KICKING THE HABIT
Play's The Thing That Breaks 2-Year-Old's Smoking Habit
ARDI RIZAL'S KICKED THE HABIT.
The two-year old Sumatran boy was smoking up to 40 ciggies a day when a video of him sucking on a cancer stick hit the Internet in May.
Read the full post here.
Posted September 02, 2010
CAUSING FROWNLINES
Botox Maker Pays Up For Illegal Promotions
BOTOX SHAREHOLDERS MUST BE FROWNING AFTER its maker Allergan agreed to pay $600 million in fines for "misbranding" the wrinkle-fighting product in sales to physicians.
Read the full post here.
CONCEPTUAL LOVE
Love, Japan Style: With Smart Phones & Virtual Girls
BEING A GIGANTIC GEEK, OF COURSE I HAVE AN ODD RELATIONSHIP WITH JAPAN. Quite of a few of my favorite things come from there: video games, anime, pocky, giant robot fights. But every now and then a story pops up that just makes me shake my head and sigh:
A new vacation resort in Atami, Japan allows gamers to date virtual girlfriends from the video game Love Plus. The game lets boys kiss and hold hands with virtual girls Manaka, Rinko or Nene.
Read the full post here.
Posted September 01, 2010
THE GAME OF LIFE
In The News: Dying Dogs, Dyeing Dogs
TUESDAY'S NEWS BROUGHT US STARK ILLUSTRATION OF THE PHRASE, "IT'S A DOG'S LIFE."
We had dying dogs -- puppies casually tossed in a river by a teenage girl. And dyeing dogs -- pics of pups in China getting their hair colored.
If you needed glaring examples of the crap shoot that life is, these stories provided them.
Read the full post here.
DEAD EYES
Real Housewives Of New Jersey Reunion: The Kids Aren't Alright
I'VE ONLY GLANCED AT THE JERSEY HOUSEWIVES this season. I even blew off the Danielle-Caroline showdown last week. I thought it'd pretty much go like this:
Caroline: Stay away from my family! You're garbage... the kind of garbage that needs to be put into a garbage can and then hauled away in a dump truck and shipped to Manila.
Danielle: How DARE you judge me!
Then I saw the commercials for the reunion show with Teresa shoving Andy back into his chair and yelling into Danielle's face and well, who could resist? So, here goes:
Read the full post here.
Posted August 31, 2010
IT'S IN THE BAG
Mad Men & Women Rack Up Assorted Trophys
SERIOUSLY, IT MUST BE SAID: Christina Hendricks is clearly looking to score with those enormous knockers of hers. They're on display like a trophy, and I bet those Honda execs would agree with me.
And while they're no Clios, the cast and writers of Mad Men managed to nab a couple Emmys Sunday night:
Read the full post here.
STALKING NEW TERRITORY
Tiger Woods: 'I'll Take Manhattan'
THE WORLD'S PLAYGROUND JUST GOT ANOTHER PLAYA: US Mag is reporting that Tiger Woods has snapped up a condo in downtown Manhattan, and some are assuming it's to be closer to his No. 1 mistress, Rachel Uchitel.
And If TMZ can be believed, the serial husband stealer is reportedly keeping her fingers crossed -- if not legs -- that Tiger comes hunting again.
Read the full post here.
LIBERATION THEOLOGY
Mad Men Recap: The Lost Weekend
WITH ALL ITS BOOZING AND TIME TRAVEL, LAST NIGHT'S "Waldorf Stories" gave me vertigo.
Everything kicks off with Don and Peggy looking at Jane's cousin's portfolio, and man, it's a stinker. Every headline is "BRAND NAME, the cure for the common PRODUCT." The book features different products, but the same headline a hundred times.
Read the full post here.
Posted August 30, 2010
WINNER
In Spirit Of Sue Sylvester, Jane Lynch Wins Emmy Trophy
SUE SYLVESTER MIGHT HAVE HAD TO BULLY HER WAY INTO THE 2010 Emmy opening, but her alter ego Jane Lynch was one of the belles at the ball.
Chicago native Lynch won Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy for her portrayal of the ruthless cheerleading coach on Glee whose modus operandi is win at any cost.
Even though this was her first Emmy win, Lynch confidently took the stage and exclaimed, "Thank you so much. This is outlaaaaandish!" with South Side snap.
Read the full post here.
