AFP - Asia's biggest film festival began Thursday with a red-carpet parade of stars and the screening of a movie designed to put a "human" stamp on South Korea's colourful politics.
AP - Prosecutors have declined to press charges against the sheriff's deputy who arrested Mel Gibson three years ago, citing a lack of proof he leaked details about the case.
AP - Prosecutors have declined to press charges against the sheriff's deputy who arrested Mel Gibson three years ago, citing a lack of proof he leaked details about the case.
AP - Capsule reviews of films opening this week:
AP - Levi Johnston is going for the ultimate exposure — the 19-year-old father of Sarah Palin's grandchild will pose nude for Playgirl, his attorney said Wednesday.
 guardian.co.uk | Photographer Irving Penn dead at age 92 Chicago Tribune Irving Penn, a grand master of American fashion photography whose "less is more" aesthetic, combined with a startling sensuality, defined a visual style that he applied to designer dresses and fleshy nudes, ... Fashion, celebrity photographer Irving Penn dies IRVING PENN, 92 Fashion, Celebrity Photographer Found Beauty in the Commonplace Fashion Photographer Irving Penn Dead at 92 |
 Opposing Views | 'Capitalism: A Love Story' Los Angeles Times Although you might feel a need to duck and run for cover, it's still worth seeing Michael Moore's new documentary, "Capitalism: A Love Story." As he is wont to do, Moore takes on the big guys responsible for the country's current financial ills, ... Michael Moore's new identity crisis 'Capitalism' is just Moore hypocrisy Michael Moore stars in "Capitalism: A Love Story.'' |
 Telegraph.co.uk | Levi Johnston -- No Palin, No Gain TMZ.com (blog) We're not sure if he's gonna show his front or backside, but one thing's certain: Levi Johnston wants to make sure both sides look good for his upcoming Playgirl spread just in case. Johnston's handler tells us the 19-year-old father of one is ... Levi Johnston to strip for Playgirl Pistachio industry bets on 'sex sells' mentality with ads Talk about nuts: Levi Johnston in pistachio ad |
Where do famous people go when they die?
South Park.
With a large cast of recently deceased celebrities, including Michael Jackson, DJ AM, Patrick Swayze, Farrah...
Be your own hero. Or at least your own boss.
Fresh on the wheels of the disappointing box office of Whip It, Ellen Page has just signed a deal to write and produce a comedy for HBO,...
AP - Jude Law's Hamlet does not go quietly into the night.
Yeesh, it's not as if they were going to make it do a paso doble death spiral.
In case you were wondering where the chimpanzee was when you tuned into Dancing With the Stars Tuesday,...
Who wouldn't want to meet up with Robert Pattinson at the time of year when the day splits into equal amounts of darkness and light?
The video for the lead single off the New Moon...
Just call it Hugh Hefner-palooza.
Not only is Hef about to launch another season of The Girls Next Door this Sunday with his new girlfriends Crystal Harris, 23, and 20-year-old twins...
 BBC News | Inside CBS, Disbelief at an Arrest New York Times Inside CBS News, Robert Joel Halderman was a widely liked and well-regarded producer, known for chasing action and taking chances. Robert Halderman, left, with his lawyers, Evan Lipton, center, and Gerald Shargel, at his arraignment last ... Suspect enraged after seeing girl with Dave Letterman accused of 'sexual favoritism' David Letterman's Troubles Not Over Despite Jokes, Apologies |
The folks at the hotel they left high and dry aren't the only ones that don't much appreciate Randy and Evi Quaid's sense of humor.
The Texas cop who arrested the duo after...
As if Lindsay Lohan didn't take enough of a beating earlier this week when she made her debut as "artistic adviser" of French fashion house Emanuel Ungaro, now her mother Dina is...
 Telegraph.co.uk | NOW Goes After David Letterman Over Affairs With Female Staffers FOXNews AP NOW issued a strongly worded statement Tuesday night saying the late-night host created a "toxic environment" for his female employees by having sex with several young staff members over the years. ... Legal experts divided over handling of Letterman case New, old viewers will keep an eye on Letterman 'Late Show' staffers defend Letterman's affairs |
Fans of Pee-wee Herman angry over show's postponement [Culture Monster/LAT]
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: delays, nerds, paul reubens, pee-wee herman
AFP - Influential fashion photographer Irving Penn, known for his elegant, minimalist portraits, died Wednesday. He was 92.
Reading Esquire's profile of director Guy Ritchie, whose Sherlock Holmes is soon to hit theaters, you almost feel bad for two people: the writer, and Ritchie himself. And you feel bad for the same reason. Scribe Tom Chiarella has penned a very readable, not annoying profile, and Ritchie worked pretty hard to give him material — taking him to a jujitsu class, letting him snoop around his apartment while he stepped out, introducing him to his son, Rocco, and even getting drunk with him for hours, all with the recorder running. But the only lines that are getting attention from this profile so far, of course, are about Madonna.
I decide to take a shot now, as we burn through the city, at asking after her. Ritchie sighs. "She's a manifester, if there ever was one," he says. "First-rate manifester. Madonna makes things happen. Put Madonna up against any twenty-three-year-old, she'll outwork them, outdance them, outperform them. The woman is broad."
"Broad," I say, repeating the word of the day.
"And, of course, here you go: I still love her," he says. He takes a breath, drives through a red light. If no one is ahead of him, Guy Ritchie does not typically stop. "But she's retarded, too."
It's rocky getting a divorce, innit? I say.
"You can't tell someone when they're getting divorced that their pain is an illusion," he says. "I'm fucking telling you, I feel it, I've been through that. You have, too. No one can say you don't feel that."
Those were the only complete sentences about Madonna in the entire piece. Except the part where Chiarella found legal documents with her name on them, and didn't read them because that would be a transgression. It's almost sad, the little games we play.
