June 29, 2007
Sitings
• The sitting cage. Severe claustrophobia right out in the open.
• If your vacation plans this year include the Arctic – say, Sanikiluaq, Nunavut – let us recommend the Amaulik Hotel.
• Star Shine. Like shooting fish in a barrel, only it's stars in a circle. And the music will cleanse your chakra. Or make you insane.
Great Danes?
Claire Danes walking her dog in Soho (where she was born and raised) and we have to give her credit for throwing on that cumbersome and unattractive scarf-tie thing because she at least made the effort to dress up her T-shirt and jeans ensemble to run Spot around the block. But here's the thing: Although she's inarguably a fine actress, is she ready to be hailed as one of "the greatest actresses of our time," as the voiceover in the Evening trailer declares? (Photo via Celeb Dirty Laundry)
What's That Smell?
Cochon Records rockin' Stink Mitt gigged at Mr T's Bowl Room in Eagle Rock last night. The Vancouver girls didn't disappoint. That's Lady Precise aka Jenny Craig in the silver boots up there and the other girl, in the Jackson Pollack-inspired Spandex, is the duo's other half. The lady in white is big Stink Mitt fan Peaches. (Photos by Thairin Smothers)
Putting the Pop in Snap, Crackle, Pop
Even though it's not unusual for songs by sacred icons like the Stones and the Beatles – even Bob Dylan – to be heard hawking products on television these days, it was rare in 1963. And even now it's not kosher for a band to actually compose a jingle for a commercial, which is what the Rolling Stones did back then. The folks at Spinner unearthed (though it was right there on YouTube) a TV spot for Rice Krispies that ran in the UK when the Stones were considered a scary bunch of yobbos.
Paris Gets Her Picture Toke
Paris Hilton told Larry King on Wednesday night that she's never done drugs of any kind. (t/y Eduardo)
Street Seen
Thairin Smothers walks around Hollywood with his camera out: Veronica Lake at Beverly and Gardner; Banksy at Melrose and LaBrea; and construction site on Selma at Schrader.
Intern Still Subservient
In case you missed it when we posted it on Tuesday or were just wondering (we were), the fresh-making intern Trevor at the Mentos home office in Erlanger, Kentucky, is still live and doing the bidding of all who call or email. Except at this moment, when he's taking lunch. (Click here)
Snap!
Lisa Kudrow at the premiere of her film Kabluey at the LA Film Festival. Watch the trailer. (Photo via Teddy & Moo)
Housing Developments
You can go home again. But why? Mouthy deejay Moby is tired of living on Manhattan's Central Park West and is uncomfortable in the enormous penthouse he bought in the landmark El Dorado two years ago for $4.5 million. Though he says the five-floor two-bedroom, two-bath apartment with four terraces – you might call them Moby decks (one of which has a 360-degree view) – is "the most interesting and unique apartment I've ever seen in New York City," he wants to move back below 14th Street, where he started. Maybe that one-bedroom with an eat-in kitchen is still available. His penthouse is on the market now for $7.5. (Source; apartment photos via Radar)
Quote Unquote
"Well, it didn’t help me on the set that I was a black man who wasn’t a mush-mouth Negro walking around with his head in his hands all the time. I didn’t speak like I’d just left the plantation and that can be a problem for people sometimes. I had a person in human resources tell me after this thing played out that 'some people' were afraid of me around the studio. I asked her why, because I’m a 6-foot-1, black man with dark skin and who doesn’t go around saying ‘Yessah, massa sir’ and ‘No sir, massa’ to everyone? It’s nuts when your presence alone can just scare people, and that made me a prime candidate to take the heat in a dysfunctional family.’’ – Isaiah Washington, still yammering about being fired from Grey's Anatomy, this time to Newsweek.
June 28, 2007
"A Great Big Pile of Happiness"
Two positive reports on WOW's Sex Change Hospital. One from a viewer who watched the six-episode television series in the UK and found it "awfully happy," and another who saw the stand-alone episode at Frameline 31 in San Francisco and who happens to be a friend of one of the subjects, yet without bias thought it was "probably the best 'sex change' film I'd ever seen."
WWE – Now with ESP
The creepy just got eerie. Someone on a computer in Stamford, Connecticut, where World Wrestling Entertainment is based, posted an addition to pro wrestler Chris Benoit's Wikipedia bio making reference to the death of his wife, Nancy Benoit – 13 hours before Atlanta police discovered her body with those of her husband and seven-year-old son! The posting read "Chris Benoit was replaced by Johnny Nitro for the ECW Championship match at Vengeance, as Benoit was not there due to personal issues, stemming from the death of his wife Nancy." The folks at Wikipedia – who reversed the edit an hour later and typed in a comment to the effect that "saying his wife died is a pretty big statement, you need to back it up with something" – said the posting went live at 12:01AM Monday; police found the bodies at 2:30PM that afternoon. (Source)
The Truth Shall Set You Free – After You're Free
See more at World of Wonder.
