AP - Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh was taken to a hospital after suffering chest pains and was resting comfortably Wednesday, his radio program said in a statement.
Reuters - In what is traditionally a high-volume download week thanks to shiny new MP3 players under the tree and download cards stuffed in stockings, a digital sales mark has fallen by the wayside. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 30 Dec 2009 | 11:30 pm
NEW YORK (Billboard) - In what is traditionally a high-volume download week thanks to shiny new MP3 players under the tree and download cards stuffed in stockings, a digital sales mark has... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 30 Dec 2009 | 11:30 pm
Shot Down: Last month the Internet seized on a rumor that The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner would play Hawkeye in the much-hyped production of The Avengers. Turns out it was just that, a rumor. Renner told Movieline that he did talk to Marvel about the character but things never went any further than that. Anyway, he's more of a fatigue-wearing, machine-gun toting soldier than a musclebound, purple-clad archer. [Cinema Blend]
LOLBC: NBC is in talks to revive its stand-up comedy-based realty show Last Comic Standing, which last aired in the summer of 2008. The peacock is looking for a new host and hopes to add a few tweaks to the show that has brought us the comic stylings of Dat Phan, Alonzo Bodden and this guy, who looks just the singer from Spin Doctors. [EW]
Great Scott:Gatz, a six-hour play that consists of reading The Great Gatsby from start to finish, has been given the go ahead to be produced in New York. The company behind the show had previously been barred from performing it because the performance rights to The Great Gatsby were held by another play. But now that hurdle has been cleared and you're free to spend a quarter of a day listening to someone read you a book. [NYT]
Reuters - You don't have to be a world-renowned detective to deduce that a big theatrical hit with a well-known fictional character can prompt robust sales of back-catalog DVDs related to the same subject. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 30 Dec 2009 | 11:09 pm
Reuters - You don't have to be a world-renowned detective to deduce that a big theatrical hit with a well-known fictional character can prompt robust sales of back-catalog DVDs related to the same subject. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 30 Dec 2009 | 11:09 pm
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Regis Philbin will return to "Live with Regis and Kelly" on January 4, having spent December recovering from hip replacement surgery. Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 30 Dec 2009 | 11:03 pm
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - A second person has agreed to plead guilty in the case involving a copy of the Mike Myers bomb "The Love Guru" leaking on the Internet a day before its... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 30 Dec 2009 | 10:59 pm
The Washington Times laid waste to its 170-member staff today, letting go of its top editor and decimating the Sports and Metro sections, neither of which will exist as stand-alones after Friday's issue. Earlier this month the paper announced it would cut at least 40 percent of its staff. The Washington Post says that number was exceeded. For those worrying about the future of the paper, stop. According to a statement, "Monday begins a new chapter in the history of the Washington Times as a 21st-century multimedia company." Exciting!
On January 17, after a run of only 92 shows, the Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow will close. A statement from the producers said: "Despite the rave reviews and extraordinarily positive audience reception, the economic realities of Broadway today do not allow us to play at the St. James as long as we would have hoped." Finian's Rainbow joins a rash of other shows that couldn't make it out of 2009 alive, including Ragtime, Shrek the Musical, Superior Donuts, The 39 Steps and Bye, Bye Birdie. Sheesh, when will this cursed year end?
"If I rub my beard it will look like I'm trying to figure out how to fix this."
For the first time ever, New York State will end the year with a negative balance in its bank account. At the end of the day Wednesday the state had a negative balance of $174 million with $1 billion in unpaid bills. The state must now turn to its short-term investment pool, which currently holds around $800 million.
"New York State is officially living paycheck to paycheck," said state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. "The state is starting the new year by scrambling to make payments and juggle money."
According to a Honolulu TV station, Rush Limbaugh has been taken to the hospital with chest pains. The station said Limbaugh was spending the holidays on the island. [NYT]
Update 2:00: According to Limbaugh's website, he is "resting comfortably after suffering chest pains."
Peter Jackson's name will forever be preceded by the title "sir" now that his native New Zealand has decided that he should be knighted. Queen Elizabeth II, who is still New Zealand's official head of state, will sanction the honor, which goes to Jackson for his "services to film." To show his thanks, Jackson will give the Queen a bit part in The Hobbit.
According to a new poll taken by the AP, the majority of Americans thought 2009 was a complete turd of a year. Nearly three-fourths of the survey's respondents said 2009 was a bad year, with 42 percent rating it very bad. With all the death, disease and underwear bombs in 2009, it's hard to argue with the assessment. But it's even harder to see why Americans are so optimistic about 2010; 75 percent of respondents said 2010 will be a good year. Don't these people know that 2010 leaves us only two years away from the end of the world?
Poll: Americans gloomy in ’09, hopeful for 2010 [AP]
Not even the NYPD wants to admit involvement with Jon Gosselin.
A police spokeswoman could not confirm that Gosselin's apparently off-again girlfriend, Hailey Glassman, filed a...
Time Warner Cable and News Corp. continued their public slap fight today when News Corp. declined Time Warner's offer to enter into binding arbitration to solve a dispute over how much the cable company should pay to carry Fox, Fox News, FX and Fox Sports. Fox wants $1 per subscriber. Time Warner wants to pay 30 cents. And you don't want to miss Glee.
