Write Stuff: Screenwriter Joe Gazzam has been hired to script the Robert Luketic-helmed Barbarella remake, a modern take on the 1968 erotic sci-fi drama which starred Jane Fonda as a space traveler who saved earth by boning everyone in the universe. Gazzam hasn't yet written anything that's made it to theaters, but we wholeheartedly approve of his name. [HR]
Mission Accepted: Unfamous writers Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec (both worked on Alias for four seasons) have been tapped by J.J. Abrams and Tom Cruise to pen the screenplay for Mission Impossible 4. The pair are responsible for ABC's upcoming Happy Town as well as the network's now-canceled Life on Mars. "I've been looking forward to working with Josh and Andre again for years," says Abrams, not adding, "Also, since nobody's ever heard of them, bloggers who compile trade news roundups at 6 a.m. will have a difficult time writing jokes about this." [Variety]
Future Hood: Atlas Entertainment and Hollywood Gang, the production studios behind Dark Knight and 300, are giving the Robin Hood story a "futuristic makeover." Nicolai Fuglsig, best known for this commercial, is signed on to direct the movie, which will be set in a dystopian version of London in which there are no Bryan Adams songs. [RIsky Biz Blog/HR]
Person Gets TV Show: MTV has given a pilot order to some person named Robert Hoffman on the strength of his viral website and his performance in Step Up 2 the Streets, for which he won an MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss, making him the network's most talented on-air employee in approximately 17 years. [HR]
Yeah, Right: Director Jason Reitman has his own production company: Right of Way Films will be backed by Indian Paintbush, the company responsible for Wes Anderson's Darjeeling Limited and Fantastic Mr. Fox. Coming soon from ROW are movies based on scripts by Jenny Lumet and the Duplass brothers. [Variety]
Louis Louis: Unbeknownst to anyone, FX has stealthily shot an untitled half-hour comedy pilot starring Louis C.K. based on the comedian's life as a divorced parent. The show will be comprised of standup footage and sketches, which will feature actors playing his ex-wife and children. We're sure his ex-wife is thrilled about this. [Variety]
AP - James Patterson's latest best seller, "The Angel Experiment," is a little different from his usual hits. The novel isn't new; it came out four years ago. Its sales aren't happening at bookstores, but mostly on the Kindle site at Amazon.com.
AP - Aerosmith postponed at least one weekend concert after frontman Steven Tyler fell off the stage at a South Dakota show and suffered what a concert spokesman said were head, neck and shoulder injuries.
AP - Aerosmith postponed at least one weekend concert after frontman Steven Tyler fell off the stage at a South Dakota show and suffered what a concert spokesman said were head, neck and shoulder injuries.
AP - The actors made famous by writer-director John Hughes are extolling his talents after his death, calling him influential and "one of the giants" for capturing the youth market in the 1980s and '90s with such favorites as "The Breakfast Club," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Home Alone."
AP - The actors made famous by writer-director John Hughes are extolling his talents after his death, calling him influential and "one of the giants" for capturing the youth market in the 1980s and '90s with such favorites as "The Breakfast Club," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Home Alone."
A gripping scene in a new documentary captures the spirit of Cody Unser, who has been paralyzed since age 12. She's in a bathtub in her college dorm, trying to shift from her shower... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 7 Aug 2009 | 4:25 am
Well, it's nice to know that Jon Gosselin isn't throwing the mother of his eight children under the bus when he's out of the public eye.
"People grow apart, people...
Reuters - In 2002, USA Network was on a sci-fi track with the successful launch of its first original series, "The Dead Zone," when "Monk" came along. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 6 Aug 2009 | 8:32 pm
John Hughes, whose 1980s films such as "Sixteen Candles," "The Breakfast Club" and "Some Kind of Wonderful" offered a sharp-eyed look at teenagers and their social habits, has died, according to a statement from his representative. He was 59.
Front Page: Cable network shot pilot for third comedy series -- Hungry for a few more laughs, FX has quietly shot a comedy pilot starring stand-up star Louis C.K.
Front Page: Applebaum, Nemec to pen script for Paramount -- Paramount Pictures and producers Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams have officially lit the fuse on "Mission: Impossible IV," setting Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec to write the screenplay.
You didn't have to be a Brat Packer to identify with the characters in John Hughes' movies. Really, you just had to have feelings.
Molly Ringwald, the poster girl for '80s...
On June 29, Slate's Johann Hari harshly reviewed Richard Bernstein's new book, The East, the West, and Sex, a history of the fetishization of Eastern women. Then today, over a month later, they appended this glorious correction:
This review originally included two phrases that could have given the incorrect impression that Richard Bernstein has attended, or approves of, brothels where women are coerced. (The piece called a brothel in Bangladesh "one of the harems Bernstein gets moist and sweaty over" and suggested that Bernstein seemed to have written the book to "stem a guilty conscience about his own past.") This was not Johann Hari's intention, or Slate's. We have amended these sentences to clarify that Bernstein does not approve of forced prostitution.
Oops! Typically when authors get crappy reviews, their only recourse is firing off a few angry tweets or leaving incensed comments on their critics' personal blogs. But today, since Slate likely felt bad about the whole "approve of forced prostitution" thing, they gave Bernstein 1,300 words to defend himself (a Slate spokesperson tells us no lawsuit was threatened and Slate editor David Plotz says, "like most magazines, we offer people who feel wronged by one of our pieces the chance to respond").