Please Be Seated. Guy Ritchie's Life Will Begin Shortly. [Esquire]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: guy ritchie, madonna, the most important people in the world, who orbit the most important person in the world
Calvin Broadus has been rapping professionally for about as long as Julio Franco swung the bat, but he's now known for doing things like guest-starring on Monk and coaching his kid’s Pop Warner football team. Which means there's no reason why he should remain one of hip-hop’s most dependable singles artists — but here he is with “Gangsta Luv,” the first track off December’s Malice in Wonderland, his tenth studio album. Last month we got all hopped up over an unearthed Snoop track from the early nineties, where he gets his grisly gun talk on, but we probably enjoy late-era, laid-back, lover-man Snoop even better: This time out, with The-Dream putting in the usual yeoman’s chorus work, Snoop goes in over a restrained bounce of a beat, laying down his effortless combo of machismo and solid yuks (“Baby like the way I wake her up / cause I’m a gangsta, I grab her by the butt”). Fellow elder statesman LL Cool J could learn a few things.
Read more posts by Amos Barshad
Filed Under: music, right-click, snoop dogg
We only have one more day of shows before the spring 2010 season draws to a close. (And we are not counting L.A. Fashion Week, which is coming back.) So don't miss our latest runway slideshows and details galleries from Paris Fashion Week! Highlights include Jean-Charles de Castelbajac's pirate-themed show, complete with parrots on the models' shoulders. Valentino consisted of mostly very-short dresses, while pants were mostly lace and see-through save an interesting leather pair. And Kenzo's show took a turn at look 39, when glitter fell from the ceiling and out walked a slew of girls in brightly colored harem pants.
RUNWAY
Kenzo
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac
Valentino
agnès b.
Chloé
Alexander McQueen
Tim Hamilton
RM by Roland Mouret
Wunderkind
Paul & Joe
Collette Dinnigan
Louis Vuitton
Marithe + Francois Girbaud
Miu Miu
DETAILS
Chanel
Alexander McQueen
RM by Roland Mouret
Stella McCartney
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: fashion shows, j'adore paris, paris fashion week, spring 2010
Ceaselessly entertaining crazy person Mandy Patinkin will play the lead role in Compulsion, a new play by Rinne Groff about a man obsessed with Anne Frank's diary, at Yale Repertory Theater next year. Patinkin's improvisational acting style caused trouble for his co-stars the last time he did a play was on Broadway, in 2000's The Wild Party (he smacked them, swore at them, and spit water in their faces), so we're pretty excited to see how this one turns out. [ArtsBeat/NYT]
Read more posts by Lane Brown
Filed Under: compulsion, mandy patinkin, oh mandy, rinne groff
AP - Every child should have an "auntie," in whom they can safely confide things they might be reluctant to share with parents.
Fashion Wire Daily - Louis Vuitton went all youthful this season, creating a collection for teenagers determined to get some distance from their parents with Euro-rail train passes, one-way tickets to Bali or party package holidays in the sun.
The model wore a leather dress paired with a studded belt at the Miu Miu show today in Paris.
Do you like her biker-chic look?
Read more posts by Amina Akhtar
Filed Under: kate moss, look of the day, miu miu
Is it really a shocking thing what Letterman did? Will this affect the show?
—Adina Ga, via Facebook
No. Most people like to have sex. Powerful people have more...
After Out columnist and actor Jesse Archer did a spontaneous cartwheel in Grand Central Station this past weekend, MTA cops handed him a ticket for disorderly conduct. When he protested, he says, they beat him up.
When they were done issuing me the citation, I start walking toward my friend Stace who was waiting nearby. Facing him, not the cops, I utter an expletive about the cops, and next thing I know I'm being tackled by several policemen from behind. The cops wrench my wrist back, handcuff me, and one of them has my head and is pounding it into the cold hard cement. I was not resisting, I was not fighting. I didn't even see them coming. They were simply going to teach this faggot a lesson! While my brains are being dashed, all I can think (besides, this shouldn't be happening!) was that this kind of injury is exactly how Natasha Richardson died.
We guess Kelly Bensimon was wrong. Sometimes cartwheels do have a price.
Police Brutality - New York's Finest! [Jessie on the Brink via Gothamist]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: cartwheels, grand central station, kelly bensimon, neighborhood news, the gays, what is this world coming to when gymnastics are frowned upon
AP - Anna Deavere Smith puts a personal face on death — and dying — in "Let Me Down Easy," her remarkable new one-woman show at off-Broadway's Second Stage Theatre.
Hey, dog people! Guess what Miuccia Prada showed at Miu Miu in Paris today? Cats. Hundreds of little cats crawling all over breasts and butts and legs and stomachs and arms and thighs. Yes, at last, cats have leaped from the pages of Vogue to the runway, where they belong. In fact, buyers went gaga over dresses bearing embroidered cats last week at the Azzaro presentation (those were modeled after designer Vanessa Seward's cat Monsieur Jo). The other dominant prints in the Miu Miu show featured swallows and a naked, writhing woman. But those pale next to the cats. Puppies may be cute, but runway material, they are not.
See a complete slideshow of the spring 2010 Miu Miu collection.
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: azzaro, crazy cat ladies, designers, miu miu, paris fashion week, spring 2010, vanessa seward
Mike Britt is back with another new episode of Best Day Ever tonight at 11pm.
He’s got the fall out from Tom DeLay’s untimely end on Dancing with the Stars, news on the latest secret meeting between Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, and an up-to-date briefing on which of the Backstreet Boys currently have the swine flu.
Be sure to tune in TONIGHT at 11pm on VH1.
