September 30, 2008
Margiela Ela Ela Eh Eh Eh
In Belgian designer Martin Margiela's runway show in Paris this week, models wearing masks and not much fashion walked forward but appeared backward – even for models. The unsettling photo explains it, although nothing really explains it. We're fond of this day-into-evening number. (Mail; photo EPA)
You Can Put Polish on Your Toenails But It Won't Stop You Sticking Your Foot in Your Mouth
Sarah Palin gobbledigooks herself into a hole.
Paul Newman and James Dean Screen Test
Time to dust this off again and look at it wistfully now. The two stars were testing for East of Eden in 1955. Seems Newman didn't make the cut.
Of Human Bondage
"Another Way to Die" is a pretty good pop song from Alicia Keys and Jack White, but it's a disappointing Bond theme. Doesn't even include the name of the movie in the lyrics, which has always seemed bottom line in the franchise. If Duran Duran managed to find some pretext to work "a view to a kill" into their hit, how hard would it have been to include "quantum of solace" in this one?
The Thairin Smothers Files
Another random gem from the Tupperware container of undeveloped film found in Thairin Smothers' closet.
Richie Rich, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, New York, late 1990s
Here is Richie Rich, of Heatherette and club kid fame, celebrating Halloween sometime in the late, pre-Heatherette '90s at a bash thrown at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel by New York nightlife legend Suzanne Bartsch. You may recognize Suzanne’s name from the Love Ball, which raises money for HIV/Aids. I wonder what Richie was supposed to be for Halloween? Check out his disposable camera. Remember those?
– Blake Jacobs
Who's Googling You?
The new social networking website, Ziggs.com, apparently allows users to get instant emails every time someone Googles them and checks out their profile. Sign up and you’ll find out where the searcher is located, what time the search occurred, and what key words were used in the search to find you on Google. Anonymous cyberstalking will become so five minutes ago. (BuzzFeed; t/y John)
Folsom Beauties: Love Will Keep Us in Leather
World of Wonder's Cooper Green took his camera when he went to the 2008 Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco over the weekend and returned with these shots. The much-anticipated event is held annually on the last Sunday in September and climaxes, so to speak, SF's Leather Pride Week. Like we need to tell you.
Penn, Chace, and Ed: A WOW TV Exclusive
This behind-the-scenes conversation occurred on the shoot for the "Gossip Guys" cover for Details magazine. Mostly, Chace Crawford, Penn Badgely and Ed Westwick were concerned with who's hotter. Chase's gayface and Drew Barrymore's recent ménage with Chace and Ed were also discussed.
How Do I Look
The trailer for How Do I Look, the touching 2006 doc that serves as a kind of sequel to 1990's classic Paris Is Burning, in which contestants in New York's uptown voguing balls battle for face and fame. (MySpace; t/y James)
Stephanie Looking Awkwardly
Last night while watching The Hills, I:
• Rewound the scene where Lauren confronts Stephanie about her sneaky dinner date with Doug about seven times.
• Spent a good five minutes fiddling with my DVR trying to capture the perfect freeze-frame of Stephanie looking off awkwardly into the distance (above).
• Texted my out-of-town boyfriend with an update of the episode, including picture.
• Realized I am a 16-year-old girl.
– Steven Corfe
Anne Hathaway Likes It Thataway
Anne Hathaway, the garishly beautiful star of Rachel Getting Married, the new Jonathan Demme film written by Jenny Lumet, is said to have said some unexpected things in an interview printed in the upcoming issue of Esquire that are tittilating the blogs on these recent slow-news end-of-summer days. For one thing – actually, the only thing – she likes it up the ass. She really does. She finds it sensual and recommends it to all her lady friends. According to "a source at Esquire," Hathaway says "every woman should try it, otherwise they miss out on something amazing,” and talks about her first time and how anal penetration makes her feel feminine in a “very special way." (The Evil Beet; bikini photo via HQ-celebrity)
UPDATE: Esquire allegedly is saying there's no Anne Hathaway interview in its upcoming issue. Of course, that doesn't necessarily make the story not true.
Travis Takes the Bus
In an item featuring a really insensitive headline, Page Six reports that Travis Barker, who was recently released from the burn center in Georgia, is taking the long way home to LA with his ex-wife Shanna Moakler. They're driving back in a Blink-182 tour bus. After that horrifying plane crash, Barker will "never get in a plane again," says a friend. They say time heals all wounds; in his case it could be a year before Barker reconsiders air travel.
