AP - The jury in the second-degree murder trial of rapper Corey "C-Murder" Miller plans to continue deliberations.
AP - The jury in the second-degree murder trial of rapper Corey "C-Murder" Miller plans to continue deliberations.
AP - Brooks & Dunn are done.
 In Entertainment | Quick Takes Los Angeles Times The best-selling country duo posted a message on their website Monday saying they've agreed to "call it a day" after 20 years of making music together. Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn thanked fans and said it was "just time" to part -- but not before one ... Country duo Brooks & Dunn to break up Brooks & Dunn call it quits. (Cowgirls, commence crying!) Music stops for country duo Brooks & Dunn |
 China Daily | 'Jon & Kate Plus Eight' recap: Life's a Beach Entertainment Weekly Welcome back, Jon and Kate watchers. I don't know about you, but I found it a little tough to watch last night's episode without thinking of Kate Gosselin's latest appearance on The Today Show. My colleague Annie Barrett put it best ... CORRECTED - "Jon & Kate" star says TV show didn't cause divorce Kate Gosselin tells her side of story on 'Today' Kate Gosselin 'shocked' by Jon's escapades |
 E! Online | "Octomom" Footage to Get Primetime Showcase on Fox ABC News LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Fox will air a two-hour documentary special on Nadya Suleman, "Octomom: The Incredible Unseen Footage," on August 19. The program draws from seven months of exclusive access to Suleman, starting with ... Fox to air 'Octomom' special Fox to air two-hour 'Octomom' special Fox network to air two-hour `Octomom' special |
AP - A judge greenlit a major Michael Jackson movie deal Monday, and the film is scheduled to be in theaters later this year. The accompanying Michael Jackson merchandise will have to wait for now.
 MTV UK | 'Gossip Girl' Star Chace Crawford Thanks Fans For Screaming MTV.com Teen Choice Award winner says, 'It was nice to accept the award straight from the fans.' By Jocelyn Vena, additional reporting by Larry Carroll It seems like "Gossip Girl" star Chace Crawford is definitely having a moment — in fact, he had several at ... Twilight Star's Naked Pics Leak 'Twilight' star threatens legal action over leaked photos Ashley Greene Threatens Legal Action over Nude Pictures |
Here's something nice and pleasant for the end of your day: "Lust for Life" (not a cover), a jaunty little number from two San Franciscan dudes who call themselves Girls. Clocking in at just under two and a half minutes, it's a successful attempt at capturing that woozy, happy feeling when a night of lazy drinking turns into a morning of looking for breakfast. It's all clean, jangly guitars, subtle "pah-pah-pah" backup vocals, and, best of all, cheeky guilty-pleasure lyrics: “Yeah, I’m just crazy and fucked in the head / But maybe if I really try with all of my heart / Then I can make a brand-new start, in love, with you.” It comes from their upcoming debut album, Album, which we’re hoping all sounds exactly like this song. (The accompanying video — featuring attractive hipsters just having so much fun — we're not as sold on.)
Watch the video here
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Filed Under: girls, music, right-click
• The hot dog vendor in front of the Metropolitan Museum has been given the boot. Why, you ask? Shockingly, it seems he's been having some trouble coming up with the $53,558 he has to pay the city in rent each month. [NYDN]
• A roundup of restaurants that just opened, or will be open this week. [TONY]
• Frederick's Downtown closed last week; now Frederick Lesort's Eurotrashy Madison Avenue location has suffered the same fate, alas. [Eater]
• A former assistant to Tavern on the Green owner Jennifer LeRoy claims she was fired from the restaurant after she revealed she was pregnant. [NYP]
• The Wicked Wolf on First Avenue is closing to make way for a second 2nd Avenue Deli, which, once again, won't be on Second Ave. [Eater]
• Want to start your own food truck? It's not as easy as it looks. [GS]
• A few months ago, Gordon Ramsay's food empire was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy; now he reports he's in expansion mode once again. [WSJ]
• The favorite burger chain of leading chefs? In-N-Out, by a landslide. [GS]
Last night at some Nickelodeon-sponsored awards show, Hugh Jackman's X-Men Origins: Wolverine beat out Star Trek and Fast & Furious for the prestigious Choice Movie Action Adventure trophy and he announced the setting for the upcoming sequel. Upon accepting the award (which is also a surfboard), Jackman lifted it overhead and declared, "Who knows, maybe Wolverine will use one of these when he heads to Japan," which seems like a hilariously contrived reason for Jackman to take off his shirt in a movie again. [Movies Blog/MTV]
Read more posts by Lane Brown
Filed Under: hugh jackman, jackman, movies, wolverine, x-men origins: wolverine
Nothing goes better with an acoustic version of "Poker Face" than an elephant made of brown hair, which is perhaps why Lady Gaga wore just that atop her head on Japanese television recently. Bluesy piano music just doesn't have quite the same effect when, oh, sparklers are shooting out of the performer's boobs. But the elephant hairpiece wasn't nearly as delightful as Gaga's Kermit coat or her unicorn braid or her face mask. It was just kind of creepy. Not that all of the other crazy things she wears aren't creepy, but we can't find any redeeming irony in this. It just sits there like a dead bird or something. Clearly she's exhausted the crazy-hair motif. Surely she could expand on the aforementioned sparkler accessories.
"Poker Face": Elephant-Hair-Topiary Acoustic Version [E! Online]
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: hair, just pants, lady gaga
After enduring what can only be described as a heartbreaking summer for the entire Jackson clan, it appears that things just might be turning around for the family. At Friday night's Los Angeles Dodgers game, Jermaine Jackson ended up leaving with a souvenir that he didn't even have to pay for. Yes, that's right, he was lucky enough to catch a foul ball during the second inning! [MLB.com via Idolator]
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: baseball, jermaine jackson, sports, take me out to the ballgame
“If Mike shaves his head, young hip vote is his: victory assured,” Cory Booker, the young and indeed hip mayor of Newark, New Jersey, wrote on his Twitter feed this weekend, of New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. Booker then urged the mayor to shave again on Meet the Press last night. “It’s time for a preemptive strike,” he told him. But the mayor seemed skeptical, and frankly, so were we: Bloomberg is not a big man. Completely bald, we imagined, he could risk looking not like Bruce Willis or Will Smith, but like one of those hairless mice they breed for science experiments. But rather than make a judgment based on supposition, we had resident Photoshop artiste extraordinaire Jed Egan whip up a picture of what a bald Bloomberg would look like, and took it into the Daily Intel situation room for careful assessment.
