Sure, Mandy Moore has grown up. She's 25, married to singer-songwriter Ryan Adams and pushing past the teen-pop territory of her younger days, as she did on 2007's decidedly adult "Wild... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 27 May 2009 | 11:40 am
AFP - Former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson's four-year-old daughter died on Tuesday, a day after accidentally catching her neck in a cord on a treadmill at her home, police said.
AP - A soft-spoken slip of a young man, Abdellah Taia hardly looks the part of an iconoclast. But as Morocco's first high-profile, openly gay man, Taia has made it his mission to win acceptance for homosexuals throughout the Muslim world. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 27 May 2009 | 11:14 am
A soft-spoken slip of a young man, Abdellah Taia hardly looks the part of an iconoclast. But as Morocco's first high-profile, openly gay man, Taia has made it his mission to win acceptance... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 27 May 2009 | 11:14 am
When you need an old grouch, Edward Asner is your man. Yet the actor best-known as gruff newsman Lou Grant, who expands his resume of grumps as the voice of a curmudgeonly widower in... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 27 May 2009 | 11:04 am
If you missed some of your favorite '80s and '90s bands the first time around, there's a good chance you can catch them on the reunion trail this summer. Reunions, packaging and pricing... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 27 May 2009 | 11:02 am
AP - Now that Taylor Swift has entered the realm of superstardom, life is changing around her. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 27 May 2009 | 10:57 am
Now that Taylor Swift has entered the realm of superstardom, life is changing around her. A trip to the mall is now defined by points and stares. She can't go to a restaurant without... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 27 May 2009 | 10:56 am
Plus: Datwon Thomas moves on from XXL, in Mixtape Daily.By Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Jayson Rodriguez Irv Gotti Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images Celebrity Favorites Irv Gotti... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 27 May 2009 | 10:51 am
Plus: Datwon Thomas moves on from XXL, in Mixtape Daily.By Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Jayson Rodriguez Irv Gotti Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images Celebrity Favorites Irv Gotti... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 27 May 2009 | 10:51 am
The lifetime-achievement award that will be presented to Stiller at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.By Larry Carroll, with reporting by Brian Jacks Ben Stiller Photo: Eamonn McCormack... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 27 May 2009 | 10:51 am
An appraisal of a veteran talk-show host and comedian should have lots to say about his funniness. Let's just credit Jay Leno with persistence. On Friday, Leno surrenders his job as... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 27 May 2009 | 10:29 am
A concert promoter has testified that he alone tried to foist off a Las Vegas-based entertainer as six-time Grammy winner Toni Braxton at a show that has since been dubbed the "Phony Toni"... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 27 May 2009 | 10:13 am
The already tragic news did not get any better for Mike Tyson's family.
Arizona police have confirmed to E! News that the former heavyweight champ's 4-year-old daughter, Exodus...
The side slit may have been THE look of the Cannes Film Festival, but that didn't stop Kerry Washington from going for the most voluminous frocks she could find. Carine Roitfeld made many appearances, sporting a side slit and, on another occasion, the highly questionable outfit you see at right. Peaches Geldof also made the rounds, tattoos always on display. And the foreign ladies wore some, uh, very special things. See all those and more in the slideshow.
• Condé Nast is moving Golf Digest out of its second-floor space at SL Green–managed 485 Lexington Avenue to sublease more than 54,000 square feet to Edison Schools, which provides commercial management of public schools. No word on where those employees will be relocated to. [NYP]
• The McClatchy Co., publisher of newspapers like the Miami Herald, the Sacramento Bee, and the News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina, announced last week that it had changed some of the terms of its debt agreements in the hope of staying alive for the foreseeable future. [FishbowlNY/Mediabistro]
• In a bittersweetly ironic move, Presstime, the monthly magazine of the Newspaper Association of America, will go online. The move will save over $500,000 annually for the trade association. [NYT]
With her long hair, long legs, and big voice, Karen Olivo had already become a Broadway darling for In the Heights before she left the show to take on the role of Anita in the current revival of West Side Story. Now she's up for the Best Featured Actress in a Musical award at the Tonys on June 7. She spoke with Vulture about her hair, her schedule, and switching from being a vegan to a pescatarian.
What are you doing right now?
We have a rehearsal for the performance for the Tonys at 3:30, so I'm driving into the city from New Jersey, where I live with my husband, Matt Caplan, who plays Professor in South Pacific. We bought a house there, but before that, between the two of us, we'd lived in all the boroughs.
How has West Side Story changed for you since you started previews back in February?
I've never had a musical where I had to dance as heavily as I do in this show. I'm realizing we have to treat ourselves more like athletes than actors, because if the body doesn't have recovery time, you literally cannot perform things. I'm very careful with what I do with my body outside the theater. I don't walk as much as I used to. I try to never take stairs because I can only assume I'm wearing away the cartilage in my knees, being in heels and doing this really strenuous dancing. I don't just pop out of bed anymore.
What'll you do after the Tonys rehearsal today?
I'll try to get something to eat. My husband and I used to be vegans, but now we're pescatarians. I had to switch because I was getting injured in the show a lot and I realized that [the injuries] were not healing because I wasn't putting enough protein in my body. The choreographer and my instructor said, "We really think you should probably put some fish into your diet at the very least." And they were right in that my injuries started to heal.
Okay. So after you eat your fish tonight ...
I'll start getting ready for the show. A physical warm-up and a vocal warm-up. Then, at 6:30, I start paying attention to my hair, because I wear my own hair in the show and it takes me at least 45 minutes a day to get ready.
How so?
I wet it and throw some gel in it, but with all that hair, after I wet it, I have to defuse it with a hair dryer, so that's why it takes so long.
You've gotten props for creating an Anita that's not a rip-off of prior performances and isn't a fiery Latin tintype. Who is she to you?
