Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
In Alabama we "Speak English"
Tim James is betting his election that Alabama voters prefer what he calls "common sense" to "political correctness." The Republican gubernatorial candidate is running a provocative ad arguing that Alabama's driver's license exam should be given only in English.
"This is Alabama; we speak English," James says. "If you want to live here, learn it." The campaign spot has had more than 60,000 views on YouTube.
"This is Alabama; we speak English," James says. "If you want to live here, learn it." The campaign spot has had more than 60,000 views on YouTube.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Desperate Housewives - What's Sam Up To?
SInce I'm going to be a bit busy these next few weeks I thought that I'd drop some more DHWS spoilers. Get ready because the season finale is coming up and Wisteria Lane will never be the same.
Next week, Angie comes face to face with her ex, Patrick Logan. Meanwhile, Gaby and Susan plan an elaborate scheme against their husbands, Lynette sees a darker side of Eddie, and Bree meets a woman who knows Sam all too well.
Desperate Housewives - Could the Killer be....?
Ok, let's recap, all the women who have been attacked thus far have been rather young. Say senior in High School or as with Julie Meyer, college. I had a flash back to when Porter and his buddy's went out with Julie Meyer and Angie's son. Now we all know that Angie's son liked Julie but the feeling wasn't mutual. And then she was attacked. But that night when they were all out, wasn't Preston's friend looking at Julie a bit much? I can't recall exactly but I think he even made a pass at Julie and offered her a ride home but she left with Angie's son. He also frequents the coffee house too which is where the other girl was killed.
And when it came out the next day he was there with Preston at the coffee shop which still had the police tape around it.
There is suppose to be a death tonight. I'm hoping it's the blonde who's set to marry Preston. Let's all watch and see...
Britney Spears releases untouched photos
Seeing as how we're treated to candid shots of Britney Spears around the clock, she doesn't need to tell us twice that she had an assist in the latest ad campaign for Candie's shoes.
Allegedly, she's not a fan of their work.
According to U.K. paper the Daily Mirror, Spears released the before-and-after pics herself. A source told the pub, "Britney is proud of her body -- imperfections and all."
Is three a trend? These photos arrive just after a makeup-free Jessica Simpson appeared on the cover of Marie Claire and Kimora Lee Simmons fessed up to some major airbrushing in her new campaign.
Brit Brit's altered photos aren't drastically different. They give a nip and tuck to her waist and thighs and shrink her backside.
The real situation is with her legs. Touched-up Britney has shining, shimmering, skinny legs -- but in the original version, her legs are sporting some major bruises.
Desperate Housewives Spoilers
The season finale on May 16 will include several twists. Mike and Susan will experience financial woes. Lynette will give birth under scary circumstances. Bree discovers "son" Jeremy's true intentions. Gaby will get dragged into the Angie mystery. Someone the audience has gotten to know this season will perish. And the finale will also feature a big explosion.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Death Comes To The Practice - Private Practice
The Grim Reaper will pay a most unwelcome visit to the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off in the May 13 episode. I say most unwelcome as opposed to, you know, just generally unwelcome, because the person whose alter ego is being killed off is someone I — and most of you, — have been a fan of for years.
But that’s all you’re getting out of me. Okay, that, and this list of reasons it could/couldn’t be the following.
Kate Walsh (Addison)
Pro: Killing off the star of the show would certainly shake things up!
Con: She’s the star of the show!
Tim Daly (Pete)
Pro: His death would bring about a speedy resolution to the Sam/Addison/Pete triangle!
Con: It’s Tim Daly!
Audra McDonald (Naomi)
Pro: New York-based McDonald has been doing the bicoastal thing for three seasons, and all that air travel has to be taking a toll. Plus, Naomi’s death would clear the way for Addison and Sam to be together.
Con: She’s Addison’s BFF and only emotional constant.
Paul Adelstein (Cooper)
Pro: I honestly can’t think of one.
Con: He brings a welcome dose of levity to an otherwise emotionally charged medi-soap. His light touch would be sorely missed.
KaDee Strickland (Charlotte)
Pro: She has always been the outcast of the group, a point that was driven home even more painfully than usual in the wake of her estrangement from Coop.
Con: Every show needs a bitch.
Chris Lowell (Dell)
Pro: Lowell’s episode order was cut back this season. Has Shonda Rhimes been trying to wean us off Dell?
Con: He remains one of the show’s most popular (and demo-friendly) characters. Plus, Rhimes would never make sweet Betsy an orphan.