McMahon Oh Man
In the midst of his house foreclosure and other financial woes, Ed McMahon has been hit with a lawsuit filed by a company founded by the late Merv Griffin requesting the $100,000 it lent the TV personality in 2005, none of which has been repaid. McMahon intends to send the company a big check soon. Really big. (AP)
It's Birthday, Bitch
Kieran Culkin, 26
Lacey Chabert, 26
Dominique Moceanu, 27
Jenna Elfman, 37
Monica Bellucci, 40
Robby Takac, 44
Eric Stoltz, 47
Fran Drescher, 51
Johnny Mathis, 73
Angie Dickinson, 77
Truman Capote, 84 (deceased)
Deborah Kerr, 87 (deceased)
Rumi, 801 (deceased)
– Lindsey Hager
Transgender Angel Subject of New Sculpture
Buck Angel, pictured at right, the famous female-to-male transgender, has been invited to London by artist Marc Quinn, on the left, who will sculpt the "man with a pussy" in marble. Quinn, you'll remember, is the artist who creates busts of amputees and chiseled Kate Moss in disturbing yoga positions. Angel, you might not recall so easily, is the owner of Buck Angel Productions and has starred in the adult films Buckback Mountain and V for Vagina. "Because I am 'the man with a pussy' and a porn star," said Angel,"this sculpture will push boundaries all over the world." The work will be unveiled next year in London. (Xbiz)
Cam: Country on the Loose
In an effort to compete with the slogans "Malaysia: Truly Asia" and "Amazing Thailand," Cambodia has come up with the catchphrase "Cambodia: World of Wonder" and is launching a six-month advertising campaign on CNN. We mention this only to dispel any idea you might form while watching CNN that Cambodia: World of Wonder is a WOW reality show. At least, not yet. (Phnom Penh Post; t/y Fenton)
Palin Meets Castro
Candi Gurl as Sarah Palin took in San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair. At one point she hung Baby Trig out the window while the crowd called for her to jump. Good times! (The Sword; photo: Brandon Norris; t/y Mike)
Up and Adam: DJ AM Attends a Memorial
Adam Goldstein, looking so much better than we've imagined, was well enough to attend the LA memorial service yesterday for Chris "Lil' Chris" Baker, who died in the plane crash that severely burned Goldstein and Travis Barker and killed three others. Mourners were asked to wear green, Baker's favorite color. (Peeps; photos: Splash News)
Janet Jackson: Illin' After Spillin'
And speaking of Miss Jackson, the singer was taken ill yesterday during a sound check in Montreal for her current tour and was rushed to the hospital, where her condition is being monitored. And we can't help but wonder if it might have something to do with her boyfriend Jermaine Dupri depositing a pile of noxious puke into her lap the other night during his 36th birthday celebration. (Ampersand)
September 29, 2008
Chez What?
Don't get excited; that's not them. Another Tori & Dean, calling themselves Dean & Tori, are coincidentally also Inn Love. And by coincidentally, we mean just that, because when we browsed their impertinent blog, we detected a distinct Christian leaning, so we know D & T live by those 10 etched-in-stone Commandments, including the 8th one. The Dean, the Tori, the Inn Love are all probably just some kind of obscure code we heathens wouldn't understand.
The Dark Ledger: Why So Serious, Country?
Not that funny, but current and nicely made. (College Humor)One Faux the Money: Going... Going... Gone
Just in time to see sales of graffiti art royally disappoint at auction at Lyon & Turnbull's in London, a fake Banksy mural was put up by sign painting company Colossal Media in New York's Soho. Here's the further irony: "Dealers said demand, reduced by worries about the economy and confusion about the authentication of Banksy's pictures, may be an ominous sign for the mainstream art market." Italic ours. (via Towleroad)
Sound Bite: The Milk Man Cometh
"At one point during rehearsals, the idea was thrown out that Sean and I would go to the apartment that we eventually shot in and spend a night or two there just to, like — I don’t know what — feel comfortable with each other? That idea was kind of thrown out but ended up not happening because of scheduling. I approached the relationship part as I would approach any relationship. When I’m working with another actor or actress that I’m supposed to have a relationship with, I’ll look for things in the person I like. My other hero on the film was Sean, so it wasn’t too hard to look up to him — or whatever that is."
