August 31, 2007
Ed Magaña's Vid Bits
This week, Ed finds a hilarious American lesbian in Amsterdam who attracts only straight women, James Brown demonstrating dance moves, the syncopated verse of the "Mormon Rap," and a nutty Australian shuffle compilation.
Girls on Film
When talk with her friends turned, as it will when friends get together, to the 1989 Shelley Long movie Troop Beverly Hills, Michelle Collins at Best Week Ever forgot that Tori Spelling was in it. As a kind of penance, we assume, for forgetting that Spelling gave the "Most Underrated Child Star Performance" in "the best movie ever made," she went to Blockbuster, rented it, watched it, and made this clip reel of every scene Spelling's in. What puzzles us is how come she had to rent it?
A Head of Its Time
British shock artist Damien Hirst's diamond-encrusted skull, cast in platinum from the head of a young 18th-century man (and featuring the man's actual teeth), has been bought by an anonymous investment group for its full asking price of $100 million. Hirst, who financed the making of the skull himself, still owns a share of it and will oversee a currently planned world tour of the thing. As an indication of how rich he's become, he can't remember whether it cost 10 or 15 million pounds to make. (Yahoo)
If Your Friends Could See You Now
An intriguing Buy-It-Now product on eBay claims to allow you to "BECOME INVISIBLE & walk unseen among people or CROWDS." Not a toy, magic trick, or scam, the ancient secret of invisibility is selling for $24.95. (t/y Wendy)
Noses to the Grindstone
Note to Perez: We're doing whatever it takes to get your show done on time! [Ed note: Now we wish we were on Team Perez.]
(Photo of Team Perez by Jim Eckels. Front row, from left: Thairin Smothers, Michelle Palmer, Nigel Filson, Glenn Gaylord, Steven Corfe; back row, from left: Joseph Ferraro, Randy Barbato, Cooper Green, Cheryl Johnson, Ben LeVine, Steve Nahaj, Brett Meyer, Sara Kordy)
Rockin' Robbins
Lindsay Lohan might be considered decadent with her coke pants and vodka water, but she and her ilk are only a spit in the ocean compared to the late best-selling author Harold Robbins, of The Carpetbaggers fame. During the '60s and '70s, his Fucking Room Only parties for the "beautiful, handsome, well-endowed, or famous" at his Beverly Hills house were full-blown orgies with "copious amounts" of marijuana, Quaaludes, and cocaine, usually ending in "a mass of writhing bodies." One party featured a sex therapist showing the female guests how to "engage in oral sex in the manner of Linda Lovelace," says Hustler's Larry Flynt in Andrew Wilson's Robbins bio, The Man Who Invented Sex. "We used to all get naked and lay in a pile." Sounds flaccid. (Page Six)
Speaking of Linda Lovelace, Inside Deep Throat, World of Wonder's (ahem) in-depth documentary on the making of and furor surrounding the 1972 porn classic Deep Throat, will be making its TV debut next Friday, September 6 at 11PM on HBO.
The Stalk of the Town
We can't in good conscience write anything about Owen Wilson again until either a coroner announces he's dead or we see him taking a meeting with Randy and Fenton in our conference room, such is the fickle, contradictory nature of each breaking "news" report in the continually unfolding story of his attempted suicide. But we will continue with updates on the part that the somewhat nafarious British actor Steve Coogan is playing in the saga. Kind of like the mustachioed villain in a silent movie. Accused by ex-girlfriend Courtney Love of being an enabler who provides drugs to friends who've just come out of rehab, and accused of rowing with Wilson just prior to his failed suicide, Coogan has denied everything. He was in Hawaii when news of Wilson's drama hit and has come back to LA now only to ensure that the movie he's making with Ben Stiller, Tropic Thunder – that was to star Wilson – is still a go for him and stars Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. And concerning Love's remarks, Coogan told Black Book's editor that an obsessed Love stalked him after they broke up. Getting wind of this, a friend of Love's said, "He has stalked Courtney over the years. He has gone to her house on several occasions. He emailed her nanny. He asked her to marry him and told her, 'You're the most intriguing woman alive.' You name it. His saying Courtney ever stalked him is the biggest lie ever! He has done nothing but go out of his way to hurt her. He's obsessed with her." And suddenly – just like that – the Owen Wilson story is all about Courtney Love. (via Page Six)
Snap!
