AP - Ellen DeGeneres is glad that her "American Idol" debut drew big ratings and high praise from the show's creator, media mogul Simon Fuller. But the real test, she says, was judging herself.
AP - Ellen DeGeneres is glad that her "American Idol" debut drew big ratings and high praise from the show's creator, media mogul Simon Fuller. But the real test, she says, was judging herself.
AP - Ellen DeGeneres is glad that her "American Idol" debut drew big ratings and high praise from the show's creator, media mogul Simon Fuller. But the real test, she says, was judging herself.
Woodbridge, NJ locals tried to save the wandering beast by capturing it in a dog muzzle, ensnaring it in a net, and shoving it into a random river. All three methods, says the Marine Mammal Stranding Center of Brigantine, NJ, are totally stupid. To Woodbridge's credit, who has a standing contingency plan for transient seals? Apparently you're supposed to call your local Marine Mammal Stranding Center. Brigantine's center has rescued "many seals in the last few weeks." [StarLedger] [Pic via]
15 Cape Fear (L#1025) Trail is a 4000-ft. ocean- and riverfront mansion boasting five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a whirlpool, an elevator, intercoms (fun for the kids!), central vacuum (fun for the maid!), and a wet bar. Community amenities include a boat dock, beach club, canoe pier, tennis courts, and a golf course.
Bald Head Island's PR team describes local "homesites":
Planners and designers have established a Bald Head Island aesthetic, reminiscent of a style called the "Architecture of the American Summer," characterized by deep roof overhangs, wide porches and traditional cedar siding.
Deep roof overhangs = better shadows in which to hide from paparazzi.
With floor-to-ceiling windows and a patio, the master bedroom's abundant natural light will make shooting daytime sex tapes a dream. Cannabis-themed rug sold separately.
Here we see the Great Room and its vaulted "Cathedral Ceiling," for when you're ready to repent for living in sin.
The "Gourmet Kitchen" includes mahogany custom cabinets, granite counters, a sub-zero refrigerator, wine cooler, double ovens, and maple hardwood floors. It's like living inside the trunk of a huge redwood tree.
The cheery dining room is large enough for whenever your first wife's kids stop hating you.
The master bathroom features ceramic tiles and a gleaming white whirlpool, which Frances Quinn will stain blue with Manic Panic when she reaches her inevitable teenage rebellion.
Speaking of little Quinn, here are her picks for nursery.
The multi-use space is bathed with the bright light of shame.
Here's the satellite view, revealing the lucky duck neighbor with the swimming pool and how far you have to walk to get to the ocean. At least they have a nice dock...
This will probably get super hot in the sun, forcing John and Rielle to race down it screaming "ooh! aah! ouch!", pumping their knees high so as to maximize the distance between their feet and the ground, as though they are Lipizanner horses. No matter how many times you burn your feet on the dock, you will never think to bring shoes. That's just the way it is.
Let us conclude with a clip from one of the Bald Head Island PR team's video promos. (Which are very effective. I am completely sold on their "pre-fab Martha's Vineyard of the South" aesthetic.) The island is personified as a female who "giggles when the ocean waves tickle her shoulder." It would seem the future Mrs. John Edwards has found paradise at last.
•The Vacation series helped launch Chevy Chase's career in the 80s. Maybe the remake will help him come back. Wedding Crashers Producer David Dobkin is producing the remake, in which Chase will reprise his role as Clark Griswold. Neither the title nor plot details are forthcoming. May we suggest: National Lampoon's Swat Valley Vacation? [Variety]
•Spider-man will be released in 3-D. That is all. [The Wrap]
(AP)
AP - A New York City snowstorm can't deter Hollywood's brightest stars from supporting Natasha Richardson's favorite charity.
A New York City snowstorm can't deter Hollywood's brightest stars from supporting Natasha Richardson's favorite charity. Lady Gaga, Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver attended Wednesday's Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 10 Feb 2010 | 11:27 pm
Not So Dreamy: Rachel Weisz will star in the Jim Sheridan thriller Dream House opposite Daniel Craig and Naomi Watts, playing the wife of a New York publishing executive (Craig) who moves his family to a seemingly "dream home" only to discover it was the scene of a murder of a mother and her kids. At which point Weisz thanks God she married James Bond. [HR]
Two-0: Alex O’Loughlin will join Lost’s Daniel Dae Kim as the lead of the upcoming CBS Hawaii Five-0 remake. O’Loughlin - who starred in two recent short-lived series, Moonlight and Three Rivers - will play Steve McGarrett, head of the Hawaii State Police Department. O’Loughlin will be crossing his fingers that the third time’s a charm, while Dae Kim will just be happy to be on a show in which everyone’s in the same decade. [HR]
Lehane to the Rescue: Best-selling author Dennis Lehane, who wrote the novels Mystic River and Shutter Island (but not the screenplays), will produce his very first script for the silver screen, adapting his own short story, Animal Rescue. The plot is centered on a killing that “results from a lost and contested pit bull.” We're going to focus more on the fact that Lehane briefly wrote for The Wire and less on the "pit bull"-ness. [Variety]
Big Deal: Susan Sarandon is in talks to join The Big Valley, a film based on the TV series created by her late father, producer Louis F. Edelman. She would play Victoria Barkley, matriarch of a 1870s ranching family. Sigh, we were hoping the “big valley” referred to some sort of metaphorical post-breakup depression. [HR]
Trio Hits Boulevard: Pierce Brosnan, Ed Harris and Jim Gaffigan will star in the indie Salvation Boulevard for Mandalay Vision. The comedic thriller is set in the “world of mega-churches” in which a former-Deadhead-turned-born-again-Christian is chased by fundamentalist members of his mega-church who would "do anything" to protect their pastor. So kind of like if GI Joe was set in the world of The Blind Side. [Variety]
From Numb3rs to... More Numbers: Numb3rs star David Krumholtz will star in an untitled Fox comedy pilot about the I.R.S., produced by Ron Howard. Krumholtz will play Michael Bluth Spencer, a guy who “attempts to find nobility in his work.” [Variety]
Tonight, John Mayer couldn't help but say what he needed to say.
The Grammy winner, whose Twitter page is at this moment largely occupied by a detailed apology for using the N-word...
Oh, come on.
Ali quitting to sell ads—ads?! Rozlyn hooking up, or so we were told, with a behind-the-scenes staffer—a totally not-famous person?!
We repeat: Oh,...
Iran announced today that it had suspended Gmail services within the country. Instead, users in Iran will be able to use a “national email service” facilitated by the country’s telecom agency.
The Times reports that the move signifies an effort to “disrupt communications and head off huge opposition demonstrations” planned in the country for Thursday, the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. The opposition in Iran has relied on text messaging (also shut down today), e-mails, and videos in order to organize and communicate with each other. A Google spokesman confirmed “a sharp drop in traffic" that was not the result of "equipment failure."
Iran Disrupts Internet Service Ahead of Protests [NYT] Iranian Government Bans Gmail [Mashable]
The "American Idol" group auditions proved to be a drama of two dads. When Wednesday's episode had ended, Michael Lynche, known as "Big Mike," was the proud father of a newborn baby girl Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 10 Feb 2010 | 9:58 pm
Ah, group round. Even when it's pretty good, it's still kinda bad.
Ninety-six hearty souls prostrated themselves before Simon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi, Randy Jackson and the...
Friday Night Lights, the much-loved, ratings-challenged drama, will end after its fifth season, according to Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello. While NBC has not officially confirmed the report, Ausiello says NBC has let the cast know they can look for other work when production ends on season five this June. Thankfully you can delay your hysterical Julie Taylor-style tantrum for a while, as there are still a whole bunch of new episodes left: season four (which has already aired on DirecTV) will begin on NBC in May, and season five will air on DirecTV this fall and probably not until 2011 on NBC.
Exclusive: 'Friday Night Lights' sets end date [EW]
Reuters - The horror comedy "Zombieland," fresh off a $75.6 million box-office run, chomped its way to the top of all three home video charts its first week in stores, scaring off several other high-profile new releases. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 10 Feb 2010 | 9:26 pm
Reuters - Besides possessing the young year's lengthiest and most ungainly title, "Percy Jackson & The Olympians: Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 10 Feb 2010 | 9:26 pm
Why do we feel like Angelina had something to do with this?
After 15 years of airing reruns of Friends, U.K.'s Channel 4 announced today that it will not renew its licensing deal for the show beyond 2011. Though the show has been a massive hit in England, still drawing almost 400,000 viewers per night, the channel said they are hoping to free up airtime for “more contemporary youth-oriented fare.”
We’ve come to the end of the road, my friends. As the final episode of this stirring fourth season dawns it’s Thanksgiving in East Dillon. And, presumably, in West Dillon too, although it’s probably a lot fancier over there. But over on our tarnished side of the tracks, Thanksgiving is a time for the traditional “F”s: Food, Football, Friendship, Family, Felonies (and Fallout From Committing Them) and, of course, Freaking Out About Abortion. Nothing says the holidays like Friday Night Lights!
