LAS VEGAS, November 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite the ever-growing popularity of the online casino, the number one reason for would-be players not making the step into the... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 26 Nov 2009 | 1:40 am
Reuters - As the clock strikes 8 p.m. Baghdad time, the curtains sweep apart at the Iraqi National Theater in what actors hope is a return to regular night-time performances 6-1/2 years after the U.S. invasion. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 26 Nov 2009 | 1:14 am
ROME, November 26 /PRNewswire/ -- - The first international and multilingual 2.0 platform dedicated to cookery is here. Madeinkitchen ( Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 26 Nov 2009 | 1:00 am
AP - An Australia-based director's romance, a Taiwanese family drama and the story of a Chinese peasant guarding a cow are the unlikely trio of top contenders at the Chinese-language equivalent of the Oscars to be announced on Saturday. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 25 Nov 2009 | 11:48 pm
AP - There's something about the honeyed sweetness of Joseph Calleja's voice that seems to evoke memories of a golden age, as if this young tenor carried within his vocal cords a secret passed down from bygone generations.
What are Twilight fans grateful for this Thanksgiving (besides the recent release of New Moon and the millions it made in box office bucks)?
Tweets from from the stars themselves, of...
(AP)
AP - Roman Polanski has been granted $4.5 million bail, clearing the way for the fugitive director to move within days from a Swiss jail to house arrest and electronic monitoring at his Alpine resort chalet.
Something feels wrong in our bones.
At first we thought the vague, nagging feeling was caused by that thing that we lifted that we shouldn't have lifted. Then we realized, no,...
Too tired to move after inhaling your Thanksgiving dinner? Just watch Beyoncé burn some calories instead.
We wouldn't exactly call it different—or even "a little...
Thanksgiving is here, which means the fall TV season is over and we're heading straight into what the professionals call "midseason"—and what we fans just call "winter...
A soldier holds former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's memoir "Going Rogue" while waiting in line for her book signing at the North Post Exchange on November 23 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Palin's memoir... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 25 Nov 2009 | 2:01 pm
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin waves to someone in the crowd before signing her memoir "Going Rogue" as her daughter Piper Palin (L) looks on at the North Post Exchange on November 23 in Fort Bragg, North... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 25 Nov 2009 | 2:01 pm
AFP - Republican former governor Sarah Palin's memoir "Going Rogue" shot to the top of the US bestseller list in its first week after publication, industry figures showed Wednesday.
Justin Bieber can thank Twitter for his broken foot.
See, if it wasn't for the social networking phenomenon, the li'l guy may never have met Taylor Swift and therefore may never...
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and the spending-time-with-family anxiety has likely already set in. What better way to take your mind off of the impending holiday drama—you know, Grandma pre-gaming at 9am with a handle of scotch, Uncle Bob's off-color jokes—than by looking into all the crazy Thanksgiving accoutrements you can pick up this Turkey Day? A few favorites after the jump.
Synthetic Wishbones Perfect for: Families with vegetarians, PETA members, whiny kids If you get grossed out by handling the bone from the turkey carcass, this plastic version is for you. Plus, nobody will have to fight for the coveted lone wishbone, and everybody can make a wish!
Crocheted Thanksgiving Dinners Perfect for: DIY addicts and those trying to take the attention off of the food they've cooked They're calorie-free and don't involve spending hours slaving away in the kitchen. (You may need to factor in the time to teach yourself to crochet, however.) The best part? The pattern is just $5!
Waistband Stretcher Perfect for: Anyone who doesn't want to be held accountable for those three extra servings of pumpkin pie No need for cheesy elastic waistbands or any extra trips to the gym. For $30, you can add from one to five inches to the girth of your pants. We'd like to recommend you use this before your gorge-fest for optimum comfort.
Tofurkey and Gravy Soda Perfect for: Vegans and those with less-discerning palates Billed as "soda you can chew on," Jones Soda created this drink "for veg-heads." The company notes that it is "best served with mashed potatoes and a couple of laughs." Hilarious!
Thanksgiving Sweaters Perfect for: Diehard holiday enthusiasts who know it is just too early to wear a Christmas sweater Sex up your look—and show off your pumpkins—in an expressive turkey and cornucopia-embroidered ensemble. HSN is already sold out, but you can always try your luck on eBay or at a mall.
Onion Goggles Perfect for: Cooks with sensitive eyes and extra money to burn This "stylish and comfortable" eyewear is a must-buy for the three minutes it takes to chop onions for the stuffing. They even come in a variety of colors to complement your Thanksgiving sweater (see above).
Vodka-Infused Turkey Perfect for: People who'd rather eat out on November 26th—or who are just trying to forget the holiday ever happened One New York City restaurant is serving up turkey with "an ounce of vodka in every bite." The owners recommend you pair the meal with vodka martinis, naturally, and thoughtfully remind you that "you'll need a cab home."
Turns out ABC had nothing to worry about. After all, it's hard to be raunchy when you can hardly move.
Adam Lambert managed to keep things pretty PG during his performance on...
Julie Andrews, the star of "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music" seen here in October 2009, is returning to the London stage for the first time in 30 years with a one-off show in May, the organisers... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 25 Nov 2009 | 12:47 pm
We love us some Twilight, but even more we love us some Twilight spoofs!
Taylor Swift was too funny with Firelight when she hosted Saturday Night Live, but this Breaking Dawn...
Former CNN anchor and immigrant hater Lou Dobbs is thinking about running for elected office. (He may mount a campaign for Senate from New Jersey, but he hasn't ruled out a run for president.) So now it's time to backtrack to try and woo that all-important Latino demographic! Dobbs now says he supports plans to legalize undocumented workers, an idea he ripped apart nightly for, oh, years when he was sitting in the anchor chair at CNN. And he's now "trying to wipe away his image as an enemy of Latino immigrants by positioning himself as a champion of that fast-growing ethnic bloc." As a champion, no less! Buena suerte with that, Lou. [WSJ]
This holiday shopping season, which officially kicks off with Black Friday in a couple of days, is only expected to be marginally better than last season's, which was the worst in about four decades. So understandably desperate stores are taking desperate measures to ensure they sell things to people this year. Kohl's is opening at 4 a.m. Lord & Taylor will open at 5 a.m. instead of the usual 7 a.m. start time. Macy's will also open at 5 a.m.
More stores will also open on Thanksgiving Day this season. According to a recent survey, of the up to 134 million consumers who will shop for gifts this weekend, 10 percent said they'd be willing to shop between midnight and 3 a.m. on Friday morning. So that means if there are ten people at your Thanksgiving dinner, one of them would be just dandy hitting the mall after the pie binge. We have never done such a thing, and certainly won't cut back on our wine intake to do so this year, but your tales of Black Friday shopping doom, from this year or years past, are welcome in the comments. And for a list of Black Friday sales, see our comprehensive guide.
We're off early today to get started on our sugar-, gluten-, fat-, carb-, and dairy-free pies for tomorrow's feast. (Ha, kidding. As if we cook.) Have a happy Thanksgiving!
"I can't stand Gossip Girl this season! The storylines are boring, the chemistry is gone and even Chuck and Blair have lost their edge. Help! Is there any hope or should I stop...
So much for that report in the Daily News yesterday that fallen publicist/socialite Ali Wise has signed on to appear in Tinsley Mortimer's upcoming reality show, Empire State. A publicist for Wise—yes, even publicists have their own publicists from time to time—says that Wise has not (yet?) agreed to appear on the CW show.
