Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Blake Livelys Rep: Nude Photos Are Fake

A rep for Blake Lively says the nude photos reported to be the Gossip Girl star are "100 percent fake," US Weekly reports.

On Tuesday night, five alleged self-portraits of a woman in the nude hit the internet, one of which features a face appearing to belong to the 23-year-old actress.

Lively's rep says the actress plans to pursue legal action against any outlet that published the photos. "Blake has never taken nude photos of herself."

Check out the rest of today's news

The photos surfaced online just days after the star was caught canoodling with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Related Articles on TVGuide.com

Source: http://omg.yahoo.com/news/blake-livelys-rep-nude-photos-are-fake/64070

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Mark Zuckerberg on Oversharing, Social Design and Facebook Revolutions

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has just finished a mammoth 70 minute interview at the eG8 Forum in Paris.

Speaking to Maurice L�vy, Chairman and CEO of Publicis�Group, Zuckerberg also answered questions submitted by attendees and the public via (of course) Facebook. Hosted by French president Nicolas Sarkozy, the eG8 summit has been thrashing out the�political�digital agenda of the day ahead of the G8 summit of world leaders tomorrow.

Here?s a summary of what Zuckerberg said:

On how much information is enough to share: Zuckerberg says that people should choose their own boundaries. Some people are naturally more public. Ten or 20 years ago, people would have been shocked at the idea of sharing their lives�publicly. Now new tools provide benefit on that. For example, location ? knowing who is around you is valuable but there?s a trade-off against your privacy. Zuckerberg believes that people will find their own balance.

Zuckerberg thinks that people do a good job of choosing which companies to entrust with their data.

He stated that the key reason that Facebook usurped Myspace was its emphasis on real identities, although he noted that there was a role for anonymity online too ? Facebook just isn?t the company to provide it.

Zuckerberg sees users sharing content and information online, and the development of new tools to allow them to do that will be a key trend for the next few years.

On media going social: Zuckerberg is clearly excited by the potential for media to become more social. He noted that only four years after Facebook launched its developer platform, social gaming leader Zynga is bigger than previous top gaming firm EA. Now Facebook wants media to become more social too. The success of social gaming shows that people do more of something if they can do it with friends. Interestingly, he noted that movie ads ? and media in general ? do well on Facebook.

Zuckerberg believes that letting everyone share their opinions can help the best products rise to the top, improving the world for everyone as a result.

Zuckerberg identified e-commerce as another area that could benefit from Facebook platform in future. Facebook doesn?t want to go into these industries itself, simply providing the best platform for others to work with to make them social.

On ?social design?: Zuckerberg talked about the�principle�of ?social design? used at Facebook. For example, friend requests have evolved from ?Yes? and ?No? options to ?Accept? or ?Not Now?. While essentially the same, Zuckerberg says the psychological difference means that people are happier to reject friend requests now than in the days of the ?No? option. This social design principle will be baked into a wide range of products across a wide range of industries in the future ? not just from Facebook but many other companies.

On ?Facebook Revolutions?: Zuckerberg downplayed Facebook?s role in the revolutions and uprisings in the middle east and North Africa, saying that it would be arrogant for one technology company to take credit for what has occurred.

Facebook was ?neither necessary nor sufficient? to trigger these movements, he said, and if it weren?t Facebook it would be someone else. The ability to share their opinions online isn?t a Facebook thing, it?s an Internet thing.

It?s wider than just revolutions too, he believes, giving the example of leaders having pages on Facebook, helping provide the public with greater access to those in power.

On children under 13 using Facebook: Zuckerberg clarified his thoughts on young people under 13 using Facebook, something which is currently against the rules, after it was recently reported that he had said ?Under 13s should be on Facebook?. He said that the legislation around minors using Facebook was too difficult to deal with right now. He believes this legislation needs to be looked at in the future, but the company has no plans to open up the site to under 13s, or to address the issue itself, at the moment.

On mobile: While he stated yet again that Facebook didn?t have plans to go into dedicated devices such as ?Facebook phones?, Zuckerberg said that over the next 5 years there are going to be way more people accessing Facebook through phones than on traditional computers. He said that the company would have ?cool?�announcements�in the mobile space soon.

This article was written by Mark Bryant at The Next Web, a The NextWomen partner.� See their site here.

Source: http://www.thenextwomen.com/2011/05/30/mark-zuckerberg-oversharing-social-design-and-facebook-revolutions

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Hey, dimples! Khloe Kardashian teams up with Nivea to tackle cellulite

Khloe Kardashian Odom will be the face of Nivea's Goodbye Cellulite, Hello Bikini! Challenge.

Nivea

Khloe Kardashian Odom will be the face of Nivea's Goodbye Cellulite, Hello Bikini! Challenge.

Khloe Kardashian Odom is teaming up with Nivea to tackle a grave injustice ? cellulite.

The 26-year-old Kardashian sister will be the face of Nivea's Goodbye Cellulite, Hello Bikini! Challenge.

"Yes, I have cellulite ? that's no secret," she told People.

The Challenge includes a program that combines fitness, nutrition, skin care and style to help women reduce the appearance of cellulite. There's also an interactive bikini adviser and product suggestions.

"I love to be an advocate for anything that helps empower women and give confidence to them, especially when I can relate to something as sensitive as cellulite," reports People.

The statuesque Kardashian will be documenting her progress on Facebook.

Kim and Kourtney's younger sister can't seem to get away from issues surrounding her weight.

In a recent issue of UsWeekly, she appeared on the cover with the headline "Tortured for her weight."

While she admitted that she believes she's "massive" compared with her smaller sisters, she's made peace with her size.

"My body weight will always be something that I will have to work on for the rest of my life, but I am finally in a really good place and learning to love me for me and not for someone else's standards," she wrote in her personal blog.

Source: http://feeds.nydailynews.com/~r/nydnrss/gossip/~3/51OXH1bqWIo/2011-05-31_khloe_kardashian_is_face_of_nivea_cellulite_program_yes_i_have_cellulite__thats_.html

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Late Returns: God Gives Bachmann The All-Clear

Apparently, Michele Bachmann is now confirming that she has received the long-awaited go-ahead from the Lord on her presidential run. Per Eric Kleefeld, she revealed that she had received His blessing in an interview with Iowa Public Television:

Henderson: You recently referenced your Christian faith. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, when he announced he would not run, said that he just didn't feel called to do that. Have you had that sort of calling to run for president?

Bachmann: Well, every decision that I make I pray about as does my husband and I can tell you, yes, I've had that calling and that tugging on my heart that this is the right thing to do and because it's such a momentous decision, not only for myself, my husband and our 28 children, it is a momentous decision.

