How does Forbes define power for their rankings? How is Angie at the top?
—Glimmrmoon, via Twitter
Unlike some mags, who throw together "hot" lists just to lure...
While Audrina Patridge was busy stripping down for Carl's Jr., normally scantily clad AnnaLynne McCord actually kept her clothes on for Hayden Panettiere's LG Mobile Phones' LG Xenon...
AP - Once she was the first lady of Illinois. Now Patti Blagojevich is gagging down bugs and crawling through tropical slime in a race to be named Queen of the Jungle on a reality TV show.
AP - Once she was the first lady of Illinois. Now Patti Blagojevich is gagging down bugs and crawling through tropical slime in a race to be named Queen of the Jungle on a reality TV show.
Once she was the first lady of Illinois. Now Patti Blagojevich is gagging down bugs and crawling through tropical slime in a race to be named Queen of the Jungle on a reality TV show. ... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 6 Jun 2009 | 7:53 am
AP - The family of American actor David Carradine has asked the FBI to help investigate his death after his body was found in a hotel closet in Thailand's capital with a rope tied to his neck, wrist and genitals.
AP - The family of American actor David Carradine has asked the FBI to help investigate his death after his body was found in a hotel closet in Thailand's capital with a rope tied to his neck, wrist and genitals.
AP - The family of American actor David Carradine has asked the FBI to help investigate his death after his body was found in a hotel closet in Thailand's capital with a rope tied to his neck, wrist and genitals.
Reuters - NEW YORK (Billboard) - Following last year's garage-rocking "Momofuku" with another shot of back-to-basics roots music, Elvis Costello teams with producer T Bone Burnett and an ensemble of Nashville regulars for a 13-track set that sounds like it was recorded in a single all-night song-swapping session. (In fact, they spent all of three days on it.) The material features nine Costello originals, as well as a pair of songs co-written by Costello and Burnett, a tender rendition of the early-'50s gem "Changing Partners" and "I Felt the Chill," which Costello penned with Loretta Lynn. ("Momofuku" contained another collaboration with the country queen.) Burnett's settings are much more stripped-down than his work on Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' "Raising Sand" but no less precise: On "My All Time Doll," one of the strongest cuts, Jeff Taylor's accordion shades the desperation in Costello's lyric with just the right amount of sarcasm. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 6 Jun 2009 | 5:53 am
Reuters - Toronto rapper Drake is such a hot artist that one of his albums is selling even though he didn't release it. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 6 Jun 2009 | 5:51 am
This week's episode featured the song "Best of Me" by Morningwood. The song is one of two new tracks available for download now on iTunes, and they have a full length album coming out this fall. Lead singer Chantel Claret also live blogs episodes of Daisy of Love over at VH1.com.
Back in 2006, Paul Scheer actually hung out with Chantel and company at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX and subsequently wound up onstage in a cape and unitard. That is not entirely uncommon for Paul, though. Join us on a trip down BWE memory lane:
DETROIT (Billboard) - Thirty-eight previously unreleased recordings from groups such as the Who, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Jefferson Airplane will be included on a Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 6 Jun 2009 | 3:19 am
VORTEX2 Coverage Results in Live On-Air and Online Stream of Super Cell in Goshen County, Wyoming ATLANTA, June 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 6 Jun 2009 | 2:56 am
Norman Rockwell's first cover for The Saturday Evening Post was of a sour-faced adolescent strolling his infant sibling in a baby carriage as two boys in baseball uniforms make mocking... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 6 Jun 2009 | 2:25 am
Franco Dragone poses for the camera at Belgium-based company Alfacam's new television studio, on June 4, in Belgium, where Franco Dragone Entertainement Group are currently in pre-production for a new... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 6 Jun 2009 | 2:14 am
The latest giant Macau casino complex, City of Dreams, has opened its doors in a high-stakes test of whether a reclaimed swamp in the gaming haven can avoid sinking into obscurity. Backed by scions of... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 6 Jun 2009 | 2:14 am
A general view shows the exterior of the City of Dreams casino complex in Macau, on June 1. The $ 2.4 bln complex has opened its doors after years in the making, in a high-stakes gamble amid global economic... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 6 Jun 2009 | 2:14 am
Franco Dragone speaks to journalists at Belgium-based company Alfacam's new television studio, on June 4, in Belgium where Franco Dragone Entertainement Group are currently in pre-production for a new... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 6 Jun 2009 | 2:14 am
The creative genius behind Cirque du Soleil's Las Vegas spectaculars has thrown open the doors to rehearsals in Belgium for a production intended to transform Macau's latest gaming... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 6 Jun 2009 | 2:14 am
Britney Spears has one less legal scuffle to come home to.
Attorneys for the touring poptart have settled a lawsuit brought by a manger Spears worked with in the early aughts who...
Like the INXS singer, whose mysterious 1997 death in a Sydney hotel was believed to have been related to a sex act gone wrong, police in...
Reuters - Movie studio Universal Pictures on Friday responded to a lawsuit filed earlier this week against its parent company and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen calling it "frivolous" and saying its claims were "baseless."
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Movie studio Universal Pictures on Friday responded to a lawsuit filed earlier this week against its parent company and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen calling it... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 6 Jun 2009 | 12:40 am
They want him, but Kelly Ripa's hubby Mark Consuelos ain't gonna be putting on his dancing shoes anytime soon.
Consuelos tells me that the producers of Dancing With the Stars...
The Australian actress and her already estranged husband, Josh Janowicz, are getting a divorce after three years of marriage,...