Taye Diggs (Sam)
Pro: He’s Addison’s partner-slash-crush and Naomi’s ex, so his death would have a cascading effect that would reverberate for many seasons to come.
Con: Have you seen that smile? Oh, and those abs?
Amy Brenneman (Violet)
Pro: Since her C-section from hell, she has proved to be emotionally unstable (not to mention the worst mom ever). Next step: suicide?
Con: Fans are just now getting over Judging Amy’s cancellation!
Who do you think is getting whacked? Speculate away in the comments!
Housewives support Marc Cherry
Eva Longoria Parker, Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, and Felicity Huffman have issued a joint statement backing Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry in the face of accusations made by former co-star Nicollette Sheridan in a lawsuit: “It would be irresponsible of us to let the public believe that being a part of this show from its inception has been anything but a blessing,” the statement reads. “We have no first-hand knowledge of what Nicollette may or may not have experienced, but we would never characterize our set as a hostile environment. It is, in fact, the opposite…The friendships and support that Marc Cherry, the cast, the crew and the producers have shared for the past six years have made this a wonderful job that we are grateful for every day.”
Hatcher also complained about being singled out in Sheridan’s lawsuit, which said that Hatcher complained about Cherry to ABC executives, only to have Cherry say, “I hope Teri Hatcher gets hit by a car and dies.” The actress, in a separate statement, said her inclusion was “unfortunate and inappropriate.” “While my adoration and respect for the classic and dynamic chemistry of the characters of Susan and Edie is indelible, I’m honored to stand with Eva, Felicity and Marcia, as a group and clarify that our set environment is nothing less than an amazingly positive experience. I have never felt discriminated against. In fact, I have felt heard and respected by Marc and other executives in regards to both my professional and personal needs.”
In her lawsuit, Sheridan claimed that Cherry hit her during an argument and subsequently let her go after she complained.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Expose your PIG now by emailing photos@trainpigs.com
Fet up with people eating on the subways and then just discarding their garbage? Well so is a fellow blogspot blogger. Checkout his site on the link below. I know that I'll be sending him some pic's shortly!
http://trainpigsoink.blogspot.com/
Kara DioGuardi Strips Naked for Allure
American Idol' star Kara DioGuardi laid herself bare for the newest issue of Allure -- literally.
The judge, along with 'Grey's Anatomy' doc Jessica Capshaw, singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat and 'Entourage' hottie Emmanuelle Chriqui posed naked for the magazine.
WSJ Article - Joblessness: The Kids Are Not Alright
Will the U.S. accept youth unemployment levels like Europe's?
By DANIEL HENNINGER
Unemployment today doesn't look like any unemployment in the recent American experience. We have the astonishing and dispiriting new reality that the "long-term jobless"—people out of work more than six months (27 weeks)—was about 44% of all people unemployed in February. A year ago that number was 24.6%.
This is not normal joblessness. As The Wall Street Journal reported in January, even when the recovery comes, some jobs will never return.
But the aspect of this mess I find more disturbing is the numbers around what economists call "youth unemployment." The U.S. unemployment rate for workers under 25 years old is about 20%.
"Youth unemployment" isn't just a descriptor used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It's virtually an entire field of study in the economics profession. That's because in Europe, "youth unemployment" has become part of the permanent landscape, something that somehow never goes away.
Is the U.S. there yet?
No public figure has ever taken more flak for a comment than former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for "old Europe." These are the Western European nations that spent the postwar period free of Soviet domination. With that freedom they designed what came to be called the "social-market economy," a kind of Utopia where a job exists to be protected and the private sector exists mainly to pay for the state's welfare plans.
Alas for Utopia it came to pass that the marginal cost of adding employees increased so much around Europe that private-sector hiring of new workers slowed and "youth unemployment" rose. And stayed.
Eight years ago, a bittersweet movie about this tragedy of fallen expectations for Europe's young, "L'Auberge Espagnole," ends with a bright young Frenchman getting a "job" at a public ministry, where on the first day his co-workers explain the path to retirement. He runs from the building.
In the final month of 2009, these were European unemployment rates for people under 25: Belgium, 22.6; Spain, 44.5; France, 25.2; Italy, 26.2; the U.K., 19; Sweden, 26.9; Finland, 23.5. Germany, at 10% uses an "apprentice" system to bring young people into the work force, though that system has come under stress for a most relevant reason: a shortage in Germany of private-sector jobs.
In the U.S., we've always assumed that we're not them, that America has this terrific, unstoppable job-creation machine. And that during a "cyclical downturn," all the U.S. Congress or the states have to do is keep unemployment benefits flowing and retraining programs running until the American jobs machine kicks in and sops up the unemployed.