And he has certainly responded! Bernstein writes:
Nothing serves the righteously indignant like a handy enemy, and where there's no real enemy handy, the temptation to create one can be irresistible. That at any rate seems to me to explain the luridly indignant review of my book, The East, the West, and Sex, that appeared a few weeks ago in Slate. Normally I think book writers should take their lumps in silence, but the Slate review was so willfully uncomprehending, so brim-full of moralistic error and ad hominem falsehood, that it's too hard not to reply.
Hari, says Bernstein, has not produced one shred of evidence that proves he has ever visited a brothel in which women are enslaved:
"Moist and sweaty": more overwrought language on our reviewer's part, the slanderous meaning of which is that I get off on the sexual enslavement of women, and that's why I fail to understand the moral horror of my own subject. This demagogic bit of character assassination, and one other false statement by Hari (according to him, I wrote the book because I have a "guilty conscience" about my own past!), is to be deleted by Slate from Hari's review, since he is unable to point to any evidence to justify his claims.
But, as you're likely wondering, does Bernstein ejaculate over others' patronage of brothels?
Do I ejaculate approvingly over the Western men who engage their services? I do not.
Where to begin? Matthew Broderick singing "Danke Schoen" on a Chicago parade float. Ally Sheedy shaking dandruff onto the table in detention hall in The Breakfast Club, or maybe Judd...
As Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore have shown time and time and time and (Lord, help us) time again, celebrities loves them some Twitter. You know, it's a chance to connect with fans in a way...
The actor and wife Demi Moore twittered their respective relief Thursday afternoon after their private plane made...
Is Jamie-Lynn Sigler a secret Hollywood peacemaker?
E!'s own Chelsea Handler sat down with Sigler, who appears on Entourage and dates Turtle, aka Jerry Ferrara, and asked about...
• Allen & Delancey has filed for bankruptcy, but will remain open. [Eater, GS] • A peek inside the new Oceana opening near Rockefeller Center. [Eater] • Le Souk is reopening on Ave B and now plans to open a second location. [GS] • New NYT dining critic Sam Sifton on having his photo all over the web: "I look different now... I'm using a comb for the first time since the 1990s." [WWD] • Which chain has better coffee: Starbucks, Mickey D's, or Dunkin'? [Slate] • How does Padma Lakshmi keep thin? Exercise, believe it or not. [NYT]
Welcome to the un-fun house: Interpol’s lead singer, Paul Banks, has a side project, Julian Plenti, which sounds exactly like Interpol and has a new video mainly distinguished by the presence of Paul Banks in two roles, Metric’s Emily Haines in one, and a fractured narrative that reflects that whole ungainly mess in its shards. Paul One leaves his Waverly Hotel apartment, whereupon the desk clerk calls Paul Two and Emily, who access the apartment, vigorously unmake Paul One’s bed, and shoot Polaroids while they stimulate “perverse” sex acts involving bondage and severely mussed hair. Paul One returns to find the Polaroids and flops back onto his unmade bed, presumably to either mope or masturbate. And all we can think is, what a waste of the world’s dwindling Polaroid film stock. And film. Unless that’s just HD video.
Last week, we pointed your attention to a story in the Post about the very unusual Jeff Koons sculpture that hedge fund mogul Richard Perry and his wife Lisa put out on their penthouse terrace. We mentioned that Vogue had published a set of photos inside the Perry pad a few years ago. Now the magazine tells us they've posted the entire shoot from back in 2002 on the web. Do enjoy. [Vogue]
Good news, Harvard graduates! Your esteemed university has handed over its vaunted name to Wearwolf Group, a garment maker that plans to "take advantage of a taste for seersucker, khakis, loafers and other 'preppy' attire" with a line of clothing called "Harvard Yard." According to Wearwolf, which has done work for other prestigious brands in the past like Jos. A. Bank, trousers will start at $195, shirts will retail for $160 and up, and sportcoats will go for $495, and they will all "reflect Harvard's quality, heritage and excellence." Even better: It shouldn't be long before the university is able to begin serving hot meals to students once again. [Bloomberg via Dealbreaker]
"Let the SUN Shine in. From SUN rise to SUN set. Let the SUN start your day from this high floor corner Loft with South and East exposures. SUN pours thru 7 oversized windows. REAL VIEWS of the Southern CITY skyline and East to the BRIDGES. SUN sets and evening VIEWS are magical." —The listing of SNL star Kristen Wiig's new Soho apartment, which she's buying from Mad Men and Sopranos director Alan Taylor [NYO]
In response to the rumors that Dov Charney lays off employees who aren't hot enough, American Apparel's creative director, Marsha Brady, sent us this statement about their hiring process, which she oversees:
We do screen, but not for beauty. What we look for is personal style. We carry year round basics that are easy to understand and pretty much sell themselves as basics. But to really showcase the fashionability of our products, we have to rely on the way our in-store employees style themselves with our clothes. The line consists of a tremendous number of colors that are more like art supplies than fashion, so when we're hiring, one of the things we look for is an ability to take our products, make them exciting, and show how cool they can look, which doesn't have much to do with just being pretty. We see applicants who don't have quite what we're looking for in retail but are recommended for modeling all the time. Every new hire contributes to our brand perception and it's very important to the success of the company to take it seriously. Not to say that we have the perfect retail workforce, but it's something we're giving priority to.
