In his new Vanity Fair cover story (not online yet, sadly), Johnny Depp and writer Douglas Brinkley visit Little Hall's Pond Cay, Depp's private, 45-acre Bahamian island, just a short yacht ride off the coast of Nassau. We read the story on the train last night, hoping it wouldn't just be a long list of reasons why it's more fun to be a handsome movie star with a private island than an unsightly blogger with a fifth-story walk-up — which it pretty much is ("Money doesn't buy happiness," Depp actually says at one point, quoting David Lee Roth, "but it buys you a yacht big enough to sail right up to it"). Still, though, between all the snorkeling and lounging around on the island's SIX BEACHES, there is one part of the feature that didn't make us feel so bad: Turns out that if we did have a yacht and an island, we'd probably just watch funny videos on the Internet all day, exactly like we do now.
According to Brinkley, every night on the trip, he, Depp, and their three accompanying friends sat around in Depp's docked yacht watching YouTube videos. Sure, they watched them on a giant flat-screen TV while eating delicious-sounding meals prepared by the yacht's onboard chef, but otherwise it's basically the same as one of your Saturday nights. How do you get Internet access on a yacht docked on a private island? We don't know! Anyway, here are the videos mentioned in the story.
This one is George Whitman, owner of Paris's Shakespeare and Co. bookstore, lighting his hair on fire to impress two women:
Here's James Brown's famous late-eighties CNN interview. "This is as high as you can get," observes Depp in the article. "Unless you go on ether."
Says Brinkley, "Depp is a huge fan of the 1970s Dean Martin TV roasts with Don Rickles, so we consume them by the hour." Here's Rickles roasting Martin:
Also, "the old comedian Foster Brooks, whose shtick was sham inebriation, can almost move Depp to tears." Here's Brooks roasting Johnny Carson:
This one's not technically available on YouTube, but Brinkley says, "we watch A Colbert Christmas, largely to see Willie Nelson in the Three Wise Men skit."
They also watch Tom Cruise's appearance in Tropic Thunder. "That's the best I've ever seen Cruise," says Depp. (He must not have seen Valkyrie.)
Over 10,000 people tried to buy Oasis lead singer Liam Gallagher's clothing line when it launched online this morning, causing the site to crash. Indeed, Gallagher's been teasing the line for months with online videos of rather impressive production values. In March he put up the first grainy black-and-white video, in which he explains that he decided to do the line, called Pretty Green, because he can't find any clothes he wants to wear. He said he planned to "fucking get rid of" the skinny look. And finally, three months later, Liam has posted a new video! And his clothes are finally available for purchase online to registered users!
First we watched Liam's new video, which was just as earnest as his last, and then we looked at the clothes. Plain T-shirts, plain jackets, plain scarves, plain jersey polos, plain crew-neck knit sweaters, and a parka, all with the "Pretty Green" logo. So these are the clothes Liam had to make for himself because he couldn't find them anywhere else. These garments express his passion for clothes. These represent the groundbreaking, non-skinny aesthetic he promised the world. They're more anticlimactic than Christina Aguilera's last new single.
"I’m not doing it to make money," Liam says in the new video. "I’m doing it 'cause I’m into clothes." And later, when he's trying on a T-shirt under a blazer not by Pretty Green: "It’s fucking blowing my mind. I can’t wait for everyone to see it. And obviously, buy it you fuckers.”
We were heartened to see this morning that the city has implemented a version of the plan we proposed for the Hamptons, and converted one of the many new condo buildings left barren by the bust into a homeless shelter. So far, both the new residents of the 67-unit Crown Heights building — which has, according to the Daily News, such amenities as granite countertops, terraces, marble bathrooms, and walk-in closets — and the building's owner have found it to be a win-win situation. "With the market being the way it is you have to be creative," the owner told the Daily News. "At least we still own the building and we are paying our mortgage, so that's good." Of course, there is some tension with the neighbors, who are being shockingly uncharitable about their new neighbors, even to their faces.
"People are saying we don't deserve to live here," said an 18-year-old man who gave his name only as "Boss," who moved into a two-bedroom apartment with his mom last week. "Just because a person fell out doesn't mean they don't deserve a place to stay," he said.
Don't worry, Boss. By the time fall rolls around, you'll be able to get away from those mean neighbors by transferring to another equally, if not more luxurious, homeless shelter: the Trump Soho.
There were a lot of important people featured in the second installment of NBC's Inside the White House special (Michelle, Barack, Sasha, Malia, Valerie Jarrett, the White House chef), but by far the one who stole the show was Bo Obama, the First Family's Portuguese water dog puppy. We learned several things last night about the Most Important Puppy in the World. Here are some of them:
1. He is extremely well behaved. Much like Robert Gibbs, he will sit, bark, and shake hands at the command of the president. 2. He is sleepy. Because he expends so much energy at all times frolicking thinking about how to save the American economy, like Larry Summers, he occasionally falls asleep in the middle of conversations. Of course, when Bo did it on Michelle's foot, it was adorable and not creepy.
3. He needs to be kept on a leash at all times. Even though he is well behaved, Michelle Obama has to have him on a leash. The White House may be a residence, as Brian Williams pointed out, but it's also a museum. You can't have a giant puppy careening around with so much American history at risk. It occurred to us that Barack Obama should look into a similar setup with Joe Biden. 4. He uses his own adorableness to get the press to fawn all over him. See below video. He learned that from watching dad. 5. Michelle is tired of having to drag him around. Barack got brownie points with a nation of kids and dog owners by getting a puppy for his daughters as compensation for enduring the campaign and a life of scrutiny, but Michelle's the one who has to deal with the damn thing. You can tell by her face in various clips that this is not her favorite First Lady duty. But let's not forget, Bo knows how to shake hands — we're pretty sure she'll warm to him when he takes over for her in greeting tour groups and foreign dignitaries.