But what if this time the new-jobs machine doesn't start?
In the U.S., we've thought of youth unemployment as mainly about minority status linked to poor education. Not in Europe. German TV recently broadcast a sad piece on Finland, which has the continent's most admired school system. It showed an alert, vivacious young woman—she looked like someone out of an upper-middle-class U.S. high school—roaming Helsinki's streets begging waitress jobs, without success.
It was during the Reagan presidency's years of strong new-job growth, with an expansion that lasted 92 months between 1983 and 1990, that Europeans began to envy the employment prospects for American graduates. The envy continued through the dot.com boom of the Clinton years. Some of Europe's most ambitious young workers emigrated to the U.S.
Which brings us to the current American presidency. Last March, its admirers proclaimed that the Obama budget drove "a nail in the coffin of Reaganomics." And replaced it with what?
Mr. Obama spent his first year saving the public economy (the stimulus's money mainly protected public-sector jobs) and designing a U.S. health-care system led, if not run, by the public sector. The year's most significant U.S. fiscal policies created an array of new taxes to finance the congressionally designed health system, and raised federal spending to 25% of GDP. Another broad tax increase begins Jan. 1.
The only new-jobs idea the philosopher kings around Mr. Obama have had is the "green economy." No doubt it will create some jobs. But an idea so dependent on subsidy economics is not going to deliver strong-form employment for the best, brightest or willing and able in the next American generation. The path we're on is toward a flatter, gentler U.S. economy.
This is not the way forward to the next version of an American economy that once created Microsoft, Intel, MCI, Oracle, Google or even Twitter. The United States needs tremendous economic forces to lift its huge work force. Since 1990, roughly 80 million Americans have been born. They can't all be organic farmers or write scripts for "30 Rock."
Many upscale American parents somehow think jobs like their own are part of the nation's natural order. They are not. In Europe, they have already discovered that, and many there have accepted the new small-growth, small-jobs reality. Will we?
Write to henninger@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303411604575168492894541142.html
By DANIEL HENNINGER
Unemployment today doesn't look like any unemployment in the recent American experience. We have the astonishing and dispiriting new reality that the "long-term jobless"—people out of work more than six months (27 weeks)—was about 44% of all people unemployed in February. A year ago that number was 24.6%.
This is not normal joblessness. As The Wall Street Journal reported in January, even when the recovery comes, some jobs will never return.
But the aspect of this mess I find more disturbing is the numbers around what economists call "youth unemployment." The U.S. unemployment rate for workers under 25 years old is about 20%.
"Youth unemployment" isn't just a descriptor used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It's virtually an entire field of study in the economics profession. That's because in Europe, "youth unemployment" has become part of the permanent landscape, something that somehow never goes away.
Is the U.S. there yet?
No public figure has ever taken more flak for a comment than former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for "old Europe." These are the Western European nations that spent the postwar period free of Soviet domination. With that freedom they designed what came to be called the "social-market economy," a kind of Utopia where a job exists to be protected and the private sector exists mainly to pay for the state's welfare plans.
Alas for Utopia it came to pass that the marginal cost of adding employees increased so much around Europe that private-sector hiring of new workers slowed and "youth unemployment" rose. And stayed.
Eight years ago, a bittersweet movie about this tragedy of fallen expectations for Europe's young, "L'Auberge Espagnole," ends with a bright young Frenchman getting a "job" at a public ministry, where on the first day his co-workers explain the path to retirement. He runs from the building.
In the final month of 2009, these were European unemployment rates for people under 25: Belgium, 22.6; Spain, 44.5; France, 25.2; Italy, 26.2; the U.K., 19; Sweden, 26.9; Finland, 23.5. Germany, at 10% uses an "apprentice" system to bring young people into the work force, though that system has come under stress for a most relevant reason: a shortage in Germany of private-sector jobs.
In the U.S., we've always assumed that we're not them, that America has this terrific, unstoppable job-creation machine. And that during a "cyclical downturn," all the U.S. Congress or the states have to do is keep unemployment benefits flowing and retraining programs running until the American jobs machine kicks in and sops up the unemployed.
But what if this time the new-jobs machine doesn't start?
In the U.S., we've thought of youth unemployment as mainly about minority status linked to poor education. Not in Europe. German TV recently broadcast a sad piece on Finland, which has the continent's most admired school system. It showed an alert, vivacious young woman—she looked like someone out of an upper-middle-class U.S. high school—roaming Helsinki's streets begging waitress jobs, without success.
