end by calling the whole thing lame, but having blogged it out, we've decided it might not be such a bad idea after all. Until Project moves to Lifetime and all this becomes obsolete and kind of pointless.

Bravo Seeks Immersion [Multichannel News]

Music Review: New album finds Hatfield blue (AP)

AP - Juliana Hatfield, "How to Walk Away" (Ye Olde Records)

Artist Stephen Wilkes Goes Behind the Scenes at the Olympics

Stephen Wilkes’s Data Center, Olympic Village, Beijing, China (2008).Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City

While humans behave like superheroes inside the arena, outside, an army of workers move like robots, keeping the Olympics running smoothly, safely, and conveniently without dissent. Stephen Wilkes is showing his giant documentary photos of a changing China, including the construction of its newest, sleekest village, at ClampArt through September 13.

Music Review: Shawanda shows power on debut (AP)

AP - Crystal Shawanda, "Dawn Of A New Day" (RCA Nashville)

Music Review: Teen singer has mature sound on CD (AP)

AP - Karina, "First Love" (Def Jam)

Chevy Chase Hits a Line Drive in East Hampton

Photo: Getty Images

Chevy Chase hit a line drive, Alec Baldwin umped, and Lori Singer and B. Smith also took part in the star-studded 60th Artists vs. Writers baseball benefit game, which the artists won four to two, their second victory in two years. In other sporty news, Michael Phelps fever has sparked a rage for swimming lessons here, with one instructor charging $200 an hour. And wow, hair and makeup guru Paul Labrecque sure has a gorgeous, $1 million home in Wainscott right near Ron Lauder's place.

Now that Eli Zabar runs the Amagansett Farmers Market, tomatoes are $8 a pound … but don't expect to buy staples like Tampax and aspirin here like you used to! Royal tennis consorts Steffi Graff and Andre Agassi headlined a benefit this weekend, apparently making for Agassi's first time in the Hamptons. And meet the eco-conscious town official behind the strikedown of Southampton's ban on clotheslines.

The guy who owns the one-screen Art Deco movie house in Sag Harbor wants to sell it for $12 mil but also wants it to stay a cinema-cum-performing arts space. "Dave from the Hamptons" (i.e., Guv Paterson on vacation) called in to WFAN to lament the end of the Mike and the Mad Dog show's nineteen-year run. And in a really big property transaction, East Hampton, Suffolk County and New York State paid former talk-show host Dick Cavett $18 mil for 77 acres of gorgeous Montauk bluffs overlooking the ocean.

British jetsetter Tamsin Lonsdale says she's hosting a Halloween murder mystery night at a "16th-century" Hamptons home. (Wow, we didn't know that Hamptons homes dated to the 1500s.) At the Keszler Gallery, fancy Hamptons types mixed and mingled at the latest showing of Russell Young's diamond-dusted paintings of icons like James Dean and Liz Taylor. Also this past weekend, supposedly, a documentary filmmaker squired around a cleaning lady from Ohio to film her reaction to the wacky, over-the-top, richy-rich Hamptons.

An Iraqi and his relatives who were persecuted by Al Qaeda are moving to North Haven, guests of the media-studies director at the Ross School in East Hampton. And finally, in a very emotional and moving video clip, Kooky DIY fashion icon Lauren Ezersky gets all choked up talking about the importance of horses at the recent Amaryllis Farm Equine Rescue benefit.

Video: The ‘New York’ Fall Fashion Issue Takes On Coney Island

Related: Let’s Keep This Party Rolling [NYM]
Fall Fashion '08 [NYM]

'All My Children's' unique casting

The Adventures of ‘Beijing Ben’ Silverman

Silverman and two assistants.Photo: Courtesy of KIIS

How dare you suggest that NBC wunderkind Ben Silverman spends all his time washing his tigers and borrowing other nations' TV programs for broadcast on NBC. The chairman of NBC–party animal–future public servant is now moonlighting as a radio reporter, phoning in stories of his travels in China to Ryan Seacrest's L.A.-based radio show. We highly recommend listening to the archives, in which "Beijing Ben" reports on his "V, V, V, V.I.P. tour" of the terra-cotta warriors, declares the Great Wall the "Awesome Wall," and refers to a Chinese premier whose name he couldn't remember as "Deng Zing Deng Deng."

