More Celebs

HOLDING COURT

Colin Farrell and Eva Mendes put on their game faces Saturday in Shanghai, where they greeted a contingent of athletes in their roles as celebrity spokespeople for next year's Special Olympics – which takes place in China in Oct. 2007.



ALL IN THE FAMILY

Rocker Lenny Kravitz and daughter Zoe, 17, lead the fashion brigade as the chic duo make their way to Jean Paul Gaultier's runway show on Tuesday during French Fashion Week.

She's Back...

BACK ON THE SCENE

Britney Spears had kept a very low profile since the birth of her second son Sutton Pierce -- letting hubby Kevin Federline take over the public appearances for her. But on Sunday, she finally emerged for a day of shopping at Malibu's Planet Blue, looking not just svelte, but casual and cool (and now we know where she lands on the skinny vs. flared jeans debate). Back to a honey blonde, she is also sporting a more adult, polished look (love the argyle vest!). We don't know what she bought, but we hope it's more of the same.

-----

And while we're on the subject of Mrs. Spears-Federline, let's see what her hubby's has been up to.

-----



Meanwhile that same day, Kevin Federline takes to the ring for a taping of WWE's Monday Night Raw in Los Angeles. The would-be rapper later got a smackdown from The Marine star John Cena, who told K-Fed he was "less talented than Paris Hilton," before lifting him for a body slam (inset).

-----

Listen to Kevin's new single here: Privilege

Watch him to get beat up by John Cena here: WWE

CBGB Brings Down the Curtain With Nostalgia and One Last Night of Rock

She had played there many times over the last three decade, but last night, before making her last appearance there, Patti Smith made sure to snap a picture of CBGB.

“I’m sentimental,” she said as she stood on the Bowery and pointed an antique Polaroid toward the club’s ragged, soiled awning, and a mob of photographers and reporters gathered around her.

Last night was the last concert at CBGB, the famously crumbling rock club that has been in continuous, loud operation since December 1973, serving as the casual headquarters and dank incubator for some of New York’s most revered groups — Ms. Smith’s, the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television, Sonic Youth — as well as thousands more whose blares left less of a mark on history but whose graffiti and concert fliers might still remain on its walls.

After a protracted real estate battle with its landlord, a nonprofit organization that aids the homeless, CBGB agreed late last year to leave its home at 313 and 315 Bowery at the end of this month. And Ms. Smith’s words outside the club, where her group was playing, encapsulated the feelings shared by fans around the city and around the world: CBGB is both the scrappy symbol of rock’s promise and a temple that no one wanted to see go.

“CBGB is a state of mind,” she said from the stage in a short preshow set for the news media whose highlight was a medley of Ramones songs.

“There’s new kids with new ideas all over the world,” she added. “They’ll make their own places — it doesn’t matter whether it’s here or wherever it is.”

Crowds had been lined up outside since early yesterday morning for a chance to see Ms. Smith and bid farewell to the club, in an event that was carefully orchestrated to maximize media coverage. Television news vans were parked on the Bowery as fans with pink hair, leather jackets and — the most popular fashion statement of the night — multicolored CBGB T-shirts (but not necessarily tickets) waited to be let in and Ms. Smith’s band played a short set for the assembled press.

Curiosity about the club’s last night was mingled with harsh feelings about its fate.

“It’s the cultural rape of New York City that this place is being pushed out,” said John Nikolai, a black-clad 36-year-old photographer from Staten Island whose tie read “I quit.”

Added Ms. Smith outside the club, “It’s a symptom of the empty new prosperity of our city.”

Ms. Smith was CBGB’s last booking as well as one of its first. In the 1970’s, she was the oracular poet laureate of the punk scene, and her seven-week residency in 1975 is still regarded by connoisseurs as the club’s finest moment. With an open booking policy, its founder, Hilly Kristal, nurtured New York rock’s greatest generation, and in turn those groups made CBGB one of the few rock clubs known by name around the world.

“When we first started there was no place we could play, so we ended up on the Bowery,” said Tom Erdelyi, better known as Tommy Ramone, the group’s first drummer and only surviving original member. “It ended up a perfect match.”

It has been a long and painful denouement for CBGB. After settling in 2001 with its landlord, the Bowery Residents’ Committee, over more than $300,000 in back rent, Mr. Kristal, a plucky, gray-bearded 75-year-old, landed back in court last year. The committee, which has an annual budget of $32 million and operates 18 shelters and other facilities throughout the city, said the club owed an additional $75,000 in unpaid rent increases.

Celebrities including David Byrne of Talking Heads and Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band and “The Sopranos” lined up to help mediate, but an agreement was never reached. Last December, three months after the club’s 12-year lease had expired, it agreed, at the prodding of Justice Carol R. Edmead of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, to finally close.

Muzzy Rosenblatt, the executive director of the Bowery Residents’ Committee, has said that a new tenant has been found for the space. Both Mr. Kristal and the committee also say that CBGB’s accounts have been settled and that there are no outstanding debts.


CBGB, the famously crumbling rock club in the East Village, closed for good with a concert featuring Patti Smith, who was one of the first acts to play there in the 1970's.


A crowd gathered outside the club Sunday night.


Ms. Smith during her sound check at CBGB Sunday night.


Debbie Harry, right, and Chris Stein, both original members of the band Blondie, performed an acoustic set Saturday night.


The Ramones at CBGB in 1977, when the club was helping give a start to major rock bands.


Tom Verlaine of Television performed at the club in 1977.


Hilly Kristal, the owner of CBGB, in his office.


A look inside the club, which is located at 313 and 315 Bowery.


The women's room at CBGB.


Almost as famous as some of the bands that played at CBGB was its graffiti-and-flier-covered interior.


Fans and staff listened to Ms. Smith.


A sign showed the prevailing sentiment Sunday night as the club presented its last concert.

Joining the Party, Eager to Make Friends

To big-name marketers, the teeming mosh pits of social networking sites look like dangerous places for their precious brands. MySpace: Isn’t that full of dirty old men picking up teenage girls? Facebook: That’s where college students post pictures of bawdy frat parties. And YouTube: Pirated videos — and people making fun of our commercials.

But now these sites and dozens of smaller ones have something those marketers want: the attention of tens of millions of young people who increasingly avoid television commercials. So companies from Procter & Gamble to J. P. Morgan Chase, like so many lonely teenagers, are tricking out their online profiles and trying to make friends on the Web.

The sites are trying to move beyond banner ads and develop ways to integrate marketers into the fabric of their online communities. For example, marketers encourage the sites’ users to become “friends” with characters from their ads, and are experimenting with more elaborate campaigns that take advantage of the word-of-mouth effects of networking sites.

Big Internet companies are getting into the game, eager to profit from selling ads on these sites. Google agreed to pay the News Corporation $900 million over three and half years for the right to sell advertising on MySpace, the largest social networking site, where people create profile pages and receive messages from friends. And last week it agreed to buy YouTube, the fast-growing video-sharing site, for $1.65 billion.

Microsoft sells ads for Facebook, the second-largest networking site, and for Windows Live Spaces, its own blogging service.

“When blogs and Spaces first came out, people said no one would be willing to advertise on them,” said Joanne K. Bradford, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for advertising sales. “Consumers have voted. They said this is where I’m spending my time, and if you want to find me here, you have to get used to the fact that everything is not pretty and rosy here.”

In some ways, marketers on these sites are treated just like any other member. On MySpace they can have a profile page and a group of friends. Facebook allows marketers to use a feature that lets any member create a group that other members can join.

Advertisers can add features to their MySpace profiles and Facebook group pages like video clips, quizzes, downloadable goodies like ring tones, and, of course, links to their own Web sites.

These approaches run the risk of generating a sour reaction from the online community if site members feel marketers are going too far in trying to fit in.

But Danah Boyd, a sociologist who has studied MySpace, said its users did not reject commercialization out of hand.

“Teens have grown up with being barraged with advertising,” Ms. Boyd said. “They just want it to be relevant, but they expect it.”

The first companies to make the leap and advertise on these sites were movie studios, carmakers and others selling things of inherent interest to young people. Companies with more mundane products to pitch have had to work to create something that will get people talking online.

Unilever, for example, has turned its Axe deodorant into the No. 1 brand in less than four years by promising to help men attract more women. This spring it created a promotion around a group it called Gamekillers — people who get in the way of a seduction, like a guy with a British accent who gets all the attention. The pitch is that Axe helps men stay cool in the face of the Gamekillers.

The campaign included an hourlong program on MTV and a page on MySpace devoted to the topic, with message boards where people could trade complaints and tips about Gamekillers. Its online host was Christine Dolce, a busty model who was already a celebrity thanks to MySpace, where she has accumulated more than a million friends.

The campaign has lured more than 250,000 people to take the Gamekillers quiz on the MySpace page, and 74,000 people chose to designate the Gamekillers page as one of their “friends.”

“You have to be willing to let go,” said Kevin George, the vice president for deodorants at Unilever North America. “It worked for us.”

Companies have found that it is not easy to keep up with the online crowd. One of the first promotional tactics on MySpace was for marketers to create profile pages for people or fictional characters from their advertising campaigns. They then invited users to add those pages to their lists of friends.

Volkswagen created a profile page for Helga, the German character in some of its commercials, where users could see and comment on the commercials and download Helga ring tones, buddy icons and life-size images.

That approach is now looking a little tired, said Jeff Benjamin, interactive creative director for Crispin Porter & Bogusky, Volkswagen’s agency. “A year ago, everyone wanted to be Helga’s friend,” he said. “Today the reaction would be different. So many advertisers are doing it.”

As they start to build up advertising sales operations, the social networking sites are starting to develop offerings that let marketers take advantage of some of their features.

