TABLE OF CONTENTS
JAMI BERNARD OR LA CRÈME DE LA CRÈME OF AMERICAN JOURNALISM!!
Photo:
Jami Bernard. Photo credits: Nyfc.
This is a fabulous woman. Grosso modo, a national treasure. Jami Bernard is bright with a blaze intellectualism but, she remains down to earth. SHE flirts with a tragicomic writing style but she freezes and frees her criticism with substance and human depth. Jami Bernard is a cinema critic with a blend of Bernard Shaw satirico-humoristic flair, a well-aged Cognac Napoleon, and an Emile Zola's verita humana with a New York twist. Read
New York Chanel show captures Roaring Twenties
Karl Lagerfeld took his show on the road to New York recently in the latest chapter of a remarkable ride in the annals of current fashion. The Chanel designer seems to be nearing the iconic status of Coco herself, with his trademark immaculate white ponytail, shades and rock star attire.
Read
Dan
Rather: "Katie Couric needs to be a leader."
Photo: Katie Couric.
New York grapevine is whispering that former CBS News anchor Dan Rather wished his successor luck, but said Katie Couric would need to be a leader and demonstrate a passion for news to succeed in the anchor chair. Read
NYU VISITING SCHOLAR
MICHELS TO DELIVER “LIBERALISM AND CONSENSUS IN AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY”
Historian Tony Michels, the Goldstein-Goren 2005–2006 Visiting Fellow at
New York University, will deliver a lecture, “Liberalism and Consensus in
American Jewish History,” on Wed., May 3, 5:30 p.m. at NYU’s King Juan
Carlos I of Spain Center (53 Washington Square South, between Sullivan and
Thompson Sts.).
Read
New York's Tribeca festival opens with the premiere of United 93, set on a hijacked plane on 11 September.
De
Niro, who created the festival to help revitalise lower Manhattan after
the events of 2001, said "it would seem strange" not to show the movie.
Several of the festival's 275 films also tackle the impact of that day.
These include documentaries about a fire department chaplain
killed at the World Trade Center - entitled Saint of 9/11 -
and also The Heart of Steel, about volunteers who helped
victims of the attacks.
Read
New York nails Elton's vampire musical
New York's critics ridiculed Sir John's new musical and called it "Sleeping pill", "Beyond rescue", "A failure", "Boring". What is his state of mind now? Shoshanna Rosenstein explains the whole story. Read
Blaine: "New Yorkers are cool about this kind of thing."
Magician
David Blaine has announced plans to spend seven days submerged in a
water-filled container in New York. The illusionist, who spent 44
days in a glass box for a starvation stunt in London in 2003, will use
lines giving nutrition and air to stay alive. After one week, he will
remove his air supply and attempt to break the world record for holding
breath. Blaine, 33, endured a 62-hour stint sealed in an ice block in New
York's Times Square in 2003.
Read
Federal Investigation: Powerful gossips columnist allegedly tried to extort money from a California billionaire
New
York Post's Jared Paul Stern: "We know how to destroy people, it's what we
do. We do it without creating liability. That's our specialty."
Photo: Columnist Jared Paul Stern, shown at a fashion show in 2003, is accused of trying to extort money from a billionaire. "We know how to destroy people," Stern said. Read
Photo: Jennifer Lopez's production company worked on South Beach.
Singer and actress Jennifer Lopez has been sued by a screenwriter who claims she stole his idea for a US TV series. Read
Phil Spector trial delayed again. New York grapevine told the New York Monthly Herald that the murder trial of US music producer Phil Spector has been postponed for a third time, this time until 16 January. Read
Streisand Vendetta
Barbra Streisand goes online to strike back at biographer
Here's
one sure way to incite Barbra Streisand's wrath: Write a book about her.
Christopher Anderson has learned that with his recently published
biography, Barbra: The Way She Is. Streisand has retaliated not
with interviews or public statements, but by way of the Internet. On her
website, she has issued a response she titles "Does the Truth Matter
These Days?"
Read
5 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR. Read
Teddy Kennedy's new book mixes personal, political and brother John U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy was a wide-eyed 14-year-old when his brother Jack, a new congressman, treated him to a personal tour of Washington's landmark buildings - the White House, the Supreme Court, the House of Representatives. "It's good that you're interested in seeing these buildings, Teddy," Kennedy recalls the future president telling him. "But I hope that you also take an interest in what goes on inside them." Read
Filmmaker Michael Moore: A Biography
Photo: Michael Moore.