I never really think about her as a separate entity. I think about her as just being me, like an alternate-universe Karen. I grew up in a Spanish household; my dad is Native American and Puerto Rican and my mom is Chinese and Dominican. I was born in the South Bronx and we moved to central Florida when I was around 7 years old. At the time, the South Bronx was really, really tough and my parents worried about three girls growing up into that.
Have you ever seen director Arthur Laurents' nasty side?
Never. I think it's hysterical. Reporters give me these loaded questions, "How is it to work with him?" Like I'm going to give them some juicy tidbits, and it only makes me realize that they've never worked with Arthur. He's an extremely truthful person, and most people who have a problem with him have a problem with him being honest with them.
Would he give you blunt direction?
Absolutely, but not to hurt me. Mainly, he's trying to be as time efficient as possible. You only get four weeks to put up a show, he can't sit and hold your hand. He 'd pretty much tell me to get out of my own way. And to project. He was constantly, like, "Stop judging yourself and make a choice and make it big, and I'll let you know if it works."
“I have never been so busy," British divorce lawyer and all-around Wodehouseian character Raymond Tooth tells the Times today. "People don’t stick together in bad times, it’s human nature." [NYT]
Remember those big shoulders, disco dresses, and cutout dresses from fall's runways? Apparently, they're all examples of retro-futurism. That's a fancy way of referencing how people in the past thought we'd dress today. Kind of like The Jetsons or Back to the Future. But we're not becoming a society of space cadets just yet. It's a steady transition, as Balmain, Preen, and Karl Lagerfeld all had retro-futuristic pieces. And surely with the distressed jeans and cage sandals that are trumping retail right now, we're not going to be barreling toward the likes of Star Trek by tomorrow. But it's just a matter of time. [Independent UK]
The politically savvy, forward-thinking George Clooney gave us his exclusive thoughts on the California State Supreme Court's nasty ruling on Prop 8 earlier today. George may be pretty to look...
Proposition 8 may have been upheld by the courts today, but George Takei is hopeful it won't be forever.
The Star Trek star, who married longtime love Brad Altman on Sept. 14, 2008,...
We fully admit to having a giddy, childlike excitement for the opening of the High Line. (And not just because there might be nude dudes up there.) So we had to share with you the gorgeous panoramic video shots included in the Sundance Channel's latest video shorts. In the series, key High Line redevelopment players go up to the park and talk about why they fought for it. Some are more educational and appealing (Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden's) than others (professional brow-furrower Ethan Hawke's), but they'll all get you excited for the park's official opening next month. The teasers on sundancechannel.com plug the ten longer episodes that will start airing on the channel tonight. "So many people fell in love with the project and worked for it, until somehow we seduced everybody," explains Diane Von Furstenberg, whose studio is adjacent to the park and who was an early advocate. "It was just a dream, and they made the dream come true."
Hey! What's with this new thing of so many Hollywood stars adoring Jesus? Please!
—DaisyRapp, via Twitter
Indeed. Gone are the days when we had a lone Kirk Cameron...
Karl Lagerfeld may have said bling is out, but is it, really? In the hip-hop world it remains so coveted that rappers, though newly broke and unable to afford flashy diamond medallions large enough to kill someone with, are simply buying pieces made from cubic zirconia instead of real diamonds. Among them is rapper Rick Ross, whom 50 Cent has accused of wearing fake bling. Embarrassing. And remember the giant bling auction of "Hip Hop's Crown Jewels" that Phillips de Pury & Co. was supposed to hold this spring? In a sign of real bling's downfall, The Wall Street Journalreports the auction was canceled entirely due to lack of interest among buyers. But rappers willing to relinquish their grillz can now easily sell them for cash to put toward real bling. Or, you know, basic living expenses. But this is no time to spend foolishly.
With President Obama’s nomination of Bronx-born Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, the Statue of Liberty suddenly isn’t the only robed woman in Gotham people care about. Much has already been said about the role that gender, ethnicity, and ideology play in court selections — but less discussed is the influence of New York through the centuries. Here, a primer.
Of the 110 Supreme Court justices who have served, 14 have been New Yorkers — either attending law school or serving as a lawyer or judge in the city — more than any other district. (This includes Felix Frankfurter, who attended New York Law School before transferring to Harvard Law in 1902.)
Total years of New Yorkers' cumulative service on the Court since its inception in 1789: 212.
The Court's first Chief Justice was a New Yorker — founding father John Jay (1789–1795).
The first meeting place for the Supreme Court was the Merchants Exchange Building at 55 Wall Street. The Court then moved to Philadelphia's City Hall and various spare rooms in the U.S. Capitol, finally getting its own building in 1935.
We have a New Yorker to thank for the confirmation process: In 1925, some senators were worried that Justice Stone was too chummy with Wall Street, so he proposed the then-novel idea of meeting with the Judiciary Committee to answer some questions.
When Samuel Blatchford joined the Court in 1882, he replaced Ward Hunt, who replaced Samuel Nelson in 1873, who replaced Smith Thompson in 1845 — all four of them New Yorkers.
Two justices have run for governor of New York while serving on the court. John Jay won, resigned from the Supreme Court in 1795, and lasted as governor until 1801. Smith Thompson lost in 1828.
New York's governor turned president, FDR, appointed eight justices thanks to his four-term presidency. That's second only to George Washington.
Two of the famed Three Musketeers — ultraliberal justices who helped usher in New Deal programs under FDR — were New Yorkers themselves: Justice Harlan Fiske Stone and Benjamin Nathan Cardozo (who was the second Jew and the first Latino on the court — and arguably the first homosexual on the court).
Several New Yorkers joined the Court without law degrees (the most recent was Robert H. Jackson, who served on the court from 1941–1954).