You can watch the entire interview, here. And let's just remember that God created the platypus and "works in mysterious ways" before we all go changing religions, okay?
_____________________

Iowa Republicans are feeling disrespected, and New Hampshire Republicans are making fun of them in newspapers. The only thing that can restore the Iowa GOP's self-esteem, apparently, is for Mitt Romney to visit them. Though it should be noted that Iowa's therapist has asked Iowa to "take some time and reflect upon the actions it may have taken" to reduce itself to this lowly state, adding, "be sure to set up an appointment next week with Mary Jo at the front desk, and keep writing in your dream journal, even if it's mostly about ethanol subsidies." [Washington Post]

Apparently, at some point in the future, Sarah Palin and Donald Trump will meet one another, have a meal, and then, presumably, form some sort of reality television version of Voltron. That's all! I just sort of wanted in on the SEO gold represented in the combination of the names "Sarah Palin" and "Donald Trump," like everyone else. Carry on with your lives! [Politico]

It seems that Mitt Romney is a fan of Twilight, the four-book saga in which a young woman weakly mopes over a pair of supernatural beings, eventually giving birth to the child of one of them in horrifying fashion. It will eventually come out that Romney was on "Team Jacob" for a long time before pretending he was always on "Team Edward." [Alyssa Rosenberg @ ThinkProgress]

Glenn Thrush and Byron Tau report that Obama's "secret weapon" in Florida will be running against Rick Scott, the grifter-governor that Floridians voted for in 2010 and are now learning to despise. I still think there's still a good chance that Obama will have to wait in line behind Florida Republicans, who may as well also "run against Rick Scott." [Politico]

Here is a headline that may lead you to believe that Herman Cain went to Iowa and did some heroin until you read a little further. [Taegan Goddard's Political Wire]

[Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here.]

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/31/michele-bachmann-president-2012_n_869413.html

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SPOTTED: LISARAYE & DAUGHTER KAI PARTYING IN PUERTO RICO + VIEW VH1?S ?SINGLE LADIES?

LisaRaye McCoy and her daughter Kai Morae don their white at the Manhattan Lounge in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Monday evening. The actress and her model daughter partied at the closing party for her 2nd Annual “B2B – Mix … Continue

Source: http://concreteloop.com/2011/05/spotted-lisaraye-daughter-kai-partying-in-puerto-rico-view-vh1s-single-ladies

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Suri Cruise Loves Her Heels - Even On The Beach!

suri-cruise-wearing-high-heels-on-the-beach

Hey! Sacrifices must sometimes be made in the name of fashion!

Suri Cruise was spotted hanging out on the beach with her mom, Katie Holmes, during a Memorial Day party in Malibu, and unsurprisingly, she was sporting a pair of heels - even though she was running around in the sand!

Check out the photos (above and below)!

We wouldn't expect anything less from her!

She DEMANDS class and sophistication wherever she goes, after all! LOLz!

Hope you two had a nice time!

[Images via WENN.]

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Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-05-31-suri-cruise-wearing-high-heels-on-the-beach

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Donald Sutherland Joins The Hunger Games


Jennifer Lawrence, meet your nemesis.

Donald Sutherland has landed one of the final, major roles remaining in The Hunger Games.

The veteran actor will portray President Snow in the franchise, a character who grows in importance following Katniss' initial run in his Capitol-sponsored death event. Snow is in charge of the post-Apocalyptic North America depicted in the books.

Donald Sutherland Picture

Sutherland joins Jennifer (as Katniss Everdeen), Josh Hutcherson (as Peeta Mellark), Liam Hemsworth (as Gale Hawthorne), Elizabeth Banks (as Effie Trinket), Stanley Tucci (as Caesar Flickerman), and Woody Harrelson (as Haymitch) in the big screen adaption of these novels.

The first hits theaters on March 23.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/inspirationally/CelebrityGossipNewsHeadlines/~3/kAOUeJU-uBI/

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Bank Of Canada Keeps Interest Rate At 1 Per Cent

(The Canadian Press) -- OTTAWA - The Bank of Canada is keeping interest rates at super-low levels and giving few hints when it might start raising them again.

For the sixth straight announcement date, the central bank said Tuesday the economy is not strong enough for monetary tightening and kept the trendsetting policy rate at one per cent, where it has been since last September.

But in an accompanying statement, the bank did change its advisory on future action, indicating it is anxious to start moving rates closer to their normal levels. The problem, the bank said, is that the conditions are not right yet.

"To the extent that the expansion continues and the current material excess supply in the economy is gradually absorbed, some of the considerable monetary policy stimulus currently in place will be eventually withdrawn," it says.

"Such reduction would need to be carefully considered."

That last phrase, said CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfeld, puts the odds of a move in July at less than 50 per cent. He predicted the bank will begin tightening in September, with the overnight rate being raised to 1.75 per cent by the end of the year.

Given the uncertainty in the global recovery, Tuesday's inaction was widely predicted.

Policy-makers, including Bank of Canada governor Carney, have of late taken to setting off warning flares about rising risks to the world economy, although the tone in the bank's statement was less alarmist this time.

The bank takes note of risks, in particular the European debt crisis, high commodity prices and the strong Canadian dollar, as well as the temporary disruptions caused by Japan's dual natural and nuclear disasters ? all of which bank's governing council have highlighted before.

But the bank says it has not changed its mind that the economic expansion will continue. The global recovery is proceeding broadly as outlined in its last policy review in April, it says, and so is Canada's.

It says while supply chain disruptions emanating from Japan will cause Canada's second-quarter growth to fall sharply, it will remain positive, and the momentum will be resumed later in the year.

"Although temporary supply chain disruptions are expected to restrain growth sharply in the current quarter, this is expected to be unwound in subsequent quarters," the bank reasoned.

As well, Carney remains convinced that inflation pressures caused by high commodity prices are a temporary phenomenon, at least in Canada.

"The bank expects that high energy prices and changes in provincial indirect taxes will keep total CPI inflation above three per cent in the short term," it says. "Total CPI inflation is expected to converge with core inflation at two per cent by the middle of 2012 as excess supply in the economy is gradually absorbed, labour compensation growth stays modest, productivity recovers and inflation expectations remain well-anchored."

The risk to higher inflation is that household borrowing grows, given low rates, but on the other hand, the bank says, the strong Canadian dollar should keep prices of imports in check.

'; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/05/31/bank-of-canada-interest-rates_n_869023.html

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Deepak Chopra: Modern Medicine and the Paradox of How We Die

Let me begin by reassuring you that this isn't going to be a grim post. But it begins in an area people are uncomfortable with. We all must die, yet this is one inevitability that almost nobody feels comfortable talking about. That includes doctors and nurses, as was discovered in a newly published study from King's College in London. It surveyed the staff that surrounded dying patients in hospices and found that they witness every common end-of-life experience (ELE). These fall into two types, and one of them will seem very strange.

The first type of ELE seeks final meaning. Near the time of death, people often want to be reconciled with family members who have become estranged, and this desire can be so strong that the moment of death is postponed until the estranged person visits. There is often a desire to put one's affairs in order and to right past wrongs. It is observed that patients who have been semi-conscious will have a moment of sudden lucidity in which they express their dying wishes before lapsing back. This whole category of ELE is psychologically intimate, and a significant number of doctors and nurses feel uncomfortable being present for it. Two inhibitions stand in the way. Doctors spend most of their energy trying to extend life, so learning about dying isn't part of their training. Secondly, it is still considered a sign of weakness for a doctor to feel emotional about death, which leads to distancing himself from the actual experience.