Don't You Forget About Me:Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, and Emilie de Ravin (Claire from Lost) have joined the Robert Pattinson drama Remember Me. Brosnan plays the father to Pattinson’s character, who is traumatized by his brother’s suicide; de Ravin plays a woman who witnesses her mother’s murder and chooses to “live life to the fullest.” We sure hope de Ravin’s up for it after spending all last year in the jungle somewhere with Christian under very mysterious circumstances. [Variety]
Beast News I:Mary-Kate Olsen and Alex Pettyfer have joined Vanessa Hudgens in the cast for the teen flick Beastly. Based on Alex Flinn’s novel adapting Beauty and the Beast to modern-day New York, it features Olsen as a woman who puts a curse on the cocksure Pettyfer, turning him into a monster, we guess, to teach him a thing or two. [Variety]
Beast News II: A&E’s The Beast, starring Patrick Swayze as a rogue FBI agent in Chicago, has been canceled. The show was probably best known for Swayze having shot it while being treated for pancreatic cancer, meaning he might have opted not to return for a second season, anyway. Some had assumed that Lou Diamond Phillips might take over, after he guest starred in episode seven, although Variety’s sources say he was never considered. Either way, we definitely dodged an LDP bullet. [Variety]
Paaaaarty:Terrence Howard and Radical Media are developing the TV project Pigs and Panthers. The show will tell the story of LAPD cop Ronald Farwell, who went undercover in the Black Panthers during the sixties and seventies, and found himself “on the wrong side of the Black Panther Party, the FBI and the LAPD itself.” As far as sides go, it sounds like the man did not have many options. [Variety]
Drake Gets Paid: Universal Motown is apparently the front-runner in the bidding war — "one of the biggest bidding wars ever," says some surely not at-all-excitable Billboard source — over the up-and-coming Drake, currently affiliated with Lil Wayne’s Young Money and managed by Hip Hop Since 1978. See what nabbing Vulture's highly coveted Biggest Gainer title can do to a career? [Billboard]
Graphic designer and New York native Aimée Wilder is known for her nontraditional wallpaper adorned with mesmerizing patterns of pigeons, snowy slopes, robots, or squatting sumo wrestlers. But for admirers not yet ready to devote a full eight-foot wall to her quirky prints, you can now buy a plush sixteen-inch swath: Wilder turned Analog Nights, one of her most popular designs, into a pillow. The limited-edition cotton cases are hand-screened in images of retro record players, speakers, cassettes, and tape decks, resulting in a decidedly cooler look than the embroidered throw pillows of your youth. The cushions are available in subdued shades of gray, chocolate brown, or turquoise, for an interesting accent that doesn't dominate the room.
While shying away from details on how to solve many of the problems facing the region, Obama drew firm lines regarding the Israeli-Arab conflict. "Hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, and recognize Israel's right to exist," he said. "At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements." While he tried to keep expectations low prior to the address, observing to a French reporter that "one speech is not going to solve all the problems in the Middle East," the symbolism of an American president at a podium in the Muslim world was poignant. "Let there be no doubt," he reminded his audience. "Islam is a part of America."
Reuters - Google Inc's YouTube will premiere a movie, the first simultaneous Internet and theater debut, as the popular video-sharing site aims to lure advertisers and reach profitability, Bloomberg reported. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 4 Jun 2009 | 9:41 am
Candace Bushnell is a New Yorker and the author of five novels, including the best-selling "Sex and the City" and "Lipstick Jungle". She tells My City_My Life about her marriage, real life in New York and the secrets of her success.
—jsheady, via Twitter
You people are not going to like this. And I am so gonna love...
Media maven Oprah Winfrey earned 10 times more than Angelina Jolie last year, but the actress bumped the talk show host from the top spot on Forbes' 2009 Celebrity 100 list just released by the business magazine.
Front Page: Writer signs overall deal with studio -- Scribe Jeff Bell has signed an overall deal at Warner Bros. Television, where he'll serve as showrunner for the studio's upcoming ABC drama "V."
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are still going strong.
A rep for the couple issued the nonnews Wednesday in response to the National Enquirer's insistence that the powerful pair had...
Bleh, they're back.
After what may have been no more than an embarrassing ploy to ensure they stay past the first week of voting, Speidi returned to I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out...
Caroline Manzo, the matriarch of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, has no desire to be friends with Danielle Staub.
However, she insists, it has nothing to do with learning that...
Reuters - Lame sketch comedy, an uninspired performance from Will Ferrell and an overall failure of the imagination turn Brad Silberling's "Land of the Lost" into a lethargic meander through a wilderness of misfiring gags. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 3 Jun 2009 | 11:59 pm
No, it isn't 1998. It's just that former Dawson's Creek show runner Tom Kapinos spoke at a Los Angeles Times' Envelope Emmy screening series panel about his current show,...
That foulness in the air isn't coming from Linda Hogan's drug tests—because those are "clean, clean, clean," according to her rep.
The Hogan Knows Best matriarch...
Rodney is always by Chris Isaak's side…or in his arms…or in his lap.
"He goes everywhere with us," the singer says, seen showing off the Maltese at the MTV Movie...
Former Falls bouncer Darryl Littlejohn was found guilty today of the 2006 rape and murder of grad student Imette St. Guillen, after DNA testing, cell-phone signals, and eyewitness reports tied him to the murder. "The most compelling piece of evidence? 'One drop of blood,'" a jury alternate told the Daily News, referring to a spot of Littlejohn's blood found on the plastic ties used to bind St. Guillen's hands behind her. [NYDN]
Front Page: Cairo citizens ready for visit from U.S. president -- How excited is Cairo about today's scheduled visit of the U.S. president? So excited that street vendors have been hawking Barack Obama T-shirts.