To think you could walk into an open call one day with simple aspirations to man a cash register or open boxes in the stockroom, and emerge a week later on a billboard lying supine in a see-through body suit on a clear plastic table thrusting your pelvis into the air for all the world to see! Fame: You never know where it will find you. It's interesting they think of the clothes as art supplies. We'd call them pieces of slutty gym-bunny Halloween costumes, but that's practically the same thing.
Irving Picard, the trustee in charge of unwinding Bernie Madoff’s investment company and re-compensating the Ponzi-schemer's victims (or de-compensating them, as the case may be), finally gets some compensation of his own. A judge has cleared the Securities Investor Protection Corp to pay a cool $14.7 million to him and his firm, Baker & Hostetler, for the work they've done from December 15 to April 30. Not everyone thinks he's worth it, though. "This depletion of SIPC’s funds is unjustifiable," one victim, who has accused Picard of miscalculating her claims, seethed in an objection filed this week. "The trustee has been an abysmal failure." [Bloomberg]
Stylesight has been noticing a lot of men in leggings lately, and kindly e-mailed us the above snapshots. Apparently meggings have been pouring into the streets of New York, Paris, London, and Tokyo since last year. Men wear them year-round as a fun way to practice layering, mix up everyday proportions, and stay warm. It was only a matter of time before men discovered what Lindsay Lohan discovered about leggings long ago — that they are awesome, extremely versatile, and even more fabulous in leopard print. Well, it's probably too soon to confirm that last part, but men will inevitably branch into new colors and patterns. All kinds of meggings have been popular on the men's runways for seasons. Because whatever women fall in love with, men will inevitably fall in love with some years later, like manpris, mirdles, or short shorts, to name a few. And of course increasingly tight pants are sweeping through the male community faster than you can say, "Can Zac Efron even sit down in those?" Meggings offer the stretch he needs.
And here you were thinking that James Cameron's Avatar was going to be the most important thing to happen to humankind since the invention of the iPod. Sorry folks, as cool as ten-foot-tall computer-generated aliens may indeed prove to be, they won't be anywhere near as life-altering as the day in the (hopefully) not-too-distant future when Spotify arrives on these shores. In case you haven't been following the daily e-mails of the lovably cranky music biz contrarian Bob Lefsetz, Spotify is a free (!) desktop application that grants users the ability to stream a massive library of 3.5 million songs from any computer. Yes, that's right, imagine having completely legal access to listen to virtually every song ever recorded—besides songs from notoriously stringent bands like the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, natch—without having to actually pay anything for the service! Amazing, right? So, the only question is this: When will Spotify arrive on these shores?
Well, see, that's the catch. While labels in the U.K., Sweden, Norway, Finland, France, and Spain have already entered into agreements with the company, no such deals have been struck Stateside yet. However, Wired reports that the company is hopeful that a pathway will be cleared to launch the service here before the end of the year and that they've just received an investment of some $50 million from venture capitalists to help turn that wish into reality. However, if you can't wait that long, here's a sneaky way to get around those pesky restrictions:
Who's had a crappier year: fallen real estate mogul Harry Macklowe or his son-in-law, developer Kent Swig? It's looking more and more like a toss up. Not only is Swig's condo project at 25 Broad Street blowing up, and his hotel venture at 45 Broad Street now in foreclosure, but Sheffield57—the drama-plagued apartment building Swig purchased with two partners in 2005 for $418 million—was sold off at auction today. The price? $20 million. [Crain's]
Vogue’s European editor-at-large, Hamish Bowles, shrugged off the notion of being a member of the Majority, Condé Nast’s super-secret cabal of A-gays, when we asked him about it at the Museum at F.I.T.’s Couture Council summer party. "No," he told us. "I never got CC’ed on those memos." Well, then. This club is even more exclusive than we’d imagined. View more in our Party Lines slideshow.
A New York lawmaker has introduced a bill that would charge rich criminals $90 a day for room and board at state prisons. That means a stay at Rikers Island (left) would only cost a dollar more than a night at the Hotel Carter (right)—otherwise known as the worst hotel in America—where rooms are currently going for $89 a night. The extra dollar is probably well worth it. We're willing to bet that Rikers is both cleanerandsafer. [Daily Finance]
Thanks to Matthew Broderick, no one ever had to save Ferris from obscurity. And it was John Hughes who got Broderick to twist and shout into teen-idol history.
The star of the 1986...
Michelle Obama has been shot for the cover of a new magazine called Children's Health. She poses with — what else? — children. Makeup artist Susan Heydt snapped a couple photos of the shoot and blogged about it. She reveals Michelle wore a blue Gap cardigan and a J.Crew skirt. She had originally planned to wear a hot-pink top and white pants, but changed her mind at the last minute. She already wore pink on the cover of Vogue, after all. For more MObama, check out our ever-expanding Michelle Obama Look Book. [Mrs. O]
Simply stated, Piazza Sempione makes the world's best pants. Italian tailoring at its finest, this company founded in 1991 has been making clean, chic styles that are a must in every wardrobe. Here are five reasons we can't live without them:
1. The fit is superb.
2. They easily go from day to night — you can go anywhere, anytime in these.
3. You can count on finding your favorite style season after season.
4. Beautiful fabrics add to their comfort and longevity.
5. They're well priced for the great quality you get.
The "Audrey" pant in navy velvet and charcoal cotton, $365 to $600; available at Saks, Bergdorf Goodman, and Barneys.