Photo-illustration: Jed Egan; Photos: Getty Images
Well, how about that. Hizzoner actually looks pretty good. He even stole Bruce Willis's twentysomething wifemodel! Now that's what we call getting the youth vote.
N.J. Mayor Offers Bald Advice for Bloomberg [Washington Wire/WSJ]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: bloomberg, cory booker, mayor bloomberg, meet the press, michael bloomberg, newark, the third terminator
Calvin Klein has a knack for producing some of the world's hottest images of some of the world's hottest men. They'll continue this community service to the globe by finding the hottest men in the countries of England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and Sweden. That's a total of nine of the finest specimens of European male — with accents, no less. The winners of the pan-European male-model search will appear in ads for Calvin's new Steel underwear line. Each new style will come in colors based on the flags of the nine countries. Jamie Dornan (pictured here) will judge the competition along with his agency, Select Model Management, which will award the winner a one-year contract. European men can enter the contest online or in Calvin Klein stores. The hot men of this country will sadly be unfairly excluded from flag-manty ad fame this time around. We suggest they march up to the Calvin Klein offices wearing nothing but flags around their waists in protest. It's hot out, so it's a good day for it. And with all that humidity you'll arrive with just the right amount of sheen.
Calvin Klein Underwear Kicks Off Male Model Search [WWD]
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: calvin klein, jamie dornan, models, scantily clad hotties
Did she and Michael have a real relationship?
No.
Then why are there all these articles about how they went out for three years and now they've broken up?
That's some crazy person going [Starts miming finger-typing on computer with crazy, puzzled look on face] ... That's someone going, "Eh, I've got to write something today. Arururuurruurrrfaaaa. How about this?" I thought that was very funny that people were like, "Yeah, they really broke up." Uh, yeah, and they really went out, too. It's not unfounded to say that. It's just kind of funny.
Have you ever done a bit during an interview and had it reported as fact?
Michael and I tried to do a bit about Gilligan's Island when we were at Sundance. He was there for this movie and I was there for Adventureland. I was in an interview, and someone said, "Now Michael Cera says that he is going to be playing Gilligan in Gilligan's Island and that you might be in it." And the minute they said that, I thought, "Oh, okay Michael, you just passed this to me?" And I was like, "Yeah, yeah, you know, I'm hoping to play the Skipper, or really just any part." And this guy was really like, "Wow! So what's it going to be like?" And I was like, "Well, it's going to be really violent. That whole shipwreck scene is going to be like Paul Greengrass directing Castaway." I was like, "It's just gonna be REAL. You're in the boat. It's just ... no music ... just fucking visceral, like, Bloody Sunday. Paul Greengrass! Not like fucking Bourne movies. Just like fucking ... It's going to be crazy."
Did you come up with a plotline for the Skipper?
No. By the time I started saying that, I could tell the guy was thinking, "Fuck you, Michael Cera." The other thing I did was for the Hot Rod DVD – I did a British accent the whole time just because we were shooting late and I was trying to make Danny McBride laugh. And now I have people coming up to me going [Adopts a British accent], "Hey, where are you from?"
Okay, now I have to ask about MacGruber. How is that going to work as a movie?
I read the script, and it's like a hard-R comedy, and it totally works. It's hilarious. It's kind of in the vein of, like, eighties action movies, like there's a very definitive bad guy. I don't know if I can talk about the plot too much, but it's hilarious. The thing that kind of blew my mind about it is that it's like a HARD-R movie. I was like, "What is this? This is fucking ugly. You guys are really going to do this?" And they're like, "Yup." And I was like, "That is awesome. That is fucking hilarious."
Aren't the sketches, like, 30 seconds long? How do you make that a movie?
It's a really funny character. I don't think that's a stretch.
But doesn't everybody die at the end of every sketch?
No, they just blow up. They don't necessarily die, because they keep being in more sketches.
Is it all explosions?
I'm not allowed to say!
What else are you doing on your SNL hiatus?
Trying to be in New York with my wife [Maggie, who is expecting a baby in September] as much as possible.
How's that going?
It's awesome. Doing a lot of waking up and going out to grab ice cream late at night.
Does she have mood swings?
No, my wife is the sweetest, most even-keeled person ever. A mood swing to her is like, "Oh, I'm uncomfortable." Know what I mean? She's like, "Honey, I'm uncomfortable," and I'm like, "Whoa! Fucking Maggie just yelled at me!"
Will your kid have a weird name, like Six-Pack or Bronx?
I'm naming him Lorne.
Read more posts by Jada Yuan
Filed Under: bill hader, movies, paper heart
In The American Spectator today Ben Stein theorizes about why he was fired from the New York Times. He does not appear to take at face value their excuse that he shilled for an online credit-report company and thereby caused an apparent conflict of interest. Generally, the column has been interpreted as an accusation that it was his anti-Obama views that got him ousted, but Stein actually lists a bunch of different reasons if you look closely. See which one you think is most likely:
• "The first real super problem I had was when the movie I narrated and co-wrote [the anti-Darwin film] Expelled — No Intelligence Allowed, was in progress."
• "I made a new set of antagonists by repeatedly and in detail criticizing the real power in this country, the 'investment bank' Goldman Sachs, for what seemed to me questionable behavior."
• "I started criticizing Mr. Obama quite sharply over his policies and practices."
• "I had done a commercial for an Internet aggregating company called FreeScore. This commercial offered people a week of free access to their credit scores and then required them to pay for further such access."
• "The Times also disliked Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Hmm."
Seems pretty obvious to us.
