Those of you keeping score at home, be sure to give mama rosen a writing credit on the rock band strip.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gawker/full/~3/328486578/

http://gawker.com/tag/tim-arango/?i=5022393&t=did-fox-news-smear-timesman-tim-arango

Last week, Fox News aired nasty Photoshopped pictures of two Times journalists responsible for a story about Fox losing ground among younger viewers. But it sounds like the cable network may have done much worse to another Times reporter, Tim Arango, who wrote a similar article in March. In his column for tomorrow's paper, Times media columnist David Carr recounts tales of Fox's dirty-politics-style PR tactics against journalists from his paper, the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press and others. One story, in particular, stands out:

Earlier this year, a colleague of mine said, he was writing a story about CNN’s gains in the ratings and was told on deadline by a Fox News public relations executive that if he persisted, “they” would go after him. Within a day, “they” did, smearing him around the blogs, he said. (I did not ask him for a comment because the information was of a private nature.)

The colleague in question, apparently, is media reporter Tim Arango, who for the March 5 edition wrote a story about CNN gaining on Fox News among young viewers, thanks to the Democratic presidential primary.

The day the story appeared, Jossip reported rumors that Arango "just returned to the Times after two months of 'medical leave,' which many allege may have been a stint in rehab."

Jossip also alleged that Arango had written flattering articles about CNBC in an attempt to secure a job with the financial news network, and hinted his CNN article was an attempt to do the same.

Fox News chief Roger Ailes, like his former boss Richard Nixon, has been running a down-and-dirty campaign against opponents who, due to self-imposed ethical constraints, feel unable to respond in kind. As more of his tactics are exposed, the question becomes whether Ailes will be pressured to rein in his PR machine, or whether his self-created enemies, like the Times, will start throwing some mud of their own.

As Carr noted in his column:

Part of me — the Irish, tribal part — admires Fox News’s ferocious defense of its guys. I work at a place where editors can make easy sport of teasing apart your flawed copy until it collapses in a steaming pile, but Lord help those outsiders who make an unwarranted or unfounded attack on me or my work. Our tactics may be different, but we, too, are strong for our posse.

A Times "posse??" Please let it involve leather chaps and boots with spurs on them, and also an alliance with a bandana-wearing Keith Olbermann.

[Times]

Okay... I love Legally Blonde, however, I'm not a big fan of the TV show and I was never really sure why, but I have since come to my senses!

In the opening credits Haylie Duff is heard saying "None of you have ever been on Broadway, but by the end of this one of you will be starring on Broadway..." This statement in itself is not true.

Emma Zaks, 25, of Manhattan appeared in the 2004 Revival of La Cage Aux Folles, which her father, Jerry Zaks, directed. She portrayed Paulette, a small ensemble role, and understudied the supporting lead role of Anne. To make matters better, Legally Blonde panalist Paul Canaan was featured in this revival as a cagelle (A male ensemble member dressed up like a chorus girl). In addition, Legally Blonde director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell choreographed the revival of La Cage Aux Folles...

Emma has since been kicked off the show, but I believe this is more than just a coincidence.

The Internet Broadway Database La Cage Aux Folles Listing

Emma's Broadway credit listing on Internet Broadway Database

Model du jour Agyness Deyn ordered up kisses and hugs during a romantic lunch with her rocker boyfriend Albert Hammond Jr. in New York yesterday.

The 25-year-old and the Strokes guitarist could barely keep their hands off each other as they sat outside The Bowery Hotel's Gemma restaurant.

They then took their romance on the road, cycling around the city together as their date rolled on.


Romance on the menu:(clever) Agyness Deyn and her boyfriend Albert Hammond Jr. at the Gemma restaurant in New York

( More Dirty Rich Hipsters )

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Christian Bale sits down with Entertainment Tonight and MovieWeb to discuss The Dark Knight. Entertainment Tonight also talks with Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Gary Oldman about the late Heath Ledger.



SOURCE

SALT LAKE CITY — School's out for summer. Out for good, actually. At least for Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Monique Coleman, Corbin Bleu and Lucas Grabeel — the six principal players in Disney's High School Musical franchise.