Yesterday,we brought you a variety of photos of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin posing for the cameras while doing a variety of masculine activities — including fishing, horseback riding, and doin’ the butterfly — all without a shirt on his barrel-chested torso. Well, ABC News just couldn’t leave well enough alone, and had to investigate the situation further… WITH HILARIOUS RESULTS.
Watch this if only for Dancing Yeltsin and Putin bodyslamming a woman to the ground… GENIUS.
TMZ is reporting that John Hughes, director of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, and Sixteen Candles, died of a heart attack this morning in New York. [TMZ] Update: The AP confirms. New York spoke with Hughes in June of 1985 for a cover story on the Brat Pack.
A mom breast-feeding her hungry child was issued a summons for a few moments' rest today in a No Standing Zone, despite angry bystanders trying to reason with the ticketing officer. [City Room/NYT]
MAKEUP
• Actress Dania Ramirez from Heroes is the newest face for CoverGirl. [StyleWatch/People]
• Kristin Davis stepped down from being a representative for the human-rights organization Oxfam because she also endorses Ahava, an Israeli cosmetics line manufactured in the West Bank. Oxfam considers that area disputed territory. [Fox News]
FRAGRANCE
• Manufacturers of Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely fragrance filed a lawsuit against Universal Perfumes and Cosmetics of Farmingdale for allegedly selling counterfeit and stolen perfume bottles. [NYP]
SKIN
• There is such a thing as foot shame; spa employees report that clients apologize during treatments for their corns, ingrown toenails, and hairy toes. [NYT]
HAIR
• Chris Rock made a documentary called Good Hair, which is about the billion-dollar black hair industry. It's not out yet, but you can watch the trailer here. [HuffPo]
The architect Charles Gwathmey has died at 71 after a prolific and bewilderingly erratic career that, despite his absence, isn't quite over yet. Some of his major designs are still under construction, including the muscle-bound U.S. Mission to the United Nations and a doggedly hyperluxurious Fifth Avenue residential tower. In the sixties, Gwathmey was a member of the New York Five, a gang of swaggering modernists that included John Hejduk, Richard Meier, Michael Graves, and Peter Eisenman. Gwathmey was the most urbane and adaptable of the bunch. Along with his partner Robert Siegel, with whom he founded the firm Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, he supplied castles on the beach to the East Hampton nobility, corporate high-rises, apartment renovations, as well as a stream of civic projects. Rather than brand his designs with signature mannerisms, he combined smooth elegance of execution with the willingness to be self-effacing. In revisiting Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim and Paul Rudolph’s Art and Architecture Building at Yale, he politely declined to compete with the masters. Unfortunately, when some of the juiciest projects came his way, he occasionally allowed himself an infuriating lapse of taste.
Remember when Eddie Van Halen was one of the coolest guys alive? Barely? Well, then, take our word for it, he used to be the coolest. However, in the years since he kicked Sammy Hagar out of his band in favor of Gary Cherone (!), he's been steadily draining his ever-dwindling coolness reserve. The latest affront? He'll be guest-starring on Two and a Half Men this fall. [TV Squad]
After last year's purchase of a larger table and an additional chair and plastic cup to accommodate Kara DioGuardi, the producers of American Idol apparently have no intention of seeing them go to waste in the wake of Paula Abdul's presumed departure. At TCA today, Fox entertainment chairman Peter Rice announced plans to permanently hire a fourth Idol judge, rather than make do with just three again: "Between now and January we will come up with a replacement for Paula. There's obviously going to be a different dynamic next year." Also, when asked about the possibility of Abdul's return, he said, "Our understanding is we've concluded the negotiation." Presumably, what Fox is saying here is that Paula is welcome back, but they're not upping their offer.
John Hughes, the writer of The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Home Alone, Uncle Buck, Sixteen Candles, National Lampoon’s Vacation, National Lampoon’s European Vacation, and basically every other good movie from 1983-1993, has died of a heart attack at the age of 59.
The Hollister at Broadway and Houston Streets isn't quite living up to its promises of epic-ness since its opened last month. Not only did execs fly in employees to "support" opening day, but we thought the layout was generally awkward. And now residents in Soho seem unhappy with it, too. A "Go Home Hollister" banner appeared this week, dangling from a fifth-floor balcony across the street from the surf-style shop. Perhaps it's time for the store's shirtless lifeguards to come back. Surely they'll save the day! [Curbed]
After a nasty debate that saw Senate Democrats kind of call Mayor Bloomberg a slave driver and Bloomberg sort of refer to Senate Democrats as Nazis, the two sides have finally reached an agreement on the renewal of mayoral control of the city's schools, which passed in the Senate today by a 47–8 margin. [NYP]
Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed by the Senate today to be the newest justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The body voted 68–31 in favor of her confirmation. Sotomayor will be the 111th justice of the Supreme Court, the third woman, and the first Hispanic. She will replace departing justice David Souter with a formal ceremony in September, and will likely be sworn into office by Chief Justice John Roberts in the next few days. The vote to confirm her was made largely along party lines, though Republicans in recent days were careful to voice their support for Hispanic leadership progress in the United States. President Obama is expected to comment on the vote shortly.
