Seeing as though tomorrow’s Monday and Mondays suck ass, I’m sitting here drinking heavily and watching this video on repeat. Which is probably what I’ll be doing all tomorrow, minus the drinking part. Go kitty, go!
From the horse’s mouth: “Annie took, like, a beautiful shot, and I thought it was really cool. That’s what she wanted me to do, and you can’t say no to Annie.” She also said of the photo, “I think it’s really artsy. It wasn’t in a skanky way.”
From the horse’s publicist’s brain, fed into mouth: “I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about.”
It seems only fitting that most of Britney’s former paparazzi stalkers have moved onto this potential goldmine. It would be unfortunate, but homegirl is richer than I’ll ever be, so I really can’t be very sympathetic. Also, I have an unnatural obsession with her song “See you again”. Honestly, that’s the most unfortunate part of all of this. Except for the fact that at only 15 years old, Miss Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) seems to be the love child of Samara and Gollum. Unfortunate indeed.
“Doesn’t elite mean ‘good?’ Is that not something we’re looking for in a president anymore? … I know elite is a bad word in politics. You want to go bowling and throw back a few beers. But the job you’re applying for—if you get it and it goes well—they might carve your head into a mountain. If you don’t actually think you’re better than us, then what the fuck are you doing? … [N]ot only do I want an elite president, I want someone who is embarrassingly superior to me.”
- Jon Stewart
David Blaine will attempt to break the The Guinness World Record for breath-holding on April 30, in front of Guinness judges and a live television audience on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
The record is currently set at 16 minutes and 14 seconds. An episode of Oprah is 60 minutes with commercials, but she also has that self-important “After the Show” (like anybody needs that much Oprah) in case Blaine requires the extra time.
[via NY Times]
John Cusack refers Paul Leydon to the hand.
Australian soap actor Paul Leyden co-wrote the upcoming horror film The Factory. The movie stars the likable John Cusack, who is so popular that he even shares a stalker with Tom Cruise! But is seems Mr. Cusack has a bit of a punctuality problem — one that cost him a fan in Leyden.
“John Cusack was one of my favorite actors until I met him [Ed: oh, snap!],” Paul Leyden tells Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper. “He cost us a lot of money. He was getting paid a lot of cash and he would just be two hours late to set, wouldn’t apologize for keeping everyone waiting in the snow… a real prima donna.”
“Everyone thought he was a really nice guy,” Leydon continues. “And all I can say is that it was a really nice day when he wrapped.”
Well, trashing your film’s star is one way to promote a movie!
[source]
The Office’s Steve Carell plays Maxwell Smart in this summer’s big-screen redo of Get Smart. Since he’s an expert on smart now, Carell shares 10 simple ways that people can act brilliant in the new issue of Wired.
Here are my favorite three:
Engage in Reading-Type Behavior
If we were meant to read for enjoyment, would God have created television? Read as it was intended — for exercise. The more you read, the more you expand your — what’s the word I’m looking for? — your stockpile of words. You must have a stockpile of words that you can pass along to your children for their stockpile.
Know Things
It’s important to be well-rounded — not purely scientific and analytical. Explore the arts: poetry, music, decoupage (a visual art form I’ve been developing since the first grade). And remember, it’s always better to have a cursory knowledge of a lot of things than to actually know a lot about any one thing. This is called a liberal arts education.
Act “Human”
When I go to parties, people often look stunned at how smart I am. But nobody wants to talk about astrophysics at a dinner party. Hey, when I want to talk like that, I head to the lab! Instead, I talk about “human” things they enjoy and understand: midrange wines, movie trivia, and mundane subjects like family and emotional fulfillment. I like to end my conversations with a quote, usually something in French, like “c’est la vie,” which means “down the hatch!” But don’t overdo it: Nobody likes a show-off.
Read the rest of Mr. Smart’s brilliant advice @ Wired.