In the new Showtime series Nurse Jackie, the main character (played by Edie Falco) has an affair with her co-worker. So when we caught up with Daily Show comedian Aasif Mandvi at the show's premiere last night, we wondered if he had any similar experiences at work. "There’s nobody sleeping with anybody at The Daily Show," he told us. "There’s no sex." What about previous jobs? "Oh yes. When I work in the theater, I never stop fucking." View our Party Lines slideshow for more oversharing tidbits.
Beloved public radio station WNYC, which is just going through its spring membership drive, confirmed to us that it will be making cuts, as we reported last month. A statement was issued reading: "Like other non-profits and cultural institutions, WNYC has been impacted by the economic downturn and has seen revenues decline, primarily in underwriting. Unfortunately, despite significant cuts to our operating expenses, we still must eliminate some positions in order to meet our financial targets. As of today, we are laying off 4 people and eliminating 11 unfilled positions from across the organization." Senior staff will also take a 5 percent pay cut. In happier news, Herb Scannell, former head of Nickelodeon and former vice-chair for MTV Networks, has been elected to chair the station's Board of Trustees.
• Drama at TV Guide has reached new heights: Recently resigned CEO Scott Crystal sent an e-mail to current staffers accusing new owners OpenGate Capital of, among other things, funneling TV Guide funds into its other ventures. [Media Ink/NYP]
• Keith Kelly wrote this morning that "Newsweek is doing a great job of shedding readers." We also learned from Romenesko that the magazine is pulling an Arrested Development–style maneuver and bringing in a big celebrity to get some attention: Stephen Colbert is guest-editing next week’s issue. [Media Ink/NYP, Romenesko]
• Daniel Hertzberg, the Journal's deputy managing editor, announced his plans to step down after over 30 years with the organization. [E&P Pub via Mediabistro]
Reuters - Many of the finest performers in the classical music world are flocking to Venezuela to get a taste of the country's lauded youth music education system that teaches kids from gritty streets to play in orchestras. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 3 Jun 2009 | 11:11 pm
Yahoo Inc. managed to find a new CEO in under two months. Sears needs a new CEO, too, but they've got an interim CEO until they find one. Children's Place is also searching for a CEO, and operating with an interim CEO while they interview qualified candidates. Barneys, on the other hand, has been without a CEO for more than a year. They have no interim CEO. And no prospects. But that's okay, because they have seven vice-presidents playing CEO together. And even without them, the company could practically run itself, right? Because it's not like they're having all sorts of problems, you know, paying vendors or selling merchandise or maintaining stock at a desirable investment grade. Kidding! All of those things are problems! Barneys is a mess, and not having a CEO doesn't help.
Barneys' last CEO, Howard Socol, left the company more than a year ago owing to strategy differences with then-new owners Istithmar World. A few months ago, reports began surfacing that retail lenders were refusing to give money to Barneys, preventing shipments from landing in stores. Without these funds, retailers have to pay deposits upfront or cash on delivery for shipments of new merchandise. So Istithmar injected $25 million into the chain in April to ensure they would have inventory. And also to attempt to restore the lenders' good faith.
Now if Barneys had had a CEO, the whole mess with the lenders might not have happened. Lenders could have gone to the CEO — the single person in charge — and been like, "Hey! You guys owe us money! Also, we're kind of not sure that you'll be able to pay us in the future — or survive at all, for that matter — so if you could give us some reassurance with charts and graphs and a pat on the back and stuff, that would be great." But alas, there was no one person to talk to, and Istithmar had to throw a bunch of money at Barneys to get the ball rolling again. Lenders have since resumed doing business with the company.
The lack of a CEO has also hurt the chain's credit rating. In April, Standard & Poor lowered Barneys' credit rating to CCC, or "distressed debt," which falls a whole eight rungs below investment grade. This is because, without a CEO, Standard & Poor can't tell what direction the company will take.
Someone close to the situation says Barneys found a good candidate for a CEO late last year, but never made that person an offer. What — did everyone shove off to St. Moritz together for skiing and hot chocolate and forget? Anyway, the board of directors is meeting today. They're probably not going to talk about finding a CEO.
Shen Wei Dance Arts (whom you might remember from the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony) performed last night inside Ernesto Neto’s giant, interactive, multisensory Park Avenue Armory installation, anthropodino. Moving through the crowd to the eerie, dissonant soundtrack (haranguing bagpipe, violins), the dancers would appear and disappear, climb on each other, hop like agitated popcorn, and then collapse. Then, they all took their clothes off and writhed on the floor (they made us turn our cameras off for that). If you weren’t lucky enough to be there, and want to feel totally spaced out, watch this video.
Dirty Projectors’ excellent new album, Bitte Orca, out next week, is streaming in its entirety on NPR, so we figured now'd be a good time to talk about this single, "Stillness Is the Move." Basically, like most of the stuff the Brooklyn band — songwriter David Longstreth, along with a rotating cast of co-conspirators — has been churning out since 2003's The Glad Fact, it doesn't sound much like anything else you'll hear this week, this month, this year, etc. It's hard to explain why, exactly, other than by saying it's more than the sum of its impressive parts: a skittery guitar line, a weighty anchor of a simple little 4/4 beat, and an operatic vocal turn by guitarist Amber Coffman. Enjoy.