– James Franco on Milk in Out magazine (via Gawker)
Schnakenberg on Warhol on Walken on Warhol
Robert Schnakenberg, in his book, Christopher Walken A to Z , writes that Andy Warhol claimed in his diary to have seen Walken kissing Mickey Rourke on the lips at a party, and when asked later about Warhol's entry, Walken said, "Actors do kiss each other. I don't think there's anything going on between me and Mickey." (Page Six)
Tori & Dean's Home Sweet Marathon
No matter what coast you live on, it's already started. The Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood marathon on Oxygen, that is. Ten hours of the hit World of Wonder series, an entire season, from 9AM to 7PM today. EW suggests you read Tori's tell-all tome sTORI Telling during the commercials. Although, judging by the book's high position on all the non-fiction bestseller lists, you'll be RE-reading it.
Hairbox Thrillers
When Leslie Maloney walks back into Bonanza Richardson's life, she doesn't have the best of intentions.
It's Birthday, Bitch
Danny Noriega, 19
Lo Bosworth, 22
Mackenzie Crook, 37
Tom Sizemore, 47
Bryant Gumbel, 60
Lech Walesa, 65
Madeline Kahn, 66 (deceased)
Jerry Lee Lewis, 73
Anita Ekberg, 77
Gene Autry, 101 (deceased)
Enrico Fermi, 107 (deceased)
Miguel de Cervanes, 461 (deceased)
– Lindsey Hager
Itemizing
• Guests Ne-Yo, Busta Rhymes, and Ice-T at Jermaine Dupri's 36th birthday party at Tenjune were witness to the birthday boy vomiting a heady mix of champagne and tequila into Janet Jackson's lap.
• Adam Goldstein says he's "the luckiest guy alive."
• Adnan Ghalib is considering selling the two-hour sex tape of him and a naked, pink-wigged Britney Spears going at it in Mexico. Best offer.
• Dennis Quaid wishes Meg Ryan would shut the fuck up already about their ancient-history marriage troubles. Eight years and she's still blah blah blah.
• A heroic Jack Osbourne chased a purse-snatcher down a London street, wrestled him to the ground, and detained him until constables arrived. No word on whether he got his purse back. Kidding.
• Robert Plant strongly denies rumors of a Led Zeppelin reunion and warns against buying bogus tickets to any such concert.
• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have been tapped to play the halftime show during February's Super Bowl. Another reason not to watch.
• Time goes by so slowly. Madonna was fined more than $200,000 when her Sticky & Sweet show at London's Wembley Stadium went 40 minutes past its scheduled end time.
Snap!
Kirstie Alley gave the finger to a photographer on an otherwise delightful Sunday afternoon spent with her 14-year-old daughter Lillie Stevenson. The two, wearing what might have been cunning mother-daughter ensembles if not for the disproportionate sizes, are captured here going into a Thai restaurant in Hollywood. (via Faded Youth)
Your Morning Mug
A bit intense around the eyes, perhaps, and in need of a comb, but surprisingly attractive, considering. Here's Heather Locklear's mug shot from her arrest Saturday in Montecito, California, on suspicion of driving under the influence of prescriptions drugs, only two months after completing a rehab program at the Cottonwood facility in Tucson, Arizona. (Us)
September 28, 2008
A Shaw Thing
George Bernard Shaw, who wrote the play Pygmalion in 1913, which was adapted into the hit musical My Fair Lady in 1956, didn't write Pygmalion on this typewriter, which he didn't buy until 1935, but he wrote many other things on it, including surely letters, essays, and probably The Millionairess. The typewriter, a Remington Noiseless Portable in its original black leather case with metal clasps and in full working order, is for sale at AbeBooks for $8,528.37. And don't say, "What's a typewriter?" It's a writing apparatus that disappeared not so long ago, taking this with it.
SNL: Impalin' Palin
In case you have a life and were out last night instead of watching Saturday Night Live, here's the highlight: Tina Fey as Sarah Palin being interviewed by Amy Poehler as Katie Couric. The genius part comes halfway through when Fey does a spot-on impression of Palin's buzz-wordy way of saying nothing at all when asked for her opinion on the economic crisis.
Itemizing
• Heath Ledger's parents and three sisters, who were bequeathed the late actor's entire estate worth around $20 million, have given it all to Matilda Rose, Ledger's daughter with actress Michelle Williams.
• Jersey boy Frankie Valli left a $1,000 tip for a $14 martini. The bartender was just too good to be true.