As others have noted, this is a strange sort of finale to process for the FNL faithful: unlike the three previous season-enders, it’s the first to be broadcast without the threat of cancellation looming. So while the first season completed a near-perfect story of a championship year and season two ... well, let’s not talk about season two ... and season three ended by giving us just the right balance of closure and intriguing possibility, this week’s episode left us feeling — okay. Seriously: just okay. Maybe it’s due to this bizarre lack of panic we’re experiencing, this unfamiliar knowledge that at least one more year in East Dillon is guaranteed. Or maybe it’s because — and we hate saying this, we really do — the promise of a truly great season wasn’t fulfilled by its finale.
Gasp! Heresy, we know. But hear us out: on nearly every plot point this week we felt more than a little let down. There’s no shame in saying why: the writers and producers set a ridiculously high bar this year and sticking the landing is always the hardest part of storytelling. So if the “Big Cat Clash” (great name!) ended up more like the a Medium-Sized Kitten Tussle it’s not the end of the world, because there will be another one next year. (Just imagine how frosted JD McCoy’s tips will be then!) And if Jess suddenly ditching Landry because he gave her a mixtape of his own band her undying love for Vince cropped back up at an inconvenient time, well, we’ll spend more time unpacking their connection next year. (Not too sure about Landry, however: he is a senior. Unless the producers attempt to de-age him again.) And if Tami just meekly tossed away her dream job in order to take a massive cut in pay and stature on the other side of town, well, it kind of makes sense since she was repeatedly seen actively cheering for her school’s blood rival on the West Dillon field. Right? Actually, not right. This last one stuck in our craw and we’ll return to it later.
But what of the episode’s real farewells? We’re speaking, of course, about loveable lug Tim Riggins, who as the episode opens is staring balefully at the smoldering wreckage of his future while his brother tries to get their lawyer to say something positive about their prospects. No dice: with a plea-bargain, they’re looking at 1-5 years. In prison. In Texas. Yikes.
The residents of Dillon — mainly the female residents — love nothing more than to make proclamations about Tim’s character directly to his (pretty, Canadian) face: either he’s a “good man” and “not like the rest” or, inevitably, after a canoodle or the rejection of one, he’s “a nobody” and “exactly like the rest.” (This week it was Becky’s turn at the plate for a rousing game of Whackbat with Tim’s emotions. Which seemed kind of unfair considering the billion and one ways he’s helped her over the past few weeks. Also: how did she find out about his arrest and the Taylors didn’t? Is she a CB Radio junkie?) Whenever people pontificate about the nature of Tim Riggins directly to his face, Tim himself tends to blank out, much like he did in this opening scene. The reason? Only Tim knows “what” he is. And our creeping feeling that Tim firmly believes himself to be a nobody that deserves the worst was borne out this episode as he nobly, quietly, predictably, and perhaps stupidly shouldered all of the blame for his brother’s boneheaded Chop Shop.
As frustrating as much of this was to watch, we were moved the wonderful performances of Taylor Kitsch and especially Derek Phillips as Billy. The connection forged between the two of them — as actors and characters — seems 100 percent genuine. (And it’s a testament to the depth of this cast that a relatively minor character like Billy can be asked to shoulder the emotional heft of a season finale — as he did during his Thanksgiving speech — and he can knock it out of the park. Er, “score a touchdown”?) We even liked the moment where Tim asked Becky to hold onto the snowglobe, saying he’d be “back to get that” when his busy schedule filming John Carter From Mars lets up prison sentence ends. But ultimately the reason why Tim’s unhappy ending worked is because it, sadly, kind of made sense. For a show that’s (rightly) credited for its realism there have been an awfully lot of happy endings recently: Smash got to play Division I ball, Street got his dream job and his family, Tyra got into college and a part in a terrible horror film. Even already privileged Lyla gets to marry Derek Jeter! Tim Riggins has always known that the best days of his life ended in that stadium in Austin last year. “Aren’t you Tim Riggins?” the cops asked him a week ago. “I used to be,” he mumbled. Not everyone gets the ending we want for them. Not everyone gets to escape.
But it’s not like it’s all sunshine and roses and deep-dish pizza for those that do manage to get out of Dillon, a lesson we learned this week with the return of stumbling, mumbling, communication-averse Chicagoan Matt Saracen. Don’t get us wrong: we were thrilled to see him! His reveal behind Grandma was a true shock and Aimee Teegarden played it to perfection. Yet it seemed like his time in the Windy City hasn’t exactly improved his nervous banter: “The area I live in is called Greektown. There’s a lot of, uh, Greek people.” Also? Maybe stop talking for awhile! We mentioned a few weeks back that it is kind of ballsy to suggest that in order to actually get out of Dillon our beloved QB2 had to act a bit like a selfish dick — and that’s on display here. Not only is he sort of assuming that Julie is fascinated by his firsthand knowledge of all the good Hand Painting Studios in Ukrainian Village, he went ahead and bought her a plane ticket! As Landry asks him later in the episode (before slamming the door in his face), is Matt even familiar with texting? (To which we’d add: what about Facebook? Twitter? How about chatroulette.com for god’s sake!)
Anyway, despite a 1-800-THE-BEST scene with Julie and Alien Baby Grace at the Thanksgiving kids table (and a touching return visit to the spot where Matt “deflowered” Coach’s little girl), this really was the end of the road for Matt Saracen. And if it felt a little stilted — what with all the breaking up and all — it’s because our goodbye to Matt on Matt’s terms happened weeks ago. This was a goodbye on Julie’s terms. His future is set: Christmas in Chicag-bro with Landry! They’ll go windbro shopping on the Miracle Mile! Maybe paint each other’s hands! Julie’s future remains cloudy — and will have to be settled when the show returns in the fall.
So, yes, the football game. Sorry to say it: we were also a little let down here. Maybe it was the fact that every single possession ended in an easy touchdown. Maybe it was the fact that we barely saw JD or his jerk dad — thus dampening our excitement at seeing them beaten. Maybe it was the fact that Coach suddenly let a seriously injured Luke play, seemingly for the sole reason of winning the game. Maybe it was the fact that the Lions didn’t have a Quarterback until week five and suddenly were able to hold their own in a close game against a powerhouse like the Panthers. But really it was because we knew the Lions were going to win. As we said last week: too much has gone wrong this season off the field. A miracle on it was necessary. Also once Landry started practicing that “impossible” 40 yard field goal, we knew. (As did you, wise commenters!) Don’t get us wrong: we were plenty happy about it! But surprised? No.
Which leaves us with what was the most suspenseful moment in a show about sports: Tami’s press conference. The crowd ready for blood. The schoolboard ready for closure. Coach ready for ... what, exactly? Grandma Saracen’s leek-and-onion casserole? Honestly, he’s been a little blank during this whole abortion saga. Is he secretly a Tim Tebow fan? Anyway, Tami — looking resplendent in her power suit — goes off book and refuses to deliver the apology that’s been scripted for her. This was, in many ways, more satisfying than Landry’s thunderkick. Ha ha, Luke’s Mom! No fatted calf for you!
But then the next part in Tami’s story happens, and we’re not nearly as pleased. Look, we predicted in this very space that all of this abortion tsuris was a chessboard clearing move to get Tami over to East Dillon where she belongs. (And sorry to harp on it, but the real firing offense here wasn’t the advice she gave Becky — who doesn’t even go to her school — it’s the fact that she is the principal of a football powerhouse in Texas and she is openly cheering for her school’s blood rival! This is insanity!) We get it. Tami needs to be united with the rest of the cast. But this was a pretty clumsy way of doing it: silencing her lawyer and accepting what must be a massive pay cut to be a guidance counselor at an underfunded school on the other side of town. But beyond that, why would the supervisor let her do this? She just defied them! She got in trouble for giving advice and that’s what guidance counselors do! Are we supposed to believe that everyone in East Dillon is pro-choice? What about the fact that Luke goes to East Dillon. We guess this sets up some fun tension next year but it was all a little too pat for our tastes. Plus: ornery principal Levi had better start looking over his shoulder!
Okay, enough with the complaints. We nitpick because we love. Besides, despite the slightly sour taste lingering in our mouth, there was still plenty to enjoy in this episode, moments that will keep us company during the long drought ahead: Vince sharing pecan pie with his mom and Jess, Buddy travelling with his own turkey, Tinker scoring a TD, Alien Baby Grace licking an ear of corn, the Taylors inviting every day-player except Santiago to Thanksgiving dinner. And let’s not forget: beat for beat, this was easily the best season of Friday Night Lights since the first and one of the most compelling, complete seasons of any program anywhere in the last few years. FNL enters it’s fifth (and last?!?) season in the midst of a truly impressive creative resurgence. We love the new characters. We support the new team. We can’t wait to see what comes next.
And with that, we close the books on season four. A hearty thanks and tip of the cap to all you readers and commenters: obviously you all have impeccable taste in television and your insights have improved these recaps immeasurably. Enjoy your offseason, Lions fans. Take comfort in your Crucifictorious CDs, your snowglobes. Go build some houses. Go to the car wash. Paint a hand. And remember: no matter how much fun you have at karaoke, never, never mouthrape your boss.
And with that, this is Slammin Sammy Vulture, signing off!
What could have been a decent bit was made unwatchable by Gibbs' hokey delivery. Look at me, guys—I'm making a funny! Sarah Palin's own hand-gate gag—conspicuously writing "Hi Mom" on her hand and waving it around at cameras—was way funnier. Palin's was a pretty smart, underhanded jab that turned the media back on itself, where Gates' was a clownish jape meant to please the reporters that are his only reason for existence.