GREENWICH, Connecticut - A security guard has been charged with shoving former model Stephanie Seymour into a door at her home in Connecticut. Greenwich police tell the Greenwich Time... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 6 Jun 2009 | 12:17 am
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai coroners completed an autopsy on the body of actor David Carradine Friday, a day after the star of 1970s-era U.S. television show "Kung Fu" was found naked and... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 6 Jun 2009 | 12:11 am
A security guard has been charged with shoving former model Stephanie Seymour into a door at her Connecticut home. Greenwich police tell the Greenwich Time newspaper that they arrested... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 5 Jun 2009 | 11:58 pm
• Poor Susan Boyle. She didn't winBritain's Got Talent (possibly due to a voting scandal) and checked herself into The Priory to help deal with the stress. On the bright side, though, looks like she'll get to perform for Barry O (but probably not Kal Penn).
Reuters - Showtime's newest foray into dark comedy, "Nurse Jackie," features a lead character who could teach Fox's Dr. House a thing or two. She's the most competent and brilliant person at All Saints Hospital and takes matters into her own hands as necessary: She'll sign the back of a deceased man's driver's license to turn him into an organ donor or flush away an ear severed from a rapist's head. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 5 Jun 2009 | 11:14 pm
Venice?s 53rd International Art Exhibition, titled Making Worlds, will open to the public on Sunday. A look behind the scenes and a rare interview with the art festival?s director Daniel Birnbaum. Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 5 Jun 2009 | 11:06 pm
Former French Culture minister Jack Lang (R) is guided by artist Claude Leveque during a visit in his installation "Le grand soir" at the French pavilion of the Venice Art Biennale in June 2009. Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 5 Jun 2009 | 11:06 pm
If you're looking for picks for this weekend's Tony winners, New Yorkmade them a month ago, and we stand by them. Here's a bonus prediction: Host Neil Patrick Harris will be awesome. [NYM]
We understand where you were going with this outfit. For it was not necessarily ill-conceived, just poorly executed. The attempt at layering is not unlike the styling seen in many a Marc by Marc Jacobs show. But sadly, you've gone horribly wrong with the proportions. The oversize dress looks like a badly fitted wearable towel, completely sapping you of your shape. The T-shirt looks like a garbage bag. And the boots, oh the boots! You're not going to Iraq, you're walking down the street in L.A. Let the ankles breathe. And as a general rule, when you get dressed in the morning, if you look in the mirror and do a double take to make sure you're staring at yourself and not a picnic mat, maybe change.
Reliving the nineties grunge movement is great. But this is not the way.
In addition to the layoffs at the Observer, Hachette has sold five of its special-interest publications, ESPN The Magazine is testing the pay wall, and the Times versus the Globe fight is getting even hotter.
• Bonnier purchased five Hachette Filipacchi books, including Popular Photography, for the bargain price of under $5 million for the lot. [Media Ink/NYPost]
• ESPN The Magazine is going behind the pay wall. The magazine’s online content will now be available only with a paid subscription to its ESPN Insider service, which costs $6.95 a month. [Romenesko]
• Try to control your sobs: Summit Business Media has been forced to close Mortgage Originator magazine. [Folio]
At the 2009 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards this morning, Zac Posen described the resort collection he showed this week in New York as "market driven." He said he doesn't pay attention to trends, and isn't afraid to put on shows that will get noticed, if not solely for the clothes. Take his fall 2009 collection, for which he had five pianists play live on the runway, and which included clothes he described as "really far out there and close to costume" and "everything that a New York fashion editor is not looking for." He continued, "There's definitely fashion editors who get really bothered by the fact that I'm out and about and promoting my work. It's not what they desire as 'cool,' or what they think is interesting, and it probably de-myths their own existence." Perhaps hinting at his spring 2010 line, he said he wants to make a wearable collection next and cited Facebook as an inspiration.
Posen also confirmed to us he's working on a scripted television show. The project is still in the very early stages. When asked if he's writing it himself, he replied, "I'm not a script-writer, but I'm very interested in writing in the future, whether it's a book or for a film or theater."
This afternoon, when anchor (and Twitter abuser) Rick Sanchez got fed up with a bogus accusation Bill O’Reilly made against his network, CNN, he went on the counterattack. The short version is this: O’Reilly claimed that CNN didn’t cover the the murder of Arkansas Army recruiter William Long on Monday until Anderson Cooper’s 10 p.m. program. This was untrue: The network had covered it pretty steadily all day after it was originally reported. It strikes us that when these news anchors play “Gotcha!” with one another, the subject matter of the debate is never really that interesting or memorable. It’s just the childishness and glee with which they go at each other. Olbermann and O’Reilly are sort of the unofficial captains of the left- (MSNBC) and right-wing (Fox News) teams in this battle—and CNN usually stays out of it. (The Daily Show does it better than anybody, mostly because they’re supposed to act like children.) But today Sanchez waded in and eviscerated O’Reilly. After showing Kyra Phillips, Tony Harris, Heidi Collins, Lou Dobbs, David Mattingly, Wolf Blitzer, Kiran Chetry, and Sanchez himself reporting on the story, the anchor cracked: “That last guy there, if he was Anderson Cooper, Anderson Cooper’s looking very Cuban these days.” He went on to snipe, “It doesn’t matter what really happened. It doesn’t matter what the record shows. All that matters is what Bill thinks he saw.” Aw. Funny! Now quit while you’re ahead, Sanchez, because this routine can turn you into a blowhard faster than you can say “Countdown Factor!”