Hermès has postponed the openings of two stores in China. “We have a crisis, all luxury companies can feel it,” CEO Patrick Thomas said at a shareholders' meeting yesterday. “It would be illusory to think that Hermes can escape.” The company is also instituting a hiring freeze, except in the leather-goods department. So if Posh Spice wants 20,000 new Birkins this year, she shan't go hungry! Or something! [Bloomberg, WWD]
Earlier this month, J.Crew's newest outpost — The Men's Shop — located in the former Universal News space — opened its doors to the public. The original newsstand storefront was restored, and the interior was spiffed up with wood-paneled walls, plank flooring, and reclaimed furniture, for a groovy log-cabin vibe. The stock consists of plenty of preppy basics for the everyday man, like plaid button-downs, khaki shorts, and tees. But the Mr. Freedom denim peacoats, Jutta Neuman sandals, and Mackintosh coats appeal to the more style conscious. There's also a heavy vintage presence in the form of cufflinks, magazines, and aviators. Though the Men's Shop is pretty much a hybrid of the preppy chain stores and the hipster Liquor Store J.Crew wares, the shop offers something different: a Suiting Shop, which features off-the-rack suits, with tailors on hand. We took a tour of the new space and picked out some standout pieces.
The Men's Shop, 484 Broadway, nr. Broome St.; 212-343-1227.
Daily Intel: What up, Paul-Money. Paul-Money: Eh. Paul-Money: Having kind of a crap day, finance-wise. Daily Intel: Tell me about it. I took out money from the ATM this morning and didn't get a receipt because I didn't want to know. Paul-Money: I lost £218 million, or approximately $355 million, after failing to close a short position in Barclays. Daily Intel: Duuuuude. Daily Intel: I'm so sorry. Are you totes broke? Paul-Money: No, it's cool. I mean, it's more like I would have made £319 million, or $520 million, had I sold the stock at its January low. But instead, I only made £101 million, or $164 million. Daily Intel: So wait, you made $164 million. Paul-Money: Yeah. Daily Intel: ... Daily Intel: Suuuucks. So, you want to do that thing where we fly to Paris and bribe the guards to let us snuggle the baby red pandas? That always makes you feel better. Paul-Money: Yeah. Maybe we can get ice cream at Berthillion afterward? Daily Intel: Totes.
While New York state senators were busy talking smack to one another, the New Hampshire State Senate and House of Representatives passed an updated marriage-equality bill. The bill had been delayed after Governor John Lynch rejected a similar one that was passed two weeks ago, arguing for further religious protections. The State House of Representatives originally rejected Lynch's additions, but a compromise has been reached and approved by both bodies. Lynch has said he will sign the bill this afternoon, making New Hampshire the fifth New England state, and the sixth in the country, to recognize weddings between same-sex couples. It is the second state, after Maine, to do so with both houses of the state legislature and the governor onboard.
Agy piles on the trends (boyfriend blazer, minidress, dark lipstick, strappy shoes) at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition Preview Party in London.
Do you like that shade of lipstick for the summer?
We're still kind of pissed that J.J. Abrams didn't want wasn't able to find a way to work William Shatner into his Star Trek reboot, but thanks to Los Angeles–based video artist Daniel Martinico, Shatner's wildly underrated talent as an actor is finally getting its rightful due. After watching the most famous clip from what is undoubtedly the best film in the Star Trek canon, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Martinico decided to create a fifteen-minute video clip that traces the gamut of emotions running across Captain Kirk's face in the span of roughly four seconds as he screams "Khaaaaan!" Currently running The project ran last year at the Machine Project gallery, located in Echo Park on the east side of Los Angeles, which led L.A. Weekly writer Mark Mauer to describe the hypnotic clip as "a never-ending loop that transforms the moment from one of anguish (or snickering for the the audience) into a meditation, maybe even a mantra." While we are crossing our fingers that Martinico finds the time to bring this project to New York, this two-minute clip will have to suffice for the time being.
This is the most terrifying thing I have ever seen. Lock up your children, this is serious! If you see ripples begin to form in your water glass a laJurassic Park, you better run or you gonna be dead. She'll have 1 for her and 300 for her "thetans." Source: Best Week Ever | 3 Jun 2009 | 10:13 pm
Jared Eggers owns the taco truck on Bedford Avenue. The day our Video Look Book cameras caught him, he wore sunglasses he purchased at a 99-cent store. He chose not to remove the little clear sticker from the lens. "His other glasses aren't child molester-y enough," his girlfriend, art student Emma McMillan, said. "We wanted something that would scare people." On Saturday, they're heading to the Belmont Stakes. She has a dress. Watch the Video Look Book for details on his seersucker suit.
The queen is dead…or at least down a spot in Forbes' annual Celebrity 100 Power List.
After two years at the top, Oprah Winfrey has seen her pop culture clout drop a notch...
Anti-gay State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. released a statement just now calling for fellow senator Tom Duane to release the names of all of their colleagues who Duane has said privately assured him they'd vote for Governor Paterson's marriage-equality bill. "If Senator Tom Duane has the necessary Senate votes to pass the homosexual marriage bill in New York State, then he should release the names of those Senators who are supporting the bill," Diaz said. "If not, he should shut up." The Bronx minister is banking on the fact that he's calling Duane's bluff and the marriage-equality advocate doesn't really have the votes, but is just trying to get the bill on the floor. NY1 released numbers that seem to indicate Diaz is probably right.
According to NY1, twenty Democrats are on the record saying they'd vote for marriage equality. Twenty-eight senators (22 Republicans, 6 Democrats) say they'd vote against it. Nine say they are undecided, and five just won't tell how they're going to vote. All Diaz and his fellow opponents need is three more votes to kill the bill, a number that appears a lot more achievable than the twelve that proponents need to earn. "Any Senator who commits himself or herself to something, should be man or woman enough to take a stand and stand by his or her convictions," Diaz argues. "If they give their word to support something that they are ashamed of, then that is a hypocrisy, and could be interpreted as not wanting to be associated with the matter."