BEST JOKE
Ricky Gervais Gets Biggest Laugh At 2010 Emmy Awards
THE 2010 PRIMETIME EMMYS OPENED WITH A BANG but quickly fell into a drone of dull. Thank god for Ricky Gervais who snapped the audience to attention with his zinger at Mel Gibson's expense. Here's the bulk of his words with clip:
Read the full post here.
BORN TO GLEEK
It's On, Bitches! A 'Gleeful' Opening To The 2010 Primetime Emmys
FOR A LITTLE WHILE DURING THE BROADCAST OF THE 2010 PRIMETIME EMMYS, host Jimmy Fallon showed just who was boss.
The annual tribute to the small screen's best performances opened with a Glee inspired song-and-dance that capitalized on the night's biggest names and most nominated shows while allowing TV's pariah Kate Gosselin to poke fun at herself.
Read the full post here.
SAY CHEESE
Paris Hilton's Arrest: What Happens In Vegas Doesn't Stay In Vegas
THE WORLD LOVES CELEBRITY MUGSHOTS and Paris Hilton knows that.
After being dumped by the paparazzi who made Lindsay Lohan the queen of the tabloids, Paris Hilton's now back to earning headlines with her new arrest for possessing 'coke.' Only now we can add 'dumbest criminal' to her heiress title.
Read the full post here.
Posted August 29, 2010
SEX VS. FOOD
Nutrisystem Asks a Weighty Question, Gets Whack Response
ONE OF MY FAVORITE GAMES IS "WOULD YOU RATHER..."
Would you rather...Have skin so oily you constantly have to be toweling, or skin so dry you constantly have to apply lotion?
Would you rather...eat a tube of toothpaste or use mouthwash for eyedrops?
Would you rather...Have penises for fingers or vaginas for palms?
It's a conversational staple when other topics fail.
Nutrisystem (the producers of artificial pre-packaged weight loss food for people who are too lazy to cook healthy meals for themselves) recently asked 1,000 people their own "Would You Rather..."
Read the full post here.
Posted August 28, 2010
HOLD OUT
Rod Blagojevich's Lone Jurory Holdout: I've Been Mistreated
THE 67-YEAR-OLD GRANDMA WHO WAS THE LONE HOLDOUT against convicting Rod Blagojevich of trying to sell President Obama's former senate seat was yelled at and belittled by other jurors.
But JoAnn Chiakulas says she's no Blagojevich apologist -- the prosecution just didn't make its case.
Read the full post here.
Posted August 27, 2010
TEMPORARILY PARALYZED
With Tiger Woods' Divorce Final, Can The 'Superman' Recapture His Power?
THE AIR OF INVINCIBILITY IS GONE FROM TIGER WOODS' DEMEANOR. Emotional kryptonite has neutralized this superman's powers.
In his press conference Wednesday, Tiger still used the controlled tones of a man who thinks before he speaks, but the swagger was gone.
"I wish her the best in everything," he said of his former wife Elin Nordegren. "It's a sad time in our lives. And we're looking forward to how we can help our kids the best way we possibly can. And that's the most important thing."
5 Tips For Tiger Before He Roars Back To The (Dating) Game
Despite His Masterful Performance, Reason To Doubt Tiger's Sincerity
Tiger Woods Faces Long Recovery From Playing With Sexual Napalm
Read the full post here.
Posted August 26, 2010
'MAD' SYNERGY
Christina Hendricks Is London Fog's Fairest Weather Friend
IN A WAY, JOAN HOLLOWAY IS THE PERFECT metaphor for the London Fog brand: a snappy secret weapon you want handy during storms.
And so the iconic outerwear label smartly chooses Mad Men's Christina Hendricks to feature in its fall campaign.
"London Fog is a classic brand, which I love," Hendricks coos on command.
Read the full post here.
Posted August 25, 2010
PLAYAS WANNA PLAY
Speidi To World: Supersize My Fame!
IN A DESPERATE MOVE TO PROLONG THEIR 15 MINUTES ON THE WORLD'S STAGE, The Hills' stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt keep spawning dramas for the tabloids.
After Heidi announced that she plans divorcing her husband of one year, Spencer fired back, telling TMZ that he has a sex tape of Heidi that he'll release if she doesn't halt the proceedings.
The alleged sex tape features not just Spencer and Heidi, but Heidi and Karissa Shannon, half of the twin set that used to hook up with Hugh Hefner.
The faux drama continues with estranged husband and wife now snapped together in Costa Rica, where they reportedly fled to 'reconcile.'