The second type of ELE is labeled transpersonal, although the common word for it would be spooky. Dying patients, far more often than is acknowledged, have highly mystical experiences. They get visions of departed ones who have come to take them away. They sense the transmission of light and love from other realities and can visit those realities. The study found that such ELEs could not be accounted for by the medical state or treatment of the person -- the ELE occurred in clear consciousness.

Yet probably the most uncomfortable ELE in this category was observed by the staff, including seeing something leave the body at the time of death, finding that a peculiar synchronicity occurred, such as the clock stopping at the moment of death. It's more common than you would suppose for relatives who were not present when the dying person passed away to have them appear at the moment of death. Needless to say, modern society is skeptical enough that ridicule and quick dismissal of these transpersonal experiences will arise, even though they have been reported continually in every culture since history has been recorded.

The study makes the point that ELEs, which of course do not occur with every dying person, bring comfort and consolation; they seem to be a natural mechanism that surrounds the climactic event of death. Which brings us to the paradox of how we die. In the 1930s, 80 percent of people still died at home; now more than 80 percent die in the impersonal setting of a hospital. Massive expense is involved in trying to cure the last disease each of us will have, the one we eventually die from. As medical technology shrouds the dying process, as people become more and more discomfited being around it, nature doesn't seem to care. Mind and spirit experience death the old-fashioned way. Happily, the paradox resolves itself in favor of death being much less scary than we imagine. There is every indication that we are meant to die at peace, and so we do.

The breakthrough book in this area was Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's "On Death and Dying," which appeared in 1969; we've had over 40 years to rid ourselves of the suppressed dread and panic that surrounds a natural process. The new London study should help pave the way for even greater clarity and hope about dying, but there is strong resistance still. Kubler-Ross herself, having enjoyed great acclaim for her book, went on to explore the mystical side of ELEs, the transpersonal kind. Her efforts were greeted with hostility by mainstream medicine and various brands of skepticism. In many ways it was a sad turnaround for a brave psychological researcher. Yet, in the end I think Kubler-Ross, whom I knew when she herself was dying in 2004, will be vindicated. There is much more to dying than lying in bed connected to tubes and praying that you will "go into the light." The real light we need to shine is here and now. What awaits a great many people is that mysterious thing, a good death, and we would do well to realize that.

Deepak Chopra on Intent.com
deepakchopra.com

Follow Deepak Chopra on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DeepakChopra

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/end-of-life-experiences_b_868738.html

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Brad Pitt Talks Marriage; Is It Time?


In the movie Tree of Life, Brad Pitt plays a demanding father in the 1950s.

Such a role has prompted the A-lister to open about his personal life, specifically the future of his relationship with Angelina Jolie. Might they actually tie the knot?

"The kids ask about marriage," he told USA Today recently. "It's meaning more and more to them. So it's something we've got to look at.”


The Tree of Life Trailer

Forget Shiloh, Maddox and company. It's clear who would be most affected by an eventual Brangelina union: Kim Kardashian! Pitt and Jolie finally walking down the aisle would bump her impending marriage to Kris Humphries on to the back pages.

So we know how Kim would feel about that development. What about you? Should Brad and Angelina get married?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/05/brad-pitt-talks-marriage-is-it-time/

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'Farrah's Story' was one of strife behind the camera

The actress Farrah Fawcett was under full- time nurse supervision at her high-rise condominium on Wilshire Boulevard's Golden Mile, floating in and out of consciousness, when NBC made its demand.

The network had bid $1.5 million for a cinema verite-style film Fawcett was making of her struggle with late-stage cancer, and with the gossip media buzzing about her imminent death, NBC was eager to get the show on television for the upcoming May sweeps rating competition.

"I do have to get this show on the air," a network executive wrote to Craig Nevius, Fawcett's production partner. "And I think you do, too."

But Fawcett was too sick to approve a final version of the documentary, and Nevius was reluctant to move forward without her.

"I must honor my duty to her intent and her vision," he wrote back.

NBC ultimately got what it wanted, but only after the actor Ryan O'Neal, Fawcett's on- again-off-again boyfriend of more than 30 years, engineered a takeover of the project from Nevius.

Received as a seminal moment in television history when it was broadcast in May 2009 - making Fawcett "the first American celebrity to film herself dying," The New York Post wrote - the film was complimented by reviewers for its candor, but was also called "sometimes almost unbearable" and "exploitative."

If the documentary was a wrenching drama, the off-camera takeover itself was operatic, with threats of violence and a death-bed transfer of legal

rights, leading to courthouse wrangling that pitted wealthy powerful Hollywood fixtures against Nevius, a prodigy screenwriter turned producer who never quite broke into the big time.

The struggle surrounding the film, pieced together through interviews, emails and warring lawsuits settled a few weeks ago, reveals a chaotic final chapter in the life of an American icon - and a particularly indelicate entertainment industry moment, even by the standards of the reality TV era.

By selling her "video diary" to NBC, Fawcett turned her illness into the ultimate real-life programming for an ever-more voyeuristic audience. She intertwined her wishes for her story with the interests of a network fighting for footing in the television ratings race.

"She chose to film this and turn it into a TV show," said Doug Vaughan, the NBC executive who oversaw the project. "It was their idea to do this."

But Fawcett had intended the film to address shortcomings she saw in American cancer treatment and to present it in art-house style. She would reference Francois Truffaut when talking about her vision.

After O'Neal and NBC gained full control of the documentary, the film took on the feel of network celebrity fodder - at once more glossy and more morbid.

"It was a contradiction of what the film was supposed to be," said Nevius, who had become Fawcett's part-agent, part-manager, part-producer - and a full-time devotee.

Over Nevius' objections, the film, originally titled "A Wing and a Prayer," was renamed "Farrah's Story," echoing the 1970 film "Love Story," in which O'Neal played a husband devoted to his terminally ill wife. ("`Love Story' was one of the most viewed movies of all time," O'Neal said in an interview. "What's his problem?")

O'Neal became the leading man in "Farrah's Story" as well, professing his love with only a hint of the tumult that marked their relationship.

Many scenes addressing the American medical system were scrapped or truncated. The new version included a more robust homage to Fawcett's career as well as fresh, raw scenes, including footage of Redmond O'Neal, the couple's son, saying goodbye to his mother. Temporarily released from jail where he was being held on drug charges, he arrived in a prison uniform and leg shackles and climbed into her bed as she lay nearly comatose. "Get real close to her," O'Neal directed his son as the camera zoomed in.

Kate Jackson, Fawcett's friend and a "Charlie's Angels" co-star, called the scene "absolutely inexcusable," adding: "Jesus no, she would not have wanted her son shot in prison garb and shackles. What purpose does that serve?"

Unanswered question

In a lawsuit, Nevius contended the film had become the maudlin retrospective Fawcett wanted to avoid. O'Neal maintained he took over the project with Fawcett's blessing, after he and the network determined it was not ready for prime time. Alana Stewart, a friend of Fawcett who shot much of the film, dismissed criticisms, saying "something must have been done right if it was viewed by 10 million people and nominated for an Emmy."