After Oasis's hometown show last night at Manchester's Heaton Park was interrupted twice by technical difficulties, Noel Gallagher made an exciting announcement: "Thank you very, very much, this is a free gig — let's have it ... Anybody who has kept their ticket will get a full refund." Paying back the 70,000 in attendance will cost the band $4.28 million, which should be no problem considering what Liam charges for one of his scarves. [BBC ]
In next week’s issue of New York, Boris Kachka writes about the threatening letters U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald has written to Triple Cross writer Peter Lance. The book examines the way the FBI and the U.S. Attorney in New York (the office in which Fitzgerald once worked) prosecuted terrorists before 9/11 and claims that Fitzgerald missed key Al Qaeda intel. Julie Earle-Levine tells of how Rupert Murdoch’s $12.8 million Long Island mansion, which Brad and Angelina are currently renting, is now for sale. And Touré
reveals the location of Chelsea Clinton’s summer wedding: Vernon Jordan’s estate on Martha's Vineyard.
While perusing American Apparel's website for our purple lamé and tie-dyed spandex onesies to wear to the Hamptons this weekend, we stumbled upon these opaque kids' tights in the Coming Soon section. The baby model's pose almost disturbed us more than the thought of being in the Hamptons all weekend. [American Apparel]
This week in New York Hugo Lindgren wrote about his manic effort to understand what was happening to what he mistakenly thought was a healthy economy. If not for the blogosphere, he would have just been a lost soul, searching for a breadline to join. Here are the ten websites—expert and inspired-amateur—he found the most indispensable.
10. Derivative Dribble
Of all the Groupthink maxims that pollute the popular understanding of the financial crisis, perhaps none is quite so pervasive as the notion that derivatives are, as Warren Buffett put it, “financial weapons of mass destruction.” If Buffett says so, it must be true, right? Nope. Derivative Dribble begs to differ.
9. Bronte Capital
What does the price of Latvian hookers tell us about the global economy? A lot more than you’d think. This Australian blog is a bit of an acquired taste, but it presents the world in a very unusual, and often quite revealing, light.
8. Marginal Revolution
This excellent economics site is not obsessed with the current crisis, which is one of the reasons it can be very useful on the subject: They only post about it when somebody has something original to say.
7. Felix Salmon Portfolio’s one lasting contribution to business journalism is blogger Salmon, a first-rate argument starter and imaginative analyst.
6. The Pragmatic Capitalist
A consistent corrective to mainstream coverage. Take mutual-fund inflows, which recently spiked. Fresh moola being plowed into the markets must be good news, right? Sorry: History shows that “small investors pull their funds at exactly the wrong time and invest at exactly the wrong time.”
5. Clusterstock
The relentless, screaming-tabloid headlines can be wearying, but overall Clusterstock does a very good, thorough job of covering major news and unearthing compelling points of view in the worlds of finance and macroeconomics.
4. The Big Picture
Barry Ritholtz— whose new bookBailout Nation is on our reading list—has introduced the great unwashed (like us!) to intelligent, independent thinkers on finance, such as John Hussman of Hussman Funds, David Kotok of Cumberland Advisors, and John Mauldin of Millennium Wave Advisors.
3. Dealbook/New York Times
Andrew Ross Sorkin has the best Rolodex on Wall Street (Okay, we know nobody uses a Rolodex anymore, but what are we supposed to say, Outlook contacts?), and his blog unfailingly provides the most complete snapshot of the deals that drive the business world.
2. Infectious Greed
Paul Kedrosky loves a great catastrophe in the making and also has a keen sense of the absurd. Best of all, he draws from a rich array of sources, many well beyond the world of finance. We just don’t know how he manages to worry about so many potential disasters at the same time.
1. Calculated Risk
Run by a semi-anonymous retired business executive in Southern California, Calculated Risk has become the must-read of, well, just about anyone who wants to know where the economy is going. The main expertise here is housing and mortgages, but CR provides the clearest picture of the economy and artfully skewers the rampant misconceptions in the media’s coverage of it. Which is exactly what you want a blog to do.
SKIN
• Gwyneth Paltrow appeared on the Late Show With Conan O'Brien last night with some amazingly shiny legs. Is that what "GOOP" really looks like? [Lainey Gossip]
FRAGRANCE
• Gwen Stefani's coming out with a fall version of her Harajuku Girls fragrance set. Each of the five scents comes in a bottle that looks like a Harajuku Girl doll, which will wear limited-edition fall outfits in the new collection. The scents will remain unchanged. [WWD]
HAIR
• L'Oréal's new Homme Centers line will be stocked in male-friendly corners of salons. Oh please — since when are men so afraid of hair product? [WWD]
MAKEUP
• Models at Jason Wu's resort show wore coral lips, and almost no eye makeup. Makeup-trend forecasters predict next spring's looks will be all about lips. [Beauty Counter/Style.com]
• Lancôme launched its first vibrating mascara last year. Their latest foray in the world of vibrating makeup tools is an oscillating lash primer that promises to lengthen lashes. [Spoiled Pretty]
Over on the Projectionist, New York's own David Edelstein takes a look back at the career of David Carradine, a man he describes as "the apogee of hipness: not my favorite actor, not even in the top 50, but my existential hero, and a man who looked like he got laid a lot — a sort of B-movie Jack Nicholson." [Projectionist]
Blogger East Village Idiot called this image, shot at the corner of 18th and Broadway, the “Most Depressing Photo You’ll See This Week.” Yes, on the one hand, it is a cute teddy bear in a trash can. But on the other, it just sort of seems to be chillin’. What if that was the best place it could find to sit, where he knew people would stop by and say hello? (And is that teddy bear also, like, a chair?) [EVI]
*If you're wondering, this isn't the industry's only awards show that honors trailers: there's also The Hollywood Reporter's Key Art Awards, which take place next week.