The deadline to reach an agreement is 26 hours away and News Corp. president Chase Carey said today that he's not interested in granting an extension. After all, his company has been "trying since the summer to negotiate a fair deal," he said. Predictably, Time Warner spokesman Alex Dudley did not agree with that assessment, saying, "He should call it what it is, an extortion attempt necessitated by a poor advertising market and an innate desire to fatten his wallet at our customers' expense."
As long as the two companies keep up this public battle we won't need Fox. This is far more entertaining.
Precious star Gabourey Sidibe is having a hard time seeing herself as a celebrity.
Sure, she has Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, but really, it's all about whom she'll...
The Black Crowes frontman welcomed a daughter with new wife Allison Bridges last Saturday, People reports.
"Cheyenne Genevieve...
And they are ... Charles Barkley and Sigourney Weaver! Barkley, who will no doubt appear in a sketch with Kenan Thompson doing his Charles Barkley impression, will be joined by musical guest Alicia Keys. While Weaver, who will no doubt be blue at some point during the show, will be joined by The Ting Tings. [EW]
You know that van that briefly scared the pee out of everyone in Times Square today? It was full of clothes, not bombs. No word yet on whether they were plain old everyday clothes or the kind of skiddmarked undies that terrorists are fond of. [NYDN]
Given Charlie Sheen's arrest and reports about child protective services stepping in, could he lose his kids? Or is he getting the shaft from child services because he is famous like Britney...
The foul-mouthed reality starlet recently told Steppin' Out magazine that she has...
VANCOUVER, B.C. - Vancouver actor Carly Pope and her brother are recovering with broken bones after a bizarre carjacking in downtown Vancouver that has led to charges against an Alberta... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 30 Dec 2009 | 5:53 pm
Whoa! Is this actor auditioning a new production of Ass You Like It by William Shakesrear? We know it certainly looks like it, but this hunk du jour is really just getting ready to schlep his pet...
• Will the LeRoy family be permitted to auction off Tavern on the Green's "disco lighting," logoed canopy, "revolving coat-check system," and wood paneling next month as they'd hoped? It seems a judge will have to decide. [Bloomberg] • The week in reviews: Time Out's Jay Cheshes pans Le Caprice, calling it "overhyped" and "bland"; the Times' Sam Sifton hands out a star to Brooklyn's Purple Yam; and Alan Richman of GQraves about Danny Meyer's Maialino. • A woman has filed a negligence suit against White Slab Palace on the LES: She says a 150-pound stuffed moose head came crashing down on her. [WPIX] • Lists: The Post's Steve Cuozzo shares his favorite dishes for winter; Sam Sifton lists 11 memorable dishes he consumed in 2009; the Timesrecaps its $25-and-under favorites this year; and a "best of '09" list via the WSJ. • The forthcoming Shake Shack in Nolita will sport a rooftop terrace. [Eater] • A bunch more NYE dining options, in case you're interested. [GS, Gothamist]
LONDON - There's an especially starry knight in Britain's latest round of royal honours. Patrick Stewart - "Star Trek: The Next Generation's" Capt. Jean-Luc Picard - becomes Sir... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 30 Dec 2009 | 5:26 pm
AP - Actor Charlie Sheen and his wife Brooke want to reconcile, their lawyers said Wednesday, even though she told police he put a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her less than a week ago.
Playbill - Tony nominee Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Benjamin Howes, Ben Nordstrom and Amy Justman will put their heads and voices together to create a new musical in the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis production of [title of show]. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 30 Dec 2009 | 4:31 pm
All this week, we're counting down the most-anticipated series of the new year and recommending what to watch and what highlights to expect from 2010's top TV. Coming in at No. 5...
• You may not be able to tune into Fox as of tomorrow. The feud between News Corp. and Time Warner Cable has yet to be resolved, and if a deal isn't reached in the next day, you'll have to go elsewhere for your Simpsons reruns. [THR] • There was no Christmas miracle for Harvey and Bob Weinstein this year. With Nine underperforming at the box office since its release two weeks ago, the brothers are now on the hunt for more cash to stay solvent. [Reuters, NYP] • Condé Nast's war on the mystery hackers who managed to infiltrate the company's computer system in recent months is intensifying. [NYP] • Remember when magazine readers would write letters to the editor? It turns out it isn't the most popular communication channel these days. [WWD] • Susan Boyle is still No. 1 on the music charts. Well done, America. [EW] • Sex doesn't sell when it comes to marketing movies. Allegedly. [CNN]
The Jersey Shore crew have so much to offer us in the world of beauty. First it was Pauly D and his magical 25-minute process of creating a gel-infused blowout. And now Seaside Heights princess Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi opened up about her makeup secrets to In Touch Weekly. The magazine stripped the 22-year-old of all her makeup for an exclusive shoot, and underneath all the bronzer, eyeliner, and poufs, she actually looks quite lovely.
But — and there's always a but — the too-tanned, overhairsprayed, over-the-top look is part of her personality, and there's something missing from Snooki when it's not there. She admits that if it weren't for the show, she'd want to be a makeup artist. She also says that her favorite products are by Avon, partly because her mom sells them and partly because they don't "drip down her face" when she's bumping and grinding at clubs like Headliners and Karma.