This is certainly true — but Diaz has been in Albany for nearly seven years, and this posturing belies what he knows about the system up there. For one thing, there is safety in numbers. If a Republican were to come out today and say he is for marriage equality, he would risk making a name as a gay rights pioneer, something that a conservative district might not look on too fondly. If he votes for it with 32 other state senators, it's less likely to cause a stir. Likewise, as Rochester-area Republican Jim Alesi points out, coming out in favor of the bill will just make Democratic Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's job easier — something no member of the newly minority GOP in the Senate wants to do. "Since we haven't been receiving the kind of help that I think that we should be afforded as members of the Senate from this new majority, I'm not in any way shape or form wanting to make it easy for him to decide whether he's gonna bring that bill to the floor or not," he told NY1. Whether in the end he'll vote with his conscience to aid gay couples is a different story — at least in the logic of Albany.
"It is a disgrace that Senator Duane is playing this mind game with his colleagues and with the public," Diaz says. "If Senator Duane has the votes, he should release the names. If not, then he should be ashamed of himself." But the fact of the matter is, the only reason we are subject to this kind of childish pre-vote vote counting is because Diaz himself made Malcolm Smith promise he wouldn't put the bill to the floor unless he had the votes. He held his and his fellow renegade Democrats' participation in the party caucus for ransom over the issue. Therefore, it seems obvious that the responsibility for vote counting should fall on Diaz's shoulders, not the shoulders of marriage-equality proponents. He's the one who took the fight off the floor, where it belongs, in the first place. Duane may be claiming to have the numbers, but by insisting it stay away from a vote, Diaz is doing the same by default.
Now, granted, this would all be solved (as the majority of New Yorkers want it to be) if Malcolm Smith just manned up, defied Diaz, and put the bill to a vote — you know, the way democracy is supposed to work. Until then, though, as far as we're concerned, both Senators Duane and Diaz are free to bluster, connive, and hustle all they want — that's how Albany works, after all. The only thing that's a "mind game" is to pretend to be surprised by it.
Excruciating just got a whole lot more excruciating as zany Joe Jonas challenges the world to stomach his dancing skills in "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)."
Well, dancing may...
HAIR
• If you have chin-length hair and feel limited, look to Marion Cotillard. The actress keeps finding new ways to style her bob. [Beauty Counter/Style.com]
• Heidi Montag Pratt clutched a can of dry shampoo in almost every scene of I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here. Nice to see her priorities were in order while she was stranded on an island. [Spoiled Pretty]
FRAGRANCE
• A.P.C. is getting into the fragrance business with the launch of its first unisex fragrance in September. [WWD]
SKIN
• Coppertone Sport and Neutrogena Fresh Cooling Mist are positioned next to generic bottles on shelves with almost-identical labels, which can be misleading to shoppers who reach for the impostor sunscreens. [Shophound]
MAKEUP
• Stila placed two bindis on its new eye-shadow palette, part of the new Indian Summer Collection. How authentic. [Makeup Bag]
Not since Princess Diana has Vanity Fair been so thoroughly captivated by a subject as they are with L'Affair Madoff. Every month, it feels like, they examine the swindle from a different angle, like its a precious stone. First, there was the attempt to get inside the head of the Man Himself; then the Disgrace of the Family Noel; and the Secretary Who Told Bawdy Tales, and now this month, David Margolick has focused on Madoff's sons, Andrew and Mark. We have to say, we are kind of loving it. Even though some of the scenes that keep coming up are the same (like the infamous Rosa Mexicana Christmas party the night before Madoff's arrest), the different points of view mean there are always new and interesting tidbits. It's like the freaking Canterbury Tales, or something! "Page Six" excerpted some of the juicier bits this morning, and this afternoon we got a hard copy and picked our favorite bits.
A More Complete Picture of What Happened the Night Andrew Punched Out a Former Trader From His Dad's Firm
(As previously reported in various tabloids.) According to VF, the trader, Reed Abend, spotted Andrew outside of East Side Poultry and started screaming at him.
"Where's my money? he demanded.... "We know you stole the money! It's obvious you took it! You're a criminal!" By now Andrew had reached the car, where his fiancee, Catherine Hooper, sat in the front seat. "Is that your new whore girlfriend?" Abend demanded. With that, Andrew Madoff stopped, placed his chicken down on the hood, and socked Abend on the side of the head. Then he got into his car and drove off. Abend shouted for help to no avail. Later, he tried to file a report with the police. More remarkably, Andrew also contacted the police—to hand himself in."
Chivalry! We kind of like this kid, we can't help it.
Mark Madoff Is "The Hip One"
... Because he lived downstairs from Bon Jovi and Andrew Balazs, in Soho. Also:
Mark is said to be obsessed with the scandal, huddled over his computer, hyper-scrutinizing every story and blog-posting he can find.
Hi, Mark! More on you later.
Evidence Andrew Madoff's Fiancée Catherine Hooper Is a Little Bit Awesome, No. 1
She posed "scantily clad" in Fish and Fly magazine (they are all heavy into fly fishing)
Evidence Andrew Madoff's Fiancée Catherine Hooper Is a Little Bit Fun, No. 2
Andrew's birthday, April 8, Catherine gave him a card: "Hope you have a fun day doing all the things people in prison wish they could do," it said.
"I wish I had my parents back," he told her. "Yeah," she is said to have replied. "They were a really nice idea."
This Absurd Sentence From David Margolick
[To be read aloud, if possible, in a stentorian voice] "If their luck holds, the brothers will enjoy the same fate as their salmon and striped bass and bluefish: After wriggling and bucking and fighting for their lives, they'll be thrown back into the water, scared and scarred but at least free to swim away."
This week's Blingee Wednesday inspiration, Jon & Kate Gosselin, has a lot of layers. On the one glitter-gloved hand, they have 8 children. And on the other hand, hate each other. Take it from there, people.
Here's the drill: Ahead, we've posted a bunch of photos of the Gosselin's just gosselin' around. Pick your favorite, or find your own photo, then head over to Blingee.com, MAKE IT FABULOUS, and the post a link to your creation in the comments. On Friday, we'll post our faves. GET TO WURQUE.