Do you love the music they play at strip clubs but hate seeing naked people writhe around in desperate pursuit of one-dollar bills? Well, then, today's your lucky day (provided you live in Denver, that is). A new radio station called 101.5 the Pole just launched in Colorado, playing nothing but the finest in strip-club music from the eighties, nineties, and today. Get ready to hear lots of Buckcherry and Lil Wayne, people! [Idolator]
Since Conan took over the Tonight Show in June and most elderly folks have started either going to sleep early or watching CBS, every new day brings another ratings milestone for Letterman. Here's today's: For the first time in fourteen years, Dave's Late Show was watched by more people than Tonight over four consecutive weeks, by an average score of 3.38 million to 2.63 million viewers. The wizards in NBC's publicity department are still touting Conan's edge among adults 18 to 49 (which apparently increased by 6 percent last week), though we bet that gap will narrow once Jay Leno begins killing all of Conan's potential L.A.-based guests on his racetrack this fall.
Name: Kumail Nanjiani Age: 31 Neighborhood: Bushwick Occupation: Comedian; he's performing at Comix on Tuesday, August 11.
Who's your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
Batman, duh.
What's the best meal you've eaten in New York?
I love, love, love the street-cart food. Gyros are like a meat-flavored fruit roll-up. A meat roll-up.
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
Try to think of funny stuff, then try to convince other people that it’s funny.
Would you still live here on a $35,000 salary?
Wait, am I getting a raise? Yes!
What's the last thing you saw on Broadway?
My mom watched Lion King recently. That's the closest I've been ...
Do you give money to panhandlers?
I have a formula I use to determine that on a case-by-case basis.
What's your drink?
Virgin piña coladas.
How often do you prepare your own meals?
Try to every day. But sometimes, I'll be walking by a street cart and an actual animated wavy scent line will turn into a hand and beckon me toward gyros ...
What's your favorite medication?
NyQuil.
What's hanging above your sofa?
An Annie Hall poster. How New York!
How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
No more than $20. I get a haircut once every four months, so I spend about $5 a month on haircuts. How New York!
When's bedtime?
Around 2 a.m. Depends on how late my shows go. And how well I am doing at Street Fighter 4 that night. If I'm in the zone, I transcend time. By that, I mean I go to bed really late.
Which do you prefer, the old Times Square or the new Times Square?
Haven't seen the old one, really hate the new one. Except for those guys that make that airbrushed space stuff with multiple moons and Venuses. Need more of that!
What do you think of Donald Trump?
I don't, ever.
What do you hate most about living in New York?
Rats, bugs, garbage on the streets, alternate-side street parking.
Who is your mortal enemy?
This cab driver punched my window once. He is my mortal enemy.
When's the last time you drove a car?
Today.
How has the Wall Street crash affected you?
Hasn't really.
Times, Post, or Daily News?
Internet.
Where do you go to be alone?
I stay home. It's the best place to be alone. There is hardly any walk-through traffic.
What makes someone a New Yorker?
Never having to convince someone you're a New Yorker. People just know ...
Something fishy seems to be going on at Harvard: The university is trying to be hip, possibly even chic. How else to explain Harvard's cameo on this week's episode of NYC Prep? And its new men's fashion line, Harvard Yard? And by fashion line, we don't mean maroon sweatshirts with crests on them. The university has inked a ten-year licensing deal with clothing manufacturer Wearwolf Group for a line of contemporary men's apparel. It's unclear if the line is part of the university's attempt to stop bleeding money. Harvard Yard — a lawn we imagine makes a nice resting ground for Harvard students to repair glasses, wipe down their pocket protectors, and memorize an extra few digits of pi — inspired the spring collection. The line includes "short-sleeve plaid shirts, Liberty print wovens, seersucker shorts, regimental stripes, sporty knits, patterned jackets and fancy pants — all in a contemporary, tapered fit," according to WWD.
The clothes won't be very Harvard-y in the literal sense. "Harvard" only appears on the labels inside the garments, while the university's signature crimson only appears in buttonholes, zipper pulls, and other trimmings. Prices range from $165 for pants to $495 for sport coats. The line's creative director, John Fowler, told WWD that designers drew from photos of students lounging in Harvard Yard in the sixties. “It’s a style that has become current again and not just with the American consumer. We think Harvard Yard will have global appeal.” So the fashion of Harvard could, one day, have the same reach as Gucci or Prada or ... the Gap.
But will Harvard students go for it? The line is mostly targeted to alums and "fans" of the university, which have no doubt multiplied exponentially since the school's Bravo debut this week. But the line's creators don't offer any solutions to Harvard Yard's inherent problem: Fashion and Harvard just don't go together. Would you give a child an Oreo and a glass of Dr Pepper to dip it in? Probably not. That said, apparently a market exists in Massachusetts for the pink-whale foam hats and sailboat belts by the epically preppy Vineyard Vines, so there is probably a market for this, too. And, terrifyingly, whoever buys it will likely accessorize with the Vineyard Vines Harvard ivy tie.
Thanks to the economy, coffee shops around town have been growing increasingly annoyed about customers who come in and order a single cup, and then spend the next five hours hunched in front of their laptops. Now they're taking action: "In some places, customers just get cold looks, but in a growing number of small coffee shops, firm restrictions on laptop use have been imposed and electric outlets have been locked." So don't be surprised when you hear how the next great American novel was written by someone sitting on a stoop, mooching Wi-Fi from a unsuspecting neighbor. [WSJ]
Last week, Washington Post reporters Dana Milbank and Chris Cillizza filmed an installment of their newish video series "Mouthpiece Theater" that didn't go over too well. Dressed in elegant smoking jackets, the two men spent the entire segment naming different beers that could've been drunk at the White House beer summit. For example, good thing Sergeant Crowley didn't pick an extra pale ale, or Gates a "big black stout," etc. Then the two employees of the paper that broke Watergate speculated that if Hillary Clinton had attended, maybe she would have been given a bottle of "Mad Bitch." This cracked up angered so many people that the video was removed and the entire series shut down. Cillizza and Milbank have now both apologized, with Cillizza saying that the joke "was inappropriate, over the line and highlighted the broader problems with the show," while Milbank offered to sit down with Clinton for a beer. So, no harm, no foul? Not exactly — the Post has this credibility thing that's been taking a few jabs to the chin lately as the paper tries to adapt to this new, inhospitable media landscape. First there was that lobbyist dinner incident, and now their latest experiment has invited skewerings like this one, which actually is pretty hilarious.