This brings up an interesting point about what it means to wear makeup. For some people, it's an extension of their individuality. In college, we were friends with our own little Snooki. She grew up in Seaside Heights — seriously — and in the four years we knew her, we never saw her take off her mascara once. Instead, she piled on fresh clumps daily and separated the lashes one by one, a process that took over an hour, and that's not counting the rest of the makeup she layered on, which included three different bronzers and two eyeliners. We never thought anyone could top that. But Snooki can! It takes her three hours to get ready. You probably know people like this, too. What crosses the line as too much? And is it okay because it makes them feel good?
Sure, he looks foul-smelling, but would you believe Twilight star Robert Pattinson is really "incredibly hygienic"? So hygienic, in fact, that he's a threat to himself and his teeth? It's true, claims his Eclipse co-star Bryce Dallas Howard! When we ran into her at the recent New York premiere of her new movie, the Tennessee Williams–scripted The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (out today), she told us about her first brush with Rob: "I actually came out to him that I was totally nervous about [meeting him]," said Howard, who will replace Rachelle Lafevre as evil vampire Victoria in next year's Twilight 3. "He’s such a sweet young man, and there’s such a distinctive difference between him and Edward Cullen. He does such a wonderful job embodying that character, and bringing that character to life. But when you meet him, he’s such a down-to-earth, humble person, you feel bad freaking out around him."
"But what does he smell like?" we inquired. "Actually, he’s incredibly hygienic," Howard insisted. "He told me this story that made me crack up. He was like, 'Oh, I have to go to the dentist.' And I was like, 'Oh no, what happened? Just a check-up?' And he was like, 'No, I chipped a tooth.' And I was like, 'How?' And he was like, ‘Flossing.’ Who does that? I don’t even floss. So he’s hygienic. Trust me."
AP - CBS' "Two and a Half Men" held steady in the ratings this week as star Charlie Sheen faced charges stemming from his wife's Christmas Day allegations that he threatened her with violence.
Diddy — or to be more precise, the vodka company for which he shills — will be giving away $15 debit cards that can only be used in NYC yellow cabs after midnight tomorrow. The giveaway will take place from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. in Times Square, and is meant to promote "responsible celebration," though nobody who lives just a $15 cab ride away from Times Square will be driving a car there on New Year's Eve, anyway. Maybe they're trying to reduce subway vomit? Hopefully no tipsy out-of-towners will use the cards to get a free ride to their cars.
In an abnormal astronomical situation, you might see a very bright full moon on New Year's Eve tomorrow. It's a blue moon — that is, the second full moon in a month — which is a pretty rare occurrence. It only happens once every two to three years, and once every nineteen on New Year's Eve. While the moon won't actually be particularly blue, it should be bright enough to be seen even among the blazing screens of Times Square. Or it would be, if we weren't scheduled to get showered with a "wintry mix" tomorrow night. We've never really understood what a "wintry mix" is, but we know it's terrible, and certainly not something you want to have to face on New Year's Eve. Kind of like Ryan Seacrest. Or a cold sore.
We’re a bit late in posting the video for Julian Casablancas’s “11th Dimension,” but seeing as the Internet is basically in a coma this week, we hope you'll forgive us. It’s a throwback to schizophrenic mid-nineties MTV, where every other video was a weird-for the-sake-of-being-weird head-trip … which, of course, means it’s thoroughly enjoyable: In just a tick over four-and-a-half minutes, Casablancas basically travels through mystical anime pagodas, colonial America, Pump Up the Volume, The Warriors, the basement Bubbs lives in during the fifth season of The Wire, and the Sheila E. scene from Krush Groove. Man, eleven dimensions are so much better than three.
Leighton Meester wore a black dress from Christopher Kane's spring 2009 collection to the opening of Klutch nightclub in Miami, Florida, last night. It featured a line of cut-outs down the center, a trend that seems to be sticking around.
Do you feel comfortable wearing clothes that expose random parts of your body?
See, PETA doesn't just make lists of the people who suck at getting dressed.
Ellen DeGeneres and Tim Gunn have been named Woman and Man of the Year by People for the Ethical...
Not that this should come as news, but socialite Tinsley Mortimer isn't really dating Constantine Maroulis, the long-haired sixth-place finalist on the fourth season of American Idol. It's a "showmance," which means Maroulis signed a contract with the CW to play the role of the Tinz's love interest on Empire State, her upcoming reality show.
Constantine signed up to 'date' socialite Tinsley Mortimer on her new CW show... He was into it, thought she was cute, and [thought] he'd have some fun doing it. He's just building up different projects, and since this one is in New York about the life of New Yorkers, he thought he would get involved.
It's nice to hear, though, that Maroulis got a little action out of the deal:
They went out a couple of times and they spent a little pre-holiday time together... Constantine invited Tinsley to see Rock of Ages. It's a great advertisement for the show and for New York, two things he loves. She's hot and he got to kiss her and canoodle a bit—it wasn't a hardship.