For example, Chase has a promotion on Facebook that implicitly uses a person’s friends to endorse its credit cards. When people join the Chase “+1” group on Facebook, they see a list of their other friends who have joined the group. The program gives members points when they do things like apply for a card and get others to sign up. Those points can be redeemed for prizes, donated to charity or given to other friends on Facebook.

“To be credible on Facebook, you can’t slap the Chase logo all over the site,” said Manning Field, the senior vice president for branding at Chase’s credit card unit. “We wanted a brand cue that said, ‘Wink, we get it. Facebook is about connectedness and social activity.’ ”

On Facebook, American Eagle created a group for its Aerie line of underwear with photos, discussion boards, a contest and clips of the television shows it sponsors.

Facebook also sees marketing opportunities in its new Newsfeed feature, which lets users see all the new information and photos added by their friends in one place. The feed tells your friends when you have joined a group, even one sponsored by an advertiser — another way Facebook is trying to use its network to amplify word-of-mouth advertising.

MySpace is even willing to change some of its standard features to help advertisers. For example, it normally lets members display photos of their top eight friends on their main profile pages. But people who added the movie “X-Men: The Last Stand” to their friends list were given the right to show 16 top friends.

Procter & Gamble is now trying to tap into a trend on Facebook where people try to see how many others they can get to join a group. It is running a contest for Crest Whitestrips that involves 20 different colleges and universities. The four schools that have the most students join the “Smile State” group will earn a free on-campus concert by an up-and-coming artist (only for members of the group, of course).

This same approach was used earlier, in a sneakier fashion. Last month a Facebook member using the name Brody Ruckus, who said he was a Virginia Tech student, created a group on Facebook and said that if 100,000 people joined it, his girlfriend would agree to have sex with him and another woman at the same time. The group soon attracted 430,000 members.

Some members became suspicious, however, and discovered that there was no Brody Ruckus registered at Virginia Tech. They traced the group to Ruckus Network, a college-oriented music service. Facebook shut down the group, citing its policy against commercial activities by members (unless, of course, they are paying advertisers).

Michael Bebel, the chief executive of Ruckus Networks in Herndon, Va., said the promotion was an experiment in guerrilla marketing that grew bigger than the company expected.

“The subject matter is a little polarizing,” Mr. Bebel said. “But,” he said, “the content isn’t any more extreme than what Charlie Sheen does in ‘Two and a Half Men,’ ” a sitcom involving a hip bachelor.

One of the biggest challenges for marketers is how to weave advertising into popular sites like YouTube that offer homemade videos.

YouTube has been experimenting with what are essentially on-demand commercials — ads on its home page with links to videos from sponsors. And it is allowing advertisers to create custom “channels,” collections of videos in any combination of soft or hard sell. A new one for Burger King features Diddy, the rap star, ordering a Whopper. It has also sold more elaborate promotions like the Cingular Underground, a music contest for the cellphone company.

Sometimes marketers find that in the end, the unplanned is what works best. Crispin Porter placed a new crop of Volkswagen commercials on YouTube and a handful of people watched them. Then a user uploaded a grainy version of one of the same commercials. It has been viewed more than 1.7 million times.

“You can’t explain this,” said Mr. Benjamin of Crispin Porter. “Someone passed it on to a friend, who passed it to others, until eventually it gets in the right people’s hands. You just can’t predict what will happen.”

------

Diddy @ Burger King

Murray Parties With Scottish Students

LONDON - Bill Murray created a small sensation in the Scottish town of St. Andrews, joining Scandinavian students at a late-night party and even helping to wash the dishes, a newspaper reported Sunday.

In the movie "Lost in Translation," Murray plays a lonely middle-aged actor in Japan who befriends a young American woman and goes partying with her.

And in what The Sunday Telegraph said was life imitating art, the 56-year-old Murray joined up with 22-year-old Norwegian student Lykke Stavnef, who took him to a house where a student party was in full swing.

"Nobody could believe it when I arrived at the party with Bill Murray," Stavnef, a social anthropology student, was quoted as saying. "He was just like the character in 'Lost in Translation.'"

The newspaper reported that Murray met Stavnef at a bar where he was drinking with fellow golfers after playing in the Oct. 5-8 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St. Andrews with other actors.

To Stavnef's surprise, Murray accepted her invitation to a party and accompanied her and her friend to a party, the newspaper said.

She said she was first concerned when the apartment had no clean glasses left, but that Murray was happy to drink vodka from a coffee cup and also helped wash dishes in the cramped kitchen.

The Sunday Telegraph article was accompanied by a photograph that appears to show Murray, dressed in a checkered shirt and a brown vest, washing a metal pot at the sink.

As news spread around the city that Murray had turned up at the student party, the house became crowded with people wanting to meet the star of "Ghostbusters," the article said.

"He was joking with me about reheating some leftover pasta and how drunk everyone was," said partygoer Agnes Huitfeldt, 22.

Tom Wright, 22, another college student, said "the party was overflowing with stunning Scandinavian blondes."

"He seemed to be in his element, cracking lots of jokes," Wright said. "It was the talk of the town the next day."

Shortly after doing the dishes, Murray left the party, the students said.

Stay Away From The Glitter

Sometimes you can get so attracted by the glitter that you err dangerously close to going over the top. Take a step back -- or better yet, ask a good friend for their perspective on the matter.

One True Love...

Bat those eyelashes. Flash your pearly whites. Tell your flirtiest joke. That's right, foxy, you're a temptress who knows how to use what you've got to get exactly what you want. Flirty, fun, and sure — sometimes a little fiery — you're always on the prowl for a good time.

Just because you love the thrill of the chase doesn't mean you're not ready to settle down when things are right. And when you do, you know your flirtatious ways and sassy moves will keep the home fires burning bright. That's hot!

100% Lindsay Lohan!

It's just your luck that you're like this driven and gifted teen queen. With your talents, it looks like your future's gonna be fully loaded!

I'm Like Gwen! Yes!

From performing songs to designing her own clothing line, Gwen Stefani has never been a girl who just blends in. Like her, you're an original who's got your unique style that makes you stand out from the crowd. Even if you don't feel the pull of platinum, you know that you're a true individual with a flare for getting noticed — and staying in the spotlight.

Strong and sassy, you know who you are and enjoy expressing yourself — whether through music, fashion, or simply with your creative take on life. You'll never be just a girl — unless of course we're talking It Girl.

My Car?

What do you care if your exhaust pipe drags a little on the pavement or if it takes a few tries to wheeze that motor to life in the morning? The car for you is a Beater, since you don't have time to worry about the quality of your wheels. We're thinking a 1970 Dodge Dart or a 1974 Chevy Nova maybe still painted its original salmon orange or moccasin brown. With over 100,000 miles on that odometer, it's been around the block more times than you can count, and there are some great memories buried in that cracked vinyl backseat. Besides being a testament to your laid back lifestyle, and that ironic take on life, you recognize how owning a beater is a great advantage on the road. Notice how other cars don't mess with you, knowing you wouldn't think twice about ramming them just to make a point. Maybe some will call it an eyesore, but your time-honored ride is just proof of your true individuality.

True Blue

You're blue — the most soothing shade of the spectrum. The color of a clear summer sky or a deep, reflective ocean, blue has traditionally symbolized trust, solitude, and loyalty. Most likely a thoughtful person who values spending some time on your own, you'd rather connect deeply with a few people than have a bunch of slight acquaintances. Luckily, making close friends isn't that hard, since people are naturally attracted to you — they're soothed by your calming presence. Cool and collected, you rarely overreact. Instead, you think things through before coming to a decision. That level-headed, thoughtful approach to life is patently blue — and patently you!

I'm Allegedly "Hip and Urban"

Always on the cutting edge of just about everything you do, you're not afraid to experiment with fashion and show off your exciting personality. Whether you're headed to class, an after-school activity, or a friend's party, you don't mind taking the time to put your best foot forward and hopefully, have the most happening outfit around.

Influenced by big city life, your look can be uptown one minute, downtown the next. It's just a matter of how you feel and what vibe you're ready to rock that day. Sound stylish and cool? Believe us, it is.

----

True in Some Sort of Way

Strong Quake Knocks Out Power in Hawaii

HONOLULU - A strong earthquake shook Hawaii early Sunday, jolting residents out of bed and causing a landslide that blocked a major highway. Ceilings crashed at a hospital, and aftershocks kept the state on edge.

The state Civil Defense had unconfirmed reports of injuries, but communication problems prevented more definite reports. Gov. Linda Lingle issued a disaster declaration for the entire state, saying there had been damage to buildings and roads. There were no reports of fatalities.

The quake hit at 7:07 a.m. local time, 10 miles north-northwest of Kailua Kona, a town on the west coast of Hawaii Island, also known as the Big Island, said Don Blakeman, a geophysicist at the National Earthquake Information Center, part of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Blakeman said there was no risk of a Pacific-wide tsunami, but there was a possibility of significant wave activity in Hawaii.

The Pacific Tsunami Center reported a preliminary magnitude of 6.5, while the U.S. Geological Survey gave a preliminary magnitude of 6.6. The earthquake was followed by several strong aftershocks, including one measuring a magnitude of 5.8, the Geological Survey said.

"We were rocking and rolling," said Anne LaVasseur, who was on the second floor of a two-story, wood-framed house on the east side of the Big Island when the temblor struck. "I was pretty scared. We were swaying back and forth, like King Kong's pushing your house back and forth."

Water pipes exploded at Aston Kona By The Sea, an 86-unit condominium resort, creating a dramatic waterfall down the front of the hotel from the fourth floor, said Kenneth Piper, who runs the front desk.

"We are a concrete building, but we really shook. You could almost see the cars bouncing up and down in the parking garage," he said.

The quake caused widespread power outages, and phone communication was possible, but difficult. By midday Sunday, power was restored to Hilo on the Big Island and was starting to be restored to Maui, said Chuck Anthony, a spokesman for the Hawaii National Guard. Officials did not have a firm estimate of how many people were without power.