Many of the city's top lawyers (and financiers/bankers) owe their jobs to New Yorker justices: Blatchford founded what is now Cravath Swaine & Moore and Charles Evan Hughes founded what is now Hughes Hubbard & Reed, which was retained by the U.S. Treasury last year to administer the bailout.
Brooklyn-born Ruth Bader Ginsburg is currently the only New Yorker on the bench (doubly so for also graduating first in her class at Columbia Law School).
But we can plausibly lay claim to Antonin Scalia too. He attended grade school in Queens and Manhattan, but was born in Jersey and did his formal schooling at Georgetown in Washington, D.C., and at Harvard Law before becoming a professor at UVA Law, so he is not usually counted as a NYC judge.
Sotomayor once wanted to become a NYPD detective because of her love for Nancy Drew mysteries. She told the New York Times that when she first moved from the Bronx to attend Princeton University, she felt like "a visitor landing in an alien country."
Sotomayor got her law legs under Robert Morgenthau, Manhattan’s district attorney since 1975 and a legend who is widely acknowledged as the real-life basis for Law & Order's district attorney Adam Schiff. She then worked as a lecturer at Columbia Law since 1999 and as an adjunct at NYU Law from 1998 to 2007.
Some of Sotomayor's high-profile rulings in New York included siding with the New York Times that it was free to license freelancers' work in archives, a ruling allowing The Wall Street Journal to publish Vince Foster's suicide note, and a ruling that a Seinfeld-based trivia book infringed upon the sitcom's copyrights. Most famously, she single-handedly ended the 1994 MLB players' strike with her ruling in 1995.
Maybe! At the Electronic Entertainment Expo, Rockstar Games just announced that the next downloadable episode of Grand Theft Auto IV, arriving this fall, will be called GTAIV: The Ballad of Gay Tony. Disappointingly, though, you won't actually get to play as the title character. Says the press release:
"As Luis Lopez, part-time hoodlum and full-time assistant to legendary nightclub impresario Tony Prince (aka 'Gay Tony'), players will struggle with the competing loyalties of family and friends, and with the uncertainty about who is real and who is fake in a world in which everyone has a price."
So will Gay Tony be a complex, sympathetically portrayed anti-hero who just happens to be gay? Or a wildly offensive stereotype? Based on the game's title, official logo (at right), and previous experience in the Grand Theft Auto universe, we're going to guess both.
Oh, that cute Gossip Girl couple just can't keep their hands—or lips—off of each other.
Blake Lively and Penn Badgley showed how much in love they are during a night out...
Though Ashton Kutcher and his wife, Demi Moore, often use Twitter to broadcast their whereabouts to their armies of devoted followers, both of them are threatening to boycott the service should the social media company move forward with their plans for a stupid new television show. Not only did Kutcher tweet his disapproval, but he convinced director Robert Luketic ("If this is true my shop is closed") and wife Demi Moore ("I hope this isn't true — if it is, our Twitter time may come to a quick and sad end!") to join his protest. At this point, we're not sure which option we prefer: the Twitter show failing to get green-lit, or a Kutcher-less Twitterverse. Quite frankly, both seem equally appealing. [CNN]
STARTING TOMORROW
• Oscar de la Renta's spring collection is 50 percent off online and in stores. Ongoing. 772 Madison Ave., at 66th St. (212-228-5810); M–S (10–6), Su (closed).
• Anne Bowen tops and pants are $50, jackets are $75, cocktail dresses are $100 to $350, and beaded gowns are $650 to $800. Through 5/29. 25 W. 39th St., nr. Fifth Ave.; daily (10–5).
• Enjoy discounts of up to 80 percent on dresses, platforms, and espadrilles by Charlotte Ronson. Through 5/29. 1071 Sixth Ave., at 41st St., Ste. 301; W–F (10–7).
• Find discounts on clothing from Julie Haus and handbags from Gustto at the joint sample sale, including one-of-a-kind merchandise and samples. Through 5/29. 39 W. 38th St., nr. Fifth Ave., sixth fl.; W–F (11–7).
• Save up to 70 percent on hundreds of gowns at the Saks Fifth Avenue bridal sample sale. Designers include Vera Wang, Amsale, Monique Lhuillier, Kenneth Pool, and more. Through 6/9. 611 Fifth Ave., nr. 49th St. (212-753-4000); M–S (10–8), Su (12–7).
• Cashmere sweaters, silk tops, dresses, and jackets by Falls are $50 or less. One day only. 262 W. 38th St., nr. Seventh Ave., Ste. 1503 (917-622-6379); 10–7.
Adriana Lima's next cover girl job: Fit Pregnancy, perhaps? Or, Really Hot Mom?
The 27-year-old Victoria's Secret Angel is expecting her first child with her NBA-player husband,...
It’s only been a couple of weeks since the finale of Scrubs, and we’re already going through withdrawal. So much so that we thought we were hallucinating when we saw, then heard, Nurse Laverne Roberts on an episode of Days of Our Lives. Imagine the delight upon learning it wasn’t a dream: Laverne is still on television. After doing a little Cynthia McFadden-style digging, we learned American Academy of Dramatic Arts graduate Aloma Wright has been moonlighting as Nurse Maxine on DOOL (that’s soap-speak for Days of our Lives) since February ‘08! Why. Weren’t. We. Alerted?! And, we’re really pissed now because it looks like she’s been sassing up the joint the whole time. Watch as she demonstrates how, even in a daytime dramatic role, she’s one of the great sassmasters of our generation.