This weekend, predicted to be sunny and near 80 both days, should make for prime summer-music listening — and lead off a shake-up of the Power Rankings. Will the Black Eyed Peas album The E.N.D., finally out Tuesday, drop like the other shoe, heralding a weakening “Boom Boom Pow” — or will it further cement the smash’s No. 1 status? Meanwhile, “Blame It” long ubiquitous, perhaps even long in the tooth, has sagged from its No. 2 position. And it’s certainly not too late for new contenders to break in — both Kenny Chesney and D.J. Webstar and his friends are gaining traction with soundly hedonistic warm-weather tracks.
And then there’s Grizzly Bear, princes of New York’s indie scene, whose Veckatimest — which debuted in the top ten this week — has “Two Weeks” as its standout track. Last summer, they primed it on Letterman; this summer, it’s the clear choice for easing down a cookout playlist as night falls. The newish video’s a real creepfest — argument enough that this wasn’t meant to be played as you’re hunched over a computer.
1. Black Eyed Peas, “Boom Boom Pow”: Like the 2003-2007 San Antonio Spurs of the 2009 Song of the Summer Race — dependably, boringly dominant. And honestly, despite PurpleAndGreen’s contention, we just don’t see this having “Umbrella”-like potential (and before that, “Crazy” and “Hey Ya”) as a cover song.
3. Jeremih, “Birthday Sex”: Our man woman in Harlem, HomelessDad, says the neighborhood’s fully embraced it. And now that he mentions it, that “girl u know I-I-I-I" part does have some serious breakout-ringtone potential.
4. Jamie Foxx feat. T-Pain, “Blame It”: It’s not going away anytime soon, but we sense a slip. The Hot 100 agrees – “Blame It” fell from No. 3 all the way to … No. 5.
5. Green Day, “Know Your Enemy”: Solid plugging keeps them in the mix: the PR blitz is still in full force (more magazine covers and late night appearances) and their tour doesn’t even start until next month.
6. Webstar feat. Jim Jones and Juelz Santana, “Dancing on Me”: Like Jadakiss’s entry last week, it might not have the national appeal of its listmates but is totally beloved in NYC. With Harlem’s proudest dropping verses, why wouldn’t it be?
8. Kenny Chesney, “Out Last Night”: The No. 2 song on the Hot Country Charts is an aw-shucks ode to the inevitability of partying too hard (and lying to girls!) — perfect summer material.
10. Kelly Clarkson, “I Do Not Hook Up”: Kid’s got alligator blood — after last week’s slip, “I Do Not Hook Up” bounced right back, jumping six spots. Still, where will it land next week?
As you may know, Daily Intel has an eclectic collection of obsessions. Very occasionally, some of these disparate worlds collide, and when they do, it is rare and beautiful thing. Like that time President Obama mentioned Gossip Girl in a town-hall meeting. And today, when a reader sent us this photo from Real Housewife Countess LuAnn De Lesseps’ Facebook page, in which she is pictured with Dorota, Blair’s handmaiden and the stealth heroine of Gossip Girl. We e-mailed Dorota, a.k.a. actress Zuzanna Szadkowski, to find out how this amazing moment came to be: “Best thing ever!” she replied.
“Last night at the Do Something Awards at the Apollo, I presented an award, and the Countess and Victoria were in attendance. I heard that she was there and sought her out, only to find that she and her daughter actually knew of Dorota!”
Aw. Dorota is so modest. Of course they’ve heard of her! She’s way more famous than they are.
She went on:
“I never really got around to talking about how Rosie is a real Dorota and how Dorota is a Countess too (as was my plan). However, Countess De Lesseps was very nice to me and said my award introduction was very “natural,” so I continue to brag about that to everyone. The two of them were so tall and gorgeous that my friend and I were agog. Ramona and Mario were there as well, but I missed them and am still kicking myself for that. I am so psyched to know she put it on her Facebook page!
Wait, she met the Countess, and the Countess gave her unsolicited feedback on her performance? That’s about perfect. Now all we need is a picture of the Sad Panda cuddling Vikram Pandit, and our lives will be complete.
Playbill - Lin-Manuel Miranda, the 2008 Tony Award-winning songwriter (and Tony-nominated Best Actor in a Musical) of Broadway's In the Heights, will guest star on TV's "House" in the coming season, EW.com reported. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 5 Jun 2009 | 9:29 pm
Update, 5:22 p.m.: Mystery solved. Dom'll be on another ABC series next season. Sorry, Charlie (fans).
In a new ABC promo, Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) is seen playing foosball with...
Now that you've met the So You Think You Can Dance top 20, we have an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at their first photo shoot, along with a sneak peek at the dance moves they're...
The Real Housewives of Orange Country sun could be setting on Jeana Keough.
The real estate agent's daughter, Kara, says the family is still in the dark about whether they'll be...
The smell of patchouli brings many of us back to our college days: the smoking, guitar-strumming, unwashed roommates with propensities to play bongos. But recently, the familiar smell has had a revival, courtesy of several upscale beauty brands. Normally, a rich, deep scent that seems more suitable for the winter months, patchouli has appeared in many products for spring. To test the likability of patchouli — you either love it or hate it — we decided to conduct an unscientific poll of five new items on the market right now.