Of course, Ben's real job is to play booster for NBC's coverage and the upcoming fall season, which means listeners have been treated to Silverman's pitches for Kath & Kim and My Own Worst Enemy alongside descriptions of "superhuman" Michael Phelps's physique ("He could reach around the biggest sumo wrestler with his arms!"). Most important, Ben promises that the closing ceremonies will be even more spectacular than the opening ceremonies; the smog (or, in Silverman-speak, the "fog and heavy air") has cleared out a bit, and "no one can get 25,000 people playing drums together like the Chinese can!"

'Beijing Ben' Brings Olympic Glory to Seacrest, KIIS-FM [Broadcasting & Cable]
On Air With Ryan Seacrest [KIIS]

Fox's 'Watchmen' lawsuit heats up

Dita: Her Body Is a Wonderbra (E! Online)

E! Online - Well, there's obviously more to it than that, but bodacious neoburlesque performer Dita Von Teese does want to uplift you with her new lingerie, inspired by '40s and '50s underthings (but without the rigid undergirding of those old-school cups that seemed constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers).

Only People on Madonna’s Payroll Would Sit Through Her 50th-Birthday Party

"Oh, Nelson from accounting! Thank you so much
for coming. And you wore your cone bra! I'm
touched."Photo: Getty Images

Of course, Madonna was reportedly pissed that A-listers like Gwyneth Paltrow, Stella McCartney, and Sting didn't show up. But according to People, the party was low-key and sweet, with Guy making a touching toast to his beautiful wife, and Lourdes performing a tear-jerking rendition of "Never Alone" from Fame on the piano. (Despite reports of marital strife, Guy Ritchie paid the tab for everything, which added up to 100,000 British pounds — in U.S. currency, that's $1.2 billion!) David Blaine did card tricks, and the dancers showed off their moves to Madonna's music until 3 a.m. The only sour note came, apparently, when the Material Mom herself took over the mike and gave a 30-minute speech, which the London Sun described as "mouth-drying."

Everybody listened politely, of course. They were at a company function, after all.

Inside Madonna's 50th Birthday Bash [People]

Is Michael Phelps Dating Lily Donaldson?!

Lily Donaldson, Michael Phelps and his muscles, and
Amanda Beard. Photo-illustration: Getty Images

THE MODELIZER [Fashionologie]
Michael Phelps' girlfriend: Amanda Beard or Lily Donaldson? [Telegraph]

Faction pledges no qualified voting

Animated fare honored with Emmys

Mark Ronson Vastly Understates Difficulty of Playing ‘Wonderwall’ on the Guitar

Photo: Getty Images

"I always try to talk my way out of kissing scenes. 'Do they really need to kiss in this part? Can't they just hug?'" —Eva Longoria [Latina Magazine via NYP]

"When in doubt, I can stare blankly. The rubber face. There's only so many ways you can stare incredulously at the camera and tilt an eyebrow, but that's your old standby: What would Buster Keaton do?" —Jon Stewart [NYT]

"I was perceived as the funny-voice guy, and the funny-voice guy doesn't have gravitas. So I needed instant gravitas, which is pretty hard to come by when you're 22." —Steve Coogan [NYT]

"I want to be like the black Björk!" —Solange Knowles [Guardian]

Brad Pitt Signed Beauty Deal With Kiehl’s, Bails on Being a Spokesperson

We stare into the eyes of ecotown.Photo: Getty Images

Only there's a catch. His name won't be on the bottle, and he won't appear on ads. Unlike the hordes of other celebrity promotions we see (and too many to name here), he'll be behind the scenes, not screaming at you to reuse, renew, and recycle through a store cardboard cutout. (That wouldn't be very ecofriendly, now would it?) The way Kiehl's framed his promotion is more as a partner than a spokesperson. In fact, the most they got from him was his handwriting, which is reproduced on the bottle. Fine. In the name of Brad Pitt, we'll take what we can get. Even if it's scribble.