( PICTURES + KINDA TL;DR ARTICLE. Y'all know you secretly love these fools. )

SOURCE

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/015319.html

Woman #1: What's wrong with Eddie*?
Woman #2: Oh, Eddie* gets claustrophobic in the city.
Little boy: That means he's afraid of Santa Claus!

--39th St & 6th Ave

Last week I realized that the reason it is taking me so long to find a new job is that my current job is so deeply dysfunctional that I've lost the confidence that I can operate in the "real world" anymore. It dawned on me that I consider my workplace so rife with hostility, incompetence, and borderline mental illness that it seems to exist in a kind of phantom underworld where, in my mind, nothing of value can possibly be drawn from it. The result is that when I talk about prospective jobs, I rarely unequivocally say, "I can do such and such task." Such is the gulf between what I experience each day and my memory of normal workplaces.

As this awareness came over me, however, I suddenly became aware of the opposite reality. I remember that the real world isn't as highly ordered and efficient as it pretends to be. Sometimes it's hard to remember that when you're working in a place where a crazy co-worker can bitter attack your personality-- finishing the conversation with the line, "Have I offended you? Yeah? Good."-- then being told that I should let her have her way because it's just plain easier for everyone that way. All because she wanted me to stop outsourcing the printing of a newsletter I write because she wants to design it. (It "turns me on" was her explanation of why I have to stop a process that has been quick and simple for a process that I will almost assuredly be marked by delays, endless meetings to assure creative flow, and incessant arguing.)

Anyway, sikhgeek suggests that I go to a hoodoo man, light some candles, and let them guide me through my neurosis to an answer. But I have to admit, a visit to the hoodoo man scares me a little bit.

Singer-guitarist Jack White has penned a poem expressing his strong feelings for Detroit to clear up any misconceptions about how the White Stripes frontman feels about his hometown.

White said he was frustrated by a sense that his thoughts about the Motor City were misrepresented since he moved to Nashville two years ago. So, White wrote a poem titled "Courageous Dream's Concern" that was published Sunday by the Detroit Free Press. He says it asserts his "feelings about the city itself, and how strong I believe it to be."

Part of the poem reads: "Detroit, you hold what one's been seeking, Holding off the coward-armies weakling, Always rising from the ashes not returning to the earth."

White, also a member of the Raconteurs, told the Free Press that the poem represents his true feelings about the city.

"The ... poem is the Detroit from my mind," he said. "The Detroit that is in my heart. The home that encapsulates and envelops those who are truly blessed with the experience of living within its boundaries."

White told The Associated Press in a 2006 interview that he had to leave Detroit because he "couldn't take the negativity anymore." In other media accounts, he was quoted as lamenting what had become of Detroit's music community.

He addressed those comments in his statements to the newspaper, saying: "Those expressions of mine have never been a representation of my feelings about Detroit the city, a town that I have strong feelings about ... nor were they expressions about its citizens."

source

BALENCIAGA BAG
Though her clothing line Heidiwood might be affordable to all, Heidi Montag proves she still loves luxury by toting her favorite bright blue $1,495 Balenciaga motorcycle bag all over town.

( snickers )

 

MIRANDA KERR looks hats-olutely gorgeous semi-naked on the cover of an Australian magazine. The gorgeous runway model, whose latest pics (http://theangrygrandpa.com/other/kerr.html) show that she's amongst the most naturally beautiful women on the planet, has gone topless for the latest issue of Men’s Style – and the sizzling pics are bound to help keep the relative cold of winter at bay down under, at least in the homes of her lusty male fans. 

But fear not. Miranda is still young, and fiance Orlando Bloom can only keep her hidden from the public until the next time she graces the stage in next-to-nothing.

===

Source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article1381614.ece

From E! Online:

The 1990s-nostalgia trip The Wackness, starring Drake & Josh's Josh Peck, was the star in limited release, grossing $145,064 at six theaters. Its per-screen average of $24,177 was the tops for any movie of the weekend.


Just a reminder, "The Wackness" hits theaters in these cities on these dates:


E! Online
Release Dates

Cynthia Rodriguez will file divorce papers from her estranged husband A-Rod first thing Monday morning in Miami, her lawyer Earle Lilly confirms to Usmagazine.com.