Expelled From the New York Times [American Spectator]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: ben stein, ink-stained wretches, media, new york times
Well, at least that's what New York Times op-ed columnist Ross Douthat seems to think. Once you get past all the pot smoking and dick jokes that run through the Apatow canon, Douthat argues that "No contemporary figure has done more than Apatow to rebrand social conservatism for a younger generation that associates it primarily with priggishness and puritanism." [NYT]
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: intriguing theories, judd apatow
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: in vogue, mario testino, sienna miller, vogue
There isn't much of a difference between a dog and a two-year toddler, according to new research. Both are on the "same mental plane," according to a psychology professor and dog expert who reports that like two-year-olds, "dogs can experience fear, anger, happiness and disgust, but not guilt." (Humans don't experience guilt until the age of four or so.) Regrettably, the study did not look into cases in which the parents were operating on the same mental plane as the toddler and dog, but we'll assume the results of that study will be coming along any day now. [Yahoo! News]
AP - So let's try to get this straight, here.
Keana Texeira wore a red minidress with trailing red ... tentacles to the Teen Choice Awards yesterday.
Is the look edgy or a total miss?
Read more posts by Amina Akhtar
Filed Under: keana texeira, look of the day
"Just because it's a summer fling doesn't mean you can walk around with the fragrance of someone else's perfume on your collar. If you don't have time to wash your shirt completely, just throw it in the dryer on high heat for about two minutes along with a strongly scented fabric-softener sheet. The high heat should evaporate any alcohol that was in the perfume and the fabric-softener sheet will help mask any remaining stench." Er, thanks, Daily News! Any tips on getting crusty stains out of delicate fabrics? [NYDN via Cityfile]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: daily news, how to cheat on your spouse by mort zuckerman, media, perfume-stained wretches
 ABC News | 'GI Joe' bruised by bad reviews Los Angeles Times "GI Joe" opened this weekend to good numbers but bad reviews. Paramount did not screen the movie for the mainstream critics in advance, forcing them to see "GI Joe" over the weekend. Few of them found the film to be worth the wait. ... Review: “GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra” is Amazing in its Goofiness `GI Joe' rolls to box-office victory with $54.7M 'GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra' Strikes At Box-Office #1 |
Hand modeling may sound like a glamorous job. You're getting paid $1,200 a day to spread the latest margarine on corn muffins, wash dishes with the trendiest new dish soap, and maybe even hold a fruit for the cover of the hot new Twilight book. But it's a hard, unforgiving job that requires gloves, and, perhaps most important, lots of lotion. Parts model Ashly Covington doesn't cook, clean, or engage in any manicure-threatening activity. She spoke to CNN:
"Most people can walk away from work when they're done with a job, but parts models can't, because [our parts] have to be flawless. I moisturize 20 to 30 times a day, and wear gloves 90 percent of the time," she said. "When it's your livelihood, you've got to think hands first."
A seasoned professional like Covington puts not only moisturizer, but soul into her work.
"I was doing a shoot where I had to pick up a cheeseburger and bring it to camera, but they wanted it to be the most delectable cheeseburger," Covington said. "So I said 'mmmm,' and really conveyed the emotion entirely to get it reflected in my hands."
Hand model James Furino describes the pressure clients like Smirnoff Vodka put on parts models.
"They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in pre-production and people are flying in all over the country so you can get to that exact moment where you split a muffin, and it's [on] you," he said.
Furino and Covington spend their lives in the shadows as hands without faces. But Kimbra Hickey, who became the hand model for the Twilight cover five years ago, signs autographs for fans at bookstores and re-creates her cover pose for their amusement. She now tours with Twilight conventions. And that is the power of Twilight — to put a face to the world's most glamorous hands.
Their hands are worth $1,200 a day [CNN]
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: models, movies, put your hands up, twilight
At the end of every punchy column, Post gossip queen Cindy Adams almost always relays a little story. Whether it be about celebrities or just normal people experiencing something awkward on the elevator together, the anecdote (and column itself) ends with the bolded chyron: "Only in New York, kids! Only in New York." Sometimes she does a variation on the theme, like today's example:
AUTHOR Bruce Little field found a 1995 Social Security brochure. It states all calls are confidential and, to ensure "accurate and courteous service," a rep will monitor random conversations and that the phone number's 800-537-7005. He called. He got a porn line that said to dial 800-927-TALK to talk to "hot girls for $0.99 per minute . . . horny students, housewives and working girls . . . all the explicit hot talk you can handle." Who knew Social Security offered such benefits?! Only in the US government, kids, only in the US government.
The stories never really mean anything but are usually kind of funny, or at least emblematic of Adams's unique style. And now that style will take to the stage — well, a makeshift stage in her Park Avenue penthouse, at least. For four nights this September, to benefit the ASPCA, Adams will perform Only in New York, Kids! for 50 paying guests, in the comfort of her own living room. The one-woman show will tell her own life story and include dish on the celebrities she's come to know so well. Some of you may not be old enough to remember Adams on The Gossip Show, one of E!'s first original programs, which featured Adams, Liz Smith, Michael Musto, Army Archerd, and a string of other national columnists. It was great, and Adams was just as plucky on it as she comes across in her columns. We're willing to bet that the $250 you'll have to shell out for a ticket to her show will be well worth it. Plus, it comes with a free tour of her apartment, which used to be owned by Doris Duke, and is reportedly only haunted by the ghost of her famous Yorkie, Jazzy, when there is a full moon.
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: cindy adams, gossip gals, media, performances
Not only have House lawmakers proposed blowing half a billion dollars of taxpayer money on eight new jets to ferry them around the world—the same taxpayer money that auto companies and banks were scolded for spending on their own corporate jets a few months ago, of course—now it turns out that the government is probably significantly overpaying for the planes, too. [WSJ]
Do you like cat videos? If you don’t, then why are you on the internet? The internet is nothing but cat videos and electronic mails with tiny cat videos embedded into them. I’m just kidding — everyone likes cat videos, so that wasn’t a real hypothetical.
Because you like cat videos, check out this three-minute mini-documentary on the Moscow Cat Theater, which profiles the two or three or seven goofy dudes who make cats do constant, ridiculous, adorable things that’ll have you saying “Awwww, that cat just ________!!!” with the blank being something adorable it just did. Also, fast jazzy Russian-ish music is playing in the background, and that’s always good.