A Twist on Celebrity: Kiehl's Goes Green With Brad Pitt Deal [WWD]

Lehman Brothers Cannot Get Off the Roller Coaster

Richard Fuld.Photo:Getty Images

MEDIA
• NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker thinks the Peacock Network's handling of the Olympic games has been tremendous — especially the digital coverage. "We're going to come out of these Olympics with great digital knowledge," he said, "and hopefully we'll be able to turn those digital pennies into digital if not dollars digital fifty cent pieces at some point." [FishbowlNY/Mediabistro]
• Glossy tabloids are having just as hard a time as hard news. [PEW via Mixed Media/Portfolio]
• The New York Times reports that The Daily Show is a "genuine cultural and political force" that people respect as much or more as they do real news. Wait, is this story from 2003? Surprisingly, no. [NYT]

LAW
• Lawyers decide it's okay for attorneys to tout their "super lawyer" status. [Star
Tribune]
• How did an attorney from the Bronx wind up representing the man who was once the richest oligarch in Russia? [Portfolio]
• Big Apple–based Skadden leads the pack of law firms that advise on Fortune 100 corporate transactions. [Law.com]

REAL ESTATE
• The new J.Crew men's-only store is getting set to open in the old Tribeca Liquor Store building. [ Shophound]
• Who does Governors Island belong to, Manhattan or Brooklyn? [NYT]
• Investors with cash to spare are snapping up Manhattan towers. [Crain's]

Hyler remains in critical condition

How Much Money Could the Jonas Brothers Make?

Photo-illustration: Everett Bogue; Photos: Getty Images, istockphoto

Portfolio speculates today on the career and earning potential of everyone's favorite teenage future overlords the Jonas Brothers, and the answer to the question above seems to be: Not as much as Miley Cyrus, but still way more than you! Surprisingly, the brothers are currently making only $12 million a year, which may seem like a lot to you but frankly isn't. First of all, there are three Jonases in the band, so that's only $4 million each. And that $4 million disappears fast, what with hair gel, protection money paid to Bonus Jonas Frankie, tithing, etc.

But how much can they make? Portfolio asks Michael Wood, vice-president of TRU, a market-research firm in Northbrook, Illinois, who suggests that a boy band may have trouble reaching the heights of billion-dollar Miley Cyrus:

If you're Miley Cyrus, Wood says, your fans want to be you — they will buy your records, wear your clothes, and buy anything branded with you, from perfume to chocolate.

"It's very different for the Jonas Brothers," Wood adds. "Are young guys going to want to dress like them? I'm not so sure. I think gender alone will be somewhat of a challenge."

When the Jonaspocalypse comes to Northbrook, Illinois, look for Michael Wood to be the shirtless slave pushing the enormous wheel that powers the fans that cool Nick Jonas's brow. And his screams will sound just like Portfolio's unnecessarily loud Jonas Brothers interactive chart.

Billion-Dollar Boy Band? [Portfolio]

From Frontlines to Daytime Soap Opera

John Mayer Says He Ended Relationship With Jennifer Aniston

Stephen Sondheim to Larry Kramer: ‘Try to Get Your Name in Print’

Stephen Sondheim and Larry Kramer.Photo: Getty Images

“What a charming story,” he said to [Kramer]. “Send it to the Metropolitan Diary of The New York Times. You never get a chance to see your name in print, so it might be worth it.”

