Celebrity Sighting: Usher

Usher! The Apple store, SoHo. Cute, real cute.

And why am I here? My computer died a few hours ago. I'm making the leap to Mac.

(I was half backed-up.)

Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.

Metflex

I just got off the phone with my mom and she told me that my step-dad is really enjoying the "Metflex" he got for Christmas. I was like, "Huh?" thinking it was some kind of workout equipment, but then she said, "You know, Metflex, the movie thing." I was like, "Oh... Netflix! Right..."

Totally random post, I know, and maybe only funny to me and people who know my mom, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway. Happy day.

Al Gore's Deja Vu

This "winning" thing feels very familiar to him. Do you think Bush will try to steal this one, too?

Always remember, Al... Today's joy...


...might be tomorrow's pain.


What a difference a day can make.

UPDATE: This post was linked to from Jossip. Thanks!


NOTE: Please don't steal the fine, Photoshopped image of George W. Bush, leader of the free world, clutching President Elect Al Gore's Oscar from the 79th annual Academy Awards. If you'd like to post it on your blog, you may do so. All I ask is that you credit me with a link back to this website. (Prominently, please... no little "source" link in the corner that no one clicks.) Any evildoers who do not follow the above rules will be denounced and held fully accountable for their actions. Thank you... and go GREEN!

Oscar Fashions - Part 3 - Best Dressed

Best Dressed Female: Penelope Cruz

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Best Dressed Male: Eddie Murphy

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Male Who'd Look Best Undressed: Djimon Housou

Meow.

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Best Hair On Anyone, Either Male or Female: Will Ferrell

Rock that fro.

Oscar Fashions - Part 2

Dear Linda Evangelista...

I hope someone paid you $10,000 to get out bed today and wear this. Otherwise, there's no excuse.

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Katie Holmes' hair...


...meet Beyonce's dress

Oscar Fashions - Part 1

Kirsten Dunst...


...meet the sun.

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Chick most likely to eat you and spit out your bones...

Eva Green

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Anne Hathaway...

"Does this bow make my butt look big?"


"Maybe if I cover it up, people will forget it's there."


It's not funny, stop laughing. Ouch! Quit it! What?

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Jennifer Hudson...

Have wings, will travel.

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Cameron Diaz...

Have fin, will travel.

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Dear Jodi Foster...

Cagney & Lacey called, they want their hair back.

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Dear Jessica Biel...

The 80s called, they want fuchsia back.

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Dear Portia DiRossi...

Heterosexual men everywhere called, they want YOU back.

Andre Leon Talley - Celebrity In His Own Right

I have to say that the star of the Academy Awards pre-show for me was, without a doubt, Andre Leon Tally.

My favorite thing he said was to Jennifer Hudson... "May those jeweled Manolo's glide you up to the podium!"

I had the pleasure of meeting him a couple months ago at a special screening of "The Pursuit of Happyness," and he is just as delightful in person as he appears on TV.

Go Andre, Go.

Academy Awards: Go Little Miss Sunshine!

I'm so excited for the Academy Awards tonight! For the first time ever, I've seen just about every film nominated. (I'm a member of the Writers Guild of America, so I get invited to tons of movie screenings and receive movie screener copies in the mail. Yes, lucky me!) Of everything, I'd have to say my hands-down favorite is Little Miss Sunshine. I loved it more than Babel, The Queen, The Departed, Dreamgirls - everything.

And now for a quick story... About a year ago I met a guy on the subway and we started chatting about a book I was reading, which led to us chatting about what we did for a living. Come to find out, he's one of the founders of Big Beach, a New York-based company that produces and finances independent feature films and documentaries - and one of the producers of Little Miss Sunshine. He lives in my neighborhood and is a really nice guy... so go Little Miss Sunshine! Brooklyn unite!