We took a candle, a men's aftershave, shower gel, a bar of soap, and perfume to the streets and asked random subjects to sniff and react. Would they use it? What did the smell remind them of? Did they like it? And, most important of all, would they date someone who used it? The results showed that our older testers were more nostalgic about the scent (Woodstock!), while many of the younger ones found it too strong or mature. Find out below what they thought of the heady scent.
1Santa Maria Novella Patchouli Soap$16 per piece or $64 for a box of four at LAFCO, 285 Lafayette St., nr. Houston St.; 212-925-0001Overall Rating: Liked it.“This makes me think of an empty sauna in Montana—woodsy and musty. ”
2Patchouli Candle$60 at Diptyque, 377 Bleecker St., nr. Perry St.; 212-242-2333Overall Rating: Liked it.“Smells like Play-Doh, but I like it. I bet when you light it, this smells good— nice for when you get romantic.”
3Tom Ford White Patchouli Atomizer$160 at Saks Fifth Avenue, 611 Fifth Ave., at 50th St.; 212-753-4000Overall Rating: I am Switzerland.“It's sweet and kind of soaplike. Too perfumey for me, but maybe good for a spunky, middle-aged woman in a Chanel suit”
4Santa Maria Novella Aftershave$35 at Takashimaya, 693 Fifth Ave., nr. 54th St.; 212-350-0100Overall Rating: Didn't like it.“Smells like Scotch. Do I drink this or wear it? I could see a guy working at a shipping dock wearing this—he has a five o’clock shadow and catcalls the ladies.”
5This Works Bath & Shower Gel$35 at Takashimaya, 693 Fifth Ave., nr. 54th St.; 212-350-0100Overall Rating: Didn't like it.“I wouldn’t feel clean showering with this.”
Magazine stories of the time reported that the children considered Meshie a sibling. All of this still drives Harry Raven, a polite, mild-mannered man, a little crazy. Meshie was never considered a sibling, he says. She was cute and nonthreatening when his father first brought her home—he has a memory of her dozing in an apple crate in the basement—but as soon as she grew up, she was strong and unpredictable. She never slept in a bed—she was kept in a cage in the basement or backyard. The only time she played with him and his sister was when his father was shooting movies. When something went wrong—like the time Meshie bit Harry on the finger because he didn’t give her an orange quickly enough—the scene was cut.
The family gave Meshie to a zoo in 1934. After nearly eighty years, Harry reconnected with the chimp: She’s now behind glass, stuffed, in a display case at the American Museum of Natural History.
Woodley & Bunny Clothier, the clothing store adjacent to the salon and apothecary by the same name, will close this July. Owners Erin and Misha Anderson (whose childhood nicknames are Woodley and Bunny) opened the Williamsburg store last January, but are closing because their lease is up. It's sad, because the store was great, but the upside is their massive clearance sale: Find up to 90 percent off items by the Row, Philip Crangi, Vivienne Westwood, and Rick Owens up until closing day. 490 Driggs Ave., nr. N. 10th St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn (718-218-6449); M–F (10–8), S (10–7), Su (11–6). [Refinery29, Racked]
Just as predicted, Versace CEO Giancarlo di Risio resigned today. Versace did not give a reason for Di Risio's departure, but rumors have swirled for some time that he had clashed with Donatella Versace over budget as the house succumbed to losses in the recession. Di Risio will stay on temporarily to ensure a "smooth transitional period" for the label. Versace has not named a successor. Hopefully they can keep their finances on track. [Reuters]
E! Online - DRIBBLERS: Jessica Simpson and beau Tony Romo, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kanye West and Lauren Conrad, along with a slew of other celebs, hitting the Staples Center last night for Lakers game.
Downtown parenting group Bowery Babes is all atwitter about a guy who has been hanging around Thompson Square Park, interacting with kids in a weird way, and generally being a “Creepy Guy.” Said one poster:
Not to be alarmist, but Katia V and I were outside the café opposite the 1st & 1st playground today with Harmonie and Isabel. This guy approached them and stood right above them, staring without noticing Katia and I. He was wearing a light, loose linen suit and had shaved the moustache; his hair was all loose and gray. He was carrying a black backpack (open a little) stuffed full of those little beanie animals with the heart tags that say “ty” on them—I think—the ones you usually see at pharmacies and stuff. In the other hand he was carrying a black bag—which looked like a camera bag. When he noticed us, he asked if they (the girls) were ours and how many we had. Katia gave him the death stare and he backed away and shot down the street—no looking back!
They’re encouraging anyone to call 911 if they see him. But honestly, we don’t know what everyone’s getting so bent out of shape about.
First of all, let’s consider all the possibilities: Maybe he is an amateur photographer who happens to collect Beanie Babies. Maybe he’s like Brad Pitt in Benjamin Button and aging backward. (Has anyone considered that?) Even if he is a Genuine Creep, at least he’s open about it, enough to engage the parents in actual conversation. Look, dealing with guys like this is just a part of life. We don’t even know who we’d be if we hadn’t experienced Scully the Town Flasher and, later, the Science Teacher That Gave Inappropriate Shoulder Massages. Probably not a reflexively sarcastic blogger with a persistent drinking problem, that’s for sure! Anyway, here’s our advice, Moms. Just teach little Harmonie the phrase, “Oh, that’s what you’re so excited to show me, little man? The umbilical cord I came out on was bigger that.’ Works every time.
