You Say Goodbye and I Say Fuck You

The Beatles' "Hello Goodbye," icky from the moment Paul conceived it, is enjoying a very painful rebirth thanks to those Target commercials. How many versions of the song have been used to sell toothpaste and housewares so far? It's getting to the point that we're afraid to turn on the television. Is the retail emporium attempting to win a Guinness Book world record?

101 Stairways to Heaven

There are probably lots more, but 101 is exhausting if not exhaustive, and stretching as it does from Dolly Parton to Frank Zappa and beyond, you're bound to find one that's your heaven. (Beware of the Blog)

More Posts About Smoking and Food

(t/y PSTJ)

"Don't Fall in Love With a Homo"

14 Smoking Accessories That Nobody Should Own

Here's one now. Collect 'em all. (Modern Mechanix)

Clipology

In honor of the 25th anniversary of his breakout role in Risky Business, Tom Cruise is paying tribute to himself at the Scientology-free TomCruise.com, where he's assembled a lengthy clip reel of all his popular movies in an obvious attempt to cleanse our palates and clear our memories of all his recent deranged behavior and manic laughter. It almost works. Only 24 more years until we get the same thing from Jonah Hill.

Nice Swag

At Christie's pre-auction party in the Soho Grand's penthouse suite for Andy Warhol's Double Marlon silkscreen (expected to fetch more than $25 million), one of the guests walked out with a rare Schott leather jacket like the one Brando is wearing in the Warhol work, the iconic publicity still from Brando's 1953 The Wild One. The jacket was worth $3,000. One assumes that guests at the do like, Jeremy Scott, Anthony Haden-Guest, Kenny Scharf, Mick Rock, and even deejay Paul Sevigny, were given the once-over as they left. (Page Six; party report and photos at Confessions from the Velvet Ropes)

Minor Details

YouTube has flagged my video mashup of RuPaul's "Free To Be (Emancipation Remix)," saying that the contents may not be suitable for minors. And though I've seen some pretty questionable material on YouTube, I just can't see why my little gay-pride video would be deemed so subversive. Can you?

– AguynamedWayne

Did He Get a Star?

Sean Diddy Combs was honored with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today, watched by famous friends including Russell Simmons, Jamie Fox, and pimpin' Don "Magic" Juan. Every celebrity in attendance brought their own entourage, and it resulted in there being more security muscle than at your average airport terminal. An enormous bunch of helium-filled white balloons was distributed among the crowd shortly before Diddy's arrival, with instructions to release them into the air when the star was unveiled. Unfortunately the balloons were of the cheap, thin latex kind, which when combined with the sun beating down on them made them periodically explode. And every time a balloon popped, I swear 40 people dropped to the ground screaming. It made for an oddly punctuated acceptance speech.

– Text & photos by Steven Corfe

Mayer's Hair

"Today I set off on my newest project," says the ever-more-interesting John Mayer on his blog. "To grow and maintain an authentic '80s style feathered haircut. It's something I've wanted to do for some time and I'm very excited to bring this amazing look into today's pop culture landscape. The feathered cut projects an attitude of ease and quiet confidence that seems to have all but eluded our generation. This is a work in progress, and as my hair grows longer it will serve to become a more stirring and poignant statement."

Awesome Pong Tricks

So this is what the kids down at the youth center are up to these days. We've watched this clip five times already. We can't stop. (Click here: UniquePeek)

That'll Do, Pig

Roger Waters' floating Floyd pig, missing since the weekend, has been found in tatters, shredded like meat for a giant pork sandwich. The pieces landed in the driveways of two La Quinta, California, families, who will split the $10,000 reward and the four lifetime passes to Coachella. (Video at BBC News; photo: Getty)

Click and Drag

On her blog today, Lady Bunny posts her very first attempt at video editing. In 2004, a panel consisting of Bunny, Boy George, John Cameron Mitchell, Murray Hill, Michael Musto and moderator David Hershkovitz convened at the W Hotel in New York to discuss drag. It's kind of hilarious, as you might expect. Bunny explains its provenance.

