Welcome to the climactic final battle of Vampire Wars! We've been pitting three structurally similar vampire-tastic TV series against each other, and now it's time to decide which...
(AP)
AP - On the big screen, the leader of the Dead Poets Society at an all-boys prep school was an inspirational teacher played by Robin Williams.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger finally responded personally to this week's big internet meme: his letter to the California State Assembly in which the first letter of each line spelled out "F-U-C-K Y-O-U." Predictably, he said "It was one of those wild coincidences." The Governor was reportedly "smiling" as he said it, though, sadly, not winking. [Mercury News]
It's okay to wear the most unoriginal costume of the year if you actually go as all out as the movie upon which it was based. Wow. [CaseyDonahue.Tumblr]
For reasons that can only involve product placement, the co-anchors of CBS's Saturday Early Show, Chris Wragge, Erica Hill, and Lonnie Quinn, dressed up as the band Poison for Halloween today. Poison? Sure, why the hell not! Unlike the Today Show crew yesterday, these anchors remained un-assaulted by drunk Ewoks. [TV Newser/MediaBistro]
Why in the world would anyone want to take down Taylor Swift?
For a good laugh, of course! It was a week of silly scares on The Ellen Degeneres Show, and the leading lady pulled out all...
Three key players in the troubled world of Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith have been ordered to stand trial after a hearing that plumbed the drug-fueled depths of her final years.
An analysis of the White House visitor's roster for the first six months of the Obama administration, released yesterday, reveals that guests have included George Clooney (pictured), Oprah, Brad Pitt, lobbyists, C.E.O.s, and two unfortunately-named dudes named Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers, confirmed by the White House to totally not be the same guys who caused all that trouble back in the election. White House Visitor Log Lists Stars and C.E.O.s [NYT]
Reuters - George Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev and Helmut Kohl paid their respects to the ordinary people who were behind the peaceful revolution of 1989 that brought down the Berlin Wall at an emotional ceremony in Berlin on Saturday.
AP - Lady Bird Johnson said walking through the White House was like walking "through history." Hillary Clinton called the home "a repository of America's storied past." Michelle Obama has called it "awe inspiring."
Nevertheless, the concert did offer the awe-inspiring spectacle of seeing rock 'n' roll's museum waxworks come to life for a series of sometimes incongruous, sometimes inspired duets. A ranking of our favorites follows.
1. Metallica/Ray Davies — “You Really Got Me,” “All Day And All of the Night”
On a night with this many legends, would anyone have expected Ray Davies to deliver the knockout performance? Well, he did. Partly it was the primal power of those early Kinks singles, and partly it was the band, which attacked the riffs with a ferocity that belied their years. Davies himself is a sly, underrated performer who knows exactly how to live the moment, and he whooped and hollered and got the crowd to lustily sing along.
2. U2/Fergie/Jagger — “Gimme Shelter”
This was a crazy mess, but absolutely riveting. Neither Bono nor Mick could contribute much vocally — Bono's voice is gone, hopefully not forever, and Jagger's faux-Texan twang has disconcertingly overwhelmed the rest of his repertoire. But who the hell cares, this was Mick and U2 up there, banging it out like a bunch of teenagers! U2’s arrangement was subtly bewitching, and major props belong to Fergie, who had to execute the greatest back-up vocal performance of all time. Of course, she made no one forget the original. But her fearlessness was something to behold.
3. U2/Bruce Springsteen — "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
A damn fine song for Bruce, and Bono, though unable to hit that operatic extra gear we love him for, managed his best vocal performance of the night.
4. Metallica/Ozzy Osbourne — "Iron Man," "Paranoid"
This was pure freak show: Ozzy's body and voice are wrecked, but his face is spectacularly wrinkle-free. Here again, Metallica absolutely blew down the doors, guitarist Kirk Hammett looking and playing like he hasn't aged a day in 20 years.
5. Jeff Beck/Buddy Guy — “Let Me Love You”
Jeff Beck, replacing Eric Clapton at the last minute, played about four instrumental numbers too many, although one of them was a very nice version of the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life” which showcased the song’s odd lope. But he didn’t have to sing, and he brought the ineffably cool, Adidas-clad Guy up for the night’s most obviously sensible pairing. They ripped off a compact, throaty blues classic.
6. U2/Bruce Springsteen/Patti Smith — “Because the Night”
Watching the band, particularly drummer Larry Mullen Jr., help Patti Smith figure out where to come in on the second take of "Because the Night" was one of the most touching and revealing moments — because we got a glimpse of them as musicians, not just performers. Smith looked a little bonkers, but she more than held her own as she and Bruce traded verses.
7. U2/Black Eyed Peas — "Where is the Love"
The segue from "Mysterious Ways" to "Where is the Love" may have been most artful moment of the night, and from there on out, it was pure goosebumps, we're not ashamed to admit it.
8. Jeff Beck/Billy Gibbons — “Foxy Lady,” “Rough Boy”
On a guitar-dominated night, someone had to pay homage to Hendrix. These two lurched through “Foxy Lady” in a manner that played up the song’s jagged rhythms and did justice to its psychedelic edges.
9. Aretha Franklin/Annie Lennox — “Chain of Fools”
A roughly 20-piece band is not the best way to showcase Aretha’s classic hits, whose sinuous rhythms are as lasting as her performances. But it was fun to see old duet partner Annie Lennox dancing around Aretha in a "HIV Positive" T-shirt, and the two matched vocal registers nicely.