Lingle told radio station KSSK that she toured the Kona area by helicopter to view the damage, including earth falling into Kealakekua Bay.

"You could see the water was turning brown," said Lingle.

A FEMA computer simulation of the quake estimated that as many as 170 bridges on the Big Island could have suffered damage in the temblor, said Bob Fenton, FEMA director of response for the region. More than 50 federal officials were en route to the Big Island to assess damage and begin recovery work, he said.

On Hawaii Island, there was some damage in Kailua-Kona and a landslide along a major highway, said Gerard Fryer, a geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Center. Officials also said there were reports of people trapped in elevators in Oahu.

In Waikiki, one of the state's primary tourism areas, worried visitors began lining up outside convenience stores to purchase food, water and other supplies. Managers were letting tourists into the darkened stores one at a time.

Karie and Bryan Croes were waited an hour to buy bottles of water, chips and bread. "It's quite a honeymoon story," said Karie as she and her husband sat in lounge chairs surrounded by their grocery bags beside a pool at ResortQuest Waikiki Beach Hotel.

Kona Community Hospital on the western side of Big Island was being evacuated after ceilings collapsed and power was cut off, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

At least 10 acute care patients were being evacuated across the island to a medical center in Hilo, said Terry Lewis, spokeswoman for the hospital. About 30 nursing care patients were being moved temporarily to a nearby conference center, she said.

"We were very lucky that no one got hurt," said Lewis.

Power was back up in the hospital, and its emergency room was accepting patients, hospital officials said. One operating room that sustained minimal damage was available for use if necessary.

The quake affected travel plans for many visitors, though the state was in its low period of the tourism season. Airports were functioning despite the power outages, though travel was difficult and some flights were being canceled, officials said.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Les Dorr said planes were arriving at Honolulu International Airport, but there were few departures. Dorr said the Transportation Security Administration security checkpoints were without power, so screeners were screening passengers and baggage manually.

Resorts in Kona were being asked to keep people close to hotels, Big Island Mayor Harry Kim told television station KITV. Cruise ships were asked to keep tourists on board, and ships that were due to dock with tourists were asked to move on to their next location, he said.

"We are dealing with a lot of scared people," he said.

Hotels throughout the islands reported scattered injuries and disruptions. Many hotel managers broadcast warnings over public-address systems that echoed through corridors.

Earthquakes in the 6.0 magnitude range are rare in the region, though they have happened before. The region more commonly sees temblors in the 3- and 4-magnitude range caused by volcanic activity.

"We think this is a buildup from many volcanic earthquakes that they've had on the island," Waverly Person, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center.

The last Hawaiian earthquake this strong struck more than 20 years ago. The magnitude 6.7 caused heavy property damage on Hawaii Island and collapsed trails into a volcano in Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park on Nov. 16, 1983. A 6.1-magnitude quake also hit in 1989, according to the Earthquake Information Center.

The largest recorded Hawaiian earthquake struck the Ka'u District on Hawaii Island in 1868, causing 77 deaths. Its magnitude was estimated at 7.9.

A 9.5-magnitude earthquake, the largest in the world, struck Chile on May 22, 1960, and a tsunami traveled to Hawaii where 61 people died.

New York Club CBGB Hosting Final Concert

NEW YORK - CBGB was to host its final concert Sunday night after a 33-year residence in downtown New York as the iconic, grungy bastion of punk.

The concert, headlined by rock poet Patti Smith, was to be the final note sounded in a drawn-out battle to preserve the legendary club. A homeless advocacy group that owns the property, the Bowery Residents Committee, is not renewing CBGB's lease, which expired in August 2005. The club will close Oct. 31.

CBGB's closure has prompted protests, tributes and vigils for more than a year - a cycle ended when CBGB's owner, Hilly Kristal, gave up his legal fight to stay.

CBGB, hailed by many as the birthplace of punk, opened in December 1973 and over the years helped spawn the careers of such acts as the Ramones, Blondie, the Talking Heads and Television. Though the club's glory days are long gone, it has remained a symbolic fixture on the Manhattan music scene.

Blondie singer Deborah Harry performed at CBGB on Saturday, part of a weeklong send-off for the club.

With a capacity of barely 300, CBGB was founded as a place of freedom for different musical acts. Its letters stand for the music Kristal originally planned to present there - country, bluegrass and blues - but it quickly came to represent the physical epicenter of early punk and the storied downtown scene of 1970s New York.

Kristal plans to move the club to Las Vegas, and its store, CBGB Fashions, will move on Nov. 1 to a nearby location at Broadway and Bond Street.

The Bowery Residents Committee, which holds a 45-year lease on the building, houses 250 homeless people above the club. CBGB is its lone commercial tenant.

---

On the Net:

CBGB: http://www.cbgb.com

An Alternate Universe Where Beautiful People Have Repulsive Babies

WHEN word arrived that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were expecting a child — news that set off an inescapable frenzy of anticipation for what would certainly be the most beautiful child ever — didn’t you have a sneaking thought that some recessive ugly genes could produce a baby who was “a little goofy looking,” as the artist known as 14 put it on her Web site? Sacrilege in the hype-driven world of movie-star news, that idea was the inspiration for great satire on 14’s Gallery of the Absurd, the best of many sites that skewer celebrity culture. She created an image of Brangelina and Child as the Holy Family, turning them into icons in the original Byzantine sense, complete with halos but with a child who looks a bit too much like Gollum from “Lord of the Rings.”

The artist known as 14 takes on Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and baby on the Gallery of the Absurd. The Tom Cruise parody valentine from the Gallery of the Absurd.
Smart celebrity satires are flourishing online — rarely anywhere else — and they do more than deflate the self-importance of stars. They also mock the gushing media that glorify them, and demonstrate that while taking tired potshots at stars is common (see any Britney-bashing episode of “Saturday Night Live” or “Mad TV”) satirizing TomKat or Brangelina so effectively that you expose the inane soul of celebrity culture itself is an art. In the form of artists’ blogs, fake news stories and tongue-in-cheek analyses of fame, together these sites function like an underground movement, subverting the cult of celebrity even as they feed off it.

In the last year or so that movement has gained in sophistication and has grown rapidly online, thriving there for some of the usual reasons: the Web is fast, cheap and plays to short attention spans, so it can afford inconsistent wit. More specifically, Web satire can be rude, with the freedom to address the most ludicrous rumors, the kind that make magazine editors and television producers (sometimes even the tabloid kind) skittish.

The fake articles on Postcards From the Pug Bus, which does for celebrity what “The Daily Show” does for politics, sound so authentic that Tom Cruise’s lawyer once demanded a retraction; his letter (reproduced on the site) insisted it was “false and defamatory” to say that Mr. Cruise “had a previous life, that he is old beyond reckoning, that he took his present form because ‘Bingodulla elected him to spread the gospel of Scientology.’ ”

Beneath such lunacy, these sites provide trenchant criticism of celebrity culture by turning the mainstream approach inside out. More than ever, stars have become the touchstones of everyday life, which accounts for the media obsession with their marriages and families. The reverent approach of People, Us Weekly and television infotainment like “Access Hollywood” and “Entertainment Tonight” depends on the illusion that the famous are Just Like Us (the title of a regular Us Weekly section, showing stars walking their dogs or eating ice cream cones).

Satirists recognize those starry images to be grotesque exaggerations of the ordinary. By making fun of the celebrities’ delusions, missteps and puffed-up attitudes (flying a Los Angeles obstetrician to Namibia?), they show how distant the famous are from everyday life.

The caricatures that 14 posts weekly on Gallery of the Absurd (galleryoftheabsurd.com) display the qualities that make celebrity satire work. Her inventive Tom Cruise valentine, which playfully attacks the star and his spin, exaggerates his love-besotted public displays, depicting him as a grinning little guy wearing silly platform shoes, surrounded by cute valentine hearts. And it exposes the distance between that calculated image and what so much of the public thinks by adding Devil’s horns and picking up on the widespread rumor of a TomKat legal agreement.

“BE MINE. ALL MINE!!!” the valentine reads, “But first you must sign this contract” (with a pen that has an alien’s head) and “become a Scientologist.” As the sardonic text accompanying the caricature reads, “Nothing says love like signing a $5 million contract agreement to pose as a loving companion to a tiny man with a very large ego.”

An artist in her late 30’s who uses her real name, Erin Norlin, in her day job as an illustrator, 14 started the site in May 2005. It now gets 17,000 to 20,000 hits a day, she says; a line of Gallery of the Absurd greeting cards, including the Cruise valentine, can be e-mailed from hipstercards.com. “When I look at Star magazine or at Us, it’s like looking at a comic book,” she said in a phone interview. “I’m interested in the characters that gossip turns these celebrities into.”

That attitude — rejecting even the illusion that these celebrity-figures are any more real than holograms — goes to the heart of why celebrity satire is trickier to pull off than political satire, which seems to be everywhere. Pug Bus (pugbus.net) began as a political satire blog after the 2004 election, said its founder, Phil Maggitti. A retired freelance writer and editor, at 63 he is as far from the typical Web demographic as you can get.

He stumbled into the celebrity niche after writing a fake news article about Brad Pitt. “I discovered that bashing the president didn’t get you as many hits,” he said. Although the site still has political satire, its traffic (5,500 visitors a day in September) is “almost entirely driven by celebrity,” he added.

A Lonely Petit Four of a Queen

The opening lines of “Natural’s Not in It,” by the Gang of Four, are the first words in Sofia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette,” and they suggest one of that film’s paradoxical themes: The pursuit of sensual delight is trivial compared with other undertakings — just as “the problem of leisure” is surely more of a privilege than a burden — but pleasure is also serious, one of the things that gives life its shape and meaning.