The Daily Newshas since revised its original story based on Wise's denial, although what remains doesn't make a whole lot of sense. According to the new version of events, Wise did appear on camera when the Tinz's crew filmed a party for Stacey Bendet's new Alice + Olivia pop-up shop last week. But she supposedly hasn't signed a release allowing the CW to air the footage. And while Wise's flacks insist she hasn't agreed to cooperate with the show, the paper's source says she "will continue to be shot for Empire State while she's out and about in NYC—at least up until her next NYC court date, on Jan. 14."
So either Wise really doesn't have anything to do with the show and her name was tossed out to the Daily News in an effort to generate yet more press for Tinsley's troubled show. (And she's been known to do some silly things to stir up attention, clearly.) Or Wise is taking part—or at least thinking about it—but isn't ready to announce her participation yet.
Take your pick. And take an aspirin if this whole saga is beginning to make your head hurt.
After Dancing With the Stars' big finale last night, it was time for everyone to kick off their ballroom shoes, slip into something way more comfortable and party as...
In Cape Town, baboons have figured out how to get into people's cars.
This year, it might be hard to think of things to be thankful for. Many of us are still experiencing the effects of the Deepest Recession Since the Greatest Depression™,. Afghanistan, Iraq, and health care are still quagmirish. But in the words of former bailout chief Neel Kashkari: “As bad as it is today, it could have been so much worse.”
In this spirit, we've decided to be thankful for the things that did not happen this year. Here are three of ours:
• The economy did not entirely collapse, the social fabric did not entirely crumble, and we were not forced to storm the Palazzo Chupi and eventually eat Julian Schnabel out of desperation.
• John McCain and Sarah Palin were not elected. (We know that was last year, but it was November, and so it still counts.)
• We don't live in one of those places where attacks by marauding baboons spontaneously occur.
Put yours in the comments! Then sign off the Internet, and have a happy, long Thanksgiving weekend. We'll see you Monday.
Siblings Kana and Shunya Togashi have lived in Fort Greene since childhood. This fall, the pair decided to contribute to the neighborhood's expanding retail scene, renting a storefront a few doors down from their apartment. After four months of DIY renovations, they opened Saffron, a cozy vintage-clothing and flower shop on Hanson Place. The welcoming spot is artfully arranged, with vases of flowers and hand-painted gifts from Shunya's travels to Argentina and France scattered about. The small but selective vintage selection caters to both sexes: Pendleton coats and sixties workwear for men, antique leather bags, vintage ties, and well-preserved boots. Many of the wares come from the Togashis' grandmother in Japan, including intricately beaded handbags, vintage sterling-silver and turquoise jewelry, and thick kimonos that put Topshop's knockoffs to shame (the siblings also learned to arrange flowers from their grandmother during annual visits to Asia). The seasonal floral offerings range from $1 single blooms to lush $15 stalks of hydrangeas. Click ahead to check out the store.
Saffron, 31 Hanson Pl., nr. St. Felix St., Fort Greene, Brooklyn; 718-852-6053
A few months ago, my personal world was rocked when American Idol’sAdam Lambert stepped off of his mirror-balled spaceship and stepped onto the very ground we VH1 immortals tread, pausing briefly to give us an interview that would forever change our lives.
Much has happened since that innocent time. Lambert has released his first album,For Your Entertainment, already a hit on Itunes and on our own personal media players. He went on to put on a shocking performance at the American Music Awards which part-titillated, part-infuriated this great nation of ours. The resulting media firestorm surprised perhaps no one more than Lambert himself, as Good Morning America canceled his performance. (Kudos to CBS for letting our wild flower bloom free.) It’s been, clearly, a busy week for the guy.
Still, he took time to head over to VH1 and continue where our first interview left off. Here is “Martini Minute”, my first of hopefully many celebrity interviews where we ply our beloved guests with both booze and investigative questioning. You’ll note that I barely let Adam peep out a word for the first solid 2 minutes of the interview… what can I say, something takes over me when I get around the guy. That something being love. Enjoy this “Director’s Cut.”
The Fédération de la Couture Française announced this week that the couture-collection presentations will now include special appointments for jewelry. Boucheron, Cartier, Chanel Joaillerie, Chaumet, and Christian Dior Joaillerie will present their beyond-extravagant creations by appointment. The Fédération says the addition will create a "real luxury week." Because croc overalls and six-figure gowns clearly aren't accomplishing that on their own. [Independent UK]
If they want to get the big ratings that the American Music Awards did, they just might have to. The rules that we're referring to have to deal with NARAS's longstanding policy of not letting acts that perform on the AMAs also do their thing on the Grammys. But seeing as how Dick Clark was able to convince just about every pop artist capable of generating ratings buzz (Lady Gaga, Adam Lambert, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Rihanna, etc.) to perform on his show this past weekend, the music-industry bible Hits Daily Double is openly wondering whether the Grammys will be forced to retract their position. After all, the only current chart topper that didn't perform on Sunday night was Taylor Swift. Well, her and Chris Brown. But we're pretty sure that after the events of last February, his invite to this year's ceremony is likely to get lost in the mail. As they say, this one is developing …
Oh, and on that note, happy Thanksgiving! Your friendly Vulture editors are currently in the midst of preparing themselves for a tryptophan hangover of epic proportions. As such, we won't be back until Monday morning. Until then!
I already ranted about the ridiculousness of this Jeep commercial, but their new nonsensical “I Live. I ride. I am” campaign isn’t slowing down, it’s only getting worse. Check out this more recent ad, entitled “Reality.” Seriously.
So much of television is reality television have you noticed that?? What is the deal with all of this reality television? Remember the good old days when it was like M*A*S*H? If you need me I will not be watching tv I will be in my JEEP:
The Wall Street Journal today has a nice little story about the Wednesday 10, a sort of club of assorted New York muckety-mucks, like Mort Janklow and former NBC president Larry Grossman, who have been meeting regularly for dinners since 1957. There aren't any women in the group, although Bob Menschel of Goldman Sachs says that's just because the group was founded back in the day, and if they had formed it today, "it wouldn't occur to us not to include women." In fact, prominent women such as Barbara Walters, Gloria Steinem, and Feminine Mystique author Betty Friedan have been invited to address the group as guests. However: It seems something mysterious happens to these female guests after the fact.
From the Journal:
Ms. Walters says she recalls nothing from the meeting she attended. Nor does Ms. Steinem.
And no one can ask Betty Friedan whether she remembers anything. Because she's dead. The Journal seems unbothered by this bizarre coincidence, so it's up to us to ask: Has this group of powerful old men developed the capability to destroy selective memories of individuals? And if so, is that power now in the possession of Goldman Sachs? Or are they just doing a little light roofie-ing in order to prevent them from seeing Mort Janklow walking around with his wobbly bits out in a Venetian carnival mask?
At a press conference yesterday, Nine actress Fergie told reporters that, on the set of the film, her co-star Daniel Day-Lewis was so immersed in his role that he left love notes in her dressing room from his character to hers: "I'd find this little note. I'd open it, and it would be Guido's stationery. He would write me little notes as Guido," she explained. "They were very cute and very charming." But here's the problem: In the musical, Fergie plays Saraghina, a prostitute Guido Contini meets when he's 10 years old (her big scene is a flashback). Therefore, it's doubtful that the adult Guido portrayed by Day-Lewis would even know Saraghina, much less write her love letters. Come on, Daniel — that's some bush-league Method acting. [PopEater]
With the release of his career-spanning "Live Anthology," Petty
talks about the Heartbreakers' early days, plus Jagger, Harrison
and Dylan
To mark the release of The Live Anthology, a multi-CD boxed set covering 30
years of road work with his band the Heartbreakers, Tom Petty
spoke to Rolling Stone for nearly six hours over two days
— including his 59th birthday, October 20th — about his
rock & roll life. Those conversations, at the Heartbreakers'
rehearsal space in a warehouse in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley
and at Petty's home in Malibu overlooking the Pacific Ocean, ran
the length of rock itself, including the...