And This Little Piggie Went Missing

The inflated pig the size of a city bus that floated above the crowd during Roger Waters' two-set show on the third night of Coachella has gone missing, just like that Brazilian priest with the party balloons. Festival producers are offering $10,000 and four lifetime passes to Coachella for the return of the porker. Even deflated, it's tough to hide in a dorm room. (Wired; photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.com)

Radio & TV Correspondents Roast

Bush does self-depracating standup at the annual Radio & TV Correspondents Dinner and kills without anyone dying.

Two of Arts

Longtime lovers and pop-culture legends Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson were married in a small, non-denominational ceremony in Boulder, Colorado, on April 12. They celebrated recently in New York with director Julian Schnabel and his wife, limbo king Mike Quashie, and Law & Order's Richard Belzer.

Video

The Genius of Gossip Girl

So it takes New York magazine to say out loud what we've all been thinking: that Gossip Girl is the "BEST. SHOW. EVER." Yep, you heard them. EVER! As in THE HISTORY OF TELEVISION. Forget Lucy, Mary Tyler Moore, Seinfeld and Lost (PLEASE can we forget Lost?). It's Gossip Girl, plain and simple. According to the article, GG is (quote, unquote) "the future of television," it is "changing the very model of successful TV," it "GETS New York" unlike any other show, and "because against all odds, it offers profound social commentary." It''s a hell of an article – read it in full HERE.

– James St James

Statutory Tape

A consortium of Beatles-stuff collectors called World Wide Video wants to use nine hours of raw black-and-white footage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono – shot in 1970, just prior to the moptops' breakup – smoking pot, writing songs, and discussing putting LSD in Nixon's tea, to make a two-hour feature called 3 Days in the Life. But the footage has become embroiled in a copyright dispute between World Wide, who purchased the tapes for more than $1 million, and the widow Ono, who has physical possession of them. (Reuters)

Inside Mommy

A book coming out soon, called My Beautiful Mommy, explains why Mommy got prettier after the bandages came off. It's a book for kids under eight. (Newsweek via Jezebel; t/y Clancy)

A WOW Exclusive

Coming soon, really soon – the Madonna video remix by Brian Heinberg, starring Steven the tranny hooker. A WOW EXCLUSIVE!

Naked Japanese Ladies in a Telephone Booth

Beating the Odds

It has come to light that men who ejaculate more than five times a week are a third less likely to develop prostate cancer later in life. Recent studies show that cancer-causing cells in the prostate don't build up in men who masturbate regularly, particularly in their 20s. That's masturbating, not sexual intercourse; with fucking there's always that possibility of contracting a sexually transmitted infection, which increases the risk of cancer. A researcher puts it simply: "It's a prostatic stagnation hypothesis. The more you flush the ducts out, the less there is to hang around and damage the cells that line them." Now here's a picture – go flush those ducts. (BBC News)

Celebrities at Large

I just got back from the Tibet vs Olympic torch protest. I managed to position myself behind Elton John. It was weird because non of the Tibetans recognized him, so he wended his way, completely unnoticed, to the front where I was with the monk with the megaphone. Then he raised his hands in a beatific way as if he were a holy man blessing our walk. He alone held his hand aloft in the mudra of the peace sign. It was weird to me that Elton John went by himself; didnt he have any friends who wanted to go with him? They could have called attention to his celebrity, which I could tell he wanted and which was a good thing since it's a good cause. Finally the photographers found him and that's when I jumped in. I am waiting to see if any of the photos make it to the news; I tried to look very idealist and interested only in the chants.

– Clancy Cavnar

Pop Waffle Vol 16

In this week's edition of Pop Waffle: Presidential Genealogy, Jamie Lynn is engaged, America's Next Top Hooker, The Jonas Brother, Starbucks, and Suri Cruise. Visit popwaffle.com.