It may be tempting to greet “Marie Antoinette” with a Jacobin snarl or a self-righteous sneer, since it is after all the story of the silly teenager who embodied a corrupt, absolutist state in its terminal decadence. But where’s the fun in such indignation? And, more seriously, where is the justice? To say that this movie is historically irresponsible or politically suspect is both to state the obvious and to miss the point.

“Marie Antoinette,” which will be shown tonight and tomorrow at the New York Film Festival and opens next Friday, is a thoroughly modern confection, blending insouciance and sophistication, heartfelt longing and self-conscious posing with the guileless self-assurance of a great pop song. What to do for pleasure? Go see this movie, for starters.

“Natural’s Not in It” (speaking of great pop songs) blasts over the electrifying pink-and-black opening titles, kicking us into 18th-century Versailles with a jolt of anachronism. (Later there is some period-appropriate Rameau to go with the 80’s post-punk Ms. Coppola favors, and a high-top sneaker tucked amid the fabulous ancien régime couture.) But despite all the bodices and breeches, the horse-drawn coaches and elaborate perukes, “Marie Antoinette” is only masquerading as a costume drama. It would be overstating the case to call it a work of social criticism, but beneath its highly decorated surface is an examination, touched with melancholy as well as delight, of what it means to live in a world governed by rituals of acquisition and display. It is a world that Ms. Coppola presents as exotic and unreal — a baroque counterpart to the Tokyo of “Lost in Translation” — but that is not as far away as it first seems.

Ms. Coppola, who drew upon Antonia Fraser’s revisionist biography of Marie Antoinette, “Marie Antoinette: The Journey,” in preparing her script, is less a historian than a pop anthropologist, and her portrait of the young queen, played with wily charm by Kirsten Dunst, is not so much a psychological portrait as a tableau of mood and atmosphere. Highly theatrical and yet also intimate and informal, “Marie Antoinette” lets its story slink almost casually through its lovingly composed and rendered images.

The costumes, designed by Milena Canonero, are arresting; K K Barrett’s production design is appropriately sumptuous; and Lance Acord’s cinematography catches both the swirls of high-fashion color and the quieter, candlelighted tones of the French court. No mere backdrop, Versailles, where much of “Marie Antoinette” was shot, is the film’s subject and, in some respects, its star. Like Hollywood — which it resembles in some interesting and hardly accidental particulars — Versailles is a place with an aura and a power of its own, with an almost mystical ability to warp the lives of those who, by accident or choice, come to dwell on its grounds.

Marie is, at first, very much an outsider, summoned from Austria as a 14-year-old to be the bride of the future Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman). Crossing the border, she is stripped of her clothes and her beloved pug, Mops, and welcomed into a world of rigorously observed, often ridiculous forms.

Her chaperone, the Comtesse de Noailles, is played by Judy Davis, who seems to have had extra tendons added to her neck for the role. The comtesse’s job is to instruct Marie in French protocol, and she is only one of several figures who shuffle into the princess’s line of sight every now and then to offer scolding, advice and instruction. Others include Count Mercy D’Argenteau (Steve Coogan) and Joseph of Austria (Danny Huston), Marie’s beloved older brother, who also counsels her husband on some delicate matters of conjugal duty, about which the young man seems to have no clue.

The poor would-be king is in some ways even more lost than his bride, who has a spark of mischief and an extravagant sense of style. Louis is overshadowed by his grandfather, Louis XV (Rip Torn), a rambunctious old goat whose fleshly appetites seem not to have been passed down to his heir.

Mr. Schwartzman mumbles and bumbles, looking younger and softer than he has in previous films, and quietly showing the pathos of this hapless boy’s situation. He is happiest out hunting with his pals or tinkering with locks, and he quite literally does not know what to do with the girl that fate has tossed into his bed. The royal marriage is unconsummated for seven years, and the absence of new blood in the royal line becomes grist for gossip and a potential political crisis.

Molly Shannon and Shirley Henderson are two of the principal mean girls of Versailles, and their chosen scapegoat is the elder Louis’s mistress, Madame du Barry (Asia Argento), who is also Marie’s rival for influence at court. The mingling of private matters with affairs of state is a hallmark of this kind of monarchy, and in Ms. Coppola’s hands the analogies to modern celebrity culture are simultaneously clear and subtle. Marie’s life is one of obscene entitlement, but it is also heavily constrained, and the story the film tells is of her efforts to accommodate her headstrong, spirited individualism to the strictures of her role as queen.

She is profligate and self-indulgent, yes, impetuously ordering up shoes, parties and impromptu trips to Paris. She breaks with tradition by applauding at the opera, and then appears onstage herself. She takes a lover — a dashing Swedish nobleman — and turns Petit Trianon, a royal retreat that was a gift from her husband, into a kind of Versailles V.I.P. room, where she drinks, gardens, reads Rousseau and plays shepherdess. These activities have often been mocked — and were the source of scandal and outrage in the years before the revolution — but through Ms. Coppola’s eyes they are poignant as well as a bit silly.

And the film’s visual extravagance somehow conveys its heroine’s loneliness as well as the sheer fun of aristocratic life. We know how this story ends, and Ms. Coppola refrains from showing us the violent particulars, or from sentimentalizing her heroine’s fate, preferring to conclude on a quiet, restrained note that registers the loss of Marie’s world as touchingly as the rest of the film has acknowledged her folly, her confusion and her humanity.

“Marie Antoinette” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It has glimmers of sexuality and brief glimpses of naked flesh amid all the fabulous clothes.

-----

MARIE ANTOINETTE

Tonight and tomorrow at the New York Film Festival; opens nationwide next Friday.

Directed by Sofia Coppola; written by Ms. Coppola, based on the book by Antonia Fraser; director of photography, Lance Acord; edited by Sarah Flack; production designer, K K Barrett; produced by Ms. Coppola and Ross Katz; released by Columbia Pictures. Running time: 123 minutes. Tonight at 9 and tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center.

WITH: Kirsten Dunst (Marie Antoinette), Jason Schwartzman (King Louis XVI), Rip Torn (King Louis XV), Judy Davis (Comtesse de Noailles), Asia Argento (Madame du Barry), Marianne Faithfull (Empress Maria Teresa), Danny Huston (Joseph), Molly Shannon (Aunt Victoire), Steve Coogan (Count Mercy D’Argenteau), Rose Byrne (Duchesse de Polignac) and Shirley Henderson (Aunt Sophie).

-----


“The problem of leisure/What to do for pleasure.”

Evanescence Butcher The Killers In Battle For Billboard #1

Was three years just a little too long?

That was the question on the minds of several industry insiders last week when Evanescence released The Open Door, the follow-up to their 2003 breakout Fallen — an album that, to date, has sold close to 6.6 million copies in the U.S. alone. With artists like the Killers, Beck and Monica all releasing new discs on the same day that The Open Door landed in stores, some wondered whether Amy Lee's goth-rock outfit still had a strong enough fanbase to open up on top.

But the fans were there to clear a path for The Open Door to become the band's first chart-topping debut. With first-week sales of 447,000 plus, the #1 position on the Billboard albums chart was a lock for Evanescence, who outsold second-place finishers the Killers by more than 133,000 copies. The Open Door stacks up as the band's biggest debut, as Fallen opened at #7 with 142,000 copies sold, while 2004's live effort Anywhere But Home bowed at #39 with 54,000 scans.

The Killers second studio offering, Sam's Town, sold nearly 315,000 copies its first week out, securing the disc the chart's #2 slot. The Las Vegas rockers' debut LP, 2004's Hot Fuss, bowed at #59 with sales of 23,000; Fuss has since sold more than 3 million units.

The chart's #3 spot belongs to George Strait, whose It Just Comes Natural racked up more than 232,000 sales. Tony Bennett's Duets: An American Classic slides one spot to #4, with second-week sales reported at 128,000 and then some. Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/ Love Sounds holds #5, racking up another 116,000 scans its fourth week in stores, while Billboard's previous #1 — Ludacris' Release Therapy — drops to #6 its second week out thanks to a 64 percent sales dip.

Beck's The Information opens at #7 with 99,000 scans. That puts the rocker's latest disc behind Guero — the 2005 release that opened at #2 with 162,000 sales — but ahead of 2002's Sea Change, which bowed at #8 with 90,000 copies sold. Monica's The Makings of Me takes the #8 spot, generating 93,000 in first-week sales. Janet Jackson's 20 Y.O. slips seven spots to #9, selling 77,000 units — a 74 percent drop in sales — while Hinder's Extreme Behavior rounds out the top 10 with 76,000 copies sold.

A total of 31 newcomers make the Billboard 200, with 13 cracking the chart's top 50. Shine On, Jet's follow-up to 2003's Get Born, opens at #16 with 51,000 copies sold. Ray Sings, Basie Swings, a mashup pairing vintage Ray Charles with the contemporary Count Basie Orchestra, debuts at #23 with 36,000 sales. The Decemberists' The Crane Wife opens at #35 with more than 26,000 scans, Robin Thicke's The Evolution of Robin Thicke follows at #45 with 20,000 copies sold and South Park Mexican open at #46 with When Devils Strike moving nearly 20,000 units.

Outkast associate Sleepy Brown debuts at #53 after selling 18,000 copies of his Mr. Brown. Pillar's The Reckoning bows at #70 with 14,000 sales, and Amos Lee's Supply and Demand takes the chart's #76 opening with 13,200 scans. Lindsey Buckingham's Under the Skin, finishes its first week with 13,000 sales for a #80 debut. Gladys Knight's Before Me opens at #93 with 11,000 copies sold. Pepper's No Shame follows at #96 with nearly 11,000 sales, while former Phish frontman Trey Anastasio's Bar 17 bows at #102 with more than 10,000 scans.

Unk's Beat'n Down Yo Block! sold nearly 10,000 copies, which earns him the #109 spot, while the Hold Steady's Boys and Girls in America claims #124 with more than 8,000 copies scanned. Sean Lennon's latest, Friendly Fire, surfaces at #152 with 7,000 sales, followed at #158 by He Is Legend's Suck Out the Poison which racked up 6,000 first-week scans.

