SEX DEGREES OF SEPARATION: Who to avoid in Young Hollywood's polluted ecosystem.
TIMEWASTER ANSWERS form Friday can be found — among other places — at Stereogum.
PATE SIGHTED by Ken King at Art of the Mix. Right in there with Billy Squire.
JULIANA HATFIELD provides the Charlotte Observer with a chilling vision of the record biz: “I can't compete in today's marketplace anyway. Mainstream culture is gross. People with the most amazing talent are taking their clothes off to sell their music. I find it disgusting and I'm not a prude. Aretha Franklin never put on a bikini to sell records. Would she have to if she was starting out now?”
NELLIE McKAY talks to the L.A. Times about her upcoming album and her issues with Sony in a more rational manner than at her recent L.A. gig.
BOB MOULD sees a limited market for indie rock reunions.
SEASON OF THE LIST: Filter is publish a slew of artists' Top Ten lists, starting with Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Shirley Manson of Garbage, Ricky Wilson of Kaiser Chiefs, Darren Seltmann of the Avalanches, and Guillermo Scott Herren. Elsewhere on the web, Marathon Packs lists his Top 50 of 2005. The Denver Post lists holiday recommendations. RELATED: My Blog Is Poop offers help on “How To Make A Hip End of the Year 'Best Albums' List.”
HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDES are up at PopMatters, including music, DVDs and books.
GARY GLITTER's children have vowed to support him during his child molestation trial.
GUIDED BY VOICES/BOB POLLARD: Jason Narducy talks about landing a gig playing bass on Bob's upcoming solo tour in a band that includes Tommy Keene. Aversion reviews Bob Pollard's soundtrack for Bubble. And The New York Times reviews former GbV bassist Jim Greer's book in a musical round-up with tomes on Tom Petty, The Clash, Run-DMC and more.
THE GO! TEAM Bandleader Ian P talks to LAist about naming and forming the band. You Ain't No Picasso points you to rarities and new stuff from the Team.
THE WHITE STRIPES: Miss Modern Age is killing music a little with the video of the Stripes' appearance as the first band to ever play The Daily Show.
THE LAST RAMONE: Suicide Girls interview Tommy about all things Ramones and his “alternative-country-punk-bluegrass thing that I’m doing called Uncle Monk.”
PATTI SMITH has gone from CBGB to Brooklyn Academy of Music's Opera House. You've come a long way, baby.
J MASCIS, axemeister of Dinosaur, Jr., is playing drums in Witch, a hard rock combo in an early Sabbath sorta vein. Streams at the link; turn it up to eleven, 'cause it's… one louder.
BRADGELINA: Pitt is in the process of becoming the adoptive father of Jolie's children; a legal petition seeking to change their names to Zahara Jolie-Pitt and Maddox Jolie-Pitt was filed Friday in Los Angeles.
VAUGHNISTON: Vaughn and Aniston were pulled over by Scottsdale police on Nov. 29th after a minor traffic offense; Luckily, Vince was under the legal limit.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The widely panned Aeon Flux came in on the high end of low expectations to place second behind Harry Potter. Meanwhile, Pride and Prejudice climbed to sixth place overall with a third place per screen average.
JOHN CUSACK denies rumors of marriage, but remains silent as to whether he has an assistant nicknamed “the dog catcher” who is in charge of procuring women for Cusack.
LOST GIRLS Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros were arrested by Honolulu cops and charged with drunk driving. The Smoking Gun has the mug shots. Rodriguez may have violated her probation on an earlier DUI case in L.A., which could mean jail time. Meanwhile Lost was named best drama at the Family Television Awards, which are chosen by members of the Association of National Advertisers. Kaki Hinton, co-chairwoman of the Family Friendly Programming Forum, said such programs “have cross-generational appeal, depict real-life situations and handle those issues very responsibly.” Which raises the issue of whether advertisers have actually seen the show.