Some clowns are funny—think, Charlie Chaplin—but most are sad. A clown is sad because he is so desperate for laughs that he smears an artificial smile on his face; he is always the first to laugh at his own jokes. And so is Gibbs, as evidenced by this truly funny Politico mash-up, "Gibbs Giggles":
A key rule of comedy is: Never laugh at your own jokes. But it often seems Gibbs is attempting only to amuse himself. Like this aborted gag that starts in Gibbs' own addled brain and ends up bombing with more force than a GBU-28 Bunker Buster missile striking a known Al Qaeda target:
It's just, like, What?
What's sad about this is that the Q & A format of a White House presser is perfectly-suited for jokes: Gibbs has got a couple dozen straight-men lobbing set-ups at him for an hour. All he needs to do is knock 'em down. The missed opportunities! Like this exchange:
REPORTER: Chris Wallace called you the biggest bunch of crybabies I've seen in Washington... what's your reaction?
GIBBS: Well... I haven't cried yet! (LAUGHTER)
Here's what he should have said:
Wallace must've been talking about Sasha. Talk about Princess and the Pea. Can't even give her a little ribbing without her running to Michelle, all: 'Wah wah, Gibbs called me 'Little Hitler' again." Jesus, somebody book that girl on O'Reilly so he can scream in her face for forty minutes.
Maybe you don't care about the fact that Robert Gibbs makes Jay Leno look like Mitch Hedberg. But think about this: Gibbs' words are going down in history. Literally! Some of his words will end up in a history book, probably! And if Gibbs is going to make jokes at press conferences—which we are totally in favor of, by the way—he should keep in mind that he is joking on behalf of all the real comedians and writers whose jokes will disappear into the ether. Otherwise, this incredible, real life exchange from a press conference last month will be how our children remember early 21st century comedy:
REPORTER: Robert, I wanted to go back to the broader message of the Massachusetts election. The tone of your comments yesterday seemed to suggest that you were absorbing the message from that and that there was anger and frustration. But does that mean that there's any kind of regrouping going on, any kind of change in the agenda, or is there a feeling that the agenda is perfectly fine as it is but it's just a matter of communicating it better?
MR. GIBBS: No, look, this isn't a "Cool Hand Luke" problem, right? It took a while. Mark, come on, help me out a little bit, right — "failure to communicate."
REPORTER: I had no idea what that meant.
(Reuters) Reuters - The story sells itself: Alexandre Dumas, the famous French novelist, employed a collaborator-scribe named Auguste Maquet to help with the research, plotting and other heavy lifting for his much-loved adventure novels, including "The Three Musketeers" and "The Count of Monte Cristo." One day, Maquet, tired of living in Dumas' shadow, is prompted by a young woman's plea for help, and her misidentification of him, to pass himself off as the great writer. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 10 Feb 2010 | 8:30 pm
NYC young’uns hoping for a second straight day of Xbox and Not Having To Get Dressed are out of luck, as Mayor Bloomberg announced tonight that school will be back in session Thursday.
In a press conference, the Mayor called the storm "a bit of an on-again, off-again affair."
"Sorry about that for those who wanted another day off," he apologized.
About 2,100 Department of Sanitation employees are working overtime tonight so that streets and major thoroughfares will be clear by tomorrow morning. About nine inches of snow had fallen in Central Park by 7 p.m. tonight, according to the National Weather Service, and anywhere from 10 to 15 inches of total snowfall are predicted for most of New York City before the storm ends around midnight.
In fact, there seems to be a booming market for guilt-free niche media targeted at well-heeled hedonistic young people. Or there is online, at least: Lerer tells us his 16th or so Thrillist is going into London because its lady-shopper equivalent Daily Candy has had so much recent success in the city. (Like Thrillist, Daily Candy took money from former AOL exec Bob Pittman once upon a time; it is now owned by Comcast.)
"It's a lean and mean business — we don't have a lot of the overhead that the print books have," Lerer said. "Last year was a huge win for us... it's well targeted, it's a quality product and it fills a hole between men's magazines and local city guides, where the voices don't resonate with our demographic."
Lerer's "big group of dudes across the country" has Thrillist on track to take in north of $10 million in revenue this year — Lerer claims he has more inbound advertising than he can handle — a solid chunk of which is profit. London, Lerer's biggest market yet, has the potential to add to that, assuming British writer Jason Allen can translate the site's pop-culture sensibility to foreign shores.
(Top pic: From an October Thrillist junket to Jamaica, by Morgan Johnston. Disclaimer: These particular Thrillist users are not all well-to-do, being on a free trip and all.)
Let's talk about Dancing With the Stars.
I just got word about two contenders said to be in the...
The 60th Berlin Film Festival kicks off Thursday with the world premiere of "Apart Together", a lush period drama from China and one of 20 pictures vying for the coveted Golden Bear top prize. Film's director... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 10 Feb 2010 | 7:51 pm
German film director and this year's Berlinale jury president Werner Herzog (right) speaks to journalists upon his arrival at the airport Tegel in Berlin, on February 9. The Berlinale film festival takes... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 10 Feb 2010 | 7:51 pm
The 60th Berlin Film Festival kicks off Thursday with the world premiere of "Apart Together", a lush period drama from China and one of 20 pictures vying for the coveted Golden Bear top... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 10 Feb 2010 | 7:51 pm
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Looks like Ellen DeGeneres won't be replacing Oprah Winfrey on ABC stations anytime soon. Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 10 Feb 2010 | 7:48 pm
DeGeneres accepting her People's Choice Award earlier this year.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show has been renewed by Warner Bros Domestic TV for three more seasons, meaning it will remain on NBC -owned and operated stations through 2014. Many had thought Ellen might jump from NBC to ABC when her contract expired in 2011 to take over Oprah’s time slot, as Winfrey's show will go off the air in September 2011.
"I'm so excited to sign on for three more years at NBC," DeGeneres said after today's announcement. "They were the ones that believed in my show from Day 1. So, I'm thrilled to know I'll be here 'til at least 2014. Things will be a lot different by then. I won't be dancing over my coffee table anymore. Through the magic of 3D, I'll be dancing over yours!"
This news comes after Tyra Banks announced in December that this will be the final season of The Tyra Show. At this rate, the only one left to take over Oprah’s throne will be Rachel Uchitel.
The LA Times reports today that Van Natta has stepped down as CEO of the News Corp.-owned social network. However, Kara Swisher of All Things Digital reports that Van Natta did not leave by choice. His boss, News Corp. Exec Jon Miller, fired him—but not before Van Natta tried to force out two other top-level execs: COO Michael Jones and Chief Product Officer Jason Hirschhorn.
There were three senior thinkers put in place to fix MySpace and it became clear that not all those voices were needed anymore," said one person close to the situation. "So, Owen was the odd man out.
Maybe Van Natta can get a job at Google. We heard they just launched some sort of Twitter thing?
Reuters - "The Wolfman" finally limps into theaters this weekend following extensive rescheduling, re-shooting and re-editing, and all that tinkering has taken its toll. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 10 Feb 2010 | 7:17 pm
There's more where those 29 Daytime Emmys came from.
Assuming Ellen DeGeneres continues on American Idol after this season (and judging by last night's debut, she will), the...
Charlie Wilson, the former Texas congressman who aided Afghanistan’s resistance to the Soviet Union, died today of cardiopulmonary arrest at the age of 76. Wilson’s support of the Mujahideen after Afghanistan was invaded in 1980 was recently depicted in the 2003 book Charlie Wilson’s War and then in a 2007 movie of the same name, in which Wilson was played by Tom Hanks. [NYT]
Unlike so many shows that launch powerfully and then flag in later years, Desperate Housewives is midway through season six and going strong. Creator Marc Cherry has promised to stick around for...
Following a string of recent big-name casting coups for the show (Jonathan Groff! Olivia Newton-John! Idina Menzel!), Molly Shannon, formerly of SNL and the short-lived Kath and Kim, will join the cast of Glee later this season. Shannon will play a “busty 45-year-old astronomy teacher and badminton coach” who is both an alcoholic and a pill-popper. And - try super hard not to hyperventilate, Gleeks - Shannon’s character will be a nemesis to the beloved track suit-fetishist Sue Sylvester, played by Jane Lynch.
Good news for those of you sick of taking your dates to Dave & Buster’s after eating at the Olive Garden. Toronto developer Jerry Shefsky says he has signed the preliminary papers to bring a seven-story aquarium to Times Square. The $100 million project would turn the bottom floors of a 40-story building at the western edge of the square into a huge aquarium.
Acknowledging that aquariums inside skyscrapers aren’t exactly typical, Shefsky said this one will be unique, with half the space devoted to water exhibits, and the rest of the space to feature a pirate museum and other displays.
“It’s anything but an aquarium in the format you might imagine,” he said.
Shefsky says he already has financial backers lined up for the project, though he would not reveal their identities. And while the lease hasn’t been officially signed yet, Shefsky says he is hoping the aquarium will be ready to open by September 2011.
AP - Uma Thurman with snakes for hair and a killer stare is almost enough on her own to make "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" worth seeing.