At stake in the split: a pre-nuptial agreement, which is being reviewed by Lilly, the couples' multiple homes and the fortune of a "a baseball player worth close to a billion dollars," he says.

Cynthia, 34, believes that A-Rod's late night visits to Madonna's apartment - first reported by Us Weekly - makes them more than just friends, Lilly says.



The split, Lilly says, has "been a long time" in the works for A-Rod's wife. The Yankee was was also spotted with a stripper in Toronto, Miami and Dallas in 2007.

"Last year it was published he was with the other woman, and this is the final straw," Lilly tells Us. "She has finally said, 'no mas.' This is what it has come down to.

( More ragin' behind the cut.... )

Source

Russell T. Davies Says Amy Winehouse Would be a GREAT Doctor

Russell T Davies is cross. The writer and executive producer of Doctor Who for the past five years rises to his full 6' 6" height and spits: "Little? You can call me many things but not little!"

The day before the fourth series of the top-rated show finished on Saturday, Davies is incensed by a comment piece in the Daily Mail in which Quentin Letts called him "an irksome little man with too high an opinion of himself and a tendency to proselytise for gay rights at every opportunity".

( Cut for the TL;DR Crowd. )

Source
LOL WTF

Article about being an audience member for Conan and Craig sort of behind the scenes.

( Article, Poll, and some videos (tl;dr) )

SOURCE

"WB's "Chuck," "Pushing Daisies" and "Gossip Girl" have been in production for weeks and are skedded to continue through this month."


"Kristin Chenowith films a scene from 'Pushing Daisies,' one of several WB skeins that's scheduled to continue production through July."

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DeepFocusWeblog/~3/328429544/om_shanti_om_2007.html

In some ways, the defining characteristic of Om Shanti Om is that it is not Saawariya, the competing musical that it opened against around the world last November. For one thing -- and most obviously -- Om Shanti Om is clearly a product of the existing Bollywood industry, featuring repeated and loving tributes to old-school Indian cinema. Saawariya, on the other hand, was widely perceived as the work of carpetbaggers -- although it was directed by native son Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who made the hugely expensive hit Devdas in 2002, it was financed by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a Hollywood studio. I'm no Bollywood devotée, but even I could note the striking differences in how the two films intend to speak to their audiences. Both of them feature the elaborately choreographed dance numbers that Indian musicals are famous for, along with lavish sets, a handsome, self-effacing leading man, and a beautiful, obscure object of desire who encourages his attention but is really in love with another. Saawariya played almost like international arthouse fare, boasting gorgeously moody photography (by accomplished cinematographer Ravi K. Chandran) and art direction that would make Baz Luhrmann proud. Om Shanti Om, on the other hand, is part gaudy melodrama and part celebration. It doesn't feel like international anything -- it seems to pluck its ideas for narrative and design from a sort of collective Bollywood consciousness. There was no way for a non-Desi guy like me to parse the multitude of references to local stars and traditions, but by the time the narrative stopped dead, somewhere past the halfway mark, to accommodate a parody of a movie awards show followed by a loose, eight-minute musical number and an attendant, hugely indulgent series of walk-on cameos by dozens of Bollywood stars (someone at IMDb actually started a list of big stars who do not appear in Om Shanti Om, which is apparently much shorter), it was clear that, in some cases, narrative is only an excuse for a party.

The first third of Om Shanti Om is set in the 1970s, as "junior artiste" Om Prakash Makhija (Shah Rukh Khan), working as a Bollywood extra, dreams of stardom -- and of meeting Shantipriya (Deepika Padukone), the fetching star of Dreamy Girl, the studio's latest lavish production, whose face dominates a billboard that towers over the studio lot. After he gets the chance to demonstrate his bravery and sense of humor, she agrees to spend a little time with him. Poor Om has already fallen head over heels for the woman, but little does he know that she's already committed to another man, the unscrupulous film producer Mukesh Mehra (Arjun Rampal) who keeps her under his wing, and worse. Owing to Mehra's greed and ruthlessness, it all ends badly -- so badly, in fact, that by the end of the film's first hour, both hero and heroine are dead. Fast-forward to the present day and the story of 30-year-old Bollywood superstar Om Kapoor (Khan again), a callow actor with a nice body who takes cell-phone calls while he's receiving direction and presumes to rewrite his films' scripts on a whim and at a moment's notice. But it turns out that Om Kapoor, OK for short, is the reincarnation of Om Prakash. When his painful and long-buried memories of Shanti return, it stirs his conscience. As the film's second act comes to a close, OK vows to exact revenge upon the seedy producer.