It was during the Reagan presidency's years of strong new-job growth, with an expansion that lasted 92 months between 1983 and 1990, that Europeans began to envy the employment prospects for American graduates. The envy continued through the dot.com boom of the Clinton years. Some of Europe's most ambitious young workers emigrated to the U.S.
Which brings us to the current American presidency. Last March, its admirers proclaimed that the Obama budget drove "a nail in the coffin of Reaganomics." And replaced it with what?
Mr. Obama spent his first year saving the public economy (the stimulus's money mainly protected public-sector jobs) and designing a U.S. health-care system led, if not run, by the public sector. The year's most significant U.S. fiscal policies created an array of new taxes to finance the congressionally designed health system, and raised federal spending to 25% of GDP. Another broad tax increase begins Jan. 1.
The only new-jobs idea the philosopher kings around Mr. Obama have had is the "green economy." No doubt it will create some jobs. But an idea so dependent on subsidy economics is not going to deliver strong-form employment for the best, brightest or willing and able in the next American generation. The path we're on is toward a flatter, gentler U.S. economy.
This is not the way forward to the next version of an American economy that once created Microsoft, Intel, MCI, Oracle, Google or even Twitter. The United States needs tremendous economic forces to lift its huge work force. Since 1990, roughly 80 million Americans have been born. They can't all be organic farmers or write scripts for "30 Rock."
Many upscale American parents somehow think jobs like their own are part of the nation's natural order. They are not. In Europe, they have already discovered that, and many there have accepted the new small-growth, small-jobs reality. Will we?
Write to henninger@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303411604575168492894541142.html
Monday, April 12, 2010
Conan O'Brien heads to TBS with his show
Ousted "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien will return to late-night television in November with a show on cable channel TBS, the network said Monday.
O'Brien's talk show will air weeknights at 11 p.m. ET/PT, leading into "Lopez Tonight" which will shift to a midnight start, TBS said.
"I can't think of anything better than doing my show with Conan as my lead-in," George Lopez said. "It's the beginning of a new era in late-night comedy."
Negotiations for the deal began last week after Lopez called O'Brien to ask him to consider joining the network, TBS said.
Elizabeth Taylor denies she's getting married again
Elizabeth Taylor posted a message on Twitter Monday denying rumors she is engaged to her manager.
A magazine report Friday said the legendary actress was engaged to Jason Winters, the 49-year-old man who has served as her manager for several years.
"The rumors regarding my engagement simply aren't true," Taylor tweeted. "Jason is my manager and dearest friend. I love him with all my heart."
Taylor, 78, has been married eight times, including two marriages to actor Richard Burton.
Jim Carey on Tiger Woods
Image Credit: Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images; Hunter Martin/Getty Images
Jim Carrey, who announced his split from Jenny McCarthy this week on Twitter, has posted several Tweets defending Tiger Woods and criticizing Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren. On Friday, Carrey wrote, “Tiger Woods owes nothing 2 anyone but himself. 2 please his father he gave up his childhood and his freedom in the world. That’s enough!” Then the actor continued: “No wife is blind enough to miss that much infidelity. Elin had 2 b a willing participant on the ride 4 whatever reason” and “No woman just stays at home with the kids anymore. Tiger was wrong and Elin was ignoring the obvious.” Carrey also commented on what he considered to be society’s unfair treatment of Woods these past few months: “Whenever we form a consensus about some1 we envy, who’s stumbling, our collective ego LOVES to flex its unified muscle! S’ugly!” Woods is playing Saturday in the third round of the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Ga.
Update: Since his initial controversial Tweets, Carrey has attempted to clarify his position. “I want 2 make it clear that I do not condone infidelity at all, but 2 some degree the responsibility 4 it is shared by both people,” the actor wrote on his account Saturday. He quickly followed that up with: “In any event, infidelity has never been an issue 4 me. If I tried to keep a secret like that, I would grow a tumor and devil horns!”
'Designing Women' star Dixie Carter dies at age 70
Image Credit: Ron Tom/ABC/Getty Images
Actress Dixie Carter, 70, who most memorably portrayed Southern interior designer Julia Sugarbaker on the sitcom Designing Women from 1986 to 1993, died Saturday morning in Houston due to complications arising from endometrial cancer, her publicist has confirmed. “This has been a terrible blow to our family,” Carter’s husband, actor Hal Holbrook, told Entertainment Tonight. “We would appreciate everyone understanding that this is a private family tragedy.” Carter is survived by Holbrook, her husband of nearly 26 years, and two daughters from a previous marriage.