And now for my picks in the big categories:

Picture..... Little Miss Sunshine
Lead Actor..... Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness (This movie holds a special place in my heart.)
Lead Actress..... Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal (Y'all must see this movie.)
Supporting Actor..... Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine (Close runner-up... Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children)
Supporting Actress..... Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Director..... Martin Scorsese, The Departed (Come on, already.)
Adapted Screenplay..... Patrick Marber, Notes on a Scandal
Original Screenplay..... Michael Arndt, Little Miss Sunshine
Okay, off to watch the show! Until next time... Everybody, pretend to be normal!

Song of the Week: The Kooks

I'm going to start something new here...

"The Song of the Week."

My new favorite song is by a British band called The Kooks. It's called "She Moves In Her Own Way." It's really catchy.

My favorite part is when they sing, "Paper dreams, honeeeeeeey..."

You can hear it by visiting my MySpace page or The Kooks MySpace page.

Enjoy!

Oh. My. God.

Rat Infestation At Taco Bell, KFC Restaurant In Manhattan

Click here to watch the Grossest. Video. Ever.

The most unsettling thing for me about this story is that I've eaten at this Taco Bell before. Just once though, about two years ago. It's in the middle of Greenwich Village, a couple blocks away from a good friend's apartment.

You see, despite how much I love Taco Bell (I'm a Taco Supreme fan), I rarely eat there because all Taco Bells fast food restaurants in NYC are gross, and the possibility of them being infested with rodents goes through my mind every time I so much as pass one. The only time I ignore this concern and indulge myself is when I'm hungover, which is what I was on this fateful day a couple years ago.

It was the day after a long night out, and I remember seeing the big bell on my way home and thinking, "Ooh... tacos." So I went inside and got some. I don't remember being particularly disappointed with the food, but I do remember thinking, "I'm never coming here again because this place is so disgusting."

Good reason to stop drinking.

Die, Meredith, Die

ATTENTION INTERNATIONAL READERS: Please note that the following post is about an episode of Grey's Anatomy that may not have aired yet in your country. It contains PLOT SPOILERS, so stop reading if you don't want to know what happens! Sincere apologies go out to the few Aussie readers who already read it. Sorry, ladies. I won't do it again. I know better now. Bad, Karyn, bad. *Spank!*

Everyone else, scroll down and enjoy.
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As many of you know, last week's Grey's Anatomy ended with the show's main character and namesake, Meredith Grey, flat-lining after falling off ferry and drowning. Everyone's hoping she'll pull through, but not me. I mean, call me crazy... but I'm really hoping she kicks it on tonight's show.

Me wanting this has nothing to do with how I feel about good ole Mer as a character. I like her, I do, and she can come back all next season as a ghost, haunting everyone and narrating from the grave. I just think that killing her off could take the show in a lot of new directions. I mean, imagine the grief...

Poor McDreamy... After finally picking her, choosing her, loving her... he ends up losing her. Oh, the heartache! How would he move on? Would he throw himself into his work, snagging the chief position in the process? Would he retreat into himself and live inside his head as much as Meredith does now? Would he run into the arms of Addison? A tragedy like this would really give McDreamy a chance to show off his acting chops. I smell Emmy.

And what about George? Sure, he's married to Callie now, but he loved Meredith at one point. Would his grief get the best of him and jeopardize his marriage?

And the others... Who would Cristina talk to about her problems with Burke? Would Izzie be able to handle another loss so soon after the Denny tragedy? Would McSteamy be able to forgive himself for not trying harder to shag her when she was alive? Would Alex?

I don't why I'm allowing myself to worry about all this. I mean, we all know she's gonna pull through. There's no way the writers/producers would kill off the show's main character. Doing so would be on par with having Roseanne win the lottery or Felicity cutting off her hair - it would go down in television history as one of the dumbest things ever. No, in about three episodes Meredith will be back to her normal self, back to whining about not being loved, which is precisely why I don't watch a lot of network television - it's too freakin' predictable.

But still, it's fun to imagine and I don't see why they don't at least try it. This season is boring. The girl got the guy in season three. Where do they go from here? If ratings plummet, they can always pull a Dallas and pretend the whole season was a dream, like they did when Bobby died. Anyone with me?