Now that’s what I call a CAT Theater!!! That’s not a pun, there seriously are a lot of cats in this theater:
(via BuzzFeed)
“There were times we could have been tougher and pushed harder and gotten more,” Steve Feinberg, whose private-equity firm, Cerberus, lost around $6 billion on Chrysler when the company went bankrupt this year. “[B]ut it wasn’t the right thing for the country ... Maybe what we should have done was not bought it.” [NYT]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: auto industry, business, chrysler, the greatest depression, understatements
HAIR
• Kristen Stewart's hairstyle from the Teen Choice Awards required three types of hair gel. [Beauty Blogging Junkie]
• Kat Von D showed off her new blonde locks last night at the Teen Choice Awards. [BellaSugar]
• Make curls last longer by starting out with ringlets in the beginning of the day and then letting them loosen naturally. An obvious (yet still useful) tip. [Glamour]
SKIN
• Genevieve Jones says she softens her lips by scrubbing them with a toothbrush dabbed in a homemade mixture of honey, lemon, sugar, and a dash of cayenne. [Beauty Banter]
FRAGRANCE
• Bebe will launch its own fragrance later this month. It features notes of mango, sweet pea, leafy tuberose, black jasmine, night blooming rose, sandalwood, musk, and cedar. [Now Smell This]
Read more posts by Sharon Clott
Filed Under: beauty, beauty marks, fragrance, genevieve jones, hair, kat von d, kristen stewart, skin
Tales of Kiefer Sutherland’s wild drinking nights and mornings and afternoons and dusks are no stranger to the tabloids. It’s almost sort of a game at this point: Find Kiefer Drunk! Will he be on the floor, or perhaps in a nearby Christmas tree or maybe strapped to an Armenian missile? That’s all part of the fun.
Thankfully, all the inner-pickling has done nothing to detract from Kiefer’s sexiness, or the fact that he’s a bona fide television star. (The same alcoholic rule of thumb worked for the recently deceased Bea Arthur, who upon learning that you weren’t allowed to drink from a vodka bottle while driving, immediately went and had her windows tinted.) Now, we get word from a local Los Angeles bartender who claims that Kiefer might be a drunk, but he’s a generous one at that.
Our bartending source was working a party one night in Los Angeles which found Mr. K. Sutherland in attendance. Kiefer is only allowed to pay in cash at this point, as his credit cards were taken away from him once it was discovered that bartenders were scamming his cards while he drank, ringing up thousands on his tab while Kiefer was none-the-wiser This particular bartender discovered, however, that cash had not taken away from Kiefer’s generosity. In fact, for every glass of J&B on ice served to Sutherland, he would trade a cool $100 bill in return. That’s right: 100 bones for a glass of your run of the mill scotch.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you become a functioning alcoholic-slash-portable-party-person loved by ladies and men the world over. Also, can you imagine how dramatic his A&E Intervention would be? Donald Sutherland’s letter alone would be on a Terms of Endearment 2 level of sadness.
(photo via Cityrag)
On any given day this year, media outlets have been packed with an unending stream of stories about people, communities, and businesses that have been ruined or stunted by the recession. These tales of woe can catapult you into a downward spiral of depression by the sheer amount of them. But if you read them carefully, you'll notice that while some of these tales are of serious strife — of jobs lost and hospitals struggling and charities afflicted — at least two out of three of them are things the culture never needed in the first place. Like the Clear travel pass. Or flower arrangements in the shape of Bentleys. And why were the Amish even purchasing high-end television sets, anyway? They're Amish! It can, however, be hard to tell from the headlines which things you should actually care about losing, and which are the result of a necessary correction to the bubble economy. So today we decided to perform an exercise, and read all three of The Wall Street Journal's fresh new recession stories in order to render judgment and present our findings to you. So: The loss of one of the things here could have actual meaningful consequences. Which one do you think it is?
(A) High-end Clothing for Children
(B) Jobs for Teenagers
(C) Mats Made of Human Hair
The answer (after the jump) may surprise you!
If you guessed (C) Mats made of human hair, you are correct!
The Journal story is about Matter of Trust, a nonprofit that recycles human hair into small mats that can be used to clean up oil spills (human hair being especially good at soaking up oil). Back in 2007, Matter of Trust's mats were used to clean up 53,000 pounds of oil when a Korean tanker crashed into the San Francisco Bay Bridge. The came the recession:
Last year, she noticed that textile manufacturers that make felt mats ... were closing. By October, she couldn't find a manufacturer that could inexpensively make the mats, which cost between $1 and $4 apiece to produce.
The other stories are about teenagers who haven't been able to find summer jobs, and $995 Peter Som dresses for children that have been going unsold. Let's hope there's no oil spills this year!
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: business, the economy, the greatest depression, the recession, things we lost in the greatest depression
Memo Pad: Sales Preview [WWD]
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: eff the recession, elle, glamour, in style, jennifer connely, marie claire, michelle obama, miley cyrus, vogue
Hooray! Billboard has confirmed last week's made-up-seeming rumors: Reformed Jew Bob Dylan will briefly interrupt his crotchety musings on mortality to bring us his first-ever Christmas album. As fans of both his serious records and the practical jokes he plays on his fan base between releases (like those times he shot a Victoria's Secret commercial, wrote a song with Michael Bolton, and converted to Christianity), we're pretty happy about this news despite our intense hatred of Christmas. According to Bully Pulpit, the site that first broke the story, the tracks recorded so far are covers — "Must Be Santa," "Here Comes Santa Claus," "I'll Be Home for Christmas," and "O Little Town of Bethlehem" — which means, we hope, that this will be as funny, intentionally slipshod, and Self Portrait-y as we're imagining. As excited as we are to see the cover (Columbia Records is welcome to use our photo-illustration), we're even more excited to find out the name of this thing. Will it be simple and thoughtless (A Bob Dylan Christmas, maybe)? Silly and self-referential (North Pole Skyline or Sleigh Lady Sleigh, perhaps)? Or just something random and totally inscrutable? Leave your guesses in the comments.