The latest speculation making the rounds about Lou Dobbs's political future is that the former CNN anchor won't run for president in 2012, but will instead aim for a Senate seat. The New Jersey resident is considering a challenge to Democratic senator Robert Menendez in 2012 as "an intermediary step" to the White House, a surprisingly honest spokesman told the Times. But apparently Dobbs is aware that targeting the nation's only Hispanic senator might not reflect well on someone already burdened with a reputation for hostility toward Hispanic illegal immigrants. Maybe that's why Dobbs has already begun to reverse his outspoken opposition to what he used to call "amnesty," a path to legalization for illegal immigrants. The Wall Street Journal reports that in an overlooked interview with Telemundo last Friday, Dobbs "twice mentioned a possible legalization plan for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., saying at one point that 'we need the ability to legalize illegal immigrants under certain conditions.'" Looks like he's getting the hang of the politician thing already.
When we first met Jacquelyn Jablonski last year, the Jersey girl was shy and awkward, as any 16-year-old would be. But a lot has changed in the span of one year. After booking the odd editorial here and there (hey, we all have to pay our dues), she modeled for Proenza Schouler's resort collection, then bagged an ad spot for Calvin Klein Jeans, shot by Sebastian Kim. By the time the spring 2010 shows were gearing up, Jacquelyn hit the casting circuit with enormous success. In fact, the model with a strong brow and even stronger walk booked 58 shows, placing her in such fine company as Eniko Mihalik, Tao Okamoto, and Imogen Morris Clarke. Kids grow up so fast.
Jude Law walking downtown with his personal assistant ... Tobey Maguire leaving the Four Seasons Hotel via the back door... Katharine McPhee hailing a cab ... Shia LaBeouf and Michael Douglas eating lunch on the set of Wall Street 2 ... Famke Janssen walking in the West Village ... Katie Holmes carrying Suri on the set of The Romantics on Long Island ... Adam Lambert leaving his hotel in Midtown and later arriving at MTV studios in Times Square ... Amber Rose arriving at a Cinema Society after-party at the Gramercy Park Hotel ... Catherine Zeta-Jones walking in Midtown ... and Robin Williams leaving the Trump International Hotel.
For his fall 2009 namesake collection, Karl Lagerfeld created what are probably the most fabulous scooter helmets of all time, which came encrusted with pearls and covered in mink. When they debuted, it was unknown when or even if the works of helmet art — complete with iPod hookups and everything — would make it to stores. But at long last, they are in stores, just in time for holiday shopping! Les Ateliers Ruby made only twelve of the couture helmets, which Karl created with the chicest of scooter-riding ladies in mind. Find them at Colette in Paris, of course, and at other specialty retailers, for just $1,805 to $6,837. Think of the value in not having to worry about helmet hair once you arrive at your destination, since you can't exactly roll up to the bar and casually set the helmet down somewhere. But you'll also probably want to wear it so you can turn up the music and drown out everyone less fabulous who tries to communicate with you.
"Any time I get a phone call, it doesn't come up as a normal number; it's like a five-digit code. I'm like, 'What kind of spy organization is this?' I've never seen that before. I've had phone calls from people in the government, and they don't have that. Marvel is some crazy underground world."—Natalie Portman on being contacted by Marvel for her role in Thor [WENN via Contact Music]
"Not too long ago, my mum ran into one nun at home, who'd known me, and the nun told her, 'Oh my God, I watched the "She-Wolf" video, and Shakira looks phenomenal in it! I love how she looks, how she does the splits, and how flexible her legs are.' This was an 80-year-old nun. Times are changing."—Shakira [Guardian UK]
"I don't know if you know, but I'm not exactly Bob Dylan — I'm already a pop musician. I'm not on [rock-snob archive label] Razor & Tie. I want to reach as many people as possible. Listen, I can play you Wes Montgomery's Smokin' at the Half Note. I can play you Van Halen's 'Panama.' I love Big Bill Broonzy, and I love Charlie Patton, but I'm not interested in carrying on these people's legacy. I'm interested in being informed by all of this music, while still meeting the requirements of what a pop song is. I don't mind compromising."—John Mayer [Details]
"I made this when I was 13. At the time, I was really into Kraftwerk. They had that song ‘The Robots,' and to me, it sounded like they were saying ‘Zee Robots.' I never really pursued visual art. Like Emilio Estevez in Repo Man, I reached my pinnacle and moved on. Vampire Weekend is my Mighty Ducks."—Ezra Koenig on a painting in his apartment [Spin]
"We've been offered a hell of a lot of parts playing opposite each other in films and TV, and we just turn them down. If you do work together, you put yourself up, you make yourself a target, and you make your relationship a target and all of that. We're very keen not to do that."—James McAvoy on not acting with his actress wife, Anne-Marie Duff [Contact Music]
A Italian-American group is calling on MTV to scrap what is expected to be the most entertaining TV show in a long time, Jersey Shore, the show about the Garden State's "hottest, tannest, craziest Guidos." MTV, however, is holding its ground, thankfully. [Previously]
Hey, this is adorable. New teen-pop group OMG Girlz features not one, but two offspring of current hip-hop megastars: Lil Wayne's daughter Reginae, a.k.a. Baby Carter, and T.I.'s daughter Zonnique, a.k.a. Star (there are also two other members unrelated to famous rappers, Beauty and Lolo). T.I.’s fiancée (and Star’s mother) Tiny is managing them, and they’ve already played shows and recorded a single, “Ain’t Nobody” (available in snippet form here), that we totally don't hate. It's a classic kiss-off, draped over a beat that's almost certainly a Paper Trail outtake, and features some serious knowledge-dropping from Baby Carter ("Don't get it twisted, boo / I'm way too cute for you”); it's definitely the best teen-nepotism-pop song we’ve heard so far this morning. Also heartwarming: Wayne has promised to collaborate on a song with them before he goes to prison next year.
T.I.'s And Lil Wayne's Daughters Start Group, OMG Girlz [MTV]
Prepare yourself: Thanksgiving weekend is upon us, and we've compiled more than 60 sales for your bargain-hunting pleasure. Check the updated map for last-minute deals from this week, including: 70 percent off clearance items at DSW, plus 50 percent off an undivulged "Italian handbag company" (it's Gucci); an additional 50 percent off sale items from BB Dakota, Blank jeans, Seychelles, and more at Dalaga; 40 percent off WeSC headphones at AC Gears; 30 percent off eighteen-karat-gold and platinum jewelry at Me & Ro; and an additional 30 percent off already-marked-down fall 2009 items at DKNY. Snag the Paula motorcycle boots, left, for $140 (originally $298).
My lifelong abusive relationship with fantasy football resulted in another black eye this week (not figuratively – Yahoo physically punched me in the eye, causing it to bruise). I’ve played fantasy in some form every year since 9th grade, completely ignorant of my own adage that only two possible outcomes can result from playing fantasy football:
1) You lose, and are pissed. 2) You win, and no one cares.