MTV cancelled the Mexican broadcast of an episode of the "South Park" cartoon featuring President Felipe Calderon, pictured on February 2, because it lacked permission to show the Mexican flag, a spokesman... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 10 Feb 2010 | 5:20 pm
John Mayer would like to apologize for that epically long and obnoxious Playboy interview he did earlier. Well, not all of it (sorry, Jess!), just this one racist part, and there was...
You might want to give some thought to taking up a new hobby or three: Scientists say there's "a possibility" that "the more bored you are, the more likely you are to die early." [AP]
Olivier Zahm, Daphne Guinness, and Terry Richardson.
Last night, before the snow started causing all sorts of problems for Fashion Week, the chic people partied at a dinner in honor of Vanessa Paradis, who fronts Chanel's Rouge Coco lipstick. Daphne Guinness had no plans to change out of her standard seven-inch platforms to navigate the accumulation. "You know, the last blizzard, in December, I wore these shoes and I walked twenty blocks in them, and then I tried to walk back and it was so cold. And my best friend Robin was like, You’re going to break your neck in those shoes. And I was sliding a bit, but I have a very steady walk," she told us. "Shit happens. I guess I could break my neck tomorrow."
But would you expect anything less from the woman who can wear Alexander McQueen's ten-inch Alien shoes to a party? "If you look at them carefully, they’re not that tall. They’ve got a huge platform. With any shoe, you have to condition like you’re conditioning for a sport. You work out different muscles," Guinness said. "If you put me in a pair of eleven-inch stilettos without a platform, I’ll have blisters and I won’t be able to walk. There’s no way. Your bones aren’t built for that. Eight-inch with a platform, that’s easy. You know, I could map it out on a piece of paper for you and explain it to you distinctly and brilliantly, but if I do it now, I’ll sound pretentious and ridiculous." Guinness continued, "I’ve got some Ugg boots. The only problem is I feel like I’m falling backwards. My muscles just aren’t built for flats anymore."
Other fashion people fully support Uggs in the tents, such as Purple editor Olivier Zahm. "Are Uggs the big blonde thing?" he said. "I think they’re great. Everyone looks beautiful when it is snowing." Terry Richardson had similar advice for looking good in the snow. "You’ve just got to bundle up. And wear your Uggs! Put your Uggs on," he seconded.
Though Teen Vogue editor Amy Astley will probably wear Sorels with a winter coat tomorrow, she's also pro-Uggs for Fashion Week. "I think they’re fine! I think the only thing that isn’t fine is if your feet are wet and freezing. I mean, that’s dumb. I don’t get that at all," she said.
Rachel Zoe, on the other hand, prefers a fashionable snow boot. "I just got snow boots today. I was like, 'Oh my God — all I’ve got are stiletto ankle boots. What do I do? That’s going to be a problem in the snow.'" She picked up a pair of not Uggs, but Guccis. "They’re half knit and half wedge. Of course they have a heel. But to be honest, I’m so excited. I love the snow."
Vogue Gioiello Fashion Director Giovanna Battaglia is taking advantage of the snow storm for similar reasons. "I only wear high heels. I have no pants. I have my outfits for Fashion Week. I’m desperate. It’s an excuse to buy some more stuff. Like a fur," she told us. "They’ve been talking about the snow since this morning. I’m Italian — we face trouble and problems very differently. It’s a bit of a safety obsession here. My masseuse called me and was like, 'So, are you going to cancel your massage tomorrow?' and I was like, 'No, why?' 'Because everyone’s canceling, with the snow.' 'No, I’m getting anyway.' I don’t know, do you think it’s going to be that bad?"
We wish everyone luck walking to the tents tomorrow.
"I didn't know George Washington wore tights so tight. I actually couldn't put the tights on how I was supposed to because they were so tight. I was kind of embarrassed with the tights on because they really hug your nuts. So instead of the tights that we bought from the prop house, I had a pair of tights [thermals] also. I'm from New York. So I put on my own tights. I didn't wear the costume tights that they bought. More baggy, more space for my nuts. We tried some shots with the wig, without the wig, with the hat, without the hat, some with me holding my beat machine. It was real fun." —The RZA on posing for the painting Victory or Death [L.A. Weekly via Pitchfork]
"Everybody keeps asking me. Of course I would take over for Mr. Cowell. If they officially ask, I'm there. I'm just waiting. I just think it's amazing that on American Idol those guys like Simon and my man, Randy, make so much dough from watching people that are talented. That's amazing to me and I could sit there and listen just like they do." —Jamie Foxx [Parade]
"[The most expensive thing I own is] a wooden bathtub, which we call the Batman Bathtub (The Dark Knight paid for it)." —Maggie Gyllenhaal [Guardian UK]
"Instead of waiting tables I got to put make-up on gals, so that was kind of nice. I didn't know how to do make-up at the time. I convinced the ladies at the counter — I said, 'Why is it that you guys are wearing makeup? Maybe you want a guy's opinion [on how] to put on your make-up.'" —Jeremy Renner on his pre–Hurt Locker days [Contact Music]
“I became an actor but I still don’t feel that I’m a part of this profession. I never have — 50 years I’ve been doing it. ... It’s nice to get a knighthood but in the end it’s just the same old face in the mirror getting older and older — you have to shave every morning and you look at your face and think: this is it, this is the deal. ... There was a Jesuit priest I knew once and somebody asked him, ‘What’s the shortest prayer in the world?’ And he said, ‘Fuck it’. That’s great, isn’t it?" —Anthony Hopkins [Times UK]
Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper singing together? We think that could be kind of genius.
In fact, Lauper even says she could see it happening one day.
"Everybody is on her right...
Playboy today posted what is perhaps the craziest John Mayer interview in the blues guitarist’s treasured history of crazyinterviews, and the Internet is going nuts. The primary bones of contention:
PLAYBOY: Do black women throw themselves at you?
MAYER: I don’t think I open myself to it. My dick is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a fuckin’ David Duke cock. I’m going to start dating separately from my dick.
And:
MAYER: Someone asked me the other day, “What does it feel like now to have a hood pass?” And by the way, it’s sort of a contradiction in terms, because if you really had a hood pass, you could call it a nigger pass. Why are you pulling a punch and calling it a hood pass if you really have a hood pass?
Mayer has moved quickly to defuse the situation with a series of tweets over the last hour, saying “Re: using the 'N word' in an interview: I am sorry that I used the word. And it's such a shame that I did because the point I was trying to make was in the exact opposite spirit of the word itself. It was arrogant of me to think I could intellectualize using it, because I realize that there's no intellectualizing a word that is so emotionally charged.” But then, tragically, he added, “And while I'm using today for looking at myself under harsh light, I think it's time to stop trying to be so raw in interviews … ” To which we say, John, please, not so quickly. Yeah, sure, your interviews are offensive and awkward, but at least they’re not boring like everybody else’s.
Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson may not have spoken when they were both at the Los Angeles hotspot Teddy's on Monday night, according to PEOPLE sources -- but they are getting along on Twitter.
Ben Bernanke outlined his plan for scaling back the Federal Reserve's stimulus programs today, which included raising the interest rate back above near zero, which is where it has been since January 2008, in order to contain inflation. However, the Fed Chairman would not be pinned down on a date for such an occurrence.
"Although at present the U.S. economy continues to require the support of highly accommodative monetary policies, at some point the Federal Reserve will need to tighten financial conditions by raising short-term interest rates and reducing the quantity of bank reserves outstanding. We have spent considerable effort in developing the tools we will need to remove policy accommodation, and we are fully confident that at the appropriate time we will be able to do so effectively.”
You see, it's complicated — there are multiple signs Dr. Green Shoots is waiting for, signs that only he can see, including but not limited to the wheat being yea high and a comet streaking across the midsummer night's sky. But at least he didn't say, "How about never? Is never good for you?"
Rihanna is on the pre-spring 2010 cover of i-D. Except instead of headlining it "Run This Town" or "So Hard" or "Take a Bow" they chose the title of a Ciara song, "Love, Sex, Magic," which came out a year ago. Awesome. [Design Scene]
• Dolphins can be pervs sometimes and Jennifer Garner has one such story she shared with David Letterman last night.
• So far, Jessica Simpson's only response to...
Want to express your displeasure with the way Goldman Sachs steamrolled Washington and profited at the expense of American taxpayers during the financial meltdown? Head to the Embassy Suites in the financial district tonight: "Goldman employees have all the rooms [booked] because they don't want to commute home in the weather and come back early." [BI]
It's the fun dancehall track we wrote about yesterday, but turns out it's not just a Busy Signal–M.I.A. song, it's a Major Lazer–Busy Signal–M.I.A. song. It remains very enjoyable. [Stereogum]
Milan Fashion Week is technically scheduled to occur from February 24 to March 1. However, Anna Wintour will only be in Milan from February 26 through 28. According the Telegraph, this is because after Milan she has to go to Paris Fashion Week, which begins March 2, and then get to L.A. for the Oscars on March 7. But let's face it — the Oscars are where she belongs as a newly-minted movie star thanks to The September Issue, and we hope she walks the red carpet glaring at all the ugly dresses that will undoubtedly be there from behind her giant shades. However Milan Fashion Week organizers are not as excited by Anna's movie stardom.