10. Jeff Beck/Sting — “People Get Ready”
Maybe it's all the yoga, but Sting’s voice is in the best repair of all the night’s performers. Also, he was sporting a nice big beard — look out, Billy Gibbons.
11. Metallica/Lou Reed — "White Light/White Heat,” “Sweet Jane”
On paper, this combo sounds weird, and it looked awfully weird too, with Lou wearing the expression of gobsmacked grandpa. Metallica put too much crunch into "Sweet Jane", but the boys totally nailed "White Light / White Heat" and drummer Lars Ulrich ought to get some kind of valor citation for planting a major, extended bear hug on ornery old Lou afterwards. They swapped some serious body sweat.
12. Aretha Franklin/Lenny Kravitz — “Think”
Aretha was at her liveliest on this one, but Kravitz looked a little lost — he seemed unsure of how to interact with her, and didn’t contribute much vocally.
Lady Bird Johnson said walking through the White House was like walking "through history." Hillary Clinton called the home "a repository of America's storied past." Michelle Obama has... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 31 Oct 2009 | 11:56 am
How do Regis and Kelly rate as Jon and Kate? Is the force with the Today Show cast, or is it more of a farce? Plus, we always suspected Rosie O'Donnell would make a good witch, but just not...
The Christian Science Monitor reports that many analysts believe North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il uses lookalikes for travel and public appearances due to ill health, and at least one claims that it was one of these impersonators and not the real Kim Jong-il who met with Bill Clinton during the former president's trip to North Korea in August to secure the release of the two journalists being held there:
"Shigemura suspects that a skilled actor delivered the lines to Mr. Clinton during their three-hour, 17-minute meeting, which ended with Mr. Clinton flying back to the US with two journalists who had been held for 140 days."
At an event yesterday in which he signed a re-authorization of an HIV-care program named for Ryan White, Obama announced that his office will publish official rules on Monday for lifting the decades-old ban on travel to the U.S. by people with HIV, expecting the ban to be lifted next year. Steps to lift the rule, which many saw as discriminatory and dangerous, were actually implemented last year by the Bush administration. Abolishment of the ban was one of the progressive steps sought by protesters at the National Equality March earlier this month. Obama Lifts HIV Travel Ban for Visitors to U.S. [SF Gate]
Mad Men's January Jones will host SNL for the first time, with musical guest the Black Eyed Peas, on November 14. Joseph Gordon-Levitt will make his hosting debut as well on November 21, with musical guests The Dave Matthews Band. It will be the jam band's first SNL gig in almost a decade, and we bet superfan John Edwards will be watching. [Wrap]
Actor Ethan Hawke has praised Madonna's words of support for Gypsies during her concert in Romania. Hawke says that Madonna "transcended being a pop star." He says she "drew... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 31 Oct 2009 | 10:48 am
Citing mixed reviews and low ticket sales, the producer of the latest revival of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs now says the production will close tomorrow after just one week, and its companion Simon play, Broadway Bound, will not open. [NYT]
A new group of exhibits released yesterday by the S.E.C.’s inspector general, H. David Kotz, includes an interview with Bernard Madoff conducted two weeks after his sentencing, in which the fraudster marvels at the incompetence of the SEC officials who stubbornly refused to catch him for years, even in the face of overwhelming evidence of his guilt:
In the interview, Mr. Madoff said that the young investigators who pestered him over incidentals like e-mail messages should have just checked basics like his account with Wall Street’s central clearinghouse and his dealings with the firms that were supposedly handling his trades.
“If you’re looking at a Ponzi scheme, it’s the first thing you do,” he said.
And he actually wishes now that they'd done their job then:
Despite what Mr. Madoff described as the chronic ineptitude of the S.E.C., he said in the interview that he was “worried every time” examiners showed up.
“That was the nightmare I lived with,” he said, and he told Mr. Kotz he had wanted it to end. “I wish they caught me six years ago, eight years ago.”
Whether you're going door-to-door tonight dressed as Joel or Lou or our personal favorite, The Drunk Dad, remember to check your candy for razor blades and drugs. And if you find any, send...
U2 brought three generations of chart-toppers _ Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and the Black Eyed Peas _ with them onstage Friday at another night of mix-and-match magic at Madison Square... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 31 Oct 2009 | 8:09 am
AP - U2 brought three generations of chart-toppers — Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and the Black Eyed Peas — with them onstage Friday at another night of mix-and-match magic at Madison Square Garden.
Welcome to the climactic final battle of Vampire Wars! We've been pitting three structurally similar vampire-tastic TV series against each other, and now it's time to decide which...
Why in the world would anyone want to take down Taylor Swift?
For a good laugh, of course! It was a week of silly scares on The Ellen Degeneres Show, and the leading lady pulled out all...
How do Regis and Kelly rate as Jon and Kate? Is the force with the Today Show cast, or is it more of a farce? Plus, we always suspected Rosie O'Donnell would make a good witch, but just not...
nullWho else hit the red carpet in style this week? Find out in the Fashion Police gallery!
Whether you're going door-to-door tonight dressed as Joel or Lou or our personal favorite, The Drunk Dad, remember to check your candy for razor blades and drugs. And if you find any, send...