In penning what she calls the first-ever biography of documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, Toronto-based writer Emily Schultz says she wanted to offer "an ordered view" of a man for whom there seems to be no middle ground: people either love him or hate him. While the book does appear to struggle mightily to be fair, the reader is left with an image of Moore as someone who bends the rules, often unfairly, and who allows his own ego to intrude and nearly overshadow his messages...Read
Authors Ali Smith, Zadie Smith and Sarah Waters are in the running for the Orange Prize for Fiction, which celebrates female writing. London, UK- Six authors have been nominated, with the winner of the top prize of £30,000 being announced on 6 June. Both Zadie Smith's On Beauty and Ali Smith's The Accidental were also nominated for last year's Booker Prize...Read
New York's diva Paulette Attie's memoirs.
Photo:
The fabulous Paulette Attie.
Is she finally going to publish her memoirs? Grande dame of American entertainment, singer, songwriter, author, TV show host and story teller extraordinaire, Paulette Attie is busy putting the final touch and signature for her memoirs, insiders told the New York Monthly Herald. It is not clear whether the American legend is teasing the media or, de facto, Attie's fascinating life will be written and made available to the public. Read
Stone
libeled over child story
Actress Sharon Stone has accepted substantial damages over a newspaper's claim she left her young son in a car while she dined in a restaurant. Read
Hollywood star Kevin Costner has been named as the celebrity accused of performing a sex act while being given a massage at a famous golf hotel. Read
Pop star Howie Day, accused of behaving badly on a
flight to Boston last year, was sentenced Wednesday to a year’s probation
and ordered to continue alcohol counseling. As part of his plea agreement,
the 25-year-old singer must write letters of apology to the crew and
passengers who were on the American Airline flight. Day was charged just
days before Christmas with interfering with a flight crew after he was
allegedly belligerent to the flight crew, attempted to smoke in the
bathroom, and kicked the back of other passengers’ seats.
Read
Howie Day blames incident on
sleeping pills and booze
Boy band star busted for DUI. Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees faces charges. Nick Lachey’s former band mate Jeff Timmons was busted last weekend for allegedly driving drunk. Read
Brittney
Spears is pregnant again. Oops, she did it again. Fading pop star Britney
Spears is pregnant for the second time, according to sources. She will
reportedly deliver a sibling for seven-month-old Sean Preston in late
September or early October, which means her children's birthdays will be
almost exactly one year apart. It will be the fourth child for Spears’
husband Kevin Federline, who has two children from a previous
relationship.
Read
Jay
Leno attacked for gay jokes. Tony-winning
playwright Jeff Whitty has written an open letter to Jay Leno criticizing
him for joking about gays. “I know you know gay people, Mr. Leno. Are
they just jokes to you, to be snickered at behind their backs?,” he wrote
to the Tonight Show host.
Read
Rabbi
Moshe Wiener: MAN FOR ALL SEASONS. BROOKLYN FAVORITE SON.
Read
ANGELINA
TOPS MOST BEAUTIFUL LIST. She's got that
pregnant glow, but it is Angelina Jolie's humanitarian efforts that make
her most radiant, according to People magazine. The pillow-lipped
actress graces the cover of People's "100 Most Beautiful People"
issue, on newsstands.
Read
Sharon Stone doesn't mind doing nude scenes.
Photo: Sharon Stone admitted she doesn't mind doing nude scenes in films like her new release, Basic Instinct 2.
Sharon Stone, who returns as the seductive Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct 2, says she has no problem doing a nude scene — if it's right for the role. "It's pretty easy for me to be naked," the 48-year-old actress said.
ReadActor Sheen denies abusing wife
Photo: Denise Richards filed for divorce from Sheen in December 2005.
Actor Charlie Sheen has denied that he abused and threatened to kill estranged wife Denise Richards, accusing her of waging a "transparent smear campaign". Read
Radio
host is new Bush spokesman. President George Bush has appointed a
new press secretary - conservative radio presenter Tony Snow. Mr. Snow
replaces Scott McClellan, who resigned last week as part of a shake-up of
President Bush's top staff.
Read
TV psychics claim Lennon contact
Photo: John Lennon was shot dead in New York in 1980,
Psychics claim to have made contact with late Beatle John Lennon in a controversial pay-per-view TV séance broadcast. Makers of The Spirit of John Lennon claim the musician said "peace... the message is peace" during the 90-minute show...Read
Photo: Harvard's Viswanathan published her debut novel, last month.