You know this is Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo, but if you didn't, you might think it was just an ordinary young suburban couple dressed up on a weeknight hoping to get into a popular club. This was taken in Laguna Beach, so they probably did. (via Teddy & Moo; photo: Superior Pics)
And Justice With All
Beyond Thunderdome director George Miller is getting everyone of a certain ilk excited about rumors of a little movie he's putting together called Justice League, in which Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash would star. And, so far, Miller has tentatively got, he thinks, Mel Gibson, Ryan Reynolds, Tom Welling, and Bruce Willis on board, with a net out for Leo, Scarlett, and Jessica Alba (who hasn't?). The movie could still suck, of course, and we're still not going to see it. But now there's word that Miller might have approached Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal to play the (apparently hilarious) Wonder Twins, Jayna and Zan, in a comedic cameo. If the real-life sibs turn it down, the Twins will be cut. (Source; source)
Real Golden Gals
Four real life Golden Gals, Yvonne, Fran, La Vonne, and Ellie, came all the way from Redondo Beach and San Pedro to check out the "Golden Gals Gone Wild" art exhibit at the WOW storefront gallery yesterday! The pretty ladies were very excited to see the artwork and one of them was celebrating her 80th birthday today! The best part of seeing these Golden Gals at the show wasn't actually having Golden Gals at the "The Golden Gals Gone Wild" exhibit, it was overhearing them gossip about Lindsay Lohan's latest arrest, Paris Hilton's new short hair, and Brittney Spears' custody battle! The rest of us can only hope to be as hip as these four when we are in our senior years.
– Text and photo by Sham Ibrahim
August 30, 2007
Craig's Lisp
"I sit down, um, to go to the bathroom," says Senator Larry Craig in his post-arrest interview with Sergeant Dave Karsnia, "and ah, you said our feet bumped. I believe they did, ah, because I reached down and scooted over and um, the next thing I knew, under the bathroom divider comes a card that says Police. Now, um, (sigh) that's about as far as I can take it, I don't know of anything else. Ah, your foot came toward mine, mine came towards yours, was that natural? I don't know. Did we bump? Yes. I think we did. You said so. I don't disagree with that." (via CNN; listen here; read transcript here)
Curry Dish
In our semistaunch intermittently continuing coverage of the silly things Ann Curry does and says on the Today show, we've had to outsource a story. Gawker this day has video of Curry interviewing the girl who was finally cured of a lengthy round of hiccups (hiccoughs?), and in the middle of a lackluster (stultifying?) chat with the girl, Curry managed to reduce her to tears, thank God, which, had Curry been in full throttle, could have brought on an hilarious relapse. (via Defamer)
Quote Unquote
"Everyone asks when you come back, 'Were you tempted to get a kid?' A) It's not that easy; B) if I did get a kid, I'm the last person who should have one. I'd be the only person in the history of orphanages in which the kid actually asked to go back to the third world country." – Ryan Reynolds on his return from helping to build an orphanage in Malawi. (Source)
Chalk Outline
See, the way Jimmy Kimmel explains it, putting chalk to board, what Miss Teen South Carolina, Lauren Caitlin Upton, said that fateful night makes almost perfect sense, bless him. (And you thought we'd seen the last of her. Not by a long shot. We still have all the remixes to go.)
Madonna's Clothes Encounter
I just had dinner with a stylist from a high-end fashion magazine who was given the assignment every gay would give his left testicle for: running a rack of clothes round to Madonna's London townhouse to get personal feedback from her Madgesty for an upcoming shoot. It's the kind of story best heard straight from the horse's mouth, but here's a rundown of the key points:
• Upon entering the house via the back way slash garage, the stylist giddily asked the bodyguard where Madonna's famed Mini Cooper was. Apparently, she just sold it to the bodyguard, who is giving it to his daughter as a graduation present.
