By zoo animal standards, they were pretty famous: the reptiles, birds, primates and more that comprised Michael Jackson's Neverland menegerie.
Over the years, they...
AP - The Filipino inmates who shot to global fame with a YouTube video of their "Thriller" dance swayed and stomped again Saturday in a behind-bars tribute to their idol, Michael Jackson.
AP - The Filipino inmates who shot to global fame with a YouTube video of their "Thriller" dance swayed and stomped again Saturday in a behind-bars tribute to their idol, Michael Jackson.
AP - The Filipino inmates who shot to global fame with a YouTube video of their "Thriller" dance swayed and stomped again Saturday in a behind-bars tribute to their idol, Michael Jackson.
Fashion Wire Daily - Part meditation on street style, part meeting of Africa and medieval Italy, split down the middle between razor sharp tailoring and urban attitude and boasting the odd cool absurdity, the latest collection from Givenchy confirms its designer, Riccardo Tisci, as one of the most important working in menswear today.
Fashion Wire Daily - Part meditation on street style, part meeting of Africa and medieval Italy, split down the middle between razor sharp tailoring and urban attitude and boasting the odd cool absurdity, the latest collection from Givenchy confirms its designer, Riccardo Tisci, as one of the most important working in menswear today.
A Bahraini royal who fell out with Michael Jackson after hosting him in this Gulf emirate for a year said Saturday he was saddened by the entertainer's death. Across the small kingdom,... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 27 Jun 2009 | 12:35 pm
The cliche is that rock stars want to be movie stars, and movie stars want to be rock stars. Michael Jackson was content to be the King of Pop. Unlike the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Frank... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 27 Jun 2009 | 12:27 pm
___ ABC's "This Week" _ David Axelrod, White House senior adviser; Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. ___ CBS' "Face the Nation" _ Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 27 Jun 2009 | 7:23 am
It's not surprising. These things usually take much more time.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said Thursday that the autopsy performed on Michael Jackson...
Fittingly, friends and family are going to pay their final respects to Farrah Fawcett at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
A private funeral has been scheduled at the downtown...
Michael Jackson's unexpected death continues to transfix the world, and we have it covered from every angle:
• An autopsy Friday afternoon was inconclusive, with more tests...
AP - With "Public Enemies," all the pieces would seem to be in place for an epic gangster drama: director Michael Mann, who has an affinity for complicated criminals; stars Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, who are famous for immersing themselves in their roles; and a thrilling true story of brazen bank robbers on the run.
Dave & Buster's. Sounds like a place your average girl next door would frequent for food, drinks and good cheer.
And that's exactly what Kendra Wilkinson got by holding her...
• Michael Bay is probably thanking his lucky stars that the brewing charges of robot racism he was facing and his somewhat petulant e-mail to the suits at Paramount were all but forgotten in the wake of Michael Jackson's death. And even though Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen suffered a critical drubbing, it hardly seemed to matter to Joe Moviegoer: The film made some $60 million on Wednesday and will likely rack up over $100 million more before the weekend is over.
In a time of sorrow, Sean "Diddy" Combs has already taken to the studio.
The hip-hop mogul, who last night tweeted that Michael Jackson showed him how to "see the beat,"...
Michael Jackson knew "exactly how his fate would be played out" and feared his death would echo that of Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie Presley wrote in an online blog posted Friday morning.
Where in the world is Michael Jackson's doctor?
L.A.'s Finest are continuing to search for a Houston-based cardiologist who was on the scene Thursday when the King of Pop went...
New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn suggests that women should leave ironic fashion statements in the dustbin along with their miniskirts when they turn 50. She cites Madonna's Met-gala getup as an example of how ridiculous ironic runway looks appear on older women. Horyn, who is in her early fifties and has been spotted in a skullcap herself on occasion, clearly doesn't appreciate this ridiculousness. We do. And many other ladies in their fifties who gravitate toward irony in their wardrobes do. Some pull it off, some don't. But do they prove Madonna is the exception? Let's assess, with a look at some of our favorite ironically dressed ladies over 50, in the slideshow.
Lily Allen performed at the Glastonbury Festival in England today wearing a printed blue jumpsuit with a deep V-neck, a purple wig, a single white glove, and beige pumps.
While many newsweeklies — The New Yorker, Newsweek, New York — go to press late in the week, Time closes on Wednesdays. Which means that Time’s latest issue, on stands today and featuring an oh-so-exciting-looking FDR cover, misses the boat on covering the Michael Jackson storm. So while the FDR issue is on stands now, the magazine is scrambling to put out a “special commemorative issue” on MJ, to hit newsstands on Monday. The issue, which will cost $5.99, is being published in addition to the regular issue; staffers are rushing to meet the Saturday-night deadline, having had an "all-hands-on-deck meeting" regarding the change in plans this morning, according to a source at the publication. Time has done this sort of thing before, to good effect: Its commemorative issue of Princess Diana sold more than 1.1 million copies domestically.
Sure, Farrah Fawcett was the stuff teenage boys' dreams were made of. But for many girls, she embodied what we wanted most: perfect hair (not to mention being an Angel). Her feathered tresses launched a million blow-dryers, ushering in the era of the Farrah. The style was so iconic that many of us can't recall the late seventies without her trademark do. And though we've seen some celebrity styles become popular (the Rachel), none have had quite the impact as Ms. Fawcett's.
There are two basic approaches to summer reading: flit around through endless disposable quickies, or get ambitious, buckle down, and devote yourself to a single mind-overhauling life-changing masterwork.
This summer I’m going with the latter: I’ve just started reading along with “Infinite Summer,” a web-wide book club (organized by the excellent Morning News) that’s going to discuss Infinite Jest in doable installments of 75 pages a week (roughly ten pages a day) from June to September.
It’s a great excuse to conquer a novel that’s notorious for chewing up readers who try to go it alone. It’s also the ultimate DFW tribute: a chance, nine months after his death, to funnel the lingering sadness and confusion and curiosity and weird feelings into actual deep attention to the work he poured most of his ambition, brain, talent, and heart into.