This is exactly the type of conversation we expect these kinds of famous, funny, vaguely bitter gays to have. "You're so famous, someone sang me a song you wrote out of the blue!" "Oh, yeah? You're so famous I'm going to make a joke about how not famous you are." "Well, then I'm going to write in the New York Times about you joking about how I'm not famous." "Oh, too hilarious. I know, now let's go down to Marie's Crisis and cause a riot!"

Metropolitan Diary [NYT]
Related: Show Guns [NYM]

Elisabeth Shue on ‘Hamlet 2,’ Making Out With Old Co-Stars

Photo: Getty Images

With this meta-convention of playing yourself onscreen, you must have asked "How do other people perceive me?" … right?
No.

Why not?
I don't know. I guess I'm not smart enough. [Laughs.] Maybe that's my downfall. I don't really care what people think of me, to be honest. Maybe if I cared more, I could create a persona and be more successful.

In the film, "Elisabeth Shue" says that what she misses most about being an actress is making out with her cute co-stars — and that, as a nurse, she can't make out with her patients.
That was definitely my contribution to the script.

Oh yeah? How'd you come up with that?
It was the truth. I thought long and hard about it. That was great that Andy [the director] let me make it my own that way.

Did you do drama club like the kids in the film?
I didn't. I was terrified of performing in front of people. I auditioned for You're a Good Man Charlie Brown in seventh grade. I got up onstage and sang Cat Stevens's "I'm Being Followed by a Moonshadow" very quietly. I clapped and sang. [whisper-singing] "I'm being followed by a moooonshadow …" I don't think anyone could hear me. I was not cast. Not even in the chorus. That was one of the most humiliating experiences. And I remember that very vividly. Even when I [transferred] to Harvard, I did not audition for anything. I wasn't even comfortable there acting. I had The Karate Kid and a few films at that time, but I didn't have the confidence to put myself out there.

Were you ever recognized on campus?
Not really. Everyone there had a pretty healthy ego. I don't think they were very impressed.

There's a hilarious scene in the film where Steve Coogan's failed-actor character performs in a herpes commercial. You got your start as a teen doing commercials, right?
Me and Lea Thompson did commercials together. We were the Burger King Girls. I was a gymnast and remember flipping on the bars for Chewells gum. Remember Chewells?

The gum with the goo inside?
Exactly! Why don't they have that anymore? That was one of my first lines in a commercial: "Chewells taste better!" after flipping off the bars.

You were a competitive gymnast in your teens. Which world is more cutthroat: gymnastics or Hollywood?
Hollywood. What I like about sports is that you have a control over your talent, complete and utter control over your performance. If you work really, really hard, day after day, you will get better, you will see the results of your hard work. What's hard about being an actress is that, no matter how hard you work, there is so much you can't control.

What would you do if I asked you to sing "Babysittin' Blues" for me?
I would sing for you, of course.

Really?! Please do.
Well, I don't know. I can sing the beginning. Hi, I'm Chris Parker … [bluesy strum] na na na na na … That's all I know. Oh wait: "I've got the babysittin' blues. Baby baby!" That was really great. Every once in a while, when you're an actress, you get to have these surreal moments that you realize in real life you'd never get to have. That was one of my ultimate fantasies and experiences — for two days — having to sing that [in a blues club]. And every single time having so much fun.

Related: To Be or Not to Be: Elisabeth Shue [NYM]

Fishburne replacing Petersen on 'CSI'

PETA Attacks Gwyneth Paltrow for New Tod’s Ads

Photo: Courtesy of Tod's

"Gwyneth Paltrow won't be the apple of her daughter's eye if she continues to flaunt fur."

PETA says it hasn't received a response from Paltrow, even though they've sent her letters and videos "showing how animals suffer for fur." So apparently they're not coming up with new tactics to make people feel bad about fur. The vegetarian charity Viva! is also upset with Paltrow. Its spokesperson says:

"There is nothing feminine about inserting an electrode into the anus of a terrified and struggling fox and then electrocuting it. Ms Paltrow is an actress — and seemingly a particularly stupid one at that."