When you lose — as my team did this week — there’s also an added sense of “this is the biggest waste of time imaginable,” especially when the following scenario happens (this story is subtitled “Why I Am A Waste Of A Human”):
As of Monday night, I was trailing my game by two points going into the Monday Night Football game between Houston and Tennessee, and I still had Houston receiver Andre Johnson yet to play, but my opponent had Matt Schaub, Houston’s quarterback, who’d be throwing the ball to Johnson and essentially canceling out his points.
But, rather than assume I was going to lose, ignore a boring NFL game that had no impact on the standings, and spend my night usefully by reading a book or planting a tree or whatever valuable people who don’t play fantasy football do, I sat on the couch watching the Texans play the Titans and rooted for Andre Johnson to catch a touchdown but for Matt Schaub to also throw two interceptions afterward to drag his points back below Johnson’s. This is not an actual thing anyone does.
Fortunately I was joined on the couch by my roommate, who had absolutely no stake in the game other than needing Tennessee’s Rob Bironas to kick ONE field goal so he could win his fantasy game for the week. So basically, the two of us — a Steeler fan and a Giants fan — watched a regular season Texans/Titans Monday Night game with me shouting at the tv hoping for Matt Schaub interceptions or for the running back to throw a touchdown pass to Andre Johnson (but only Andre Johnson), and my roommate rooting for the Titans until they got to the opposing 30 and then rooting against them.
Could the inventors of Football — John J. Football III and his cohorts — have possibly foreseen something so specifically pathetic ever deriving from their innocent pastime? If so, they were terrible people.
In the end, my roommate won his game, but I lost. Though in a way, are either of us winners?
That would be a “no,” preceded by multiple F-words.
This Thanksgiving, the girl in our favorite clip from I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant should be thankful that if she gives birth at the dinner table, her pants will probably be unbuttoned this time around. Mike Britt brings you that clip and more in a second helping of the funniest pop culture moments from 2009 along with Frangela, Gabe Liedman and Pat Dixon on Best Day Ever:
After ABC decided that their viewers couldn't stomach acts of mock fellatio before they get a chance to properly digest their breakfast, Adam Lambert and his crack team of guyliner technicians hightailed it over to CBS this morning for an interview and performance on the decidedly older-skewing Early Show. Although the CBS headlines trumpet that Lambert "offers no apologies" for his sexually charged AMA performance that so thoroughly freaked 1,500 people out that they felt compelled to call their local affiliates to complain, a closer read of Lambert's comments show that he has spent some time practicing his responses with some sort of crisis-management flack over the last 24 hours or so.
Here is the interview that we're speaking of:
Seeing as how we spend a great deal of our day following the media machine, we suspect most of the soundbites will probably focus around Lambert's claims that he's "not a babysitter, [he's] a performer." However, what we found to be more telling were Lambert's comments that his AMA performance "got the most of me" and "was not what I intended." Oh, come on, Glambert, we all know your performance was EXACTLY what you intended. We understand that your team is savvy enough to get you to say that shoving your male dancer's head into your crotch "came from an improvising place" (so as to give ABC culpable deniability if the FCC decides to freak out about this), but we'd prefer it if you just owned up to the fact that you wanted to push people's buttons. Playing humble in the face of controversy is certainly the safe move in this situation, but we were hoping that he would be a little more defiant about his right to receive fake BJs during his live performances, especially considering that his new songs are a bit on the bland side and could certainly use some spicing up.
To wit, here's a fairly boring live performance from Lambert that could've been improved with some mock fellatio (or even regular fellatio):
Since Mario Grauso came on as president of Vera Wang in October, three high-level executives have left the company. The latest is Laura Lee Miller, who resigned her position as president of licensing and marketing to open her own consulting business. Her first client is ... Vera Wang! It was reported last month that the designer is shopping a reality-TV show. An Outward Bound wilderness retreat in which the office can bond with the new people coming in, whoever they may be, would make excellent fodder. [WWD]
Publishers like Time Inc. and Condé Nast are reportedly banding together to build an "online newsstand" for digital content, similar to iTunes, which sounds like a fine idea. We hope there's a Genius component that recommends stuff, like "If You Like Adam Gopnick You Might Also Want to Try Monocle, Adam Thirlwell's The Delighted States: A Book of Novels, Romances, & Their Unknown Translators, Containing Ten Languages, Set on Four Continents, & Accompanied by Maps, Portraits, Squiggles, Illustrations, and a Variety of Helpful Indexes and This Sterling Silver Marrow-Scooping Spoon." [NYT]
Fox has sent out their 2009-2010 Midseason Schedule. And for the most part, it looks pretty standard: 89% of the programming being alotted to Seth McFarlane’s diarrhea, with the remaining 11 percent being doled out to Ryan Seacrest (fine by us). But one note took us completely by surprise:
“GLEE” ROCKS ITS FALL FINALE WEDNESDAY, DEC. 9
AND RETURNS WITH ALL-NEW EPISODES TUESDAY, APRIL 13
Sorry, what?
“GLEE” ROCKS ITS FALL FINALE WEDNESDAY, DE–
OK, we got it, we got it. But seriously… WTF is a Fall Finale? Did Glee suddenly get picked up by HBO? Fall finales? 9 year long hiatuses? When did Glee become The Sopranos over here?
I Googled the opposite of “Glee.” Do you know what I found?
• It's been six months since Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and his wife Laura put their old duplex on the market for $15 million. And yet, sadly, there have been no takers. The Blankfeins just cut $1.5 million off the price of the apartment, though, so perhaps their luck is about to turn around? The five-bedroom co-op at 941 Park Avenue—which comes with 30-foot living room with wood-burning fireplace, paneled library, formal dining room, and two maid's rooms—can now be yours for $13.5 million. [Cityfile, Stribling]
• Harper's Bazaar publisher Valerie Salembier and her husband, former Revlon president Paul Block, have paid $2.55 million for a 27th-floor, three-bedroom apartment at 860 United National Plaza. [NYO] • Dr. Hilel Lewis, an ophthalmologist and the former head of the Cleveland Clinic's Cole Eye Institute, has put his three-bedroom condo at the Time Warner Center on the market for $14.9 million, which is $8.9 million more than he paid for it in 2007. [NYO, Corcoran] • Art historian Hugh Crean has put his quirky Victorian townhouse at 401 Manhattan Avenue on the market for $1.595 million. [Curbed, Halstead]
There's a lot at stake in this week's installment: Most episodes just have to lure you back next week. This one has to lure you back next year.
So, appropriately, the show starts with a literal bang. Gunshot! Then we see Georgie is down, with Erica scrambling to help him. But what's this? Ryan, the renegade V, approaches, pistol drawn! Pointed right at our heroine!
This is revealed later to be some lame narrative flim-flammery. Georgie is shot not by Ryan, but by an evil V scientist. Ryan, approaching Erica, is simply pulling the old "I'm not pointing my gun at you, I'm pointing at the guy behind you" trick, which should have been retired after Tango & Cash. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
Or, rather, move backwards, about fourteen hours, where we learn that the V must be reading our Twitter feed, because they quickly answer our most persistent question: Why don't the resistance fighters simply capture a V, then skin him on TV to reveal his inner lizard? The answer: That would just provoke the V to retaliate with all-out war and, as Ryan says, "That's not a war we can win." All right, then: On to Plan B!
They better act fast, because Anna announces the latest V initiative: Offering a super-immunity booster shot to every human on earth. Given that our own government can't convince people to take a flu shot (and rightly so! See below), it seems unlikely that we'd be convinced to take a booster shot from aliens. But hey, who knows? The Visitor's Healing Centers (shades of Scientology?) are up and running, and people are lined up out the space portals.