The party just started this week, so it’s not too late to join (if you’ve tried the book before and given up, you might already be ahead of schedule): Get a primer on how to read the book, download your handy reading-schedule bookmark, and check out impressions from guest bloggers like the lead singer of the Decemberists.
If you’ve dusted off your old copy of the book (or ordered a brand-new one) and are planning to read along, let us know in the comments.
Fox is the undisputed king of cable news: Since the election, the viewerships of both CNN and MSNBC have dipped 22 and 18 percent respectively, while Fox's has held nearly steady, losing only 3 percent. It still beats both of its rivals combined, on average. But the death of Michael Jackson yesterday proved one thing: When watchers want breaking news fast and straight, they go to CNN. From 6 p.m. onward, when the news of Jackson's health crisis began to spread, CNN began to pull ahead of Fox News, eventually clobbering it by a million viewers in the 8 to 11 p.m. hours. Of course, that just might be because people expect some (but not all) of CNN's anchors to have, at one point or another in their lives, actually enjoyed a song by Michael Jackson.
Soon after we found out about Take Your Dog to Work Day yesterday, office manager Bill Alarcon sent out the following officewide e-mail, dashing our hopes that the office today would be filled with friendly pooches whose poop we didn't have to pick up:
Hi All,
A few people have asked if they can bring their pets in tomorrow. Unfortunately, it is out of our hands since we have been advised by Building Management that they will not be changing their policy of “No Dogs Allowed in the Building” for tomorrow.
Sorry,
Bill
So, in solidarity with her goldendoodle, Snapdragon, Copy Chief Megan worked at home today. Looking at the picture she sent in of the pup today, we actually think that in his glasses he could have breezed through security. In fact, he looks a lot like this guy Intel Jessica used to work with, Bob Huber. Others who were not bound by discriminatory building rules or who work at home also sent in pictures from Take Your Dog to Work Day, and we've compiled them into a slideshow. See whose dogs resemble your co-workers!
Just a quick time-out from the Michael Jackson onslaught to let you know we have stopped accepting submissions for the Britney Spears haiku contest that we launched last Friday. We'll be poring through the 287 entries that were submitted before today's 5 p.m. deadline over the weekend and announcing the top ten on Monday. Great work, Vulture commenters!
Reuters - The union representing workers at Canada's Globe and Mail has rejected the newspaper's latest offer, but union members will still vote on the deal ahead of next week's strike deadline, union officials said on Friday. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 26 Jun 2009 | 10:07 pm
Jesus Luz walked exclusively for D&G at Milan Men's Fashion Week. But in Paris, he's free to unleash his full runway potential. Today he walked for Givenchy. And the men's shows are far from over in Paris, so who knows which runway he'll land on next.
At this point, asking whether Michael Bay is a raging egomaniac is akin to going on Wikipedia to determine if a bear does, in fact, shit in the woods: It's like, why even bother? You already know what the answer is going to be! Still, just in case you have some lingering doubts, we'd like to present some additional facts for you. In an interview that runs in today's Wall Street Journal, Bay is asked what he thinks about some of the recent comments that Megan Fox has made regarding his directorial style and how it doesn't offer his actors many chances to actually "act." To which he responds:
I 100% disagree with her. Nick Cage wasn’t a big actor when I cast him, nor was Ben Affleck before I put him in Armageddon. Shia LaBeouf wasn’t a big movie star before he did Transformers — and then he exploded. Not to mention Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, from Bad Boys. Nobody in the world knew about Megan Fox until I found her and put her in Transformers.
Far be it from peons to disagree with Michael Bay when it comes to Megan Fox — after all, few in Hollywood have better BabeDar than he does — but Nicolas Cage? Apparently Bay had forgotten that Nic Cage had already worked with esteemed directors like Francis Ford Coppola, David Lynch, Norman Jewison, and the Coen Brothers before Bay discovered him. And, oh yeah, before The Rock made him a "star", there was that little incident when he took home a little gold statue that one night — but who even remembers such trivial things?
Also, he's calling the Senate in for special sessions tomorrow and Sunday, just as he threatened. No weekends, per diems, pork-barrel spending, or travel expenses? What's the point of being a state senator now — the power? [Insert Saved by the Bell laugh track here] [NYP]
MAKEUP
• Chanel launched a new beauty ambassador program featuring five "It" girl representatives: Leigh Lezark, Jen Brill, Poppy Delevingne, Vanessa Traina, and Caroline Sieber. No word yet on their official duties. [Style.com]
• Temptu, a makeup-airbrushing kit usually found on television and movie sets, is coming to Sephora stores near you. [Beauty and the Blog/Sephora]
FRAGRANCE
• Actor Patrick Dempsey is launching a second fragrance with Avon this November called II. His wife, Jillian, is Avon's global creative color director. [WWD]
• Christina Aguilera is launching her third fragrance, By Night, in September. Right now the release is only scheduled overseas. [Now Smell This]
HAIR
• Casual, messy hair is a big Hollywood trend right now. So skip the hairbrush, roll out of bed, and consider yourself a success. [StyleList]
We've been pretty harsh to Angelo Mozilo. So has everyone, because he pretty much deserves it. As the CEO of mortgage lender Countrywide, he encouraged the use of predatory lending practices and championed subprime mortgages, which eventually toppled both Countrywide and IndyMac, then he sold all his stock and left with a massive pay package. He's now been charged with fraud and insider trading by the SEC. Oh, and also, there was that terrible e-mail he accidentally sent to a borrower who wrote him asking for help, and the fact that he is flashy figure with a perpetually tanned face that begs to be, and has been, described in various media as "persimmon-colored," "Coppertoned-bronzed," and, most frequently, "ORANGE!!!" But this week's sensitive New Yorker profile of Mozilo, the Bronx-born son of a butcher, reminds us that not everything he did deserves our scorn. For instance: When the Fed in 1992 found that Countrywide was practicing "systemic" discrimination against minorities, Mozilo went into overdrive to rectify it. He ordered that all of the bank's rejected minority applications be sent to him, and retroactively approved about half of them, according to The New Yorker, and dispatched African Americans to branches as "mystery shoppers" to see if they would be treated differently (they were).