Bob Dylan Christmas Album Coming [Billboard]
Read more posts by Lane Brown
Filed Under: bob dylan, christmas, music
How badly did Democrats in Albany want to lure turncoat senator Pedro Espada Jr. back to their side? Well, we know they crowned him majority leader of the Senate. Now, word is coming in that they put his son, Pedro G. Espada, on the Senate payroll. The son, a former Bronx assemblyman and City Council member who was voted out of office twice, started last week as "deputy director of intergovernmental relations," a $120,000-a-year job, according to Austin Shafran, a Senate spokesman. He's not replacing anybody; it's a newly created position.
"The conference wants to use Pedro's vast experience in the government and private sector to help improve communications and cooperation between the State Senate and various city, state, and federal agencies," he said. So what's that experience? Aside from his stint in elected office, Espada helped start the "Neighborhood Empowerment Center" in the Bronx, organizing "job training programs," says Shafran. He vehemently denies that the hiring was connected to the July negotiations between Democrats and Espada's legally embattled father, whose defection to the Republican side brought Albany to a monthlong standstill.
Read more posts by Jacob Gershman
Filed Under: oh albany!, pedro espada, pedro g. espada, state senate
AP - "Intervention" (Putnam, 387 pages, $25.95), by Robin Cook: Ever productive Robin Cook is out with his 29th novel in some 30 years. Is it his usual one, exploring a hot medical topic? Not quite. In "Intervention," the author attempts to combine two genres medical and religious thrillers. Unfortunately, the result is less than stellar.
AP - "Short Girls" (Viking, 292 pages, $25.95), by Bich Minh Nguyen: Bich Minh Nguyen enriches her first novel with such incisive personal and cultural observations that she creates a whole much greater than its parts.
Remember when Who Wants to Be a Millionaire launched some ten years ago and propelled Regis Philbin to superstardom? Well, it seems like American audiences aren't exactly crazy with nostalgia for Philbin's monochromatic shirt-tie combination; last night's prime-time debut of the special eleven-episode run placed fourth in the ratings and was beaten out by back-to-back reruns of The Simpsons. Our advice? Better find yourself some slumdogs, Reege! [Variety]
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: abc, comebacks, disappointments, regis philbin, tv, who wants to be a millionaire
Right Wing’s Anti-Health Care Icon Is Uninsured, Seeking Donations To Pay For Care [Think Progress]
Read more posts by Dan Amira
Filed Under: halth care, health carnage, kenneth gladney
SALES
STARTING TOMORROW
• TheOutnet.com is hosting a sale on Emilio Pucci clothing and accessories. The Falling Star dress is $563 (originally $1,875), a cropped taffeta jacket is $648 (originally $2,590), and a duster coat is $480 (originally $1,600). Online only.
• Diane Von Furstenberg swimwear and shoes are 70 percent off. The Rock Goddess string bikini is $55.50 (originally $185), the Mecca shoes are $84 (originally $280), and the Goddess shoes are $76.50 (originally $255). Online only.
• Lauren Merkin handbags are 40 to 70 percent off at the summer sample sale. The Tatum bubble lambskin bag is $150 (originally $325), the Diana metallic lambskin bag is $75 (originally $250), and the Edie quilted lambskin bag is $200 (originally $450). Through 8/14. 231 W. 29th St., nr. Seventh Ave., Ste. 201 (212-239-2459); T—F (11—7), S (11—4).
ENDING TOMORROW
• Lauren Wolf's sterling-silver and steel jewelry is up to 70 percent off at TheSavvy.com. Online only.
Read more posts by Lauren Murrow
Filed Under: fashion calendar, sales, shopping
Michael Bloomberg first mentioned he had a little thing for Salma Hayek a few years ago when he suggested he'd move into Gracie Mansion if Hayek moved in with him. It looks like the mayor is still clinging to the fantasy. According to Joyce Purnick, author of Mike Bloomberg: The Mogul and the Mayor, [deputy mayor] Patti Harris "has been known to scold him for his sly appreciations of the female form," and yet he still slips into "lusty reminiscences about celebrity conquests and equally colorful fantasies about how he would like to entertain Salma Hayek in Gracie Mansion." Could this be the reason Bloomberg has been increasingly "short-tempered, scolding, even petulant" in recent months? Let's hope someone gets these two in a room together so we can find out once and for all. [NYDN]
In the three-plus years since the Strokes released their last record, First Impressions of Earth, the band has stayed incredibly active. Unfortunately for fans of the Strokes, though, all of said action has been limited to side projects: Rhythm guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. has turned out two (mostly well-received) solo records, bassist Nikolai Fraiture released an album with his side project Nickel Eye, and drummer Fabrizio Moretti got behind the kit for Little Eye's 2008 self-titled record. And while it doesn't look like there will be a new Strokes record any time in the near future, lead singer Julian Casablancas has been holed up in the studio, working on a solo LP he's tentatively titled Phrazes for the Young. In this incredibly rare on-camera interview, his first in three years, he talks about the inspiration for his solo record (classical music!), his current musical inspirations (Beirut, Beach House), and what we can expect from the fourth album from the Strokes ("It's gonna be pretty good, I think, pretty damn good").
Julian Casablancas' "First On-Camera Interview In Three Years" [Stereogum]
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: comebacks, julian casablancas, music, side projects, the strokes
In the last century, star-makers looked for talent at hangouts like Schwab's. These days, folks apparently go hunting in the comments section. HSBC has hired Daily Intel commenting regulars Martell, ScottRose, Rebecca Rose, Till507, and Wallfly to take their act professional: You can see them commenting on various topics in the bank's new "Soapbox" ad, which is hovering around at the bottom of our website. Now they're in The Wall Street Journal, and Martell tells us they're even getting paid! If you have something to say about the weird meta-ness of this, or want to complain about not being chosen yourself (ComfortablySmug, NYAaron, IsGoodAtMath, we know you must be hurting a little), let it out in the comments. Just be sure to craft your comment carefully. If you are good enough, you might be discovered, too. [Digits/WSJ]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: advertising, commenters, hsbc, our commenters are weird but we like them anyway, weird things
Baby Elephants. Just swangin’ their trunks around and having their little elephant hairs blow in the breeze and getting stuck in holes in Thailand. This is exactly what happened to the little guy above, nicknamed Stinky, he with the serious personface. Rescuers worked 3 hours to get his heavy baby ass out of a drain, taking exactly 2.5 hours to photograph the hilarity. Though, judging by the cushy positioning and suspicious expression, something tells us Stinky didn’t so much mind the break. Good news, he was lifted out unharmed, and no doubt a TLC special about the ordeal is in the works.