Remember when hapless, adorable Borat used to get sued for silly things like touching people on the street or making a mockery of driver's education? Those were the days! TMZ reports today that a woman duped in next month's Brüno is suing Sacha Baron Cohen for putting her in a wheelchair.
Thirty-seven-year-old Richelle Olson was the organizer of a 2007 Palmdale, California, charity bingo tournament that was ruined by an "extreme, outrageous, offensive caricature of a gay man dressed in sexually revealing clothing with an Austrian accent." For reasons unclear, Baron Cohen, dressed as Brüno, was tasked with calling the tournament, and a mêlée broke out:
Olson alleges Bruno used "vulgar and offensive language" and when she tried taking the mike from him, a "physical struggle ensued" and Cohen "offensively touched, pushed and battered" her, causing her to fall to the ground.
She then claims three cameramen and others rushed the stage ... "where defendants attacked [her] for a period of one to five minutes to intentionally create a dramatic emotional response ... while [they] recorded her humiliation and embarrassment."
After the alleged assault was over, the suit says Olson went into another room where she was "sobbing uncontrollably" ... then was rendered unconscious ... "falling forward onto the thinly covered concrete slab, passing out and causing her to hit her head."
The suit says Olson was rushed to the hospital with a "diagnosis of two brain bleeds" — and that she has been confined to a wheelchair and walker ever since.
So, yeah, if any of this is actually true, it's pretty awful. The part about the bingo-calling sounds funny, though.
Rihanna is known for her looks, style, and makeup as much as her singing abilities. Indeed, few young stars possess the ability to shift looks so dramatically and with such ease. With the snip of a scissor or a new lipstick shade we see a new side to the singer, and, as time passes, she becomes edgier, chicer, and more on trend. Let's take a look back at RiRi's beauty evolution, from her days as a cookie-cutter teen queen to her rock-star status now.
"I had to grow the hair down there. But because of years of waxing, as all of us girls know, it doesn't come back quite the way it used to. They even made me a merkin — a wig — because they were so concerned that I might not be able to grow enough." —Kate Winslet needed some help down there for The Reader [Allure via Jezebel]
"I already met her. Elizabeth Taylor ... the best old-school dame I've ever met. A regular, wonderful person. Billy Bob Thornton and Steve Martin were also there. Boy, did I take to her. For dinner she ordered liver and onions and just smothered them with salt. I admired that. She's an astonishingly great broad." —Johnny Depp on meeting the Hollywood icon he most admires [VF via HuffPo]
"I think that I was really put into his life for a reason. He wouldn't have left behind these wonderful songs that they have, or the legacy that they have now that has continued for three generations. 'Cause I see little Maddox Jolie-Pitt wearing a Ramones T-shirt, I see Tom Cruise's daughter Bella, who's like 15 or 14, wearing a Ramones shirt, and I see 50-year-old people wearing 'em too, you know? It's just amazing that the Ramones legend has spanned generations." —Vera Ramone King is glad she helped keep Dee Dee Ramone alive, so Maddox Jolie-Pitt could wear his T-shirts [Suicide Girls]
"Oh yeah, I was completely aware of the fact that the reaction was 'fuck this Charlie's Angels guy!' But I'm willing to let the work do the talking. I'm tired of being the cheerleader for my films. I'm no stranger to being the long shot. My whole life has been from a place of disadvantage. I've got to the point where I don't give a fuck." —McG couldn't care less [Guardian UK]
"I covered my boner with my thing on stage. I don't know if I'll get into trouble for that but that was my bit. When he came up, I jumped up and down and covered my erection." —Jonah Hill on dealing with handing Robert Pattinson an award [MTV]
"Radiohead and Led Zeppelin. Radiohead are reluctant to give up their masters. They don't like people having the stems because they don't want them to remix their stuff. If you've been Radiohead for this long you shouldn't really worry about that because it's not as if anybody's going to remix your tracks better than you've done. And Zeppelin would just be great, straight-up rock 'n' roll." —Dhani Harrison, George's son, on Harmonix's next targets [Spinner]
Reclusive author J.D. Salinger has emerged, at least in the pages of court documents, to try to stop a novel that presents Holden Caulfield, the disaffected teen hero of his classic "The Catcher in the Rye," as an old man.
If you haven't yet seen the documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil, then you are missing out on one of the best movies so far this year. Don't just take my word for it. It's got a Rotten Tomatoes score equivalent to Up, and that movie was awesome. Robb Reiner and Steve "Lips" Kudlow rocked out on the set of Best Day Ever today with Judah Friedlander (and subsequently confused people working on the floor above the studio).
Check out the guys tonight on Best Day Ever at 11pm on VH1, and watch the trailer for Anvil! The Story of Anvil after the jump.
Reuters - Major retailer Wal-Mart unveiled plans on Wednesday to launch a fashion line with Miley Cyrus, linking itself to a top teenage pop star at about the time back-to-school shopping begins.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve read with horror all the reports of what has befallen some of the young stars of Slumdog Millionaire in the wake of the film’s Oscar wins. (Though things are, thankfully, starting to look up.) So we thought we should bring you news of something good that has happened to the Indian children at the center of a heartwarming and inspirational Oscar winner. That film, however, is not Slumdog but Smile Pinki, the winner of the Best Documentary Short Subject Oscar, which premieres on HBO tonight.
Director Megan Mylan’s film looks at the efforts of a social worker who travels to poor villages in India finding children with cleft lips and arranging for them to receive surgery. (Many don’t realize that cleft lips can be fixed with a simple operation.) Smile Pinki focuses specifically on two children: 5-year-old Pinki and 11-year-old Ghutaru. The film follows their journeys and ends with them cured not only of their clefts, but of the painful social ostracism that resulted from their conditions, which could prevent them from even going to school.