On the way to work today, Intel Chris walked past a tree that had been knocked down by the wind. It was a relatively puny tree, planted as part of some neighborhood landscaping. It sort of seemed like the similarly young trees around it were laughing at it, like it was drunk and fell over all of a sudden. But that young tree can take heart! Big, robust trees across Brooklyn and Queens were knocked over, too, today. According to the Times, wind gusts reached 50 mph and blew trees into power lines, cars, and houses in Richmond Hill, Briarwood, South Jamaica, and Rockaway in Queens, and in Williamsburg and Gravesend in Brooklyn. We are now officially adding Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan to that list of neighborhoods, even though the sapling in question didn't actually knock any houses or even power lines down. It did chip away a little at Intel Chris's heart, though — demonstrated by the fact that he decided to write a blog post, the goal of which was to make a tree feel better about itself.
Fierce Winds Topple Trees in Brooklyn and Queens [NYT]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: neighborhood news, tiny tragedies, trees, weather, wind
Those irascible gossiphounds at TMZ have learned that David Letterman's frequent "hiking" companion, one Stephanie Birkitt (a.k.a. Vicki, a.k.a. Dutch, a.k.a. Monty), has been banned from the CBS set of the Late Show with David Letterman. That's a tough break for Birkitt, but we have a suggestion that ought to help her feel better: Stephanie, the next time you hit a karaoke bar, be sure to request 2 Live Crew's "Banned In The U.S.A." It will make you feel much better, promise! [TMZ]
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: cbs, david letterman, late show with david letterman, persona non grata, stephanie birkitt
The big round of cost cuts and layoffs at Condé Nast isn't just being felt at 4 Times Square. The gloominess has also made its way to Paris Fashion Week. Instead of spending their days observing the action on the runway, some Condé editors have been forced to remain in their hotel rooms to take part in a "dizzying" number of "budget-related conference calls and team meetings," reports The Daily. This could be why Vogue editor Anna Wintour hasn't "been spotted since Dior on Friday." Budget cuts could also explain why poor Anna has been forced to make do with a single snakeskin coat at Fashion Week in London, Milan and Paris. [FWD]
Kelly Mills describes her style as "basically free." She likes to put on whatever catches her fancy when she rolls out of bed in the morning, and then style her outfit based off of one piece. For fall, she's mixing Decepticons with Amelia Earhart for a look that's all her own. When we caught up with Kelly, she was wearing boys' pants by Telfar, a Trussardi top, a Kimono jacket, and vintage Melanie Dizon shoes. And she even dropped trou for us. Watch the Video Look Book to find out more about her style.
Read more posts by Jonah Green
Filed Under: kelly mills, video, video look book
Carlos Peralta's yacht, the $143 million Mariana, has a beauty shop, a massage parlor, a thirteen-seat movie theater, a shipwide outdoor sprinkling system that sprays guests with chilled mist, a master cabin with a waterfall, and something called a “beach club,” which Bloomberg today describes as "an ersatz shore that electronically rolls out of the hull." We have one question while reading this: Why? Why would anyone need a boat this huge, with this much crap on it? What drives a man to actually eschew the Earth in favor of an unnatural wonder of his own creation?
If you're thinking "passion," you're dead-on.
Says super-yacht salesman George Fortune.
“This business is based on clients who care little about economic recessions and are passionate about proving that they have more money than you.”
And of course there's nothing like a big fuck-off boat to prove you're well endowed. Monetarily speaking.
Billionaires Buy Bragging Rights With Giant Super Yachts [Bloomberg]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: carl ichan, carlos peralta, what does your boat say about you, white men with big boats
AP - "Couples Retreat" suggests what life might have been like if the guys from "Swingers" had grown up, moved to the suburbs and turned into lame, sitcommy cliches.
SKIN
• John Galliano reportedly preps for his show by getting an oxygen-blast facial from Madonna's facialist. [FWD]
• Body art appeared on the runway again this season (following Rodarte and Jean Paul Gaultier), this time at Chanel, with temporary tattoos of pearls and chains on chests as well as interlocking C's on arms. [Beauty Counter/Style.com]
HAIR
• Barack Obama's barber, Zariff of Hyde Park Hair Salon, invented the $21 Obama Cut for the president before the Democratic National Convention in 2004. On the matter of Obama's grays: "He's not really big on vanity so I don't think he notices that much," Zariff says. [HuffPo]
• When Chris Rock appeared on Oprah's show, he ran his fingers through the host's hair and said it felt "nice." [StyleWatch/People]
FRAGRANCE
• Jean Baptiste Mondino shot Michelle Buswell and Robert Perovich for the new campaign for the Le Male (men's) and Classique (women's) fragrances by Jean Paul Gaultier. [Design Scene]
Read more posts by Sharon Clott
Filed Under: barack obama, beauty, beauty marks, chanel, fragrance, hair, jean paul gaultier, makeup, oprah winfrey, rodarte, skin, zariff
For a big, swinging master-of-the-universe type, a three-decades-younger Eastern European bikini model seem like an ideal accessory. But according to new research, there are all sorts of hidden risks involved. Not only will she walk from the marriage with a fat settlement when she decides to dump the aging mogul for the Peruvian pool boy, she may end up contributing to his premature death, too. [ABC News]
The National Organization for Women is calling for David Letterman to be penalized for the sex with Late Show staffers he admitted to last week: "[NOW] calls on CBS to recognize that Letterman's behavior creates a toxic environment and to take action immediately to rectify this situation. With just two women on CBS' board of directors, we're not holding our breath." Further making his punishment unlikely is this. [CNN]
Read more posts by Lane Brown
Filed Under: david letterman, letterman, national organization for women, tv
We don't mean he's flexing his muscles, although, metaphorically, he kind of is (we're looking at you, Bob McDonnell). But no, Bloomberg is literally taking us inside gun shows — in Tennessee, Ohio, and Nevada. As part of a New York City investigation, undercover agents with hidden cameras went to various gun shows and openly flouted the already paltry regulations in place to see if they would still be allowed to buy firearms. And guess what — they were! Easily! For example, it's illegal to sell a gun to someone if they tell you they can't pass a background check. We're not sure how many people are stupid enough to say that in real life, which makes it even more startling that 19 out of 30 vendors in this sting went ahead with the sale after hearing it. The ease of buying guns at these shows with barely any safeguards is why, according to Bloomberg's Huffington Post diary, "89% of guns used in crimes in New York City last year originated out of state." Thanks a lot, rest of America!