Should Justin Timberlake Be Worried About A SexyBacklash?

The following headline recently appeared on a Web site whose name will be withheld to protect its dignity: "Metropolitan Brings Sexy Back to Opera."

OK, when the Metropolitan Opera is bringing sexy back, it's gone too far — that's if it hadn't already.

"If I hear one more idiot friend of mine say they are bringing sexy back, I may have to slap them," confirmed JoJo Wright, an on-air personality for KIIS-FM in Los Angeles. "They have even taken it to the next level and made their own personal versions such as 'I'm bringing ugly back' or 'I'm bringing stupid back.' "

"I've heard 'I'm bringing blogging back,' " added master celeb blogger Perez Hilton. "That's why that catchphrase works is 'cause you can really appropriate it and make it your own."

To his credit, Justin Timberlake has apologized for, well, bringing sexy back.

"I definitely didn't think it would become the most worn-out joke of 2006," he said recently. "It just sounded like a nice opening to the song. I mean, I definitely didn't know it was going to start what it started.''

With "SexyBack" — which has been #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks, by the way — Timberlake has turned his lyrics into lingo and topped "hips don't lie" as the catchphrase of 2006.

The question now is, is that a good or bad thing?

Snoop only heightened his ultra-cool status by coining "drop it like it's hot," but the same can't exactly be said for Tag Team ("Whoomp! (There It Is)"), Sir Mix-A-Lot ("Baby Got Back") and MC Hammer ("U Can't Touch This" or "2 Legit 2 Quit").

Then again, Ricky Martin launched his career by livin' la vida loca, Britney Spears solidified hers by doing it again — oops — and Kelis rescued hers by bringing all the boys to the yard with her milkshake.

"It depends on the artist," music journalist Steve Baltin said. "Queen had a catchphrase with 'Another One Bites the Dust,' and that's certainly not what they're remembered for now. For a one-hit wonder like Hammer or Tag Team, that catchphrase relegates them to a one-hit wonder punch line. But for someone like Justin, who's proven himself to his fans, there should be no regrets because he'll likely outlast that line."

"For an established artist, it's a good thing simply because they are known first and foremost as an artist," added Wright, whose KIIS has "SexyBack" on heavy rotation. "For a new artist, they run a higher risk of being forever known as the group that sang, 'I'm too sexy for my shirt.' Although as long as they got paid, I guess that's not so bad."

So far, Timberlake is seeing no backlash, as FutureSex/LoveSounds' second single, "My Love," has already climbed to #13 on the Hot 100.

"Some songs are written to be gimmick songs, and some songs are just good and they become catchphrases," Hilton said. "I still like to hear 'SexyBack,' but I don't ever want to hear 'Who Let the Dogs Out' again."

With all the jokes, though, won't even he eventually get tired of "SexyBack"? "So long as he's sexy," Hilton said. "Maybe when he's 60, 'SexyBack' will get retired."

Maybe. Now take it to the bridge ...

People Know If You're Jamaican If...

>You can distinguish between "cocoa-tea" "bush-tea" and"green-tea".
>When someone sympathizes with you, you comment "Yuh tink seh it easy?"
>You point with your lips.
>You can't say "three" or "thing" ... you say "tree" and "ting".
>You say words like Heg (instead of Egg); Hingland (instead of England )
>You give directions with your hands, even if it is in another state.
>You go to parties for the food and drink and then cuss afterwards when the
>food and drink run out.
>You nod your head upwards to greet someone.
>You always find yourself standing next to plenty of luggage and boxes at
>the airport.
>When you travel home, you bring an extra suitcase going down, it has none
>of your clothes; returning, it has food.
>You hate to throw away empty containers as they might come in handy for
>pepper sauce or "green seasonings".
>You have one big pot you call curry pot when you are not even cooking
>curry.
>You have another pot you called dutch pot.
>You say "bwoy" at the beginning of a sentence and "man" at the end of it.
>You always hang something on your rearview mirror.
>You put pepper sauce on everything for the taste.
>You think eating ackee and saltfish, plaintain and fried dumplings are a
>great morning breakfast.
>You can't go a week without a rice dish.
>You think steak is a waste of good meat; you would rather cut it up and
>stew it with potatoes.
>You chew and suck out all the marrow from the chicken bone and then pick
>out your teeth afterwards.
>You save all the juices from the cooked meats/chicken to use for flavour
>for your next dish.
>You wash and rinse plastic utensils and cups that can be used again.
>You bring home food from a party (enough for your breakfast the next
>morning, your lunch and your dinner!)
>You chew the ice when you finish your drinks.
>You must put dumplings in all soups.
>You show disapproval by sucking your teeth.
>You have a dishwasher in the house and only use it for special occasions.
>At Christmas, you have to have "black cake".
>You have a thyme (or mint) bush growing somewhere in your yard.

My Love

Justin Timberlake's second single, My Love, featuring Atlanta rapper, T.I., and produced by Timbaland from his sophomore release, Future Sex/Love Sounds has been burning up the charts since late August. Mr. JT's back once again with another smokin' video. Check out My Love here.

Watch My Love

Read This...

My Favorite Top Model!

Spring '07 Runway Trends

Citizen K Photospread

What Will They Think Of Next?

Every Step You Take



Somewhere between low-carb and low-cal, you stopped getting so darn high on life.

So here’s a little something to raise your spirits — and maybe your metabolic rate. Shape ’Em Ups by Orthotebb are brilliant new shoes designed to work your lower half while you wear them throughout the day.

Slip them on (don’t panic, now; trying not to teeter is what makes them work) and concentrate on keeping your weight on the soft, flat platform supporting the front two-thirds of each shoe.

Every step incites vein-pumping action, the likes of which you’ve never seen. Before you know it, you’re using as many muscles in your legs, hips, tummy, and tuccous as you normally would sweating away on a StairMaster.

With long-term use, they address grave maladies like saggy knees, saddle bags, and the ever-dreaded cankle. Word on the street is that Pilates studios all over town are snatching them up for fall.

We’d point out that you had nothing to lose.

But for most of us, that’s just not the case.


Available online at shapeupshoes.com.

Express yourself through your Great Attitude

No matter where you go or what you wear, your sparkling personality is the first thing people notice about you. It's important to you to put your best foot forward, and you know that a positive attitude always does the trick.

You've got a good head on your shoulders and a kind heart when it comes to others. People know they can count on you in all kinds of situations whether you're consoling the heartbroken with ice cream, sacrificing a Saturday to help someone move, or even just holding a hand during a scary haircut. You always surprise people by thinking of them before yourself. That's a friend indeed.

How Did I Never See This?

1921 Jeans - Designer Q & A

Here is the second in an ongoing series of Designer Q & As, this time with esteemed Denimologist and owner of 1921 Jeans, Michael Silver.

1) Why do you think after 200 years jeans are still the most popular item of clothing.

MS) The socks and underwear manufacturers may argue that they are in fact the most popular item of clothing over the last 200 years. Where as denim has been extremely popular for the last 40 years and the last 20 years its growth has been phenomenal. I think the nature of the fabric itself (cotton) lends itself to comfort and it's a clothing item that all ages and walks of life can wear. It is one of those few products that people from all parts of the globe, all walks of life and socioeconomic status can wear and enjoy, and feel very much part of a "casual culture" by wearing.

2) Last time I counted there were over 50 brands of premium denim jeans, what makes 1921 Jeans stand out from the rest?

MS) I think there far more than 50!!! 1921 does not possess one single element that makes it unique, but does have a variety of aspects that when put in a jean make it unique as a total. I like to say that a great jean is a "sum of all parts" that being: great fit, great wash, interesting details, great fabrics that feel wonderful, and styling that is appropriate to the current trends.

3) It was reported recently that Victoria Beckham paid a visit to your offices. Can you comment on the rumours that you may be working with her soon.

MS) I really cannot comment on that, but perhaps everyone should stay tuned.

4) If you had to choose one of the following which would you say is more important - the way a pair of jeans look or how comfortable they feel.

MS) I cannot answer this question properly because I truly believe a jean that looks great and fits lousy is not better than one that fits and looks wrong if you do not either you are not a "premium denim line"

5) Are there any essential jeans that everyone should have in their wardrobe.

MS) Essentials are often what is happening at the moment such as Skinny jeans or super wide or dark. I think that everyone should have a jean they love and feel great in and that is their essential jean.

6) What are the first pair of jeans you remember?

MS) I grew up a child in the denim business; my family has made jeans since 1921!!I remember unwashed denim ,stiff as board (it stand up in a corner on its own !!) They hurt to wear for the first month and eventually formed to your body as long as you did not wash them then they would fit your younger sister!!!I always loved the original 501 and certain LEE jeans and had some really cool "Sisley jeans"(which now hang on my office wall).

7) What has been your favourite pair of jeans that you have owned?

MS) See above

8) What has been your favourite pair of jeans that you have produced?

MS) 16 years ago we developed a jean under our Silver brand called Frisco. It wasone of the first woman's flares ever sold, it had a contour waistband, lowerrise, button fly and was sandblasted in left hand denim. Eventually we soldover 3,000,000 of that single style and it put my kids through college!!!

9) How many pairs of jeans do you currently own and which are your favorites?

MS) Tough one. I only own about 5 pair. I tend to fall in love with our latest product and wear them until some new exciting fit, wash or fabric comes through. Currently my favorite is a super slim 1921 jean (15 inch bottom) out of red salvage Kaihara denim, rinsed, with a touch of resin, but still super soft denim.

10) Are you a "wash your jeans after each wear" person or a "wear your jeans for six months before you wash them" person?

MS) I am somewhere in-between I say wash once very 2 weeks, denim tends to return to its natural "milled" size after washing so I have to prepare myself for the tightness and hold my breath for a day or so after the wash.