Check out Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins, now with 20 grams of sass per serving, this Friday at 11pm on VH1. Source: Best Week Ever | 26 May 2009 | 10:00 pm
As we mentioned last week when Jimmy Fallon implored us to forget Oreos and eat Tu-Spock cookies, we haven't been as diligent in our LNWJF watching since the show's new-car smell wore off. Fortunately for us, though, both Bill Carter of the New York Times and Brian Raftery of Wired have been following the show very closely, and each released a profile of the show over the long Memorial Day weekend. As you might expect, Wired focused more on Fallon's efforts to bolster his geek cred, while the NYT sought out the show's executive producer, Lorne Michaels, to find out whether the show's father figure approves of its direction.
Despite the fact that Michaels himself admits he was "dreading" the show's launch and the potential media hazards that might have come with it, the tireless 64-year-old continues to attend the taping of the show every single day. After a little over two full months of Fallon on the job, Michaels had this to say about Fallon's performance: "When 75 percent of the audience likes the person, you’re 75 percent of the way there. He’s a good performer and impressionist. The rare thing is he’s charming." If we were in Fallon and the show's producers' shoes, we're not sure how we would interpret that initial grade of a C (if you go by the letter-grade system from high school), but we're guessing they could go a long way toward getting closer to 100 percent if they figured out how to either (a) make the monologue work or (b) ditch the monologue entirely.
Meanwhile, Wired spent just as much time singing the praises of LNWJF supervising producer Gavin Purcell as they did exploring the show's various successes and failures. The piece kicks off with an amusing anecdote about how Fallon tests out his monologue material each day with a group of twenty tourists found wandering around Rockefeller Center, which might go a long way toward explaining why those jokes fail more often than not. Bonus points go out to Raftery for his honesty ("Let's just come right out and say it: Jimmy Fallon is not as funny as Conan O'Brien. In fact, there are entire episodes of Late Night in which Fallon, the manic, cowlicked goofball from Saturday Night Live, seems desperate for any chuckle he can get") and for getting Fallon to admit the pain associated with failing at his bid to become a movie star ("Making a movie is hard. It takes a year of your life and then when it comes out, everybody says it sucks"), but our favorite part of the story involves Purcell's efforts to keep Fallon entertained by encouraging him to use his daytime downtime to play Xbox 360. We can't ever imagine reading a similar anecdote about either Letterman or Leno, but then again, Fallon's ability to identify with younger audiences is exactly why he was able to land this job in the first place.
In this picture, the full version of which is viewable on TMZ's website, The Real Housewives of New York's Bethenny Frankel is
A. Promoting her book, Naturally Thin, by showing the results.
B. Trying to score a new photographer boyfriend.
C. High on whatever Kelly has been taking.
D. Making a horrible mistake.
E. Making a really good business decision.
F. All of the above.
G. None of the above, and my theory is in the comments.
Little did I know last week when I met Helio Castroneves at The Mike & Juliet Show that the guy would go on to not only WIN the Indy 500 this weekend, but also be the latest -- and dare I say sexiest -- of the Radio City Rockettes. Last week, it all happened so quickly: I, on 3 hours sleep, along with Mad TV's Arden Myrin, decided to ambush the 3 race care drivers hanging out in the green room and snap a picture for Arden's new blog. Next thing I know, I'm in a heated albeit highly enjoyable conversation with Helio and fellow racer Ryan Briscoe, about God knows what... what I DO remember is offering to take them to lunch (again, on no sleep, this did not seem weird or creepy, rather warm and "absolutely normal") only to be told that, well, they had to leave and race.
The resulting photo is notable for 2 important reasons:1. Rather than me squatting to align myself with this group of smaller than average peope, Helio graciously stood on his tip toes to make me feel less like a monster; 2. How adorable are all of them?; and 3. Neiman Marcus is now apparently selling dresses from Pea in the Pod, because WTF re: my stomach. A NY Times wedding photo it ain't.
Throughout his endless (though interesting) profile of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, New Yorker scribe Lawrence Wright provides example after example of the canny businessman's habit of taking advantage of economic downturns to scoop up undervalued and persecuted companies, only later to cash in on massive rewards. During the worldwide economic slump in the early eighties, Slim made his first big buying spree — scooping up cotton-gin manufacturer Anderson Clayton, a giant Firestone subsidiary, and the insurance company Seguros de Mexico. All turned out to be super-lucrative, with the last — bought for $55 million in 1984 — now worth $11 billion. "Those were the best times ever," Slim said. "Nobody wanted to buy anything and everyone wanted to sell." In 1990, Slim bought up Telmex, Mexico's archaic, inefficient nationalized phone company. It was not "much of a prize" at the time, but with a lot of investment Slim was able to take advantage of the lucrative government concessions that came with it to turn it into his most lucrative business — now including television, mobile phones, and Internet.
Despite all of the evidence he himself provides regarding Slim's legendary investment savvy and straightforward, almost Buffett-esque style of simple valuation, writer Wright can't quite seem to wrap his mind around why the billionaire — now the third-richest man in the world, but once the first — wants his hands on the New York Times Company. Now the largest creditor of the company (he's lent $250 million) and a main stockholder, he not only stands to be first in line in the division of assets during a potential bankruptcy, but he also has the power to stop takeovers or major changes. Even Times Company board advisers couldn't wrap their heads around his interest. ""We were saying, 'this guy is crazy!'" one said.
Finally, when Wright gets around to asking Slim about the move, Slim's answer is pretty straightforward: "We think it's the best newspaper," he said. "We believe in media content. We think paper will disappear, but not the content. The content will become more important." Wright takes this to mean that he's banking on the fact that the Times will become nearly a monopoly one day — that is, one of the only reliable and viable sources of news. Since Slim had such success with monopolies in the past, it's no surprise he'd try to sniff out another one. But this argument sort of jumps the logical step that no one, including Wright, seems willing to recognize — that the Times might actually just be a good investment that's currently undervalued because of the downturn. And that with Slim's help (and his sometimes-ruthless competition and willingness to make draconian cuts), it might actually start (gasp!) making people some money.