But left unanswered is the question of which version - if any - of her final image Fawcett would have wanted to project.

"I hate to tell you, my friend, nobody knows," said Mela Murphy, Fawcett's friend and hairdresser. "Maybe it shouldn't have been aired at all. How about that?"

Fawcett did not set out to make a film about her death. "She thought it was to be a story of survival," O'Neal said. When a recurrence of her anal cancer was diagnosed in 2007 she began filming her doctor visits and then decided to make a documentary. She said she wanted to highlight what she saw as the slow process of drug approvals in the United States and treatment advances in countries like Germany, where she was seeking a cure.

The film was to be a series of real-time video diaries tied together by Fawcett's narration. Nevius said Fawcett wanted to minimize references to her career and rejected his suggestion to make her relationship with O'Neal a subplot, telling him "this isn't that."

Fawcett entrusted Nevius with carrying out her vision, giving him control if she became incapacitated. Eighteen years her junior, he had come to Hollywood from Illinois as a promising young screenwriter. He was only 22 when his first script became a major motion picture - "Happy Together," starring Helen Slater, Patrick Dempsey and, in a bit role, Brad Pitt.

But by the time Nevius met Fawcett 15 years later he had a modest career producing shows with stars of yore. He convinced her to do a reality show, "Chasing Farrah," and when that ended in 2005, he remained in her life. When Fawcett's mother died, he produced a tribute shown at the funeral. He helped Fawcett secure the rights to her famous red bathing suit poster. In a Christmas card, she called him "my loyal friend, my protector."

Nevius and Fawcett were an incongruous pair - she, the glamorous beauty of the '70s who regularly socialized with the likes of Tina Sinatra and Cher, and he, the long-haired, jeans-and-T-shirt-wearing producer who lived in a modest apartment in West Hollywood

The other main member of the production team, Stewart, would come to chafe under Nevius, whom she viewed as a devoted puppy dog if not an obsessed fan. A one-time model and ex-wife to two big show business names - the actor George Hamilton and the rocker Rod Stewart - she had been friends with Fawcett since the '70s.

A point of contention

O'Neal said that Fawcett also asked him to work on the film but that he would not work with Nevius. "`Get rid of him and I'll come aboard,"' O'Neal recalled saying.

"I'd worked with Kubrick for God's sake," he said, referring to Stanley Kubrick, his director on "Barry Lyndon." "With really good, talented people. I know the difference."

The documentary became a point of contention for Fawcett and O'Neal, who had reunited after a prolonged estrangement but still kept separate homes and finances.

"She just got mad at me because I was being difficult," O'Neal said. "I said, `I know I'm difficult, but I'm sorry, you don't need two geniuses, honey, one's enough."'

In fall 2008, O'Neal persuaded Fawcett to meet with a possible replacement for Nevius, the producer Robert Greenwald, who had directed her in the 1984 television movie "The Burning Bed." But Fawcett resisted cutting out Nevius. "The whole subtext was he was helping to hold her life together," Greenwald said.

Even so, O'Neal ordered Nevius to hand the project to Greenwald. When Nevius refused, he said O'Neal told him: "I'll kill you with Farrah and then I'll kill you in real life."

Asked about the exchange, O'Neal - who once fired a gun in a dispute with his son Griffin - said, "I may have said `I'll kill ya,' but I said that as a joke."

In winter 2009, Fawcett took her final trip to the German clinic where she was being treated. When she returned that spring, her condition had worsened and the film fell on her list of priorities. For others it became increasingly urgent and divisive.

In April, with NBC prodding Nevius to deliver for May sweeps, Stewart was refusing to turn over scenes she shot in Germany because of a continuing pay dispute. "I know Farrah thinks it's generous, and perhaps it is by `industry standard,' but this has not been a standard industry project," she had written to Nevius.

Nevius declined to up her pay without talking to Fawcett. Yet, Stewart, who was keeping vigil at Fawcett's condominium with O'Neal, told Nevius she was too ill for visitors. (Stewart said it was Fawcett's decision.)

Tensions were rising with NBC as well. Though Vaughn had called Nevius a "great producer" in one email, he had steadily raised concerns about the structure of the film as Nevius and Fawcett sent them rough cuts.

That spring NBC assigned a former "Dateline" producer to help with the project. When she submitted a script with new, melodramatic lines written for Fawcett, Nevius returned it covered with red ink. Where Fawcett was scripted to say, "Was it written in the stars, I wonder, that life would take this turn," Nevius wrote: "She will never say this. Nor should she."

A publicist for NBC News alerted Nevius on April 15 that the network expected to broadcast the film in roughly three weeks. Nevius had agreed to work double time to finish the documentary, but said he would not deliver a final version without Fawcett's approval.

"I'm a bit between a rock and a hard place," Nevius wrote back. "She has been out of the hospital for less than a week and I have not seen her yet, because she is still in some pain and sleeping quite a bit."

"That's why I think it's imperative for you to see Farrah and speak to her," Vaughan replied, adding that "obviously we're not crass and certainly do not want you to focus only on this when you see her."

That same day, Nevius got a frantic call from Murphy, Fawcett's hairdresser and one of the few people allowed into the condominium.

According to Nevius' notes, Murphy said O'Neal was urgently looking for Fawcett's contract with Nevius. She also told him a nurse had called her upset, because lawyers for O'Neal were trying to persuade the bed-ridden Fawcett to sign various documents.

In an interview, Murphy confirmed the conversation with Nevius. "To me it was like, `Why are you bothering with this stuff? Let's get her to eat,"' she said.

Nothing underhanded

On April 20, after Nevius again proposed a visit, Richard B. Francis, whose family firm managed the finances of both O'Neal and Fawcett, left a message for Nevius. Francis said, "I'm telling you right now, you better not appear at Farrah's," or risk a beating from O'Neal.

That afternoon, Stewart and Murphy said, Fawcett was mentally sharp when she signed papers relinquishing creative control of the film to O'Neal. "There was nothing going on that was underhanded," Stewart said. "It was very straightforward."

Murphy said despite her earlier doubts, she realized that Fawcett "did want Ryan to take control of this."

O'Neal said that Fawcett gave him control after he showed her a rough cut of the film. "I held her in my arms when we watched his version, because she wasn't able to sit up," he said. "She wasn't saying too much of anything at this point, except that `We have a lot of work to do."'

One of the new documents effectively claimed the initial agreement between Fawcett and Nevius - giving him control if she became too sick - was null and void. Kim H. Swartz, the lawyer who helped oversee the drafting of that agreement, declined though another lawyer on the case, Howard Weitzman, to discuss the signing of the documents.

Asked whether Fawcett had resisted signing some documents, Weitzman said, "If she was too tired or not feeling well enough at any particular time to give something her best attention, she would handle it when the time was right, just like anyone else."

When Nevius expressed doubts to NBC about the validity of the signatures, which were noticeably shaky compared with her trademark perfect signature, network officials said they considered it "an internal dispute" that left them little choice but to recognize O'Neal's new role. Once in charge, O'Neal gave the network relatively free rein in producing the final version.