Charles Shipley is influenced by the dark, edgy, and fun city, and thus, he's wearing lots of black. He also wears whatever he wants: "I wanted to wear this Missoni sweater and I was like, you know what, let me find something to wear with it. And I just put on all black." His jacket is by Henrik Vibskov, gloves are Costume National, and his boots are Cesare Paciotti. Find out what else he's wearing by watching the video.
If you can't tell what's going on in this picture, it's a man smuggling a handgun in his FUPA.
After Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab made it past security with explosive materials in his underwear, the debate has reopened over whether the Transportation Security Administration should use full-body X-ray technology to scan passengers more thoroughly. Many people have opinions about this contentious issue, which deals with both privacy and safety concerns. Herewith, our takes:
Stop the X-Ray Madness Before It Begins
By Chris Rovzar
For over five years, I wore a claspless bike chain fused around my right wrist. (Yes, it was idiotic and everyone hated it, especially my boyfriend, but moving on.) As a result, every single time I went through airport security for half a decade, I was patted down. I've literally been groped by strange men during my travels all over the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, and once even in Syria. (And that was just in the airports, zing!)
Seriously, though, let me tell you something: It was wonderful — that feeling of personal connection, of studied thoroughness, of finesse. Walking out of the security line was like walking out of the dentist's office, every time. Except you don't usually leave the dentist slightly aroused.
With the X-ray scanner, in which a person is in another room entirely looking at your naked, black-and-white body, you won't get that same feeling of thoroughness. Sure, they'll tell you you're safe — that sure, someone has violated your privacy and personal space. But how will you know? If someone is going to be learning that I have weird pockets of fat on the sides of my lower back, I want to be able to look that person in the eye, and give them a knowing nod that says, "Don't think I didn't notice that your neck is muffin-topping over your standard-issue TSA sweater."
And anyway, in the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, would the X-ray screening have even turned up anything awry? He had the explosives hidden in a condom in his underpants, which is presumably where a lot of people would hide such things. How is a TSA employee going to know what is normal junk, and what is terrorist junk? Because let us tell you, after much personal experience, we can assure you that it's impossible to predict what you're going to be looking at down there. (See above re: travel in the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, and once in Syria.) Stick to the personal groping, please. Just make it more thorough, and everybody wins.
We Must Have Naked Screening ASAP
By Lindsay Robertson
The central question of naked screening is this: What is worth so much to us that we would give up our right to not be seen naked by strangers? And the answer to this question is, naturally: the ability to see celebrities naked. Duh.
TSA employees don't make very much money. This is a fact. Another fact is that no matter how careful the TSA is, no matter how many threats they make, no matter how Avatar-tastic the production values on their "What Happens to People Who Leak" corporate-training video are, the TSA simply cannot afford to make absolutely sure that no pictures of naked celebrities are sold to the tabloids or other shady media organizations. It would just be impossible. And don't give me "the scanners merely show images in real time, they don't record," because for security reasons that's probably not true, and anyway, anyone could just take a picture of the screen. Hell, the tabloids could even get eyeballs from verbal descriptions of naked celebrity bodies. You can't un-see George Clooney's penis. You can't erase Angelina Jolie's areolae from your mind's eye. Unless the TSA also has one of those mind-eraser thingies from Men in Black, celebrities, including Will Smith and (especially) Tommy Lee Jones, are screwed.
So we must, as a nation, demand naked screening immediately. It must be as widely used and compulsory as metal detectors, even for private planes — after all, a private plane can be just as effective a weapon as a commercial one. The future of America and its cocktail-party conversation depends upon it. I want to see George Clooney's wang.
Susan Boyle continues to crush the competition with another 510,000 copies of her debut album, I Dreamed a Dream, sold last week. That brings her to 2,982,000 total, a remarkable number made even more impressive by two facts: (a) that it’s been tallied up in just five weeks, and (b) that it's closing in on Taylor Swift’s Fearless — which has sold an embarrassing 3,157,000 copies in a full 364 days — in the race to have 2009's top-selling album.
And here’s the really exciting part: For some reason, Billboard is counting sales through the week ending January 3 for this year, meaning that Boyle could yet pull this off. And wouldn’t that be great? Sure, we'd all love to see Swift get a comeuppance for heartlessly dumping similarly named boyfriend Taylor Lautner, but Boyle’s actually doing something about it! In our perfect world, Dream dramatically outsells Fearless in this last week of the year, causing Lautner to see the beauty that is inside Boyle. Then they run away together, and everyone (minus terrible person Taylor Swift, of course) lives happily ever after.
For weeks, Gold Derby's Tom O'Neil has been the lone Oscar prognosticator forecasting a Best Picture victory for Quentin Tarantino's Nazi-scalping WWII adventure Inglourious Basterds. But with enthusiasm waning for former front-runners Up in the Air and Precious, a second awards expert has joined Tom in predicting a win for Basterds: In Contention's Guy Lodge. It sounds a little less crazy now, doesn't it? [GoldDerby/LAT]
A curious Alex Pareene over at Gawker plugged a bunch of different TV shows and movies into the Times search engine to see how many times columnist Maureen Dowd referenced them. Unsurprisingly, The Sopranos and Sex and the City topped the list, with over a dozen references each. Desperate Housewives, Survivor, The Godfather, and Law & Order also made strong showings. But the one that really threw us, with a half-dozen references, was Ally McBeal, which ran for less than two years this decade. Could a show about a neurotic, wry, pretty-to-most-but-not-all people, cleverly unorthodox thinker who is pegged as brilliant by some, and shrewish and unstable by others, and who indulged in a rich fantasy life that sometimes subsumed real-world events — could that really be so relevant to an influential political columnist like Maureen Dowd? Hmmm. Never mind.