Larry King always gets the truth out of his guests. Last night, Paris sweated in the hot seat and came clean out that cavity search. (t/y Eduardo)
Latte-day Saint
While in New York, Madonna joined the ranks of the celebrity Starbucks-toters. (Photo via Teddy & Moo; shocking arm photo here)
Size Matters
Just how small is the iPhone? Hard to tell until it's actually in your hand tomorrow. But at the top you can see how in an updated ad Apple switched to a bigger hand model to give the illusion of a smaller product. Below. Comparable objects held by a normal-size hand. (via BoingBoing)
Unfair Housing
Perhaps we shouldn't be so excited that our favorite reality show, Big Brother, launches its eighth season one week from today. Because it will mean that this summer we'll again be committed to three nights a week not only watching the ugly, serpentine, and addicting goings-on in that ever-more-postmodern house-within-a-studio, but also looking out for host Julie Chen's now-you-see-it-now-you-don't cameltoe (a drinking game if ever there was one). Although it appears the set designers this year have slipped through the looking glass, the new houseguests (who have the unfortunate fate of following last year's spectacular all-stars) seem more suited to rooms at Toad Hall:
Is Paris Burning? Or Shredding?
Mika Brzezinski's MSNBC colleagues gave her a hard time yesterday when she insists she flatly refuses to lead the news with a Paris Hilton story, even taking to burning, tearing, and shredding the copy.
Quote Unquote
"I don't have a publicist. Never had one. I don't go to premieres. I don't go to parties. I don't covet the Oscar. I don't want any of that. I don't go out. I just have dinner at home every night with my kids. Being famous, that's a whole other career. And I haven't got any energy for it." – Gary Oldman, Harry Potter's Sirius Black, in the UK's Telegraph
Brit Quits
Britney Spears, who was scheduled to perform along with Rosie O'Donnell, Debbie Harry, the MisShapes, the Dresden Dolls, and Erasure on Cyndi Lauper's True Colors tour this weekend at the Greek Theater, has pulled out of the gig. Seems Lauper doesn't allow lip-synching on her stage, bless her. But we think it could be that Spears is afraid of a creepy backstage scene not to her liking: O'Donnell posted a video on her blog last week in which she said, "Brit, if you're watching, honey, you and me – we're gonna share, like, a backstage moment, 'cause I love you, kid!" Spears might have interpreted that as something more than intended. Assuming Spears can interpret. (Page Six)
Of Interest
Annie Leibovitz photo of Yoko Ono and John Lennon on the cover of Rolling Stone and Jessica Alba and Dane Cook on the poster for Good Luck Chuck.
June 27, 2007
Flavor of the Bump
Back in the '80s, we seem to remember, there was a cocaine that tasted just like bubblegum. Now comes a UPI report from Sacramento that California police are noticing a growing trend in traffickers adding flavors to coke and adding a whopping 40% to the selling price for the trouble. Cops recently arrested six people in Yolo County, seizing three pounds of coke sweetened with strawberry and coconut flavoring. Vanilla, banana, and chocolate are also popular add-ins. But we remember not so long ago when Lindsay Lohan used the way cheaper method of cutting her coke with Strawberry Quik, which enhanced the high with a sugar rush. (t/y Nick)
Oz Fester
We resisted posting this second controversial clip of beardy John Stamos on a morning talk show in Australia during his constantly controversial trip to that continent. But we had to give in because of how adorably cuddly he is when he's been drinking or whatever it is he was doing backstage before being introduced by the wonderful, unfazable Ozzie broad of a host. "Helping" her read the cue cards, plopping himself onto the couch and yammering in a slurred, cheerful incoherence, not allowing her space to ask questions, accusing a detractor of having a small penis, and not talking about ER, the reason he was there – through all of that, Stamos is totally lovable.
On Starrduty
"That was a genuine death threat made on RuPaul at his San Francisco screening of Starrbooty," says Randy Barbato, who was there. "After the screening, he was whisked upstairs to a holding area where there were six policepersons ready to protect him. They waited 20 minutes before escorting him to his car. Here's a shot of Ru with one of his protectors."
Screen Queens
"What's not to love about a film book with Divine in a red dress on the cover?" says The Advocate about Matthew Hays' book The View from Here: Conversations with Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers. True, but it's what's behind the dress that's getting the good reviews. Hays has collected his 32 interviews with queer directors and arranged them alphabetically (very handy), from Pedro Almodóvar to John Waters. The filmmakers range from mainstream (Bill Condon) to avant-garde (Bruce La Bruce), from camp (Don Mancini) to porn (Wakefield Poole). Studded with cool facts, the book's "a worthy reference book for queer cinephiles," says Glenn Sumi in Toronto's Now magazine (Hays is a Canuck).