THE REV. AL SHARPTON is filming a pilot for his own TV sitcom – with the working title of Al in the Family. I have to think it would be cheaper — and funnier — to make it a reality show.
BRITNEY SPEARS kicked hubby Cletus out of their Malibu mansion following a fight about Cletus' druggie pal? It sounds too… smart to be true, doesn't it? But the pop tart spending her 24th birthday with Johnny Knoxville sounds about right. Perez Hilton has photos that purportedly show Britney sending K-Fed's Ferrari back to the dealership. Reports have Spears partying in Vegas without him. with young Sean Preston is under the watchful care of the nanny.
MARILYN MANSON made an honest woman out of his longtime girlfriend, burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese. Manson is all about the family values.
NARNIA: London's Guardian thinks “unbelievers” won't dig the Christian subtext of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Well, d-uh, but it's always been there and the books have done pretty well. The Guardian claims that The Passion of the Christ bombed in Britain, but Mel made 611.9 million in theaters alone, so Disney probably isn't too worried about it.
NICOLE KIDMAN and KEITH URBAN are reportedly engaged. Dou you think Nic phones her Cold Mountain co-star Renee Zellweger for advice on marrying a country singer? Or talk about dealing with rumors that swirl around ex-husbands?
MICHAEL DOUGLAS is planning to lobby the US government for tighter gun control, because he's still haunted by rocker John Lennon's 1980 shooting death. Perhaps he didn't hear Lennon's murderer, Mark David Chapman say that “nothing could have stopped” him. I wonder whether the ex-members of the U.S. and British special forces Douglas hired were unarmed.
JACK BLACK would like to make the rejected pilot of Heat Vision and Jack into a movie. It's the story of an astronaut who flies too close to the sun and returns to Earth with super intelligence and fights crime with the help of his talking motorcycle (voiced by Owen Wilson) and fighting the villianous Ron Silver (the actor playing himself). What's not to like?
KING KONG: The first public review raves: “Jaw-droppingly brilliant… the most entertaining blockbuster movie this year.” The second is more measured: “While the special effects and visual stunts make for some spellbinding moments (the digitally created Kong, in particular, is a marvel), the film lacks the cohesion and character development needed to make it a totally satisfying experience.” London's Times gives it five stars: “an outstanding film imbued with childlike wonder.” CHUD gives it an 8.4, but claims that: “In order to justify its own existence, Jackson’s King Kong must be nothing short of a phenomenal film. Sadly, it’s not. It’s a good film – possibly even a very good film – but it never quite achieves greatness.” However, CHUD thinks there is plenty of character development. The Toronto Star reports tht the overall press reaction to the first screening was positive and adds its own: “It runs an epic three hours that rarely flag, with special effects that will be the talk of schoolyards and around office water coolers.” And the first geek reviews at Aint-It-Cool-News are… geeking out over it.
IRAQ: Bill Roggio blogs from Haditha, which is largely cleared of foreign fighters, but with a determined local insurgency. Sunnis in Samarrah have begun cooperating with US troops, who provided a flood of info after a local tribal chief was assassinated by terrorists. Maj. John Tannes, who served in Aghanistan does not think the Army is “broken” or “living hand to mouth” as some have suggested.
FRANCE: President Jacques Chirac has become a laughing-stock following weeks of rioting by Muslim youths.
CULT OF THE iPod: Cell phones and iPods are everywhere — and that's good for semiconductor makers and thus for the stocks of those companies, says Thomas Smith, Standard & Poor's analyst of stocks in the semiconductor sector.
CNN is launching an online service that will feature the network's first extensive use of live video on the Internet today.
BRITISH POLICE DOGS are being fitted with cameras to aid with armed sieges.
A GIANT GOAT made of straw was torched by vandals in Stockholm, which has almost become a Christmas tradition.
SCROOGEY SQUIRRELS attack the Christmas tree lights in Kirkland, WA.
GIANT RATS “the size of cats” are taking over an estate in Belfast, according to residents.