• Madonna's house is infused with a floral perfume that sprays into every room: Three hours after leaving, you still smell of Madonna.
• Madge was already sitting in an armchair removing her knee-high boots when the stylist entered the room where she was to be shown the clothes. Her exact words of greeting to the stylist were, "This is how it's going to work. You're going to show me what you like, and then I'm going to tell you what I like. Would you like a cup of tea?" The stylist refused the cup of tea because he was sweating quite profusely by then.
• The stylist's first selected item was a leather jacket, which Madonna attempted to try on before declaring it didn't fit over her arms. Not a good start.
• At points throughout the fitting, all three children wandered in and out. Rocco was playful and fun. Lourdes was picking over the shoes the stylist had brought and when he said, "Pretty cool shoes, huh?" she shrugged and replied, "Yeah, they're OK," then turned and walked out.
• Baby David was carried in at one point and Madonna was very affectionate and playful with him. She put him on the floor and asked him, "Are you going to walk today?" before fixing him with a stern stare and pointing her finger and repeating, "ARE YOU GOING TO WALK TODAY?"
• As the stylist was leaving the house, he heard Madonna calling an assistant on the house phone. She said, "He fucking left the fucking rack of clothes in my room. Come and move this fucking rack out of my room."
– Steven Corfe
Map Relief
Miss Teen South Carolina's brain has just been located on a map and it reveals exactly what went on up there after she blanked on the question. (t/y Jeff)
Tat'll Show Her
Must Die star Jesse Metcalfe and Girls Aloud's Nadine Coyle met in Sydney in March last year and dated until he was discovered with another girl immediately after he left rehab this April. Coyle is said to be back with Metcalfe, but while they were apart, he had his arm inked with this massively ugly tattoo of a woman lassoing a heart in front of a rising sun shaped like Ireland, where Coyle is from. His reason? “It’s not that I’m not over the break-up, it’s just that I really wanted to remember what it felt like to be in that relationship so that I never really go there again." Smart thinking, and it's a cinch future Mrs Metcalfes will enjoy looking at Coyle's titties everyday. (The Sun)
Not Funny
British actor and comedian Steve Coogan, who appeared with Owen Wilson in Night at the Museum, has been accused by some people, namely Courtney Love, of being a particularly evil enabler, the sort of guy who gives drugs to friends who've just come out of rehab, and is being blamed for Wilson's suicide attempt. “Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t comment but I care too much about Owen," said Love, who was briefly Coogan's girlfriend. "I went through this with Steve. I was just out of rehab and he was right there with the drugs.” Coogan, who it's believed was the person who argued with Wilson just before Wilson swallowed pills and cut his wrist, strongly denies the accusations. “My thoughts are with my friend Owen at this difficult time, but I do want to set the record straight and say that the allegations ... are completely and utterly false.” A spokesman for Coogan said the comedian is seeking legal advice. (MTV; The Sun)
Crash Sight
A registered nurse from Plant City, who was riding a motorcycle with a friend behind Nick Bollea's Toyota Supra the night he crashed it, said Bollea was racing his Supra between traffic signals with a Dodge Viper when the accident happened. She saw Bollea's car smash into a median and spin into a palm tree that Sunday in Clearwater, Florida. "We knew something was going to happen," she said. "You know that this is a bad situation and these guys are hotdogging." Huh? The Viper's driver was local 20-year-old Rahib Cheaib, it turns out, and not the Hulk, as previously assumed. Meanwhile, Bollea's passenger, 22-year-old John Graziano of Dunedin, remains hospitalized in critical condition. (Source; photo: Nick with sister Brooke in happier times)
Warhol in Siberia