Carter, who was born in McLemoresville, Tenn., started her acting career in a 1960 stage production of Carousel. Since then, she appeared in the soap operas One Life to Live and The Edge of Night, and in such series as Out of the Blue, On Our Own, Diff’rent Strokes, Filthy Rich, and Family Law. In 2007, Carter earned an Emmy nomination for her guest-starring role in Desperate Housewives as Gloria Hodge, the deranged mother of Orson Hodge.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Actress Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon Publishes Husbands scandalous emails
With all of the male cheating scandals going on lately, the women of Hollywood need to be ready to go on the offensive, and actress Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon is doing just that. The former 'NYPD Blue' star recently took things to a whole new level, e-mailing her husband's coworkers (he's an agent at Hollywood powerhouse CAA) ripping him for an alleged 5-year affair she recently found out about.
In an e-mail obtained by Page Six, Beauvais-Nilon calls out her husband Mike Nilon's alleged infidelity, sending a mass note to his colleagues that said: "Tiger Woods/Jesse James/Mike Nilon ... What do they have in common ... I found out today that MY husband of almost 9 yrs has been having an affair for 5 yrs with some slut in Chicago." "I am devastated!!!! And I have been duped!! Our boys don't deserve this!"
Reactions to the New Tiger Woods CommercialEva Longoria Parker Says Desperate Housewives Set Isn't Hostile
Eva Longoria Parker won't take sides in the legal spat between Nicollette Sheridan and Marc Cherry, but she will say this: that the Desperate Housewives set is a healthy work environment.
"The only thing I can say is we don't have a hostile set, and Marc's really nice, and Nicollette's a nice girl, too," Longoria Parker says in an interview set to air Monday on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Sheridan, 46, who played Edie Britt on the show, filed court papers this week saying she was fired after complaining that Cherry, the show's creator, had hit her in the face on set.
Longoria Parker, 35, tells the TV host that she and her other castmates are stuck in the middle of the dispute. "We're just kind of staying out of it," she says, adding that they just want to "protect our set and protect our work because we love it. We love going to work every day."
The actress says she first heard of the lawsuit when Ryan Seacrest asked her about it on Wednesday. During that radio interview, she said Sheridan and Cherry "did have a thing on set … a couple of years ago," but that she didn't know the details.
Nike - Tiger Wood Ad Parodies
Shot the way this was it was only a matter of time before the parodies arrived.
“Lion King Remix”
“The Tiger voice mail”
ESPN’s “SportsNation spoof”
“Boondocks Season 3 Promo” (NSFW)
“Lion King Remix”
“The Tiger voice mail”
ESPN’s “SportsNation spoof”
“Boondocks Season 3 Promo” (NSFW)
david wright and the situation - "situational training"
For those of you who cannot get enough of "The Situation" from the Jersey Shore
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Eva Longoria Parker 'Really Confused' by Nicollette Sheridan's
Shocked by Nicollette Sheridan's lawsuit against Desperate Housewives's creator? Her former costar Eva Longoria Parker was caught off guard too!
"I'm really confused about this whole thing," Longoria Parker said Wednesday morning on Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio show. "I would love to see her to find out if everything's okay."
In court papers filed Monday, Sheridan, 46, alleges she was fired from the ABC series after complaining the show's creator Marc Cherry hit her in the face on set.
Sheridan's rep was unavailable for comment, but ABC Studios said in a statement: "While we have yet to see the actual complaint, we investigated similar claims made by Ms. Sheridan last year and found them to be without merit."
While Longoria Parker, 35, says she doesn't know the details of the alleged incident, "I know they did have a thing on set," she says, adding that Cherry "probably could not harm a fly."
"I guess it was a couple years ago. I wasn't on set when it happened but apparently this incident had happened and she felt it was wrong," she says.
When asked to clarify what kind of incident it was, Longoria Parker says that Sheridan "was doing a scene, something that [Marc] was showing her how to do ... Honestly I wish I knew."
And while she hopes things work out for Sheridan, Longoria Parker is also crossing her fingers the show will get past the lawsuit. "I love the show so much," she says, "I would hate for anything tarnish the reputation of the show."
Jane Fonda 'Not Proud' of Plastic Surgery
Fonda has been upfront about her recent surgeries, posting on her own blog in February: "This year I got tired of not looking like how I feel and I wanted a more refined chin line like I used to have, so I changed my mind. I'm still a little swollen but not much and what pleases me is that I won't looked pulled or weird... or tired all the time ... I wish I'd been brave enough to not do anything but, instead, I chose to be a somewhat more glamorous grandma."
Tiki Barber Leaves Pregnant Wife for NBC Intern
Ex-Giants superstar Tiki Barber dumped his eight-months-pregnant wife Ginny for former NBC intern Traci Lynn Johnson, according to sources cited in the New York Post Wednesday.
The football star-turned-NBC Today show-correspondent left his wife of 11 years for the 23-year-old blonde, who also worked at the network's headquarters, sources said.
Ginny Barber, who is expecting twins, found out about the relationship late last year after the run-around running back moved out of their home in Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Johnson, a model-thin bombshell, was photographed sitting next to Tiki last month at a Washington, D.C., screening of a documentary on Senegal that he hosted for the Travel Channel. Sources believe Johnson also accompanied Tiki to Senegal for the filming late last year, when Ginny was three months pregnant.
The affair is particularly stunning in light of the athlete's long-standing disdain for his philandering father.
"I don't give a (bleep) that the relationship didn't work," he said of his parents' split in a 2004 interview with the Post. "Not only did he abandon her, I felt like he abandoned us for a lot of our lives. I have a hard time forgiving that."
His confidants were shocked.
"He was always the nice guy with a million-dollar smile," a family friend said.
Tiki Barber, who reportedly relocated to an Upper West Side bachelor pad, released a statement Tuesday in response to a Post report announcing the split.
"After 11 years of marriage, Ginny and I have decided to separate," he said.
"This decision was a painful one, but we are moving forward amicably and will continue to work together to raise our children with the love and dedication they have always known."
His spokesman declined to comment.
Ginny Barber is a former fashion publicist and full-time mom to the couple's two sons -- A.J., 7, and Chason, 6. She, too, declined to comment.
Johnson could be seen posing with a smiling gal pal in a pic on her MySpace page. The two are wearing red short shorts and Giants jerseys emblazoned with Barber's No. 21.
Tiki and Ginny Barber began dating 16 years ago when both were students at the University of Virginia.
'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Star Charged With Police Battery, Vandalism
Nicholas Brendon gained fame battling supernatural bad guys on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' but the cult favorite is now in serious trouble for fighting in the real world. TMZ reports that Brendon, who was arrested last month in a drunken scuffle with police, has now been charged with resisting arrest, two counts of battery against a police officer and felony vandalism. The actor is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday. If convicted, he faces a possible two year jail sentence and a $4,000 fine.
Officers were called to investigate a man causing a commotion in Venice, California, in March. Police claim that Brendon was inebriated and threw a few punches before attempting to flee, forcing police to use a Taser gun to subdue him. The actor was hospitalized and booked for felony vandalism after allegedly damaging property during the incident.
Brendon played vampire slayer sidekick Xander Harris for the entire run of the fantasy series. He recently appeared in eight episodes of 'Criminal Minds.'
This isn't Brendon's first struggle with alcohol. Zap2it.com reports that Brendon entered rehab in 2004, and released a statement saying, "After realizing I had a disease that was taking control of my life, I decided that the best way for me to regain my health was to enter a treatment facility. I'm looking forward to leading a healthy, sober life."
He told the 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' official magazine at the time, "Knowing ['Buffy' fans] will be behind me, rooting for me as I go through this process, makes everything that much easier."
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Whoopi Goldberg voices support for Jesse James
Whoopi Goldberg voiced support for Jesse James on 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated), arguing that James may have simply been searching for "something different" outside his marriage to Sandra Bullock. Goldberg also indicated that she too has cheated while married for a similar reason.
What's Behind the Genius Kotex Commercials?
"How do I feel about my period? I love it," the ad's star says over serene piano music. "It makes me feel really pure," she adds, as the commercial cuts to a woman releasing butterflies. "Sometimes I just wanna run on the beach."
As the blue liquid all-too-familiar with feminine hygiene commercials pours, she delivers the kicker: "The ads on TV are really helpful because they use that blue liquid and I'm like, 'Oh, that's what's supposed to happen!'"
The commercial ends with the million-dollar question: "Why are tampon ads so ridiculous?" Suddenly the jig is up on the usually-cheesy feminine product ads and viewers are left laughing like they've just seen an 'SNL' digital short.
As the blue liquid all-too-familiar with feminine hygiene commercials pours, she delivers the kicker: "The ads on TV are really helpful because they use that blue liquid and I'm like, 'Oh, that's what's supposed to happen!'"
The commercial ends with the million-dollar question: "Why are tampon ads so ridiculous?" Suddenly the jig is up on the usually-cheesy feminine product ads and viewers are left laughing like they've just seen an 'SNL' digital short.
In another U by Kotex ad, a woman dressed in head-to-toe white pulls no punches while introducing herself, saying, "Hi, I'm a believably attractive 18-to-24 year old female. You can relate to me because I'm racially ambiguous and I'm in this tampon commercial because market research shows girls like you, love girls like me."
New York advertising agency JWT had to look no further than Kotex's own ad archives to find material to mock in the new spots. Many of the cheesy clips used as fodder in the new ads are actually pulled from past Kotex commercials.
'Desperate Housewives' star Nicollette Sheridan suing series creator Marc Cherry for assault and battery
Former Desperate Housewives actress Nicollette Sheridan is suing series creator Marc Cherry on charges of assault and battery, gender violence, wrongful termination, and “intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
In the suit, Sheridan alleges that Cherry created a “hostile work environment,” regularly “demeaning” writers and staff, and behaving in a “dismissive, demeaning, and unprofessional manner” towards her both on and off set.
She claims that on September 24, 2008, after she questioned something in the script, Cherry took her aside and “forcefully hit her with his hand across her face and head.” Although Sheridan immediately complained to ABC, she claims no action was taken. The legal papers paint Cherry as someone who became hostile to those who “questioned his authority,” and Sheridan claims her complaints led directly to her termination. What’s more, the suit says, Cherry reportedly told third parties that “he hoped Sheridan would be distraught as a result of the termination.”
In a separate incident cited by way of example, Cherry allegedly once responded to Housewives co-star Teri Hatcher’s complaints to the network by saying, “I hope Teri Hatcher gets hit by a car and dies.”
Sheridan is seeking $20 million.
ABC Studios has responded to the suit with the following statement: “While we have yet to see the actual complaint, we investigated similar claims made by Ms. Sheridan last year and found them to be without merit.”
Monday, April 5, 2010
Talx Corporation: Contesting Jobless Claims Becomes A Boom Industry
New York Times:
With a client list that reads like a roster of Fortune 500 firms, a little-known company with an odd name, the Talx Corporation, has come to dominate a thriving industry: helping employers process -- and fight -- unemployment claims.
Read the whole story: New York Times
Softbank's Brad Pitt-Sumo Ad
If you've ever wanted to watch Brad Pitt feed a 500-pound man, here's your chance. Pitt plays personal assistant to a silent Samoan sumo wrestler in this commercial for Japanese banking giant Softbank directed by Spike Jonze.
Quiznos' "Crazy Talk"
Seeing an imaginary talking toaster during a psychotherapy session is a probably a sign of a mental illness. (We're just guessing here). Or, it's a sign extreme hunger for a $3 sandwich called the "bullet."
Teva's "The Naturist: Honey"
Gavin McInnes, a co-founder of Vice Magazine, pokes fun at TV nature experts in this spot for Teva. In "The Naturist," McInnes steals honey from a bee hive and rubs wild herbs on his face, with not-so-desirable results.
Archrival's "Personal Things" Video
Personal Things from Daniel Sheppard on Vimeo.
After the success of the 'Life of an Intern' rap video, a pair of Nebraska marketing interns have cut their own painfully honest, auto-tuned ode to intern life.
Internships The New Form Of Slavery
nyunews.com:
Interns, on the other hand, are expendable and exploited. Internships keep you imprisoned as the corporate errand boy with the tenuous promise of maybe being able to use the big, shiny photocopier one day if you can master the outgoing mail. And while it may come as a shock to hear that you were never part of Morgan Stanley's 10-year plan, the employer is not the only one complicit in this dupe of an internship.
Read the whole story: nyunews.com
Unpaid Internships Investigated: 'Mostly Drudgery' Means Employers Must Usually Pay, Say Regulators
New York Times:
Convinced that many unpaid internships violate minimum wage laws, officials in Oregon, California and other states have begun investigations and fined employers. Last year, M. Patricia Smith, then New York's labor commissioner, ordered investigations into several firms' internships. Now, as the federal Labor Department's top law enforcement official, she and the wage and hour division are stepping up enforcement nationwide.
How To Get Your Credit Report For Free
Now that it will be easier to find your free credit report, you may be curious about who else can see it and how it can be used.
Starting Friday, a new Federal Trade Commission rule will require Web sites advertising free reports to direct consumers to the government-approved . TV and radio ads must do the same starting Sept. 1.
http://www.annualcreditreport.com
The problem is that these ads typically don't disclose that the advertised free reports are part of a package of services that can cost as much as $14.95 a month. Consumers may not realize they can get free reports with no strings attached.
Once a report is in hand, however, it only raises a slew of other questions. Here's what you need to know about credit reports and scores.
THERE'S MORE THAN ONE FREEBIE A YEAR
Let's start by clarifying when you can get free credit reports.
You're entitled to a free copy every year from each of the credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Off the bat, that means you get three free reports a year.
On top of that, you can request free reports if you're the victim of identity fraud or unemployed and looking for work. In the latter case, the idea is that you should know what's on your report in case a potential employer wants to pull it. You're also entitled to free copies if you think your report has errors or if it's ever used against you.
Starting Friday, a new Federal Trade Commission rule will require Web sites advertising free reports to direct consumers to the government-approved . TV and radio ads must do the same starting Sept. 1.
http://www.annualcreditreport.com
The problem is that these ads typically don't disclose that the advertised free reports are part of a package of services that can cost as much as $14.95 a month. Consumers may not realize they can get free reports with no strings attached.
Once a report is in hand, however, it only raises a slew of other questions. Here's what you need to know about credit reports and scores.
THERE'S MORE THAN ONE FREEBIE A YEAR
Let's start by clarifying when you can get free credit reports.
You're entitled to a free copy every year from each of the credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Off the bat, that means you get three free reports a year.
On top of that, you can request free reports if you're the victim of identity fraud or unemployed and looking for work. In the latter case, the idea is that you should know what's on your report in case a potential employer wants to pull it. You're also entitled to free copies if you think your report has errors or if it's ever used against you.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Goodbye "Charlie" - John Forsythe, Television Legend, Dies at 92
Actor John Forsythe, who became one of the biggest television stars ever thanks to major roles in 'Charlie's Angels,' Dynasty' and 'Bachelor Father,' has passed away at the age of 92 after a year-long battle with cancer.
In a statement obtained by CNN, Forsythe's family said the following: "He was 92 years old and, thankfully, he died as he lived his life... with dignity and grace."
For as famous as Forsythe was, his voice was even more infamous thanks to his role as the voice of Charlie in the 'Charlie's Angels' TV series and also in two 'Charlie's' movies. His deep take on the phrase "Good morning, Angels," became almost synonymous with the franchise -- enough to land him a $5 million contract to voice Charlie in the two recent hit movies.
According to his IMDB biography, Forsythe began his early career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the Army Air Corps. In 1957, he struck television gold with 'Bachelor Father,' where for 157 episodes he played the lead character of Bentley Gregg.
He later went on to star as Blake Carrington in the massively popular 1980s television series 'Dynasty.'
Forsythe was married three times, and was still married to Nicole Carter at the time of his death.
Move over Ricky Martin, Anna Paquin says that she's "bisexual"
Anna Paquin is a self-admitted bisexual. The news hit just before April Fools’ Day, but it was no joke. Anna Paquin is bisexual and would like more people to educate themselves about people of different sexualities. She appeared recently in a new Public Service Announcement (PSA) for Give A Damn, an anti-discrimination program launched by Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Foundation. The organization was formed to educate and help in the elimination of discrimination and violence committed against the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender populations.
Many have watched actress Anna Paquin in various roles over the years, doing such a commendable job that she has been awarded several prestigious trophies, including an Academy Award (for “The Piano”) and a Golden Globe (for “True Blood”) along the way. But her latest role brought her sexuality to the fore. And it seems to have caught many by surprise, judging from the reactions on the internet. It would seem that Anna Paquin’s public persona and because of her love life on the hit HBO drama “True Blood,” many were under the impression that the New Zealand native was “straight.”
But she isn’t. She joins Cyndi Lauper, Elton John, Clay Aiken, Eric Roberts, Wanda Sykes and many others in the Give A Damn PSA, offering information about discrimination and inviting others to give a damn and join in their fight. Some of the stars, like Anna Paquin (“I’m bisexual”) and Cyndi Lauper (“I’m straight”), declare their sexuality at the beginning of the ad. Then others provide disturbing information, like Cyndi Lauper’s statistic: ”A hate crime is committed approximately every hour of every day in this country” and Eric Roberts’ startling line: “In the past 16 years, over 13,000 men and women have been discharged from the military for being gay.”
Although her “outing” of herself as bisexual in the Give A Damn PSA might not garner her any awards, it will most likely be one of the most rewarding roles Anna Paquin has taken on. What could be more rewarding than to attempt to ensure that everyone be accorded equality and basic human rights, not just under the law but in the hearts and minds of their fellows?
For more information on the Give A Damn program, go to to WeGiveADamn.org.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
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