"We're working things through," Spencer told MTV News. "Clearly I care for her, but the divorce is a superficial title 'cause I didn't cheat on her. And then she divorces me to clean her image."
Not only does Heidi want to clean her image but also her body.
She gave an interview to Life & Style saying she's still in severe pain from her many procedures and that she feels "trapped" in her body. She wants her G-cup implants out.
Heidi's latest pronouncement comes just a week after her plastic surgeon Dr. Frank Ryan died in a car crash. She told Life& Style that besides not being able to hug her dogs she can't live a normal life.
"I'm obsessed with fitness but it's impossible to work out with these boobs," she says. "It's heartbreaking. I can't live an everyday life."
Read the full post here.
UNFORGETTABLE
A Lion Sleeps Tonight: Songwriter David George Weiss Dies At 89
The songwriter wrote Lion Sleeps Tonight in 1961 and it became a hit for the Tokens, then subsequently was covered by Robert John, Brian Eno as well as being featured in The Lion King.
"The song leads a magical life,'' Weiss one remarked.
Read the full post here.
Posted August 24, 2010
SOBER REALITY
Five Tips For Tiger Woods Before He Roars Back To The (Dating) Game
AS TIGER WOODS TRIES TO GET HIS GROOVE BACK ON THE GOLF GREENS, WE PREDICT IT WON'T BE AS HARD for him to return to playing the dating game.
TMZ already's quoting somebody saying that Rachel Uchitel's recalibrating her sight back in his direction, though I'm not sure that'll work if the fallen golf god really did pay her a reported $10 million to keep her mouth zipped.
There's something pathetic about Tiger now knowing that millions of dollars, a beautiful wife and two beautiful kids weren't enough to fill his leaky soul.
Now that he's officially back on the market, here's some advice for the playboy:
1. Wear condoms, unless you want a few more babies from whom you spend the rest of your life estranged.
Read the full post here.
MODEL MUSE
Style Counsel: Tavi Gevinson Plays Dress-Up With Christine Staub
WEARING THE STUDIED GRIMNESS THAT IS DE RIGUEUR of fashion's sirens, Christine Staub makes her print debut in the September issue of Blackbook.
Staub is the teenage daughter of a certain debauched N.J. housewife rumored to have released her own home-grown porn. But for the sake of the woman-child, we'll not name her here.
Read the full post here.
Posted August 23, 2010
PLAYING 'CAT' & MOUSE
Real Housewives Of D.C. Recap: Be Careful What You Wish For
IN HER PICTURE PERFECT HOUSE, CAT'S WORKING WITH HER BOOK EDITOR ON HER BIOGRAPHY.
She's dressed casually but wearing a necklace that looks like it weighs a ton and costs a fortune, all heavy and sparkly and pink. It's quite beautiful, as is Cat.
Stacie and husband Jason are visiting friends who own a winery. She's quite the name dropper/social climber, telling us that their friends' wine was served at a White House dinner. Everyone's in jeans until the Salahis arrive by limo all glammed out. They bring a bottle from their (his family's) winery and can't wait to taste the host's wine. Tareq's all wine knowledge blah blah blah, as Stacie and Jason stare and nod.
Read the full post here.
BATTLES WITHIN
Mad Men Recap: Fallout From Bombs
LET ME START OFF BY SAYING THAT I LOVE MRS. BLANKENSHIP, Don's tough old broad of a secretary.
She sits around doing crosswords and fucking things up (only half by accident, I'd bet) and tells it like it is. And that last part is a real necessity in Don's case, because he's pretty much checked out of every part of his life except his job.
Most tellingly, while Don is schmoozing random women in suites and on the streets, his little girl lost, Sally, is crying for help. As the sitter chills with Bobby on the couch, Sally sneaks off to the bathroom and cuts off her hair, prompting Don to fire the sitter/piece of ass immediately. It's unfortunate because the sitter had to not only try to fix Sally's hair but explain/avoid her sex questions too: "Are you doing it with my daddy? I know what it is. The man pees in the woman; I heard all about it at school."
Read the full post here.
PREGNANT POSSIBILITIES
Making The Switch On Single Motherhood
BACK WHEN CANDACE BERGEN IGNITED NATIONAL DEBATE WHEN her TV character opted to have a baby alone, I thought Murphy Brown too cavalierly promoted the idea of single motherhood.