Not everyone loves Andy. Thirty years ago at a dinner party at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo, Andy Warhol coaxed actor Ted Hartley (Barefoot in the Park, Ice Station Zebra) to pose for a few shirtless photos. Not long ago, the Warhol foundation contacted Hartley's wife, Post cereal heiress and actress in her own right, Dina Merrill (Operation Petticoat, Butterfield 8), to say that four portraits of Hartley had just been discovered. So she bought one for her husband, who's now head of RKO Pictures. But Merrill, whose mother built Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, confessed recently that the painting won't be seen by folks coming to the couple's oceanfront digs in East Hampton. "I thought Andy Warhol was awful," she said, "and because he was so weird I could never abide his paintings, so the portrait is in our house in Beverly Hills, where it is going to stay." (via Page Six)
Quiz
Keira Knightley, seen here at the Venice Film Festival yesterday, has lost so much weight because in her next movie she plays a) a stop sign, b) a lollipop, c) a bobblehead, d) a Pez dispenser. (Photo via Celeb Dirty Laundry)
August 29, 2007
Russell Gets the Hustle
In this outdoorsy, uncomfortably manly advertisement for Avondale College, the Seventh-Day Adventist school in New South Wales, Australia (where the sea can turn into a thick creamy foam of biblical proportion), an adorable young, leather vest-wearing Russell Crowe (who apparently acted for food back then) gets the calling – "an urging," really – to join the gospel ministry after six minutes of convincing in the countryside by a former teacher in extremely short cut-offs. It's like '70s porn at Bible camp. (t/y Wendy)
The Primordial Oeuvre
We're new to Filipino actor Weng Weng and his oeuvre, but our colleague Ben LeVine here at WOW is disturbingly obsessed with the 2' 9" primordial dwarf (maybe because Ben is 6' 8"). Star of only a handful of films, one being the 1981 action-spy comedy For Y'ur Height Only (he played tiny Agent 00), Weng Weng died in 1992 at the age of 35. But, hey, he lives on in this Chuds-scored ill-dubbed YouTube clip. And in Ben's head. (t/y Ben)
Of Interest
Did Nicole Kidman from 1989 (at left) go back to the future (at right) to protest wearing fur at a PETA demonstration on Janice Dickinson's reality show?
Recently Dead
Hilly Kristal, the man who in 1973 opened a club in a disgruntled section of New York's Bowery that would become ground zero for the American punk-rock movement with its name emblazoned on every third T-shirt you see today, died yesterday at 75 of complications from lung cancer. Not too surprising an illness for a man who spent night after night for 30 years in the dank, smoke-filled landmark he named CBGB, ironically an acronym for Country, Blue Grass and Blues, not a note of which was ever played on the premises. "He created a club that started on a small, out-of-the-way skid row, and saw it go around the world," said musician Lenny Kaye. "It was a real rallying point for musicians trying something different." CBGB's unknown "headliners" (Talking Heads, Dead Boys, The Ramones, Television, Blondie, The Stooges, Shrapnel, Patti Smith, etc) flew in the face of disco, which was reigning supreme at the time, and literally drowned it out with LOUD FAST RULES!! The last few years saw Kristal, owing $300,000 in back rent, fighting a losing battle with the building's landlord to keep the club open; he eventually lost his least earlier this year. At the club's boarded-up storefront this morning, a spray-painted message read, "RIP Hilly, we'll miss you, thank you." (Source; top photo: Getty Images)
The Lady Doth Protest Too Much
On an ABC News report in 1982, so long ago that the networks hadn't yet felt it necessary to permanently tattoo their logos at the bottom of the screen, Idaho senator Larry Craig was a congressman and even then vehemently denying he was gay, though no one had said he was. He wanted to set the record straight JUST IN CASE he might be implicated in a congressional-aide homo sex scandal that was bubbling under at the time, because, he said, "unmarried persons, as I am, by choice of by circumstance," are always the subjects of "innuendo, gossip, and false accusations," which he found "despicable." (Wonkette; t/y Eduardo)
Bush Made of Bush
Portrait by British artist Jonathan Yeo of George W Bush, incorporating images clipped from porn magazines. Like that blowjob happening on his right ear. (t/y Dirk)
Trouble in Mind
Queen of Mean Leona Helmsley has been in the news more now that she's dead than she has been for years. First the unearthing of that unsettling stabbing story. Now this. Always one for a well-placed "fuck you," she just dissed two of her grandchildren and 12 of her great grandchildren by excluding them from her will "for reasons which are known to them," but leaving $50 million to other family members, including $15 million to her brother, $10 million to two other grandchildren, $100,000 to her chauffeur, and $12 million to her eight-year-old Maltese, Trouble. The bulk of her estate, valued at between $4 and $8 billion, went into a charitable trust – so who could complain about that without sounding greedy? (NY Post; photo: Jennifer Graylock)