Asked later why the show went on even after Fawcett became too ill to see it through, Vaughan said the network "needed to get this on the air before something bad happened to Farrah, so she would be able to receive the well wishes of her legions of fans."

Speaking with reporters at a star-studded party for the documentary, O'Neal said Fawcett was "heavily medicated" at home, but would be watching the debut two nights later on NBC. "We're going to take some of these medications down so she's lucid and sharp," he said.

Stewart said that when she and O'Neal watched the program with Fawcett on her bed, she said, "It was 'very, very, very good."'

Fawcett died six weeks later at age 62.

For the next 18 months, Nevius pursued his lawsuit against O'Neal, Stewart and Francis full time, hoping to regain control of the company he and Fawcett formed and produce the film he says she wanted. Francis countersued, accusing Nevius of being a hanger-on who ingratiated himself with Fawcett and embezzled money from their company. (He and O'Neal never offered proof, and Nevius denies the allegation.)

By last fall, Nevius was regularly fielding tearful calls from his mother, urging him to move on. When his lawyer told him in December the fight could go on for two more years and cost another $250,000, he said he decided to enter into settlement talks.

"I'm fighting at least two multimillionaires," he said. "And at this point I don't know that it's honoring Farrah. I just don't think she'd want us all destroying each other, which is pretty much how it's going."

O'Neal offered his former nemesis some advice: "He should go on with his life and let her rest in peace."

For his part, O'Neal is producing a new reality show with his daughter Tatum O'Neal, a partnership made famous in the 1973 movie "Paper Moon." There are also plans to release a version on DVD of "Farrah's Story," which he now controls.

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_18171271?source=rss

Samantha Morton Jill Arrington Kelly Brook Eliza Dushku Jennifer Gimenez

Nice Black Celebrities photos

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://ilookfly.com/black-celebs-gossip/nice-black-celebrities-photos-16/

Bali Rodriguez Daisy Fuentes Karen Carreno Kirsten Dunst Mariah Carey

Monday, May 30, 2011

RANDOM PICS: RIHANNA PERFORMS ON THE TODAY SHOW + VIDEO

Singer Rihanna dons a sailor’s hat during her NBC ‘Today Show’ performance at Rockefeller Plaza on Friday morning (May 27). The pop star performed a few of her hits for the NYC crowd, including, “What’s My Name”, “California King Bed” … Continue

Source: http://concreteloop.com/2011/05/random-pics-rihanna-performs-on-the-today-show-video

Brittny Gastineau Aki Ross Milla Jovovich Talisa Soto Sofía Vergara

Criminal Minds Cast Shakeup: Paget Brewster In, Rachel Nichols Out

Anyone hoping for more Ashley Seaver on Criminal Minds next season is out of luck.

According to Deadline.com, CBS has dropped Rachel Nichols from the show. But Paget Brewster will be returning as part of a new deal that includes fewer episodes (after the pilot she filmed last year, My Life as an Experiment, didn't get picked up).

Meanwhile, Thomas Gibson has also not yet made a deal for next season, but negotiations are ongoing. In other Criminal Minds news, original cast member A.J. Cook is coming back to the show as are Kirsten Vangsness and Shemar Moore.

Criminal Minds returns for its seventh season in the fall.

PHOTOS: True Blood Season Four

Source: http://feeds.eonline.com/~r/eonline/topstories/~3/5RPfTRGGNc0/b244567_criminal_minds_cast_shakeup_paget.html

Arielle Kebbel Miranda Kerr Dania Ramirez Donna Feldman Joanne Montanez

Lifechangers: The Best Travel Tips, Without Spending a Ton!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ExtraTV/~3/TMu2vC2mqxg/_lifechangers_the_best_travel_tips_without_spending_a_ton.php

Melissa Howard Moon Bloodgood Britney Spears Ashanti Paulina Rubio

Mark Zuckerberg on Oversharing, Social Design and Facebook Revolutions

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has just finished a mammoth 70 minute interview at the eG8 Forum in Paris.

Speaking to Maurice L�vy, Chairman and CEO of Publicis�Group, Zuckerberg also answered questions submitted by attendees and the public via (of course) Facebook. Hosted by French president Nicolas Sarkozy, the eG8 summit has been thrashing out the�political�digital agenda of the day ahead of the G8 summit of world leaders tomorrow.

Here?s a summary of what Zuckerberg said:

On how much information is enough to share: Zuckerberg says that people should choose their own boundaries. Some people are naturally more public. Ten or 20 years ago, people would have been shocked at the idea of sharing their lives�publicly. Now new tools provide benefit on that. For example, location ? knowing who is around you is valuable but there?s a trade-off against your privacy. Zuckerberg believes that people will find their own balance.

Zuckerberg thinks that people do a good job of choosing which companies to entrust with their data.

He stated that the key reason that Facebook usurped Myspace was its emphasis on real identities, although he noted that there was a role for anonymity online too ? Facebook just isn?t the company to provide it.

Zuckerberg sees users sharing content and information online, and the development of new tools to allow them to do that will be a key trend for the next few years.

On media going social: Zuckerberg is clearly excited by the potential for media to become more social. He noted that only four years after Facebook launched its developer platform, social gaming leader Zynga is bigger than previous top gaming firm EA. Now Facebook wants media to become more social too. The success of social gaming shows that people do more of something if they can do it with friends. Interestingly, he noted that movie ads ? and media in general ? do well on Facebook.

Zuckerberg believes that letting everyone share their opinions can help the best products rise to the top, improving the world for everyone as a result.

Zuckerberg identified e-commerce as another area that could benefit from Facebook platform in future. Facebook doesn?t want to go into these industries itself, simply providing the best platform for others to work with to make them social.

On ?social design?: Zuckerberg talked about the�principle�of ?social design? used at Facebook. For example, friend requests have evolved from ?Yes? and ?No? options to ?Accept? or ?Not Now?. While essentially the same, Zuckerberg says the psychological difference means that people are happier to reject friend requests now than in the days of the ?No? option. This social design principle will be baked into a wide range of products across a wide range of industries in the future ? not just from Facebook but many other companies.

On ?Facebook Revolutions?: Zuckerberg downplayed Facebook?s role in the revolutions and uprisings in the middle east and North Africa, saying that it would be arrogant for one technology company to take credit for what has occurred.

Facebook was ?neither necessary nor sufficient? to trigger these movements, he said, and if it weren?t Facebook it would be someone else. The ability to share their opinions online isn?t a Facebook thing, it?s an Internet thing.

It?s wider than just revolutions too, he believes, giving the example of leaders having pages on Facebook, helping provide the public with greater access to those in power.

On children under 13 using Facebook: Zuckerberg clarified his thoughts on young people under 13 using Facebook, something which is currently against the rules, after it was recently reported that he had said ?Under 13s should be on Facebook?. He said that the legislation around minors using Facebook was too difficult to deal with right now. He believes this legislation needs to be looked at in the future, but the company has no plans to open up the site to under 13s, or to address the issue itself, at the moment.

On mobile: While he stated yet again that Facebook didn?t have plans to go into dedicated devices such as ?Facebook phones?, Zuckerberg said that over the next 5 years there are going to be way more people accessing Facebook through phones than on traditional computers. He said that the company would have ?cool?�announcements�in the mobile space soon.