The plot of the movie The Hangover—in which three men wake up in a trashed Vegas hotel room with no idea why an infant is in a closet, Mike Tyson’s tiger is in the bathroom, a chicken is roaming around, and their about-to-be married friend has gone missing—may sound a bit over-the-top to most of us, but it’s routine for Gerard Butler. “I’ve got to tell you, it was kind of crazy, but a lot of the stuff that happened in that movie I’ve been through myself,” the 300 star told us after the Cinema Society screening last night. “That sounds like a huge exaggeration, but it’s really not.”
Butler says he’s never been to a bachelor party that was not bacchanalian, and women are in denial about what goes on at them. “They just don’t want to face it,” he says. “But if they were honest with themselves, they’d go, ‘Oh, you know what? They were fucking chickens.’” Um, what? “That’s why the chicken was in the movie, by the way,” Butler explained. “They couldn’t go that far, but I have no doubt they were fucking chickens.” Really? “Yeah. I think so,” he said, and reflected for a moment. “My career just went down the tubes, eh?”
The biggest news coming out of Jason Wu's resort show, which took place yesterday, might not be that Anna Wintour didn't wear her shades, but rather that the Vogue editor left early. Apparently she left four minutes before the show started, missing it entirely. A Vogue staffer said she had a plane to catch, but that she had already seen Wu's collection and liked it. Maybe she's flying to the French Open to cheer on Roger Federer? Our gut tells us she didn't book a cruise. [FWD]
It's going to be an agonizing six or seven months before Lost returns to the air for its sixth and final season, but the producers of the show seem intent on torturing us with teasers for the entirety of that time. Not only did we learn yesterday that Claire might be returning to the show, but now comes word that Charlie just might not be dead, after all. In one of the network's new ABC House promos, Dominic Monaghan responds to Patrick Dempsey's statement of "You're so dead" with the retort of, "Actually, I was." [TV Squad]
President Obama’s appeal in his Cairo speech for Israel to freeze its West Bank settlements is nothing new—his administration and Israel’s government have long been at odds over the issue—but the speech has brought Obama’s outlook on the Middle East peace process into the foreground. People aren’t used to hearing such evenhandedness about Israel and Palestine from an American president, and some fear that it indicates a shift in our long-standing alliance with Israel. Others, however, believe that his tough talk is vital to establishing a lasting peace agreement and is in line with what has been America’s official position for years. Today both sides are having it out in newspaper editorials and on the web.
• Charles Krauthammer writes that Obama refuses to dictate to any country except Israel, whom he demands dismantle their settlements. Refusing to support even “natural growth” in the settlements is clearly meant to “undermine and destroy these towns,” and yet it has been agreed upon in recent years that “any final peace treaty would involve Israel retaining some of the closed-in settlements—and compensating the Palestinians accordingly with land from within Israel itself.” Obama’s strategy is “not just dishonorable but self-defeating,” as Arab states will simply “sit and wait for America to deliver Israel on a platter.” [WP]
• Joe Klein says Krauthammer’s column is “misleading and evasive.” He “does not deal with the most basic question—the not-so-subtle effort by the settler movement and its far-right sponsors to create a Palestinian Swiss cheese, rather than a governable state, on the West Bank, by riddling the area with Jewish settlements.” Israel will survive in the long run if it “exists as a model of democracy and humanity, rather than a vehement occupier acting outside international law.” [Swampland/Time]
• Jennifer Rubin believes that “Obama has spread anxiety and emboldened Israel’s foes to do what they have perfected over 60 years—just wait it out, foment the grievances of the Palestinian people, and console themselves that furnished basements in Jerusalem are the moral equivalent of exploding buses.” [Contentions/Commentary]
• Caroline Glick claims that Obama’s speech yesterday “made clear that he shares the Arab world’s view that there is something basically illegitimate about the Jewish state.” She wonders, “Why would the Palestinians make a deal with Israel when they know that Obama will blame Israel for the absence of a peace agreement?” [Corner/National Review]
• The Washington Post editorial board warns that “Obama’s initiative will fail if Israel’s compliance with U.S. demands becomes the stick by which Muslims measure the ‘new beginning’ he offered. He can avoid that pitfall by continuing to speak out about the other issues he raised—and by publicly pressing Muslim governments for action on them.” [WP]
• Gershom Gorenberg insists that Obama “is not talking about universal contraception for Israeli settlers.” He’s telling Israel to maintain “its commitments under the 2003 road map for peace—in line, in fact, with American opposition to settlement building since 1967.” A freeze is “the first step toward a solution.” [American Prospect]
• The Haaretz editorial board says that “Obama does not free any side of responsibility, including his own administration,” and he’s laid out an “opportunity for a new beginning” for “Israel, the Palestinians, and the Arabs.” [Haaretz]
• Jeffrey Goldberg is amazed that after “[a]n African-American president with Muslim roots stands before the Muslim world and defends the right of Jews to a nation of their own in their ancestral homeland, and then denounces in vociferous terms the evil of Holocaust denial, people are complaining that he’s being unsympathetic to the housing needs of settlers.” [Atlantic]
• Clive Crook expects that “deflecting Israel from its current policy is likely to require more than mere words,” but if words “count for anything, give Obama his due.” [Atlantic]
• Michael Tomasky wonders why Obama is focusing specifically on the settlement issue, as opposed to something else. Probably because “they can’t really logically be defended. Everyone knows they’re a huge impediment. So they are the Achilles’ heel. . . . It’s the point on which Israelis (whether under this government or a new one) will have to give at some point.” Obama’s position on the settlements is the same as former president Bush’s, but “[t]he difference was that the Bush administration was full of people in policy-making positions who disagreed with the official policy and thus winked and never enforced it.” [Guardian UK]
• Nick Bunzi thinks “[t]he difference between President Obama’s statements and those of his predecessors is the perception that he is serious about making sure the growth does not continue.” [HuffPo]
• Craig Crawford thinks that Obama is “holding both sides accountable for progress” and that his presidency may be the “last chance” for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem. [Trail Mix/CQ Politics]
• David Frum thinks “it was hardly wise to accede to the claim that America’s relationship with Muslims worldwide should depend on America’s ability to deliver a viable, functioning Palestinian state.”