Then:
Countrywide opened new offices in inner-city areas, created counselling centers, and loosened some lending standards, to include borrowers with less than pristine credit histories. Between 1993 and 1994, the company's loans to African American borrowers rose 325% and to Hispanics they increased 163 percent In 1994, Countrywide became the first mortgage lender to sign a fair-lending agreement with the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Countrywide went from close to the bottom in lending to minorities to near the top. "I remember Mozilo telling me, 'I don't want to narrow the gap in lending to minorities, I want to end it.'"
Oh, and the tan? "He was always this Italian guy people didn't want to accept," Mozilo's sister Lori told the magazine. "When he tans he gets really dark. My mother told me that when he worked in Florida he was asked to sit at the back of the bus."
Hayden Panettiere has no problem showing some skin.
In her new movie, I Love You, Beth Cooper (in theaters July 10), Ms. Panettiere stars as the most popular girl in high school who is...
Great pop musicians are split between “album” acts and “singles” acts; the legacy of Thriller aside (50 million copies and counting), Michael Jackson is arguably the greatest “singles” act of all time. And celebrating achievements in single-dom is what the Song of Summer Power Rankings are all about.
Taking a look back reveals that not a ton of Jackson’s singles were released in the warmer months, although “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” (July, 1979) and “Wanna Be Starting Something” (May, 1982) surely owned their respective summers. But how many of his jams are what we’re going to call evergreens — the kind of songs you could drop on a sweaty dance floor at any time from now till eternity and still turn the party out? We’re officially nominating “P.Y.T.,” “Billie Jean,” and “I Want You Back,” to start with. And what MJ jam will be the defacto tribute song of this summer? Smart money’s on “Thriller,” although “Man in the Mirror” is making a surprising case for itself, already cracking iTunes' top fifteen downloads.
And now back to your regularly scheduled programming: After a big shake-up last week, things have calmed down significantly. Congratulations to Young Money’s “Every Girl,” our sole new entrant and this week’s Biggest Gainer.
1. Tie: Black Eyed Peas, “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling”: We still can’t figure out which one will last. And, apparently, neither can anyone else — the two stay neck and neck at the top of the Hot 100.
2. Mariah Carey, “Obsessed”: Her run at the top was brief, but we’ve got a feeling Ms. Carey — another of history’s all time greatest “singles” acts — will be back.
3. Drake, “Best I Ever Had”: It’s been No. 3 on our Power Rankings for a few weeks now, and finally, America caught up: “Best I Ever Had” jumps from No. 27 to No. 3 on the Hot 100.
4. Jeremih, “Birthday Sex”: We say again — seriously Jeremih, no candle wax? We guess we’ll let it slide, this time.
5. Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West and Ne-Yo, “Knock You Down”: Tangential Kanye involvement didn’t help “Walking on the Moon” much, so we’re finally giving Hilson her full due for this resilient summer smash.
6. Sean Kingston, “Fire Burning”: Its consistently great showings on iTunes-download charts suggest it’s a younger audience making up the fanbase for “Burning.” Will the fickle youngsters abandon it as quickly as they’ve embraced it?
8. Young Money, “Every Girl”: Lil Wayne’s crew follows their mate Drake from way back in the pack to up front — the track leaped from No. 34 to No. 10 on the Hot 100.
9. Pitbull, “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)”: We know it’s more of a pop hit, but the fact that it gets little love from Hot 97 concerns us.
10. Cobra Starship, “Good Girls Gone Bad”: We just realized that the name of this song is almost identical to the title of the album containing “Umbrella.” Not a bad omen.
Here's Michael Jackson's star on the Walk of Fame on Friday afternoon:
Not unexpected, but still, pretty impressive.
But did you happen to notice the lonely, ignored star right next to Michael's? Get your :(s ready...
Why it's 50's country singer Lefty Frizzell, all by his lonesome:
Maybe someone could've just tossed one leftover rose his way, just so he didn't feel so left out?
Poor Lefty.
Jay Lyons won't appear on The City next season, which is kind of sad because his shades, seeming inability to shower, and the name of his band (Tamarama, but you knew that, obviously) were great sources of entertainment. (We've heard from a source close to Jay that he left the show because he couldn't handle girls writing negative things about him on blogs. Whateverthat'sabout.) Instead, MTV has arranged for Whitney to fictitiously date a fellow named Freddie Fackelmayer, according to "Page Six." They were seen "cuddling" at Lily Pond in the Hamptons over the weekend, which is your first indication as to what kind of person this guy is. He supposedly works in commercial real estate. He's publicly listed on Facebook, where he unabashedly flaunts a shiny set of pecs and a tan that we have a hunch didn't come for free. We can't yet confirm that, unlike Jay, Freddie frequents the Shower, but at least Whitney's face should undergo much less chafing this season. And Freddie Fackelmayer's name is, if not the sexiest, certainly fun to say.
Colleagues employed by and close to Michael Jackson tell me exclusively that he "got whatever he wanted" in terms of medical requests, material indulgences and otherwise. "Nobody said...
If you were alive during any part of the eighties, chances are you aped Michael Jackson's style at one point or another. With that in mind, our fashion-forward siblings over at the Cut took a look back at MJ's inimitable style over the years, paying tribute to everything from his infamous red leather jacket to the military-style jackets to, of course, the Glove. [The Cut]
Meet Tadashi Yanai, perhaps the only man with faith in the Gap.