Milan Fashion Week was almost crunched down to three days — Anna's days — since Italian houses don't want to show when she's not in town. However WWD reports Fendi and Prada just decided to show on February 25, instead of one of Anna's Days, as they had previously planned. Yet Italy is a little bitter about how their fashion industry reacted to Anna's travel plans. The Telegraph reports:
"Anna Wintour, the woman who holds Italian fashion in the palm of her hand," ran a headline in Corriere della Sera, the country's most respected broadsheet.
"She wants designers to schedule their shows during these three days," said Mario Boselli, the president of the Italian Fashion Chamber.
He told The Daily Telegraph: "It has bad consequences for many, many people involved in the shows, from stylists to models to hairdressers. It's absolutely crazy.
"She's welcome in Milan but if she only comes for a fleeting visit, perhaps it would be better if she stayed at home."
However, bolstered by Fendi and Prada's date change, other labels feel more comfortable showing on the 25th, relaxing the schedule a bit.
[Boselli] said that Paris Fashion Week had resisted similar suggestions for the biggest fashion brands to be concentrated into a few days.
"They have a bit more spirit in Paris and they said no," said Mr Borselli. "The Italian fashion industry is the best in the world but, in contrast to the French, they don't seem to recognise their own worth."
We thought New York was the only city that forced Fashion Week attendees to run around like crazy for eight days, since this is a city that believes neither in free time, breaks, nor moments to breathe. Maybe Paris just values long leisurely cigarette breaks between shows more than who attends them, and refuses to get so stressed out over girls walking down runways in new dresses. Since when did Milan get so stressed out? Maybe all the glint off those flashy mirrored runways has gone to their heads.
UPDATE: ThinCare International responded with the following statement:
"Not only have placebo-controlled, double-blind, published clinical studies been conducted on the active...
Last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee and said they supported repealing the military's ban on openly gay soldiers. Now that the dust has settled on this stunning turn of events (Mullen's firm support even startled advocates for repeal), how might a repeal play out? The Pentagon is kicking off a yearlong review to study the best way forward, but that’s not stopping activists and members of Congress from going ahead legislatively. Here are five scenarios to watch out for over the next several months.
1. Enforcement of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” continues to loosen. During Obama’s first year in office, discharges of gay soldiers fell by a reported 30 percent. Expect that trend to continue, given Gates’s remark that “we have a degree of latitude within the existing law” to apply the policy more fairly. Sources have told journalists that this may already be under way. There could even be legislation introduced to institute a moratorium on discharges, a possibility Senator Carl Levin noted at the hearing.
2. A repeal provision could be included in the upcoming 2011 defense-authorization bill. This was how the federal hate-crimes bill passed last fall after a decade of Capitol Hill limbo. This strategy is “our hard push right now,” says Ben Mishkin, an organizer and policy advocate at Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, one of the main groups behind repeal. The defense bill is typically introduced in both chambers in the spring.
3. A Senate bill could materialize and pass. Despite Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s efforts (she recently unveiled an online “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” story project), there’s not yet a standalone bill for repeal in the Senate. If the defense-bill strategy doesn’t work, a couple of members of the armed-services committee — maybe Senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins (the two names usually bandied about) — might come together to introduce legislation. "It needs to be seen as a military-readiness bill," Mishkin says. But author Nathaniel Frank warns of Lieberman’s right-wing streak: "There’s concern about what compromises he might make."
4. The current House bill could pass. Representative Patrick Murphy, a Democrat from the Philadelphia area, told Rachel Maddow that the bill he’s spearheading now has 187 co-sponsors, and commitments from another two dozen lawmakers to vote for it if the bill makes it to the floor. Those numbers put the bill in spitting distance of passage, and Murphy, Congress’s only Iraq war vet, would like to see that happen this year (as he also told Maddow).
5. Nothing could happen this year — or for the rest of Obama’s term. Congress’s summer recess is essentially the cutoff for action, and with Democrats facing midterm-election losses in both chambers, repealing the ban could be put off indefinitely. “It’s undeniable that the political climate will become tougher after November,” Mishkin says. “We have a window of opportunity now that we should take advantage of.”
Clockwise from top left: Squirrel & Fox Couple Wall Art by Magic Jelly, Kimara Hammock by Marimekko, Grandpa Clock, Yomi Gold TRASH bag by Adrian Kondratowicz, and Cake Lace Rubber Coasters by Jansen + Co..
Spring is six weeks away and we're starting to go a little stir-crazy from being cooped up in our apartments all winter. In attempt to mix it up, we started shifting furniture around and purging our closets, but what we really need is to bring in some colorful and fun décor to dress the place up. Which is why in our latest Shop-a-Matic we hunted down (mostly) inexpensive finds to revamp any space. We also asked Joy Cho from the whimsical modern design blog Oh Joy! to chime in with some of her picks as well. The result was a slightly quirky and off-kilter selection of 28 items that reflect her love of texture and pattern. Click here to view the full selection and check out her picks, along with ours, below.
Yomi Gold TRASH bag by Adrian Kondratowicz Price: $7 Why Oh Joy! Likes It: Trash gets such a bag rap, but these polka-dotted ones add a little polish to make them really shine.
Squirrel & Fox Couple Wall Art by Magic Jelly Price: $28 Why We Like It: Fans of Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" can adorn walls with this slightly eerie but inspired vintage-style print.
Cake Lace Rubber Coasters by Jansen + Co. Price: $10 for set of four. Why Oh Joy! Likes It: The best part of a doily gets mixed with a very functional and durable material for instant sweetness under every drink.
Grandpa Clock Price: $79 Why We Like It: Made from paper but still fully functional, this trompe l'oeil piece adds a sense of surrealism to any room.
Kimara Hammock by Marimekko Price: $215 Why Oh Joy! Likes It: If you're fortunate enough to have a backyard, hang up a cheery hammock. Because a nap (or two) wrapped in a rainbow can do us all some good.
As if it wasn't annoying enough that Hallmark has turned Valentine's Day into a monumental holiday, Purina would like to remind you that the holiday isn't just for humans. It's also the day when you're supposed to show your dog some serious affection as well. And it has the research to back it up: According to a survey conducted by the pet food company, 26 percent of dog owners "say 'I love you' once a day to their dogs—the same percentage that says 'I love you' once a day to a spouse or significant other."
Dogs aren't pets. They're our "true partners," according to Purina, and no different from a husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend. One difference: A human partner has the ability to tell you that he/she would really rather stay home tonight since it's God-awful outside, whereas a bunch of poor dogs will be dragged outside against their will by their C-list celebrity owners this evening to attend a "doggie dinner party":
PURINA® CHEF MICHAEL'S™ AND ACTRESS ELISABETH ROHM HOST "BE MY VALENTINE" DOGGIE DINNER PARTY
Celebrities and Dog Lovers Join Chef Michael's to Celebrate New Trend: "Doggie Valentines"
WHAT: Elisabeth Rohm, dog owner and current star of the hit TV show "Heroes," and Purina® Chef Michael's™ celebrate the unique relationship between dogs and owners at the first ever Chef Michael's Be My Valentine Doggie Dinner Party. Taking place at Gotham Hall, one of the City's most prominent and prestigious social event venues, the festivities will include an evening to remember for dogs and owners alike with a thoughtfully prepared dining experience, live entertainment and doggie gifts.
WHEN: WEDNESDAY, February 10, 2010 6:00. – 7:00 p.m. Red Carpet Celebrity Arrivals 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Doggie Dinner Party
WHERE: Gotham Hall 1356 Broadway (At 36th Street) New York, NY
WHO: Celebrity guests and dog-lovers will join adoptable dogs from New York's Posh Pets Rescue at Chef Michael's Be My Valentine Doggie Dinner Party.
Celebrity guests include:
- Elisabeth Rohm, dog owner and star of NBC's "Heroes" - Jennifer Esposito of ABC's "Samantha Who?" and Oscar award winning "Crash" - Michael Urie, star of ABC's "Ugly Betty" and his dog Sprout - Jill Zarin of "The Real Housewives of New York City" - Roxy Olin of MTV's "The City" - Cat Greenleaf of WNBC - Constantine Maroulis of FOX's "American Idol" Season 4 - Cast Members from "Rescue Ink" on National Geographic - Kimberly Schlegel Whitman, lifestyle expert and author of "Dog Parties: Entertaining Your Party Animals" - National winner of the Chef Michael's "My Doggie Valentine" contest Kristin Hartman and her dog Ouzo
WHY: Dogs captured our hearts long ago, and now they have made their way into our holiday traditions. Dogs are not just considered pets anymore; they are our best friends, our true partners, and this Valentine's Day, dog owners are proclaiming the four-legged loves of their lives their "Doggie Valentines." In fact, a survey by Purina found:
- 60 percent of dog owners plan to include their dogs in their Valentine's Day celebrations; and - 26 percent of dog owners surveyed say "I love you" once a day to their dogs – the same percentage that says "I love you" once a day to a spouse or significant other.
CONTACT: [redacted] at [redacted] to attend the event and schedule interviews. (Please note that this event is not open to the public; RSVPs are required for attendance.)