[New Majority]
• The New York Times editorial board agrees with Obama but is now “waiting to hear his strategy to move the process forward.” [NYT]
My first week as a Tweeter is now complete. My review? Still not my favorite thing in the world, but I understand the appeal. Especially considering that I am not above following the feeds of some of my favorite celebrities, such as Kirstie Alley, Tracy Morgan, and the legendary Weird Al Yankovic, who this morning broke the following story:
This also might mark the first time I am truly and deeply jealous of Mindy Kaling.
Have a great weekend everybody. Source: Best Week Ever | 5 Jun 2009 | 7:17 pm
YouTube webpage. YouTube on Friday announced it is showing "Home," an environmental documentary about Earth produced by French filmmaker Luc Besson, at the same time as it is being released in theaters... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 5 Jun 2009 | 7:16 pm
"Hell would have to not only freeze over, but be skated over and completely closed up. The pope would have to declare that it didn't even exist. It would probably mean that I've been dumped by my wife and I desperately need the money." —Chris Martin is not going to be doing a solo album, unless ... [Guardian UK]
"It is like this: Classic love songs are made for robots. Because when you put the word 'robot' into a romantic place, something happens — it makes you think where people draw the line between being human and not human. Doesn't it?" —Robyn on robot love [Guardian UK]
"The only things that I backed out of or that I wouldn't do were things I didn’t think were hard or dangerous enough. If I get hurt so what, it still has to be stuff that people can't see and go ‘oh that's easy.' I’ll be riding my bike in the middle of nowhere and I’ll just stand up on the pegs and do a stand up wheelie for like 20 miles by myself just cause I dig it. I think most of the stuff on the show would probably be doing even if nobody was looking." —Jesse James on being a tough guy [People]
"Actually we’re not that opposite, look at me I had to do a naked scene and make it funny — that’s just as dangerous as going 10G’s. He would never do that — now that would make him scared." —Sandra Bullock on being even tougher than her husband, Jesse James [People]
"It's almost like where Outkast was when they made Aquemini. It's still a rap album, but was it really a rap album compared to all the other rap albums at that time? Andre Benjamin was evolving artistically to where he's at now — Wayne is doing the same thing, and he's not afraid to show you his growth. It's one thing we respect about him, and we feel it's something that everybody else should respect about him ... he shows no fear. To put himself out there, you're watching someone as they progress in their career." —Dr. DreDre, of Cool and Dre, on Lil Wayne's forthcoming sorta-rock album, Rebirth [MTV]
"Jay-Z, I always respected him. Always. But I didn't always like his music. I guess because I was too young, and I couldn't understand what he was saying. ... I got signed when I was 16 years old. Before I got signed, I heard the song, and I was like, 'That's Jay-Z.' My favorite song from him was 'Dirt Off Your Shoulder.' I guess I liked the beat or the way he was flowing on there. Any other song I used to hear, I ain't really vibe with it like that. I used to listen to a lot of Down South artists like Three 6 Mafia or Gucci Mane. But recently, since I'm older now and I grew up, I like Jay-Z now." —Soulja Boy on having acquired a taste for Jay-Z [MTV]
David Carradine's wife and his manager disputed suggestions that the actor's death was a suicide, while rescue workers and police in Bangkok, Thailand, said the actor's neck and genitals were found bound with rope.
Some little known facts about Judah Friedlander: He filmed Joe Jonas' "Single Ladies" YouTube video, he shares a birthday with Angelina Jolie, and he can hear other people's thoughts. See for yourself in this new episode of Best Day Ever:
Get it? It's the show Kung Fu, which he was in, mixed with hung, because his death 24 hours earlier was the result of hanging.
Surprised they went with something so subtle and respectful -- not BILL KILLED? Source: Best Week Ever | 5 Jun 2009 | 6:40 pm
Fashion Wire Daily - As director Tony Scott, actor Denzel Washington, and the other stars and executives responsible for the new action thriller "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" smiled and posed on the red carpet at the film's over-the-top premiere in Westwood on Thursday evening, June 4, there was an important player missing from the festivities.
At Vulture, we're fastidious about our fact-checking — so, it was with unbelievably good luck that we found ourselves at the Founders Club Celebration at the Rockefeller Center Channel Garden last night with the president of NBC Universal, Jeff Zucker. Just yesterday, we ran a post based on this report from Nikki Finke, in which she says that not only could Zucker's golf game use some improvement, but also that NBC has demanded that Jay Leno "back off booking A-list celebrities [on his upcoming prime-time show] because it would encroach on Conan O'Brien's turf." As Zucker was leaving, we managed to briefly accost him to get his reaction, and the following exchange ensued.
Nikki Finke reported that—
I don't know who that is.
Okay, well she reported that NBC is trying to block Jay Leno from booking A-list guests. Is that correct?
Is that a serious question?
Yes.
No.
She reported that NBC doesn't want him to steal the thunder from Conan.