Watching the Gap over the past few years has been a painfully long lesson in retail failure. But the store could have hope that extends beyond its recent, impressive khaki collaboration with Alexander Wang, Vena Cava, and Albertus Swanepoel. The owner of Uniqlo may be considering buying the chain. Uniqlo is owned by Fast Retailing, which Tadashi Yanai founded in 1984. Yanai is trying to turn Fast Retailing into the biggest clothing manufacturer and retailer in the world. The easiest way for him to do this by targeting the U.S. market is not to open a million new Uniqlo stores — that would be too much of a pain. So he plans to take a shortcut and simply buy a large chain. Insiders speculate that Gap is that chain. Yanai has said it's "within the scope" of names he's considering. Gap could greatly benefit from the minds that brought us Uniqlo, which ingeniously installed Jil Sander as that store's creative director in March. Because unlike Gap, Uniqlo is impossible to avoid. Need jeans in a pinch? Uniqlo. Have no plans to purchase anything but just feel like walking into a store with pretty colors? Walk into Uniqlo, walk out with an interesting, stylish $19 T-shirt dress. Can't stand American Apparel but need basics? We could go on. It's what Gap should be — though with Hamptons flavor and a slightly more subdued color palette.
According to one Ian Halperin, author of Unmasked: The Michael Jackson Story, Jackson recorded over a hundred songs he intended just for his three children, Prince, 12, Paris Katherine, 11, and Prince Michael II, 7. But, with his debt estimated at $400 million, there are rumors the songs will see the light of day. [Times UK]
AP - Take a pinch of Axl Rose, add a black and white Palestinian keffiyah scarf, a Latino homeboy and a dollop of Michael Jackson and what do you get? Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 26 Jun 2009 | 8:18 pm
They may be gypsies and tramps. But are they thieves?
The NYPD has been quietly cracking down on street activity and (hopefully) drug use and theft on Christopher Street — from the triangle park near Sheridan Square all the way to the pier on the Hudson. According to The Villager, a local anti-crime group has demanded that the city institute a 10 p.m. curfew on the Christopher Street Pier, and that the PATH station exit nearby be shut down on the weekends. The most visible (and audible) problem for neighbors and local merchants is the steady stream of vocal and energetic kids that parade up and down the street between the station and the pier. While defenders claim that the pier (now open until 1 a.m.) is a necessary safe spot for LGBT youth to gather and express themselves, opponents say that along with many innocent kids come drug dealers, thieves, perpetrators of assault, and vagrants who make the area inhospitable for shops, restaurants, bars, and homes.
The NYPD has already taken the step of shutting down the Christopher Street Park (with the familiar white Stonewall sculptures), which has apparently helped a little. "This is a park that no one can sit in and enjoy because of these bums that sit there and menace everyone and defecate,” Monster bar owner Charles Rice said. “Finally, someone is closing the park by 9 p.m. — it was staying open till 1 a.m. Panhandlers come [from the park] and ask for cigarettes, and if they don’t give them, they threaten to throw a brick through the window.” Rice said the situation has improved with the curfew. Any of you live in the neighborhood? You can't miss the presence of all the LGBT kids at night, especially on the weekends — but do you think it's necessary to try to get rid of them in order to keep out other bad influences?
EVENTS TOMORROW
• Brooklyn-based handbag designers Shiho Nagashima and Ramana Goldstein of Dunlin are hosting a party for the opening of their first stand-alone store. Enjoy an open bar and live music by Jade Dylan. 263 S. 1st St., at Havemeyer St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn (718-915-6982); 7 p.m.
• Esprit in Rockefeller Center is hosting an in-store concert series, featuring music from Emily Brooke, Reni Lane, and Simon Spire. 600 Fifth Ave., at 48th St. (212-247-9899); 2–4.
• Saturday marks the final day of free bike rentals at Topshop's Bicycle Club. 478 Broadway, nr. Broome St. (212-966-9455); 10–8.
SUNDAY
• Swing by the annual Smith Street FunDay Sunday Fair in Carroll Gardens for shopping, food, beer, and live music. Smith St., between Bergen St. and Union St.; 11–6.
• Shop tees, dresses, tanks, polos, and accessories at Epaulet's Sailor Jerry trunk show. 231 Smith St., nr. Butler St., Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn (718-522-3800); noon–6.
MONDAY
• Bags for the People teams up with 3rd Ward to host "Sweatshop Socials" the last Monday of each month. Bring fabric and they'll provide sewing machines, instructions, drinks ($1 if you bring a cup; $3 if you don't), snacks, and live music. 195 Morgan Ave., nr. Stagg St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn (718-715-4961); 7–10 p.m.
SALES STARTING TOMORROW
• Apparel and shoes from Lauren Moffatt, Fremont, Dagmar, Whitley Kros, 80%20, and more are 35 to 75 percent off at Dear Fieldbinder. Through 8/2. 198 Smith St., nr. Baltic St. (718-852-3620); M–S (11:30–7:30), Su (noon–6).
STARTING SUNDAY
• Find discounts of 25 to 75 percent at Epaulet's summer sale. Through 8/9. 231 Smith St., nr. Butler St. (718-522-3800); T–S (noon–8), Su (noon–6).
ENDING SUNDAY
• Jeans, dresses, jumpsuits, and rompers are 70 percent off at the Judi Ronsen sale. 160 N. 6th St., nr. Bedford St.; S–Su (noon–7).
• Clothing and accessories from labels like Diane von Furstenberg and Marc by Marc Jacobs are $40 or less at the Samples for (eco)mpassion sale. 2 Great Jones St., nr. Lafayette St.; noon–7.
STARTING MONDAY
• Save up to 75 percent on beauty products at the Bliss blowout sale. Through 7/5. 541 Lexington Ave., at 49th St. (212-920-1211); (10–8).
ENDING MONDAY
• Dresses are 75 percent off and handbags are 50 percent off at Ilus. 248 Elizabeth St., nr. Prince St. (646-454-1678); M–F (noon–7), S (noon–6), Su (noon–5).
ONGOING
• Spring/summer 2009 styles are 30 percent off and the resort 2008 and Vanity collections are 50 percent off at Lulu Guinness. While supplies last. 394 Bleecker St., nr. 11th St. (212-367-2120); M–S (11–7), Su (noon–6).