EVENTS
• Treat yourself to a facial at the Clarins counter at Bloomingdale's and get a free skin analysis from one of the brand's experts. Through 8/9. 504 Broadway, nr. Broome St. (212-729-5139); call for appointment.
SALES STARTING TOMORROW
• Dresses, jackets, shoes, and more from Venexiana designer Kati Stern are 70 to 80 percent off. Items that were originally $170 to $1,750 are now $50 to $350. Through 8/10. 335 W. 35th St., nr. Eighth Ave., eighth fl. (212-629-6868); F-M (10-7).
• Menswear, womenswear, and accessories are 70 percent off at agnès b.Through 8/25. 103 Greene St., nr. Prince St. (212-925-4649); M—S (11—7), Su (noon—6).
Hank Greenberg, the former AIG CEO who built the insurance company into the giant it is today before being ousted amid allegations he had inflated the firm's earnings, was sued by the SEC today for accounting fraud. The complaint, which also names AIG's former CFO Howard Smith, alleged that from 2000 to 2005 the pair were involved in "numerous improper accounting transactions" "that presented a false financial picture" of the company, and that Greenberg in particular was "publicly boasting about the company’s strength and double-digit growth while concealing its weaknesses through accounting sleights of hand." Greenberg's response was to immediately settle for $15 million — but not because he is guilty, his lawyer told the Times, because he is innocent:
the settlement is recognition of his lack of responsibility, even as a control person, for the vast majority of accounting issues included in A.I.G.’s restatement and the S.E.C.’s charges against the company.”
Right, of course. And when you have $3 billion in the bank, $15 million is very small price to pay for the satisfaction of proving your innocence.
It’s been a crazy week for nude photo scandals — first, naked photos of High School Musical’s Vanessa Hudgens leaked to the web for a second time, then photos of noted Sliver star Sharon Stone appeared on the ‘net, and now, BWE has obtained EXCLUSIVE NUDE PHOTOS of none other than Jenna Jameson, star of Where The Boys Aren’t 7 and Philmore Butts Taking Care Of Business (which I believe are both documentaries about the auto industry).
After the jump, four exclusive nude photos of Jenna Jameson. The quality is a little blurry, cause they’re accidental, leaked photos and not, like, professional nude photographs or anything, but personally, I’ve been waiting a damn long time to finally see Jenna naked, so I’ll take what I can get:
Here’s Jenna posing in the mirror, I guess for her boyfriend or something? It’s for all of us now!!! How embarrassing!
Hard to tell what’s going on in this pic, but you can pretend it’s almost like she’s having sex. Oh man, if we could only get our hands on a Jenna Jameson sex tape…
She is SO NAKED!!!
Uh oh, looks like she accidentally sent a nude cell phone pic to more people than she bargained for!!! Her publicist is gonna have one hell of a time explaining how this photo leaked:
Remember to keep checking BWE.tv for all future nude celebrity scandal updates. We’re currently doing our best to dig up some dirt on John Holmes.
We're deeply, deeply sorry. Early this morning, we were reminded that Beverly Hills 90210's Jennie Garth would be appearing at the TJMaxx on Sixth Avenue from 12-2 to kick off "'back-to-school season," but we completely forgot to mention it, and now the opportunity has been lost forever. That said, we promise to notify you well in advance should Tiffani-Amber Thiessen decide to make any appearances at a nearby Forever 21. Can you forgive us? We do hope so.
Move over, slow news day: SOMETHING INCREDIBLE HAS HAPPENED. Sharon Stone has finally dropped her shroud of modesty and shown the world something they never even dreamed of seeing: Her Boobs. Behold, Stone graced the cover of Paris’ Match Magazine with the following image:
uh-PHEW. Now we all finally know what Sharon Stone looks like naked.
AP - "This Is Where I Leave You" (Dutton, 327 pages. $25.95) by Jonathan Tropper: Judd Foxman arrives home early to surprise his wife with a cake on her birthday. He can hear her in the bedroom, so he lights the candles and heads upstairs. But in Jonathan Tropper's "This Is Where I Leave You," Judd is the one who's surprised. He finds his wife in bed with his boss. What happens next is a real scorcher, literally.
AP - "The Amateurs" (Dutton, 380 pages, $25.95), by Marcus Sakey: Life is not turning out the way the four friends imagined in Marcus Sakey's "The Amateurs."
Beastie Boy Adam "MCA" Yauch is recovering from surgery to treat a tumor and gearing up for radiation treatments, according to an e-mail he sent to his fans.
Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler was airlifted to a hospital after falling from stage during a concert at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in western South Dakota. Source: FOXNews.com | 6 Aug 2009 | 11:47 am
Local police in Tulare, California shut down the lemonade stand of a 7-year-old girl (BOOOOO!!!!) who said she just wanted to raise money so her family could go back to Disneyland (AWWWWW!!!!) and ended up taking her case to the town council (AWWWWW!!!!)