No. Please. There's no truth to that.
(Sadly, he got away before we could ask our golf questions.)
Y'all I'm takin' my heels off, for real, I'm about to cut this MSNBCin' bitch that wrote the following about the cashmere-lined bag of dander that is Adam Lambert:
While much of the chatter surrounding “American Idol” runner-up Adam Lambert has to do with speculation about his sexuality, the behind-the-scenes talk at many of the stops along Lambert’s publicity tour is how difficult he is to work with.
“He is such a diva. Rude to everyone — from fans right down to the lighting folks,” said one person who worked with Lambert.
“A-list celebrities have come through here and been infinitely more polite,” said another person who worked with Lambert during a stop in New York.
Lambert should change his attitude quickly, according to one music producer. “No one sells that many records these days to be able to get away with that kind of behavior. To be a success you need literally everyone in your corner.”
OH HALE NAW. Let me say from the hour or so I spent witnessing Lambert on our natural human terrain -- as opposed to his natural terrain, the surface of Mars -- the above statement is nothing more than a SMEAR CAMPAIGN. In all seriousness, the guy could not have been LESS diva. He rolled with the punches, was friendly to ALL fans, agreed to take photos with everyone (even though the guy had been awake since the asscrack of dawn). He even ate fruit with his hands. His hands.
Diva? Sounds to me like someone's a little jealous.
And while we're not sure who MSNBC's source is on this, here's a guess:
"American Idol" winner Kris Allen is taking part in a fiercely contested competition watched by millions, but this time, he'll have nothing to do with the outcome.
He's working a new best-of compilation, a fresh remix of his first big hit, an iPhone app, a video game score and an upcoming 17 shows in 17 days North American tour. But Paul van Dyk is most excited about his next album.
Voth just returned from the Cannes beaches, and was eager to show FOXNews.com her Top 10 sexy picks for summer Source: FOXNews.com | 5 Jun 2009 | 5:16 pm
Slip-N-Slide Records, home to chart-topping artists like Rick Ross and Plies, has signed the R&B quartet Jagged Edge fresh off their departure from Def Jam Records. Now members Brian Casey, Brandon Casey, Kyle Norman and Richard Wingo are in the studio working on a new album entitled "The Remedy,' slated for a 2010 release, and they hope to tap on old and new labelmates, among others, for guest spots.
After cruelly dissecting marital malaise in "American Beauty" and again, just six months ago, in "Revolutionary Road," Sam Mendes takes a slightly more optimistic view of family life in the edgy comedy "Away We Go."
The hottest MC in the game is an unsigned 23-year-old prodigy who's
got girls, executives and rap's biggest names hanging on every word
This is what Drake-mania looks like up close: It's just after 10
p.m. on a balmy Tuesday night in May and downstairs inside the
cramped confines of New York venue SOBs, Drake is receiving what
feels like a hero's welcome. Kanye West, Ryan Leslie, Talib Kweli,
the Alchemist and Bun B (who'll later join the upstart MC onstage)
are all here to acknowledge the much-hyped rapper before his
performance, Drake's last before he'll officially begin work on his
debut LP, Thank Me Later.
This Access Hollywood piece about New Moon werewolf Taylor Lautner raises an interesting question: is it wrong to make a dude's greasy abs the sexual focal point of your segment when the guy's only seventeen? I realize much of the Twilight fanbase is that age or younger anyway, but I'm guessing notttttt all the ladies watching Access Hollywood are quite that young...
I know for a FACT that if Access Hollywood showed footage of a really hot seventeen-year-old actress lifting up her shirt and greasing up her huge boobs, I would find that disgusting.
If it surprises you that a video now exists where Patrick Duffy and a crab muppet discuss having a threesome with Courtney Cox, then my friend, welcome to the internet!
Fashion Wire Daily - In the cheerful spirit of Resort 2010, Jason Wu was all smiles on Thursday, June 4, as he showed his collection in a garden-spot in New York, where beams of natural sunlight that crept in through the clouds only further accented his 'highlight' pieces.
How does Forbes define power for their rankings? How is Angie at the top?
—Glimmrmoon, via Twitter
Unlike some mags, who throw together "hot" lists just to lure...
While Audrina Patridge was busy stripping down for Carl's Jr., normally scantily clad AnnaLynne McCord actually kept her clothes on for Hayden Panettiere's LG Mobile Phones' LG Xenon...
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This week's episode featured the song "Best of Me" by Morningwood. The song is one of two new tracks available for download now on 
Britney Spears has one less legal scuffle to come home to.
Attorneys for the touring poptart have settled a lawsuit brought by a manger Spears worked with in the early aughts who...
They want him, but Kelly Ripa's hubby Mark Consuelos ain't gonna be putting on his dancing shoes anytime soon.
Consuelos tells me that the producers of Dancing With the Stars...
Update, 5:22 p.m.: Mystery solved. Dom'll be on another ABC series next season. Sorry, Charlie (fans).
In a new ABC promo, Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) is seen playing foosball with...
Now that you've met the So You Think You Can Dance top 20, we have an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at their first photo shoot, along with a sneak peek at the dance moves they're...
• Of all the things that could shock Lindsay Lohan into a life of sobriety, Dr. Drew picks losing a limb.
• Don't mess with Adam Lambert.
•...
The Real Housewives of Orange Country sun could be setting on Jeana Keough.
The real estate agent's daughter, Kara, says the family is still in the dark about whether they'll be...
Y'all I'm takin' my heels off, for real, I'm about to