I knew moms who chose that path, and I could see the wrenching costs to them. The ones I knew eked out modest l existences to feed and clothe their child, and at the end of the day, they were often too exhausted to do anything more than microwave dinner and put the kid to bed.
And didn't that child deserve a dad, deserve the right to fit the "family mold" -- mom, dad and baby?
Read the full post here.
Posted August 19, 2010
TEASE
Kat Von D: I'm Jesse's Girl -- Whoops! Nix That
THEIR QUICKY DIVORCE FINALIZED IN JUNE, SANDRA BULLOCK AND JESSE JAMES ARE fast moving on.
The outlaw Jesse James's been spotted getting friendly with the inked LA star Kat Von D, who is obviously a tease: yesterday she tweeted confirmation that the two are dating -- and then deleted it. Now you see it -- now you don't! And if that's not an invitation to the paparazzi I don't know what is.
Read the full post here.
'REAL' NEWS BITES
Danielle Staub Fired? We'll Believe It When We See It
FIRED! I DON'T BELIEVE IT.
Life & Style reports that New Jersey Housewife and perpetual victim Danielle Staub will not be returning for the show's third season.
When asked about it, Staub said, "I don't know if there are talks right now about a third season of the show, but I'm more excited about talks of my spin-off than anything else.
Spin-off, my ass.
Read the full post here.
Posted August 18, 2010
UNDER SUSPICION
Guilty Of Ambition: U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald
IF AMBITION WERE A CRIME, U.S. ATTORNEY PATRICK FITZGERALD MIGHT BE FACING indictment today. Read the full post here. THE TITLE OF JOAQUIN PHOENIX'S UPCOMING FLICK IS I'M STILL HERE, but the trailer raises doubts about that. Read the full post here. SHE WAS AN ANACRONISM in an age when little girls wean while watching the Powerpuff Girls and and big girls model Sex & The City's Samantha. The comic strip's Cathy was a dweeb. And in today's media, there is no forgiving weak or powerless women. Read the full post here. Read the full post here. Read the full post here.
The day after being handed what Chicago journalist Carol Marin called a "stunning defeat" in the federal trial against Rod Blagojevich, the U.S. attorney faces scrutiny for the way he managed -- or mismanaged -- the high-profile corruption case.
Check out Welcome To The Circus: Blagojevich's Greatest Show.
Illinois' Depose Celebrity-Wannabe Guv Goes On Trial.
Chicago Conspiracy Theory Alert.
Ride Down His Slippery Slope: Joaquin Phoenix's New Movie Trailer
The movie supposedly documents Joaquin's transformation from actor into hip hop artist, but the trailer mostly hints at his descent into either certifiable madness or self-indulgent navel-gazing.
Posted August 17, 2010
RELEASE
After 34 Years, Cartoon Cathy Gets Liberated
So come October, after 34 years, Cathy creator Cathy Guisewite will put down her pencils and retire her alter ego. It was a remarkable run, considering that Cathy was the less glamorous, cartoon version of Bridget Jones.
Posted August 16, 2010
REPRESENTIN'
Real Housewives of D.C.: Vanilla In Chocolate City
FUNKMASTER GEORGE CLINTON ONCE DESCRIBED Washington, D.C. as the Chocolate City with vanilla suburbs. So in bringing us its latest entry from the Real Housewives franchise, Bravo has managed to pluck one housewife from the city and all the others from 'burbs.
The horsey (What? She's married to a polo player. What did you think I meant?), party-busting Michaele Salahi managed to make it on the show. A former makeup artist, she's either raised her station in life or is living on borrowed time. She has the manic eagerness of a new puppy or a successful social climber.
WOUNDS FOR RENT
Mad Men Recap: The Vagina Chronicles
WE ARE OFFICIALLY INTO THE SWINGING 60s because tonight's episode, "The Rejection," begins with a warning about "brief nudity." And I'm all like, "Yes! Dreamy Don goes full frontal!"
Unfortunately, that's not exactly how it goes down, but more on that later. Right now, Lee Garner Jr. at Lucky Strike's on the phone because he's figured out that SCDP is billing him for work the agency does for its other accounts. The conference call goes on. And on. And on. Don goes for a bottle of Canadian Club but to his dismay it's empty. He gestures toward the put-upon Allison, "Why is this empty?" She snaps, "Because you drank it." HA!
To get off this insane conference call, Don goes, "Oh my God, there's a fire." Without skipping a beat, Roger picks it up: "Right by Radio City. We better go, sorry Lee." NICE.