MAKEUP
• What can we learn from Taylor Swift's makeup choices this year? One thing: That a "V" of light shadow in the inner corners of your eyes makes your eyes look more open and awake. [Glamour]
FRAGRANCE
• Hugo Boss is launching a new humanitarian effort with the French environmental organization named the Pur Project. For every bottle sold of the special-edition Hugo Element and Hugo Man fragrances, the organization will plant a tree in Peru's rain forest. [WWD]
• Beyoncé's 30-second commercial for her first fragrance, named Heat, is out. It is pretty much the same as the original teaser commercial released a few weeks ago, only nineteen seconds longer, in case you need to see more images of BK writhing against a wall in a red dress. [Now Smell This]
• Researchers identified a scent that can make fruit flies angry: "For the first time, scientists have found a rage-inducing pheromone and the neuron that detects it in fruit flies. The research, detailed in the journal Nature, could help explain everything from bar fights to species-wide population control." [MSNBC]
HAIR
• Do you think blow-drying your own hair when you get your hair done is tacky? Or is it okay? [BellaSugar]
"The Top of the Rock observation deck gives visitors a 360-degree, panoramic view of New York City, and is located in what famous skyscraper?" When 300 randomly selected NYC residents were asked that question, 34 percent said they didn't know. Another 41 percent responded that it's on top of the Empire State Building. [NYT/City Room]
It's a question that's plagued mankind for more than a week: How do Avatar's Na'vi — which bore no discernible genitals that we could see, even in IMAX and on a second viewing — have sex? In a recent interview, Zoe Saldana explains that the film's steamy outdoor mating scene was snipped to avoid an R rating, but it will likely be restored for the unrated, special-edition DVD. For impatient fetishists who must know now, though, they stick their tails together.
Says Saldana:
If you sync to your banshee and you’re syncing to a tree, why not sync into a person? I almost feel like you’ll have the most amazing orgasm, I guess. It was a very funny scene to shoot because there were so many technical things that sometimes you have to keep in mind that paying attention to all those might disrupt the fluidity of how a scene is supposed to take place. And because Jim was shooting for a PG-13 rating, we couldn’t move in certain directions. The motion would look a little too past the PG-13 rating standards. So it was really funny for Sam and me. We had a lot of giggles there.
Australian designer Kelly Davies has an unlikely muse for her unapologetically sexy line: her grandparents, Maurice and Evelyn Williams, who were married for more than 56 years. When the pair passed away in 2001, Evelyn left her Singer sewing machine to Kelly. Kelly then founded her fashion label, Maurie and Eve, in their memory in early 2002. Though the namesake couple met and fell in love in the forties, Davies's clothing projects a modern, hard-edged vibe, featuring leather detailing, a liberal smattering of fringe and sequins, cut-outs, thigh-grazing hems, and plunging necklines. Since its modest beginnings, the label has earned a following throughout Australia and New Zealand. Two years ago, Davies recruited her brother, Scott, and his girlfriend, Maya Clemmensen, to help expand the business and pitch in on the design front (the trio renamed the label Maurie and Eve Platinum). The line is now carried at more than 50 locations throughout Australia, Europe, Asia, and the United States. In New York, you can find select items from the spring collection at internationally minded Nolita boutique Babel Fair, and Oak stocks the label's killer pair of wood-heeled platform motorcycle boots, new this winter. Click ahead to scope out rock-inspired pieces from the spring and summer collections.
Bernie Madoff is back in his cell after a nearly two-week stay in the prison hospital. He'll be ringing in 2010 in the dark, though: The Butner Federal Correctional Complex turns off the lights at 11pm. [AP]
Carl Kasell, the man whose iconic voice has soothed many an American through morning rush-hour traffic, said good-bye to his day job this morning, giving his last broadcast as newscaster of NPR's Morning Edition with a look back at his career. Kasell, who is known to younger fans as a guy who will be Facebook friends with anyone who asks, will continue on at NPR as a "roving ambassador" and judge of the news quiz show Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me, where call-in contestants will still be able to win the opportunity to have Carl record the outgoing message on their home answering machines.
AP - Bart Simpson and the Sugar Bowl game are among the possible casualties of a bitter dispute over fees that the Fox network's owner is demanding from Time Warner Cable systems in New York, Los Angeles and other markets. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 30 Dec 2009 | 12:50 pm
Back in October, Karl Lagerfeld transplanted the barnyard playground he created for the spring 2010 Chanel runway to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to shoot the season's campaign. Now the shots have been released, and they star his favorite faces: Baptiste Giabiconi (who wears a very Karl-inspired ponytail and ruffled shirt) poses alongside Freja Beha on a mysterious staircase, and Claudia Schiffer gets her own photograph (below), which features her wearing a large black hat and a Chanel quilted bag. Overall, it looks less farm and more fiesta. Do you like the campaign?