Read more posts by Dan Amira
Filed Under: guns, mayor bloomberg, the third terminator
What happens when you’ve got three cats, but only one steak to share between em? HILARITY! In the form of “3 Cats, 1 Steak”. And if you think this video has some nerve clocking in at 4 minutes long, place your bets and then take a look. We can almost guarantee you 4 spellbinding minutes of suspense. And that middle cat… he doesn’t f*ck around.
Oh, and those of you who think it’s cruel? Blame the French.
With thanks to our beloved Erin Winterbottom.
Fashion photographer Irving Penn died this morning at his Manhattan home at the age of 92. Penn was known for his classic, minimalist style and "compositional clarity." Penn's subjects were never seen running or jumping and were seldom cut off. He shot for Vogue starting in 1943, and his work rose to prominence in the fashion and art worlds. His prints still fetch huge sums at auction, such as his nude photo of Gisele, which Christie's auctioned in April of last year for $193,000. He married model Lisa Fonssagrives in 1950, and stayed with her 42 years until her death at the age of 80 in 1992.
Critic Richard Woodward wrote in 1990 that Penn's work "can best be appreciated when he seems to break away from the dictates of fashion for magazines. Only then is it clear how everything he photographs — or, at least, prints — is the product of a remarkably undivided conscience. There are no breaks; only different subjects.”
Irving Penn, Fashion Photographer, Is Dead at 92 [NYT]
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: gisele, irving penn, lisa fonssagrives, models, obituaries, vogue
CNN ran this story about a hit show in Iraq called Comedy Star where the country’s own versions of David Letterman look for the next Saddam Rickles.
It’s pretty inspiring to see people over there laughing it up, but I’m not sure our countries see eye to eye when it comes to comedy. That guy doing the jump rope bit? That was gold. Those judges wouldn’t know funny if it overthrew their dictator!
Winners will go on to star in the biggest sitcom on Iraqi television:It’s Always Sandy In Fallujah (I would have also accepted Malcolm in the Middle East and/or Green Zone Acres).
For our new athletics blog, our Jada Yuan interviews the former Mets catcher about whether his old team is the unluckiest one in baseball. [The Sports Section]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: mike piazza, the sports section
Condé Nast has tasked editors with reducing budgets by 25 percent by this Friday. Obviously this makes it hard to enjoy the shows at Paris Fashion Week. Apparently some editors are missing the fashion parades to deal with impending budget doom. Anna Wintour hasn't been seen since Dior on Friday. Here's an idea about reducing budgets: Don't go to Paris if you aren't going to see the shows. [FWD]
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: anna wintour, conde nast, oh dear, paris fashion week, spring 2010
As we were scouring the web the other day, we came across a list on the Oscar-prognosticating website In Contention that ranked the top 10 actors under the age of 30. While the list was fairly solid, there was one notable omission: Ben Foster. The former child star has had a number of breakout supporting roles over the last few years in films like Alpha Dog, 3:10 To Yuma, and 30 Days of Night, and we've always felt that it was only a matter of time before he got cast in a leading role that would allow him to put his electric acting talent on full display. We had hopes that that movie was going to be Pandorum, but it turned out to be a heaping pile of sci-fi schlock. So instead, we turn our eyes to yet another Iraq War drama, The Messenger, a film in which he stars alongside Woody Harrelson. In it, he plays a United States military man whose job is to deliver death notices to the next of kin of fallen soldiers. Along the way, he runs into an ethical dilemma when he falls for Samantha Morton, who plays a recently widowed woman. The film looks pretty grim, but Ben Foster's presence will guarantee that we'll be shelling out $12 to see this movie when it opens on November 13.
First Official Trailer for Oren Moverman's The Messenger [First Showing]
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: ben foster, movies, samantha morton, the messenger, trailer mix, woody harrelson
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: horrible things, sad things, stand clear of the closing doors
The vaccine for H1N1 came out this week, but with so many people opting out, many more New Yorkers are bound to come down with the illness I've had for the past week. This is my story, and what to expect if — more like when — you get the swine flu, too.
First, let's get this out of the way: The swine flu is not exotic at this point. It's been running rampant through the Southeast for months now. Celebrities even have it. So, for healthy adults, it's really not that big of a deal. It's similar to the regular flu, just much more contagious (and with one big tweak). Nevertheless, it is not to be confused with a nasty cold or allergies run rampant. Here's how you'll know the difference.
1. It starts in the lymph nodes, then hits you in the knees.
I'd had swollen glands in my neck for a couple of days, but passed them off as change-of-season allergies. But Friday night, in the midst of seeing a play, my knees started aching terribly. By intermission I was by the bar, guzzling wine in denial and starting to tremble with chills. I had to lean against a wall just to stand up straight. By the time I crawled into bed around midnight, I had a fever of 101.6. Come morning, it was up to 104, and the pain had spread from my knees to a whole-body ache. I was thrashing about, teeth chattering, in a full-on malarial stupor, feeling around in the bedside drawer for stray Advil and crying for my mommy. Also, my throat was starting to feel weird …
2. Unless you already have Tamiflu lying around, don't even bother.
Once I'd gotten some Advil down and the fever had (slightly) lessened, I called my mom, a pediatric ICU nurse in Tallahassee. Having had H1N1 herself already, she gave the usual tips (fluids, alternating Advil and Tylenol to keep the fever down) and some surprising advice: "Unless you get a rash, are having breathing problems, or start vomiting to the point where you can't keep anything down, don't go to the emergency room." But I wanted Tamiflu! Tamiflu was my right as an American! "Tamiflu will only take about half a day off of your sickness and you'll spend as much time or more waiting in the ER, giving what you have to everyone else there," she said, reasonably. "Besides, Tamiflu has its own side effects that will just make you feel worse." So I decided to abandon the Tamiflu quest.