• Longtime TV staple Heather Locklear was arrested yesterday in Santa Barbara County on suspicion of driving while impaired. She was held overnight and released today.
• Scarlett Johansson is no longer available, you poor deluded fools who thought you had a chance. She and Ryan Reynolds just tied the knot last night at a wilderness resort outside Vancouver. Jessica Alba also not available.
• The Hills' Audrina Patridge was gifted with a $22,000 diamond Igal Haimov watch just for showing up at a luncheon.
Quote Unquote
"After our kiss, Sean texted Madonna – his ex-wife, Madonna – and said, 'I just popped my cherry kissing a guy. I thought of you. I don't know why.'" – actor James Franco to Out magazine about his on-screen kiss with Sean Penn in Gus Van Sant's biopic Milk. (Page Six)
September 27, 2008
On a Wing and a Prayer
"Fusion Man" Yves Rossy jumped from a plane at an altitude of 8,200 feet and flew 22 miles over the English Channel from Calais, France, to Dover, England, in 10 minutes with four tiny jets propelling his wing at 187 miles per hour. (Story, video)
Internal Affairs
The suits in CBS' news department were not happy at all with David Letterman's stunt of cutting to the net's internal feed of John McCain getting his makeup applied in front of Katie Couric when he was supposed to be hightailing it to DC. A CBS Evening News spokeswoman was mum on the topic, but word from other sources is that they were aggravated. "If we had done something like that to him, someone around here would end up getting fired," one said. "But they were not about to start a fight with Letterman. We're in the middle of a heavy, heavy news cycle and Letterman is Letterman. He does whatever he wants and always has." (HuffPo)
Recently Dead
Handsome Hollywood legend Paul Newman died yesterday at his farmhouse near Westport, Connecticut, after a long battle with cancer. He was 83. The actor who personified cool, worked with most of the great directors of the last 50 years, including Hitchcock, Huston, Scorcese, Lumet, and the Coens, and starred with a who's-who of screen icons, from Elizabeth Taylor to Jackie Gleason. He was Oscar-nominated 10 times, won once, and was awarded two honorary trophies. Newman, who raced cars and made his "Own" salad dressing for charity, was married to Oscar-winning actress Joanne Woodward for 50 years. (Huffington Post; more photos here)
September 26, 2008
Palin's Deadwood
Prominent conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, who was an early supporter of Sarah Palin, said today in her column in the National Review that recent interviews have shown Palin is "out of her league" and should leave the Republican ticket for the good of the party. Here's an excerpt:
Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there. Here’s but one example of many from her interview with Hannity: “Well, there is a danger in allowing some obsessive partisanship to get into the issue that we’re talking about today. And that’s something that John McCain, too, his track record, proving that he can work both sides of the aisle, he can surpass the partisanship that must be surpassed to deal with an issue like this.” ... If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself. (Read all of it here)
(Photo: Getty Images; t/y Billy)
Ed Magaña's Friday Vid Bits
Today we have a lady in Russia who keeps 130 cats in her house; a young boy with an iPhone learning the complicated process of pouring boiling water over packaged kimchi; a video that with spot-on sychronization turns a roomful of Muslim men into circuit queens; and a bit of slapstick roommate revenge, and by slapstick we mean stick of butter.
Recently Dead
Connie Haines, the big band singer who, among many things in her long and varied career, performed with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra alongside Frank Sinatra, died Monday in Clearwater, Florida, from myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune neuromuscular disease. A story she must have told a hundred times is the one about the time an errant match caught her gown on fire while she was singing with the Dorsey band and Sinatra pulled her to the floor and smothered the flames with his coat, after which she got up and finished her song, her charred gown still smoking. While it's not unusual that she should be survived by a son, a daughter, and three grandchildren, we're surprised that the 87-year-old is also survived by her mother, still alive at 109. (LA Times)
Project Gets Stalled on Runway
It turns out that despite a previous announcement that Bravo's hit reality show Project Runway would jump to Lifetime in 2009, a court order has put a stop to the Weinstein Company taking it or any spin-off of it to Lifetime. A statement released by NBC Universal today reads:
"NBC Universal is pleased that the court granted our motion for a preliminary injunction against The Weinstein Company. The overwhelming evidence demonstrated that The Weinstein Company violated NBC Universal's right of first refusal to future cycles of Project Runway. After hearing all of the evidence, the court issued an order prohibiting The Weinstein Company from taking the show or any spin-off to Lifetime."