A Harvard's student-novelist has apologized for similarities between her debut work and another writer's books. Harvard University student Kaavya Viswanathan said resemblances between her book and novels by Megan McCafferty were "unintentional and unconscious". Read
Photo: Angelina Jolie is eight month's pregnant.
Actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will have their privacy protected during their stay in Namibia, the country's government has said. Read
EGO TRIP OR TOO MUCH POWER?
Martha knows best. Really?!
Read
Fraud and Attitude: Coffin reports to jail. Read
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "Bush is a man with a bizarre attitude." Read
Jeffrey Skilling: He had plenty of time
to make millions and none for his family,
Read
New York Post's Jared Paul Stern: "We know how to destroy people, it's what we do. We do it without creating liability. That's our specialty." Read
German brothel ad angers Muslims. Read
London 'call girl' gives up blog.
Photo: Belle recounted her preparations like stocking rinsing
The infamous call girl who recorded her liaisons and encounters with clients on her web diary, or blog, has signed off. Belle de Jour captured the wave of blogging and earned notoriety for the sometimes explicit online accounts. Furious speculation surrounded her real identity, whether she was even female, with many believing it to be a hoax. Read
WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO ON YOUR FIRST DATE
Dating is a delicate dance filled with subtle nuances of etiquette. Who among us hasn't had a great time on a first date, only to never hear from that person again. What went wrong? Well, the answer depends on who you ask, so we went to our resident dating experts for insight. Read
Between
Sex and Massage: similarities and dissonances. By Marion DS Dreyfus.
A recent study
by Stuart Brody of the University of Paisley, UK, indicated pretty
conclusively that serious romance had a stress-reduction effect that
lasted close to a week, as opposed to self-satisfaction, which did not
achieve 50% of the stress reduction of two-person full-on encounters.
Though less effective, auto-entertainment was still far better than zero
romance, it turned out (total subjects: 24 men, 22 women).
Read
Germany's hookers ready for World Cup. Soccer tourney an expected boon for sex industry. As soccer's best players prepare to square off this summer at the World Cup, businesses across Germany are anticipating a huge windfall with the arrival of an estimated one million fans from around the world. The sex industry is no exception. Just down the street from Berlin's Olympic Stadium, site of the final, stands the city's largest brothel, Artemis -- established in September with an eye on capitalizing on the influx of World Cup visitors. The four-storey, 40-bedroom bordello, which cost the equivalent of $9.1 million Cdn, is decorated with liberal doses of faux animal prints and velvet on beds...Read
NEW STUDY: GAYS MORE LIKELY TO HAVE GAY KIDS
Photo: Dr. Paul Cameron.
Dr. Paul Cameron, Chairman of the Family Research Institute in Colorado Springs is conducting talk shows to discuss a new study that concludes homosexuals are more likely to have homosexual children. A third of homosexuals’ children become homosexual. That’s the major finding from the largest study of adult children of homosexuals. Children of transsexuals were also more apt to become homosexual or transsexual. At least 23 (30%) of 77 adult children of homosexuals were homosexual and 25 (32%) heterosexual. Of 10 adults with transsexual parents, at least one became transsexual and another homosexual. Read
US cook wins blogging book prize. An American cook's adventures in the kitchen have won the first literary prize for bloggers turned authors. Julie Powell's tales of French cooking beat the intimate diary of a prostitute and a guide to the UK's best "greasy spoon" cafes to take the Blooker Prize. The contest was set up for bloggers who have turned their episodic journals into books. In the last few years, regularly updated web logs, or blogs, have become a major feature of the internet. Read
New Martian History. Mineral maps based on data from Europe's Mars Express probe are helping scientists piece together a detailed picture of the Red Planet's history. Life on Mars was most likely during the planet's infancy, the data suggests. Read
You Live in California when... You live in New York when... You live in Florida when...You live in deep South when...You live in Maine when...etc...Read
Famous People’s Original
Names
American Men Obsession with Big Breasts. Most American men seem fascinated with big breasts. These men seem to think that big-breasted women (like Marilyn Monroe and Loni Anderson) are sexier, more attractive and more feminine. In addition, many men believe that children of big-breasted women will have all the milk they could want — and more. How did these attitudes develop? Read
10 Things Men
Need To Learn About Women
Why do Women Want
Bigger, Faker Boobs?