3. Make your own chart and keep your fever in line.
The first and worst symptom of this flu was a high fever that needed to be dominated. So Saturday morning, I took out a notebook and made a chart, imaginatively titling it "Lindsay's Flu Chart." Despite sleeping for the better part of three days, I managed to note, in scribbles and scratches, the time of every dose of Advil, Tylenol, Aleve, etc., along with my temperature. OTC painkillers such as Advil and Tylenol claim to work for four to six hours, but as fever reducers, this is total bullshit. (And Aleve does nothing. Nothing.) I needed a dose of something every couple of hours just to keep my fever below 101, so I set my alarm for every two hours to pop a pill and scribble on my sad little chart. But it worked — once this system was in place, my fever didn't get out of control again. But the self-congratulation didn’t last.
4. Oops! Actually, the fever isn't the worst part.
The worst of it came in slowly on Saturday afternoon: an excruciating, horrifying, unimaginably painful sore throat, the likes of which you haven't experienced unless you've had strep as an adult. But, unlike strep, which quickly improves within the first few hours of antibiotics, this sore throat is caused by a virus, and it will last for a week. It will make you ask yourself questions like, "If I knew I would have this sore throat for the rest of my life, would I choose to go on living?" And the answer will be, "No." It's every kind of sore throat (scratchy, itchy, stinging, burning, dry, sharp) all rolled into one, and while a few remedies can briefly make a tiny dent in it (gargling with salt water, hot tea, numbing spray, Ben & Jerry's Cinnamon Bun ice cream), nothing can make it bearable. Nothing. So have all those things around the house, but don't expect them to help. Sorry.
Other symptoms were similar to a cold: stuffy nose, a mild post-nasal (not lung) cough, stinging eyes, complete lack of appetite, etc. But I barely noticed them because the throat was the Thing.
5. Your friends will abandon you.
Well, sort of. Your friends will show great selfish curiosity about how you contracted swine flu (as if you can possibly pinpoint it — "I dunno, the subway? It's a fucking pandemic!"), and will each make the exact same joke about bringing over soup, ringing the buzzer, and then running away before you open the door. You will tolerate them, because it's actually true that you can't see anybody and you don't want to risk giving anyone what you have anyway. TV is your new friend.
6. Don't bother getting tested. Just get painkillers.
When I walked into my doctor's office on Monday and announced to the receptionist that I had swine flu, she was very cross with me, gesturing to the other people in the waiting room — I could make them sick, you know — but I could not be made to feel like a pariah. I was covered in Purell, I had a tissue at the ready in case I coughed, and I was seeing the goddamned doctor. My doctor came out immediately and took me to a back room, making a little joke about quarantine. "You know, unless they get the vaccine, everyone's going to get it, so don't feel too bad," she said. I asked whether she was going to test me for swine flu and she explained that because the test is expensive and unreliable, and because H1N1 is now so prevalent, health-care professionals are no longer testing for it and are just assuming any case of the flu at this time is H1N1.
But my main concern at this point was that I had strep, because I was pretty sure I had some sort of Knife-in-Throat disease. The doctor took one look at my throat and said "This doesn't look like strep — but oh dear, you're not allergic to Vicodin, are you?" Apparently my throat was swollen enough to merit Vicodin! We’re saved! The doctor took a strep culture just in case, and wrote me prescriptions for an antibiotic (in case I would later need it), and, bless her heart, prescribed me ten big, beautiful Vicodin pills to get me through the rest of my flu odyssey.
So that's it: You're probably going to get swine flu, so have supplies lying around (a swine flu "go bag," as it were). And Tamiflu is so three months ago — today's discriminating swine-flu patient demands Vicodin. Oh, and because you will forget what being hungry ever felt like, you will lose at least five pounds by the end of your pig-flu adventure. So there's that.
Related: The 0.5 Pandemic [NYM]
Read more posts by Lindsay Robertson
Filed Under: h1n1, panic-demics, scary things, swine flu
On Saturday, over a thousand hopeful models trekked out to Yankee Stadium for an open casting to be the next Victoria Secret Angel. We, of course, sent our tireless videographer Jonah Green to capture all the action. The girls had to go through three rounds of judging, including a bikini-clad catwalk turn, before they were selected (or rejected) for Angel Boot Camp. The basic criteria for the casting: The would-be models had to be five foot eight and 18 to 30 years old. Guess they should have added not being eight months pregnant to the list. Watch the video to see all the casting in its full glory.
Read more posts by Jonah Green
Filed Under: casting calls, models, victoria's secret, video
Acclaimed star of Scary Movie and G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra Marlon Wayans is reportedly set to play Richard Pryor in the upcoming Bill Condon–directed biopic Is it Something I Said, say EW and Hitfix today. Eddie Murphy had originally been set to star, but he purportedly dropped out over unspecified disagreements with Paramount. According to EW, Wayans blew producers away with a screen test during which he "transformed into Pryor," though they don't say whether he employed CGI technology, like in Little Man, or makeup, as in White Girls. But he did capably portray an addict in 2000's Requiem for a Dream, so we suppose this isn't, technically, the worst idea we've ever heard.