Mylan happily reports that the kids are now doing great. As a result of the film’s success, Pinki and Ghutaru met lots of Bollywood stars and politicians, and even got a parade of marigolds upon their return home. She adds that Pinki’s village was made a model village by her district. "They put corrugated metal roof houses in, to withstand the monsoon rains. They got an electrified water pump, so they can get fresh water.” And within six months, Pinki and Gujaru got scholarships to go to better schools.
Smile Pinki is a devastating and accomplished film in its own right, but Slumdog’s coattails certainly helped: "There was tremendous excitement about the film in India because of Slumdog Millionaire," Mylan says. "Because there were two films about India that were contending at the Oscars this year, so whenever TV and print pieces talked about Slumdog, they talked about our film as well."
In a genius move, British Marie Claire put Brüno on the July cover, along with new mom (who looks amazing, might we add) and Victoria's Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio. For the issue, Brüno, played by Sacha Baron Cohen, penned an "A–Z List of Fashion," in which he offends as many people as he can.
H is for "High-vaisted Jeans", the fashionista said, explaining: "In terms of human tragedy on a mass scale, vy are zese not getting the attention zat Hurricane Katrina did?"
S is for "September 11th, 2001: Famous, of course, for being ze day on vich Oscar de la Renta reintroduced ze chambray peasant blouse."
So Sacha's still into controversy.
A "little black child" is "zis seasons's vardrobe essential", Brüno wrote in reference to Madonna's attempt to adopt a second Malawian baby, while Wintour is likened to a "pre-op trannie". Of Campbell, he said: "She's amazing — twenty years in ze business und all ze pressure und fame hasn't changed her a bit — she's remained a total bitch."
No one in fashion is brave enough to say things like this, lest the powers that rule the industry rain a fiery wrath upon them, or refuse to speak to them ever again. Good on Marie Claire for being ballsy enough to run this stuff, disclaimer or not. Then again, maybe Brüno will be the catalyst that causes the industry to step back and laugh at itself. For once.
Thievery Corporation, Paul Oakenfold, Paul Van Dyk, the Crystal Method, Shiny Toy Guns, STS9, Groove Armada (DJ Set) and Tortured Soul, among others, are scheduled to appear at the 2009 Electric Daisy Carnival, to be held June 26-27 at Memorial Coliseum and Exposition Park in Los Angeles.
US author Marilynne Robinson poses with her book 'Home' at the Royal Festival Hall in central London ahead of the Orange Prize for Fiction 2009 Award Ceremony. Robinson was Wednesday awarded the 30,000-pound... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 3 Jun 2009 | 8:02 pm
The Jonas Brothers continue to live up to their "selling sex to children but getting away with it through wholesomeness" South Park image more and more transparently, promoting their upcoming new album with a thoroughly topical parody of Beyonce's "Single Ladies" video featuring Joe Jonas in a tight black leotard.
You can practically hear the confused twelve-year-old girls shrieking as they're catapulted through puberty when Joe turns around:
At first, we were too busy marveling at Zach Galifianakis’s bizarro turn in The Hangover to notice the film’s major surprise. But now we've figured it out. Spoiler Alert: Ed Helms is Christopher Mintz-Plasse’s father. Sure, some "facts" contradict this. But just look at the two: the haircuts, the glasses, the gangly physique, the bruised faces, the self-abasement. Both star in wild-night comedies as the dork squeezed between a hairy freak (Jonah Hill, Galifiniakis) and a lovable straight man (Michael Cera, Bradley Cooper). Both evolve into super-studs overnight (Mintz-Plasse becomes McLovin, Helms lands a hot stripper). Now that it's out in the open, let's get the two together. Just think of how much better 17 Again would have been with these two, instead of Zac Efron and Matthew Perry! Memo to Hollywood: Let's see them in a slapstick remake of Kramer vs. Kramer, pronto.
Next Monday, June 8, from 7 to 10 PM all bets are off. That's because Bestweekever.tv is kicking off Thrillist Week, a 5 day long vodka celebrating, hors d'œuvre hoarding extravaganza... AND YOU'RE INVITED.
The evening will feature free drinks, free food, and most importantly, familiar faces from Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins, Dan Hopper, myself... and some very special guests (Read: Celebrities? Maybe... maybe.) Plus, tunes from DJ K Jay, who is literally the most famous DJ in the Netherlands*. (*Not true.) Check out this swanky invitation:
SPACE IS LIMITED!Click here to RSVP.
Once again, here are the details:
Bestweekever.tv Kicks Off Thrillist WeekMonday, June 8
7 PM - 10 PM
Location: The Thrillist Loft446 Broadway, 3rd Floorbtwn. Grand and Howard
See you there.
(You must be 21 to attend. Sorry tweens, this is Mommy and Daddy's big night out.) Source: Best Week Ever | 3 Jun 2009 | 7:40 pm
Something about this photo of author Marilynne Robinson posing with her 2009 Orange Prize for Fiction really makes us laugh. Maybe it's the fact that she took the time to climb down her beanstalk to accept it, or the look of sheer wonderment in her eyes.
Please help us process what it is we're looking at here by putting your own caption in the comments. Good day. Source: Best Week Ever | 3 Jun 2009 | 7:09 pm
Dave Matthews Band will likely bow at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart next week with "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King," which industry prognosticators are suggesting could sell as much as 390,000 in its first week. If it debuts at No. 1, the RCA set will be the band's fifth straight studio album to do so.
Heidi and Spencer couldn't take just one day in the Costa Rican jungle without trying to leave, and Will Ferrell barely survived his trip to the frozen wilderness on Man vs. Wild. Will Judah Friedlander escape this episode of Best Day Ever unscathed? Probably, but see for yourself.