The girl’s dad, Ed Earnest (AWWWWW!!!!) said he just wanted her daughter to learn the value of hard work (AWWWWW!!!!) but the FUZZ was all like, “blah blah, we’re the Cops, it’s dangerous for this kid to be constantly near a busy highway” (BOOOOO!!!!)
This local news story wins a Local Emmy for Localest News Story of the Year (Local):
It is a very grim day in the world of time-consumerism, as reports are surfacing that hackers have gone for the waste-time-at-work jugular this time,performing a DOS attack on our beloved Twitter. Twitter’s last words, one imagines, looked a little like this:
Here’s a scary thought: Now that our society is so reliant on Twitter to communicate with one another, what happens when Twitter ceases to exist? Do we, you know, actually, like, have to, I don’t know, have a, jeez, a conversation… with (gulp) each other? It’ll probably sound a little something… like this:
How do you guys plan on dealing with this sudden and deadly turn of internet events? Please do not reply by saying “Doing actual work”, for then the hacker truly has won. And in a related story, add me! @michcoll is my “handle”.
It’s no secret Mad Men is fantastic and I am dripping with excitement about it’s third season starting on August 16. Oh, to be part of that booze ridden, adultery filled, nicotine drenched world. I dream about it. And in comes the Banana Republic Mad Men Casting Call Contest, which offers the opportunity to win a walk on role on Mad Menby submitting a photo of yourself online.
See, when auditioning for roles in person, I often inadvertently drool on myself, twitch, and get a shaky voice that sounds somewhat like a seal in heat. So, I have resorted to trying to win roles the good old fashioned way… on The Internet. I’ll own it. I figure I should put that very expensive BFA in Acting to good use, and let myself be judged solely on the way I look.
This walk on role on Mad Men could lead to so many other things. Perhaps I could play a dead victim of arson and/or sodomy on any of The Law & Orders. A sad frumpy orderly gnawing on a severed foot in the background of Nurse Jackie. Become the 6th Housewife on TheReal Housewives of NJ. Perhaps I could learn to smile again. Anything.
I did not realize how stiff the competition would be. I look through the other contestants daily. While it is hard to pick out the best ones, and there are certainly many fantastic photographs, I have come up with 15 of my favorite competitors.
I also have taken it up on myself (you are welcome Matthew Weiner, very welcome) to give them names, create story lines for them, and give them a line.
Enjoy….and be warned. Some spoilers may ensue.
1. BETTY’s UNCLE SHERMAN comes to visit the Draper’s.
HIS LINE: “No, go out. I’ll watch the kids.”
2. SALVATORE ROMANO makes a new friend, TREY
HIS LINE: “Nice loafers.”
3. DON DRAPER drinks a ton of bourbon, changes his type, and bangs the hell out of this MILF: AGNES.
HER LINE: “Mother’s milk tastes best.” OR “You have NO idea what’s going on under this jacket.”
4. PETE CAMPBELL meets a seductive stewardess en route to Macao, SAM.
HIS/HER LINE: “Would you like more nuts?”
5. BETTY is haunted by the GHOST OF CHRISTMAS FUTURE.
HER LINE: “Hi. I’m Jeanne Tripplehorn.”
6. SALVATORE ROMANO gets reallllllly into watersports with CHAD.
HIS LINE: “Yes.”
7. JOAN trains a new secretary: MS. MATCH-ILYN MATCH-ROE
HER LINE: “Well, Yellow Ms. Halloway! It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
8. PEGGY is fraught with anxiety over the sexual tension between her and the Priest, and everywhere she turns feels the hot burn of passion. She is transfixed by this, MAN AT BAR #1…
HIS LINE: “Gusta lo que ves joven? Burbuja Extremo posterior. Mmmm.”
9. ROGER STERLING meets a young lady at the bar: GLADYS.
HER LINE: “I’m 32 years old. I can’t go through another divorce”
10. STERLING COOPER throws a Holiday Party, and all the ENTHUSIASTIC CO-WORKERS come out of the woodwork. This could go one of two ways:
THEIR LINE: “Good Punch, huh?
11. SALVATORE ROMANO’S new friend, CHIP, teaches him how to snap.
HIS LINE: “Nice loafers”
12. SALVATOR ROMANO Settles.
HIS LINE: (said slurred) “I’ve ner dumb these before eeeeeeither.”
13. BETTY makes a new friend at the supermarket, APRIL.
HER LINE: “Do You Listen to Cat Power?”
14. DON DRAPER watches SYVLIA play with her pussy.
HER LINE: (No line needed)
And Finally….
15. THE ENTIRE STAFF OF STERLING COOPER AND EVERY SINGLE SUPPORTING CAST MEMBER go to a party and meet their new favorite friend, who they all shower with hugs and accolades and several glasses of scotch and soda. He becomes their Truman Capote of sorts. They. Love. Him. More than they can ever say. The camera picks this up in their eyes. They all look aroused and delighted. His name is SEBASTIAN SLONE.
HIS LINE: “So then I walk right up to him, and I say ‘Freddy, you’re cut off.’ And he spits at me. Right in the eye. Luckily, I had these specs on. Cost me a pretty penny, too. Who ever said you can measure the worth of man by the distance of his spit. Right?