Exclusive: Marlon Wayans in talks to play Richard Pryor [Hollywood Insider/EW]
Confirmed: Marlon Wayans to replace Eddie Murphy as 'Richard Pryor' [Hitfix]
Marlon Wayans Takes Over For Eddie Murphy In 'Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said' Biopic [Playlist]
Read more posts by Lane Brown
Filed Under: bill condon, bioshock, eddie murphy, marlon wayans, movies, richard pryror
Attention, Manhattanites! If you're out walking your dog—or thinking about innocently petting one on the sidewalk—be wary of a wheaten terrier named James. He belongs to Eliot Spitzer. And he's not exactly friendly. When this reporter unsuspectingly tried to pet him last night near the Metropolitan Museum, his dog walker issued a firm warning. "Those are the former governor's dogs," she said. "And that one," she said pointing to the aforementioned, seemingly sweet terrier. "He's mean, and he bites!"
James, as the dog is called, casually turned his eyes to us, looking proud of himself, maybe even a little smug. The luv gov's bichon frise, Jesse, stood patiently next to her "brother" (sporting a fresh blow-out, naturally) as if stopping to talk to strange women on the street were a normal occurrence.
The friendly, information-bearing dog walker went on: "That big one, he doesn't really like the men, and he usually bites them," she said. "He likes women, though. I don't know if they trained them or what." Interesting! Perhaps the Spitzers trained James to be a paparazzi attack-dog, willing to strike at any lensman with a camera? Or maybe the dogs have been used in the past to innocently strike up conversation? Everyone knows people use their dogs to flirt, right?
Spitzer has spoken fondly of his canine companions in the past. Back when he was in the thick of the Client No. 9 scandal, he took James out for walks, with photographers in tow. "I explained to James that he was a good-looking dog," Spitzer told Time. "People wanted to take his picture." But when Jesse, the petite bichon was added to the family's brood, Spitzer was skeptical. "I wouldn't take her out in public," he said. "I thought James was the better image for me." (Apparently, Jesse didn't hold it against him, as she's not the biter.) And now, Spitzer has changed his tune. "It's like, OK, I have a bichon, a little white ball of fluff... I don't care. What do you have to lose?"
Well, when it comes to James, what you you may lose is a finger. But just think of it as a public service announcement.
-- Molly Fahner
Law & Order always gets the last word on any major news story, and next week they will again do one of their classic “ripped from your Twitter update” episodes. According to the New York Post:
In “Reality Bites,” airing Oct. 16, both the Gosselins and Suleman are mentioned by name in a plot revolving around a reality show eerily similar to TLC’s “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” which has turned the bickering, divorcing Gosselins into tabloid fodder. (The show’s since been renamed “Kate Plus Eight.”)
The show here is called “Larry Plus 10″ and chronicles the struggles of a single dad, Larry Johnson (Jim Gaffigan), who’s raising 10 adopted special needs kids by himself — after his wife, Joy, is bludgeoned-to-death.
A big thumbs up to the L&O crew for naming the fake reality show “Larry Plus 10.” It actually sounds a failed TBS sitcom from some alternate universe. On the other hand, haven’t the poor Gosselin kids have been through enough? Did the producers really need to brand their Law & Order counterparts as “special needs.” I do look forward to hopefully seeing Jim Gaffigan wearing Ed Hardey t-shirts, though. Consider it DVR’ed.
[Anyone else think Sam Waterson rocks a mean Kate Gosselin hairdo?]
Citigroup doesn't want Andrew Hall to go. The castle-owning commodities trader is the one trader they truly love! Or rather, the one trader that truly makes them money. But the fear of public anger over the $100 million bonus the bank is contractually obligated to pay Hall — and, frankly, the need for some cold hard cash — is forcing the bank to consider letting go of his Connecticut-based energy-trading unit, Phibro.
From the FT.
People close to the situation said that, after debating options such as divesting part of the unit, called Phibro, opening it up to outside investors or spinning it off, Citi’s executives favoured a complete divestment of the commodity trading division. Citi has held talks with potential buyers but no deal is imminent and the plan to sell Phibro, which has been one of the bank’s most profitable businesses, could still collapse, insiders warned. Should a deal fail to materialise, Citi is still considering selling a majority stake in Phibro while retaining a minority interest for a few years.
This is all well and good, and we're glad they're taking taxpayers feelings and our personal suggestions seriously, but one really startlingly obvious question seems to be going unanswered: Will any of these options mean that Citigroup will not have to pay Andrew Hall a performance bonus for year 2008? We're thinking no, because they are contractually obligated to dole out that dosh. Parting ways with the unit will allow them to make up some of the cash they lose to him, but they're still paying it, either way, and ultimately, the loss of a star trader might cost them a lot more. These are the questions that keep Kenneth Feinberg up at night, we're sure. Well, that and, "Should I just shave off the sides?"
Citi eyes commodities unit sell-off [FT]
Earlier: Andrew Hall Has Castle, Needs Bonus
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: andrew hall, business, citigroup, phibro, phibros, phibros before hos, populist rage, vikram pandit
The trailer for Terry Gilliam’s long awaited film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is upon us. And, as expected, it is a CGI-fairy-dump of Escheresque proportions.
We’ve seen the trailer 4 times now, and still can’t quite wrap our tiny brains around what, exactly, this film is about. But here is what we do know:
The trailer is after the jump — and we’d love your guesses as far as what the hell it is we’re watching. Click here to check the trailer out in HD (highly recommended for such a visual film.)
Karl Lagerfeld showed clogs galore in his spring 2010 Chanel show this week. Why, it's the footwear favored by chefs and nurses! Though Karl's clogs came, mostly, with towering chunky wooden heels. Style.com loves them and justifies their feelings thusly:
What was once reserved for surgeons in the O.R. and argumentative vegans has just been elevated to a new level. Is this Crocs crossover? Well, never mind, either way. If it’s good enough for Karl, bring it on.