While the above image has already been made the desktop background on no less than three of our co-workers’ computers, it’s sort of a toss-up in our “Favorite Photo of the Day” competition with the following snapshot of a squirrel photobombing an otherwise trite vacation snapshot. Urlesque assures us it is real and not ’shopped:
Liz Claiborne is one of countless fashion companies struggling now. But will Coco Rocha buying groceries or walking down a particularly plaid block among mere mortals be enough to help the company sell apparel this fall?
Photo: Courtesy of Liz Claiborne
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: campaign trail, coco rocha, liz claiborne, models
Nothing like the Teen Choice Awards to bring together the two biggest icons in current youth popular culture: The Jonas Brothers and Mike Tyson. Watch below as Tyson gives Joe Jonas a haircut in a bit I like to call “Well Done, Mike Tyson’s Agent.”
At least he didn’t bite Joe Jonas’ ear off!!!! Remember, he did that to Evander Holyfield like fifteen years ago? I’m saying that I am glad that he did not do that again but to Joe Jonas. Cough.
Once a week, Daily Intel peeks behind doors left slightly ajar. This week, the newly deflowered actor: 24, Morningside Heights, gay, in a relationship.
DAY ONE
9:30 a.m.: So glad my boyfriend didn’t t stay over last night, so I can play with myself this morning. Fantasize about a guy I saw at an audition whose pants were too loose and revealed his serious lack of underwear. Butt cleavage is my religion.
2:37 p.m.: Do a quick scan of every male passenger on my subway car, then stare at my favorite one for the remainder of the ride. Straight hipster with an uncalculated, breezy stylishness. My lust is crippling.
1:21 a.m.: When my boyfriend gets to my house, I’m too tired to make out. Also, his beard sometimes hurts my face. It’s very prickly. We'll do it in the morning, probably. This is my first real relationship, and I’m still figuring it out.
DAY TWO
10 a.m.: We were both virgins until a week ago. He loves getting fucked, but I think I have just not been hard enough for it to be terribly exciting for me. It’s a little too tight for me. I’m kind of addicted to just humping his butt cheeks to achieve orgasm. Have to get into the whole actual penetration thing.
4 p.m.: Out for a late lunch in Brooklyn, one of my friends is into the waiter, and when he goes outside for a cigarette, the rest of us promptly deliver his number. Actually, I don’t find him cute at all. So skinny. To improve upon Paula Cole: Where have all the good butts gone?
1 a.m.: Boyfriend arrives late from work. I slightly resent him for being skinny and never working out. And I sort of hate the way he touches me. I rarely let him put his finger in my butt, and he’s never fucked me. But his butt is divine. When I get on top of him, it hurts his back. He’s been getting regular chiropractor adjustments.
DAY THREE
12:50 p.m.: Want to save it for a good hookup with my boyfriend, but I can’t help but check my favorite porn blog, More Cushion for the Pushin. My butt fetish is unabashed.
12:43 a.m.: Boyfriend spending time with his roommate. I read some erotic fiction in bed on my BlackBerry about a police officer spanking a teenager and jerk off.
DAY FOUR
12:30 p.m.: Friend from brunch tells me about a sexual encounter he had with the waiter. They found a secluded picnic table near the Brooklyn Navy Yard and got totally naked! I'm impressed. The single life. My boyfriend is not kinky.
2 p.m.: Feel cute today. In the subway, there’s a really hot guy looking at me, which is rare. He won’t stop, so I look at him and grin sexily. He’s into it. I cross the platform and get on the local, and we smile at each other again through the window. He heads toward me, but the doors close. I don't feel guilty at all, which makes me feel guilty.
8 p.m.: While waiting for my boyfriend to finish work, and also to avoid snacking, I jerk off. I have a gross habit of looking at porn on my laptop while sitting on the toilet.
9:30 p.m.: Look at pictures of my ex-boyfriend’s glorious ass and masturbate. We once sent naked pictures back and forth online and jerked off while i-chatting. I didn’t particularly consider it cheating.
DAY FIVE
11 a.m.: No sex this morning because my boyfriend’s brother is in town.
2:14 p.m.: In a cab with boyfriend and his brother. I rub my boyfriend’s back. I’m delighted to discover that I’m turned on. It’s not over between us!
3:49 p.m.: Because of my hard-on in the cab, I don’t feel guilty jerking off with porn when boyfriend and his brother go hang out together. Decide I need to get accustomed to the fact that actual fucking might take a bit longer than the instant gratification of masturbation. And I do mean instant. Well, okay, two minutes tops.
9:30 p.m.: At a movie with boyfriend and bro, I get hard. I’m very pleased with myself. The spontaneous boners have appeared with significantly less frequency since high school.
DAY SIX
11 p.m.: Nothing today. Boyfriend’s brother still in town. It's been so long since we've hooked up that when my boyfriend kisses me, it feels new and exciting again. Love it. What a relief to know that I can still give myself to someone in a relationship, and that I'm not as utterly selfish as my masturbation obsession might metaphorically imply.
DAY SEVEN
10 a.m.: Wake up with the hardest morning wood ever. Stand over toilet bowl until it goes down so I can pee.
11:35 a.m.: Receive a promotional code for fifteen free minutes on a porn site I used to frequent. The day is now shot to pieces as I make myself comfortable in front of my laptop. Worry about my porn addiction.
11:37 a.m.: Rediscover that I love milking my own prostate. Must remind my boyfriend tonight.