Alrighty then! Guess who else is supposedly "furious" with Paltrow? Stella McCartney, a vegetarian and friend of Paltrow's who doesn't use fur in her designs. Indeed Gwynny has lots of famous veggie friends, like Moby the vegan. Her hubby, Chris Martin, was even voted the world's sexiest vegetarian, making Gwyneth's fur modeling that much more peculiar. But whether or not we're anti-fur, we have hard time knocking a girl who does whatever she damn well pleases.*

*Unless it involves naming one's baby after fruit.

Fur flies as Gwyneth Paltrow offends her animal-rights friends [Independent]

The Death of the Celebrity Profile, Part VIIIIIIIXIXIXIIX

Photo: Getty Images

As Moore swirls a bit of her sunny-side-up yolks, the yellow combines with the richness of the light on her mass of auburn curls and reminds me of the colors so favored by artist Vincent van Gogh. As in his landscapes, there is an earthy yet ethereal quality to Moore.

Yes.

Further insights ensue.

"Emotionally I am very brave," Moore says of herself. "I really enjoy exploring emotional boundaries. But the things that terrify me are physical. I really am a physical coward. When I feel I am brave is when I ride a snowmobile, like when my family and I were visiting some friends in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I thought, 'I cannot do this.' I really thought I was going to die."

Hardly necessary emphasis ours. Why does Julianne Moore have to be brave, you ask? We would tell you, but we had to stop reading and run away before this article tried to eat our brains.

Julianne Moore, Braver Than Ever [Parade]

Jenny From the Block to the Races

Everyone Wants Phelps’s Swimsuit; Banks Keeps Audience Waiting

You just can't get enough, can you?Photo: Getty Images

• Cindy Crawford on Michael Phelps: "I'm friendly with him. We met four years ago when he was just trying out for his first Olympics. And to see how far he's come … He was a kid and now he's just so much more poised and handling the pressure so well." Jealous! [British Vogue]

• Via Spiga, the footwear brand, has approached Vena Cava to create a capsule footwear collection for their September 6 Fashion Week show at the Chelsea Art Museum. The four-style collection mirrors Vena Cava's "Egyptomania" spring theme, with muted colors and pyramid hardware. [WWD]

• Louis Vuitton's new Fifth Avenue flagship window display, which features a broken glass case resembling a mock break-in, looks so real that police officers entered the boutique last week to investigate the scene. [WWD]

• Cape Town Fashion Week officially kicked off last week. Highlights include fashion label Lalesso, which offered a bevy of tribal-printed maxi dresses, and Hip Hop, whose dramatic gowns and hats proved red-carpet-worthy. [British Vogue]

• Deréon, the juniors' sportswear line created by Beyoncé and her mother, has a line of affordable jewelry to launch next spring in the works. [WWD]

• Tyra Banks kept the studio audience for her talk show waiting for almost two hours before taping while audibly "giggling, snacking and chatting" backstage with her crew. [NYP]

• Here's a video of Helena Christensen discussing why she signed on to model for Odd Molly and her favorite haunts in Copenhagen. [British Vogue]

• Kate Moss remembers meeting Frank Sinatra on his 80th birthday: "I said, 'Happy birthday, Frank,' and he just lunged for me. He kissed me on the lips, then gave me a filterless cigarette. I came off all light-headed. He was fabulous." [British Vogue]

Islamists: Avril's 'Too Sexy' for Malaysia

Daniel Radcliffe Reveals He Suffers From Dyspraxia

Jared Leto's band sued for $30 million

Stars Get Ready for Democratic Convention

'Thunder' Rumbles Past Batman With $26M

Does Hewitt's Weight Loss Make Her a Liar?

The horror movie that became a hero

'Tropic Thunder' ends Batman's box-office reign

Hayes 'a man who knew no strangers'

Reports: DeGeneres and De Rossi Wed

Malaysia's Islamic Opposition: Avril Lavigne 'Too Sexy'