We've never subscribed to the notion that just because a certain designer likes something, all fashionable people should like that thing, too. We've watched enough Rachel Zoe to understand that Chanel makes people crazy. But if Style.com didn't know these were Chanel, would they still love them? Maybe some less fashion-y people out there see these shoes and think of something they saw at Journeys in 1991 by L.E.I. Anyway, if Chanel's spring show has brought on a jonesing for a wooden clog that just won't quit, we found a pair by Lucky on Zappos that are available now and only $93. Sure, they're not exactly the same, but they're wooden, studded, and real leather.
The Shoe In: Are Clogs Now Chic? [Style File/Style.com]
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: chanel, designers, does karl make everything right?, karl lagerfeld, shoes, spring 2010
We think Dopp should just try to get Spitzer to pony up the money. After all, it's not like he hasn't shelled out that much for someone to bend over backwards and take it for him during a scandal before. (Too much? You know the Times was dying to make that joke, too.)
Spitzer Aide Is Fined by State and Says He Will Sue [CityRoom/NYT]
Ex-Spitzer aide Darren Dopp slapped with $10K fine for role in Troopergate scandal [NYDN]
Related: Read Steve Fishman's New York story of what happened behind the scenes during Troopergate: All the Governor's Men.
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: darren dopp, eliot spitzer, joe bruno, oh albany!, politics, troopergate
Yara Flinn of Nomia isn't out to dress celebrities. But when she found out that Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon bought one of her pieces at Jumelle in Williamsburg, she knew she hit a great point in her career. "It's the best feeling in the world to hear that someone spent their money on something that you made, and that was the best person I could have, like, ever," Flinn explains. The label, named after a Greek mythological nymph, captures a minimal look without becoming overly simple, with body-hugging shapes, flattering colors, and strategic cutouts. Flinn describes the clothes as art-inspired, a fitting approach considering she studied that skill, rather than fashion design, in college. "I use draping, which I find a lot like making a sculpture," she says. "I really like being able to see how the design is coming out while I am still designing it." Flinn first launched her collection in spring 2007, after a lucky break with Barneys New York — the retailer approached Flinn to place an order after her friend, jewelry designer Pamela Love, wore one of her pieces at a buyers meeting. "I created a line in a week just for Barneys, and they ordered one dress. That's the kind of thing that you're like, it's a sign that I should go with this." Now seven seasons in, Nomia is growing slowly, and Flinn just showed her first official presentation for spring 2010 on the last day of New York Fashion Week, a collection of simple silhouettes in warm, fresh-pastel hues, like a sleeveless dress in nude or pink lace over black. Her fall collection is in stores now, made for "a tougher girl," Flinn says, with exposed zippers, industrial linen, bondage-inspired cutouts, and mesh insets. "This is about raw sexiness — not in a way of exposure, but showing parts of your back and erotic kinds of hints." You can pick up pieces — all of which are produced in New York's garment district — at Steven Alan, Honey in the Rough, In God We Trust, and Dossier. Check out some of our favorite pieces from fall, and what you can look forward to for spring, in our slideshow.
Read more posts by Sharon Clott
Filed Under: designers, dossier, honey in the rough, in god we trust, kim gordon, nomia, steven alan, talent scout, yara flinn
Back in June, we learned that Heroes had cast Days of our Lives actress Rachel Melvin as the college roommate of the cheerleader, Claire (Hayden Panettiere). In the press release that accompanied this announcement, the deviously lecherous publicity team at NBC promised that the actress would "share sleeping quarters (and maybe more) with Claire." Well, it looks like you can take the "maybe" out of that sentence, as this just-released still confirms our notion that the show's producers are so desperate to boost their show's sagging fortunes that they're willing to stoop to lipstick-lesbian plotlines as a means of generating publicity for the show (even if the actress in question isn't Melvin, but rather Madeline Zima). Lame! [Egotastic]
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: hayden panettiere, heroes, lipstick lesbians, nbc, tv
A 14-year-old British girl's dream came true recently when, during her recovery from jaw surgery, a charity granted her wish to smash garden gnomes with a guitar while dressed as AC/DC's Angus Young. There is a photo. [Metro UK]
Read more posts by Lane Brown
Filed Under: ac/dc, awesome, dreams, music
Despite the drama of the past few months (and Matt Taibbi's best efforts), Goldman Sachs' reputation doesn't appear to have been damaged much—at least as far as job seekers are concerned. According to Vault.com—and for the 11th year in a row—Goldman was named the most prestigious banking firm to work for. [Crain's]
You expected to hear Law & Order would be ripping the Jon and Kate Gosselin saga from the headlines to base an upcoming show on, didn't you? The episode airing on Oct. 16 revolves around a reality show called "Larry Plus 10" and "chronicles the struggles of a single dad who's raising 10 adopted special needs kids by himself—after his wife, Joy, is bludgeoned-to-death." But are budget cuts now taking a toll on the long-running series? The other main character is a woman who had 10 kids by in-vitro fertilization and is a stand-in for Nadya Suleman. [NYP]
Well, this is pretty awful. On yesterday's reunion special for long-running Australian variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday, a group of singers calling themselves the "Jackson Jive" performed a galling version of the Jackson 5's "Can You Feel It" in blackface makeup, to predictable boos from the studio audience. Guest American judge Harry Connick Jr. took issue, thankfully, giving the Jive a "0" and telling the tone-deaf host, "If they turned up like that in the United States, it’d be like Hey Hey There's No More Show." Click to watch (and cringe).