Runway host Heidi Klum sees it this way: "One day you are in, the next day you are out." (Zap2it)
Reese Witherspoon: She'll Grin and Bear It
Reese is dreading the Four Chrismases promotional tour with her co-star Vince Vaughn, with whom she didn't get along while filming. She says he's “the biggest child I’ve ever met,” which is why she's asked ex-husband Ryan Phillippe to look after their two kids while she's traveling so she won't have to contend with three kids. “Promoting a movie involves long hours, and she’ll have to spend a lot of time with someone who gets under her skin," says a friend. "But Reese is professional; she’ll grit her teeth, fake a smile, and pose for pictures.” Like always. (OK!; photo: Photorazzi)
Dan Savage Wants to Be Sarah Palin's Gay Friend
Because she sure-as-shootin' could use one right about now. (Slog)
Obama Mama
I realized there was one contingent not being heard from thus far in the election, so I decided that Classic House from the Year 1992 would have its say! Featuring Emmy-winning and Beatport-chart topping singer/songwriter, Katreese Barnes ("Dick In A Box" / "Alright Alright").
– Greg Scarnici
This, That, and the Other
On Punctuation Day, Font Feed had a post about the festive interrobang, which had its heyday throughout the 1960s and is now largely forgotten. The site's Stephen Coles went on to praise the serial comma and champion its becoming standard usage, which incited a flurry of comments, including this one that made us laugh out loud:
Another vote for the serial comma. My mother (who is an editor) has a favorite real-world example of the perils of omitting the final comma. This was a dedication in a book: To my parents, Ayn Rand and God. Assuming the author intended three dedicatees and did not in fact have extraordinary parentage, the second comma really should have been employed.
Posted by Kent Lew on September 25, 2008
Cohen Causes Sacha Fuss in Milan
A remarkably handsome Sacha Baron Cohen made an unscheduled taxi down the runway at the Agatha Ruiz de la Prada show in Milan yesterday and was pounced on by the local constabulary and taken to the station for a talking-to. It wasn't his first disruption during Milan's fashion week; he's been shooting footage for the movie starring his impertinent gay fashionista character, Bruno. We wonder if anyone at the Agatha show will remember anything other than Cohen's spectacular couture number. (Mail; photo: AP)
The Thairin Smothers Files
Another random gem from the Tupperware container of undeveloped film found in Thairin Smothers' closet.
BOB and Desi Monster at the Vaginal Davis show at the Garage in LA, circa late 1990s. Photo by Thairin Smothers.
Thairin went to see Vaginal Crème Davis perform at the Garage (photo posted yesterday) with his friend Desi Monster. Desi is an artist and was one of the NYC club kids from the late '80s/early '90s who ran around in the same crowd as WOW’s own James St James. (See what Desi looks like now.) Thairin and Desi also ran into *BOB* from San Francisco, who Thairin tells me is one of the first girl drag queens on the scene. She came before Lady Fag. (But after Jennytalia.) She now lives in New York.
– Blake Jacobs
Curtain Cavil
We emailed Michael Musto aka Mr First-Nighter this morning to ask him what he thought of Daniel Radcliffe in his New York Equus debut last night, and he replied: "Decent size, nice low hangers.... Oh, you mean his performance? OK, but not really textured enough to disguise the fact that the play's hamfisted hijinx have dated badly. I call it Drequus."
Who Was I?
Last night, in this ravaged and demented death's-door condition, Amy Winehouse actually went onstage to sing backup for her adorable 12-year-old goddaughter Dionne Bromfield’s singing debut at the End of Summer Ball in London's Berkeley Square. Trouper? Not so much. During the performance, the nightmare godmother lashed out at a photographer and collapsed, crying "Life can’t go on. I can’t do this anymore." Chances are she will. (Mail; photos: EBDB, Richard Young/Rex Features)
Q-Unit: The Mercurial 50 Cent
Listen now to "Bohemian Wanksta" and 10 other tracks from Q-Unit, the new Queen vs 50 Cent greatest-hits mashup album, before they're taken down. (via Coletrain.org)
Quote Unquote
"She's one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen, and as soon as I heard she was sleeping with every midget in town, I knew she was perfect for my show." – Las Vegas impresario Jeff Beacher, talking about Canadian model Dominique Arganese, whom he hired to be in his show Beacher's Burlesque when he found out she was cheating on Verne Troyer with Jackass star Wee Man. (Page Six)