This is a Recap of Lost Season 6, Episode 2, entitled “What Kate Does”, originally airing Tuesday, February 10, 2010 – unless it’s SOME OTHER YEAR!!! If you read on, there’s a bunch of spoilers ahead, although I just spoiled the name of the episode and the airdate and that this was a Recap, so what the hell, might as well go for broke and read on now.
JAGGED LITTLE PILL (ALT TITLE: JARRAH-D LITTLE PILL)
The New Others took a turn for the sadistic this week, snagging the just-resurrected Sayid, strapping him to a table, and instantly torturing him for failing to guess the questions they were going to ask and answer them. Dogen and his sidekick, that dude in college who’d go off about Trey Anastasio solos until you pretended your phone vibrated so you could go into the hallway, explain that this is actually a test, in which Sayid is electrocuted then branded with a red-hot arrow tip and if exactly what you expect to happen happens, he’s “infected.” Well, not exactly “infected,” but a Japanese word that doesn’t totally come across in English; it literally translates to “Many lucky wishes of aflutter heart!” and is on KFC signs in Japan.
If something isn’t done soon, Sayid will turn into a shadow of his former self — someone who doesn’t shoot children? — and we can’t let that happen. Dogen’s solution? Jack must convince Sayid to consume a pill, because Sayid has take it willingly and he won’t take it willingly from the dudes who inexplicably scalded him five milliseconds earlier. Jack brings the pill to Sayid and says “It’s medicine, according to them.” Sayid replies, “What about According To Jim?” Jack says, “It’s awful.” Sayid says “You’re right, I don’t wanna take the According To Jim pill.”
Jack then takes the pill back to Dogen, puts on his best “Jack When He Knew What The Hell He Was Doing” voice, and the following conversation transpires:
Jack: “Tell me what’s in the pill! I’m Dr. Assertive!”
Dogen: “I can’t tell you what’s in it.”
Jack: “But………can you tell me what’s in it?”
Dogen: “Um, no.”
Jack: “I don’t even trust myself! Probably because I keep ruining everything and that would be stupid. Also, you thought I was whiny LAST season, hooo boy, I’m just warmin’ up…”
Jack then eats the pill but before he swallows, Dogen runs over and gives him a gentle Heimlich, and finally admits to Jack that the capsule is poisonous. This portion of the episode then concludes with Dogen serving Jack tea — “It’s tea. GOTCHA POISONTEA!!! Nah, kidding, it’s tea.” — and explaining that he uses the translator-man to keep himself separate from his constituents so he can make tough decisions, a nod to Jack’s tattoos that read “He walks among us, but he is not one of us.” Which, as we’ve seen in the previous two episodes, is also not unlike Jacob. Or God. OR THEY’RE THE SAME! DOO DOOOO DIIIIINNGNNGGGGGGG!!!!!
That has a lot more impact as a sound effect rather than typed out. You get the gist. God-gist.
After the jump, Kate hangs out with RegularClaire in the past, looks for InfectoClaire in the future, and Sawyer actually loved the person he couldn’t love because of his other love:
I’M THE GHOST WITH THE MOST, BABE, IS WHAT LIKE NINE CHARACTERS ARE SAYING
With the addition of “infected” Sayid, we’ve now encountered four ghostlike entities: New-Locke, Christian, Claire, and Sayid. We also saw Rousseau shooting her colleagues during a time-flash in Season 5 after believing they’d been “infected” when they entered the Smoke Monster’s cave. We might assume these were all the same thing, if we weren’t giant losers spending time trying to decipher this crap by pouring test tubes of random smoky liquids into one another in our Lost-labs, but since that’s exactly what we’re doing, let’s break down the facts with a numbered list so it almost looks like we know what we’re doing:
1. Locke is the Smoke Monster. 2. Rousseau’s people were “infected” after confronting the Smoke Monster. 3. Christian and Claire both appeared in Jacob’s cabin, surrounded by the ash that repelled the Smoke Monster when it attacked the Ajra people. 4. Sayid is alive after being helped by Jacob, then the New Others tried to kill him. His infection also “Happened to Claire”, says Dogen. 5. Claire instantly shot two of the New Others but let Jin live.
Using powers of blabluxion (that’s deduction only everything’s made up and probably means nothing), either Locke and the Rousseau teams’ infections are different than Claire’s and Christian’s, and Claire shot the New Others because they’re against Sayid / Jacob — though if this is the case, why would they have helped Sayid in the first place? — or more likely, “infection” refers to people who’ve been in some way claimed by the Smoke Monster, and Claire and Christian were occupying Jacob’s cabin after he’d long vacated it.
Why would Claire care about helping Jin, then, if she’s an extension of the Smoke Monster? Like I’ve been saying, I don’t think the Smoke Monster is necessarily “evil,” or that Jacob is necessarily “good.” Given their mixed interactions with Jacob and the Smoke Monster, the Oceanics are likely being pulled in both directions. Like I’ve also been saying, I also have no effing clue.
How about this theory: Jacob and his Locke-opposite are in some way the New and Old Testament Gods, respectively. Jacob is the compassionate, forgiving, unseen, “little push here and there” deity, while Locke/Smoke Monster demands to be followed unquestioningly and anyone who disobeys faces vengeful consequences. Neither one’s expressly good or evil, but they’re certainly different, and both have a vested interest in the island’s mortal inhabitants. Eh? Try that sucker on for size, and if it doesn’t fit tailor it so it does fit so you can be like “Yeah!!!”
Sidenote – Remember when the monster caused people to see visions of their own lives and fears, but now it’s just smoke that picks people up and bashes them around? I guess that was like four seasons ago, so it doesn’t count anymore.
FRECKLES N’ POUTZ
Meanwhile, Sawyer decides he doesn’t really want to stay at Burning Man, puts .03 ounces of effort into escaping, and manages to get away after shooting a guy offscreen (probably like, Paulo). Kate convinces the New Others to let her chase after him and tells them “I can be very convincing when I need to be,” then taps on her vagina a couple times. There’s an awkward pause, then she, Jin, Aldo the ex-Other, and Justin — an adult black male version of Cindy Brady who can’t not keep revealing stuff — set out to find him.
Kate instantly pulls away from the group and stalks Sawyer, who, in an attempt to out-pout Jack, has gone back into the Dharma barracks and dug up a shoebox from under the floorboards. He and Kate then go to a secluded spot for a heart-to-heart, where Sawyer pulls out an engagement ring and admits he was going to ask Juliet to marry him, then throws the ring into the water “Pointless But Seems Meaningful” Titanic-style. Kate and Sawyer take turns trying to blame themselves for Juliet’s death, much as two friends would haggle over who gets to pick up a check (that’s covered in bloody metal), and Sawyer’s tears convince Kate that he truly does still have feelings for Juliet, which makes Kate cry because she still has feelings for him.
Butttttt…weren’t Juliet and Sawyer on the outs anyway after Juliet clearly saw that Sawyer clearly still looked at Kate with affection because he clearly still loved her, and now he can’t be with Kate who clearly loves him because he actually clearly still loves Juliet? When did Lost turn into f***ing Closer?
Quick Commercial Aside – Does the show Cougar Town take place on a Tropical Christmas Love Island?
Ya got me, ABC! I just indiscriminately love all shows with islands. Season Pass time!!!
DON’T DO WHAT KATIE DON’T DOES
Back in the new/old 2004/Oceanic 815/something reality, Kate forces a cabbie who keeps his tongue perpetually jammed into his lip to jet away from the airport, and when she gets some distance away, the cabbie runs out of the car and Kate forces the other passenger, Claire, to leave too, and tells her “I don’t care if you have a stuffed animal whale that represents your loving devotion to your unborn child in your suitcase, you can’t grab it!” Kate then pulls into a body shop, pays off a mechanic to help her out of her cuffs, goes into the bathroom to change into new clothes, but instantly feels remorseful when she opens Claire’s bag and pulls out a picture of Claire pregnant, followed by some baby items, then a stuffed killer whale, then an entire swingset, then a DVD of the kid playing little league baseball and Claire clapping.
Kate then doubles back and picks up Claire, finds out that Claire was supposed to meet a surrogate family at the airport but they never showed, and insists on driving Claire to meet the family because nothing that happened between them earlier in the day was weird at all. They find the address, approach the house, and open the door to find Ben and Charles Widmore making out! LOST! Actually it’s just some woman who’s been crying because her husband left her, but then Claire immediately goes into labor and shouts “I saw you real quick before I went into labor, that means you still have to take the kid, no kidzbacks!”
Kate rushes Claire to the hospital and there encounters… Oh man, don’t let it be Jack… Ohhhh, whew! It’s only Ethan, the dude who tried to kidnap Claire like seven times in the old reality. But he’s fine now. In this reality, Ethan explains that he can deliver the baby immediately if Claire is ready, or inject her with drugs and keep the baby inside a little longer, but clarifies “I don’t want to stick a bunch of needles into you if I don’t have to, because I tried that in Season One and you didn’t seem too happy,” and Claire’s like “What?” and Ethan’s like “Oh, you’re delirious — all I said was, ‘hey, I’m your happy doctor.’” Claire chooses to keep the baby cooking a little longer.