To uncover the true nature of these injections, Erica and crew break into a V lab, where they find case upon case of … flu shots! That's right, America — your paranoia is justified! First the aliens offer universal health care, now they're trying to kill you through inoculation. At this point, we expected Glenn Beck to come running around the corner, carrying a submachine gun and shouting, "The Vs also built Rockefeller Center! I know the truth! Follow me!"
Meanwhile, back on the mother ship, Anna takes Tyler for a tour of the engine room, thus proving herself to be way more groovy than his own dumb mom, who's always busy trying to save humanity and stuff. Anna further cements this good impression by later conducting the "bliss" ritual, in which she fortifies her troops by … shedding her clothes. This is a good strategy.
Erica and crew blow up the flu-shot factory then scatter. Later, Father Jack encounters a sobbing man at his church, sitting with his head in his heads. (We thought for sure he'd look up and be a lizard, WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN AWESOME.) Instead, it's a V security guard from the plant, who shivs Father Jack. Cliffhanger!
But we'll have to wait until 2010 to find out what happens — assuming ABC brings back the show at all. There are a few intriguing loose threads here: Chad Decker needs brain surgery from the Vs; Ryan's fiancée is knocked up with a snake-baby; the final shot of a V armada was pretty damned cool — but overall, the show failed to hook us. A fantastic premise (sneaky aliens invade Earth) was subsumed by hand-wringing over agent Erica's mothering skills and Chad Decker's journalistic ethics. And we're still cheesed that no one ate a rat.
More recaps:
At TV Guide, Scott Tomasso writes of the show's opening, "Honestly, I'm not a big fan of these kind of setups, since most of the time the payoff is cheesy and gimmicky. I hope that's not the case in this episode." Prepare to be disappointed, Scott.
At MTV's website, Josh Wigler gripes about Erica's lack of inquisitiveness when she finds out Ryan is a V: " I would have asked him what the real name of their species is, how many of them are there, where do they come from, how they put human flesh over their lizard skin, is it itchy under there, do they have to shave as often as real humans, et cetera, et cetera."
And EW's Jeff Jensen announces his verdict: "I wanted to like it. Really, I tried. But I didn't, and now it's all over, at least for me."
AP - "The Gift" (Harper, 302 pages, $19.99) by Cecelia Ahern: In Cecelia Ahern's latest novel, a successful, self-absorbed workaholic finds his life take a turn by one kind gesture.
Throughout the day today, the website Wikileaks will be publishing over half a million messages sent from text pagers on 9/11. According to the website, they range "from Pentagon and New York Police Department exchanges, to computers reporting faults to their operators as the World Trade Center collapsed." It's a little arduous sifting through all the computer gibberish in the documents, but the information contained within can be fascinating. CBS News's Dean McCullagh found messages discussing an evacuation to Mount Weather, "the government's sort-of secret bunker buried under the Virginia mountains west of Washington, D.C." He finds another that warned of a threat to Air Force One, and even one that seemed to celebrate the death of a disliked business executive onboard one of the doomed flights. Other texts refer to a bomb going off in the World Trade Center and military planes forcing down a commercial jet, which, as McCullagh points out, are sure to pique the interest of 9/11 Truthers.
Many other messages are personal, with no bearing on history. Just browsing ourselves, we found one that reads, "the coast is clear,lets go get some indian food right now," and another saying, "Please tell us you drove. Dad just called me about what is going on in the world, very scarey!" Another one highlighted by Wikileaks reads, "Honey wanted to tell you how much i love you. I was alittle worried.I Don’t want to lose you now that I got you back. You mean everything to me. You have my whole heart and life. Ilove you so much."
Obviously, the release of these messages raises questions about privacy. How did Wikileaks get all these texts in the first place? McCullagh says that they were either illegally copied from the archives of the pager companies and then shared with Wikileaks, or, more likely, obtained through "over-the-air interception" using technology which can be be both cheap and readily available. Kind of disturbing, no? Still, though reading these private, sometimes intimate communications might be distasteful or even repulsive to some, the voyeuristic impulse is also hard to resist.
It's the same old story we've heard over and over. Designer moves to the U.S. from Korea, goes to Parsons, opens her own store, closes said store, lands a gig designing for Calypso, and then relaunches her own collection. Okay, so perhaps Min Lee Young's route to fashion glory was a bit roundabout, but her newly reborn line (it was revived spring 2008) combines the soft fabrics and embellishments of the old world with tailoring of the new. The end result is a boho-chic collection that works well for almost any aesthetic, which is why she's been picked up in quite a few shops (Calypso, of course, plus Dolce Vita and Poppy), and is a featured designer on FadMashion. Young, who just moved to L.A. as of last week (but swears her undying love to New York: "I will always be a New Yorker in my heart!"), has launched a lower-priced line with pal Richard Ruiz, though she doesn't have other plans for collaborations just yet. (She'd love to do home design, though — hint hint.) We got a sneak peek at her spring 2010 line, which is a light mix of colors, fabrics, and ruffles, and makes for easy wearing. Check out the collection and see for yourself.
Remember last week when Rudy Giuliani insiders hinted that the ex-mayor would announce a run for Senate "in the next 48 hours"? Well, it's been five days since then and there hasn't been a peep from Team Rudy. "This is not how candidacies are launched," says Steve Kornacki. No, indeed, it is not. But let's all hope any potential Rudy campaign in the future goes this smoothly. [NYO]
Paula Deen was hit in the face with a ham. Indeed, food has finally become self-aware and it taking measures to defend itself.
Anyway, Paula is doing fine. How do we know? The answer is as simple as covering your nude body in butter and frying yourself to a golden brown. Extra TV sent out this e-mail, which is so amazing… well, we bring it to you in its entirety.
Paula Deen: Recovery From Ham Throw ‘Like a Miracle’
Paula Deen tells “Extra” she’s “fine” after inadvertently getting hit in the face by a ham while at a food drive in Atlanta Monday morning.
“I got in the way of the hog,” the celeb chef jokes to “Extra.” “I didn’t even bruise or swell. It’s like a miracle!” Deen admits she “would be lying if I said it didn’t hurt.”
But she has no hard feelings for the man who tossed the ham. (And she thinks “it’s funny how things end up on YouTube.”) “It was the guy’s first day. I went to toss a ham like a football,” she says. “He didn’t know how I normally do things, and I guess he got excited and got caught up in the moment because as I turned around to get more hams off the truck, this guy yells… and I turn around just in time to catch the ham in my face!”
Deen wasn’t hurt too badly.
“It’s funny. They got ice immediately on it. I really thought my nose was broken, but all I have is a little, tiny red spot,” she says. “It could have been bad, but it’s alright.”
The meat thrower “felt so bad,” Deen adds. “I felt probably worse for him than for myself being his first day on the job. [But] accidents just happen. That’s why they’re called accidents. The doctor checked it and she said I was fine. I didn’t even go the hospital.”
Deen didn’t let the snafu keep her from her goal of distributing enough hams (with Smithville Foods) to food banks to feed over 20 million over the next three years.
“When it catches your blind side, you’re so startled — but like I said, it’s going to take a little bit more than a pig in the face* to slow me down because we got people at the food banks that we’re trying to get food out for Thanksgiving,” she says. “We got so much going on. I swear, I’m so proud to be 62 and employed.”