Best Hip-Hop Dance honoree Hurricane Chris recently performed his hit song “Halle Berry (She Fine)” on the floor of the Louisiana State Legislature (because that is apparently a thing that happens). Unlike some people, we applaud the Legislature’s efforts to get in touch with the sound of young America. We just have one question — what is up with the sound quality? Seriously, you guys, that’s major recording artist Hurricane Chris! It’s time to upgrade those speakers.
A huge crowd gathered in London, UK on Friday for a mass "moonwalk" -- paying tribute to Michael Jackson by dancing to his most iconic songs and replicating his famous walk.
Michael Jackson was more than the greatest musical legend of any recent generation; he was a fashion icon. He became known by one single accessory: the glove. And back in the day, that infamous red jacket was worn by many an older brother during their break-dancing phases. (And, if memories serve us, by Theodore Huxtable on The Cosby Show.) In later years, the military jackets and face masks would become his staples. Recently, Jackson became noted by the fashionable powers that be for his love of Balmain; the embellished jackets and grand price tags were just up his alley. He also signed on to do a fashion line with Christian Audigier, something that never came to fruition. So, as we mourn the loss of the King of Pop, let us look back at the King of Style.
Dr. Conrad Robert Murray, the doctor who was reportedly with Michael Jackson at the time he went into cardiac arrest, has been located. He is currently preparing to speak with the Los Angeles Police Department regarding the circumstances of Jackson's death. [TMZ]
In 2003, the BET Awards had a priceless moment when Michael Jackson surprised his idol, James Brown, by showing up on stage where the duo thrilled the audience with an electrifying performance. On Sunday, the BET Awards will pay tribute to Jackson.
AP - A redheaded horsewoman in a flowing, made-to-measure Islamic gown atop a snorting steed opened what can only be deemed Paris' most unusual fashion show of late.
Australian rocker-turned-politician Peter Garrett, seen here in 2008 and who was Friday made an Officer in France's Order of Arts and Letters, paid tribute to Michael Jackson saying he had transformed... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 26 Jun 2009 | 7:32 pm
"We have lost a genius and a true ambassador of not only Pop music but of all music. He has been an inspiration to multiple generations, and I will always cherish the moments I shared with him on stage and all of the things I learned about music from him and the time we spent together. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones." —Justin Timberlake [People]
"I am stunned. My friend, Michael Jackson is dead. He lived with me for a week on the Golden Pond set after 'Thriller.'" —Jane Fonda [Janefonda/Twitter]
"Yesterday was a sad and a bad day for me, because I think Michael Jackson died of a broken heart and a broken soul ... It's kind of haunting that these record companies wouldn't give him the light of the day or these radio stations wouldn't give him the light of the day over the last couple years, but now that he died everybody's on his jock, so to speak. It makes me angry because in the end, no matter how much he messed with himself or his appearance, which to me didn't mean anything to anybody when it came down to him wanting to entertain and just make people have a good time, I just thought all of that was irrelevant ... I feel kind of crappy for the hypocrisy of this country and its coverage." —Chuck D [WNYC]
"I can't stop crying over the sad news. I have always admired Michael Jackson. The world has lost one of the greats, but his music will live on forever! My heart goes out to his three children and other members of his family. God bless." —Madonna [People]
"I am so very sad and confused with every emotion possible. I am heartbroken for his children, who I know were everything to him, and for his family. This is such a massive loss on so many levels, words fail me." —Lisa Marie Presley [Detroit News]
"We had come to count on the privilege of this view into Jackson’s clearly pained existence. Yet we continued to dance to his songs at parties, exalt the talents of his youth and younger years, and give him credit for changing the landscape of music. It was as if there were two different Michael Jacksons, the one who was here and the one who was already gone. And now that Michael Jackson is gone, not just the part of him we loved and worshiped, but also those parts of him that we questioned and mocked, we are left with a confounding and massive emptiness." —Carrie Brownstein [MonitorMix/NPR]
"I truly hope he is memorialized as the '83 moonwalking, MTV owning, mesmerizing, unstoppable, invincible Michael Jackson." —John Mayer [johncmayer/Twitter]
"Michael Jackson was my musical God. He made me believe that all things are possible, and through real and positive music. He can live forever. I love Michael Jackson. God Bless him." —Wyclef Jean [Detroit News]
"I have great admiration and respect for him and I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to meet and perform with such a great entertainer, who in so many ways, transcended the culture. He broke barriers, he changed radio formats. With music, he made it possible for people like Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama to impact the mainstream world. His legacy is unparalleled. Michael Jackson will never be forgotten." —Usher [People]
"I knew Michael as a child and watched him grow over the years. Of all the thousands of entertainers I have worked with, Michael was the most outstanding. Many have tried and will try to copy him, but his talent will never be matched." —Dick Clark [Detroit News]
"I come to you today with great sadness, acknowledging the loss of the greatest entertainer in the history of mankind. For me he was more than that, he was my idol, he was a role model, he was someone to cry to when my childhood was unbearable, he was a brother, he was a dear friend." —Corey Feldman [TMZ]
When the ladies of Dossier Journal, Skye Parrott, Katherine Krause, and Molly McIver, launched their biannual art-and-fashion magazine last year, they never predicted that they would soon be the proud owners of a retail space, as well. The Dossier Shop, which opened this spring, reflects not only the journal's creativity, but also its wide-ranging appeal. With a variety of highly edited vintage fashion pieces, several new designer items, and a large assortment of art books and publications, the small space has a rotating selection of goods carefully chosen by each owner. They have jewelry from Anna Sheffield, rompers from Samantha Pleet, and a collection of amazing vintage men's ties. The women are working on designing an e-commerce site and hope to have it up and running this summer, but for now, head over to the Fort Greene storefront (located on the bottom floor of a small apartment building) to check out the goods. We hung out in the bright and cozy shop on a rainy afternoon and picked out some standout items.