For the most part, Om Shanti Om reaches exuberant musical highs that outshine the melodrama surrounding the set pieces. The first musical number is a piece of meta-cinema that imagines Om Prakash as an extra during the filming of "Om Shanti Om," a set piece from the 1980 film Karz. (Karz is referenced because it's the quintessential Bollywood reincarnation movie -- and was itself inspired by The Reincarnation of Peter Proud). Another takes place inside the movie-within-a-movie, Dreamy Girl, as Padukone, in a mango-colored skirt and bikini top, leads a full complement of dancers who are occasionally joined, in a half-hearted gimmick, by grainy images that seem to have been cut-and-pasted from Bollywood films of the period. Later, Om Prakash brings Shanti to an empty but lavishly decorated movie set, where they imagine they're on a date in a fantastic, otherworldly landscape as he croons "Main Agar Kahoon" -- a nod to the similar staging of "You Were Meant For Me" in Singin' in the Rain.



The images are striking but the melodies feel largely disposable. (I've had the theme song from Saawariya stuck in my head for months.) More insistently catchy are the tunes from the film's longer section set in the present-day, including the goofy parody number "Dard-E-Disco" -- a showcase for Khan's rippling torso, which he apparently beefed up for this role -- and the show-stopping "Deewangi Deewangi," the film's rousing anthem, which goes on for a good nine minutes as dozens of Bollywood stars take their moment in the spotlight before the number climaxes with the re-introduction of the film's villain. And I was struck by the singularly joyous end credits sequence, in which not just the star talent but a good portion of the below-the-line crew are actually pictured on screen as their credits appear.

What really stands out is the relative effortlessness with which writer/director Farah Khan seems to stage musical scenes -- some of the choreography becomes a little chaotic, but mostly the musical numbers boast smartly framed widescreen compositions, a use of color and light that adds depth to each image, and eye-catching costumes that run the full gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous. One of the film's signature shots puts Om and Shanti inside a snow globe in front of a wintry landscape and a purple sunset -- it's that kind of exquisite creativity that's been missed in contemporary Hollywood musicals, which too often go out of their way to emphasize their knowingness, rather than surrendering to lyricism.

The narrative itself is a tragic potboiler dealing with fraud, murder, and the supernatural. Khan is a charismatic enough presence to carry the story through its rough patches (although perhaps he's getting a little bit too old to play this kind of guileless, inexperienced character), but there are too few surprises and, especially in the long latter section, too little humor to sustain the film over its leisurely running time. It's all fun to watch, especially whenever the dancing starts, but American audiences especially will notice the languors encouraged by a film industry where a 162-minute running time isn't unusual enough to warrant a mention, let alone a complaint. This is a film that's in the mood for paying tribute, not breaking new ground. (The film's score, which borrows at least one passage wholesale from Raiders of the Lost Ark, perhaps pays a bit too much tribute.)

That's not to say Om Shanti Om doesn't have wonderful moments -- some of them a little catty. Saawariya was already well into production when Om Shanti Om started shooting, and it's tempting to read elements of OSO's screenplay as criticism of its Sony-funded rival. Besides the film's general insider quality, highlighting the history of home-grown cinema, it playfully equates working in the American film industry with villainy -- the evil producer has just returned to Mumbai after spending several decades in California. "Call me Mike," Mehra tells Om over dinner. "Everyone in Hollywood does." A few minutes later, when Mehra calls Om by his first name, his response comes with a twinkle in the eye and a full payload of mockery: "Call me OK!," he insists, adding with a knowing flourish, "Everyone in Bollywood does." Touché. B-