Here is the second installment of my First Quarter Faves. A few things to note: 1) The first and last songs on this list are dripping with the 80s (in the best possible way), 2) If you like Sigur Ros you will probably like the Ólafur Arnalds song, 3) Say what you will about ‘Does it offend you yeah?’ (a 2.3, Shitfork? Really?), but Dawn of the Dead is a really fucking awesome song, and 4) The artwork above is by the enormously talented Matt W. Moore and you can see more of his work and purchase awesome stuff here, and, 5) Songs marked with ** are highly recommended.
11. Gentle Touch - Once You Used to (myspace)
12. Lykke Li - I’m Good, I’m Gone (myspace)
13. Sian Alice Group - Sleep (myspace) **
14. Sleepmakeswaves - One Day You Will Teach Me to Let Go of My Fears (myspace)
15. Olga Kouklaki - Getalife (myspace)
16. The Delano Orchestra - Lucky Star (myspace) **
17. Justice of the Unicorns - Jesus Had a Sweet Girlfriend (myspace)
18. Taken By Cars - The Blackout (myspace)
19. Ólafur Arnalds - Fok (myspace) **
20. Does it offend you yeah? - Dawn of the Dead (myspace) **
Faux reporter (and real comedian) Eugene Mirman traveled to Pennsylvania for the Democratic Debates.
At last, a reporter who isn’t afraid to do whatever it takes to bring us the scoop!
[via 23/6]
Most of the time when I visit Feministing, I leave the site feeling a little gloomy. Today? I felt like I could touch the sky!
It all started when this hate mail was posted:
“Men are better than women look at the comparison in IQ men are scientifically proven to have a higher IQ by roughly 5 points, or 5% you cannot dispute science sorry and if you want a much better website than your sh–ty one you might want to go to [redacted]. I think you would gain a lot more knowledge from that website and you might learn about the truth that way you would not be so stupid and ignorant you stupid c–ts.”
If you couldn’t tell by the run-on sentences, the misogynist who sent the nasty e-mail isn’t the smartest cookie. Seems as though he sent it from his school email address. Whoops! I can’t “scientifically prove” it, but that seems like a stupid move. So… who sent the e-mail?
Alex Kochno sent the e-mail. Alex Kochno believes “men are better than women” and that women are “ignorant stupid c–ts.” Alex Kochno used to be the relations officer (yes, public relations) of the Southern Illinois University College Republicans, but he’s not anymore.
After Feministing posted Kochno’s information online (by the way: here’s his Facebook & Myspace — have fun with it), many of us “stupid c–ts” sent complaints to SIU-C. The Secretary for the College Republicans at SIU-C quickly logged on to Feministing to apologize for what Kochno had done. Kochno’s excuse for sending the e-mail was that he was “rather drunk.”
Well, the e-mail was sent at around 7:00 A.M. Does Alex Kochno have a drinking problem as well? I don’t know many college students who get so drunk before school that they can’t even remember the hate-filled e-mails they’re sending out. And if drinking alcohol brings out the misogynist in Alex Kochno, what if he were to, say, get drunk and harm a woman in real life? Would his excuse for that be that he was “rather drunk” too? Hmm…
I’m not sure, but if you’re an employer (or woman thinking about going out on a date with this guy) that’s Googling Alex Kochno right now, you might want to be asking yourself those questions.
In the end, Kochno posted this insincere apology:
“I would like to take this time to apologize for my behavior earlier this morning. My angry words do not represent my view points towards the female population as a whole. I have notified the College Republicans that I am resigning my position effective immediately.”
Is he really sorry? Of course not, even in his apology he’s still letting us know that he believes some women are “stupid c–ts.” Will he ever learn to love and respect women? I honestly don’t think so. But the misogynist had to tuck his tail between his legs on a feminist site, how sweet is that?
Alex Kochno, if you’re reading this: please seek counseling to work out those issues you have with women and never try to hide behind your computer again. Your mother, a woman (in case you forgot), was kind enough to push you out of her “stupid c–t” and give life to you — it’s least you could.
Best female pop album of the year confirmed. Lykke Li rocks my world.