This article was written by Mark Bryant at The Next Web, a The NextWomen partner.� See their site here.

Source: http://www.thenextwomen.com/2011/05/30/mark-zuckerberg-oversharing-social-design-and-facebook-revolutions

Talisa Soto Sofía Vergara Lokelani McMichael Lacey Chabert Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Amber Rose Says F*ck Vibe Magazine

Posted by ILookFlyChick�-�Sunday May 29, 2011 23:49

Amber Rose Says F*ck Vibe Magazine

Yesterday Amber Rose tweeted f*ck Vibe Magazine, for writing a negative cover story on her. Amber who graces the cover of Vibe Magazine?s June/July 2011 Sexy issue, spoke on her past relationships with Kanye West and Reggie Bush. �The interview suggested that Amber was still in love with Kanye and that Reggie Bush was just her rebound guy. She says the cover story was untrue and ridiculous. Check below for the excerpt from the interview and Amber Rose?s angry tweets.

AMBER ON LIFE POST-KANYE:
?What am I supposed to do? Crawl up in a corner and die ?cause I?m not with Kanye anymore? Am I supposed to go back to the strip club and not take these opportunities that I have??

AMBER OF HER RELATIONSHIP WITH REGGIE BUSH:
?Me and Reggie [Bush] dated very briefly after Kanye?We were both each other?s rebound and we both knew that and were cool with that.?

AMBER ON WHY HER STORY IS RELATABLE:
?I don?t have rich parents and it?s a struggle. I can?t just call my dad and be like, ?Dad, my money is a little messed up. Can you buy me a car or a house? It?s not like that for me. I feel like more people will relate to my story than the Kardashians or the Hiltons.?

AMBER ON BEING ICONIC:
?Kanye would always tell be how beautiful I was and that I was going to be iconic. He always said that, ?Baby, you are iconic. You don?t understand what you have. I didn?t. I didn?t understand it.?

Related Post:

The Urban Daily � Gossip & News

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Source: http://ilookfly.com/black-celebs-gossip/amber-rose-says-fck-vibe-magazine/

Ashlee Simpson Nikki Cox Erika Christensen Ashley Greene Taylor Swift

MUSIC VIDEO: DIDDY-DIRTY MONEY ? ?LOOKING FOR LOVE (FT. USHER)?

Diddy-Dirty Money (Diddy, Kaleena & Dawn Richard) drop another music video for their most recent Last Train To Paris single, “Looking For Love”. The video was directed by none other than Colin Tilley. R&B crooner Usher Raymond lends a hand … Continue

Source: http://concreteloop.com/2011/05/music-video-diddy-dirty-money-looking-for-love-ft-usher

Miranda Kerr Dania Ramirez Donna Feldman Joanne Montanez Charisma Carpenter

DMX To Be Released From Prison By The End Of This Summer

Troubled rapper DMX has been granted an early release from prison and will be set free July 1. Dark Man X has been locked up since last December when he arrested for felony probation violation, after testing positive for cocaine five times between July and November 2010. At the time of his sentencing Judge Christine Mulleneaux [...]

Source: http://ksfm.radio.com/2011/05/29/dmx-to-be-released-from-prison-by-the-end-of-this-summer/

Amanda Swisten Leila Arcieri Tara Reid T.A.T.u. Catherine Bell

THG Presents: Guess the Celebrity Cross-Dresser!


One of the world's most beautiful women is a cross-dresser. At least for one photoshoot.

A certain actress dresses up as silent film star Buster Keaton in the latest issue of W Magazine. Who is it? It wouldn't be any fun if we came out and told you, would it?

Study the photos below, try to imagine this subject with large breasts, a form-fitting dress and far different makeup. Then, click on either of the pictures for the answer. Good luck!!!

Cross Dressing for WW Magazine Photo

Which A-list actress is this? Click on the pics for the answer.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/05/thg-presents-guess-the-celebrity-cross-dresser/

Lauren German Willa Ford Shannyn Sossamon Leeann Tweeden Tamie Sheffield

Stars Who?ve Served!

Filed under: Elvis Presley, Photo Galleries

For Memorial Day,�we thought it would be fitting to honor the brave celebs who have served in the armed forces!

0527_stars_whove_served_launch

** TMZ's fearless leader Harvey Levin is out of town and did not select the stars featured in this gallery ... which (Read more...)

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/inspirationally/CelebrityGossipNewsHeadlines/~3/XR8vKY763Hs/

Jaime King The Avatars of Second Life Gabrielle Union Rachel Bilson Carol Grow

Alessandra Ambrosio: Bikini Top Model Mommy

Showing off her fit and fine figure, Alessandra Ambrosio enjoyed a relaxing day at the beach in Malibu, California on Sunday (May 29).

The Victoria's Secret supermodel mommy donned a shiny silver bikini top and jean shorts as she strutted along the shoreline with daughter Anja and babydaddy Jamie Mazur.

Once the holiday weekend comes to a close, Miss Ambrosio will be packing her bags and making her way to the sunshine state for work duties.

The 30-year-old is all set to take to Miami, Florida as part of the cross-country ?Bombshell Summer Tour? for Victoria?s Secret - with a planned appearance scheduled to take place at the Victoria?s Secret Lincoln Road store on Thursday, June 2nd.

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/alessandra-ambrosio/alessandra-ambrosio-bikini-top-model-mommy-509809

Milla Jovovich Talisa Soto Sofía Vergara Lokelani McMichael Lacey Chabert

Jerry Seinfeld: Suffering is worth it

30 May 2011

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Comedian Jerry Seinfeld has revealed he doesn't mind suffering sometimes because he thinks life is worth it.

Jerry Seinfeld doesn't mind suffering for his art.

The 57-year-old comedian - who is best known for his TV show 'Seinfeld', which ran from 1989 to 1998 - says everyone is constantly dealing with hardship but he thinks life is worth enduring for it.

He said: "I don't mind suffering. You suffer in all things - work, relationships, whatever else you do.

Unless you're eating ice cream, you're suffering.

"Unless you're eating ice cream, you're suffering."

However, he has no regrets in his life as he believes if he did it would be an "arrogant" thing to feel.

He said: "Regret is very philosophical and very arrogant. It's like, 'Things should go the way I want and when they go wrong something terrible has happened.' "

However, Jerry has not always had things go his way, and admitted there was a time when he performed to a room of people who did not even know he was there.

He added: "I once did a show when nobody even knew I was on. It was in a discotheque in Queens, New York. It was 1977. I went on and nobody stopped dancing. I stood there and did the show to myself."

Buy Jerry Seinfeld DVDs
  • Seinfeld - Series 1-9 - Complete [DVD] [1990]

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  • Seinfeld - Season 9 (Complete) [DVD] [1997]

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Source: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/Jerry+Seinfeld-39407.html

Izabella Miko Autumn Reeser Summer Altice Melissa Joan Hart Adrianne Palicki

Sunday, May 29, 2011

With dog at her side, Iraq War vet Tracey L. Harris-Cooper moves forward

They're a team now, best friends - the tall, good-looking rescued dog and the Iraq War veteran battling post-traumatic stress disorder.