2 p.m.: Audition. Lotsa hotties.
8 p.m.: I want to finish off my fifteen free minutes, but I need to save the orgasm for my boyfriend.
11:22 p.m.: I’m headed over to my boyfriend’s house. I was worried about letting him go near my butt, and feeling guilty about my obsession with porn, but I just read over what I’ve written since Monday and decided to give myself a break and stop being annoying. It’ll be okay. And if I feel like I'm gonna poop when he puts his finger up there, that’s okay too. Here I go.
TOTALS: Seven acts of masturbation; one act of intercourse; four days of celibacy enforced by presence of boyfriend’s visiting brother.
Filed Under: sex diaries
The Candie's Foundation is pushing an abstinence campaign fronted by Bristol Palin that encourages young women to be "sexy" but not have sex. The T-shirts they made with Seventeen magazine read "Be Sexy! It Doesn't Mean You Have to Have Sex!" The message is not only confusing but also only targeted to women, who are, let's not forget, only half the reason teens get pregnant. The benefits of condoms are likewise ignored. Bristol's role is not to be confused with that of Britney Spears, who serves as the brand's retail spokeswoman. [Jezebel]
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: bristol palin, britney spears, candies, save the kids
This brilliant video from 1984 of Keanu Reeves at a Bear Convention (no, not that kind) confirms 3 things you never knew about Keanu Reeves:
1. He is a genius interviewer.
2. He has a great rapport with children, specifically children in denial about why they collect stuffed bears.
3. He is totally, completely not stupid at all.
Swallow the blue pill and watch this please.
(with thanks to Buzzfeed)
Victims of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme may have to wait 15 years before all of his assets are accounted for and re-distributed. Serving as the court-appointed receiver or trustee assigned to wind down a Ponzi scheme? That may be one of the most lucrative assignments around.
Ralph Janvey, the man winding down "Sir" Allen Stanford's company, has asked a court to approve more than $27 million in fees for the work he's put into the case. As for Irving Picard, who is accounting for Madoff's assets and who last week requested $15 million for 15 weeks of work, he didn't get exactly what he wanted. A judge ruled he's only entitled to $12.6 million.
But that's still plenty of incentive to work as slowly as possible. "If he drags it out long enough," said Helen Davis Chaitman, a lawyer representing hundreds of Madoff victims, "he will make more money than Madoff."
GOLDEN RECEIVERS [NYP]
MADOFF VICTIMS MAY WAIT 15 YRS. FOR FULL PAYOUT [NYP]
Kanye West and Spike Jonze first teamed up a few years ago for the luridly violent video for "Flashing Lights." Apparently the collaboration went well, because the two ended up working together on a new short film called We Were Once a Fairytale, featuring Kanye's song "See You in My Nightmares." The project, which debuted in June at the L.A. Film Festival, will arrive on iTunes on September 8. However, just in case you think the two have gone soft, the video is said to feature rose petals vomiting, West engaging in knife play, and a demon rodent emerging from his stomach. [We Love You So]
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: collaborations, kanye west, spike jonze, we were once a fairytale
"Architecture is like play to me. As a boy, you play with Tinkertoys, Lincoln Logs, Legos, and you get interested in how things are made, like cars and drills and all that. Years later you come back around to what interested you as a boy. Now, if I have something that I'm dealing with that's causing me a lot of stress, my mind goes to architecture. I walk around the yard and start thinking about what I need to do to the house structurally. It's similar to puzzles in that way, like a crossword puzzle or anything else I can put my mind into. It's a relief for me." —Brad Pitt [Parade via ShowbizSpy]
"I started making teen films because if I was going to direct, I wanted to make sure I didn't have an actor saying to me, 'You have no idea what you're doing,' because I didn't. I figured, well, maybe if they're like 15, they won't ask me that question, or at least I could say to them, 'Do you know what you're doing?' and they wouldn't know either. It's all coincidental." —John Hughes in a 1992 interview [MTV]
"Are you kidding? How is 'Put my dick in your ass' not raunchy?" —Katherine Heigl responds to an Australian audience that thought The Ugly Truth could've been raunchier [The Age]
"May I add that I am at perhaps my least glamorous when I am cooking, especially for other people. I am usually in a flop sweat, snapping at anyone in my line of sight. I'm in direct line with my mother on this one. She had a needlepoint pillow that read, 'I'm making my favorite thing for dinner — reservations.' " —Meryl Streep on Julie and Julia [ShowbizSpy]
"The first take, the DP [director of photography] comes up to me and says, 'Whatever you do, don't drop her.' I never dropped anybody in my entire life, and I dropped Sienna Miller. It was the worst, man." —Channing Tatum on dropping Miller on the set of G.I. Joe [Female First]
"He dropped me very heroically." —Sienna Miller [Female First]
Read more posts by Emma Pearse
Filed Under: brad pitt, channing tatum, john hughes, katherine heigl, quote machine, sienna miller
ABC debuted their new reality show “Shark Tank” last night, where aspiring entrepreneurs present ideas to five “Sharks” (but really they’re people, which was a total gyp) and try to strike a deal to get funding for their company/invention. In case you missed the premiere, I’ll bring you up to speed:
1) “Money (That’s What I Want)” Is the opening theme song.
2) Piles of money are constantly visible throughout the show.
3) Every ten seconds, one of the “Sharks” says “That’s the thing about money, it doesn’t tuck you in at night!” (or something equally vague about money).
And for good measure, the first contestant was a guy trying to secure capital for his budding sweet potato pie business, and he brought a dude in a giant happy pie-man suit with him (wait for it…he shows up in the final 15 seconds out of frickin’ nowhere). Oh summer television, you’re the summer-est:
Today will go down as one of the hottest of the summer—thus far, at least—so if you can sneak out of your office and head to Central Park, this would probably be a good day to do that. Of course, this also means that the NYC is officially ten times smellier today, as the 93-degree temperatures take a toll on the four-day-old Chinese food sitting in the trash can on your corner. What can you do about that? Nothing, really, which may explain why the Daily News has decided to instead focus on how to make sure your husband or wife doesn't notice the scent of the man or woman you've been having a summer fling with:
Just because it's a summer fling doesn't mean you can walk around with the fragrance of someone else's perfume on your collar. If you don't have time to wash your shirt completely, just throw it in the dryer on high heat for about two minutes along with a strongly scented fabric-softener sheet. The high heat should evaporate any alcohol that was in the perfume and the fabric-softener sheet will help mask any remaining stench. Prevent it the next time: Try restraining yourself to just one date a night and shower the next morning.