And he's out of there, maybe! The AP reports that a Swiss court has okayed a $4.5 million bail offer from Roman Polanski's lawyers, the terms of which would have the director monitored electronically under house arrest in his enormous ski chalet in the Swiss Alps. Polanski will remain in jail for now, awaiting extradition to the U.S., while Switzerland's Justice Ministry decides whether to appeal the ruling. Hilariously, the Swiss court says it still considers Polanski a "high flight risk," but $4.5 million was "significant enough to offset those concerns." An announcement is expected shortly on the date and venue for Polanski's "Welcome Home" party in Paris.
Greetings, people who are at work on Thanksgiving Wednesday for some ungodly reason or are off and consciously choosing to read my daily BS for some even ungodlier reason! Let’s kick off this pseudo-holiday of posting with a quick transcript of the dumbest five-second phone call I’ve ever received, which woke me up this morning at 7:45…
[7:45 am, cell phone rings]
Me: Hello?
Woman: Yeah?
[PAUSE]
Me: Who is this?
Woman: You have the wrong number!
Me: You called me.
[CLICK]
Yyyyep. Phones = Still difficult!
I blame this on being home for the holidays somehow.
A group of detainees kneels during an early morning Islamic prayer in their camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A novel for teenagers about the US prison in Guantanamo Bay written by a rock star's wife has been... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 25 Nov 2009 | 9:06 am
Whitney’s exciting journey as a fashion designer reaches a pivotal juncture this week on The City when her very first samples arrive. It’s like she’s a real person with a real job! Like. Kelly Cutrone — who has obnoxiously but also probably necessarily decided to micromanage Whitney’s design career — says it’s time to get a look book together. “This is your one moment to have a visual identity,” she reminds Whit, adding that the book could “make or break her.” (Technically not always the case — a slutty fashion show might carry considerably more impact.) And so she enlists Roxy, who needs things to do, to help her. Kelly prevents Roxy from screwing everything up. If only Olivia had had a handler at Elle to help her do the same.
Lesson 1: Casting a look book. Do: Hire a casting assistant who is capable of listening. Whitney says she wants Roxy to work on the casting. Bad idea, because Roxy is not capable of catering to someone else’s vision. All she cares about is getting herself in a Quentin Tarantino movie and being “edgier” and therefore cooler and more important than Whitney. She will always think her ideas are best, and getting her to take direction from Whitney will require beating her over the head with the long-lost tutu from her youth. So the first round of girls she calls in for the “fairy-tale tea party” shoot are all pale brunette Goth types.
Don’t: Treat the models like they’re blind, deaf, and dumb. We don't enjoy watching model castings on this show because they treat the girls like they’re standing inside a soundproof glass case. Kelly calls the first round of girls a “Gothic nightmare” and refers to them as “that one.” Sadly, the girls have to take it with smiles and rays of sunshine emanating from their irises if they want the job. Which is why we’d make horrible models. “Just because I might have to wear your vulgar cellophane dresses doesn’t mean I don’t have a name or my own identity,” we might say, and storm out.
Lesson 2: Working under pressure. Do: Get a little stressed. We are seriously getting annoyed with the script writers, because this episode is like the hundred millionth (or third) time Olivia has to work on a television-show segment at Elle. Erin books Joe on the Today show, and he wants Olivia to pull outfits for the models (he doesn’t do this himself because he, as the creative director of a giant fashion magazine, has more important things to do than dress real people, such as style Sarah Jessica Parker for her cover shoot). Erin objects because she hates Olivia, who admittedly sucks at life, but to no avail. She tells Olivia she has to pull a few looks, and Olivia doesn’t look stressed out at all. She probably isn’t, because she’s thinking about whether or not to wear her hair in a frigid-bitch bun the next day and whether she has enough lip gloss to get her through the rest of the week. But worrying about the task at hand gives one nervous energy sometimes required not to fuck everything up, which should be a concern of Olivia's.
Don’t: Show too much stress. Erin is freaking out over Olivia’s nonchalance, but this just makes her look a little crazy. Keep it on the inside. Or IM it to your friends so the national television audience can’t see.
Lesson 3: Conceptualizing a fairy-princess tea party look book (ugh). Do: Keep the models clean. Whitney boldly includes cake and cupcakes on the set of the tea-party shoot. Roxy suggests the models actually eat the baked goods. They do, and everyone is happy. But then she suggests they have a giant food fight, which is ridiculous because the point of the book is to show the clothes in their freshest state, not matted down with colored frosting.
Don’t: Force them to pop bottles. Roxy suggests one of the models pop a Champagne bottle. She probably envisioned a spectacular shot of a girl with a bunch of Champagne fizz in the air with a big smile on her face — like an ad for those plastic New Year’s Champagne cups that come in two pieces. But the model can barely wield her own arm, much less a fired-up Champagne bottle, and drops the thing immediately after opening it. Roxy is still new to the city, so she hasn’t quite absorbed that models and bottles do go together, but only when there’s a hired scantily clad waitress or insecure banker around to pop the cork for them.
Lesson 4: Getting your friend to like you again after you’ve been a pain in the ass on her first-ever look-book shoot. Don’t: Throw cake at her. When Kelly and the crew finally exit the look-book set, Roxy is still itching for the cake fight (because she’s so bad, you know), and throws cake at Whitney after apologizing for getting Champagne on her cellophane dress (which would have been fine if they'd just sprayed it with Windex, FYI). Whitney, a noted pushover, finds this funny and gently lobs cake back at her. The sultry-girl music sets in and we are left with one of the most awkward scenes in the history of MTV’s reality programming. Watching them lurch around in slow motion tossing carbs on each other’s heads made us feel embarrassed just for witnessing it.
Do: Accept your position in the shadows. Roxy should learn that she is the supporting cast member in this show, and the supporting cast member at People’s Revolution. Whitney is the soon-to-be star designer, and she is the annoying best friend. She should stop acting out and start shutting up.
Lesson 5: Being a tolerable shopping partner. Don’t: Praise your own skinny figure. Olivia goes to pull outfits with Bryn, the intern, who is obviously far more competent at Olivia’s job than Olivia. She suggests a sequined dress, and Olivia said she nixed that because it “hugs in the wrong areas,” adding that she herself could pull it off, but not everyone can. Just, wow.
Do: At least act like you’re listening to what your gal Friday is saying. Olivia pulls, like, negative four outfits when she needed to bring Erin a bunch of options. Bryn suggests they grab more, but Olivia says, “I’m happy. I’m really happy.” She's denser than most straight men!
Lesson 6: Addressing your superior at the office. Don’t: Question her tone. Erin is unsatisfied, naturally, with what Olivia has brought back to her. She makes this known to Olivia because she now basically has no time to find what she needs. “Erin, would you talk to Joe in the same way that you talk to me?” Olivia says, making it clear she has never had a real job ever in her life. Or, maybe, a real friend.
Don’t: Tell her she’s wrong. “I think we’re clearly disagreeing on what we want,” Olivia tells Erin, when she says Olivia should have gone to more stores than just two. This is insane, because work is not about what you want, it’s about what your boss wants, and Erin, here, is Olivia’s boss. Dense!
Do: At least pretend to feel bad about your fuckups. Olivia doesn’t give a damn about the segment or her fake assignment, but casts her gaze downward as though she wishes, maybe, that she hadn’t utterly failed at life again. But we have a sinking feeling she was mentally checking out to calculate how many calories her lunch of crudité was. That flawless figure don't come easy!
Lesson 7: Venting at work about a certain individual. Don’t: Complain to the intern. Erin is about to explode after the Olivia incident. She has to talk to someone immediately and chooses Bryn, the intern. Sometimes interns are so cool you can let them in on the office drama to the most minute details, but we are not sure Bryn is that sort of girl. She could easily be swayed if Olivia bought her something nice at the Swarovski store.