UPDATE: This post was linked to from Jossip. Thanks guys!

Starbucks Update

OMG... it's here and it's opening TONIGHT. Starbucks... two doors down. I'm going, and I'm going to bring my camera and take pictures.

UPDATE: FedEx delivered a package to me today, and while I was signing for it, a barista came over and served me a free latte, right there in my vestibule. This rocks.

Your Friends & Neighbors

Your Friends & Neighbors.

This movie was on tonight, and wowie... I forgot how good it was. I remember seeing it back in the day (1998), but I totally forgot about it until now.

If you haven't seen it, you must watch it. And if you have seen it, re-watch it! Jason Patric is awesome.

Happy President's Day

In honor of President's Day, I'd like to pay tribute to a president of a different kind...

Elle Woods, Delta Nu sorority President

Snaps, Elle.

A nod also goes out to the greatest wife of a fictitious president...

First Lady Martha Logan

I wish you and Aaron peace, love and happiness.

Happy President's Day everyone! Please list your fave presidents - real or fictitious - of countries, companies, neighborhood associations, etc. in the comments section.

Entertainment Blogs, Mags & Shows

I made a big decision today... I'm going to stop reading and watching trashy celebrity blogs, mags, and shows. (TMZ, X17 - the ones that hound celebs.) Now, I love hot, celeb gossip - who doesn't? - but the media has gotten so out of control lately that they've totally turned me off. I mean, I feel guilty reading some of the things I read.

Case in point... Paris Hilton.

I'm not sticking up for the girl and I'll admit that I've said some snarky things about her in the past, but I simply cannot believe that people think it's okay to publish her private pictures, videos, prescriptions for STD drugs, and medical records. Whether or not the girl "deserves" it is not the point. The point is that it's simply not okay to do that to ANYONE. It's human decency. Those things were her private belongings, that was her private life, and it's disgusting that people put it on the internet for everyone to see.

Also, enough with Britney. Leave the poor girl alone. She's obviously going through some things at the moment, but she's not a movie - she's a person. Put down the popcorn. And my God... she's NOT FAT. The girl is NOT FAT. She doesn't always wear the most flattering clothes, but she's NOT FAT.

And of course... I need to talk about Anna Nicole Smith. I'm stunned by the media's reaction to her death. Her tragic life was what Paris's, Britney's and Lindsay's antics are to us today - entertainment. Everyone sat back and watched her slur and fall down, and then made a joke about it and moved on. No one gave a sh*t about her. Find me an article that predates her death, an article in which someone expresses concern about her drug-use. CONCERN about her drug-use. It'll be like a needle in a haystack if you do. People simply accepted her as a complete and utter disaster; it was who she was. And then she dies and the media is broken up about it. Please... If you really cared about her, then you would've stopped booking her as a presenter for various shows, stopped repeatedly interviewing her, and stopped giving her endorsement deals. You would've - and perhaps should've - cut off the hand that feeds.

I don't mean to be preachy, but there's a line and I feel like I contribute to crossing it simply by reading and watching some of the ridiculous things I do. Reporting news is one thing, making a complete spectacle out of the misfortunes of others is another. I embarrassed to know half the things I do about some celebs, I truly am. So NO MORE!

Ah... I feel free.

UPDATE: Oh sh*t. Britney Goes Bald. See what I mean?



UPDATE 2: This is nice.

Pretty Little Mistakes: A Do-Over Novel

Who didn't love "Choose Your Own Adventure" books as a kid? Show me the person - show me!

You can't because they don't exist.

Because I loved all the CYOA books - I had every one in the series - I'm way pumped to read the forthcoming book by Heather McElhatton, Pretty Little Mistakes: A Do-Over Novel. Basically, it's a CYOA book for adults. Here's what Heather has to say about it...

So I lay awake at night a lot and wonder if I've made the right choices with my life. I'm just your typical neurotic writer that way. So I wrote this book called Pretty Little Mistakes, which has over a 150 endings.