I want to see this movie right now. I don't care if it's impossible -- get the person who made this mash-up, throw him $150 million and make this happen:
James Brown can rest a little more peacefully now.
Papa's kids apparently got a bag they can live with, so a South Carolina judge has signed off on a settlement agreement reached by...
Not that it's really any surprise, but pseudo-candidate congressman Anthony Weiner has apparently decided not to offer himself up as a sacrifice to Mayor Bloomberg in the mayoral election, and will announce his pseudo-withdrawal tomorrow, according to City Hall. Weiner's spokeswoman isn't confirming the report, but she's not really contesting it either, and we all know what that means. [City Hall, Daily Politics/NYDN]
Tax officials in Italy have accused Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of tax evasion and could fine them $1.12 billion. Basically, the police say Dolce and Gabbana did not pay enough for the sale of the Dolce & Gabbana and D&G brands to their Luxembourg-based holding company Gado Srl in 2004. The designers say they only received $447.8 million in that deal, and properly declared financial figures of the transaction to authorities. They say police calculated the market value of the transaction to be $1.37 billion — way more than it actually was, according to Dolce and Gabbana — and therefore assume the designers owe more taxes than they actually paid. It is the second giant tax mess for the Dolce boys related to Gado. Police also think the company was set up in Luxembourg for the purpose of avoiding Italian taxes. Dolce and Gabbana say they're prepared to vigorously defend themselves, which should be great fun. It only took Roberto Cavalli six years to clear up his tax evasion charges in Italy.
What kind of title is “Relator”? After first mistaking the word for “realtor,” we thought of a sensitive cousin to Skeletor. Scarlett Johansson has taken no end of flack for the deep, distant-ish singing voice Dave Sitek embedded into their Tom Waits cover album Anywhere I Lay My Head, and since people seem to assume that she’s too pretty and successful to be a real person, it seems a risky idea to give her first new song since that album — this one recorded with hairy singer-songwriter Pete Yorn as part of a fall 2009 disc of duets called Break Up (actually recorded before Anywhere I Lay My Head) — a name evoking a robot that is manufactured to love. But it’s ironic, of course — Scarlett and Pete play a couple struggling to connect, and the language reflects that. So, too, does their singing: Scarlett’s syrupy, dreamy; Pete’s insistent, quavery. It’s a rare kind of interplay. And a rare kind of song: a pieced-together little number that evokes all kinds of classic pop, and passes like warm breeze.
In a demonstration of just how casually the war on avian terrorists is being taken in some circles, the city is moving forward with a plan to install a new garbage-transfer station in the worst possible spot one could imagine — right near the end of a runway at LaGuardia airport. While it may seem like a brazen, "Bring 'em on"–style challenge, officials are denying that they are simply goading more birds into an area already dealing with more than enough flying kamikaze geese. The garbage in and around the facility will be inside things, you see, like containers and trucks and buildings. But enough people have witnessed how terrifyingly quick a flock of shrieking, ravenous seagulls can suddenly descend on a single Sour Cream 'N Onion potato chip to be skeptical of such assurances — people like the Air Line Pilots Association International, Queens congressmen Gary Ackerman and Joseph Crowley, and the other pilot on the Miracle on the Hudson plane. Unfortunately, the one man who could stop this madness with the sheer heft of his moral authority, the wise and brave and buoyant Captain Chesley Sullenberger, is busy promoting his book. Fire up the Sully Signal!
"Once, when the first Mrs. Warren Buffett was nauseous and asked him to bring her a basin, he came back with a colander. She pointed out that it had holes; he rattled around the kitchen and returned triumphantly bearing the colander on a cookie sheet. After that she knew he was hopeless." [New Republic]
Kanye West, ostensibly promoting his recent book Thank You and You're Welcome, spoke the following words to a reporter today: "Sometimes people write novels and they just be so wordy and so self-absorbed. I am not a fan of books. I would never want a book's autograph ... I am a proud non-reader of books. I like to get information from doing stuff like actually talking to people and living real life." [Reuters via Idolator]
The Baldwins are like royalty in America. They get what they want when they want it, and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. If Alec wants your car, you better hand over the keys. If Billy wants to eat Thanksgiving dinner at your house, you better move grandma to the kids table. And, if Stephen Baldwin wants to walk on to the set of the Today Show before his scheduled interview and start yammering about his lack of underwear, then Kathy Lee Gifford better button up and let the man talk.
As long as a Baldwin hasn't commandeered your remote, check out another new Best Day Ever with Doug Benson tonight at 11pm on VH1. Source: Best Week Ever | 26 May 2009 | 8:59 pm
A view of "La Scala" in Milan. The Italian opera house will open its 2009-2010 season with Bizet's "Carmen," under the baton of Emma Dante, the opera house's director Stephane Lissner announced Tuesday... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 26 May 2009 | 8:55 pm
MAKEUP
• The United Kingdom High Court made another ruling on Friday regarding the case of L'Oréal against eBay, this time saying the website is not responsible jointly with sellers of counterfeit products. On May 13, the court ruled that eBay alone was not responsible for selling products that infringed on trademark rights because the company had done everything they could to prevent such transactions. [WWD]
HAIR
• Halle Berry chopped all her hair off, returning to the pixie shape she had years ago. Watch out, Posh. [Off the Rack/People]
SKIN
• "I'm washing my hair" used to be a line for turning down invitations. Now, one writer says her friend tells people she can't go out because it's her "fake-tanning night." [Independent UK]
NAILS
• Jeweler Judith Ripka teamed with Essie nail polishes to create three colors inspired by jewelry: Put a Ripka Ring on It (pink), Heart My JR Jewels (burgundy), and Queen of Hearts (red). [Fashionista]
FRAGRANCE
• Bergdorf Goodman is stocking a new line of fragrances from France named Honoré des Prés, which features organic scents created by perfumer Olivia Giacobetti. [Blogdorf Goodman]
• The new Jonas Brothers music video almost went by unnoticed here. Could that be because the boys are "fizzling out," like the New York Times suggests but never confirms? Whatever...