Lights a cigarette, addresses Joan without looking at her
Yes Joan, I’d love another drink. Betty, looking lovely as ever dollface. Sure Don, I’d love play golf! Move into your house? Oh I couldn’t. I have to get back to Poughkeepsie to take care of my mother. 95 years old and she’s still built like a racing horse…but with bigger teeth! I AM TERRIBLE, Harry, but at lease I didn’t cheat on my wife.
The whole room gets silent. Peggy gets up
Where are you going? To take take care of your kid?
Everyone looks down at their drink
We all know, Peggy. And we love ya for it! Good to know Pete’s not shooting blanks.
The all laugh, hysterically. The tension is broken. DON DRAPER picks SEBASTIAN up , holds him above the crowd and declares emphatically that BETTY and HE are adopting SEBASTIAN, as he is the ONLY thing that can make them a true family. SEBASTIAN lights a cigarette.
I better go…but I’ll see you all soon.
The End.
So, friends. Go and give me some stars. Do it for Sterling Cooper.
Israeli-Argentinian conductor Daniel Barenboim (R) conducts the West-Eastern Divan orchestra during a rehearsal in Sevilla on August 4, 2009. Barenboim says he is pleased with the path which the orchestra... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 6 Aug 2009 | 10:14 am
Members of the West-Eastern Divan orchestra paint a board with messages against the Israeli West-Bank barrier, after a rehearsal in Sevilla on August 4, 2009. Israeli-Argentinian conductor Daniel Barenboim... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 6 Aug 2009 | 10:14 am
Israeli-Argentinian conductor Daniel Barenboim conducts during a rehearsal in Sevilla on August 4, 2009. Barenboim says he is pleased with the path which the orchestra made up of young musicians from both... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 6 Aug 2009 | 10:14 am
Front Page: Duo announce new distribution company -- Bill Pohlad and Bob Berney have unveiled details for their long-planned distribution company, to be named Apparition.
Steven Tyler was airlifted to a hospital early Thursday after falling from the stage during a concert at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in western South Dakota, according to the Rapid City Journal newspaper.
Over in merry old England, a Rottweiler has garnered international newspaper headlines after she gave birth to an astounding 18 puppies. EIGHT. TEEN. This has shattered the previous (adorable) record of a 13 puppy litter.
But looking at the desperation in this poor dog’s eyes… the stomach hanging loose and tired… the babies. So many babies. We can’t help but think we’ve seen this before…
It’s hard not to laugh at anything John C. Reilly says these days, even if that thing is “Wanna become a vampire?”, but after Walk Hard and the Steve Brule videos, anything Reilly is in becomes a comedy, intentional or not.
I’m guessing Cirque du Freak was originally pitched as a regular John C. Reilly comedy, then the studio demanded they just toss in some vampires at the last second. “Also, work the Twitter in there somehow!”
When a trailer starts out with “It was a normal, ordinary, predictable life,” usually the life then becomes not normal, ordinary, and predictable. That is a thing that I have noticed!
There's nothing terribly unusual about Mike Gardner's home in Cumming, Georgia -- except in the basement where there lives a world of action figures. He's one of many hardcore "G.I. Joe" collectors who rediscovered the figures in the 1990s when Hasbro started releasing new versions of the classic 1960s and 1970s models.
French film legend Catherine Deneuve (pictured earlier this year) was booed by an angry audience demanding its money back after a stage performance at a cultural festival in Italy, Italian media have reported... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 6 Aug 2009 | 5:25 am
AP - Billie Dawn is the quintessential not-so-dumb blonde, an ex-chorus cutie who through hard work and a good heart upends the bad guys and helps uphold the honor of honest government.
People sit on a bench in front of the Sacre-Coeur church in Montmartre in Paris. Thousands massed in the shadow of one of Paris' most iconic monuments for a magical moonlight screening kicking off a film... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 6 Aug 2009 | 4:21 am
French actress Catherine Deneuve arrives at the Saint-Germain-des-Pres church to attend a funeral mass for French composer and singer Alain Bashung in Paris, March 2009. Deneuve was booed by an angry audience... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 6 Aug 2009 | 4:18 am
Well, it's nice to know that Jon Gosselin isn't throwing the mother of his eight children under the bus when he's out of the public eye.
"People grow apart, people...
You didn't have to be a Brat Packer to identify with the characters in John Hughes' movies. Really, you just had to have feelings.
Molly Ringwald, the poster girl for '80s...
As Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore have shown time and time and time and (Lord, help us) time again, celebrities loves them some Twitter. You know, it's a chance to connect with fans in a way...
Is Jamie-Lynn Sigler a secret Hollywood peacemaker?
E!'s own Chelsea Handler sat down with Sigler, who appears on Entourage and dates Turtle, aka Jerry Ferrara, and asked about...
Good news, Harvard graduates! Your esteemed university has handed over its vaunted name to Wearwolf Group, a garment maker that plans to "take advantage of a taste for seersucker, khakis, loafers and other 'preppy' attire" with a line of clothing called "Harvard Yard." According to Wearwolf, which has done work for other prestigious brands in the past like Jos. A. Bank, trousers will start at $195, shirts will retail for $160 and up, and sportcoats will go for $495, and they will all "reflect Harvard's quality, heritage and excellence." Even better: It shouldn't be long before the university is able to begin serving hot meals to students once again. [
Thanks to Matthew Broderick, no one ever had to save Ferris from obscurity. And it was John Hughes who got Broderick to twist and shout into teen-idol history.
The star of the 1986...
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