In 1986, when Hays was 21, he scored an interview with Divine for the student paper at the University of Alberta. It was his first interview and it's included in the book. Fab magazine reprints it here.
In the Johnnyhole with Johnny and Kooks
See more at THE JOHNNYHOLE!.
Johnny and Kooks look real tired. But that doesn't stop them from writing and recording their newest soon-to-be hit "Nuthin Butta Trick." I think someone was out late picking up tricks.
– Selected by Ross Greenberg
Film at 11
While Paul McCartney is singing his still-silly love songs live at Amoeba Music on Sunset Boulevard sometime after 7:30 tonight, the allegedly less-silly Paris Hilton will be arriving sometime before 9:00 for a sit-down with the host of Larry King Live across the street at the CNN building. The mind implodes. This unnatural pop-culture cataclysmic convergence will result in casualties. And it will be televised. (Photo via Los Anjealous)
Quote Unquote
"My stylist is gay and lives in LA and when he came to Miami he went out. And I asked, ‘Your boyfriend doesn't care?' And he said, 'We have an understanding if I'm out of the city.' When I saw George Michael, he said the same thing. [...] I'm going to have to have a talk with my girl!" – Enrique Iglesias to Genre magazine, on envying the freewheeling gay lifestyle. (via Lone Star Verve)
Perfect Top-Down Weather
Wouldn't you think that if British soft-porn model Michelle Marsh had not wanted her enormous natural breasts to be seen swinging up and down by the casual observer as she ran along the beach, she would have worn a bit more clothing and a lot less makeup? (Photos via Egotastic!)
In Search Of...
Haven't quite had your fill of RuPaul worship this week? AguynamedWayne sent us this YouTube clip of someone at the New York Madame Tussauds desperately seeking the wax figure of the world's most famous and glamorous drag queen there ever was or will be. Warning: The video may be too gay for some tastes.
Bling It On, Don't Put It On
Sez Fenton Bailey: I saw this infant's T-shirt in a supermarket in Vietnam and thought it was the perfect way to celebrate the release of Paris Hilton." We just hope he isn't going to try to fit into it and wear it around the office.
Ditsy on the Inside
Our other favorite pop-culturally attuned artist, David Gilmore at Pretty on the Outside, would remind us that Paris Hilton will be, literally, on Larry King tonight and he'll be "probing her deeply for an entire hour." Sort of like 1 Night in Paris Redux, we suppose. Also, Gilmore imagines what the rest of Hilton's personal sketchbook-diary might include now that it's been discovered she can draw.
June 26, 2007
If a Woodstock Could Stock Wood
Tired of biting his nails down to the bone worrying about the Sex Change Hospital screening later in the day, Chris McKim headed down to San Francisco's Delores Park to meet up with Thairin Smothers and Andrew Schneider and Kristin Rasmussen and the rest of the WOW crew, where he took these great shots of the assembled lesbians and the people who love them, gathered for the pre-Gay Pride Dyke March festivities.
– Steven Corfe
Street Styles: Rodeo vs Venice
See more at Raw Bird.
Sarah and Adam of Raw Bird hit Rodeo Drive and Venice Beach to see the zany eclectic mix of fashion styles that the people of LA are known for. Hmm, Rodeo or Venice, who seems more out of touch with reality?
– Selected by Ross Greenberg
Snap!
As some of you may know, I returned to Illinois for my Waukegan Christian High School reunion. I took the opportunity of the three-hour flight each way (not to mention two-hour delays each way) to finally read James St James' Freak Show. It's the best book I have read in quite some time and was very appropriate considering the adventures I experienced at the reunion. Anyway, here I am reading it in a Milwaukee airport bar. I made sure to hold the book in such a way as to maximize the number of people who might see it.
– Beau Genot
Recently Dead Update
ESPN reports that investigators have discovered that Canadian pro wrestler Chris Benoit strangled his wife, suffocated his seven-year-old son, and hanged himself with the pulley of a weight machine. That information was released today after the announcement late yesterday that the three were found dead and last night's now-somewhat-premature tribute to Benoit on USA Network's Raw. No suicide note was found, but steroids may be a determining factor in the killings.