Claudia Schiffer for Chanel spring 2010.Photo: Courtesy of Chanel
That unattended (and possibly nefarious) van in Times Square that prompted the NYPD to call in the bomb squad this morning and order the evacuation of thousands of workers in the area? It was nothing. And it's possible the van could have been sitting there for, like, months but no one took notice of it until now: "It wasn't clear how long the van had been there. A similar-looking van in the same location appeared on Google Street View in warmer weather, which suggests it could have been there for a while." [AP]
SALES NEW THIS WEEK
• Winter merchandise from Alexander Wang, Jason Wu, Thakoon, and many more designers is up to 60 percent off at Kirna Zabête. A leather Alexander Wang vest is $476 (originally $1,100), Balmain belted booties are $474 (originally $1,185), and Givenchy skinny jeans are $198 (originally $405). Ongoing. 96 Greene St., nr. Spring St. (212-941-9656); M–S (11–7), Su (noon–6).
• Get 50 percent off at Versace at the label's rare after-Christmas sale. Ongoing. 647 Fifth Ave., at 52nd St. (212-317-0224); M–S (10–7), Su (noon–6).
• Select merchandise is 20 to 70 percent off at Norma Kamali. The all-in-one black-and-white striped tunic is just $75, the jersey lifestyle line is 20 to 50 percent off, and assorted parachute styles are up to 70 percent off. Ongoing. 11 W. 56th St., nr. Fifth Ave. (212-957-9797); M–S (10–6), Su (closed).
ENDING TOMORROW
• Merchandise from Henrik Vibscov, c.neeon, Rodebjer, and more is 50 to 60 percent off at Eva. The Henrik Vibscov leather dress is $325 (originally $795), the TV hooded sweater is $195 (originally $408), and the TV crochet corset is $125 (originally $288). Through 12/31. 355 Bowery, nr. 4th St. (212-925-3890); daily (noon–8).
• Select men's and women's clothing is 30 percent off at Rogan, including outerwear. The women's silk dress is $209 (originally $296), the women's bomber jacket is $319 (originally $456), and the men's peacoat is $409 (originally $595). Through 12/31. 330 Bowery St., at Bond St. (646-827-7567); M–S (noon–8), Su (noon–7).
• Select merchandise is 50 percent off at First Among Equals during the holiday sale. Through 12/31. 177 Orchard St., Stanton St. (212-253-2202); M–F (1–9), S–Su (noon–8).
• Select fall 2009 womenswear, menswear, jewelry, shoes, and accessories are 25 to 40 percent off at Bird. The Alexander Wang viscose Goddess dress is $379 (originally $625), the Thakoon floral twist-front dress is $499 (originally $845), and the Zero + Maria Cornejo Marla dress is $359 (originally $598). Through 12/31. Various hours and locations.
• Womenswear and shoes are 25 to 40 percent off at Project No. 8. The Margiela gray Replica heels are $573 (originally $765), the Stephan Schneider purple-and-black knit cardigan is $198 (originally $284), and the yellow VPL dress is $327 (originally $545). Through 12/31. 138 Division St., nr. Orchard St. (212-925-5599). T–Su (1–8).
• Menswear and shoes are 25 to 40 percent off at No. 8b. The Margiela Flocked sneakers are $386 (originally $515), the Stephan Schneider gray cardigan is $161 (originally $269), and the Aspesi jacket is $201 (originally $268). Through 12/31. 38 Orchard St., at Hester St. (212-925-5599); Tu–Su (noon–7).
• Eyewear by Dior, Gucci, Tom Ford, Lafont, and more starts at $50 at James Leonard Opticians. Through 12/31. 1010 Second Ave., nr. 53rd St. (212-753-7733); 209 Smith St., nr. President St., Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn (718-222-8300); M, W, F (10–7), T, Th (10–8), S (10–6).
• Get 20 percent off everything on Digby & Iona's website, including the new fall collection, by entering "holiday" in the promo section at checkout. Through 12/31. digbyandiona.com.
Front Page: Internet, mobile grab more studio spending -- Just a few short years ago, the basic questions were simple: How much can we spend on TV? And which of the old reliables -- billboards, newspaper ads in top markets -- get the rest?
Jimmy Kimmel walking around SoHo yesterday with friends ... Diane Kruger shopping for baby clothes on the Upper East Side ... Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon arriving at JFK ... Sarah Jessica Parkerwalking to the public library in the West Village with son James ... Bethenny Frankel leaving Rockefeller Center yesterday after an appearance on the Today show... Ugly Betty's America Ferrera walking her dog on Broadway, just south of Union Square ... Catherine Zeta-Jones signing autographs outside the Walter Kerr Theatre on Monday night ... and Brad Pitt carrying daughter Shiloh on the set of Salt at Pier 66.