Andy's Boys

New York nightlifers from the '80s will be interested to know that the ubiquitous DuPont twins, Richard and Robert, pets of Andy Warhol, will be the subject of a Steven Klein-directed movie, based on the New York magazine story, Factory Boys. Of course, the bros want Zac Efron to play them. (Page Six; photo: Anton Perich)

No More Commapostrophes!

Jeff Deck, our new hero, is traveling across the US removing and correcting punctuation and spelling gaffes in local signage. And blogging about it. Using chalk, markers, paint, and adhesive letters, he and three other members of the ad hoc Typo Eradication Advancement League will spend the next three months on a personal commercial-literacy mission. (Watch video of Deck on Hollywood Boulevard)

Whirl of Wonder

Remains of the heyday. Exposed molding and girders show the Hollywood history under the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery, reopening April 25 with the "depARTed" group show after its movie-star makeover. (Photos by James McGowan)

****ing With the Stars

Chris Crocker made it into a recent episode of South Park. Pretty cool, but in the ensemble of viral stars it's hard to top the Dramatic Gopher.

Warhol-in-the-Walls

Former Viacom head Tom Freston bought Andy Warhol's 12-room, six-story Manhattan townhouse in 2000 for $6.5 million and after extensive renovation has now put it on the market for $38.5 million. The East 66th Street house built in 1910, which Warhol bought for $310,000 in 1974 and lived in until he died in 1987, features four bedrooms, a floor-through master suite, a rooftop terrace, chef's kitchen, staff quarters, gym, elevator, and seven fireplaces. Simultaneosly, Warhol's previous, less imposing house, at Lexington and 89th (above) – which he bought in 1959 and lived in with his mother and a shitload of pop art until 1974 – has been listed for $5.99 million. If you run into the WOW Report editor, ask us about the time we stopped by uninvited and Mrs Warhola asked us upstairs.

Face Time (to Save the World)

If anyone can save the world, it's Madonna. Be afraid. The best part her new video is the very last frame. If we're gonna watch her save the world, we might as well get some insight on how she's saved her face. Regarding the photos: Yes, I'm a loser and spent the time 1) freezing the last frame on YouTube and 2) taking pictures of it.

– Randy Barbato

When She Knew

Here are two promotional videos for When Kiran Met Karen, the English-language cross-cultural Indian-American indie film that covers the subject of lesbianism on a canvas of South Asian conservatism, lifestyle, and existence while following the trials and tribulations of a promising young Bollywood actress who discovers her own sexuality after meeting a lesbian journalist just days before the premiere of her blockbuster film. Which is just the long and convoluted way of saying there's some hot cross-cultural girl-on-girl action.

Sacramento Tomatoes

And speaking of nipple rings, a Sacramento Toys R Us is making it easier for the little girls in the area to get their very own tramp stamps. Lower back tattoos are vended at 50 cents each, tucked in between the Hannah Montana and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse stickers. (Cockeyed.com; t/y Beau)

Crazy Idea: The 'Vue

Bellevue, the striking 1931 Italian Renaissance-style onetime psychiatric hospital on First Avenue in New York, may be turned into a luxury hotel. The name "Bellevue" has become generic for "loony bin," and among the so-called loonies who stayed there are Norman Mailer, Edie Sedgwick, and Charlie Parker. "Our patients were not normal New York neurotics, but very sick people – otherwise known as crazy," said Dr. Frederick Covan, who was the chief psychologist there for 14 years. If it becomes a hotel, they can expect the same clientele. (NY Post; photo: Gottscho-Schleisner Collection, Library of Congress)

Bang Related

There was a time in Los Angeles, back in the early '90s, when there were so many random drive-by shootings on the freeways that getting shot on the highway became as iconic to LA as the Marlboro billboard on Sunset Boulevard. But the billboard eventually came down, and the shootings stopped almost as suddenly as they'd started. The trend played out, as trends will. But do we smell early signs of its return?