Craig's Lust
WOW believes Senator Craig could, in fact, be innocent, just as he claims. Really, there are so many other reasons he could have been "stalling" in that airport toilet. So we monitored our own bathroom stalls and found that some benign behavior could, if we didn't know our staff better, be misconstrued as lewd. (Photos: Thairin Smothers)
Maintenance guy cleaning the toilet
Quick aerobics session with a colleague
Putting something back where it belongs
Secretly cheating on a diet
OK, this one looks lewd
Amber Alert
Last night, Big Brother's neo-Nazi Amber and shrill Daniele were contestants on CBS's Power of 10 game show (purportedly a competition reward for the two, but really a network crossover stunt). When jovial host Drew Carey asked Amber how it feels to be constantly scrutinized in the Big Brother house, she replied, "Honestly, I don't know what 'scrutinize' means." (Her proud ignorance is boundless.) Later, back in the house on the BB episode that followed, deluded Amber (she actually believes she has the face and body to be a model), once again, her face contorted in tearful ecstasy as she consulted God on His game strategy for her, asked Him to bless Himself.
Daddy Daycare
Brad Pitt took daughter Zahara to Central Park yesterday, hired a carriage to take them around it, went to the zoo, and hung out in the Sheep Meadow. As he waved to the paparazzi, his Ötzi the Iceman tattoo was visible on his forearm. (And come to think of it, doesn't wife Angelina seem to be trying to emulate that 3,000-year-old mummy's skeletal figure?) (Photo: Starstock/Photoshot)
Blonde on Blonde
Oh, so his depression, drug problem, and suicide attempt is that tawdry tramp's nightmare? Hoo boy, that's gotta be some write-around.
It's a Wrap
Karl Rove is whispering sweet nothings into the president's ear in New Orleans; meanwhile, his car has been punked in DC. As a kind of goodbye gesture, White House pranksters wrapped his Jaguar in Saran Wrap, plastered an "I (heart) Barack Obama" sticker on the passenger-side windshield, covered the other windows with Post-It notes spelling "KING KARL," propped a stuffed elephant on the hood, and mounted two stuffed eagles on the trunk. Rove's Jag is parked on a private driveway next to the West Wing. To complete the project, somebody should run over right now and stick a "You Park Like an Asshole" flyer under one of the windshield wipers. (The Politico via Drudge; AP photo)
August 28, 2007
Premature Immolation
It's some kind of huge deal. One or more of the gays at Burning Man, due to the eclipse of the moon early this morning, must have gone completely insane, like werewolves on K, and set fire to the huge Burning Man sculpture five days ahead of schedule. Thank GOD, THANK GOD the thing hadn't yet been loaded up with fuel or explosives – right? – and those cute guys from the Black Rock City Emergency Services Department were able to drop by and put out the fire with their big hoses before the sculpture was totally ruined. Yeah, now, after the fire damage is repaired and the neon re-installed, it can be destroyed as planned on Saturday. The premature burning is being investigated as arson, of course (but shouldn't it be Burning Manslaughter?), amid reports of a man with a propane torch skulking around the site last night, as if. (via Laughing Squid)
Dread and Board
Off to Rome on Friday. Unless, of course, we don't get to go because the boyfriend is on a No Fly list. He flew to Portland last weekend for a wedding and decided to take a pocket knife on board. He was detained briefly and forced to mail the knife to himself using this new Homeland Security machine which had a "hole that resembled a vagina" (his words, not mine). He stuck the "weapon" into the vagina (women, please don't over-analyze this) and it wrapped the weapon in bubble wrap and then the vagina asked for his credit card number and claimed it would "mail him his belongings within a few days for 10 dollars." Then they asked him to get into an enclosed glass box to test for explosives, which sent high-speed puffs of air over his entire body. When they blew air up his pants, he posed for the security personnel like Marilyn Monroe over the subway grate, at which point they let him go without further questions.