Good news, everyone! If you work retail, the Times informs us of a new way to steal from your employer: Use gift cards. How crafty. It's apparently the hottest way to shoplift. As our klepto urges faded once the nineties came to an end, we find this intriguing. Just how do these schemes work? "Among the variations of such crimes, cashiers often do fake refunds of merchandise and then, with the amount refunded, use their registers to electronically fill gift cards, which they take. Or sometimes when shoppers buy gift cards, cashiers give them blank cards and then divert the shoppers’ money onto cards for themselves." Now we know. And knowing is half the battle.
But this method is not without its risks. You can and will get busted, like that one woman who stole $135,000 from Saks using gift cards. Or a Best Buy cashier who took $600. The article points out that some schemes are more complicated, like using computers to divert cash onto fraudulently activated cards, ripping off one store to the tune of $35,000. For all the anti-theft measures stores have in place to prevent customers from stealing, it seems employee theft is a way bigger issue. Using that discount for your mom's holiday purchases doesn't seem like that big a deal now, does it?
Thanks to a snafu in Congress that dates back to 2001, the estate tax won't apply during 2011. (The tax, which lays claim to half of a person's estate provided they have more than $3.5 million in assets, will return in 2011.) If you're thinking that legal technicality might encourage some rich people to try and hold off on dying until the ball drops in Times Square, well, you're right on the money. [WSJ]
Miss J. thinks that male models walk awkwardly. And guess what? They do! Every season they stomp and clomp down the runways. But why, oh why? "Because I believe they still think it's a business for women and gay men," Miss J. says. "So they are walking somewhere, I think, between the bank and the gym." There has to be a reason they get away with it. ... Oh yeah, because they're models and they're attractive. [Grazia]
I’ve been planning to write my Top 10 Albums of 2009 list for some time now, but whenever I write about music I enjoy, I come off sounding alternatively like a gushing schoolgirl and a total douchebag, or some unholy combination of the two, which I would call a “douchegirl” except that you’d be like “is that a girl made of douche?” and I’d have to explain it, and it’d just waste more time than it saved.
So for this year’s 10 Best Albums of 2009 list, rather than be intimidated by the grandiose prose of my online music brethren, I’ve decided to compile an even better-written list than everyone else’s by accompanying the album choices not with rambly writeups, but with passages from assorted literary masterpieces.
If the excerpts end up applying to the albums, I assure you it’s completely incidental, but can you argue with the greatness of the writing? The answer is that you cannot. So here it is — The Best-Written Top 10 Albums Of 2009 List On The Internet:
10. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
On the table was an empty glass and a glass half-full of brandy and soda. I took them both out to the kitchen and poured the half-full glass down the sink. I turned off the gas in the dining-room, kicked off my slippers sitting on the bed, and got into bed. This was Brett that I had felt like crying about. Then I thought of her walking up the street and stepping into the car, as I had last seen her, and of course in a little while I felt like hell again. It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night is another thing.
9. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
The evening arrived; the boys took their places. The master, in his cook’s uniform, stationed himself at the copper; his pauper assistants ranged themselves behind him; the gruel was served out; and a long grace was said over the short commons. The gruel disappeared; the boys whispered each other, and winked at Oliver; while his next neighbours nudged him. Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger, and reckless with misery. He rose from the table; and advancing to the master, basin and spoon in hand, said: somewhat alarmed at his own temerity:
‘Please, sir, I want some more.’
8. The Juan MacLean – The Future Will Come
It was a monstrous big river down there — sometimes a mile and a half wide; we run nights, and laid up and hid daytimes; soon as night was most gone we stopped navigating and tied up — nearly always in the dead water under a towhead; and then cut young cottonwoods and willows, and hid the raft with them. Then we set out the lines. Next we slid into the river and had a swim, so as to freshen up and cool off; then we set down on the sandy bottom where the water was about knee deep, and watched the daylight come. Not a sound anywheres — perfectly still — just like the whole world was asleep, only sometimes the bullfrogs a-cluttering, maybe.
7. St. Vincent – Actor
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.
“Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”
He didn’t say any more, but we’ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that.
6. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Just as in the clock the result of the complex action of innumerable wheels and pulleys is merely the slow and regular movement of the hand marking the time, so the result of all the complex human activities of these 160,000 Russian and French – of all their passions, hopes, regrets, humiliations, sufferings, outbursts of pride, fear and enthusiasm – was only the loss of the battle of Austerlitz, the battle of the three Emperors, as it was called; that is to say, a slow movement of the hand on the dial of human history.
5. Girls – Album
“I knows what you thinking.” Dilsey said. “And they aint going to be no luck in saying that name, lessen you going to set up with him while he cries.”
“They aint no luck on this place,” Roskus said. “I seen it at first but when they changed his name I knowed it.”
“Hush your mouth” Dilsey said. She pulled the covers up. It smelled like T. P. “You all shut up now, till he get to sleep.”
4. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
She was really good. All you had to do was touch her. And when she turned around, her pretty little butt twitched so nice and all. She knocked me out. I mean it. I was half in love with her by the time we sat down. That’s the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they’re not much to look at, or even if they’re sort of stupid, you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are. Girls. Jesus Christ. They can drive you crazy. They really can.
3. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
“What a mine they’ve dug there! And they’re making the most of it! Yes, they are making the most of it! They’ve wept over it and grown used to it. Man grows used to everything, the scoundrel!”
He sank into thought.