Wherever Tracey Cooper-Harris goes these days she knows Blaze has her back.

He's the eyes in the back of her head. Her 24-hour protector and comfort blanket, all rolled into one. He's her hero.

Lori Ramey, a trainer for the Sam Simon Foundation, which provides rescued dogs for the deaf, found Blaze sitting alone in a kennel at the Ventura County Animal Shelter in Camarillo early last year.

He was a stray found wandering the streets. Shelter workers told her he was probably a backyard dog with little or no human contact. They put his age at around a year and named him Blaze for his bright red coat.

"He was so calm and composed just sitting there, exactly the kind of dog I was looking for," Ramey said.

Her job for the Simon Foundation was to find the perfect dog to train as a psychiatric service dog for an Army veteran suffering from PTSD.

Ramey wanted Blaze, but there was one problem. So did a lot of other people. The shelter held a lottery.

"Every once in awhile, fate intervenes," Ramey said. "I won."

It didn't take Blaze long to show his real colors once she sprung him from the shelter. He wasn't the mellow dog Ramey thought he was.

"He began jumping on everything in sight, grabbing anything he could get in his mouth, and wildly running around chasing

squirrels and birds," she said.

"He had conned me. All that calm demeanor was a lie."

It took Ramey almost a year to calm Blaze down and teach him the tasks Cooper-Harris would need done.

To stand behind her at the ATM and make sure nobody got too close to her on the streets. To turn on the lights in her apartment so she wouldn't be walking into a dark room at night, the worst time for her.

To find her cellphone and keys and bring them to her in case there was an emergency and she couldn't get them.

To become her Man Friday.

While Ramey trained Blaze, Cooper-Harris spent her days going to classes at California State University, Northridge, before heading over to the Sepulveda VA for her PTSD counseling sessions with doctors.

By December of 2010, it was finally time for Blaze and Cooper-Harris to meet. It was love at first sight. Blaze jumped all over her, licking her face, his tail frantically wagging, knocking over everything in sight.

"It was like fate decided these two should be together," Ramey said.

In April, after three months of hard work at the foundation in Malibu bonding with Blaze, Cooper-Harris brought him home to her apartment in Pasadena.

"He's my de-stresser, my constant physical reminder that I'm here in the present, and not to let my mind wander back to the past," she said last week.

"When I wake up in the middle of the night the first thing I look for is Blaze. He's usually knocked out in the corner snoring. But just seeing him there makes me feel safe and stay in the present, not the past."

It was 2003, early in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cooper-Harris was an animal tech sergeant caring for military police dogs at Army and Marine Corps bases on the Kuwait border.

"Saddam knew we were coming. He hit our bases hard every night with long-range bombs as we pushed forward into Iraq," she said.

"Night time became the worst time for me."

The bombs left their mark, but it was what happened to her as a young recruit at the beginning of her 12-year military career when she was only 19 that scarred her in ways she is still dealing with today.

Some of the men in her unit found out she was gay.

In a letter Cooper-Harris sent to President Barack Obama in May of 2010 in support of the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," she described what happened to her.

"The deal was simple: perform sexual favors and my secret was safe," Cooper-Harris wrote. "I let these men have their way with me in exchange for their silence.

"I, frankly, am still ashamed of what I had to do to stay in the Army. I continue to attend counseling sessions provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs for what I went through.

"The memories still come back to haunt me some 16 years later," she wrote the president.

A couple of months after writing that letter she received a letter back from the White House telling her the president was taking steps to repeal the policy, but more work needed to be done.

"I wrote that letter because I have friends still on active duty and I don't want anybody else going through what I went through," Cooper-Harris said.

A lot has happened in her life since she's begun to open up about the causes of her PTSD. With Blaze at her side, she's moving forward.

Last Tuesday she graduated from CSUN with a major in kinesiology, the study of sports and movement. Blaze stood at her side on stage as she received her diploma.

Her real passion in life, though, is to help returning veterans reintegrate into society - a problem that is only going to grow as our soldiers come home with their own dark memories.

"I was in the post office last week and dropped my keys. The floor was slick and Blaze ran to get them, sliding all the way.

"He came back with the keys and this big smile on his face. I praised him and started laughing. Blaze was just as happy as could be.

"And so was I."


Dennis McCarthy's column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_18168386?source=rss

Melissa George Haylie Duff Christina Applegate Eva Green Michelle Trachtenberg

The situation? 'Jersey Shore' filming in Florence

FLORENCE, Italy ? "Jersey Shore" is now on the banks of the Arno, and here's the situation:

  • Members of MTV reality show "Jersey Shore" from left; Jenni Farley, Nicole "Deena" Cortese, Ronnie Ortiz Magro, Mike Sorrentino, Pauly D Del Vecchio, Nicole Polizzi, Sammi Gianicola, Vinny Guadagnino, pose for photographers outside the Tower of Pagliazza, in Florence, Italy.

    By Fabrizio Giovannozzi, AP

    Members of MTV reality show "Jersey Shore" from left; Jenni Farley, Nicole "Deena" Cortese, Ronnie Ortiz Magro, Mike Sorrentino, Pauly D Del Vecchio, Nicole Polizzi, Sammi Gianicola, Vinny Guadagnino, pose for photographers outside the Tower of Pagliazza, in Florence, Italy.

By Fabrizio Giovannozzi, AP

Members of MTV reality show "Jersey Shore" from left; Jenni Farley, Nicole "Deena" Cortese, Ronnie Ortiz Magro, Mike Sorrentino, Pauly D Del Vecchio, Nicole Polizzi, Sammi Gianicola, Vinny Guadagnino, pose for photographers outside the Tower of Pagliazza, in Florence, Italy.

Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino is hawking pizza practically around the corner from the Uffizi Gallery, which wouldn't let the wildly popular MTV reality show film inside because, well, there were worries that The Situation and his foul-mouthed, hard-partying pals might be too wild among masterpieces by Leonardo, Michelangelo, Botticelli and others.

Paul "Pauly D" Del Vecchio is passing out fliers outside O' Vesuvio pizzeria, and he's decidedly more aggressive working the night shift at the start of several weeks of filming, with Florence, the cradle of Renaissance art and architecture, serving as backdrop for the fourth season of the mostly Italian-American reality stars.

"Best pizza in the world. Ciao, buona sera," Del Vecchio pitches. Duded up, or duded down, in a black T-shirt and black track pants, he looks like a mean bouncer.

Behind the counter, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and housemate Deena "The Blaster" Cortese are cranking out Neapolitan pies for the dinner crowd, which consists of excited fans and not-so accidental tourists, mainly young women, who plunked down 5 euros ($7.50) for a mozzarella-topped pizza and signed a pledge not to reveal any details of the shooting.

Hours earlier, it was Vinnie Guardagnino's turn to pile high the pies, while Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola served the customers, asking if they wanted a little olive oil drizzled on top.

It looks like the Guidos and Guidettes, as the show's stars call themselves, might have to burnish their perma-tans with the glow of a pizza oven instead of the Tuscan sun.