Former child model Brooke Shields didn't lose her virginity until she was 22, which she regrets. "I had the public and this pressure, and I wish I had just gotten it over with in the beginning, when it was sort of OK. I think I could have been much more in touch with myself," she tells Health magazine. "I think I wouldn't have had issues with weight ... it was all connected. And to me, that's a health regret." Right? This makes us feel so much better about losing our virginity much earlier, at a frankly eye-poppingly younger age. If we hadn't, we might have ended up as fat as Brooke Shields! [Us]
Model Lily Cole's first major film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, premiered at Cannes last week. And critics are not thrilled with it. The Guardian called it an "awful mess." Entertainment Weekly said it had a feeling of "quiet desperation." But that is not Cole's fault. In fact, they say she's pretty good. So models can act! Excuse us while we check and see if the sky is still blue. [Fashionologie]
"American Idol" viewers had a clear choice when it came down to the final decision: the low-key but sincere Kris Allen or the flamboyant and powerful Adam Lambert.
Back before the Super Bowl, I asked BWE readers to give me $76,000 for a luxury suite, and while I won't say how much money I ended up receiving in my "Send Me To The Super Bowl Thanks Everyone!" Fund (it was between $60,000 and $0,000), I will say that I'm a lot more confident in my new proposal:
Let's raise $2,300,000 to buy Cameron's dad's house from Ferris Bueller's Day Off:
Seriously, only $2.3 million for THE crazy-architectural suburban-Chicago home of Cameron's father? I would've thought that place would be well into the $4 millions; $2.3 mil is more in the neighborhood of divorced-Daniel Hillard's San Francisco apartment in Mrs. Doubtfire. And just imagine the instant spike in value when Hollywood remakes Ferris Bueller's in, like, a week.
I can kick in at least $500. Maybe $600 if I end up cashing in my 401k. So if say, ten of you want to split the remainder, that's just $229,000 and some change per person, not including the cost of the daily Ferraris we'll be rolling into the ravine.
If you want in, just mail me wads of cash, and I promise to share the home with you. Deal? Source: Best Week Ever | 26 May 2009 | 8:00 pm
The world-conquering superpowers of teen-pop juggernaut the Jonas Brothers have once again been called into question — and this time not just by some know-nothing blogger! In yesterday's New York Times, Brook Barnes adds up the twin disappointments of the trio's low-grossing 3-D movie and low-rated TV show and asks, "Are the Jonas Brothers fizzling as a full-blown Walt Disney Company franchise?" Surprisingly, their manager and the president of their record label say no. But it's plainly obvious that the Jonases haven't become the money-printing, three-headed Zac Efron that we once had them pegged for. So, why not?
Is it their credibility problem? Specifically, do they have too much credibility? Their albums and tickets to their concerts are still selling reasonably well, despite the collapsed economy and the fact that nobody pays for music anymore. But Disney — a corporation accustomed to extracting Hannah Montana–sized paychecks from its teenage laborers — needs the Jonases to be a global megafranchise, not just simple pop stars, which means selling lunch boxes, movies, and TV shows.
It's interesting that the two blemishes on the trio's mostly spotless track record are the underwhelming receptions of Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience and JONAS, their Monkees-style Disney Channel kids' show. While Efron and other High School Musical alums struggle to be taken more seriously, the Jonases (who play their own instruments, co-write their songs, and sing live at concerts) are in the hilarious position of having to convert fans of their music to their less serious endeavors. As Lucy Schiller, 8, tells the Times: “My friends aren’t really talking about [their TV] show ... I like them as singers."
So why haven't today's sensible teenagers fallen in line? We have no idea! We're already on record as having enjoyed their last album, and find their recent failures as baffling as Miley Cyrus's continued profitability, proving that we know nothing. By the way, have you heard their new single? We've embedded it below. We think it's awesome, which probably doesn't bode well for its success.
We had such a nice, relaxing weekend, and then we had to sit through The Hills. Although all of this episode's wedding drama was clearly concocted by MTV, it does remind us that weddings are actually hotbeds of inter-girl strife. So-and-so didn't get asked to be a bridesmaid, so she's boycotting. What's-her-name bailed on the bachelorette party in Vegas, and she's clearly a bad friend. The most genuine (and most depressing) moment of the episode was when Lauren told Heidi she was making a mistake by marrying Spencer, and Heidi responded with, "I'm finally getting the wedding of my dreams." As our mom always says, "It's not about the wedding, it's about the marriage." Amen. Good luck with that, Heidi. On to the recap!
So the big story tonight is whether or not Lauren's going to attend Heidi and Spencer's "princess wedding." The tension was pretty much sucked out of that plotline the minute the previews for the finale debuted at the end of the episode, but we'll try to ignore that for now. The suspense is killing us! Heidi and Stephanie lunch and discuss the big day, and Heidi asks Steph to invite Lauren for her. Hilariously, Steph responds, "She just fired me, Heidi!" Ha, that's right, she did. Heidi wisely advises that Lauren can't refire her (also true). So Stephanie brings up the invitation to Lauren, though only after they have a revealing conversation about how Steph incorrectly buckles her seat belt so as to avoid a seat-belt tan. Oh, to live in L.A.; these girls have nice lives (if they don't get into any car accidents, that is). Lauren says she's not going to go to the wedding, and Stephanie relates this bad news to Heidi while she's trying on wedding dresses at Monique Lhuillier. Why, why, why did Monique Lhuillier agree to participate in this? Okay, we know why, since, like, 4 million people watch this show, but ugh, it's not good for the brand name. Heidi's chosen dress isn't horrible — it’s way too puff-ball for our tastes — but we’ll admit that it does align with Heidi’s princess theme. Heidi’s very sad that Lauren’s going to skip the wedding, and the errant dress feather lingering near her head confirms this by drooping. Then Lauren again confirms she’s not going to the wedding. She and Lo, Aud, and Steph reminisce about how they all used to hate each other. Lo suggests they cheer to how far they’ve come, which is funny, because they basically all still hate each other (except for Lo and Lauren). Cheers!