Check out another episode of Best Day Ever tonight at 11pm on VH1 with special guests Steve "Lips" Ludlow and Robb Reiner of the band Anvil and stars of the new documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil. Source: Best Week Ever | 3 Jun 2009 | 7:00 pm
You would never think that something as ordinary as a cat learning how to make in a toilet could absolutely change people's lives. Well, you'd be wrong. That's because, according to this video, cats learning how to pee and crap in a toilet can actually bring immense joy into your lives -- for God's sake, you'll be jumping for it!
While the cat in the video never actually pinches out a tiny catloaf -- he's camera shy -- we can attest to the joy a crapping cat brings out in even the most cynical of viewers. This video played at a wedding I once had in a dream. And if you've never seen a cat concentrate before, check out Mischa The Toilet Trained Cat, whose face is either focused on balancing or curing cancer.
ps Dear Cameraman: Do you have no dignity, sir? Clearly, you don't. Source: Best Week Ever | 3 Jun 2009 | 6:54 pm
Grammy Award-winning singer Koko Taylor, known worldwide as the "Queen of the Blues," died today (June 3) of complications following surgery, her long time record label Alligator announced on its website. She was 80.
A man walks past a picture by Brazilian photographer Mauro Restiffe on display at PhotoEspana, one of Europe's largest photo festivals, which starts today in Madrid. Spain's international photography festival... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 3 Jun 2009 | 6:01 pm
Dina from The Real Housewives of New Jersey is afraid to send her daughter to Europe because her grandma apparently got Lyme disease from Germany. The joke is on Dina, though. Most people in Germany refuse to send their kids to the U.S. for fear of what they'll catch in Jersey. They consider big hair syndrome a medical condition over there.
For more from The Real Housewives of New Jersey, check out Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins this Friday at 11pm on VH1. Source: Best Week Ever | 3 Jun 2009 | 5:41 pm
Elvis Costello celebrated the release of his "Sacred, Profane & Sugarcane" album with an intimate solo acoustic show yesterday (June 2) in Manhattan's financial district.
Finnish driver Ari Vatanen, seen here during a race in 2007, was first elected to the European parliament in France in 1999, and returns to his home country as a candidate for the Finnish National Coalition... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 3 Jun 2009 | 4:23 pm
Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy pictured here in March 2008. Italy's political scene welcomes royalty for the elections, with Filiberto standing as a candidate. Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 3 Jun 2009 | 4:23 pm
Electoral posters of candidates for European Parliament elections are pictured in Vilnius in May 2009. A host of colourful characters, featured advertisements are hoping to pull Europe's apathetic voters... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 3 Jun 2009 | 4:23 pm
One Lithuanian party is pulling in a hotchpotch of well-known figures for its EU campaign, among them a singer, a former prison convict and a television show host. Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 3 Jun 2009 | 4:23 pm
An association of concerned German parents failed on Wednesday with an eleventh-hour attempt to stop the airing of a new reality TV show, created by programme-maker RTL, involving teenagers looking after... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 3 Jun 2009 | 4:23 pm
Paul McCartney, whose Beatles gave Shea Stadium its first concert in 1965, will inaugurate the New York Mets' new home, Citi Field, with two shows next month, promoters said.
A camraman films a work by artist Mathew Day Jackson "Skull Spectrum 2009" on show during the opening of the Punta della Dogana in Venice. The Punta della Dogana is a museum of modern art created by French... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 3 Jun 2009 | 4:02 pm
"Untitled 2007" by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan is on show during the opening of the Punta della Dogana in Venice. The Punta della Dogana is a museum of modern art created by French billionaire Francois... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 3 Jun 2009 | 4:02 pm
A guard stands by German artist Thomas Schutte "Efficiency Men 2005" on show during the opening of the Punta della Dogana in Venice. The Punta della Dogana is a museum of modern art created by French billionaire... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 3 Jun 2009 | 4:02 pm
In an interview with Us magazine, Cibrians wife, model Brandi Glanville, says the singer, 26, refuses to let go of an unhealthy obsession with her husband. Source: FOXNews.com | 3 Jun 2009 | 3:52 pm
Western Civilization could be jeopardized by the electronic messages revealed in the book 'Obama's Blackberry' - or not Source: FOXNews.com | 3 Jun 2009 | 3:50 pm
Reports were recently running rampant that Ashlee Simpson was expecting baby number two, but the 24-year-old certainly put that rumor to rest at the Jay-Z and Eminem performance to launch Activisions "DJ Hero" in Los Angeles on Monday night. Source: FOXNews.com | 3 Jun 2009 | 1:50 pm
Lionel Richie turns 60 this month and he can't believe it either. In fact, the singer -- who in the '80s found international fame with hits like "Hello" and "All Night Long" -- is upbeat. Life for him these days couldn't be sweeter, he said.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are still going strong.
A rep for the couple issued the nonnews Wednesday in response to the National Enquirer's insistence that the powerful pair had...
Bleh, they're back.
After what may have been no more than an embarrassing ploy to ensure they stay past the first week of voting, Speidi returned to I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out...
Caroline Manzo, the matriarch of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, has no desire to be friends with Danielle Staub.
However, she insists, it has nothing to do with learning that...
No, it isn't 1998. It's just that former Dawson's Creek show runner Tom Kapinos spoke at a Los Angeles Times' Envelope Emmy screening series panel about his current show,...
That foulness in the air isn't coming from Linda Hogan's drug tests—because those are "clean, clean, clean," according to her rep.
The Hogan Knows Best matriarch...
Rodney is always by Chris Isaak's side…or in his arms…or in his lap.
"He goes everywhere with us," the singer says, seen showing off the Maltese at the MTV Movie...
The queen is dead…or at least down a spot in Forbes' annual Celebrity 100 Power List.
After two years at the top, Oprah Winfrey has seen her pop culture clout drop a notch...
Excruciating just got a whole lot more excruciating as zany Joe Jonas challenges the world to stomach his dancing skills in "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)."
Well, dancing may...