Their hard day's work makes you almost wonder what Florence's mayor was so worried about when he laid down conditions for permission to film, including no scenes of cast members' wandering the streets with booze in their hands.

The show, originally set in the New Jersey summer resort town of Seaside Heights, is "almost a hymn" to alcohol abuse, said Marco Agnoletti, spokesman for Mayor Matteo Renzi. But despite objections by some Seaside residents and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's lament that crude, loud and horny kids isn't what his state is all about, the show pumped nearly $3 million into the local economy during its first season. "Jersey Shore" has shown ratings growth from season to season, with some episodes during its most recent season drawing a huge audience of more than 8 million viewers.

Three of the show's cast members will be appearing in MTV spinoffs: Snooki and Jenni "JWoww" Farley will be in a reality show that follows them after the Jersey summer, and Pauly D will have a 12-episode show about being a disc jockey.

Florence City officials sat down to watch old episodes of "Jersey Shore" after the show asked for Florence's "seal of approval," said Agnoletti in a recent phone interview. "Terrible," "awful," "vulgar," were some of the adjectives that came to mind when city youth policy commissioner, Cristina Giachi, watched a few episodes.

The prospect of Florence's quietly elegant streets, soaring church cupolas and gracefully proportioned palazzi being the backdrop for the next TV season's low-jinks was initially unnerving, Giachi recalled in an interview in her office, with a view of Santa Croce Basilica, whose piazza fills up nightly with an elbow-to-elbow crowd of young drinkers, many of them U.S. college students.

Some in the city feared that "Florence's identity would get watered down by the Guidos and Guidettes," said Giachi. Others, in this city where foreign students and their visiting parents pump big bucks into the economy, fretted that the Florence scenes would panic parents of next year's potential visiting students, she said.

Last year, feisty Snooki was fined $500 and ordered to do community service after pleading guilty to disturbing beachgoers in Seaside Heights. Her lawyer said she was under the influence of alcohol when she stumbled around the beach, using loud language. And a woman accused Giancola of punching her in the head at a Miami Beach club when the show was filming there last year before returning to New Jersey.

Keith Grogg, a 23-year-old masters degree student in language at Middlebury College in Vermont, called the concern that the show's presence in Florence would promote excess drinking "a little bit disingenuous" because "young people drink everywhere." He was trying to snap a photo as the reality gang worked inside the pizzeria.

MTV didn't respond to an emailed request by The Associated Press about the restrictions, including a veto on filming in the Uffizi or at city monuments.

But the "Jersey Shore" Eight has proved a big tourist draw, with some fans flipping around itineraries to come to Florence as soon as they heard the reality stars were in town.

Among them was Rachel Lester, 22, from Dublin. She adores Snooki ? she's short but she holds her ground ? was her appeal for the Irishwoman. Lester devised her own Snooki costume for Halloween last year in Dublin. "I wore little black hot shorts and a hot black T-shirt" and revealed as much cleavage as she could, she said, while some of her male friends dressed up as Guidos, slathering on tanning cream.

So far incidents are few, if you don't count the three traffic tickets racked up barely after arriving in highly walkable Florence earlier this month.

But, the season can spice up, and the nights are long. Cortese already has her eye out for Italian men, who are "all very lean, very metro looking," as she told Corrierefiorentino.it, a local online newspaper.

Meanwhile, fans are trying to figure out which Florentine nightclub "Jersey Shore" will invade.

Gabrielle Guzzo, an 18-year-old from Vancouver, Canada, showed how her hands were shaking when she was handed her pizza, even though she described the stars as just "regular 20 year olds." She and fellow traveler, Paige Alfier, 19, from Whistler, had staked out the club Twice on Sunday night but no dice. They were heading back there Monday night in hopes of seeing their idols.

Who knows what the situation will be for "The Situation" come nightfall? Sorrentino was sitting on a curbside, taking a cigarette break. He looked tired and hot in a sky-blue warm-up outfit with "Italia" emblazoned on it.

"Sorry, I can't talk while I'm filming but I can shake your hand," he told a fan.

"I can speak a little Italian," Sorrentino told passersby at another moment.

"Vuoi una pizza?" (you want a pizza?), he asked? He thrust a flier at a man pedaling a bicycle with a small pug dog in the basket, but no go.

"I'm tryin'," Sorrentino said with a shrug. "The Situation" shuffled off clutching a pizza box at the end of his shift.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/usatoday-LifeTopStories/~3/_K-tHquiUH4/1

Emmanuelle Vaugier Lori Heuring The Pussycat Dolls Audrina Patridge Shakira

Barbara Sinatra tells about her life with Frank

By Craig Wilson, USA TODAY

Barbara Sinatra was her famous husband's fourth wife. Also his last. He died in her arms in 1998. They had been married 22 years.

  • Frank Sinatra's widow Barbara, 84, dishes on what it was like living with Ol' Blue Eyes in her new memoir.

    Frank Sinatra's widow Barbara, 84, dishes on what it was like living with Ol' Blue Eyes in her new memoir.

Frank Sinatra's widow Barbara, 84, dishes on what it was like living with Ol' Blue Eyes in her new memoir.

It wasn't always pretty, although she says she was the "luckiest woman in the world" to be his wife.

Sinatra's widow, 84, is now telling what it was like living with Ol' Blue Eyes in her aptly titled memoir Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank.

If you're interested in celebrity marriages, this memoir is the predictable dip into such shallow waters. If you're not, you can at least pass the time counting the names dropped. There are thousands.

Model, Vegas showgirl, wife of Zeppo Marx, Barbara had been out and about before she met Sinatra. He quickly won her over, but their long-term affair before their marriage did not please Sinatra's feisty mother, Dolly, who asked him, "Aren't there enough whores around?"

He was attentive, polite, but best of all he had a good eye "for stone," she writes. Meaning he could pick out amazing jewelry, including a famous Cartier necklace. And then there were the flights to Paris for dinner, the expensive cars, the suites in world-class hotels around the world. She calls it all "some candy jar."

There was a price to pay for all this, however. Sinatra could be a bully, screaming at Washington Post society columnist Maxine Cheshire and pushing a man into a phone booth, punching him before sliding the door shut.

She admits he was "definitely a Jekyll and Hyde" personality, recounting numerous evenings when he was overdrinking with his buddies, making scenes from New York to Hong Kong, ripping phones from the wall and throwing them into windows.

Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank
* * out of four
By Barbara Sinatra
Crown Archetype, 388 pp., $24.99

He also wasn't the most romantic. She had to accept that fact when a prenup was delivered to her on the morning of their wedding. She signed it.

Did he ever cheat? All she'll say is that she took Palm Springs neighbor Lee Annenberg's advice: Look the other way.

As for his connections to the Mob, she only says he got frustrated with the press for always alleging it. The press was not his favorite.

If you're a Sinatra fan, you'll learn he loved grilled cheese sandwiches, unfiltered Camels and Jack Daniels, but hated women who wore too much perfume. He also hated women who couldn't hold their liquor.

Barbara Sinatra could.

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