Freed US journalist 'manipulated'. The US journalist released after being held hostage in Iraq for three months has distanced herself from comments published straight after her release. Jill Carroll said she had been forced to make a "propaganda video" on her last night in captivity. Speaking at a US base in Germany, Ms Carroll also said she did not speak freely in an Iraqi TV interview, which she was told would never be broadcast. Read
Tom DeLay has said he will not be seeking re-election to the House of Representatives
Photo: Mr. DeLay's decision has not been formally confirmed.
Former top Republican Tom DeLay has said he will not be seeking re-election to the House of Representatives in November, according to US news reports. Mr. DeLay, who is expected to announce his plans on Tuesday, is said to be likely to resign his seat and leave Congress by the end of May or mid-June. Read
U.S. PRESSURES TURKEY FOR NAVY BASES. The United States was said to have requested access to air and naval bases in Turkey. Turkish sources said the Defense Department has discussed U.S. military access to several bases in Turkey. They said they included air and naval bases that spanned an area from Central Asia to the Mediterranean. Read
President
Bush plans to tackle petrol price. US President
George W Bush has unveiled plans, including an inquiry into price fixing, to
lower the cost of oil and cut climbing petrol prices. President Bush
told the Renewable Fuels Association that the US needs to "get off its
dependency on oil" as crude costs have moved towards record levels.
Read
US 'approves war on terror plans'. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has approved plans to give the Pentagon greater leeway to deploy special forces around the world, a US report says. According to the Washington Post, teams of special forces have been sent to 20 countries to carry out operational planning and intelligence gathering. Mr. Rumsfeld has long insisted that the US military needs a fundamental revamp to fight modern anti-terror campaigns. Read
Photo: TV pictures showed the air thick with teargas.
Athens police have fired teargas during a clash with anti-war demonstrators protesting against a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Some protesters hurled petrol bombs, sticks and stones in return. A Greek Communist leader accused Ms Rice of drumming up support for an attack on Iran, which the US accuses of trying to build a nuclear bomb. Ms. Rice met Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis before going on to Ankara to meet her Turkish counterpart. While in Athens, Ms Rice said Iran was isolating itself from the international community by threatening to suspend co-operation with the UN. Read
IAI's EROS B Commercial Israel's Satellite Successfully Launched From the Cosmodrome in Svobodni, Siberia in Russia. Read
Iran Leader issues warning to the US. US interests around the world will be harmed if America launches an attack against Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said. Read
EU ruling on Microsoft 'flawed'
Photo: Microsoft lawyer Brad Smith claims the firm did not stifle competition.
The European Commission made "fundamental errors" in its 2004 ruling that Microsoft broke competition law, the firm has told a top European court. Microsoft made the claim at the start of its appeal against the ruling...Read
Record High: More Christians Martyred in Past 100 Years than in all 1900
Prior Years Combined! Don’t Allow One More
Afghan Christian Abdul
Rahman has been sentenced to death by Afghanistan. His “crime”: Converting
from Islam to Christianity. Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, who
is in Washington this week for talks on deepening strategic and economic
ties with the United States, callously commented on the pending execution,
saying, "I know this is a sensitive issue, and we know the concerns of the
American people but the government of Afghanistan.
Read
Zarqawi' shows face in new video.
A website has posted a video message which shows unmasked a man who appears to be the Iraqi insurgency's most wanted leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. In the tape, the man says holy warriors are fighting on despite a three-year "crusade". READ
Photo: Nuclear facilities such as those at Natanz could be under scrutiny.
Israel has launched a satellite that officials say will enhance its ability to spy on Iran's nuclear program. The satellite, reportedly capable of taking clear photographs of objects on the ground as small as 70cm (2ft), was sent into space from eastern Russia. READ
A chronology of the kidnapping of four peace activists in Iraq.
October 2002: Christian Peacemaker Teams sets up in Iraq six months before the U.S.-led invasion. Nov. 26, 2005: Canadians Jim Loney, 41, and Harmeet Sooden, 32, and Briton Norman Kember, 74, and American Tom Fox, 54, are kidnapped in Baghdad by a group calling itself Swords of Righteousness Brigades. Nov. 29: Christian Peacemaker Teams blames the kidnappings on the U.S. and British invasion and occupation of Iraq. The four hostages are shown on videotape broadcast by the Al-Jazeera news network.