Do: Complain to someone who hates the certain individual just as much as you. We feel so bad for Erin, because from the looks of things it’s midnight and she’s stuck at the office with no one, and probably very bad cell-phone reception. Certainly she could have grabbed a production assistant just as fed up with Olivia’s attitude as she is.
Perhaps with his windfall Greg can purchase a more flattering sweater.
Like many people who refinanced their homes using subprime loans in recent years, Greg and Diane Horoski, of East Patchogue, Long Island, fell behind on their mortgage payments, after Greg suffered health problems and the rate of their mortgage shot up from 10 to 12 percent. When they tried to renegotiate, their lender, OneWest and its IndyMac mortgage division, wouldn't budge. It was "like dealing with organized crime," Horoski said. Eventually, after the bank began the foreclosure process, the Haroskis took them to court. They drew an awesome judge.
According to the Post, Judge Jeffrey Spinner, of Suffolk County, Long Island, not only erased the $525,000 that the couple supposedly owed to OneWest, he delivered a heroic smackdown to the TARP-supported institution, condemning them in his decision for behavior he called "harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive." Actually, wait, that's not enough. OneWest's conduct was also:
"inequitable, unconscionable, vexatious and opprobrious," Spinner wrote. He canceled the debt because the bank "must be appropriately sanctioned so as to deter it from imposing further mortifying abuse against [the couple]."
OneWest is, naturally, appealing. But the decision may still make lenders think twice about how they treat homeowners, lest they come up against Spinner and his thesaurus.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! This special holiday episode of The Hills is brought to you by the Palazzo Hotel in Las Vegas and Charlie’s increasingly creepy mustache. Seriously, what is up with that dude? Who is he? His advice is unsound to the point of insane (his pregnancy test: “Put some wine in front of her and take her out for some sushi”; his prediction about Speidi’s spawn: “He’ll have an Oedipus complex” — actually, that one’s probably true), and his anti-Heidi screeds are starting to worry us. “It sounds like the black widow, weaving a web, sucking you in for the big kill,” he says to Spencer of Heidi’s pregnancy plot. As (pretend) crazy as Heidi is, she’s not trying to murder Spencer, she’s just pressuring him to have a baby, which isn’t really akin to death. Hear that, twentysomething men? HEAR THAT?! Anyway, Charlie freaks us out. Sadly, we were hoping for a Very Special Thanksgiving episode this week (or least a few quality minutes with Lo), and all we got was a lousy Vegas trip and some strippers. On to it!
So Kristin and Stacie the Former Bartender Turned Reality-TV Sidekick are on their way to Vegas. Who’s driving them? It doesn’t matter. They discuss their plans to find boys to hook up with; Stacie is 90 percent sure of finding someone, Kristin is only 65 percent certain of it — we used to put our going-out-hookup-odds at about 2.8 percent, which is why we never made it to the major leagues like these girls. (And also why we never contracted heinous diseases … just saying. Be safe, Stacie!) After arriving at the hotel, the girls discuss sparkly outfits: “I need something that screams 'not a one-night stand, but … maybe,'” says Stacie. We think she and her “baby clothes” accomplished that goal. They go out to some club and find some hilarious boys to hang out with — some guy named J-Rock who was a backup dancer for the Backstreet Boys, a.k.a. a male stripper. He grinds into Kristin’s horrified face, and she continues to take shots in order to forget where she is, presumably. In a moment of weakness, Kristin calls Justin Bobby — “your name keeps popping up in my head,” she tells him. Hey, ours too! So, like the hero he is, Justin Bobby drives to Las Vegas to save his damsel in a distressed leather jacket (zing!).
Stacie finds the lovebirds in Kristin’s hotel room the next day, eating breakfast in bed. The girls really got two rooms? Sounds fishy. Justin emerges from the shower, his Italia tattoo shining in all its glory. Kristin and JB exchange some romantic dialogue: “Did you ever drive to Las Vegas for Audrina?” Kristin fishes. “I don’t think so,” says Justin, honestly. How could you expect him to remember something like that? They all end up in a strip club, getting lap dances, which is pretty depressing. Also depressing: the kiss that Stacie and Kristin share at Justin’s request. So degrading, girls. This scene’s making us angry, so we’ll move right along … to Justin and Kristin in bed! They discuss whether their relationship can last outside the bubble of Vegas. We’re betting no! But we wish them the best of luck, really.
On to Heidi and Spencer and Charlie, oh my! We’re going to breeze past this annoying plotline, and instead marvel at the craziness that comes out of Charlie’s mouth. “Post baby-making acrobatics?” “I have a baby name book at home?” Why?? This guy is taking Enzo’s place as our No. 1 serial-killer suspect on The Hills. Maybe they’re in cahoots, though. Anyway, Heidi pretends to be pregnant, and won’t drink or have sushi. Whatever.
And now, our unequivocal Hills Reality Index!
As real as idiot girls kissing to show off for a boy:
• Stacie mentions that she feels like a third wheel with Justin and Kristin. It’s true, she is. What happened to your 90 percent odds, Stacie?
• Spencer wishes there was a male birth-control pill for him to take. Don’t we all, Spence, don’t we all.
• Kristin’s drunken phone call to Justin when things weren’t working out as she’d hoped. We’ve all been there, Kristin. For reference, we recommend downloading Chamillionaire’s classic "Backup Plan." “You're horny, wanna grind him, but you just can't find him,” croons Devin the Dude. It’s a really good song, we swear.
As fake as skipping delicious sushi in order to pretend you’re preggers to teach your crazy husband a lesson:
• Did Justin really have to walk out in a towel for Stacie (and us) to ogle? No, he didn’t, but the producers knew we’d want to see it.
• OMG, END THIS PREGNANCY PLOT, PLEASE! Thank you.
• Audrina’s still going around town telling people how over Justin Bobby she is — “there’s a point where you need to get off the roller coaster,” she tells JB’s 57-year-old friend Derek. Sigh.
Day in, day out, we go on about our daily business, rarely pausing to think that while the Starbucks barrista makes her 40,000th latte and your car gets another parking ticket, there’s an entire make believe world of Muppets happening at the very same time. Thankfully, the folks at the Muppet Studio have released yet another brilliant piece of work with their following felty cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Sure, you might think the Muppets are passe. Well, you’re an idiot if you think that. From the opening chicken situation, to Animal’s painful searching, to the surprise cameo at the end… and then the chickens again. Here is a pre-Thanksgiving gift from Muppet world to you.
Former First Twins Barbara and Jenna Bush turn 28 today. Actor/economist/ex-game show host Ben Stein is turning 65. New York Times columnist Gail Collins is turning 64. Jill Hennessy is 41. Christina Applegate is turning 38. Actor John Larroquette is 62. Pop/gospel singer Amy Grant is 49. Philadelphia Eagles star Donovan McNabb turns 33. Famed choreographer Trisha Brown is turning 73. Soul legend Percy Sledge is 69. And competitive eater (and hot dog eating champion) Joey Chestnut turns 26 today.
Get set to riot, Glee fans: Now that the high-rated show-choir drama has helped propel Fox to its first-ever November sweeps victory, it'll be shelved for four freakin' months following its December 9 mid-season finale. Last night, the network announced its winter schedule and a return date of Tuesday, April 13 for Glee (meaning it'll air on the same night and during the same time slot as Lost's final episodes). According to the Hollywood Reporter, this is all presumably to accommodate creator Ryan McGinley Murphy, who'll be busy these next few months directing the movie adaptation of Eat, Pray, Love. So if you feel the need to direct all of your anger and outrage at just one person, we'd recommend Julia Roberts.