Heidi has it in her pretty head that if Spencer apologizes to Lauren, she’ll indeed attend the wedding. Heidi personally drops off the invitation with Lauren at People’s Revolution, and they have an awkward conversation in which Lauren tells Heidi she shouldn’t marry Spencer. It’s actually kind of sad, as Lauren lays out all the people from whom Heidi has become estranged because of him, including her mom and sister, in addition to Lauren herself. Heidi cries, because she knows it’s true. Lauren then devolves into clichés: “Life isn’t an island; you could light up any room, etc.” — and she loses us. She still won’t go to the wedding, btw.
Okay, so on to the other action. Crazy Jayde continues to have beef with Audrina. “I have a side that wants to grab a bottle and smash it in her face,” she tells Frankie while they’re all out at the Nylon party. Jayde’s violent imagery is quite disturbing ... another case for Dr. Mansbacher, we say! And now the most amusing part of the night, by far: Stephanie somehow doesn’t know that Nylon is a client of her former boss Kelly Cutrone, who’s there. Kelly comes up to her, like, WTF are you doing here? And Stephanie tries to defend her horrific internship performance to Kelly, who immediately shuts her down. “You hung up the phone on people who pay me,” she tells Steph, who then tries to blame Kelly’s absence for her idiotic mistakes. “Are you going to blame me for your ineptitude? Bye, Steph,” she says, awesomely. Poor Steph doesn’t know what "ineptitude" means, but she gets the gist and looks embarrassed.
Spencer, after much internal debate, finally calls Lauren to apologize. Why does he still have her number? He says sorry for spreading those pesky sex-tape rumors. “If you show up [at the wedding], it would be life changing for Heidi,” he says. Is there some clause in which Speidi gets paid a bonus if they can convince Lauren to come? Otherwise, we don’t really get this whole plotline.
And now to our Unequivocal Hills reality Index:
As real as Lauren’s desire to avoid that wedding:
• Jayde’s enduring hatred of Audrina. Watch out Aud, she’s dangerous!
• The fact that Stephanie didn’t know she was at Kelly’s party. Aw, it must be so confusing to live inside Steph’s head.
• When Aud and Lo make fun of Stephanie for getting fired from an internship. If Audrina’s making fun of you, you’re clearly in big trouble.
As fake as a princess wedding planned in exactly one week:
• Every single thing about the wedding. This story line is so annoyingly fake, even for The Hills.
• Charlie. Who is that guy and why does he look like a creepy molester? He’s scaring us!
• Spencer’s lame apology.
Next week is the hour-long finale and Lauren’s final episode! Buh-bye, LC! Will we get a cheesy musical montage? We can only hope.
Rapper T.I., who was sentenced to a 366-day prison sentence in March, reported Tuesday to a federal prison complex in Forrest City, Arkansas, according to CNN affiliate WSB-TV.
... Let my Cameron go! The famed suburban Chicago house from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the one from which a vintage Ferrari plunged into the woods after an ill-advised attempt to take mileage off its odometer, is for sale for the low, low price of $2.3 million. If you decide to move in, you might want to open up some of the windows; there's no telling if Cameron's germs are still floating around the house. [Buzzfeed]
Front Page: TLC reality show premieres to 9.8 million viewers -- A record series aud of nearly 10 million tuned in Monday to the season premiere of TLC's "Jon and Kate Plus 8," making it the night's most-watched program.
Traver, who is 43 and works as a driver for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, got into facial hair competition locally about 10 years ago with the Mr. Fur Face competition during Fur Rendezvous. After that, he got involved with the South Central Alaska Beard and Moustache Club, which bid to bring the international championships to Anchorage this year — beating out Liechtenstein. He dedicated his win to his father, David Traver, who died in September
Wow, from Mr. Fur Face to World Beard Champion in just ten years -- this guy's like a bearded Freddy Adu, only his professional sport is way more popular in the U.S.
If anyone needs me, I'll be in my room, blasting this on a loop for the next 48 hours.
(via Gorillamask) Source: Best Week Ever | 26 May 2009 | 6:30 pm
Front Page: Barry Levinson to direct project -- Al Pacino has been set to star in an HBO telepic about right-to-die champion Dr. Jack Kevorkian, to be helmed by Barry Levinson.
Glastonbury, the world's largest green field arts and music festival has shied away from rap and chosen Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and Blur as its headline acts this year, a return to its guitar-based roots.
Gwen Stefani pulled her three-year-old son Kingston onto the stage at a concert to serenade him with an entire crowd singing "Happy Birthday," and after watching this clip four times, I just can't believe how little this baby seems to care that thousands of people are chanting at it. I thought for sure this video was gonna end with an adorable "Aww, the baby's crying because he's confused and scared and doesn't understand the concept of birthdays, how cute!!" but Kingston simply couldn't give less of a crap, as long as he's got his trusty, people-drowning-out binky.
I guess celebrity children are born with an innate invincibility to crowd noise? I'm no wuss, and even I was scared to death at cheering sports arenas until I turned, like, fifteen.
Regimental goat retiree parade? Or a future still from my very special episode of TLC's "A Wedding Story"? Fingers twizzed it's the latter.