11) Do you own jeans for different occasions (for instance I have work jeans, smart jeans, weekend jeans, holiday jeans, jeans for going to concerts in, jeans for gardening in) if so what have you got?

MS) I do not wear anything but jeans and outside of some white jeans for summer jeans, a jean shirt and jean jacket are a three piece suit for me! I really just put on a pair of jeans based on: If they are clean? Are they comfortable?

12) Which is your favourite jeans shop?

MS) RPM 45 in Tokyo, E Street Denim in Illinois (because I can see every jean line!) Arcuate in Tokyo (great Levi vintage store)
Over the Rainbow in Toronto (great service!!!)
The Jean Shop in NY (my friends Barry and Gene definitely understand the Denim "feel")

13) Who is your current favourite denim icon (male & female). I am thinking the person who has the most denim style?

MS) I really do not believe in icons for our business. Stars and celebrities are good at their trade and some understand fashion. I see some really cool guys and girls on the street in Harajuku. They are the icons. Celebrities are just wealthy people whose latest look is public. They are thousands on the street who are more important to me!

14) Which character (male & female) from a movie had the most denim style?

MS) No question James Dean and Steve McQueen

15) Which person living or dead would you most like to see in a pair of 1921 Jeans?

MS) James Dean

16) If denim jeans had not been invented, what would we all be wearing?

MS) Double knits and leisure suits!!!

17) And finally, any predictions for future trends in denim jeans?

MS) I predict there will continue to be way too many brands for far to few retailers and consumers ,but beyond that if I had a prediction that I thought might be accurate ,I would be doing this interview from my yacht in Monaco !!Seriously, no predictions, it's been much more fun over the last 30 years to wait, watch and learn!!

My City Style

Miami

Considering the heat you generate with your sizzling style and confidence, your hottest shopping stop can only be Miami. Here among the South Beach party pads are plenty of places to load up on clingy cocktail outfits and bikinis that’d make Mom blush. You crave excitement and get it thanks to your outrageously ogle-worthy gear and good-time vibe.

My.Shuffle.List.

How am I feeling today?: Slow Motion --> Juvenile (feeling lethargic)

Will I get far in life?: Gone So Young --> Amber Pacific (well that's depressing with a great beat)

How do my friends see me?: All That I Am --> Rob Thomas (right on target)

Where will I get Married?: Infatuation --> Christina Aguilera (*guess not)

What is the story of my life?: Shut Up --> Nick Lachey (the point I've been trying to make my whole life)

What was high school like?: Together --> Avril Lavigne (not really)

How can I get ahead in life?: Starry Eyed Surprise --> Paul Oakenfold (expect the unexpected)

What is the best thing about me?: LapDance --> N.E.R.D. (*no kidding)

How is today going to be?: Tired --> Tommy Lee (the theme of the day)

What is in store for this weekend?: Gallery --> Mario Vasquez (trip to MoMA!!)

What song describes my parents?: Smells Like Teen Spirit --> Nirvana (teens forever)

To describe my grandparents?: Liquid Dreams --> O-Town (*creepy)

How is my life going?: Unchanined Melody --> Il Divo (exactly!!)

What song will they play at my funeral?: Lithuium --> Evanescence (huh?)

How does the world see me?: Tangled Up In Me --> Skye Sweetnam (self-centered?)

Will I have a happy life?: The Devil Went Down to Georgia --> The Charlie Daniels Band (I guess I'm moving soon)

What do my friends really think of me?: To The End --> My Chemical Romance (hmm...)

Do people secretly lust after me?: Complicated --> Avril Lavigne (isn't it always)

How can I make myself happy?: Are You Gonna Be My Girl --> Jet (I understand perfectly)

What should I do with my life?: Story of a Girl --> Nine Days (cry a river and drown the whole world? guess i should smile more.)

Will I ever have children?: Stupid Girls --> Pink (all girls, great *sarcasm*)

What is some good advice for me?: That's What It's Made For --> Usher (that sounds a little dirty)

How will I be remembered?: Sexy Ladies --> Justin Timberlake (now that's what I'm talking about)

What is my signature dancing song?: Summer Love --> Justin Timberlake (hell yeah)

What do I think my current theme song is?: Moving Forward --> Bitter:Sweet (totally true, kinda)

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?: A Woman's Worth --> Alicia Keys (that's a great track)

What type of men/women do you like?: Ride It --> Geri Halliwell (*okay then)

Shuffle List

*Put your iPod/Media Player on shuffle. The song title will be the answer to the questions. No cheating.

------

How am I feeling today?:

Will I get far in life?:

How do my friends see me?:

Where will I get Married?:

What is the story of my life?:

What was high school like?:

How can I get ahead in life?:

What is the best thing about me?:

How is today going to be?:

What is in store for this weekend?:

What song describes my parents?:

To describe my grandparents?:

How is my life going?:

What song will they play at my funeral?:

How does the world see me?:

Will I have a happy life?:

What do my friends really think of me?:

Do people secretly lust after me?:

How can I make myself happy?:

What should I do with my life?:

Will I ever have children?:

What is some good advice for me?:

How will I be remembered?:

What is my signature dancing song?:

What do I think my current theme song is?:

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?:

What type of men/women do you like?:

My Current Playlist

*Beyoncé: Green Light
*Justin Timberlake: Love Stoned/I Think She Knows
*Panic! at the Disco: But It's Better If You Do
*Fergie: Mary Jane Shoes
*Teddy Geiger: These Walls
*JC Chasez: Until Yesterday
*Lily Allen: Smile
*Lady Sovereign: Love Me or Hate Me
*Dolcenera: Siamo Tutti Lá Fuori
*Ryan Star: Back of Your Car
*Storm Large: Ladylike
*Toby Rand: Rebel Yell (cover song)

Ludacris Claims the "Number One Spot"

Sadly Justin is knocked out of the top spot on the charts my Disturbing the Peace's frontman, Ludacris.

Timberlake A Disfigured Iraq War Vet, Gellar A Porn Star In 'Tales'

Trying to summarize the plot of "Southland Tales" is a bit like explaining string theory to your dog: More likely than not, you'll be met with a blank stare. Attempting to explain the story-behind-the-story of the upcoming flick, meanwhile, is more comparable to filing the proper forms at the DMV: No matter how you do it, you're still likely to end up with a headache.

So, for simplicity's sake, here are a few basic facts: The movie stars a ridiculous list of actors including Sarah Michelle Gellar, the Rock, Justin Timberlake, Mandy Moore, Seann William Scott and a dozen other recognizable names. It is Richard Kelly's follow-up to 2001's "Donnie Darko," one of the boldest debut films from a writer/director in recent memory. And, in a weird way, the first third of the movie is already out there for you to enjoy.

" 'Southland Tales' is basically a science-fiction fantasy about the near future," the 31-year-old auteur recently explained. "It's about what would happen to our country, potentially, if we were hit with another major terrorist attack. And it's trying to use comedy to project a political fantasy in the near future. [The film is] trying to engage young people to talk about alternative fuel, homeland security, the Patriot Act, foreign policy, the tabloid culture and a lot of other important issues."

In short, this ain't no "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties." Kelly compares his vision to that of complex films like "Brazil" and "Dr. Strangelove" and has concocted a bizarre mix of deadpan comedy, apocalyptic politicizing and musical numbers. Not surprisingly, he suffered a long and arduous road getting his movie made in a town known for celebrating the one-line synopsis.

"The Rock plays Boxer Santaros, a movie star stricken with amnesia," Kelly said. "Seann William Scott plays twins who are also mysteriously stricken with amnesia, and he finds himself with a psychic connection to this movie star. They both awaken in the Nevada desert. They're involved in this massive conspiracy involving a lot of characters, and one of the most pivotal is Krysta Now, a porn star played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. She is the femme fatale and the mysterious broker of this massive conspiracy involving an alternative-fuel corporation [and] a senator running for vice president."

On top of that is an impressive roster of comedians, all cast against type. "Once you can do comedy you can do anything," Kelly said. "You can dial them back and play it straight, and it's still funny, but it's about restraint. Jon Lovitz, we dyed his hair blond, and he plays this vicious cop character, a film-noir thug of a cop. Cheri Oteri plays a neo-Marxist freedom fighter who's a comedian, but she's angry at the world — she worked out for the role and got really buff. Amy Poehler plays a beatnik poet/performance artist, and Nora Dunn plays a porno director."

When Kelly shot the film more than a year ago, he encountered plenty of the problems that plague independently financed films. But landing big names wasn't one of them, thanks to his post-"Darko" buzz and a willingness to allow his actors to stretch. "We have Justin Timberlake in the film, playing a disfigured Iraq war veteran, and he's the heart and soul of it," Kelly said of the singer, who was eager to get past his pretty-boy image. "[Timberlake is] this doomsday prophet, and he's our narrator. And Mandy Moore plays the spoiled-brat daughter of a Texas senator. You see a lot of these actors taking their image and shaking it up, showing different parts of themselves. It's exciting to see them in roles you wouldn't expect."

But when, exactly, will we see these performances? It's a question that even Kelly can't answer. In May, a rambling, 160-minute cut debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and was received with the kinds of walkouts and bad reviews that could make a grown man cry.

"We made this movie for the people who loved 'Donnie Darko,' " Kelly insisted, downplaying the French response. "For people who read 'The Onion,' watch 'South Park' and listen to Green Day — very much the MTV audience. The fact that this film got [into Cannes] is a huge honor, and it is a statement that the film has something to say."

Sony Pictures would seem to agree, as it recently purchased the rights to the film and currently has Kelly slaving away on a brand-new, substantially shortened cut. "We're still finishing the film, and we'll be done with it in a couple of months," Kelly said. "I think at that point Sony [will decide] exactly when and how to release it."