About That Spider

If you recently received that urgent email warning you about the deadly Butt Spider, Blush Spider, or Two-Striped Telamonia that lurks under the toilet seats at Olive Gardens, sit your ass down on the can and read this.

Doing It with Lindsay

Lindsay Lohan has signed to play Nancy Pitman, one of Charles Manson's most loyal followers, in a movie to be called Manson Girls. "Yes, I am doing it with Lindsay," says Brad Wyman, the film's producer. There looks to be a slight physical resemblance between Lohan and Pitman. According to lore, Pitman was at home with Manson the night he sent members of his "family" to music producer Terry Melcher's house, where they famously killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate and the others. (Pop quiz: If Tate had lived and delivered Roman Polanski's baby, how much might she have got at that time from a tabloid for photos of the newborn?)

"High School Drag"

In a spectacularly riveting cameo in the middle of the 1958 teen-exploitation classic, High School Confidential, Phillipa Fallon performs a beat poem in a coffeehouse to the accompaniment of Jackie Coogan on piano. As the poem says, "Turn your eyes inside and dig the vacuum."

He's a Pepper

Re yesterday's news that Dr Pepper would send a free can of soda to everyone in America if Axl Rose released his 17-years-delayed Chinese Democracy album this year, a surprised Rose responded, politely and succinctly, on the Guns N' Roses website with this:

PRESS RELEASE FROM AXL REGARDING DR PEPPER
We are surprised and very happy to have the support of Dr Pepper with our album "Chinese Democracy," as for us, this came totally out of the blue. If there is any involvement with this promotion by our record company or others, we are unaware of such at this time. And as some of Buckethead's performances are on our album, I'll share my Dr Pepper with him.

Axl Rose

Reportedly, Rose has already spent an estimated $13 million on the album.

Keith Explains It All

GQ talked to Keith Richards in his 11th-floor office on Broadway in Soho. Some of it:

How many chicks do you think you guys have in common?
After Marianne [Faithfull], it’s a stable. [laughs]

More than five?
No. I don’t want to mention other bitches’ names, because I’ve stolen quite a few off of him and, uh, he’s nudged his way into my lot, but not significantly. After the Anita thing, I made a point of stealing every bitch he had. [laughs]

But not his current one?
[whispers] I wouldn’t take that one on!

At Mick’s gayest, how gay was he?
It was camp.

Camp?
Yeah. It was all… I really have no idea if anyone ever shoved it up the shitter.

Not even Bowie?
No. I mean, dickering and dangling… I’m not there watching it every day. You know what I mean, mate? But there was, at the time, a load of excruciatingly painful campness that went on.

(Much more Keith; via Golden Fiddle)

Snap!

Here at World of Wonder, owls are the new Kardashians. (Photo: Steven Corfe)

Cans N' Roses

The doctor is in(sane). If Axl Rose finally gets his Chinese Democracy album finished (it's been in the works 17 years) and shipped to stores before the end of 2008, the good people at Dr Pepper will send a free can of soda to everyone in America. Everyone in America. Except for the Axl-estranged Slash and Buckethead. "It took a little patience for us to perfect Dr Pepper's special mix of 23 ingredients, so we completely understand and empathize with Axl's question for the perfect album," said a company spokesperson. (Page Six)

Erection, Resurrection

In this clip "Erection at Lunch" just sent to us, the kids are singing the vintage Pop Tarts song, "New York City Beat." It's a good song, but it's still kind of random that kids know it more than 20 years later. (t/y Brian)

Flakes

On Friday, two Virginia sisters, ages 15 and 23, sold a cornflake shaped like Illinois on eBay for $1,350. "We were biting our nails all the way up to the finish, seeing what would happen," said the one named Melissa. Hopefully, she saved those fingernails for a future auction. The flake was bought by a man who wants to start a traveling museum of Americana items. "We thought this was a fantastic one," he said.