– Ray Cochran
Shelf Life
Matt Damon's top-five books, as revealed on Australia's Stars on Sunrise morning talk show:
1. Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran.
2. Freakonomics by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner
3. The End of Poverty by Jeffery D Sachs
4. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
5. The Men Who Stare At Goats by Jon Ronson
If you're a longtime WOW Report reader, you'll know that book #5, the one about staring at goats, was the basis for one of the segments of WOW's investigative documentary series in the UK, Crazy Rulers of the World. (t/y Lindy)
Surf's Up (to Something)
Beachgoers who thought they might surf along the New South Wales coast over the weekend were surprised to see the sea had been turned into a creamy, sudsy foam after cyclonic conditions churned up all the salts, chemicals, dead plants, decomposed fish, seaweed secretions, and an old boot or two and set Earth's blender on whip. Twelve-year-old Tom Woods (above) said it was "like running on air; you couldn't feel it." Er, seaweed secretes? Ew. (Daily Mail; photos: Icon Images)
Another Country Heard From
The Sun is not having any of the denials by sources close to Own Wilson that the actor's despondency over seeing photos of his ex, Kate Hudson, making public kissy-face with actor Dax Shepard led to his suicide attempt. The London rag comes right out:
MOVIE star OWEN WILSON was recovering last night after reportedly slashing his wrists over his break-up with girlfriend KATE HUDSON. [...] The suicide drama came after Kate, 28, was pictured in US mags cuddling and kissing in a Malibu supermarket with comic actor DAX SHEPARD, 32. Wilson — famed for his misshapen nose — is well known on the Hollywood party circuit and loves the playboy lifestyle. But friends say he was deeply upset by his split with Kate, who he met while filming You, Me and Dupree. The pair had a six-month fling that ended Kate’s marriage to BLACK CROWES singer CHRIS ROBINSON. Wilson prompted the break-up with Kate after they argued about his wild ways — but it is believed he now regrets doing so and has not been seen dating anyone else.
Of course, for starters, Wilson did not "slash his wrists." (Photo source)
Pup Princess
While Britney Spears has been absolved by the LA branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (street name ASPCA) of any crime against her pooch London, she's not so innocent in the eyes of the LA County Department of Children and Family Services (street name Child Services). When the ASPCA paid a house call at the Spears place, they discovered that the Yorkie had only a leg fracture, not a break. "The dog got under someone’s foot in the walk-in closet," said the Society's president. "It’s not that unusual for people to step on their dogs by accident or trip over them. Things like this can happen." And, of course, it's also not that unusual for people to step on their children by accident or trip over them in a walk-in closet, as we're sure Child Services will discover when they begin their investigation for possible child abuse perpetrated by Spears, prompted by the custody suit brought by her ex-husband Kevin Federline (street name K-Fed). (Digital Spy; Scotsman)
Owen Update
Owen Wilson is "in good condition," said a spokeswoman at Cendars-Sinai Medical Center, where the actor underwent detox for the pill overdose after his attempt Sunday to end his life, and is listed in stable condition. "He's fine and the family is doing great," said Uncle Joe, who lives with his nephew. Wilson's family is at the hospital, including his older and younger brothers, Andrew and Luke (above, with Owen). There are still no details on why Wilson wanted to die, except that the suicide attempt happened not long after Wilson had a vicious argument with a friend who has yet to be identified. Wilson, a seemingly easy-going dude, actually has a "dark history" of depression. Nevertheless, "all the neighbors like him," said neighbor Betty Miller. "He's a friendly guy. He never has any crazy parties or does anything wrong," she said. "It's very upsetting," said a friend of the actor, speaking pretty much for everyone. "People are complicated. It's not just one thing." And because it's what you're thinking, there's this:
Wilson's last serious romantic relationship – with beauty Kate Hudson – fell apart just before Memorial Day. Hudson had been spotted over the weekend very publicly canoodling with handsome new love Dax Shepard, but sources insisted that it did not contribute to Wilson's emotional turmoil. (NY Post)
August 27, 2007
Snap!
