"Thank you for being a friend"

Beatrice Arthur, 'Golden Girls' star, dies at 86

Beatrice Arthur, an icon of '70s TV as the star of Maude, and then one of the staples of '80s TV as one of the leads inThe Golden Girls, has died at age 86.  I can't tell you how sad I am to hear this news today.  I loved the Golden Girls and remembered seeing Bea Arthur on All in The Family and Maude.  "Thank you for being a television friend!"  Have any favorite Golden Girls, All In The Family or Maude moments you care to discuss?

Bird Flu Coming To A Town Near You?

U.S. prepares for possible swine flu epidemic as global cases rise

The United States stepped up preparations for a possible swine flu epidemic, and Canada confirmed its first cases on Sunday as researchers worked to determine how contagious the virus could be.  The H1N1 strain of swine flu is usually associated with pigs. When the flu spreads person to person, instead of from animals to humans, it can continue to mutate, making it a tougher strain that is harder to treat or fight off. What are the symptoms?  The CDC says that symptoms of swine flu include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

We've already had several cases in NY do you think this could wind up to be a world pandemic?  

Yes, Looks Do Matter

FOR more than a week now, people on both sides of the Atlantic have been using the story of Susan Boyle — the dowdy Scottish spinster who sang her way to fame on “Britain’s Got Talent” TV show — as an example of just how shallow we’ve become.

    

Andy Barr/News International/ZUMA Press        Andrew Milligan/Associated Press

Which may be why, even as she expressed the hope that “maybe this could teach them a lesson, or set an example,” Ms. Boyle has begun to change her appearance in recent days, wearing makeup, dying her frizzy gray hair, and appearing in more stylish clothing.  

Read more about this in the NYTIMES article by Pam Belluck. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/fashion/26looks.html?pagewanted=1

Octomom Was A Stripper Called Angelina

Just when you thought that the whole hoopla over the OctoMom had calmed down, did you think Nadya "OctoMom" Suleman  was out of our lives for good? Oh, ye of little faith. So what is it now? More plastic surgery? Another (gulp) pregnancy? Nope. Just that she used to be an exotic dancer.  Oh, and the name she used? Angelina! And she said she didn't want to be Angelina Jolie.... hmmm me thinkist the lady - uhumm, dancer doth protest to much. To quote my grandmother: "Oy vey."

Entertainmentwise.com says that a stripper -- sorry, exotic dancer -- going by the name of "Sage" has blabbed to InTouch magazine that she "met [Nadya] at an amateur contest, and we wound up doing parties together." The alleged debauchery occurred between 1999 and 2000.

Sage's tale is backed up by Luis Ceballos, a limo driver who claims that Nadya "always said she wanted to be really famous." Gee, ya think? The driver also claims that Nadya was not shy about shaking her groove thing, and that she was "overly flirty with the guys" while performing. C'mon, dude. She's working for tips. Give her a break.  

Just makes you wonder what's next?  I wonder if this will all be retold in her new reality show...

Text Message Divorce?

Court Upholds Divorce by Text Message

Talk about an age of the impersonal.  You might have heard of persons being dumped by their boyfriend or girlfriend via email or text but a Saudi man has divorced his wife by text message, a newspaper said earlier this month.

The man was in Iraq when he sent the message informing her she was no longer his spouse. He followed up with a telephone call to two of his relatives, the daily Arab News reported.

A court in the Red Sea city of Jeddah finalized the split -- the first known divorce in Saudi Arabia by text message -- after summoning the two relatives to check they had received word of the husband's intention, the paper said.

Saudi Arabia practices a strict form of Islamic Sharia law, and clerics preside over Sharia courts as judges. Under the law a man can divorce his wife by saying "I divorce you" three times.  Could you imagine if this was allowed in the US?  The courts would be swamped with divorce decrees and the wireless cell providers would probably crash on the first day of the laws inception.  What do you think?

Designers Question Michelle Obama's Style

FIT FOR A QUEEN?

This week Michelle Obama style watch took a hit (gasp!) when designer Arnold Scassi told Women's Wear Daily that, "obviously, she doesn't have the right advice at this moment." 

This statement echoed sentiments recently expressed by Oscar de la Renta and Vera Wang who have also gone on record to criticize our First Lady's style choices. "As [the wife of] the head of the most important country in the world, you must dress at some points according to protocol," Scassi miffed. "You don't have to be conventional."

As if wearing a frock by a young industry up-and-comer wasn't offensive enough, the sartorial feathers of both stately designers were really ruffled by Obama's decision to wear an Azzedine Alaia cardigan to meet Queen Elizabeth earlier this month. De la Renta, who is always impeccable and charming, even went as far as to tell WWD, "you don't...go to Buckingham Palace in a sweater.'" 

Perhaps the notion of letting go is too much for certain captains of industry. Fashion historians will recount that Scassi and de la Renta have had tenure as the go-to designers for presidential wives up until now. The former's reign began with the Eisenhower administration and lasted all the way through to the recently departed Mrs. Bush, while the latter also created garments for Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton, and both of the Bush women during their stay in the White House.  

Egos aside, change was the theme of the election after all, and apparently that didn't just stop with the President's own cabinet.  So what do you think, was Michelle's dress worthy of a Queen?

Ooops! Britney Looses Her Hair

Britney's Unbeweavable Concert Moment

Now this is something that you might expect to see at a Beyonce Concert but Britney Spears lost her head, well part of it, after a supposed-to-be sexy stunt went awry during her concert in Oakland this week. In the middle of lip syncing 'Touch of My Hand,' a leathery man swooped down in an aerial harness, grabbed the reclining pop singer and liberated a snare of her blond weave. Watch It:

A few weeks back, Spears halted a show in Vancouver for about 30 minutes because of too much smoke wafting around the arena. At the end of the concert, she told her fans "Don't Smoke Weed!"

Spears began her 'Circus' tour of the United States, Canada and England on March 3 in New Orleans. Her father and attorneys are exploring the possibility of expanding the tour.