On the first page it's the last day of high school - and you have to decide if you go to college or travel. Then you flip to that page, read that section and go on from there. You can end up as a millionaire or homeless by the river. Stuck in a sex cult or an happy marriage. You might become a movie star, a bored housewife, an art thief, a witch, an evil chocolate maker, a murderer, a homicide victim, a Jamaican drug dealer, a porn star, a devout Christian, an Italian shoe designer, a volcanologist, a bar wench, a news reporter, or an orchid farmer. You might end up having accidental sex with a monkey. (It happens.) I'm not even kidding. These are just some of the things that might happen to you in my book.

you travel the world. you join a sex cult. You kill your rapist. you have an abortion. you don't have an abortion. you find the love of your life. you don't find the love of your life. you find out you are gay. you find out you are not gay. you have lovely children. you have monster children. you are killed by sharks. you are killed by choking on a peach pit. you die in your sleep. you die in a car crash. you go to heaven and God is a woman who smokes cigars. you go to heaven and God is a squid. you go to heaven, which is a library filled with answers. you go to heaven, which is this world in reverse. you go to hell, and watch your own personal blooper reel. you go to hell, which is the Mall of America.

So I'm just warning you. The book isn't for everybody. Come to think of it - you probably shouldn't read it - it's pretty messed up.

How clever is that? I loved messed up things and I've always wanted to be a Jamaican drug dealer. (As for a bar wench... been there.)

Click here to be Heather's friend on MySpace. And click here to visit her website. And click here to pre-order the book - it comes out in May.

The Secret

So... has anyone bought this book, The Secret? It's all about mind over matter, like if you think something good will happen, then it will happen. If you worry about something bad happening, then it will happen. Your current thoughts are creating your current life. Your thoughts become things, and as you think them, they are sent out into the universe and attract like thoughts. The author was on Oprah a couple weeks ago, and today's Oprah is going to be an update. So watch!

I downloaded the audio version from iTunes and I'm going to put the ideas into practice. I've been in a funk lately, maybe this will help. I'm not really depressed, but I'm in a "place"... it's hard to explain. I've always been a really positive person, and I haven't been lately. But perhaps if I try to consciously change my thoughts, things will perk up. Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes!

Gold Sandals

Last summer I was on a hunt for the perfect pair of gold sandals. I didn't want anything fancy, but wanted an everyday sandal that I could wear around the neighborhood, something that was more feminine than a pair of Birkenstocks or flip flops, but just as comfy. After a long search, I found something I liked by Michael Kors, but at $170, I deemed them too expensive and didn't buy them. (See, I have learned a lesson!) Needless to say, I've been dreaming about them ever since.

But alas!... Bluefly now has them in stock. Here they are:

Aren't they cute? I was going to buy them, but then I saw these:
I couldn't decide which I liked the most, so I ended up buying all three. (Okay, maybe I didn't learn a lesson.) However, I'm going to pick my favorite pair and send the other two back. (Yes, yes.. I did learn a lesson!) I'm already thinking the last pair is going to be it (the darker, gun metal color.) Thoughts?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Um... anyone know these people?

This photo magically replaced one of my MySpace photos. I don't know why or how, but it's now a part of my profile. See?


The caption didn't change, the comments didn't change or disappear... the only thing that changed was the picture. Here's a link to my MySpace page.

After giving it some thought, I've decided to keep the photo as part of my profile. I like these people; they seem nice. If anyone asks who they are, I'm going to say they're my brothers and sisters. (Yes, I'm one of 16.)

So Many Questions...

Where is Howard K. Stern? Where is Dannielynn?

What I wanna know is...

Where is Sugar Pie?

In all seriousness, I'm saddened by the tragic life and death of Anna Nicole Smith. I did not know her, but she seemed like the kind of person who would find humor in the fact that, amidst all the chaos, someone is worried about lil' Sugar Pie. RIP ANS.

Always a Bad Girl

I just stumbled upon this and I love it...