Shortly after the labor pains, two very thorough cops arrive at Claire’s hospital room asking if she’s seen “Joan Hart,” which is either Kate’s hospital alias or what my mom would mistakenly call Melissa Joan Hart if she was famous enough for my mom to even get it that close. Claire says no and the cops immediately leave, failing to check the Authorized Personnel room ten feet away where Kate was hiding (A friend of mine commented, “Awww, that’s Doctor authorized. We can only do Police authorized.”)
So why does Claire cover for the fugitive who held her at gunpoint earlier that day, and why does Kate feel compelled to stick with Claire? Most likely, it’s the first major sign of the new 815 reality and the current Island Present connecting, building off Jack recognizing Desmond from last week. Claire knew that the baby’s name would be Aaron — she randomly blurts it out during her labor throes and explains later she didn’t think about it, she just knew. She also seems supernaturally forgiving of Kate, perhaps because they’re intrinsically drawn to one another, just as Kate may have subtlely recognized Jack during her airport escape. In the Sawyer scene, Kate admits she came back to the island to find Claire and thought Sawyer could help, meaning that whatever compassion Kate’s grown to feel for Claire after knowing her, she managed to replicate it in a reality where she could’ve left Claire behind and never thought of her again.
Destiny? Or DENSITY? Density isn’t really a choice, I just needed another thing and don’t know what this would be if it wasn’t destiny. Coincidency? Jacob working his island magic in another reality-y? Sure, all the above.
LOSTDS AND ENDS
– Dogen’s baseball is definitely gonna end up being the most significant thing in all six seasons. Jack’s gonna throw it at Locke in the series finale and he’ll be like “Ow!”
– When Jack told Kate to “be careful” before heading after Sawyer, it almost looked like he was pausing to hear the music so he could be like “Hmmm…soft music. I guess that means I do still love you.”
– Is Charles Widmore still a character? He went from being a footnote to being the most potentially important character in the show to being a sub-footnote. Hopefully he didn’t get Christopher LeeReturn Of The King‘d out of this season.
– The “Previously On Lost” segment was like five seconds long. Nice to see the producers aren’t kidding themselves into thinking that casual fans are just randomly flipping on ABC and actually watching through entire episodes for the first time.
– Next week on Lost, Locke looks right into the camera and says “I promise, I’ll tell you everything.” After these promos, if the series finale isn’t just Lindelof and Cuse fielding questions at a town hall for two hours, I won’t be satisfied.
Episode thoughts? Favorite/least favorite parts? Theories? Predictions? Leave ‘em in the comments.
In case you haven't been paying attention, it no longer feels good to be a banker. Everyone hates you, and you can't even tell yourself they're just jealous about all the money you make anymore because, well, you're not even making that much money anymore. There must be other, better-paying jobs where people get less grief, you might say to yourself. And in fact there are. Bill George from Harvard University said it a few weeks ago. The president intimated it earlier today. And analyst Richard Bove has been saying it for years.
I have constantly pointed out that one can make more money playing third base for the New York Yankees or being a shooting guard with the Los Angeles Lakers than one can get paid for running a financial company with hundreds of thousands of employees.
It's only a matter of time before the guys slaving away thanklessly making our financial system function go to where the real money is.
Lily Taylor is a Los Angeles native who moved to New York and became a slash: A "model slash waitress." She says the difference between West Coast and East Coast style is clear: "Here I think people tend to wear way more black." She describes her style as influenced by the seventies because "the liberation, the whole energy of the seventies was something that was really special." Her outfits tend to combine high- and low-priced items, and when we caught up with her she paired a vintage Armani blazer and a Tory Burch bag with an H&M jacket and fake glasses from off the street. Watch the video to find out more about her style.
Governor Paterson had a nice chat with Don Imus this morning, and had the chance to defend himself from rumors about the upcoming Times story, and his critics in general:
The point I was making, for the last four months in the fifteen largest-populated states, only one governor's poll numbers have consistently gone up and you're looking at him. So the reality is that even when I start to gain support they keep writing that my poll numbers are down. As I said, I think the special interests and that relationship with some media outlets is creating the scenario that somehow I should not be reelected when in fact I have closed $33 billion of deficit in twenty months. I have made these payments to all the state’s creditors. I’ve made sure that the schools and the local governments have been funded, balanced budgets, kept the credit ratings strong. I’m black, I’m blind, and I’m still alive. Now how much better do they want me to be?
Fashion Week kicks off tomorrow, and although the tents are notoriously tight (even celebrities can't guarantee seats this year), the amateur sartorialists among us can watch the runways in real time thanks to a wave of tech-equipped labels. An expanded lineup of designers are live-streaming their shows this season, including Calvin Klein, Alexander Wang, Marc Jacobs, Lacoste, and more (even QVC is going live). We’ve compiled a list of streamed shows so far — check back for updates as the week progresses.
• Ports 1961: 3 p.m. on Thursday, February 11, at Vogue.com.
This daggummed east coast blizzard may have hindered our ability to go anywhere or do anything, but you know what it can’t stop us from doing? Watching a video of this year’s crucial Tracy Porter Super Bowl-sealing interception recreated on the game Tecmo Bowl:
…Unless the weather knocks out the internet, in which case, well, crap.
Leeland Eisenberg, the man who held Hillary Clinton's New Hampshire campaign office hostage in 2007 and became a fugitive yesterday when he cut off his GPS monitoring bracelet, was tracked down this morning through some "good old-fashioned police work," according to captain Joe DiGregorio. The police found Eisenberg at his house. [Political Ticker/CNN]
AP - "Valentine's Day" might boast the most shirtless dudes we've seen in a movie since "300." Ironically, the often bare-chested "Twilight" star Taylor Lautner isn't one of them.
Tomorrow, Fashion Week officially kicks off its last season in the Bryant Park tents, which means the white wall of snow falling outside our office right now could not have come at a worse time. Designers and Fashion Week organizers usually scramble to polish runway samples and fit models down to the very last minute before shows. But with so many flight cancellations and so few cars on Manhattan streets right now, many shows won't go on quite as planned.
But, they will go on. IMG spokesman Zach Eichman said IMG has been setting up the tents in Bryant Park for the last ten days, and that as of a couple hours ago the roads and sidewalks were clear. "It certainly is inclement weather, but no one overcomes inclement weather like New York City," he noted. "We have a temporary structure that’s in place now and as long as we can get things to and from it, we can set up inside of it." He said they will make sure the steps aren't icy, the sidewalks are clear, and people are warm tomorrow. "The heat's on!"
However, Seventh House PR/Showroom Seven's Matt Kays was not as calm. "It’s been crazy," he told us this afternoon. He canceled Nary Manivong's presentation this morning after suddenly receiving calls that models would be unable to make it owing to the storm. "I mean I don’t even know how we’re supposed to get to our production walk-throughs — where all the designers go and walk backstage with all the tent people," he said. "They’re supposed to start in an hour."
We told him IMG seemed unconcerned with the weather. "I saw a postal truck this morning when it wasn’t even snowing as hard as it is now, not being able to move anywhere. I’m like, how can you do business as usual?" he replied. "We’re on 27th and Eleventh, and there’s, like, no cars coming down Eleventh Avenue right now." He didn't know when — or if — he'd get any cars this afternoon.
Models typically get a car and go to back-to-back castings and fittings during and leading up to Fashion Week. But can't they just take the subway? "Once they get out of the subway? You can like hear the wind from inside our office," Kays said. Moe Boualaphanh over at Marilyn modeling agency confirmed fittings and go-sees are delayed. "I have been up since 5:30 a.m. changing, arranging flights," she said over email, noting models are also missing non-runway jobs owing to the blizzard. "Another thing, phones not working because of the snow. Girls have had phone problems because they are using them outside. They forget that snow is WATER!"
Though Manivong's show has been rescheduled for next Wednesday, Kays is worried about Charlotte Ronson, who shows Friday at 8 p.m. "Charlotte Ronson was expecting the last 25 percent of the collection to be shipped today. Fed Ex is saying it’ll still be sent, but I don’t know how it’s going to be sent to Manhattan," he said. Ronson's label is big in Japan. "Our entire Japanese press team and a lot of the Japanese press are scheduled to arrive in New York tomorrow morning. I’m not sure if they’re still able to fly in." That could open up the front row for — gasp — bloggers. Already some seats for Cut reporters for other shows have been moved up entire rows.
Stephen Lee from Next model management said the flight cancellations were mostly affecting jobs unrelated to Fashion Week. "The major casting aren’t going to happen until the shows are going to start," he explained. He said BCBG's lineup was all set for their 9 a.m. time slot tomorrow, as was Jason Wu's for his 1 p.m. show on Friday. "The only major concern is disrobing girls from their jackets and putting them into dresses. But if they can’t do to that by now then they shouldn’t be models."
"Some magazines are taking advantage of the weather and actually using the blizzard as a concept for stories," Lee added. We said that must be hard on the models. "No," he replied. So they can do photo shoots in the blizzards, but they can't take the subway to fittings and go-sees today. Makes perfect sense.
Name: Robert Verdi Age: 41 (28 on Facebook) Neighborhood: Fort Greene, Brooklyn Occupation: “Gay Cable Superstar.” His new show The Robert Verdi Show Starring Robert Verdi premieres tonight at 10 p.m. on Logo.
Who's your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
The Statue of Liberty.