In the meantime, however, Kelly and another cult figure, writer/director Kevin Smith, have concocted a unique way to simultaneously preserve the edited plot points and build anticipation. "I went to Kevin and pitched it to him," the "Southland" helmer said of the new graphic-novel series bearing the same name. "It's definitely an experiment, but we're excited."

The first graphic novel, "Two Roads Diverge," which introduced the film's major characters, was released this summer. The second, "Fingerprints," hit stores a few weeks ago.

"The film was always divided into three chapters, and as we got into it I started to get frustrated because I was like, 'Man, there is so much more I want to tell,' " said Kelly, who will soon release the third comic book with Smith, who also acts in the flick. "I started designing a back story as a way of figuring the story out in my own terms, and I thought, 'Well, let's just cross media and create chapters one, two and three as graphic novels and the film will be chapters four, five and six.' "

Once again, Kelly is going out on a limb with an idea that many in Hollywood might not understand. But it's rare to see a filmmaker give his audience credit for being smart enough to keep up.

"[We're] hoping people excited about the film will start reading the books and getting an awareness for the characters in the story, and then there will be a cliffhanger that will end in the movie theater," he explained. "We're hoping it might change the way people go see a film, in the sense that you'll already know the characters when you walk into the theater."

Maybe the French just didn't understand "Southland Tales" — or maybe, as some critics insist, none of us ever will. But good luck finding anybody who fully understood Kelly's debut the first time they saw it yet didn't grow to love its complexity after repeat viewings.

"It's like in 'Donnie Darko,' when she says, 'You're weird' and he says, 'I'm sorry,' and then she says, 'No, that was a compliment,' " Kelly grinned. "Everyone's weird, everyone's confused, everyone's screwed up in the head [in my audience]. I'm happy to be a part of it."

Track By Track: Chingy Says Hoodstar Makes It Clear — He's Fly

Taking a cue from fellow St. Louis star Nelly and his Sweatsuit, Chingy has divided his new project into two parts.

Hoodstar isn't a double album (like the first incarnation of Sweat and Suit was), but he's labeled the first six tracks the "Hood" side and the next seven the "Star" side (see "Chingy Out To Prove Himself As A Hoodstar With Jermaine Dupri, Tyrese").

"Songs like 'Cadillac Door' and 'Hands Up' and the Three 6 Mafia song, they're on the 'Hood' side 'cause they're more street records," the rapper explained. "Something like 'Dem Jeans,' that's 'Star' side right there because they're more uptempo."

Here, Chingy (with a little help from Jermaine Dupri and Spiffy) gives a track-by-track explanation of his third album, due Tuesday (September 19):

1. "Intro (Rid'in Wit Me)"
"On that song I'm basically saying that I rep the Midwest and St. Louis and I'mma hold it down for my town and my region," Chingy said. "I address myself as the King of the Midwest."

2. "Hands Up"
"That song is more street, more edgy, more hard-core, but it's still got that bounce to it," Chingy explained. "I'm just letting you know, 'Look, I'm fly, this is how I'm doin' it. Either you like it, you roll with it, or you get rolled over.' "

3. "Club Gettin' Crowded" (featuring Three 6 Mafia)
"A lot of people think I'm from the South because I can also give you that feel," Chingy said. "So I teamed up with Three 6 Mafia on the 'Club Gettin' Crowed' record, and that's that crunk music. It's a club banger."

4. "Nike Aurr's and Crispy Tee's"
"I did that record for block representation," Chingy said. "Because where I come from the fellas wear crispy T-shirts, long tall tees, and Air Force Ones. My homeboy Pauly Paul sent me the track with the chorus on there. It was originally Jay-Z saying 'Nike Airs and crispy tees' sampled from one of his songs, but I went over and said it myself. I always incorporate the women in what I do, so I put them in there too, 'cause they can wear the tank tops with the Nikes."

5. "Bounce That"
"This is a dark club song because it's a club song and it's a stripper-club song," Chingy said. "It was based around [the lyric], 'Throw it to me baby/ I'mma run it back.' That's just saying if a girl gives me the opportunity and I want it, I'mma run with it. No telling what may come out of that."

6. "Cadillac Door" (featuring Midwest City)
" 'Cadillac Door' is a real serious song to me because it's reflecting on my past struggles, what I went through to make it to this point," Chingy said. "Getting jobs, getting fired from jobs, on the streets hustling, tragedies in my life. I compare my life to an old-school Cadillac. If you had a Cadillac from the 1960s or '50s and you got it now? It's been through some stuff. At the end of that song, I dedicate it to Katrina victims and 9/11 victims because I wanted them to know I go through pain too, and I relate to their pain. That's actually my favorite song on the album."

7. "Dem Jeans" (featuring Jermaine Dupri)
"The beat was playing when I walked in the studio, and we came up with the chorus first," Chingy said. Added producer Dupri, "We was just trying to make something reminiscent of an old Chingy record but [with] that new energy" (see "Chingy, Jermaine Dupri Ponder The Physics Of Denim In 'Dem Jeans' ").

8. "Pullin' Me Back" (featuring Tyrese)
"I don't know who I was writing the song for, but I was at home singing the melody and I put it on record," Dupri recalled. "And Chingy and I had just worked together, so I called back, like, 'I got another song for you,' and they ain't even want another song!" Added Chingy, "It's really about being in this industry and dealing with your maid or whatever, and vice versa. You're trying to give her quality time, but your job consists of you working and being gone. So it can be good, it can be bad, but every time you find yourself trying to leave, you always go back."

9. "UA Freak (Nasty Girl)" (featuring Mr. Collipark)
"It's just a club record, period," Chingy said. "When you hear it, you gonna wanna dance and nothing else. It's got a little sample keyboard in there from [Janet Jackson's] 'Nasty,' but she's not featured on the album."

10. "Brand New Kicks" featuring Mannie Fresh
"It's another one of them songs that says, 'I'm fly, don't get in my way, I'm not going to accept it,' " Chingy said. "I'mma roll over you while I'm doing what I'm doing, but I'mma be looking good while I do it."

11. "Ass N Da Aurr" (featuring Spiffy)
"That's what they do in the club in St. Louis a lot, they put their hands on the ground, they put their ass in the aurr," said Spiffy, Chingy's cousin and the first act on his Slot-A-Lot Records. "We were really creative that day. If you listen to how we go back and forth on the verses, you hear the melody going with it, like I come in with the same melody." Added Chingy, "It's a club record, but it's a grown-up and sexy song. I think people 35 to 45 to 55 are going to like that song, because when you go to lounges, that's the type of music they listen to."

12. "Let Me Luv U"
" 'Let Me Luv U' is a track produced by Timbaland," Chingy said. "We was in Miami, and he had the beat. We listened to it, and as soon as the track come off I thought, 'It's a ghetto love story.' The beat gives you that feel. So I came up with a story about me going to the lounge with the fellas. I'm chillin' and having a nice time, and I happen to peep a young lady who I knew that I wanted her conversation and she knew that she wanted my conversation. So me and her leave together, we riding, we drinking, we doing our thing, we just getting to know each other. Then we end up back at my place, we go in the house — Persian rugs, Jacuzzi, candles lit, champagne glasses — and we get romantic."

13. "Let's Ride" (featuring Fatman Scoop)
"It really explains itself," Chingy said. "You get with your homeboys, you get with your homegirls, you get with your family, you get with your friends and y'all ride out. Drop the top, get some liquor, have some fun. The park may be jumping, so you ride through the park, out the sunroof acting crazy and just having a beautiful time. It's a feel-good song."

Evanescence: Amy Lee Explains the New Songs

"I couldn't have written this album four years ago," admits Amy Lee, as she takes a breather from recording a Live @ VH1.com session. "I couldn't have played it four years ago. I've grown a lot as a musician and a singer. I'm challenging myself a lot more."
Lee has a lot to live up to. Evanescence's debut Fallen sold 14 million copies worldwide, but it came at a cost. First co-founder Ben Moody left the band to work with Avril Lavigne. Then replacement guitarist Terry Balsamo of Cold suffered a near-fatal stroke. And months before the release of The Open Door, bassist William Boyd left the band. But don't ask Amy about drama-she leaves that for the music. Here's her guided tour through this autumn's essential Gothic soundtrack.

"Sweet Sacrifice"
The dynamic opener, all chugging riffs and vocal arabesques. Evanescence is back.
It's the one song on The Open Door that's about the same abusive relationship which was the source of all the songs on Fallen. It was appropriate to put this song at the beginning, but it comes from a much stronger standpoint than Fallen. It's not saying, "I'm trapped in fear and somebody save me." It's saying, "Fear is only in our minds ... I'm not afraid anymore."

"Call Me When You're Sober"
Lee plays the woman scorned. Key lyric: "Must be exhausting to lose your own game."
It's very obvious who it's about. I know that people would read between the lines and think it's about my ex-boyfriend Shaun Morgan [of Seether], but I wanted to be completely clear. I needed so bad to say exactly what I was feeling for so long. Music is therapy for me. It's my outlet for every negative thing I've ever been through. It lets me turn something bad into something beautiful.

"Weight of the World"
A relentless rocker with Eastern motifs and distorted vocals.
I live for the rock songs. With the line-up changing, I think a lot of people thought it would be more of the "My Immortal" stuff. But "My Immortal" was Ben [Moody]'s song! I was always trying to pull us in a crazier direction. Songs like "Weight of the World" and "Sweet Sacrifice" and "All That I'm Living For" are so amazing to me because of the adrenaline. Especially when we play them live.

"Lithium"
"Don't want to forget the fear of lithium." One of several songs Lee sings in a lower register.
I wrote the chorus on the guitar when I was about 16. I always thought it was a cool chorus, but I never used it for anything. I started playing it on the piano and the verses came out. I have a pile of pieces stowed away in my mind that maybe I'll use some day. In a way it's an old song, but not really. It grew up.