Very few people in this country understand the power of a dignified goat. Here in America, goats are sprinkled across petting zoos nationwide, eating a can here and there, getting their aromatted fur (goat hair?) patted by the grubby hands of the swine flu'd masses. Here, goats are treated much like their food of choice: Garbage.
But over in England, they seem to have the right g-ddammned idea about g-ats... they put them to work in the army. The history of the Regimental Goat is rich, and deserved direct Wiki-quote:
The Royal Regiment of Wales was one of two British regiments to have a goat as its mascot. The regiment's goats were always named Taffy plus a Roman numeral to show the succession. The soldier in charge of the mascot is styled as the "Goat Major", who, unlike what the rank suggests, is a corporal.
Prince Charles was appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the new regiment in early 1969, his first Army appointment... The point of formation of the new regiment is taken as the point at which Prince Charles placed the new Royal Regiment of Wales green goat-coat upon Taffy the goat-mascot, replacing the Welch Regiment's red one. The goat-coat had been worked by the Royal College of Needlework.
GOAT COATS. Oh, how the English have evolved! (Said without irony.)
Last week, a sad one: Billy the Regimental Goat (who we're guessing was a bit too butch for the Taffy moniker) retired after 8 years. And the regiment honored him the only way dignified people know how: With a Goat Parade.Obama, pay very close attention: This is most likely why our country is in the sh*t dirt it's in right now. WE NEED GOATS. Ahead, Billy gives the Brits one last eff you before retiring to the lap of goat luxury...
Judas Priest has chosen 10 songs not previously released in live album form for its next concert set -- "A Touch of Evil: Live," which is due out July 14, in the midst of the band's U.S. summer tour.
I usually take a Pixar-like approach to new HBO shows and assume they're automatically good unless they beat me into submission otherwise (which has only happened one time), so I'm willing to ignore that their new show Hung appears to be a higher-budget, Schneider-less tv version of Deuce Bigalow.
Thomas Jane is likable, but can he carry a tv series (besides Homeless Dad)? The title "Hung" is also uncharacteristically HBO-stupid, and with the internet (and the fact that I'm long-removed from age twelve), I no longer rely on occasional tv softcore sex scenes for anything, so I'm more skeptical about this show than usual, but Eastbound getting renewed bought this channel a free five years of my non-judgment, so I'll stay open-minded:
Self-confessed German cannibal Armin Meiwes in court in 2006 in Frankfurt. A US film based on the case of Meiwes, who killed and ate a willing victim he met on the Internet, can be released in Germany,... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 26 May 2009 | 3:29 pm
She may be one of the biggest country stars in the world, but Taylor Swift wasn't always the most popular girl Source: FOXNews.com | 26 May 2009 | 2:13 pm
Tired of the tequila-friendly party shows that he's been performing for the last 13 years with his post-Van Halen solo band The Waboritas, Sammy Hagar tells Billboard.com his decision to form Chickenfoot with guitarist Joe Satriani, former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith was a challenge he desired as an artist.
Gwen Stefani and No Doubt return after family time, projects and a couple of solo albums. But it's not a reunion, the ska-influenced pop band insists. This 53-date North American tour is different. It includes their children, individual tour buses and $10 seats.
Ben Stiller had no problem handling Christian Bale and an army of robots this Memorial Day weekend. "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" cruised to an easy first-place finish of $70 million over the four-day weekend.
AP - "The Last Trials of Clarence Darrow" (William Morrow, 410 pages, $26.95), by Donald McRae: Each of Clarence Darrow's last three major cases was described as "the trial of the century," and with some justification. All three cases tried in the space of just 24 months in 1924-26 held the nation spellbound and, what is more important, offered lessons with deep resonance then and even now, decades later.
AP - "American Passage: The History of Ellis Island" (Harper, 487 pages, $27.99), by Vincent J. Cannato: They used to hang pirates on a small island in New York harbor, near where the Statue of Liberty now stands. Today, after 63 years as a testing station for would-be immigrants, Ellis Island has become a huge memorial for millions of Americans whose forebears successfully passed through it.
Singer-songwriter Pete Yorn's 2009 is shaping up as a very busy year. After his fourth album "Back and Fourth" hits stores on June 23, he's scheduled to release a Serge Gainsbourg/Brigitte Bardot-style duets record with actress/singer Scarlett Johansson this fall.
The already tragic news did not get any better for Mike Tyson's family.
Arizona police have confirmed to E! News that the former heavyweight champ's 4-year-old daughter, Exodus...
The politically savvy, forward-thinking George Clooney gave us his exclusive thoughts on the California State Supreme Court's nasty ruling on Prop 8 earlier today. George may be pretty to look...
Proposition 8 may have been upheld by the courts today, but George Takei is hopeful it won't be forever.
The Star Trek star, who married longtime love Brad Altman on Sept. 14, 2008,...
Hey! What's with this new thing of so many Hollywood stars adoring Jesus? Please!
—DaisyRapp, via Twitter
Indeed. Gone are the days when we had a lone Kirk Cameron...
Oh, that cute Gossip Girl couple just can't keep their hands—or lips—off of each other.
Blake Lively and Penn Badgley showed how much in love they are during a night out...
Adriana Lima's next cover girl job: Fit Pregnancy, perhaps? Or, Really Hot Mom?
The 27-year-old Victoria's Secret Angel is expecting her first child with her NBA-player husband,...
James Brown can rest a little more peacefully now.
Papa's kids apparently got a bag they can live with, so a South Carolina judge has signed off on a settlement agreement reached by...
• The new Jonas Brothers music video almost went by unnoticed here. Could that be because the boys are "fizzling out," like the New York Times suggests but never confirms? Whatever...
But over in England, they seem to have the right g-ddammned idea about g-ats... 