Read
Hamas
MP Asserts Government Formational Declared Before End of the
Month
Photo: Salah Bardaweel
The spokesman for Hamas movement's parliamentary bloc Salah Bardaweel asserted that the next government formation will be declared before the end of the current month, while another member of parliament added the shape and time of declaring the government will be determined this month. Read
Qatar to donate 100 military vehicles to the Palestinian Authority. ABU DHABI, UAE- Qatar has decided to donate 100 military vehicles to the Palestinian Authority. Read
Graft & Sex Scandals Running Rampant in UN
Photo: Ambassador John Bolton.
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton criticizes the United Nations for rampant graft by insiders and sex scandals involving UN peacekeepers. Read
HOWARD STERN: CHILDREN'S BOOK CHARACTER?! Katharine DeBrecht's latest book, “Help! Mom! Hollywood’s in My Hamper,” features shock jock Stern along with Barbra Streisand, Madonna, Britney Spears, Tom Cruise and Oprah as cartoon villains. Read
Arab Intellectual on the Worsening Situation of Christians in the Muslim World. Arab intellectual of Palestinian origin George Kattan discusses the discrimination against Christians in the Arab countries today, describing their deteriorating status and diminishing numbers in comparison with previous eras in the region's history. He warns that the Christian population of the region may vanish as Christians emigrate to the West rather than tolerate the backwardness and tyranny of their home countries. Read
Europe's Response to the Threat of Global Terror. By Jose Maria Aznar, Former Prime Minister of Spain. Read
ADVERTISING YOURSELF.
The average person spends an enormous amount of their life
consuming it in one form or another, and will spend a significant percentage
of that time looking at, listening to or watching advertisements. If you
want to use the power of the media, though, you need to know what you're
doing otherwise your investment will be a financial disaster.
Read
No Jordan Option, by Dr. Aaron Lerner.
Security - not settlers or settlements - is the main issue, by Dr. Aaron Lerner. It may very well turn out that the Palestinians will unwittingly succeed in undermining the powerful media-political retreat alliance. But it would be a terrible mistake for retreat opponents to rely on Palestinian stupidity. Read
ON THE CHARITY OF THE AMERICAN RABBI, By Ilil Arbel, PH.D. The worst of the lot was a rabbi who did answer. He came to the man’s home, and saw that indeed he had sunk into dire poverty. The rabbi had to sit on a suitcase because the man had no chairs and no bed. He listened to the story and said to the man, “We must pray together, we must remove the curse that has come upon you. Read
Chinese-Saudi Cooperation: Oil but also Missiles. By Simon Henderson . On April 22, two days after a reportedly unproductive meeting with President George W. Bush in Washington, President Hu Jintao of China will arrive in Saudi Arabia. Relations between the two countries are an increasingly important part of world diplomacy. Read
A
giant poster promoting The Da Vinci Code film is to be removed from a Rome
church following complaints. The Italian authorities are to take
down the advert, which was put on scaffolding covering the Church of St
Pantaleo while it underwent renovation. The church's rector, Reverend
Adolfo Garcia Duran, said the poster advertised "something that is against
Christ and against the church".
Cruise's
delight at baby's birth
FINDING THE BEST CREAM.
So many creams, so many promises. But that
certainly would not stop Quebec cosmetics doyenne Lise Watier from adding
two new products to the anti-aging arsenal. "None like this," Watier
said at a breakfast conference to introduce Lift & Firm. "
NEW
YORK'S DIVAS. A bouquet of singers from New York.
A lovely and colorful choice of Divas with diverse and complex visions
of their world, their crafts, their music, their lyrics, the light and
the shadow that inhabit and create their musical world.
By Maximillien de Lafayette.
27th
Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.
Janet
Jackson back in the fall
Shakira
sweeps Latin Billboards. Colombian singer Shakira has won
six prizes at the annual Latin Bill.
Pop
around Europe. Who is the king or queen of Euro pop? Brel, ABBA, Bowie?
I suppose most people have a rather patronizing
attitude to pop and rock music from other European countries. Asked to name
a European band, I suspect most people would name Abba, at once glorious and
silly. This dismissal is probably based on occasional exposure to the truly
dreadful rubbish that comes out of French or Belgian radios.
Scissor
Sisters headline Bestival. The Scissor Sisters are to join the
Pet Shop Boys as a headline act at the three-day Bestival music event on the
Isle of Wight in September.
Rap star to leave UK after arrest
Lynne
Gelfman: Resist and React" 