"Cloud Nine"
A vocal tour de force, using strings, studio effects and Lee's own layered moaning.
It's about breaking up. There are a lot of relationship struggles on the record. I always write about what I was feeling, because then it's genuine. I was struggling with a relationship and felt like a waste of space. The first lyric says it all, "If you want to live, let live/ If you want to go, let go/ What are we doing here?/ Because I can live without you."

"Snow White Queen"
Industrial beats usher in one of Lee's most powerful vocal performances.
I went through some weird experiences with stalkers. It's weird how it works. My lyrics are so intimate that people feel like they really know me, and I don't know them at all. My privacy had been completely invaded and there were a couple of nights where I couldn't stay at my house. So I wrote a song about it through the eyes of the stalker, and with my perspective, too.

"Lacyrmosa"
It means "related to sadness." Which becomes obvious when you hear it.
I saw Amadeus when I was nine years old and fell in love with Mozart. The part of Mozart's Requiem called "Lacyrmosa" is my favorite piece of music ever. I always wished we could cover it, but with programming and guitars and make it cool. It's our moment to try all the things I wanted to and couldn't, so I started messing with it in Protools. Terry wrote some riffs and turned it into this awesome metal epic.

"Like You"
Tense, mournful ... and the closest The Open Door gets to Fallen's world-beating ballads.
"Like You" is maybe the most intimate song on the record. It was about losing my little sister when I was a child. On the last record, I wrote "Hello" about her. "Like You" is her place on this record.

"Lose Control"
"You don't remember my name, I don't really care." The anger's in the music.
Terry uses a lot of delay and noises. His guitar playing is really creepy! He also uses a lot of half-step two chords, which I love. I felt like I wasn't really allowed to use stuff like that before, because Ben didn't like it. But songs like "Lose Control" go from C to a C sharp, back and forth. I love those. It's that Portishead influence.

"The Only One"
Like Sarah McLachlan if she was singing in the ninth circle of hell.
The song is about some of my experiences as a teenager with close-mindedness. I thought the people around me seemed lost in a world that I really didn't belong in. It's kind of spiritual. We originally called the track "Tuna Afternoon," because I made tuna noodle casserole that day. We still call the song "Tuna Afternoon." Sometimes it's hard to get past that working title.

"Your Star"
The jet-propelled coda was inspired by Terry Balsamo's Pantera fixation.
A couple of years ago, I felt so alone that I was dreading going on tour. We had just arrived in Lisbon and I was in my room feeling jet-lagged, weird and tired. I had just been home where I could see the stars at night. But when I looked out the hotel window in Lisbon, I couldn't see anything because we were in this big city. That was the last straw. I felt so depressed, I just started singing this song.

"All That I'm Living For"
An opening salvo of guitars keeps up the momentum, in spite of Lee's delicate delivery.
I love that song. It feels really different for us. The lyrics are about my writing process-how I put the song together, why I do it, and how I'm trying to fix all the things that are wrong with me through music. The first line says, "Save me from the night again/ I can feel the separation from the living." It's always night time when I start writing, just as the dusk is setting.

"Good Enough"
I'm okay, you're okay. All pianos and gentle vocals, ending the album on a hopeful note.
I had gone through a lot of difficult things during the writing of the whole album, and by the end of it, I had stepped away from those bad situations. That's really hard. You have to be really brave and strong about it. After doing that, I felt so amazing. For the first time I felt like I could write a song based on how good I felt. I have never done that before ever.

"Down Home" Kinda Vibe

And He'll Never Put Out A Bad Single!

Sure you didn't

-----

JT AIM INTERVIEW

Brendaninmusic: hey there Justin. what's up??
JustinsLoveSound: hey what's happening?
Brendaninmusic: not too much. thanks for chatting today!
Brendaninmusic: where are you IMing us from??
JustinsLoveSound: backstage at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Brendaninmusic: nice
Brendaninmusic: any other fun people back there with you?
JustinsLoveSound: well there's Jo...
JustinsLoveSound: as in Jo Momma
Brendaninmusic: hahaha
Brendaninmusic: i was askin for that one ;)
Brendaninmusic: are you in crazy schedule mode with the album release?
JustinsLoveSound: Yes...to say the least
Brendaninmusic: what have you been doin???
JustinsLoveSound: promo, promo, sleep, promo
Brendaninmusic: ooh you actually get to sleep in there? sweet! haha
Brendaninmusic: i have to ask though
Brendaninmusic: how sick are you of being asked how you're bringing sexy back, and where sexy went??
JustinsLoveSound: SOOOOOO sick of it!
Brendaninmusic: hahaha i can imagine!
JustinsLoveSound: everybody is a comedian
Brendaninmusic: everyone seems to be jumping on the "bringing sexy back" bandwagon
Brendaninmusic: AL GORE quoted you at the VMAs? is it all a little crazy for you?
JustinsLoveSound: to be honest i didn't expect it to be such a big catch phrase
Brendaninmusic: my mom keeps asking me if i brought sexy back... its a little disturbing
JustinsLoveSound: sorry buddy about your mom
Brendaninmusic: hahha. it's all good ;)
Brendaninmusic: who is the weirdest person you've heard use it?
JustinsLoveSound: i don't know about weird, but i certainly didn't expect our former Vice President to use it.
Brendaninmusic: i don't really think anyone did. lol
Brendaninmusic: 'Sexyback' is such a different sound for you
Brendaninmusic: on first listen you almost can't recognize it's YOU
Brendaninmusic: what brought you to change your sound so much
JustinsLoveSound: it wasn't really a conscious effort, i just like the way it sounded when i put my voice through a guitar amp.
JustinsLoveSound: i thought it fit the track.
Brendaninmusic: did you ever freak out that it wasn't going to click with your fans?
JustinsLoveSound: i don't think you can be in the studio and say that to yourself. you might syke yourself out of something amazing.
JustinsLoveSound: i think that being an artist you try new things and i think at the end of the day if you love it then that's what is most important.
Brendaninmusic: well it looks like your intuition was right
JustinsLoveSound: thanks
Brendaninmusic: did you feel a lot of pressure after the monstrous success of 'Justified'?
JustinsLoveSound: i wanted to make something that was different from Justified... so i tried to keep my mind off of that even though i love the sound of that album.
Brendaninmusic: The sound is definitely unique... you worked it pretty well
Brendaninmusic: the album is called 'Furturesex/Lovesounds,' also a song on the album
Brendaninmusic: what exactly does that mean?
JustinsLoveSound: it's just kind of a culmination of songs' moods on the record.
JustinsLoveSound: i thought that it best described the overall sound
JustinsLoveSound: it's funny too, the first half is the future/sex mood...and the second half is the love/sounds.
Brendaninmusic: so the first half is the one you play late at night, eh?
Brendaninmusic: ;)
JustinsLoveSound: the first half is the club...the second half is the "aftermath."
Brendaninmusic: what is YOUR love sound?
Brendaninmusic: at this point, i think mine would probably sound like a dying giraffe J
JustinsLoveSound: you might want to keep that to yourself...ha ha
Brendaninmusic: advice from the master ;)
Brendaninmusic: you were just on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine with the headline 'Wet Dream -- The New King of Sex Gets Loose'
Brendaninmusic: do you think you deserve that title?
JustinsLoveSound: um...i don't make up the titles
JustinsLoveSound: i write the songs
Brendaninmusic: do you think of yourself as a sex symbol?
JustinsLoveSound: not exactly
Brendaninmusic: how would you classify Justin Timberlake?
JustinsLoveSound: a damn lucky guy
Brendaninmusic: hahah
Brendaninmusic: i don't think anyone would argue that one!
Brendaninmusic: you worked with a lot of big name producers on this CD
Brendaninmusic: how did your vision for the album flow with them
JustinsLoveSound: well i really found the chemistry with Timbaland
JustinsLoveSound: We went into the studio with nothing in mind and came up with songs that all sounded cohesive.
Brendaninmusic: you two definitely worked some magic... word was that you guys did a song with Nelly Furtado but that didn't seem to surface. True story?
JustinsLoveSound: true story
Brendaninmusic: will that song ever see the light of day?
JustinsLoveSound: probably
JustinsLoveSound: most likely
JustinsLoveSound: we will have to see
Brendaninmusic: are there any other artists you'd like to do something with?
JustinsLoveSound: i don't know...i don't like to force collaborations.
Brendaninmusic: out of all that you've done, who do you think vibed the best with you?
JustinsLoveSound: definitely Timbaland
Brendaninmusic: nice
Brendaninmusic: the guitar interlude after 'Love Stoned' is sick
JustinsLoveSound: thanks
Brendaninmusic: I read that it was inspired by the band Interpol
Brendaninmusic: what other music are you listening to these days?
JustinsLoveSound: i listen to everything. i'm really loving the last Arctic Monkey's album. But lately i've been going back and listening to a lot of Johnny Cash
Brendaninmusic: nice
Brendaninmusic: so you're the kinda guy who is no stranger to the tabloids
Brendaninmusic: all of your relationships tend to be very public
Brendaninmusic: what's it like to be so out there in front of everybody?
JustinsLoveSound: the tabloids, although they may seem like they are fun to read to a lot of people, are sensationalized dramatizations. they aren't real.
JustinsLoveSound: so, i choose to stay out of them, not read them, and to continue to live my life.
Brendaninmusic: do you feel that you've been able to maintain your own personal life well enough even with people trying to creep in?
JustinsLoveSound: of course.
JustinsLoveSound: hey man, Leno is calling.
Brendaninmusic: well speaking of personal life, i know you have a lot goin' on, but thanks for spending time with us today!
JustinsLoveSound: thanks for chatting
Brendaninmusic: thanks to you!
JustinsLoveSound: take care!
Brendaninmusic: bye :)

BrendaninMusic brought sexy back ages ago.