Poor Farrah Fawcett. A month ago, People magazine's Larry Hackett admitted to the Times that she only had one remaining chance for some friendly press:
"At this point, Farrah has to die," he said. "It's the only cover left for her." Needless to say, she's missed her chance. Having vanished from the headlines after Michael Jackson's sudden demise, Farrah is just the latest to join a peculiar group: the Eclipsed Celebrity Death Club.
The classic ECD example is Groucho Marx, who passed away the same week as Elvis Presley, and thus missed out on a good week's worth of TV tributes. But the easiest way for a famous person to vanish from the earth without so much as a blip is to follow a president of the United States. Ray Charles caught barely a moment's coverage when he died in 2004, right in the middle of the weeklong blanket coverage of Ronald Reagan's death and funeral. Same story for James Brown, who got some press but definitely ran second to Gerald Ford. (The only person who could square off against a dead head of state, it seems, was Mother Teresa. When she died a few days after Princess Diana, a good deal of the coverage tried to frame them as comparably angelic figures.) And don't forget Alice Trillin—granted, not a worldwide celebrity, but a beloved figure to her husband Calvin's thousands of New Yorker-reading fans. While awaiting a heart transplant, she died on September 11, 2001, following the horrible deaths of thousands of New Yorkers. Most of her husband's readers only learned about it many months later, when he published About Alice.
The championship trophy for badly timed death, though, goes to a pair of British writers. Aldous Huxley, the author of Brave New World, died the same day as C.S. Lewis, who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia series. Unfortunately for both of their legacies, that day was November 22, 1963, just as John Kennedy's motorcade passed the Texas School Book Depository. Huxley, at least, made it interesting: At his request, his wife shot him up with LSD a couple of hours before the end, and he tripped his way out of this world. Which, if you're going to go to your reward without anyone's noticing, is probably not a bad way to end it all.
This morning brought with it hopeful reports of a tentative agreement that would have ended the deadlock in Albany that has made a mockery of everything good and decent these past few weeks. But now word is that no deal has been reached, and while negotiations will continue over the weekend, it's not promising that Pedro Espada seems intent on keeping his title of president pro tempore after all. Oh, and according to one senator, six or seven Democrats "are willing to form a breakaway coalition — perhaps even with some Republicans — in an effort to hijack the already hijacked conference." [Daily Politics/NYDN]
We give Sarah Palin a lot of grief around here, but we'll give credit where credit is due. While visiting the troops in Kosovo (perhaps to thank them for her victory against David Letterman), she cracked what was actually a pretty good joke about John Kerry. See, Kerry, for some reason, is still legally allowed to tell jokes despite his "American soldiers are dumb" and "John McCain is incontinent" debacles. And so when Mark Sanford disappeared recently, Kerry quipped that it was too bad Sarah Palin hadn't gone missing instead. We doubt she wrote it herself, but nonetheless, Palin's comeback was much better. See for yourself.
Most of us have vivid memories associated with Michael Jackson. Intel Chris remembers playing Thriller, his first-ever record, on his Disneyland record player. Jessica Coen played that album on her Playskool tape recorder, apparently while strutting around her suburban Michigan neighborhood in a glittery Michael Jackson T-shirt and her "one white glove from like Easter Sunday," which is basically the coolest thing we've ever heard of. Dan Amira remembers the first time he saw the face-morphing "Black and White" video, when he was 6 and wished he were Macauley Culkin. And Intel Jessica remembers endless rehearsals of a dance routine to "Smooth Criminal" with her jazz class, and can probably still perform the whole thing (and she might, later, if she has enough to drink and there is a fedora lying around). But when it comes to Farrah Fawcett, her fans' most powerful memories seem to center around one thing: masturbating.
Obituaries can be touching, interesting, enlightening. They're usually not titillating. But when Farrah Fawcett died yesterday and a generation of men sat down to record their very special memories of the actress — and that poster, thatposter! — sense memory took over and the results of many of their efforts turned out to be revealing and actually kind of steamy! Farrah touched a lot of men, it turned out, and in turn, they touched themselves.
Herewith, a sampling of our favorite touching tributes:
In Vanity Fair, photographer Todd Eberle reveals he kept his poster in a telltale location: "I had the poster on the ceiling above my bed growing up in a town of 500 people in the middle of central Florida, and without it I’m not sure I would have become a photographer."
In the New York Post, Adam Tschorn gave life to the photograph: "The photo seemed as if it had been taken almost surreptitiously (on a beach in Cancun?), a woven blanket in the background. The rust-red one-piece swimsuit seemed damp and noticeably cool, and a thin gold chain around her neck dipped into her décolletage.
On Slate's Brow Beat blog, James Ledbetter remembers looking long and hard at the poster: "Looking now at that iconic mid-’70s poster, anyone can see the surface attractions that propelled her to fame: perfectly feathered hair, impossibly confident smile, and — particularly if you were a seventh-grade boy like me, staring for too long at that red bathing suit image masking-taped to the wall — the unabashed alert nipples."
In the Washington Post, Paul Farhi recalls the lore that surrounded the photo: "With Fawcett's high-beam smile, the flash of nipple under the suit, and the devil-may-care tilt of her head, the poster managed to be simultaneously naughty and sunnily wholesome. (Fun fact traded among us boys: If you looked closely at Farrah's hair, you could make the word sex "written" in the tangled thickets). Long before porn went mainstream, the poster threaded a certain needle: It was plenty racy, but your mom didn't object."
And Will Campbell at Metblogs LA's memories were eclipsed by an interaction with the actual Farrah, who came into the bookstore he worked in as a teenage boy and caught him gawking at her: "She put her hand to her mouth, looked me square in the eye and blew me a kiss. Not a quick one, either. It was a long slow exhale, enough to carry it over the bestsellers and the travel books and hit me square in the heart."
Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried their best to keep non-MJ news going by fielding press questions at the White House today, but clearly, like the rest of us, Obama was visibly bummed out and distracted:
U.S. fans of Michael Jackson are pouring out their grief through music and dance, impromptu shrines at symbolic locations and heartfelt remembrances online.
While watching all the tributes today, one distinct childhood Michael Jackson memory came to mind: The time the King of Pop guest starred on The Simpsons. He voiced the character Leon Kompowsky, a mental patient that Homer befriends who thinks he is Michael Jackson. As a sugared-up eight-year-old, my mind was blown. In fact, it wasn't even confirmed until later that Michael actually voiced the character. It was easily one of the cleverest guest appearances ever on The Simpsons. Hulu has a clip of that episode embedded right here:
To quote Dan Hopper, "Maybe in real life, Michael Jackson didn't die, he just went back to being Leon Kompowski, bricklayer from New Jersey." We can only hope.
Another Simpsons-MJ clip after the jump.
This episode also gave us the song "Lisa, It's Your Birthday," which is far superior to that "Happy Birthday" crap and taught me I don't have to spend my hard-earned allowance money on actual gifts for my sisters. Win-win.
French mime Marcel Marceau performs at the Garcia Lorca theatre in Havana, Cuba in 2005. The late Michael Jackson drew inspiration for his patented "moonwalk" from Marceau's "Walking against the Wind"... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 26 Jun 2009 | 5:05 pm
Michael Jackson's former wife Lisa Marie Presley said on Friday the pop star was a tortured soul who once predicted that he would "end up" like her father, the late rock icon Elvis Presley.
AP - Belgian designer Kris Van Assche layered looks borrowed from Africa, Afghanistan and India to create a long, lean menswear silhouette at a Paris show Friday.
I feel no reason to attempt any full-on Michael Jackson personal retrospectives; saying that you grew up as a child of the 80s idolizing Michael Jackson is as automatic as people in other decades saying they grew up loving Star Wars or listening to The Beatles. But my most specific, joyful memory of MJ's amazingness (out of many) was the one dance move that absolutely blew my brain out of the back of my tiny kiddie head the first time I saw him do it, and that's the Smooth Criminal lean:
My friend Jack and I spent countless hours trying to re-create this move, leaning over as far as we could with our feet flat on the ground and our ankles bent before inevitably falling after two inches, yet never giving up despite the very obvious knowledge that if you can't do it the first time, you're not going to suddenly just do it after an hour of doing the exact same thing and failing in the exact same way.
Several Godless naysayers would respond to my enthusiasm about The Lean by saying that MJ and his criminal co-dancers were obviously wired up for the video, but Jackson of course silenced those motherf***ers by spontaneously pulling the move out live during his Bucharest concert, proving once and for all that Michael Jackson was a God who is capable of doing things that are not humanly possible.
Any time you doubt this for a second, watch the Smooth Criminal video again, rewind The Lean a dozen times, and just accept that some things in this world are beyond us mere humans. I came to terms with this many years ago. Source: Best Week Ever | 26 Jun 2009 | 4:15 pm
Dear Readers,
Next week, Bestweekever.tv is relaunching this old, ancient dinosaur of a blog design as a new, fast-loading, colorful, fun-to-read, not-at-all-computer-breaking website. Goodbye slow-loading Digg buttons! See you later, jumbled, confusing sidebar! The new site will bring you the same BWE.tv commentary you've come to know and love (or hate), along with some special new bloggy web features which will streamline and ultimately improve your experience here. Plus... Rainbows!
I'll be on vacation for the next two weeks, checking in periodically while overseas (depending on how many celebrities I happen to run into while in the Middle East, which will be tons.) Joining the blog in my absence will be a familiar text face around here, Best Week Ever's Tom Ganjamie, who, along with Dan Hopper, will be holding down the pop culture comedy fort. But seeing as I'll have my laptop with me (to use as a Corona beer bottle opener on the beach, of course), expect to be seeing me around here and there.
Have a great 2 weeks of July while I'm gone! And enjoy the new site.
Sincerely,
Michelle Collins
Managing Editor, BWE.tv Source: Best Week Ever | 26 Jun 2009 | 4:10 pm
Last night was part 2 of the Real Housewives of New Jersey Reunion, and while it was a welcome escape from all of yesterday's sad news, the very last minutes left me staring at the TV wondering what happened. *Not* mafia wife Caroline Manzo would not say what it is that Danielle Staub did to her sister that she refused to ever forgive. Then the show just ended. My DVR stopped and I was left staring at a blank screen in silence. I know I've felt this way before after a TV show finale left me hanging, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Just The Ten of Us? No, that's not it. I am pretty sure it took place in New Jersey as well and revolved around a well-connected family. Eh, maybe it'll come to me later. I'm gonna go listen to "Don't Stop Believing" while I try to remember. Here is the clip:
After the jump, see how the RHONJ ladies demonstrate that reading (or even acquiring) books is a complete waste of everyone's time-space continuum.
Does this conversation about when the "book" was discovered by each of the ladies remind anyone else of every single conversation they had with coworkers about the timeline on Lost this season?
(Above, Bubbles holding Bubbles.)
One of the good memories we'll always have of Michael Jackson following his tragic and unexpected passing is that of his main man and pet Bubbles, a mischievous chimpanzee who was often photographed dressed like MJ. Bubbles, who was rescued from a cancer research facility back in 1985, really lived in the monkey lap of luxury. And, according to his wiki page, was a bit of an ape genius -- this paragraph from Bubbles' wiki page is too good to edit, so please savor it:
"Jackson and Bubbles accompanied each other on outings and talked together. The singer later taught the chimp how to moonwalk. Bubbles, who had an agent, was also rumoured to have his own bodyguard. Jackson said of his pet, "My chimp Bubbles is a constant delight". Bubbles sat in for the recording of the Bad album—Jackson had insisted that the chimp and his pet snake attend as spectators—and accompanied Jackson for the filming of the "Bad" music video. The Bad World Tour kicked off in September, 1987. During the tour, he and the singer shared a two-bedroom hotel suite in Tokyo."