Harry Connick Jr. Clashes with Blackface Jackson Family on Aussie TV [Movieline]
Read more posts by Lane Brown
Filed Under: australia, harry connick jr., jackson 5, michael jackson, music, tv
You're not going to believe this, but according to the new edition of the Zagat guide, which officially comes out today, "New Yorkers are eating fewer restaurant meals than a year ago, and when they do, they're skimping on appetizers, desserts and alcohol." Crazy, huh? In other shocking news, the survey reports that people are "finding better deals" when they go out to eat and are having an easier time getting reservations.
The only somewhat surprising figure included in Zagat's findings? That more restaurants opened in 2009 (157) than closed (102). The tally only reflects a small percentage of NYC eateries—it's limited to restaurants Zagat considers "notable"—so you may want to take the figure with a grain of salt. Or you could chalk it up to a sign things are getting better for the restaurant industry, which would certainly be welcome news.
Zagat finds New York City restaurants adjust course to lean times [NYDN]
We're eating out less [AP]
Zagat survey: More restaurants opened than closed [Crain's]
Survey Says [Zagat.com]
Here is a clip of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire mistress Meredith Viera dropping trou for a hot, young military stud who graced the show’s famous contestants stool. Including cracks about… a “wet finger” going “anywhere he wants.”
Excuse me for a minute…
Anyway, get your Boniva-tinis shaked and stirred and take a look at this clip.
While most of America has been tuning in to David “Duchovny” Letterman, Conan O’Brien has been locked in an ongoing feud with the city of Newark, NJ. Ever since Mayor Cory Booker announced The Tonight Show host was banned from the Garden State, Conan has been firing back:
Meanwhile, Cory Booker has been responding via his YouTube page. The guy manages to squeeze in a zinger or two, and clearly one of the fall interns at the Mayor’s office knows Photoshop. See why after the jump.
As a Garden Stater myself, I hope Conan responds to Cory Booker’s pleas for a ceasefire. California and Jersey shouldn’t be fighting like this (they should be ganging up on those jerks in Delaware). Plus, Fred Armisen as David Patterson has already cornered the market highway strip mall on Jersey jokes.
 Washington Post | 'Dancing' delivers a double whammy msnbc.com Debi Mazar, left, and Tom delay, right, both shuffled off the show on Tuesday -- delay through injury, Mazar through voting. Donny Osmond, Kelly Osbourne, and others remain in competition for this season's mirrorball trophy. ... Double Elimination on DWTS: Delay and Debi Go Down 'Dancing With the Stars' recap: Dancing Queen Tom delay: 'I Made Some Very Good Friends' on DWTS |
Reuters - Fashion designers can breathe a sigh of relief.
AP - A premiere NBA Finals matchup features basketball's two best teams going at each other shot-for-shot, rebound-for-rebound in an all-out quest for dominance.
AP - Backstreet Boys, "This Is Us" (Jive Records)
Fashion Wire Daily - The planets seemed to line up, or rather the oceans, in a memorable runway show in Paris on Tuesday, Oct. 6, by Alexander McQueen, a mixture of high-tech media, exceptional staging and fabrics that looked almost organically grown.
Mention anything Twitter-related to Tracy Morgan, and receive this reaction:
But hopefully… that will soon change.
Twacy.org, a new website launched today, has one simple mission in this very complicated world: To get OUR FAVORITE GENIUS and HIP-HOP HONORS HOST Tracy Morgan to join Twitter. It’s a fairly simple concept, really, but one with miraculous results. A world where Tracy Morgan can keep us up to date on the various Morgan-utiae of his fantastic life would be one well worth living in. Even though we all know nothing — not even Twitter — can limit Tracy Morgan to 140 characters or less. He’s really more of a Twerbose man, isn’t he?
Still, this hasn’t stopped the Tracy.org people from moving forward with their goal. Check out their campaign ad created for the sole purpose of getting Tracy Morgan on Twitter after the jump.
Sorry, what was that? Am I on Twitter? Why yes… I am.
And speaking of the Internet and “humor” (imagine?), check out this new iPhone application whose pun name alone has me sold: iLarious, which brings you comedy content from your favorite television shows, websites, as well as original content, to your handy and much-coveted iPhone. It’s like the I Am T-Pain app for the New Yorker set. And for only $1.99… well, you could do a lot worse. Click here to pick it up!
Lindsay Weber brings us the following clip of a brand new show we think America could get into: To Catch a Polanski. It’s where the uber-debonair Chris Hansen catches Roman Polanski molesting children. We will gladly sign a petition to see this show get made for real.
Still doesn’t top our 10 Favorite To Catch a Predator Moments ever, specifically 10, 9, 7, and of course, #1.
For the past few weeks, TBS has been putting the hard sell on its upcoming foray into Late Night TV, called Lopez Tonight, and starring George Lopez, famous comedian whose main focus is his Mexican-American heritage. (Not to be confused with Carlos Mencia, who is an unfunny, joke stealing pr*ck.) Even though the show is more than a month away, TBS has been airing nonstop promotions during its hour-long Seinfeld/Office/The Mummy 2 marathons.
But what makes these promotions Powerpoint Tire Screeching Sound Effects is that they star our very own American President, Barack Obama. That’s right: President Obama has now publicly endorsed George Lopez. Witness after the jump …
To be fair, Obama taped these spots before he actually won the election last year — you’ll note the barely visible “from the ‘08 campaign” in the bottom left-hand corner. But to the viewing public, this could not be worse publicity. Shouldn’t he be, you know… fixing that whole health care thing… or ending the war… instead of ENDORSING LOPEZ TONIGHT??? The above video might be the strongest piece of evidence Obama haters have to get people on their side.
Fashion Wire Daily - Valentino designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli ushered in a new era for the Roman house Tuesday, Oct. 6, in Paris with their first ready-to-wear hit collection. Theirs is a surreal and mysterious Valentino, not a bad metaphor for these uncertain times where fashion really needs emotion to stimulate desire and consumer demand.
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