Stinky New York: Lose odors with advice that's worth a few scents [NYDN]
You know what we haven’t had in a while? A random, pointless pseudo-celebrity feud.
Let me just stroll on over to the Random Celebrity Feud Dart Board and see what we can muster up. Ok, dart number one — oooh, “Jeremy Piven,” someone who’s been promoting The Goods with every breath he can muster this month, he’d definitely be up for getting his name in the papers any way he can. Alright, dart number two — “CHRIS KATTAN“?? That Chris Kattan? Crap, I really need to update this dartboard.
I guess we can book them both on Alexa Chung and try to shake up the box to see if they fight:
Kattan – who’s been in town talking up his IFC miniseries “Bollywood Hero” – greeted Piven with a snarky, “So, what are you here to promote, your Broadway play?”
Piven, who famously dropped out of “Speed the Plow” in December, is in a legal battle with producers who believe the actor fabricated his illness in order to get out of completing his contract…
The actor sniped back irritably, “Well, what are you here to promote? Mango?” – a reference to Kattan’s swishy “Saturday Night Live” stripper character.
…Not the right thing to say to the man who plays Ari Gold, apparently. “I’m getting sued for that s–t!” the actor shouted. “It’s not funny!”
Our source adds, “Jeremy slammed the green room door right in Chris’ face, and about 20 people in the hallway outside could hear him yelling obscenities. He was furious.
Piven, who’s used to having 96% of his dialogue consist of random insults, then added “Lloyd, you better pretend that phone is Ryan Phillippe’s c*ck and grab it immediately! I mean, Chris Kattan.”
Kattan, taking the high road, admitted it was a thrill just to be involved.
Next up? How bout…….. Jamie Kennedy and Jim Breuer? Make it happen, Hollywood.
Renee Zellweger walking through JFK to catch a flight to Spain with Bradley Cooper... Mickey Rourke walking in the West Village ... Michelle Williams getting ice cream with daughter Matilda Rose at Blue Marble in Brooklyn ... Julia Roberts on the set of Eat, Pray, Love set in Brooklyn ... Famke Janssen eating outside at Da Silvano ... Uma Thurman walking in the meatpacking district ... Kate Hudson watching a game at Yankees Stadium with Matt Franco, Kurt Russell, and Goldie Hawn ... Tracy Morgan sitting on a stoop with his dogs in SoHo ... Drew Barrymore on the set of her new movie in Central Park ... Teri Hatcher taking a photo of a friend on the street ... Justin Bartha leaving Ashley Olsen's townhouse in the Village ... Mischa Barton taking her dogs for a walk in SoHo ... Julia Stiles walking downtown ... and Yoko Ono leaving Da Silvano with Sean Lennon.
The Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers was expectedly hilarious last night, featuring solid performances by Roast mainstays Greg Giraldo and Jeffrey Ross, as well as an adorably awesome appearance by Carl Reiner forcing himself to swear, and a lengthy “sex with Joan” story from Gilbert Gottfried that was absurd by even the most outlandish Roast standards. Despite a couple awkward performances and a bunch of really dated Robin Quivers black jokes (which weren’t even offensive, so much as just super-lazy), the Roast was another victory for Comedy Central, and I look forward to seeing it on the viewing guide every other night from now until the day television ends.
The biggest highlight of the night, which should’ve been obvious in retrospect, was Joan Rivers’ own performance, shooting back at her roastmates with a token viciousness that honestly — as clichéd a compliment as it sounds — proved to be just as sharp as ever. Roast highlights are linked below, including part of Joan’s closing retaliation, Gilbert Gottfried’s story, and of course, Carl Reiner’s F-bomb (language on all the clips is NSFW, obviously).
Joan’s Comeback, Part 1:
More highlights, after the jump:
Joan’s Comeback, Part 2:
Joan’s Comeback, Part 3:
Gilbert Gottfried’s epic Joan’s-Vagina story:
And the most adorable part of the evening, Carl Reiner Swearing:
Eric Bana might be one of the most low key, hilarious, hottest and most talented actors Hollywood and the entire continent of Australia has to offer. (Sorry Guy Pearce, but this is a fact.) For God’s Sake, the man can do both a convincing Israeli accent as well as a killer Arnie Schwartz. This, friends, is no easy feat.
That being said, no amount of talent or Hollywood cred in the world will do anything to change a pair of cheap shoes. In the following HIGHLY HILARIOUS interview on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, Bana recounts having to deal with your run of the mill “hobo flap” shoe sole while hanging around with the likes of Clooney and others. Leave it to the brain of a former comedian to figure out how to keep cool under such circumstances…
Watch the entire episode and interview here.
Mistress of the Celebrity Hijinx Kathy Griffin may have sworn off marriage, but that certainly doesn’t mean she has to swear off the most virile D in all of Alaska. Above, Kathy debuts her new man, none other than Bristol Palin’s baby daddy Levi Johnston.
What do you think of this clearly extremely in love couple? Kathy’s lookin’ good. But remember when Shaq used to go on Leno, and Leno would try on Shaq’s jacket, and it was LULZ for days as Shaq’s sleeves would hang at least 3 feet past Leno’s delicate hands? That’s what Levi Johnston is looking like here. A small kid in a big suit posing with his mom mere hours before he’s about to lose his V-ginity on prom night. Then again, we now know that’s an impossibility.
Much luck to the happy lovers.
AFP - A Fernand Leger painting and Yves Saint Laurent's own Mercedes Benz and Hermes luggage are to go on sale in November in a second smaller auction of the YSL-Pierre Berge collection, one of the world's great private collections.
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