---

Om Shanti Om is available on a Blu-ray Disc from Bollywood film distributor Eros Entertainment. (It was delayed several times, but was finally delivered to me by Amazon.com -- which doesn't seem to actually carry the disc now -- on July 2.) The picture is certainly nice, and I'm sure it's leagues ahead of the DVD, but it's unnaturally smooth and lacking fine detail -- generally a sign that somebody ran aggressive noise-reduction on the picture to reduce film grain and took part of the picture along with it. The disc has a making-of feature that I might dig through later, but the director's (English-language) commentary is surprisingly candid. The snow-globe scene I mentioned earlier is almost ruined by a tacky morphing effect which Khan describes in matter-of-fact fashion as "this horrible CG effect -- I don't know why they did it, but they did it and there was no time." A few seconds later, she's complaining about the "screwed up" set design. "It was supposed to be the infinity set from Singin' in the Rain," she says, "but there's hardly anything infinite about it."

Later, she laments the set for "Dard-E-Disco" -- it looks like a great place to shoot an expensive 1980s-era Duran Duran or Rick Springfield music video -- which she tried to hot up by having welders shower golden sparks behind the dancers from overhead. And then there's this, in reference to the scene depicting a shirtless Khan rising slowly out of the water as the camera pans up and down his body: "I know there was some filmmaker who took great offense to Shah Rukh's coming-out-of-the-water shot and came on TV and ranted and raved about how 'This is not cinema.' But I thought Shah Rukh's shot of coming out of the water was far more exciting than that filmmaker's entire film." This is good stuff.

Could another hot doc be scrubbing in at Seattle Grace next season? Kevin McKidd, the Scottish actor who headlined last season's time-traveling drama Journeyman, is in serious talks to join the cast. , who also played the soldier Lucius Vorenus in HBO's regrettably short-lived Rome.

Source

Since I haven't shown any in a little while...new photos of mine behind the cut...

( photos )

Looking to redo my photo site soon...it's been 10 months I think an update is in order.

JC Chasez Celebrates The 4th Of July By Acting Totally and Completely Straight



"OHAI, Tara! Haven't seen you since the last time we fucked...damn, that was some good X."


( Just kidding, bbs. I would never disappoint you. )
JC-Source

Looks like the Madonna romance rumors finally sent Alex Rodriquez's wife on the offensive.

Cynthia Rodriguez has hired Houston lawyer Earle Lilly to finally end her rocky marriage with A-Rod, according to WABC in New York. Earle said Cynthia will file suit tomorrow morning in Dade County Fla. Family Court, and that A-Rod's "relationship with Madonna was the final straw for Mrs. Rodriguez."

Madonna has denied having a fling with Mr. Anti-October.

Anyone think Madonna and Guy will last?

ETA: Poppin my ONTD cherry with this post, woo!

Source

http://www.youaintnopicasso.com/2008/07/06/the-last-shadow-puppets-sos-rihanna/

Thanks to GIAWOTOS for the cover tune. I’m not a big Arctic Monkeys fan, but this Last Shadow Puppets cover is too good to ignore. Besides, “S.O.S.” is a guilty pleasure of mine that borders on a non-guilty pleasure.
MP3: The Last Shadow Puppets - S.O.S. (Rihanna)
The Last Shadow Puppets on Myspace

http://drawn.ca/2008/07/06/new-zealand-war-art/

http://drawn.ca/?p=5157

Another beautiful example of public historical archives being returned to the people through the Internet.

The National Collection of War Art is composed of about 1,500 artworks, including portraits, battle scenes, landscapes and abstracts, depicting those who served New Zealand in times of war, and the arenas in which they served.

It includes both official pieces of war art, by artists formally commissioned by the New Zealand government, and other unofficial art works that were acquired by or donated to the collection.

The featured lithograph is called On the railways - engine and carriage cleaners, 1917 by by Archibald Standish-Hartrick.

Also of interest:
Willie & Joe, by Bill Mauldin

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/indiewireblogs/~3/328430894/two_down.html

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thelostboy/2008/07/two_down.html

No disrespect to Jesse Helms (well, a little), who passed away today at the age of 86, but with him and Jerry Falwell both gone within slightly more than a year of each other, a whole generation of bigots...