What's the best meal you've eaten in New York?
The one my mom cooked in my apartment when I moved here 20 years ago.
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
I create the illusion that everything is okay by making everything look like it's okay.
Would you still live here on a $35,000 salary?
I don't get outta bed for $35,000 a day (It's Linda Evangelista's answer with inflation!).
What's the last thing you saw on Broadway?
A mugging.
Do you give money to panhandlers?
I prefer to give advice — it's more valuable.
What's your drink?
Smart Water in a martini glass with a twist ... no one ever knows.
How often do you prepare your own meals?
Seven times a week.
What's your favorite medication?
Ambien when flying coast to coast, Xanax when my mom visits, Viagra on a first date, Adderall when I'm working, Oxycodone when my back bothers me, Celebrex when my knee aches, aspirin when I have a headache, and caffeine for breakfast with a multivitamin because I'm a total health nut.
What's hanging above your sofa?
A Mike & Doug Starn from 20x200
How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
Anything more than the cost of a razor.
When's bedtime?
Sleeping is boring, I prefer napping ... it's 3:30 a.m. right now and I'm up.
Which do you prefer, the old Times Square or the new Times Square? Good, old, dirty, hooker-filled, scary Times Square.
What do you think of Donald Trump?
I adore Ivanka.
What do you hate most about living in New York?
Litter.
Who is your mortal enemy?
Who isn't?
When's the last time you drove a car?
Today.
How has the Wall Street crash affected you?
I keep all my cash in cash.
Times, Post, or Daily News?
All of ‘em, and the Journal too.
Where do you go to be alone?
Home.
What makes someone a New Yorker?
Chasing a dream and living a nightmare.
Your neighbors aren't just having sex in the elevator. They're doing it in the laundry room and gym, too, assuming you have either of those. Just be thankful that most buildings in the city don't have pools! [BrickU, previously]
HIV prevention? Awesome. Creative new approaches to HIV prevention? Even better. But something strikes me as a little off about a billboard declaring that Da Chlamydia Crusher and Da Herpes Hit Woman have teamed up to “take control of this HIV Gangsta” (Click to enlarge):
MAKEUP
• Oscar de la Renta plans to launch a new division of the label: Oscar de la Renta Beauty. Executives are currently in talks with a private equity firm to become a potential investor and a deal could be reached in the next few weeks. [WWD]
• Models wore butterfly-inspired eyelashes at the David Jones show in Australia yesterday. Would you wear these out? [Girls in the Beauty Department/Glamour]
• Lancôme signed Michelle Phan as the brand's official video makeup artist. Phan, a 22-year-old Tampa, Florida, native, is most famous for her YouTube tutorials, which racked up over 106 million total views so far. [WWD]
• Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen signed up Lancôme artistic director and Givenchy makeup artist Aaron de Mey to do the makeup at their first runway show for The Row. They're not messing around on this one. [Beauty Counter/Style.com]
• Women aren't afraid to wear crazy lip colors anymore. Go nuts! [NYT]
FRAGRANCE
• According to new research published by the market-research firm NPD Group, smaller-size bottles of fragrances are selling the most, and the fragrance industry is responding by creating more small-size options. How logical. [Happi via Now Smell This]
SKIN
• Spray-tan fail: Bradley Cooper's face experienced a tanning mishap this week — only his forehead looked tan, while the bottom chin area still appeared pale. [NYDN]
Now that André Leon Talley has joined America’s Next Top Model, J. Alexander says the two are trying to one-up each other's "fashion verbiage." "Battling André Leon Talley now on the show with us has been quite interesting,” Miss J, who always seemed to relish critiquing the contestants' poses and clothing choices on the show, told us last night at the premiere of HBO’s How to Make It in America. "You know, we both have that knowledge that most people don’t understand. André’s verbiage is absolutely insane. He’ll explain a dress, and the dress is explained in a way that no one understands it." J admits that Talley is very, very good (after all, he coined the term “dreckitude” in just one season), and he notes one reason for the Vogue editor’s ease with fashion-speak. "He has a little more fashion-history verbiage just because he’s a little bit older," Miss J explained.
He insists theirs is a good-natured rivalry. They only worked together once the entire season, but "feed off each other’s wants and needs," according to J. "But that’s my sister and I love him to death," he added. "That’s my big older black sister."
Before we get into why this local commercial jingle writer in Atlanta is clearly the worst jingle writer in history, why don’t you take a listen to one of his tunes. Like this one, for the now unforgettable candy store “Hoffman’s Chocolates”:
But it was thanks to loyal BWE reader Marci Robin, who pointed out the eery local low budget commercial coincidence in the following ad for Smartbox, a company that either sells boxes or wants your stuff. The jingle writer, who sounds AWFULLY SIMILAR to our new favorite Hoffman’s Chocolates singer, basically just wrote down what happens when you put your stuff into storage and hammered it into an all too familiar tune…
Take a listen:
Now listen to this one again:
And, for good measure, once again:
You guys… we can’t tell if these are the worst local jingles or the BEST. What I do know is I’m about to call the Smartbox people to come over and store away all my Hoffman’s Chocolates.
UPDATE: Turns out Hoffman’s Chocolates is in South Florida. (As a native, I, too, was surprised.) So thankfully, these jingles are taking over the entire Southeast.
With Dr. Conrad Murray officially charged in Michael Jackson's death, the Los Angeles coroner has released the autopsy report that said it was a homicide.
AP - Authors and filmmakers have come up with endless ways to inject fresh blood into the vampire, while the werewolf generally has been left out there alone on the moors, howling at the moon.
This is a video about a Dog Man. Dog head, man hands. Eating a snack. When we first caught wind of this latest viral clip, we calmly thought “Oh cool, the Apocalypse is here, and now the world is going to be run by the Dogheads.” Then we heard the all too familiar sound of muffled laughter in the background, and the truth was to slowly reveal itself. No Apox! On the bright side, good to know that this sweet yellow lab are GENIUSESSSSSSS.
And so it ends, not with a mighty roar or Jay lying on the floor next to the one child born to his staff during the run of the show, but with a mere Bob Costas L.A. Clippers joke and an abrupt throw to the local news.
Roman Polanski, seen here directing a scene in his 2002 film "The Pianist", is no less than a maestro, the movie's stars, Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor, have said. Polanski's latest fiction "The Ghost... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 10 Feb 2010 | 9:04 am
Roman Polanski, whose latest fiction "The Ghost Writer" partly mirrors his own real-life detention drama, is no less than a maestro, the movie's stars, Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor have said. McGregor,... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 10 Feb 2010 | 9:04 am
Reuters - U.S. and British department store buyers are looking for fall and winter trends at New York Fashion Week that will not only lure shoppers back, but excite them enough to pay full price amid a struggling economy. Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 10 Feb 2010 | 6:58 am
Bald Head Island's PR team 
With floor-to-ceiling windows and a patio, the master bedroom's abundant natural light will make shooting daytime sex tapes a dream. Cannabis-themed rug sold separately.
Here we see the Great Room and its vaulted "Cathedral Ceiling," for when you're ready to repent for living in sin.
The "Gourmet Kitchen" includes mahogany custom cabinets, granite counters, a sub-zero refrigerator, wine cooler, double ovens, and maple hardwood floors. It's like living inside the trunk of a huge redwood tree.
The cheery dining room is large enough for whenever your first wife's kids stop hating you.
The master bathroom features ceramic tiles and a gleaming white whirlpool, which Frances Quinn will stain blue with Manic Panic when she reaches her inevitable teenage rebellion.
The multi-use space is bathed with the bright light of shame.
This will probably get super hot in the sun, forcing John and Rielle to race down it screaming "ooh! aah! ouch!", pumping their knees high so as to maximize the distance between their feet and the ground, as though they are Lipizanner horses. No matter how many times you burn your feet on the dock, you will never think to bring shoes. That's just the way it is.
Tonight, John Mayer couldn't help but say what he needed to say.
The Grammy winner, whose Twitter page is at this moment largely occupied by a detailed apology for using the N-word...
Oh, come on.
Ali quitting to sell ads—ads?! Rozlyn hooking up, or so we were told, with a behind-the-scenes staffer—a totally not-famous person?!
We repeat: Oh,...
Ah, group round. Even when it's pretty good, it's still kinda bad.
Ninety-six hearty souls prostrated themselves before Simon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi, Randy Jackson and the...
There's more where those 29 Daytime Emmys came from.
Assuming Ellen DeGeneres continues on American Idol after this season (and judging by last night's debut, she will), the...
Unlike so many shows that launch powerfully and then flag in later years, Desperate Housewives is midway through season six and going strong. Creator Marc Cherry has promised to stick around for...
John Mayer would like to apologize for that epically long and obnoxious Playboy interview he did earlier. Well, not all of it (sorry, Jess!), just this one racist part, and there was...
Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper singing together? We think that could be kind of genius.
In fact, Lauper even says she could see it happening one day.
"Everybody is on her right...
• Dolphins can be pervs sometimes and Jennifer Garner has one such story she shared with David Letterman last night.
• So far, Jessica Simpson's only response to...
UPDATE: ThinCare International responded with the following statement:
"Not only have placebo-controlled, double-blind, published clinical studies been conducted on the active...