"At a party to celebrate and promote Bad, Bubbles reportedly "worked the room" and was "the life of the party". Jackson and his chimpanzee were photographed in 1986 by Kenny Rogers for his book, Your Friends and Mine. The photo shows Jackson holding Bubbles on his hip, and has been cited as one of the best taken of the singer. In the black and white photograph, Jackson is dressed casually; he wears jeans and a simple shirt. Bubbles is also dressed casually in a long sleeved shirt and overalls. Rogers said of the animal, "Bubbles was so human it was almost frightening. He would take Christopher [Rogers' son] by the hand, walk over to the refrigerator, open it, take out a banana, and hand it to him. Christopher was amazed... we all were"."
Bubbles.... could MOONWALK? We're incredulous...
(Monkey Moonwalk proof ahead.)
I see. But what of Bubbles today? The sad news of Michael's passing got us thinking about this tiny, Bob-Hoskins-like monkey, and about his future. The good news is? Bubbles is still alive, living at a ranch in Sylmar, California, after becoming too aggressive to live with Michael's other (human) children. Ain't it strange? Bubbles outlived Michael Jackson. We hope this adorable little man person is happy with whatever this crazy little life for him has in store. He's probably the luckiest chimp there is. Source: Best Week Ever | 26 Jun 2009 | 3:23 pm
Look back at the King of Pop's
remarkable career in Rolling Stone's archives. Check out
photos, cover stories, album reviews and more at our
Michael Jackson hub.
Culling a playlist from an artist as
estimable and...
The "King of Pop" had been topping music charts long before he ever pulled on that white-sequined glove, made the moonwalk a household move and sent screaming fans into a frenzy.
Still shaken over Jackson's unexpected death Thursday night, Akon spoke to Billboard.com about his immediate reaction to the news, Jackson's health, and what he'd like to see happen to their work in the studio.
Fashion Wire Daily - In a certain sense, really good designers like really good artists and film directors, often make one extended work of art, and each show, opening or movie is just part of an extended commentary on the human comedy.
One day after Michael Jackson's sudden death, speculation turned to what killed the 50-year-old "King of Pop" on the cusp of a long-awaited comeback concert series.
Filipino inmates at the Cebu provincial jail perfom a mass dance routine in 2007. Philippine jailbirds who spawned a worldwide Internet hit with their version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video are... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 26 Jun 2009 | 1:37 pm
Look back at the King of Pop's
remarkable career in Rolling Stone's archives. Check out
photos, cover stories, album reviews and more at our
Michael Jackson hub.
Soon after word of Michael Jackson's
death got around...
Pop Tarts caught up with some Hollywood stars and starlets, some who were friends and some who were simply fans, to share their strongest memories of the late Ms. Fawcett who succumbed to cancer in Los Angeles on Thursday morning Source: FOXNews.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 1:13 pm
The sudden death of Michael Jackson on Thursday prompted a series of discussions at Universal Pictures that resulted in the studio cutting a Jackson-related sketch from "Bruno" only hours before its Los Angeles premiere.
From Quincy Jones to Britney Spears, friends, music luminaries and fans from around the world and around the web reacted to the news of Michael Jackson's death on June 25 with thoughts on his life and legacy.
By zoo animal standards, they were pretty famous: the reptiles, birds, primates and more that comprised Michael Jackson's Neverland menegerie.
Over the years, they...
It's not surprising. These things usually take much more time.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said Thursday that the autopsy performed on Michael Jackson...
Fittingly, friends and family are going to pay their final respects to Farrah Fawcett at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
A private funeral has been scheduled at the downtown...
Michael Jackson's unexpected death continues to transfix the world, and we have it covered from every angle:
• An autopsy Friday afternoon was inconclusive, with more tests...
Dave & Buster's. Sounds like a place your average girl next door would frequent for food, drinks and good cheer.
And that's exactly what Kendra Wilkinson got by holding her...
In a time of sorrow, Sean "Diddy" Combs has already taken to the studio.
The hip-hop mogul, who last night tweeted that Michael Jackson showed him how to "see the beat,"...
Where in the world is Michael Jackson's doctor?
L.A.'s Finest are continuing to search for a Houston-based cardiologist who was on the scene Thursday when the King of Pop went...
Hayden Panettiere has no problem showing some skin.
In her new movie, I Love You, Beth Cooper (in theaters July 10), Ms. Panettiere stars as the most popular girl in high school who is...
Colleagues employed by and close to Michael Jackson tell me exclusively that he "got whatever he wanted" in terms of medical requests, material indulgences and otherwise. "Nobody said...
"Jackson and Bubbles accompanied each other on outings and talked together. The singer later taught the chimp how to moonwalk. Bubbles, who had an agent, was also rumoured to have his own bodyguard. Jackson said of his pet, "My chimp Bubbles is a constant delight". Bubbles sat in for the recording of the Bad album—Jackson had insisted that the chimp and his pet snake attend as spectators—and accompanied Jackson for the filming of the "Bad" music video. The Bad World Tour kicked off in September, 1987. During the tour, he and the singer shared a two-bedroom hotel suite in Tokyo."
"At a party to celebrate and promote Bad, Bubbles reportedly "worked the room" and was "the life of the party". Jackson and his chimpanzee were photographed in 1986 by Kenny Rogers for his book, Your Friends and Mine. The photo shows Jackson holding Bubbles on his hip, and has been cited as one of the best taken of the singer. In the black and white photograph, Jackson is dressed casually; he wears jeans and a simple shirt. Bubbles is also dressed casually in a long sleeved shirt and overalls. Rogers said of the animal, "Bubbles was so human it was almost frightening. He would take Christopher [Rogers' son] by the hand, walk over to the refrigerator, open it, take out a banana, and hand it to him. Christopher was amazed... we all were"."
Bubbles.... could MOONWALK? We're incredulous...
(Monkey Moonwalk proof ahead.)