Benoit's wife, 43, was killed Friday in an upstairs family room, her feet and wrists were bound and there was blood under her head, indicating a possible struggle, [DA Scott] Ballard said. The son, Daniel, was probably killed late Saturday or early Sunday, the body found in his bed, Ballard said. Benoit, 40, apparently killed himself several hours and as long as a day later, Ballard said. His body was found in a downstairs weight room, his body found hanging from the pulley of a piece of exercise equipment. The prosecutor said he found it "bizarre" that the WWE wrestling star spread out the killings over a weekend and appeared to remain in the house for up to a day with the bodies.
American Artist
A detail of Albert Crudo's pencil-and-watercolor Forbidden drawing from his "Sweet Things" series, which he says "addresses two of man's (and woman's) most basic (and pleasurable) instincts: food and sex." We can't show you the full NSFW drawing on this page, but you can see it after the jump. Now, here's the thing: Crudo's gallery, Saatchi in London, has seen fit to pit its artists against each other in a head-to-head showdown, and lil' Crudito would like you to vote for him (and so would we), which you can do after the jump – and see a lot more of his "Sweet Things." Vote early, vote often. It's like American Idol without the annoying singing but retaining the assholes.
Snap!
Paris Hilton freshly released from prison, without makeup or blue contacts, looks radiant and really pretty. But does her skin look dry to you? (Getty photo)
Rubooty
AguynamedWayne asked RuPaul how the weekend screening of his Starrbooty film went at the Frameline festival. Replied Ru:
The film was a huge success in SF.
1400 seats sold out.
pandemonium as i arrived at The Castro.
The real sign of success was that
someone called in a death threat for me!
6 uniformed cops escorted me out after the film.
good times.
ru.
Not So in the Pink
The Capitol Records building, the Marlboro Man billboard, the Hollywood sign, the Beverly HIlls Hotel, huge-breasted Angelyne and her pink Corvette. These are the sacred icons of Los Angeles. The Marlboro billboard was removed for health reasons, the Hollywood sign almost burned to the ground during a brush fire, and now Angelyne has had her office/storage space taken from her to make way for a Whole Foods. Where's the respect? Because the redevelopment project along Vine between Hollywood and Sunset has forced her to relocate from her very-longtime Hollywood office, the ageless personality is demanding that developers pay her $400,000 for reprinting her inventory of promotional materials that bear her old address. Because, really, even though she ran for California governor in 2003, Angelyne, is nothing but promotional materials. (Photo of Angelyne among her materials via LA Times)
Subservient Intern
Trevor, a real live Mentos intern will answer your questions and do your simple bidding. A step up from the Subservient Chicken. He's the Fresh Maker! (Click here)
Sunset Strip
"Clothes" and "close" are homonyms but to Britney Spears they're just the same words. So when the salesgirl at the Jill Roberts store in Beverly Hills probably suggested nicely that Spears close the dressing-room curtain while taking off her clothes it may have further confused the already addled pop princess, so she left for the Four Seasons to get a spa treatment. (Photos: Splash News via Egotastic!)
Police Release Me, Let Me Go
Like so many other long-term prison inmates, Paris Hilton seems to have found God in lockup, and she praised Him upon her release in the wee hours of this morning. In a smart ensemble comprised of a sage jacket with white trim over a white shirt, skinny jeans, and classic white pumps, a pigtailed Hilton emerged from her cell and was greeted by, as you might expect, a phalanx of well-wishing photographers and concerned press. Here, see for yourself. (Photo via Egotastic!)
Chronic Dry Eye
You heard about it here, you saw some photos, and now the Amy Winehouse "Tears Dry on Their Own" video is seeable. Back in May, video artist David LaChapelle orchestrated the shoot on the Walk of Fame, just outside the WOW offices and employed a cast of disparate extras to make Hollywood Boulevard appear busy and dangerous as a dispassionate Winehouse strolled along it and gave the illusion of singing live amid the chaos. At 1:18, if you're quick, you'll see our Thairin Smothers in neck brace and on crutches quickly pass by the camera in extreme close up, and at 1:15 that's Steven Corfe in white T-shirt carrying his dog Stella. Oh, and the song's pretty good too. (t/y Angela)
Pup Culture
Here's an oldie but Goldie. After you've gone for a walk around the block – or to the park! – and done your business, it's nice to get in a little workout before chowing down on breakfast. "Ex-fat girl" Mariko Takahashi has worked up a few routines to give you a new leash on life. (t/y Brent)
June 25, 2007
Recently Dead
Canadian pro wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy Benoit aka Woman, and their seven-year-old son Daniel were discovered dead this afternoon in their suburban Atlanta home. Two other Benoit children live in Canada. "There are no further details at this time," says the WWE in a statement on its website, "other than the Benoit family residence is currently being investigated by local authorities.” Other reports say that no cause of death has been given for any of the Benoits, "but law enforcement said they did not die of gunshot wounds." Tonight's Raw on the USA Network will be a tribute to the Benoit family.(Source)