Shauna Sand says she had an affair with Chace Crawford when he was 18, after meeting him "at a college party." "He was so incredibly beautiful — I immediately fell in love with him!" the 1996 Playmate told Star. "I even gave him a key to my apartment." Rihanna is getting $500k to perform on New Year's Eve in Abu Dhabi. Rosie O'Donnell is not enjoying the single life. Cynthia Rodriguez's new boyfriend is a real-estate investor named Laszlo Fazekas. Courtney Love took her band to Scores. "She was saying she used to be a stripper and appreciated what the girls do," a source tells "Page Six." Danny Meyer took his family to one of his own restaurants the other night.
Mercedes Bass found herself with too many men at her dinner party. Ellen DeGeneres gave $10k and a car to a single mother in the Bronx. The founders of Twitter will probably win Media Person of the Year this year. Usher's new girlfriend, Grace Miguel, is causing problems with both his record company and his mother. Megan Fox was a no-show at Michael Bay's reunion for the Transformers cast and crew.
Phil Donahue empathizes with Oprah. The rest of thePussycat Dolls are not speaking to Nicole Sherzinger. Naomi Watts watched Woody Allen play clarinet. In a leaked audio tape, Jon Gosselin is heard complaining "I put my kids out there to every pedophile on the planet." Kanye West's girlfriend, Amber Rose, asked a stranger to help her zip up her dress. Tyler Perry gave $1 million to the NAACP. Tom Ford wants to make a movie every three or four years. Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom have bought a $4 million house. Amy Fisher's husband will fight Rodney King. Katie Couric's party dance was choreographed by Katie and her daughters.
Obama has done an unprecedented number of burger-joint photo ops.
Maybe you've noticed that President Obama has a habit of referring to things he does as "unprecedented." With less than a year as president under his belt, he's used "the word at least 129 times in everything from major addresses to small speeches, statements, memorandums and proclamations." Compare that to George W. Bush, who used it only 262 times over eight years. (Then again, it is a five-syllable word, so.) But an in-depth investigation by Politico has revealed that, sometimes, the things Obama refers to as "unprecedented" are actually quite precedented.
Perhaps, as his critics claim, Obama truly believes everything he does is unprecedented, or maybe he just thinks it makes ordinary actions and events sound more impressive. Either way, the hidden danger here, according to Carol Lee, is that "by applying the 'unprecedented' label to a [sic] so many scenarios in government — from transparency to efforts to reduce the environmental impact of mountaintop coal mining — the Obama administration risks outsized expectations and overhype." Hmmm. Something tells us that outsize expectations aren't much of an issue at this point. More dangerous is when something that's actually unprecedented requires America's attention — like when Obama announces that an unprecedentedly large asteroid is hurtling toward the planet, and nobody bats an eye.
With not much better to do now that his Hank has been yanked, Kelsey Grammer will headline Broadway's upcoming London-transferred revival of Jerry Herman's La Cage aux Folles, opening in April. He'll play the non-cross-dressing half of the musical's starring couple — a role that nearly went to Mandy Patinkin, so Grammer's costars sort of dodged a bullet here. [NYP]
Yesterday in a court filing, lawyers for Raj Rajaratnam made the case that it was unconstitutional for the SEC to wiretap the Galleon founder because they had already interviewed him during the course of investigating an "unrelated hedge fund." But actually, the WSJ tells us today, it was was related — literally. The fund under investigation, Sedna, was run by Raj's brother Rengan. It was closed in late 2007 because of losses and "the cost of complying with the SEC probe."
An MTV reality show that depicts Italian-Americans as beach-loving "guidos" is offensive and should be canceled, two national Italian-American organizations say.
Lest anyone worried that Oscar voters would have trouble filling this year's acting categories (and it doesn't seem like The Lovely Bones will be much help!), here comes the trailer for Michael Hoffman's last-minute awards entry, The Last Station, featuring a sexy cast of respected British thespians (plus a Canadian) — including: the 79-year-old, never-nominated Christopher Plummer as Leo Tolstoy (who'll sneakily campaign in Supporting, even though his seems to be a lead role), Helen Mirren as his long-suffering wife, and James McAvoy as his hapless new assistant, unwittingly inserting himself into a feud over the writer's inheritance. Most reviews out of the Telluride Film Festival were raves, this trailer looks fine, and we certainly wouldn't mind sitting through any of these actors' acceptance speeches.
That's the latest "hot rumor" making the the rounds in Washington, according to U.S. News' Paul Bedard. Of course, the "hotness" of this rumor has to be taken with an enormous grain of salt — maybe the biggest grain of salt you've ever seen, the kind that could be a roadside attraction in northern Pennsylvania — as Hillary is, at any given time, rumored to be eyeing some job other than the one she currently holds. The logic behind the latest scuttlebutt is that Biden would be "too old" to run for president in 2012 (he'd be 70 by the time he took office; Hillary would be 65), and, as we've noted, Hillary's denials about wanting to run for president again are less than airtight. Plus, she'd likely be a bigger boost to President Obama than Joe Biden, since she's now incredibly popular — and Lord knows he might need a boost. Not to mention, the transition should be easy, since Hillary has already begun to embrace Biden's ceremonial role as the master of gaffes.
What are Twilight fans grateful for this Thanksgiving (besides the recent release of New Moon and the millions it made in box office bucks)?
Tweets from from the stars themselves, of...
Something feels wrong in our bones.
At first we thought the vague, nagging feeling was caused by that thing that we lifted that we shouldn't have lifted. Then we realized, no,...
Too tired to move after inhaling your Thanksgiving dinner? Just watch Beyoncé burn some calories instead.
We wouldn't exactly call it different—or even "a little...
Thanksgiving is here, which means the fall TV season is over and we're heading straight into what the professionals call "midseason"—and what we fans just call "winter...
Justin Bieber can thank Twitter for his broken foot.
See, if it wasn't for the social networking phenomenon, the li'l guy may never have met Taylor Swift and therefore may never...
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and the spending-time-with-family anxiety has likely already set in. What better way to take your mind off of the impending holiday drama—you know, Grandma pre-gaming at 9am with a handle of scotch, Uncle Bob's off-color jokes—than by looking into all the crazy Thanksgiving accoutrements you can pick up this Turkey Day? A few favorites after the jump.
Turns out ABC had nothing to worry about. After all, it's hard to be raunchy when you can hardly move.
Adam Lambert managed to keep things pretty PG during his performance on...
We love us some Twilight, but even more we love us some Twilight spoofs!
Taylor Swift was too funny with Firelight when she hosted Saturday Night Live, but this Breaking Dawn...
"I can't stand Gossip Girl this season! The storylines are boring, the chemistry is gone and even Chuck and Blair have lost their edge. Help! Is there any hope or should I stop...
So much for 
After Dancing With the Stars' big finale last night, it was time for everyone to kick off their ballroom shoes, slip into something way more comfortable and party as...
A few months ago, my personal world was rocked when American Idol’s Adam Lambert stepped off of his mirror-balled spaceship and stepped onto the very ground we VH1 immortals tread, pausing briefly to give us 
My lifelong abusive relationship with fantasy football resulted in another black eye this week (not figuratively – Yahoo physically punched me in the eye, causing it to bruise). I’ve played fantasy in some form every year since 9th grade, completely ignorant of my own adage that only two possible outcomes can result from playing fantasy football:
Paula Deen 