Something he ate at the Warped Tour didn't sit well with internet darling Jeffree Star and he had to have it surgically removed. Same thing happens to us everytime we eat at House of Pies.
Jemaine and Bret to Major Tom
If you're not watching Flight of the Conchords every Sunday night on HBO, stop what you're doing and immediately punch yourself in the balls, as a friend of the WOW Report might say. You're missing wonderfully eccentric half hours about a couple of Kiwi musicians relocated to Manhattan that implode the sitcom formula, each episode pregnant with humor so dry it's dehydrated and two brilliant, organic-to-the-plot musical numbers that look like they cost a lot more than they probably did. Ask anyone. Here, for example, is a dream sequence.
The Old In-N-Out
Wentworth Miller, 35, and TR Knight's ex, Brothers & Sisters actor Luke MacFarlane, 27, spent Saturday together. What, you wonder, do two handsome gay actors do on a date? Went and Luke began the day at Kinko’s, where Went, not surprisingly, surfed the web. Browsing the blogs for one's name can dry out the mouth, so the two got beverages at Starbucks and then made for an art gallery in Culver City. Finally, keeping the stalkerazzi busy, the boys got some drive-thru In-N-Out burgers. (via Just Jared; photos: National Photo Group)
Franklin Mint
The new 100 bill (not pictured), due out at the end of next year, will be a bit more difficult for counterfeiters to duplicate. The Associated Press says the Ben Franklin C-note, the bill most counterfeited outside the US, is being redesigned with a whole slew of techno bells and whistles, employing a security thread on each bill with 650,000 minuscule lenses that magnify even smaller microprinting. When you move the bill side to side, the image appears to move up and down; move the bill up and down and the image seems to move from side to side. "It is a really complex optical structure on a microscopic scale," said Douglas Crane, a vice president at Crane & Co. "It makes for a very compelling high security device." And Crane & Co will be seeing quite a few of those bills; the company has a $46 million contract to produce the new security threads. (Yahoo; t/y Jeff)
Happiness Is a Warm K
Scientists are now looking at and experimenting with the animal tranquilizer ketamine – or Special K, as it's known on the street – in their search for a faster-acting antidepressant. Well, of course. Now that we think of it, James St James, who's been experimenting with the drug for years, seems always to be in a good mood.
In a small experiment led by researcher Dr. Carlos Zarate last year, five of 18 people who received a single intravenous dose of ketamine experienced a dramatic lifting of their depression the first day and were still much better a week later. All patients in the experiment had first tried regular antidepressants but did not improve on them, according to the study published last August in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
(LA Times; t/y Beau)
Foul House
Bob Saget's premiere this weekend of his HBO standup special, That Ain't Right, featured the comic delivering 55 minutes of unadulterated, uninterrupted, juvenile filth. Unlike the specials of most comedians, That Ain't Right had no jokes to speak of, and was only sporadically funny. But its sheer repetitiveness and the unrelenting bravura of the man made it hypnotic. It was like jazz, with recurring melodies, shifting tempos, and an infectious backbeat of expletives. This clip is from the very end of the show and is only filthy in your mind.
One-Cent Post
Loved it last night when Big Brother's duplicitous idiot Amber, praying to the Almighty, said, "God bless you, God."
Mystery Meat
If you're believing repeated reports that Jake Gyllenhaal is gay, then you'll buy this story that he and longtime mystery boyfriend are expecting a baby via surrogate in September. Apparently, according to the item on JJ's Blog, last year Jake and this boyfriend were arrested and taken to the West Hollywood police station after being caught having sex in an SUV behind Chin Chins restaurant. (Jake photo: INF)