The Crack of the Irish

On St Patrick's day, cops in Marietta, Ohio, arrested five suspects involved in a crack transaction. The Smoking Gun reports that the crack was dyed emerald green in observation of the day. The sheriff said several years ago some dealers used food coloring to dye their crack red during the Christmas season. See, dealers love the holidays.

Rogers That

Today is Won't You Wear a Sweater Day in honor of what would have been the 80th birthday of the inexplicably popular Mr Rogers, whom we think of as the children's Martha Stewart. Mr McFeeley, Rogers' mail-carrying buddy who always promised a "speedy delivery," urges everyone to wear some kind of sweater – with an implied "or else." We assume a hoodie is acceptable. (t/y Amy)

The Color Problem

A Richmond, South Carolina, high school mentor was sent home yesterday for dyeing his hair green in honor of St Patrick's Day. Oh, and dressing like a leprechaun from Mars. Michael Rice says he just wanted to give fellow staff members and students a good-natured laugh. "With all the things going on in the world today, I get sent home for hair coloring." (WLTX)

Pup Culture: Sleeping Dogs

American families own about 73 million dogs, and dog videos make up almost 10% of all online video content on user-generated sites. Seventy percent of people sign their pet's name on greeting cards, while 58% include their dogs in family portraits. World of Wonder decided to tap into this canine cultural Zeitgeist by showcasing dogs doing absolutely nothing – apart from the occasional twitching leg – in a new WOW TV channel called SLEEPING DOGS. "Remember the Yule Log television program which airs around Christmastime? Well, this is the Yule Dog channel," said Fenton Bailey of the strangely compelling online destination. "The Yule Log was originally a televised Christmas gift for people without fireplaces," added Randy Barbato, "This is our gift to people who can't experience the joys of watching a sleeping dog firsthand. Who needs Valium when you can just log onto Sleeping Dogs?"

WOW TV is an internet venture which allows users to create and brand their own broadband networks. WOW TV already has strong launch period traction with 200 channels and 2,600 subscribers. Viewers can catch up on the sleepy dogs here, where they're invited to send in videos of their own snoozing hounds.

The Corn Is High

As higher oil prices continue to drive demand for corn-based ethanol, which drives the price of corn higher, which makes cheap corn syrup more expensive, which leads food manufacturers to seek out potentially less-fattening sweeteners, will Americans get skinnier? (NY Times; photo: Yuri Tand; t/y Fenton)

Pup Culture

Damn, if we'd had this inspired contraption when our dachshund was alive, we wouldn't be so riddled with guilt now because we didn't kick the ball enough. It was never enough. (t/y Eduardo)

You Got to Have Friends

While we have only the ubiquitous Tom and one or two other friends on our MySpace page (don't ask), Ashley Alexandra Dupré, the just-revealed whore used frequently by disgraced NY governor Spitzer, can boast to having Whitney Houston, Madonna, Mary J Blige, Amy Winehouse, Celine Dion, and Tom at the top of her 1,801 friends. She must host great parties.

No-Brainer

Wouldn't you know it. The moment we buy a cool-looking 1980 Mercedes 300TD diesel wagon, a scientific journal would publish a paper showing diesel fumes to be bad for the brain. Of course, the test methods seem somewhat sketchy. Researcher Paul Borm and his team from a Dutch university put 10 volunteers in a room filled with exhaust from a diesel engine for one hour and monitored their brain waves. The level of fumes was similar to that found on a busy road or in a garage. After about 30 minutes, brain wave patterns displayed a stress response in the brain cortex. Well, sure, isn't inhaling exhaust fumes in a closed garage a well-known choice for suicide? We're keeping the Mercedes. (Impact Lab)

Ladies Who Launch

WOWOWOW, the Women on the Web site that launched today and is not in any way affiliated with us here at WOW, asked its renowned ladies which women they'd like to see on Mt Rushmore.

HBO's Sheila Nevins chose:

Candice Bergen went for: