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Andrew Garfield has apparently been spotted playing basketball with local children while wearing a Spider-Man costume.

Though his face cannot be seen, multiple people recording the court action have claimed he was taking a break from shooting the blockbuster sequel to last summer's superhero hit.

Garfield's co-star and girlfriend Emma Stone was also supposedly caught on camera looking after a dog.

"This is the real deal," said one YouTube uploader. "Andrew Garfield, taking it to the hole, buries the jumper on the two kids."

The Amazing Spider-Man 2, currently filming in Manhattan, is scheduled for release on May 2, 2014.

Sally Field, Martin Sheen, Shailene Woodley, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti and BJ Novak will feature in the movie alongside Garfield and Stone.

SOURCE

Jessie J stomps off in tears on tonight's edition of 'The Voice' as she becomes enraged with fellow coach Will.i.am for the choice of songs he makes his acts perform.

Jessie blasts Will for choosing the "wrong" track when contestants Liam Tamne and John Pritchard go head-to-head in the latest battle round which she believes does not allow their talents to shine.


At this stage of the contest the judges pit their own team members against each other with just one of each pair going through to the live stages.

But Jessie is infuriated when Pritchard struggles to sing 'Easy Lover' and mouths to the other panellists: "It's too high."

And afterwards she grumbles: "I just don't feel like you got to show yourselves - it was the wrong song choice. Will, why did you pick that song?"


After tiring of her criticisms, Will snaps back: "I don't pick songs for Jessie to say 'Wow that was a great song choice'. This song is best for what I needed to see so it did its job."

Fellow coach Danny O'Donoghue backs Jessie, saying: "I was gonna say I did think the key was a little bit too high."

And Sir Tom Jones agrees: "It sounded too high, I don't know why the key was that high."

Jessie becomes further enraged when she is unable to step in and rescue the loser as she has run out of opportunities to "steal" the losing contestant and give them a second chance.

Afterwards upset Jessie storms away to the bewilderment of the others and tells one of the studio staff: "I don't understand what he's doing. I just need to have a moment away from him."

However Will is unrepentant, saying: "I have no idea why Jessie got upset. I guess it's just Jessie being Jessie.

"Maybe it's because she couldn't steal. She should put that much passion into her acts."

A programme source said: "Jessie had to take some time out backstage and cool down, she really gets invested in the acts and the show and it all got a bit much for her.

"She just couldn't get her head around why Will made the decision that he did."


Source

French filmmaker Francois Ozon has been blasted by local politicians for telling THR, "it’s a fantasy of many women to do prostitution" and “there is kind of a passivity that women are looking for.”

Sitting down last week to discuss his Cannes competition entry, Young & Beautiful, French director Francois Ozon told The Hollywood Reporter "it’s a fantasy of many women to do prostitution."

Instead, it turns out it’s an imperative of many French women to condemn exactly that kind of statement. In the aftermath of Ozon’s Q&A with THR, numerous French media outlets have picked up on the story, and local politicians have weighed in to denounce the director’s views of female sexuality.

French newspaper Metro News France, was the first to pick up the interview, running a story detailing the director's statements and the local controversy they have caused, under the headline: "Says Francois Ozon, 'Many Women Fantasize About Being a Prostitute'" ("Pour François Ozon," 'beaucoup de femmes fantasment de se prostituer'").

From there, news outlets across France ran with it, leading Ozon to write on Twitter Wednesday that his remarks were “awkward and misunderstood,” and: "Obviously I wasn’t talking about women in general, just the characters in my film.“

Ozon made his first official appearance at Cannes in 2003 with his breakthrough film Swimming Pool; he's been one of the country’s more prolific filmmakers since, putting out a new project nearly every year. His 2013 Cannes competition entry, Young & Beautiful, is a sensuous and provocative exploration of a disaffected Parisian teen who turns to prostitution. Actress Marine Vacth has won glowing notices for her performance as the troubled young girl and has been touted as one of the news stars to emerge from this year's festival. But the film as a whole has divided critics – often along gender lines.

Pressed by THR during the original interview to explain his views on female sexuality, Ozon later said, “I think to be an object in sexuality is something very obvious you know, to be desired, to be used. There is kind of a passivity that women are looking for.”

The French branch of the feminist group FEMEN tweeted in response on Tuesday that it would like to present Ozon with the "2013 Golden palm of assholes" and the association Dare Feminism called his statements the "spew of the day" on its Facebook page.

The situation then took on an added seriousness as French female politicians started weighing in.

Senator Laurence Rossignol, spokesperson of the Socialist Party, wrote on Twitter: "'All whores -- at least in their minds.’ Mr. Ozon, could you keep your fantasies to yourself and avoid assigning them to us? Thank you.”

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, Minister for Women's Rights and spokesperson for the government of President Francois Hollande, addressed the controversy during an interview with French news network, BFM TV, saying: "The movie presents us with his view of the world. François Ozon's look at women seems reductive or too generalized."

She went on to call it "clumsy."

"It's terrifying to trivialize, to give the impression that there is a casualness in prostitution. This is not true. Casualness and prostitution are contradictory," she added. "This shows that it is also important that we hear the voices of women directors because women's views of women are not at all the same as those of men."

Source.

I'm surprised that this hasn't been posted yet.

Bradley Cooper and Michael Fassbender leave the Wolseley restaurant after having dinner together on Friday night (May 24) in London, England.

After leaving the restaurant, the guys got into a cab with Bradley sitting in the front seat and Michael sitting in the back with British athlete Louise Hazel as they all headed to the Bulgari Hotel.






She reminds me of Zoe Kravitz






Hate the hair but I still love him :D




EWW! He's so ugly! I can't believe I liked him at some point in life


OMG His face looks like it's melting! D:


ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME THAT THIS GUY IS YOUNGER THAN BRADLEY!?!



:D YUMMY!










MF certainly has a type


Source

Here for Bradley <33
I miss Fistbender wank posts! D:

The "Teen Wolf" Season 3 tagline is "This might hurt." Well, we got a sneak peek at the first two new episodes, and we can definitely confirm that pain is in the cards for all the characters. And probably for the audience, too. The show returns June 3 at 10 p.m. EST, but in the meantime, here are eight teases to whet your appetite.

1. The hot (LMAO!!!!) identical Alpha twins get shirtless within the first few minutes of the premiere because MTV obviously doesn't care about our eyesight. You know, in case you aren't watching for the plot. Charlie Carver and Max Carver play the new kids at Beacon Hills High -- and just wait til you see them transform. They're different from any other werewolves, Alphas or not, that we've ever seen on the show before.

2. Scott is on a self-improvement streak."I'm going to be better this year. a better student, a better son, better friend, better everything," he promises. And he's on a roll -- he's reading books, working out, studying for the PSATs, and saving up for a motorcycle. There's just one problem. In the four months since the finale, Derek hasn't told Scott about the Alpha pack, determined to let Scott be a normal teenager. If he does realize what's going on, he may be distracted from his book list.

3. Derek doesn't live in his old ramshackle house anymore, because the county took it. But before he leaves it behind, he shares a meaningful scene with Scott and Stiles there. It's a powerful moment that reveals a lot about Scott's mindset right now.... and about what Derek endured to get the spiral tattoo on his back.

4. A very significant new character comes into play in the first minute of the premiere episode. She knows something important about Scott -- and by the end of the first episode, she'll be instrumental in revealing (to the audience) the Alpha pack's goal, and how it connects to Scott and Derek.

5. Stiles gets some love! While Scott pines over Allison, Stiles seems to have done a great job of getting over Lydia this summer. He's even interested in other people. In the second episode, "Chaos Rising," we finally see him share a kiss or two... and the encounter ultimately sends him scrambling for a condom. Given Stiles' track record, it's probably not too spoilery to tell you all that this doesn't end too well.

READ THE REST OF THE LIST @ THE SOURCE!
If you're not a flop Teen Wolf fan, you already know there was a panel in London today. Unfortunately the cutest and most important cast member, Tyler Posey, was absent, but Tyler Hoechlin, Daniel Sharman, Holland Roden, and Crystal Reed were there.

A RUN DOWN OF THE PANEL FROM A FAN!
"Christian Tayler said that they’ve been using a lot of water this season, like it’s the “season of wet”, something like that I can’t remember the exact quote. He also said, like Tyler, he prefers the dynamic that Stiles and Derek have now, he likes the comedy dynamic, rather than them becoming a couple.

Tyler mentioned that both Derek and Stiles have new people in their lives that they’re interacting more with, which sees them have less scenes together. *cackles into oblivion*

They resume filming on 3b in July.

They are currently working out a contract with a new UK broadcaster to show season three after Sky dropped it.

Tyler, Daniel, Crystal, and Holland hadn’t seen the new footage that they showed during the panel, so they all got up from the table to watch it off to the side of the stage. The new footage was almost completely different from the official trailer, much darker and more bloody, more dead bodies, the alpha twins were featured in different clips from what we have seen online, there was a shot of them fighting in the woods I think. There was a really good shot of Derek sort of “roaring” - head back, fangs bared, hot breath coming out of his mouth in the cold air. Also, the very first shot in the footage was of Derek in the foreground, hunched over on the floor, soaking wet (I think), crying, with Stiles standing behind him, looking like he didn’t have a clue what to do! They used the same “everyone around me gets hurt” dialogue over that shot."

NOW FOR SOME POSEY-LESS PHOTOS.

















How cute. >n_n<
I can't find any more photos, so just go through the "Teen Wolf" tag on Tumblr if you're interested. Also, here's a short video.

Source Uno&Source Dos

Actress Izzy Meikle-Small is relieved to miss out on racy Game of Thrones role
By TIM WALKER


Game of Thrones is one of television’s most popular series, but Izzy Meikle-Small is relieved that she failed to win a part.

“I got to the final two to play Lady Sansa Sark, but I didn’t get it,” says the 17-year-old, who played the young Estella in the BBC’s acclaimed adaptation of Great Expectations.

Speaking at a celebrity screening of The Big Wedding at the May Fair Hotel, she adds: “I was a bit sad, because the show’s massive, but I’m not that unhappy, because they all show a lot of flesh, don’t they? I don’t think my parents would be happy.”

Source.
I always find it interesting to see who almost got a part as opposed to the person who actually ended up with the role. While I am obvs very glad Princess Sophie was cast as Sansa since she's perf in the role, I really liked this actress in Never Let Me Go (she played bb Carey Mulligan) and I think she would have made a fine Sansa tbh. And knowing Joe Dempsie read for Jon Snow, I'd like to see his take on the character. And I still need to see Jennifer Ehle as Catelyn.

No. 1 Serena Williams makes dominant return, 12 months after 1st-round loss at French Open

As she prepares to start the French Open on Sunday against a much-lower-ranked opponent, Serena Williams says she learned something by exiting in the first round at Roland Garros 12 months ago.

Says Williams: "Sometimes I think, 'Should I be happy that I lost last year?'"

Since that only opening-match defeat in 50 Grand Slam appearances, Williams has dominated her sport, going 67-3, returning to No. 1 in the rankings, and winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to lift her major title total to 15. Only five women have won more, and one of them, Chris Evert, fully expects Williams to keep moving up the list.

Other players in action on Day 1 at the clay-court tournament include Williams' older sister, 30th-seeded Venus, and 17-time major champion Roger Federer.

Clippers' Donald Sterling hints Del Negro let go to keep Chris Paul

Did keeping Chris Paul fuel Vinny Del Negro's firing? (USATSI)

As CBSSports.com's Ken Berger noted Tuesday, the Los Angeles Clippers' parting with Vinny Del Negro happened because Chris Paul didn't believe his coach was the right leader on the sidelines to help bring them a championship. Despite two very successful regular seasons since Paul and Del Negro teamed up directing the team on the court and on the sidelines, the Clippers have flamed out earlier than a superstar would like when hoping to compete for an NBA title.

In a conversation with T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times, Clippers owner Donald Sterling all but confirmed Del Negro wasn't brought back in order for the team to have a better shot at hanging onto Paul during this summer's free agency period.

"The coach is a wonderful man, and I'm sad about the whole thing," Sterling said.

"Was this done," I asked, "just to hang on to Chris Paul?"

"I always want to be honest and not say anything that is not true," Sterling said. "So I'd rather not say anything.

"But you know, the coach did a really good job. I think he did. And I liked working with him. There are just factors that make life very complicated and very challenging."

Del Negro did a decent enough job coaching the Clippers over the past three seasons, but there is no denying the team would probably be better with a change in direction that is approved by the superstar they're trying to retain. Losing Paul to another team would be much worse than having Del Negro coach somewhere else and becoming successful at it. In a league driven by stars, this just makes a lot more sense.

It's not that Del Negro was bad this season. His reputation among basketball fans is not a fair perception of his coaching abilities. But his game management leaves a lot to be desired. His penchant for burning timeouts far too early with not having enough left at the end of games was an issue at times. His refusal to trust players like Eric Bledsoe and DeAndre Jordan in key moments over players like Lamar Odom and Chauncey Billups when they're well past their prime was also something that seemed to hurt the Clippers' chances.

Now, Paul has the chance to choose his own coach to help him in the second-biggest market with one of the league's best and most marketable young players if the point guard decides to stay with the Clippers. If he decides to bolt for the Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks or some other team with a lot of cap room or roster flexibility, I don't think anybody other than Sterling will truly regret not hanging onto their previous coach.

Fast 6 Exceeds Projections, Rock Tweets Pic With Roman Reigns, Shield Member Celebrates Birthday

By Raj Giri
- The Rock's latest movie, Fast & Furious 6, took in $38.1 million on Friday and is estimated to take in $120 million domestically over the Memorial Day weekend. It is the biggest opening for the series, which was expect to have an $80 million opening.

- Roman Reigns turns 28 years old today. The Rock tweeted the following birthday wish to his cousin:


WWE: CM Punk Rumored to Feud with Brock Lesnar Upon Return
By
Joe Johnson

he Heyman Guys may explode upon the return of CM Punk to WWE television. It's been reported that WWE writers are developing concepts for a Punk feud with Brock Lesnar when he returns last this summer after a well-deserved hiatus, according to Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Marc Middleton of Wrestling Inc.).

Last time we saw CM Punk was two weeks after WrestleMania. He walked to the ring with Paul Heyman after teasing his address to the fans for a week. He stood in the ring as the crowd chanted his name. He pushed away Heyman and walked out without saying a word.

Punk had worked more than a year-and-a-half without a break. As the WWE champion, he also was responsible for an increased media schedule, which left him with few days off. Even when he wasn't in the ring, he was doing radio and TV appearances.

For months, he had been reportedly working through injuries. At WrestleMania, in his classic match against the Undertaker, Punk leapt from the top rope onto the announce table and slammed the side of his thigh into the corner of the table. Instead of collapsing on contact, it resisted, further banging up one of the company's top stars.

A feud with Brock Lesnar is one that fans have sought for some time. Punk has had Heyman at his side for more than a year, and together they have been golden on the mic and during matches. Now, we want to see how they look as adversaries. The WWE fans want to cheer Punk, and it only makes sense for it to happen against his former best friend and a brutal monster whom he's always respected, but never liked nor feared.

Much of Punk's title reign was overshadowed by anything John Cena did. His WrestleMania program with Chris Jericho was second to Cena-Rock. His feud with Daniel Bryan delivered stunning matches, but was second to Cena-Laurinaitis. The only time Punk was the featured bout was when he battled Cena himself. WWE didn't allow Punk to face Cena as a good guy. They turned him heel before that could happen for fear of outshining the golden boy.

Beginning in January, though, Punk hasn't played second fiddle. A main event, mainstream feud with the Rock raised his profile despite the loss. Then a widely loved feud with The Undertaker only added to that momentum. Upon returning, Punk will receive a huge babyface ovation. To then launch into a main event dream feud with Brock Lesnar heading toward SummerSlam would cement in the minds of all casual fans what we've already known: CM Punk is a cornerstone of the WWE.

Playoff Putbacks: Have Pacers solved LeBron James?

After that violation, James again brought the ball up. This time, he dribbled into the post, then pivoted, looking for a teammate. West instinctively guessed he might be looking for Allen on the wing again, and he guessed right. The ball landed in George Hill's hands, and he made both free throws to seal the win. The play was one part brilliant scouting, one part luck.

But so much of basketball is just that. The Pacers play defense well because they are so smart, along with having West and Hill and Paul George and Roy Hibbert and Lance Stephenson, all outstanding one-on-one defenders. And they've done their homework on the best player in the world.

But James is just that. He will adjust. He can adjust. There really isn't anything he can't do on a basketball court. And the Pacers didn't exactly limit him. He made play after play, including an absurd crosscourt pass on the final play of the first half that almost no other player in NBA history would have been able to see and then deliver.

James will evolve. He will find ways to beat West and the Pacers. And they will learn from that tape and find ways to stop him. This is going to be an interesting series.

Subway Series rumbles in

Posted: Thursday, May 23, 2013 10:30 am

by Lloyd Carroll, Chronicle Contributor | 0 comments

The Subway Series, which gets underway on Monday at Citi Field and concludes Thursday at Yankee Stadium, is a great way to take stock of our two Major League Baseball franchises. Last June the Mets dropped five out of six games against the Yankees, which served as a warning that their supposed terrific first half when they won 46 games was a mirage.

This year the Mets are not teasing their fans, as they have been playing at the low level that was expected of them before the season began. The Yankees, on the other hand, have been near or at the top of the American League East standings despite the loss to injuries of such household names as Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Texeira and Curtis Granderson. Granderson has returned to the team but was replaced on the disabled list by veteran pitcher Andy Pettitte.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has long proven to be a master at picking up inexpensive spare parts, while his Mets counterpart, Sandy Alderson, dithers when it comes to making moves to help his organization’s big league team, preferring to sell the fans on the notion of a bright future.

Yes, Cashman has greater financial resources to work with than Alderson, but the difference in the success of the two teams can’t just be attributed to payroll, particularly in this injury-plagued season for the Bronx Bombers. Corporate culture plays a big part in distinguishing the two teams. The Yankees have no tolerance when it comes to making excuses for failure. That does not seem to be the case with the Mets.

Mets first baseman Ike Davis, who had a rough first half in 2012, has been struggling even worse in 2013. There has been talk of sending him down to the minor leagues. Of course, if Ike could get hot against the Yankees, that would atone for a multitude of sins for a lot of Mets fans.

Ed Kranepool remains the longest-tenured player in Mets history, as he played first base for them from the end of 1962 right through to the end of 1979. Citibank hired Kranepool to appear at the annual borough restaurant showcase, A Taste of Queens, held last Tuesday at Citi Field, to sign autographs and chat with attendees.

Kranepool identifies with what Davis is going through because he was sent down to the minor leagues in 1970, a mere year after the Mets won the World Series. “Baseball is not an easy game,” Kranepool said. “One difference, however, between Ike and myself is that he has been in the lineup, whereas Gil [the late Mets manager Gil Hodges] did not play me much that year.”

Mets ace pitcher Matt Harvey has been a rare bright spot in a bleak Mets season. Sports Illustrated put Matt on its cover this week. While that is an honor, there is also trepidation because of the legendary “SI jinx,” in which injury or poor performance often besets an athlete shortly after he or she graces the mag’s cover. My guess is that if Harvey can handle the Mets’ anemic offense and very subpar bullpen with aplomb, he’s not losing sleep about a shopworn superstition.

If Knicks fans are upset that their team lost to the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals, can you imagine how ESPN and NBA executives must be feeling? An Indianapolis-Miami matchup obviously does not have the big-market sex appeal of a Knicks-Heat showdown.

The Knicks will have to find more offensive options next season than Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith, assuming the latter stays with the team. Chris Copeland showed an ability to score when given a chance this season, and it would behoove head coach Mike Woodson to give him more minutes.

I can’t believe how many stories were written by credible sportswriters who believed that 35-year-old David Garrard, who had not played a down in the NFL the last three years, was up to giving Mark Sanchez a run for the Jets’ starting QB job for the upcoming season. Garrard just announced his retirement because of a balky leg. Now Sanchez only has to worry about highly touted rookie Geno Smith and perennial backup Greg McElroy.

In a story broken by the Queens Chronicle, the United States Tennis Association announced last Thursday that ESPN will have exclusive domestic broadcast rights to the US Open for 11 years starting in 2015 [see separate story at qchron.com]. It is rumored that ESPN will be paying the USTA $770 million for the privilege. The network may license out side court matches to the Tennis Channel to recoup some costs. Douglaston native and tennis legend John McEnroe is expected to stay on as lead analyst.

The third week of May is always a big week in the television industry, as the various broadcast and some of the bigger cable networks announce their fall programming with splashy presentations known as upfronts. Sports programming, while not having the same glitz as the primetime entertainment shows, nonetheless was a key component of many networks’ presentations to advertisers and media.

NBC has struggled so badly in the ratings that Bob Greenblatt, the Peacock Network’s Entertainment Division chairman, was met with muted applause at best when he was introduced on the Radio City Music Hall stage. “It’s a good thing that I made it to the podium before the applause sign went out,” he quipped upon hearing the less than enthusiastic reception.

Things did not pick up as he and his colleague, NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke, introduced clips from one lemon of a new show after another. The only program that genuinely enthused the audience was a new sitcom with Michael J. Fox, in which he plays a news anchor at WNBC.

NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus got a better reception because of the success of the network’s Sunday night NFL programming. Lazarus spent the lion’s share of his time talking about the Winter Olympics that will take place in Sochi, Russia this February. NBC will use the Olympic Games as a platform to promote “The Tonight Show” and “Late Night” since Jimmy Fallon will take over for Jay Leno on the former, while Seth Meyers replaces Fallon on the latter as soon as the Olympic flame is extinguished at Sochi.

In the same manner, Fox brought into its upfront, held at the Beacon Theater, its lead NFL analyst, Troy Aikman, and its pre-eminent NFL pregame personality, the ubiquitous Michael Strahan. They were promoting Fox’s exclusive rights to broadcast the 2014 Super Bowl, which will take place at MetLife Stadium. Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly promised advertisers that his network will use the Super Bowl as a promotional launching pad for spring programming.

The USA Network, which has long been cable’s most successful network, is overseen by NBC cable chairwoman and Hollis native Bonnie Hammer. With all of its well-received programs, such as “White Collar,” “Suits,” “Burn Notice” and “Covert Affairs,” the highest-rated program on USA is World Wrestling Entertainment’s “Monday Night Raw.”

Two wrestling stars, Alberto Del Rio and Shamus, were on hand to shake hands with advertisers at the USA Upfront.

Both men were incensed at how inflammatory radio host Glenn Beck attacked in one of his broadcasts a WWE storyline in which Del Rio, a native of Mexico, was accused of being in the country illegally by villainous manager Zeb Colter and his wrestler protegee, Jack Swagger. They both bemoaned how America is being ruined by foreigners.

It was an over-the-top bit designed to make fun of bigotry, but Beck was enraged at how right-wingers were being portrayed by the WWE. Beck turned down an invitation from WWE CEO Vince McMahon to appear on “Raw.”

In a similar vein, USA Network announced that it is teaming up with the National Football League for its latest “Characters Unite” campaign, which will attack bullying. Representing the NFL at the announcement was Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice. Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will also be a participant.

Cruz was one of the many athletes to make an appearance at ESPN’s Upfront. The most memorable moment, though, came at the end, when ESPN Sales & Marketing President Ed Erhardt brought another famous closer, Yankees relief pitcher extraordinaire Mariano Rivera, onto the Best Buy Theater stage.

“Do you have any advice for me, Mariano?” Ed asked.

Rivera brought the house down when he went away from what was written on the TelePrompter and said, “Yes, pitch fast!”

Spanish-language television had a big Upfront presence last week as well. Univision, which beat out NBC in the February ratings, promoted its Formula 1 races and its Spanish-language broadcasts of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil (ESPN has the English broadcast rights in the United States). Telemundo will be telecasting the Winter Olympics in Spanish. ESPN Deportes will do the same for the NBA Finals, while Fox Deportes will be showing numerous Major League Baseball games, NASCAR races and boxing matches run by Golden Boy Promotions, whose CEO is legendary boxer Oscar de la Hoya.

Interestingly, the National Football League does not show any of its games in Spanish in the United States, though Fox Deportes does telecast them in Latin America.

Fox International Channels Chairman Hernan Lopez told me the NFL does not want to dilute ratings from its major domestic broadcast partners. My guess is that the NFL does not want to upset CBS, which has the broadcast rights to Sunday afternoon American Football Conference games. Unlike NBC, Fox, and ESPN, CBS does not have a Spanish-language affiliate.

Turner Broadcasting System has made a major push in the world of sports in recent years, thanks to its contracts with the NBA and the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. It also has a little-watched Sunday afternoon “Game of the Week” package. The problem is that Turner is only permitted to show one game. If there is a rainout, TBS is out of luck because there is no backup game.

In addition, blackout rules prevent the game from being shown in the city of the teams that are playing, so as not to infringe on the competing teams’ TV networks. Toronto Blue Jays broadcaster Buck Martinez, who moonlights for Turner, told me there had better be changes in his company’s next contract with Major League Baseball.

Robert Faller, the director of sales at the Otesaga Hotel in Cooperstown, informed me at the Historic Hotels of America media event, held at the Waldorf-Astoria earlier this month, that the area’s lodging facilities will not be adversely affected by the fact that no former player will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this summer.

“Dreams Park, the tremendous baseball facility located on the outskirts of Cooperstown, hosts so many tournaments that we are kept at near capacity regardless of the Hall of Fame,” Faller said. “The ones that will be hurting this year are the baseball stores on Main Street in the village.”

If you are a parent and want to find out about summer camps dedicated to sports as well as athletic programs available to youngsters during the school year, log onto newyorksportsconnection.com, a website that was started by a stay-at-home dad, Aaron Finkel. The site also is a clearinghouse for sports leagues and lessons geared towards adults.

Exercise is a great way to battle such health threats as heart disease and hypertension. The vitamin industry is taking aim at baby boomers who have high cholesterol and triglyceride levels with a variety of supplements. Among the bigger sellers are Quality of Life Laboratories’ CardiChol, Nature Made’s Cholest Off and New Chapter’s Whole Mega Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil capsules. You should consult with a physician before starting any vitamin regimen.

Ramos wants Bale at Real Madrid

Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos believes Gareth Bale is "in the right mold" to be a star player at the Bernabeu should he ever sign for the Spanish giants.


Will Bale remain at White Hart Lane next season? Find out at Rumor Redux.

There has been considerable speculation about the future of the Wales international after Tottenham failed to qualify for the Champions League, with Madrid the most likely destination.

Quoted in The Sun, Ramos said: "Gareth Bale is a Real Madrid-quality signing. He has had an exceptional season. He can punish any team in the world and has the footballing qualities we look for in Madrid.

"I am sure Madrid will not be the only team that want to sign him - but he is the right mold for us."

Bale rounded off a remarkable year on Sunday by scoring his 26th goal of the season, but his wonder winner against Sunderland was not enough to earn the club Champions League qualification.

The club are understandably keen to hold on to their star man and manager Andre Villas-Boas recently called on the forward to end speculation about his future by signing a new deal at White Hart Lane.

PAPER CHASE

Get the latest rumors as the biggest clubs try to bolster their rosters.

For now, the signs look promising for Tottenham fans. From his comments in the immediate aftermath of the victory over Sunderland, he seemed in no mood to abandon ship and head to Madrid.

"We fought hard this season, the team and the manager have been great," he said.

"We have got the record points for the club in the Premier League.

"That would normally be enough to qualify for the Champions League, but it's not meant to be again.

"It's disappointing, but we will pick ourselves up again.

"We will just have to regroup this season and give it another go."



Source 1234567


tyfyt ONTD ! also I am just gonna go ahead and ask if we can get a Dwayne Johnson tag lol ( hey I gotta try )

Carlos Estevez (Charlie Sheen) is the son of Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estevez, who goes by the stage name Martin Sheen.

Charlie Sheen is reportedly saying hasta luego to his stage name, at least temporarily.

The “Two and a Half Men" star has opted to go by his given name, Carlos Estevez, for his upcoming movie “Machete Kills,” TMZ said. The site even showed a screen grab from the film's opening sequence that says “and introducing Carlos Estevez.”

The actor told Univision News back in 2012 that he started going by Charlie when he was growing up because he had an uncle named Carlos, US Weekly reported. The actor also admitted in the same interview with that he doesn't “wake up feeling Latino.”

“I'm a white guy in America,” he said. “I'm not disgraced by it. I don't run from it but I was born in New York and grew up in Malibu, that's not very Latino.”

Charlie/Carlos' father, Martin Sheen, was born Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estevez. His brother, former Brat Packer Emilio Estevez, chose to keep his birth name while pursuing his acting career.

“Machete Kills” is the second installment in the planned trilogy that kicked off with 2010's “Machete.” Its all-star cast includes Sofia Vergara, Antonio Banderas, Lady Gaga, Mel Gibson and Jessica Alba. The film is scheduled to hit theaters Sept. 13.

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Three eras. Three Suedes. Ten years apart. Three different bands. “There’s definitely an ‘every ten years something happens’ isn’t there?”, says Brett Anderson, Suede's singer - still handsome, snake hipped and tiny bit waspish, but very definitely not the bum-slapping brat that kicked off British indie-rock’s golden era. “1993 was sort of the big bang moment for Suede, 2003 was the implosion and 2013 is the reignition.”

By now you know Suede are back. Not just back to the live stage, not just pushing reissues and greatest hits, but BACK. Bloodsports, the band’s first new album in a decade, their sixth in total, though only the third to feature the Anderson/Matt Osman/Simon Gilbert/Richard Oakes/Neil Codling line up, has been out for nearly two months, garnering some of the best reviews the band has ever had and a collective sigh of relief from Suede fans at just how brilliantly Suedey the whole thing sounds. This week they release ‘Hit Me’, probably the most Suedey song on the record. It’s a song that even without Anderson’s distinctive vocal is unmistakably Suede, but this is a 'grown up' Suede. Not the pompous lions of the early 90s. Not the shattered, awkward millennial Suede that forced themselves into hibernation for their own good. This is Suede in 2013. The confident older brothers of Britpop, existing in an untouchable niche of their own.

The first thing that comes to mind about the record is its confidence

Yeah, I think it does sound confident. I think we wanted to make a real big, bouncy rock record. Confident is a good word. We were very confident about our writing and our playing and I think I’m a better singer than I’ve ever been. I’ve reached a point where I know how to use my voice now. Even in our, inverted commas, ‘heyday’ I’d write and then I’d try and sing the song after I’d written it. Now I know to write to my own voice.

And they were harder songs to sing...

When I wrote, I’d write theoretically. Now I know how to write and make my voice work. They are hard songs to sing - I regret it now! It’s quite hard work to do them live.

The other word that comes to mind is ‘bright’ - even the sad songs are bright. Did you go in knowing you wanted to make something that sounded bright and almost bolshy?

I don’t know. I don’t think we want it to sound ‘bolshy’. I didn’t want to make an album to irritate people. I think it’s got an exuberance - I don’t think it’s aggressive in the same way even something like Coming Up is aggressive. Coming Up is a little bit niggley; all the melodies are so hooky and it’s like someone pointing at you very close. Something like ‘Beautiful Ones’ with the vocal delivery - that sounds bolshier to me. It feels a bit warmer than that.

And it just sounds like Suede... I wasn’t sure that was going to happen, because in the past, despite whatever rivalries the music press seemed to force you into, Suede albums always seemed to react only against the last Suede album...

Yeah, you’ve hit the nail on the head there. We’ve always been quite bloody minded about how people perceived us, and if we made a certain sort of record like Dog Man Star and people wanted us to make it again, the last thing we wanted to do was that. It was a ‘whatever you say I’m not mentality’. Which was fine, but that ended with the last Suede album, which was exactly like looking at everything Suede did and saying ‘let’s do the opposite’, regardless of whether it’s any good or not. You can get unstuck with the mentality. You’re absolutely right though, a lot of it was reacting against what people expected of us. There’s a real bloody-mindedness with Suede... it’s probably me really. There’s a thing where we don’t like being out in this pigeon hole and we don’t like people thinking that they have us in a box. I think it’s a strange relationship we’ve had with ourselves and the world we’re in, in a funny sort of way, the whole sort of indie world.

I don’t think we’ve ever accepted that we’re an ‘indie band’. I don’t know what we think we are. We always thought we were something outside that box, but we’re not. We ARE an indie band, we’re a band with guitars and I think with this record we’ve just accepted that. We’ve accepted what we are, and I don’t think that has to be a depressing concept. I think you know you can work within your limitations, and that’s the reality of the situation. Sometimes we were trying to be something that we weren’t and stretching too far, and that can go wrong. With the last two Suede albums we were stretching the wrong way to make something that didn’t fit us. We did that at the start with this record as well. Not trying to reinvent ourselves, but definitely trying to evolve our sound. When we decided to go right with this album is when we realised that was the wrong thing to do - when we got comfortable with writing Suede songs. We wrote ‘For The Strangers’ and it sounded like Suede. We turned round and looked at each other and said ‘this sounds like Suede, and it sounds great. Why don’t we try to write Suede songs”?

What did the earlier attempts sound like? Was it in the Head Music electronic mould?

Not really. A little bit more... not exactly post-punk, but less melodic. More brutal. We actually did a gig in Russia, it’s probably all on YouTube, playing various songs that didn’t make the cut, It was us just trying them. We worked out we didn’t really like them very much. It’s interesting playing songs live, because you can see so much playing them to a live audience that you can’t find out in a rehearsal room. It’s a really strange dynamic; as soon as you’re playing it to people you’re hearing it in a different way. It’s a real learning process about your own work. It’s not so much about the feedback or the response, you can just feel whether it worked or not. It wasn’t like we went online and found out what people thought of them, it wasn’t that sort of filtering process. It’s really interesting.

Between Suede records, you’ve done more albums without the band that you’ve done with. When you came back to the band did you put your ‘Suede’ head back on? Or is that just the way you write? Do you have a special way of approaching Suede?

I think I do. That’s the first thing to note, that there’s a natural dynamic and natural chemistry between the members of the band. It’s not just me bringing a song in and telling the others what to do, and I was always very respectful of that, of not imposing my solo work onto them. I didn’t want this to be a Brett Anderson record played by the members of Suede at all. That would have been stupid. In fact I had a policy that I wouldn’t write any of the music on Bloodsports. It all came from other people. Of course I wrote the melodies and the toplines and stuff like that, because that’s what I do, but all the backing tracks were written mostly by Neil and Richard. I didn’t want to bring in my piano ballad, I wanted it to have a real Suede feel to it.

What about the lyrics? Is there a way you write ‘Suede’ words?

Yeah, I was aware of that. I think making solo records I deliberately veered away from the Suede touchstones. Suede is very much about urban alienation isn’t it? With my solo work I tried to very much not reference that world. If anything I was referencing a rural alienation. I suppose when making Bloodsports I was happy to put it in a different space, while being very conscious that the one thing you can’t reference is yourself, lyrically. Because very very quickly you drift into self parody. I’m happy to reference other Suede tracks musically, though not slavishly, in terms of relaxing into sounding like Suede. But I couldn’t start singing about Skyscrapers and hired cars and stuff like that, that would have self parody. And I think in the past I drifted a little bit too close to that. It all went wrong with Head Music when I started to be lazy with the lyrics. That was the whole point, to let the music speak a bit more, but I wasn’t on the ball enough to realise that by being lazy with the lyrics I was giving people something to criticise. It was a chink in the armour. I didn’t want that to happen again.

Before 'Barriers' came out, the little teasers of lyrics were very much obviously Suede lyrics. I found that quite satisfying.

But hopefully quite fresh at the same time? I think it’s important as a writer to have a style. I’ve worked hard at establishing a style, and I won’t apologise for that at all. I think it’s a strength.

What was your approach as a band? Did you slot back into how things were before, or did you all work in a different way?

We did work in a different way at first. Literally everyone was writing. I think after ten years away we thought ‘let’s approach this in a democratic sort of way, let’s all pull together and try and write a record’. It just didn’t work. Instead we fine tuned it, and pretty much me and Richard and Neil wrote the record in long, hard slogs in each others' houses. Churning out bits and pieces, 90% of which weren’t used. It’s a long hard process, writing a record. We fine tuned it and essentially it was how we worked before. Although maybe before, with this line up, it was a bit more Richard or Neil would go away and write something and give it to me and I’d turn it into a song, and this time it was much more us three sitting in a room rather than working separately.

You said all records are difficult, was this one especially difficult?

This was the hardest. I think being away for ten years and just trying to get it right. It’s so easy to get it wrong, to hit the wrong note, especially when you’ve been away for such a long time. Reaching that sweet spot between it sounding fresh but still sounding like you, not to drift into self-parody, just to sound recognisably like the band, it’s hard. There’s the shadow of your back catalogue, like a spectre, hanging there prodding you saying ‘you’ve got to make these as good as us’.

So I could say “this is the hardest album we’ve ever made” as a headline?

This is the hardest album we’ve ever made. There you go, I said it. We really did sweat bullets over this one, but I think records should be hard to make. It’s too important to not take seriously. If you’re not taking it seriously go and do something else. I love taking it seriously, I love that it was torture. I love the fact that because of that, it was worth it. Nothing worth doing is easy. That goes for anything in life, I’ll always come back to it. If you want anything worthwhile you’ve got to work for it.

It does sound quite effortless?

Well, that’s the trick...

Some of your older records don’t sound as effortless though, Head Music certainly doesn’t?

I know what you mean, it flows really beautifully. But that’s because when we get it right we get it really right. It’s not like every song took months to write, some songs came together really quickly. ‘Full of Strangers’ came together really quickly. I don’t really know how to answer that - it sounds like it sounds because it sounds like that...

I felt like that about the Tears record [The album Brett made with Bernard Butler after Suede split] as well. It sounded like a record made for the joy of making music, and this has some of that...

I know what you mean. The Tears record was actually quite an enjoyable record to make. When me and Bernard were writing together again we were really enjoying writing together - there wasn’t that weight of the back catalogue. Obviously we had a reputation, but it wasn’t the same sort of thing, so that was actually a very very enjoyable record to make. More enjoyable than this one. But that’s misleading, because even though it was tough I loved doing it. It was never a case of ‘let’s not do this, it’s awful’, it was more ‘let’s get this right’. It was like a puzzle or a game of scrabble or something, you stare at the letters for hours and suddenly see it. It makes it all worth doing.

Did you ever worry it wouldn’t work?

I did, yeah. In my darkest moments, possibly a year ago. But then I realised that a lot of the time spent making this record was about re-establishing our bonds as writers and getting on to each others' wavelengths.

If it hadn’t worked could you have carried on as a band?

I don’t know. That’s why we had to make it work, really. We definitely said we wanted to carry on playing with Suede, I suppose I could have carried on making solo records, that’s always an option for me. I very much enjoyed making solo records, no-one was really listening to them, but that’s another matter...

Is the solo experience very different? Do you miss the more personal connection?

What I really enjoyed was that point where I had enough material to just play solo stuff. Obviously for the first couple of albums I had to play Suede songs, I simply didn’t have enough solo songs. It was really nice when I got to Slow Attack and Black Rainbows and I could just play songs from my solo career. It felt really pure. By the time Black Rainbows was out I had to not play Suede songs because I had Suede as well, and I didn’t want it to get confusing.

2003
Suede are fractured. Neil Codling has departed due to ill health, their latest record A New Morning has been re-recorded twice over before a final version with Stephen Street seems to wring the life out of the songs. For the first time a Suede album doesn’t go to number one. The band play Glastonbury, it should have been glorious but it’s a bit limp. Suede go to ground.

Let’s go back ten years to 2003 - what’s your main memory of that time?

Not good. It’s not a particularly pleasant memory. People say ‘they split up because their last record flopped’ and that’s true, but it flopped because it wasn’t good enough. And it was wasn’t good enough because we’d run out of steam. We weren’t waiting for the chart position before we made a decision, it was all part of it. We’d ran out of ideas and people didn’t want to buy into it. And that’s absolutely fine - more bands should split up, I think. It was very hard for me personally because I’d decided at least a year before we announced it that I didn’t want to do it anymore, and it was a long and quite tortuous year for me where I was trying to find the right moment to tell the band I didn’t want to do it...maybe longer, maybe a year and half, two years of being really unhappy. But feeling a lot of responsibility to them, because that’s what a band is, it’s a family you have responsibilities to and I’ve always thought of myself as a team player, and they’re my friends. I didn’t want to suddenly fuck off. I wanted to do right by them, it was a very hard period for me.

What do you remember of those final shows?

I felt very emotional at those shows actually. I think I cried a bit during ‘Saturday Night’, because I knew the band was going to split up. I remember shedding a tear during that song. It’s a very sentimental, heart wrenching song for me, it’s a very beautiful song and it reminded me of all the good things about the band that I suppose I’d forgotten. I suddenly saw it as this very precious thing that I was going to say goodbye to.

You said at the time that there would be another Suede record - did you mean it?

I didn’t have a specific plan for it, but yeah I thought eventually there would be. I never think beyond the next record. I suppose it was quite prophetic in a way, I’m not sure how much I really believed it when I said it, but it turned out to be true.

I suppose at the time people would have assumed that it was as likely as you doing an album with Bernard...

Exactly, I think you never say never in your life.

1993
Everything is happening for Suede. A debut album that went into number one, tours that verge on Beatlemania, utter adoration from the music press and all the drugs they can eat. What’s more they know things are getting better. Anderson and Butler are writing Dog Man Star , their most ambitious and grandiose work yet. Tensions in the band only make them more exciting. It’s Suede’s world, we’re just living in it.

So going back ten years before that, when you were Kings of everything... what was it like to have that moment?

It’s amazing. That whole period... I was very privileged to experienced it. Not that many people, even out of successful acts in the music industry, people arrive at success through various routes, but the way Suede were plunged into success was thrilling in lots of ways. Looking back it was obviously very damaging to the band, but at the time it was amazing. I felt like we were doing something really exciting. People always say stuff like ‘they were hyped’, and that sort of nonsense, but the simple fact of the matter is that we were doing something exciting and interesting that went completely against the grain and that people got very excited about. They wrote about us. That’s what happened.

You were a surprisingly aggressive live band at the time...

Yeah, we always have been. I’ve always liked the idea that good bands have different personas on record and live.

Do you recognise the band you are now in that time?

Oh god yeah. Much more than in 2003 actually. I see myself much more now. I’d love to write those songs again. In 2003 I’d rejected everything about Suede; all the cliches of Suede, everything that meant something to Suede fans I didn’t want to mean to them. I don’t know what I wanted to be, all I knew is that I didn’t want to be the person who wrote those songs in 1993 and 1992. I felt too claustrophobic and I wanted to break free of it. But now... god, I’d love to write a ‘Pantomime Horse’ again, I’d love to write a ‘She’s Dead’ again. I love those songs, and I’ve got a lot of respect for the person that wrote them.

Do you find it easier to connect to them live now?

Definitely, like I said, they’re very very strong songs, there’s something quite magical about them. I do really feel them when I play them live now.

The Next Phase
So what happens next, what about 2023?

The thing about me is that what I do is make records, I’d like to make a new Suede record. Really the most exciting thing about Bloodsports for me personally, apart from the fact I think it’s a fantastic record, is that it’s proof we can make new music, and that’s a huge, huge thing. It’s proof that there’s an artistic future for the band. I’d like to try and make another record.

Now you’ve made an album that sounds so much like Suede, will your instinct be to make the next one sound nothing like Suede?

I think what we’ve learnt is that you can do it subtly. It doesn’t have to be a volte face, bloody mindedly, you can just do something that has a sense of evolution. And I don’t think if we make a new Suede album it will be radically, radically different to Bloodsports but I do think it will be a step in the right direction. I don’t quite know where

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She really deserves that nomination. Maslany is really great at playing all of the different characters without making them only caricatures and at keeping their distinct personalities going even within scenes where she is playing against herself. Even if she never gets further nominations for this show hopefully she'll go on to do bigger things, and since this is a sci-fi show, she probably has less than a snowball's chance in hell of garnering Emmy attention.

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I think the only Comic Con footage we haven't seen is when Clark puts on his glasses and walks in the Daily Planet



Will update when WB uploads the official one


Very low quality
Will update when WB uploads the official one


Will update when WB uploads the official one


Will update when WB uploads the official one


John Williams helped Superman soar on movie screens, but another composer is now giving flight to Krypton's favorite son.

The franchise reboot "Man of Steel" opens Friday, June 14, with Henry Cavill in the title role and Hans Zimmer supplying the music. Coming off his latest of numerous collaborations with director Steven Spielberg, on "Lincoln," five-time Oscar winner Williams admits to having a spectrum of feelings about the update.

"I haven't seen it," he tells Zap2it, "but I'm sure it will be wonderful. I don't know if they've used any of the original music or not; it's a Warner Bros. film, in which case, they certainly have the right to do so (having also made the earlier 'Superman' movies). I hope it will be successful, and I look forward to seeing it."

Which isn't to say Williams won't find watching it bittersweet: "It puts me in mind of the late Chris Reeve, who we all loved so much. It's going to be hard for me not to let go of the music, but to let go of the idea of Superman being Chris. I thought he not only made that project successful, he embodied what all of us imagine Superman to look like if he could be given skin and bone, I think."



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"I just think he's kinda hot." LOOOL Goyer-cheese

The New York Police Department is investigating allegations made by actress Amanda Bynes that she was sexually assaulted by officers arresting her for throwing a bong out of a window.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne says Saturday officers from the department's internal affairs bureau are looking into the claim "regardless of its credibility."

The allegation was part of a Twitter post believed to come from the former "Hairspray" star Saturday.

Bynes is charged with reckless endangerment. She was released on her own recognizance Friday and sternly warned not to get rearrested.

Her next court date is July 9.

Amanda has been tweeting stories about her arrest & claims on Twitter today, including this:

New images/video of Amanda Bynes out in NYC today have surfaced. Amanda seems to be trading in her usual blonde wig for a brunette wig-- and called the pap following her "an ugly black man" WATCH VIDEO HERE

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Courtney Love and LeAnn Rimes might not seem like the most likely of friends, but apparently the two are close enough for the rocker to say, "If you fuck with her, you fuck with me."

Earlier this week, Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas tweeted that anyone who gives Rimes a hard time should be "embarrassed." Then on Thursday, Love chimed in and defended Rimes against the haters with a no-so-subtle tweet.



The country singer responded, saying she loves them both.

It is unclear if either Love or Thomas has any idea that Rimes has an ongoing feud with reality TV star Brandi Glanville.

The feud between Rimes and Glanville reignited on Mother's Day and sizzled Monday when Glanville told Rimes to "mind her own business" when it comes to issues involving Glanville's ex-husband, Eddie Cibrian, and their children, E! News notes.

Despite Love's declaration, Glanville took to Twitter on Thursday to say that she was not at all involved in any kind of battle.

"I am NOT in a twitter war with ANYONE! No matter how hard people try to make it about them," she wrote.



Melissa Gorga: Why Teresa Giudice Skipped Antonia’s Communion!


Teresa Giudice skipped out on Melissa Gorga’s daughter’s first communion party on May 11, while the rest of the fellow housewives from RHONJ attended, but Melissa tells HollywoodLife.com there’s no bad blood between the sisters-in-law!

Melissa told HollywoodLife.com exclusively, “It was beautiful. It was so good. She put on a show for all of us, she danced for us all. She sang for us all, we had the best night, it was such a great night.”

Teresa’s absence ignited a fury of accusations, claiming that Teresa snubbed her sister-in-law. According to Melissa, that couldn’t be farther from the truth, though.

Melissa told us that Teresa was at her own daughter’s first communion party. She also said her relationship with Teresa is “good, really good. Better than we have been in a long time.”

Teresa released a statement in her blog on May 14, “Of course we wish we were able to go to Antonia’s just like my brother and Melissa wished they could come to Gabriella’s, but we belong to different parishes and couldn’t control the dates. What can you do?”

Melissa tweeted on May 14 and clarified, “Despite all the crazy rumors out there, Teresa and I DO belong to the same church and our children both had communions on the same day.”

Teresa then attempted to correct her statement on May 15 and wrote:

And sorry about the typo in my blog yesterday! I’m running around with my book tour and I wanted to get some of Gabriella’s First Communion pics up in a hurry and I left out the word “don’t” in my blog post. I meant to type “we DON’T belong to different parishes and couldn’t control the dates…” If we went to different churches, there was a chance the First Communions would have been on different dates, but we go to the same church, so it was the same day. Wish we could have gone to Antonia’s, but both girls looked like angels in their beautiful dresses and my parents were SO happy to be at both parties! xx







Is Todd Tucker Marrying Kandi Burruss For Her Money?


Kandi Burruss’ fans are happy that the singer/reality star has found love again with fiancé Todd Tucker, but some have questioned his motives.

The “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star spoke to S2S Publisher Jamie Foster Brown about others’ concerns that her man might be looking for celebrity or fame, as opposed to love.

Suffice it to say, Kandi’s not too worried. Read an excerpt from her March 2013 Q&A below.

Jamie:Kandi, when you were with AJ [Jewell], people were saying that he was marrying you for your money and all that stuff. None of that has come into being with Todd, right, because he’s got his own thing going?

Kandi:I heard different people like Wendy Williams trying to say he was an opportunist, but I was trying to figure out, “What does she mean by that?” Todd makes good money doing what he does, and he also has a lot of different business ventures going on outside of that. And he did not want to be on TV or anything.

I think, for AJ, it was more about if people can’t figure out how you make your money, then they always try to say, “Oh, you must not have any.” But you can clearly see that Todd is working. He does well, so no need to question it.



HuffingtonPost, HollywoodLife

Mariah Carey:



Ashley Olsen:





Jennifer Love Hewitt:





Katherine Heigl:





Vanessa Hudgens:





Anne Hathaway:





Liam Hemsworth:





Gwen Stefani:





Louis Stevens:





Chris Pine:





Orlando Bloom:





Sarah Michelle Gellar:





Clooney:

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Mass shootings and real-life violence are not new; but after the murders in Aurora, Colorado, last summer and the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December, there is a perceptible revulsion toward certain displays of violence and gore in entertainment that feels like a change. Perhaps it’s temporary; it’s certainly random. If critics hoped that Fox’s The Following “might be misjudging the mood of the country,” as Tim Goodman wrote in his review in The Hollywood Reporter when describing the upsetting serial-killer drama, they were wrong: The show went on to be one of the hits of the new TV season.

Hannibal, though, NBC’s highly anticipated TV serialization of the story of Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) and FBI profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), has suffered a different fate: It had one episode pulled for content, and the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City has decided to stop airing the show entirely. The program’s ratings have been weak. And now, though NBC has announced its schedule and pickups for next season, Hannibal, which premiered in early April, is in a limbo period, awaiting news.

Executive producer Bryan Fuller — who created Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, and Pushing Daisies, among other work — developed Hannibal for television. His show is both violent and gory: The killings Graham investigates have resulted in some truly gruesome images on network television (naked young women impaled on antlers, mushrooms growing out of bodies, lots of blood, Graham reaching into a body, Hannibal’s persistent gourmet cannibalism, and more).

But if one concern of those who criticize violence in entertainment is that it’s done thoughtlessly and exploitatively — as in The Following — that should not apply to Hannibal. Nor to Fuller, who has considered all of these questions. Hannibal, in fact, is so heavy with dread and sadness and the consequences violent deaths have on everyone, including and perhaps especially on law enforcement, as manifested in the tormented Graham, that it can be challenging to watch for that reason.

I talked with Fuller recently about Hannibal and violence.

I want to ask about the level of gore and violence on Hannibal. Let’s start at the beginning when you first starting thinking about the show. How did you figure out its tone?

Bryan Fuller: What was always interesting about Thomas Harris’ books is they were a wonderful hybridization of a crime thriller and a horror movie. So I felt like we had to be true to that. Because Silence of the Lambs and Manhunter and Red Dragon have a certain pedigree of crime horror/thriller, in order to be true to that genre, we had to have a certain amount of graphic content to honor the source material, and also honor the expectations of the audience who are approaching the material realizing this is a horror icon. If we didn’t have certain ingredients for that dish, then it really wouldn’t be that dish.

What did you think were the keys there?

BF: Well, what was always fascinating with the villains of Thomas Harris’ books is they have this purple, operatic quality to them. They were also strikingly visual and cinematic. I think it was always our goal to honor the source material, because as a fan of the Thomas Harris books — I read Red Dragon in high school — I wanted to make sure that the loyalist in me and the loyalists out there were being delivered what they were being promised in calling the show Hannibal.

And in the conversations you were having with NBC about all of these things, which I imagine included discussions about the level of violence and gore you wanted to show, how did you describe it? And then what was their reaction?

BF: Well, it was always described as “elegant horror.” And NBC was very supportive. They realized they were ordering a show called Hannibal, and so they also wanted to be respectful of the source material and of the fan base of the character. And not deliver something that didn’t honor the genre. I felt like we were all on the same page in terms of what show we were doing.

Let’s talk about some specifics. The crime that sets things off is a serial killer who impales his victims on antlers. We then see that imagery a lot. How did you arrive at it? And how did you think about showing it?

BF: In Red Dragon, there were a few pages about the Minnesota Shrike. And the Minnesota Shrike was a serial killer who was murdering young women in the Minnesota area. That was about as much as we knew from the books, so it was about coming up with a striking visual motif that could also serve as a psychological time bomb for Will Graham. If we’re going back to root inspirations for impalations on antlers, there are quite a few horror movies where we’ve seen antlers used as weapons in one way or another. For me, it was as a pre-pubescent lad in the Pacific Northwest, watching Tobe Hooper’s Salem’s Lot in the late ’70s, and being terrified when James Mason picks up a man and trots over to a wall of antlers and impales him. That image stuck with me as a 7-year-old.

In terms of how you decided how to show the dead bodies in the pilot, was NBC fine with it? Did it get edited at all?

BF: The only restrictions were mostly nudity. Then other things would be a matter of frames and trimming: a concise method of delivering the imagery that didn’t rely on overt gore. There were times that were like, “OK, you can see the intestines, and you can see the abdominal wound, but you can’t see the intestines coming out of the abdominal wound.” Which, to me, felt perfectly reasonable! There were never any huge battles about gore. The conversations that we had were very much about, “These few frames here tip it, so can you remove those shots?” Or “Can you limit that shot?” They let us go a good distance at having striking visual imagery that wasn’t exploitive porn violence but actually had a great psychological impact to them.

Were you surprised that they were letting you do those things? There’s always the chance that you’d gotten a guarantee, and then when the episodes start coming in, you get, “Oh no — this is not what we meant.”

BF: You’re always running that risk. But Jennifer Salke, who’s the president of entertainment at NBC, really gave us her word that we were going to be able to creatively do the show that we wanted to do that would honor the title. And that she was invested in that version of the show, because that seemed like the appropriate version of the material.

So in Episode 2, the killer plants mushrooms in people, which we then see growing out of the bodies. Gross.

BF: Right! But bloodless.

Does that matter?

BF: Not necessarily. But I think the more bloodless it is, the more effective it is at being totally psychological. Because if you see the blood, then there’s an easy association of the violence. The violence that happens when there isn’t blood is actually much more subversive and unsettling.

There are things you’re used to seeing in movies and on television, like bloody crime scenes. And there are things you’re not used to seeing — like mushrooms growing out of people’s bodies.

BF: Right! It seems like a more unique image. That came out of the writers’ room when we were talking about, “Who are our villains in this piece?” It was inspired by a TED Talk. There’s a scientist named Stamets who goes on about the fascinating structures of mycelium, and how they do closely parallel physical human-being structures. That was so fascinating, it seemed like, what if that guy were off his rocker? And taking his love of mushrooms to the next level?

Episode 4 — in which a character played by Molly Shannon kidnaps young boys, brainwashes them, and then forces them to go back to kill their families — was pulled. Tell me that story from your perspective.

BF: We developed a story that we all felt was so outlandish in terms of its horror. Then tragedies happened. And what seemed outlandish on one hand all of a sudden felt a little too real. There were initial concerns about it, and head-scratching: “Now that we produced this episode post-events, is it the best foot forward for the show?” It was about being thoughtful and sensitive. And it was a conversation with the network, where we were both very much saying, “Yes, we have concerns about the content given where we are with gun violence in the nation. And also violence against children with guns.” It just felt at that time perhaps we just put a pause on that episode because we wanted people to this show with all of its merits, as opposed to something that was reflecting a ripped-from-the-headlines quality. Which really isn’t the style of the show, and isn’t Thomas Harris-ian.

Had the episode already been written and shot by the time Sandy Hook happened?

BF: Yes.

The way it seemed in the news stories, like in Variety, was that it was tied to the Boston Marathon bombings. But the episode already had not been among the five that were sent out for review.

BF: Right. And that was also the network trying to be sensitive.

Did you know when the episodes were sent out to the press in March that it wasn’t going to air?

BF: It felt like that’s where we were going? We had made the decision a week and a half or two weeks before it was announced, and then the following week, Boston happened. Of course, that’s the closest association by proximity; the dialogue became about that. It’s such a tricky call to make. It’s an interesting episode and had interesting ideas. But on the other hand, it’s hard to ignore this thing in the nation.

The episode that aired instead had, arguably, the grossest imagery: the dead bodies with angel wings made out of the person’s skin and back muscle. Is it ironic to you that that was the next up?

BF: No. For me, what it seemed like we were being sensitive to was children killing children with guns — as opposed to graphic content, or horror content.

The Salt Lake City affiliate then stopped airing the show.

BF: Somebody sent me an email with the subject line “badge of honor.” It turns out we weren’t the only ones that particular network had dropped for content: They had dropped The New Normal for homosexual content, which I find more offensive than dropping for graphic content. With graphic content, there’s an argument to be made about graphic imagery. I think that’s a human rights issue.

And I’m a person who’s been reading Fangoria magazine since I was 8. I always looked at it as opera. People who have passion for horror stories, their appreciation/my appreciation is looking at it as opera. The stakes are huge — they’re literally life and death. And instead of consumption killing off the young lovers, you have Hannibal Lecter or Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees. There’s a heightened quality to seeing a story where survival is at its core. Horror films have always been quite operatic for me. I always sort of scratch my head at people’s offense to them? If you don’t get them, and you don’t like them, then don’t watch them. But if it’s about controlling what other people see based on your perception of that form of art, then that’s a different issue.

Silence of the Lambs started this entire wave of serial killer/profiler interest. And I wonder whether the show is bearing the brunt of people now being exhausted by it — the show hasn’t caught on in the ratings.

BF: I think it’s hard to be predictive about what connects and what doesn’t connect. I look at the core audience for the show, and there’s a very passionate audience. I do feel like we have an audience, but it’s also a matter of we’re looking at a cable model show on network TV. Unfortunately in network television, you have to connect quickly. It’s hard to answer that question with any kind of clarity, because I’m not sure I fully understand the television landscape, even though I’ve worked in it for 15 years. What I can do is make the show as good as I know how to make it. I’m incredibly proud of Hannibal and the cast — I feel like we’re doing really good television. It’s hard to stop and go, “Why aren’t more people watching?” Or, “Why aren’t the right people watching?” Because I’m very excited by the audience that we have.

the source is people

As previously reported, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis log a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Can't Hold Us," featuring Ray Dalton, and Daft Punk scores its first top 10 with "Get Lucky," featuring Pharrell Williams. Who else makes news on the Hot 100 and other song charts this week?

-- Lana Del Rey: As the soundtrack to The Great Gatsby spends a second week in the Billboard 200's top five (2-4), two of its songs scale the Hot 100: Del Rey's "Young and Beautiful" (59-22), which becomes her first Hot Digital Songs top 10 (19-9; 121,000 downloads sold, up 57%), and Fergie, Q-Tip and GoonRock's "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)," which starts at No. 77 (48,000, up 25%).

-- Robin Thicke: In addition to his guest spot on "Lucky," Williams' current prominence is evident just outside the Hot 100's top 10, as Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," on which he and T.I. are featured, rockets 54-12 with top Digital Gainer honors. The track soars 23-2 on Hot Digital Songs (206,000 downloads sold, up 204%, according to Nielsen SoundScan) after Thicke performed it on NBC's "The Voice" on May 14. On Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, the track soars 16-3.

-- Mariah Carey: The Hot 100's Airplay Gainer award goes to her "#Beautiful," featuring Miguel, which climbs 24-20 in its second week. The lead single from Carey's forthcoming 13th studio album coasts 44-28 on Hot 100 Airplay (42 million audience impressions, up 33%, according to Nielsen BDS) and debuts at No. 41 on Streaming Songs (1.5 million streams, up 223%, according to BDS), although it drops 10-15 on Hot Digital Songs (97,000, down 14%).

Carey sang the song as part of a medley of her hits on last Thursday's (16) "American Idol" season finale. (Keep reading for more on how "Idol" impacts this week's charts.)

-- Anna Kendrick: In its 21st week on the Hot 100, the actress/singer's "Cups (Pitch Perfect's When I'm Gone)" reaches the top 40 (44-36). The song, which rises 31-25 on Mainstream Top 40 and debuts at No. 67 on Hot 100 Airplay (19 million, up 35%), completes the fifth-longest trip to the region by a woman in the Hot 100's nearly 55-year history, a list led by LeAnn Rimes' "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (29 weeks, 2001-02). Of Monsters and Men's "Little Talks" took the most scenic route to the Hot 100's top 40, rising 41-31 in its 30th frame the week of Dec. 29, 2012.