“And what if I am wrong,” he cried suddenly after a moment’s thought. “What if man is not really a scoundrel, man in general, I mean, the whole race of mankind — then all the rest is prejudice, simply artificial terrors and there are no barriers and it’s all as it should be.”
2. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
“No one’s trying to kill you,” Clevinger cried.
“Then why are they shooting at me?” Yossarian asked.
“They’re shooting at everyone,” Clevinger answered. “They’re trying to kill everyone.”
“And what difference does that make?”
Clevinger was already on the way, half out of his chair with emotion, his eyes moist and his lips quivering and pale. There were many principles in which Clevinger believed passionately. He was crazy. 1. Passion Pit – Manners
STATELY, PLUMP BUCK MULLIGAN CAME FROM THE STAIRHEAD, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. A yellow dressinggown, ungirdled, was sustained gently behind him by the mild morning air. He held the bowl aloft and intoned:
—INTROIBO AD ALTARE DEI.
Halted, he peered down the dark winding stairs and called out coarsely:
—Come up, Kinch! Come up, you fearful jesuit!
Solemnly he came forward and mounted the round gunrest.
Honorable Mentions: Dan Deacon – Bromst; Wild Beasts – Two Dancers; Bat For Lashes – Two Suns; Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca; Islands – Vapours
Favorite albums of 2009? Leave ‘em in the comments.
AP - "Notes From the Cracked Ceiling: Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and What It Will Take for a Woman to Win" (Crown, 288 pages, $25), by Anne E. Kornblut: If you thought the 2008 election was a triumph in the cause of getting a woman closer to the White House, political reporter Anne E. Kornblut begs to differ.
Breaking news: Tyra Banks is hard to work for. You're as shocked as we are, aren't you? Turns out the Smizing Queen can be a bit of a diva on set according to reports in the Daily News. As word got out that she was shutting down production of her show, disgruntled staffers started letting it all out. Apparently, TyTy told the press about her plans before alerting employees. That's just mean — it's the holidays, Tyra. Of course, when the show first moved from L.A. to New York, they weren't immediately notified, either, so the staff wasn't surprised. But still, they're not exactly happy campers.
"There had been high turnover of employees for years," a past crew member says, insisting that many people quit after just a few months because it was "pretty difficult to work for Tyra."
But not everyone loathed working for Ms. Banks. "Honestly, I don't know how it would be to work under her," one higher-ranking employee told the paper. "But for me, it was a good experience. Tyra just knows how she likes things done. And as for her 'diva-ness,' well, it sells." There's one glaring omission in this story, however, and it's not the "tk" for Tyra's age that the writer ran: Did no one talk to her weave person? We need to know how disgruntled he or she is. After all, Tyra cut her weave off — we need the backstory! If you're reading this, you know who to call.
Airplane Food (âr’plān’ ˈfüd) n An element of culture that’s been so universally made fun of by comedians and people alike, when you encounter a negative experience with it, you can’t express any new or original frustration.
As the latest example of such an occurrence, I recently went to an expensive luxury spa (a Christmas gift), and amidst an amazing array of mineral baths, hot tubs, and orgasmic fruit scrubs (their technical name), the entire men’s side of the spa was expectedly full of naked middle-aged men going very far out of their way to be demonstratively comfortable with their nudity.
The hordes of naked dudes in a bathing-suit-optional area didn’t mar the experience, but it was really awkward, and yet, afterwards, I felt I couldn’t make any jokes about it to my friends without sounding like every standup comedian ever making an observation that was comically retired at an early-90s Comedy Central special. There’s a bunch of naked middle-aged dudes in spas. Airline food is bad.
This same concept — something that’s been made fun of so much, you can’t make fun of it anymore regardless of your experience — applies in all kinds of situations, from eating airline food to doctors making you wait forever, to people in gyms being so cut you need to work out before you work out there, to women taking a long time in the bathroom, to George W. Bush messing up words. The things get overly made fun of because they’re so prevalent, and yet, this prevalence eventually protects them from being made fun of once the observation becomes so accepted, there’s no longer any reason to bring it up. This isn’t to say that Bush didn’t continue messing up words long after it was fashionable comic material, or that he didn’t still deserve it, just that at some point in the arc of , everyone just accepts
Hopefully the expression will catch on. I haven’t successfully leaked the insult “Dickwolf” into the public consciousness, but dammit, it’s getting there.
Other examples of airplane food? Leave ‘em in the comments. Talent scouts from the Bill Engvall Show will be scouring these comments for ideas.
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2. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
Airplane Food (âr’plān’ ˈfüd)
This same concept — something that’s been made fun of so much, you can’t make fun of it anymore regardless of your experience — applies in all kinds of situations, from eating airline food to doctors making you wait forever, to people in gyms being so cut you need to work out before you work out there, to women taking a long time in the bathroom, to George W. Bush messing up words. The things get overly made fun of because they’re so prevalent, and yet, this prevalence eventually protects them from being made fun of once the observation becomes so accepted, there’s no longer any reason to bring it up. This isn’t to say that Bush didn’t continue messing up words long after it was fashionable comic material, or that he didn’t still deserve it, just that at some point in the arc of , everyone just accepts