-- Candice Glover: After becoming the 12th "American Idol" champion last week, Glover debuts on multiple Billboard charts with "I Am Beautiful." The ballad starts on R&B Songs at No. 13, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at No. 33, Hot Digital Songs at No. 39 and the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 93. Notably, however, the cut is by far the lowest-debuting of any "Idol" coronation song on the Hot 100. The previous low? Original victor Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This," which began at No. 60 in September 2002. After a small step to No. 52, it vaulted to No. 1 following its first full week of commercial availability. Until this week, Lee DeWyze's cover of U2's "Beautiful Day" (No. 24, 2010) was the second-lowest-starting winner's debut single.

Glover's opening sales sum is also far less than that of last year's "Idol," Phillip Phillips. His "Home" launched with 278,000; "Beautiful" bows with 48,000.

Also "Idol"-related: Clarkson's "People Like Us" enters the Hot 100 at No. 99, as it rises 16-15 on Adult Top 40, and newly-anointed runner-up Kree Harrison's "All Cried Out" debuts on Hot Country Songs at No. 34 (22,000 downloads sold).

-- The Neighbourhood: The group tops Alternative with its debut entry "Sweater Weather." The song is the first introductory leader on the list since the Lumineers leapt to No. 1 with "Ho Hey" in September. "Hey" was the fifth No. 1 for a rookie act last year, following hits by Gotye, fun., Of Monsters and Men and Alex Clare. First-time charting artists scored more No. 1s only in 2010 and 1997 (six each).

Staying on rock radio, Black Sabbath scores its first airplay chart No. 1 as "God Is Dead?" ascends 2-1 on Heritage Rock. The band's Billboard chart history dates to Aug. 29, 1970.

And, Dropkick Murphys' "Rose Tattoo," featuring Bruce Springsteen (No. 25; 17,000 downloads sold) enters Hot Rock Songs at No. 25. The song appears on the band's EP Rose Tattoo: For Boston Charity, all sales of which benefit victims of the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings.

bill bored

it's about time america gave lana the attention she deserves.

This weekend stars are making their rounds along the south of France as the Cannes Film Festival wraps up.

And on Saturday Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz jet-setted to Monaco for Tag Heuer's 50 Years of Carrera event at the 2013 Formula 1 Grand Prix.

The pair were on hand to mark the anniversary of the release of Tag Heuer's iconic timepiece, both promoting their own collaborations with the upmarket Swiss watchmaker as they've both as brand ambassadors in video and print advertisements.

Leo, who has taken to promoting a litany of environmental causes over the years, created a partnership with Tag Heuer that for every specially designed TAG Heuer Aquaracer 500M Leonardo DiCaprio Limited Edition watch sold, a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Natural Resources Defense Council and Green Cross International.

But the former teen heartthrob, dressed in a black suit and an unbuttoned blue shirt, didn't seem too concerned about promoting his watch line as he kept his hands hidden in his pocked as he made his way down the red carpet.

Cameron on the other hand was proud to show off her strappy gold timepiece, posing with her right arm prominently placed on her hip and shoulder as she dressed her fit figure in a body-hugging white shift dress.

The 40-year-old has used her star power to benefit and raise awareness for global programmes that empower women, including UN Women.

'I am deeply appreciative that TAG Heuer shares my desire to support women who are not free to pursue even the most basic goals, simply because of their gender,' the Bad Teacher star said in her company bio.

The Bad Teacher star's red carpet appearance comes hours after her arrival in nearby Nice as she plans to attend the closing weekend of the Cannes Film Festival.

Leo has been in the French Riviera for several weeks promoting his latest film The Great Gatsby, which was among the first films to play in front of the star-studded audiences at the prestigious festival.


Source

This story on Daft Punk's successful pre-release streaming strategy is from the new issue of Billboard (cover date June 1, 2013) which also features a cover story the Billboard Music Awards' runaway success (ratings up 28%!); a look at how U.S. digital music sales now outnumber physical sales; Questions Answered with Translation CEO Steve Stoute; analysis of Prince and Kobalt royalties deal; a profile on Southern California's tech start-up boom; and much more. Pick up this issue of Billboard HERE; or become a subscriber HERE.

This week, Daft Punk is poised to hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with Random Access Memories, becoming the latest poster child for a digital marketing tactic once thought of as risky but is now starting to crop up with the regularity of a techno beat -- making entire albums available for free streaming for a limited time prior to release.

When the electro duo made its album available to stream on iTunes a week prior to its release on May 21, the act joined a parade of 35 other artists who have taken advantage of Apple’s promotional program since it began in August 2011 with the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ I’m With You. Daft Punk’s set is expected to sell 300,000 copies, the second-largest debut this year following Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience, which also was made available for free streaming on iTunes a week prior to its March 15 release.

The enthusiasm with which many labels have embraced free streaming of full albums prior to release is in stark contrast to the prevailing industry stance just a few years ago.

“This used to be viewed as very experimental and risky,” Epitaph VP of digital strategy Jason Feinberg says. “But it’s become a recognized marketing tool. Now we stream every single record before street date, and we’re certain this has a positive sales and marketing effect.”

While it’s nearly impossible to isolate and quantify how each marketing effort contributes to an album’s success, there are indications that prerelease streaming is actually good for business.

“They really have an impact on sales,” Feinberg says. “We often see a two-times to five-times bump in pre-orders during these campaigns.”

Daft Punk's 'Random Access Memories' Set for No. 1, 300,000-plus Debut

Not everyone embraces prerelease streaming. Universal Music Group, for example, wanted Apple to pay for the streams, according to executives who declined to be named because the discussions were confidential. Apple balked, arguing that the promotional value and opportunity for pre-orders more than compensated for the streaming, according to an executive familiar with the conversations. UMG declined to comment.

But most other labels are keen to raise album awareness through the right outlets. Among the more popular outlets for prerelease streaming are iTunes, YouTube, Spotify and editorial websites like NPR stations, Pitchfork and Billboard. Pandora joined the fray on May 21 with the launch of its Pandora Premieres station, featuring John Fogerty’s Wrote a Song for Everyone and Laura Marling’s Once I Was an Eagle, available for on-demand streaming in an ongoing promotion supported by T-Mobile. “The list of artists wanting to participate in this program is not short,” Pandora co-founder/chief strategy officer Tim Westergren says.

Perhaps the most coveted outlet is iTunes, which has featured prerelease streams prominently on its storefronts. Albums that have participated include David Bowie’s The Next Day, Jason Aldean’s Night Train, Jack White’s Blunderbuss, Carrie Underwood’s Blown Away and the Shins’ Port of Morrow.

“That space on iTunes’ front page is very valuable,” Nielsen senior VP of analytics David Bakula says. “It’s akin to the way albums were promoted in the past with placements in printed retail circulars.”

Instead of paying co-marketing fees for circular placement, labels now agree to exclusives in streaming arrangements. In exchange, the site hosting the stream gets unique content that can drive traffic and transactions.

Bakula says that artists who do streaming “get a good amount of exposure. It does draw consumers.”

Source

What do you think, ONTD-- does having an album available to stream ahead of the release date make you more likely to buy the album? What streams have you actually listened to?

It's a daunting task to even plan a wedding, but actress Christina Ricci is taking her role as a bride in charge one step further as she announces plans to design the dress herself.

The former Pan Am actress, who is engaged to fiancé James Heerdegen, recently revealed to Life & Style magazine her plans for the wedding so far.

"We have the venue, we have a we have a caterer and I have someone working on a dress,” Christina said.

The talented star, 32, who landed her first big role in the Addams Family at just 11, also announced that she will be helping the designer create the one-of-a-kind wedding gown.

"It's fun," she said of the design process. "We are still in the initial sketching stages."





Source



Although Christina has not yet revealed a name, she has said that the designer will be a "close friend of mine".

Supermodel Kate Moss also teamed up with friend and designer John Galliano when helping to create the bespoke vintage number she wore when she tied the knot with husband, Jamie Hince.

Other celebrities who have taken their hand to adding a personal touch to their wedding day attire include Anne Hathaway who wore custom-made Valentino and Blake Lively who chose Marchesa.

With regards to her fiancé, the Bel Ami actress has also revealed that she's taking on most of the planning herself.

“[Jimmy] is not really into fashion that much,” Christina said. “He’s not even going to help plan the wedding. He’s working. He’s always working.”

The happy couple met on the set of American television series Pan Am where James was working as a dolly grip. This will be the first trip down the ailse for Christina who revealed the engagement in February of this year.

The star has also told US Weekly that she'll be having a "moderately sized" wedding, but did not specify a date.

"I'm excited to be with all my friends and family," she explained, "and just have a lovely night."