1. It's an exciting time to be English. Kate Moss’s Top Shop line debuts tomorrow! According to Reuters, “To try prevent fights among shoppers when the doors open, each person will be able to buy only five items.”

2. Apparently, Vanity Fair is running a “yoga spread” with high-profile yogaphiles (Donna Karan, Sting and Trudie Styler, Ali MacGraw, etc.) for their June issue. Doesn’t that seem very 1997 to you?

3. Ben Brantley gives new musical Legally Blonde a pretty middling review in the Times today calling it superficial, potentially anti-lesbian and compares watching the show to eating candy. While a cute comparison, he took the candy metaphor and ran with it in a serious way. In the first three grafs alone, he mentions that audience members might want to floss between songs, and dropped M&Ms, Hershey’s, empty-calories, Gummi-Bears and “confectionary charms.” We get it, it’s candy-like. No need to hit us over the head.

4. We’ve never heard of a SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring) bracelet before, but apparently Tracy Morgan has to wear one! A result of a DUI charge and a subsequent probation violation, Morgan will have to wear a SCRAM for the next 90 days that will check his blood alcohol content every 30 minutes. How Orwellian! Now that Alec Baldwin may not return to 30 Rock for a second season, we especially hope that Morgan doesn’t mess up and drink, because a 30 Rock without Baldwin and Morgan would be no 30 Rock at all!

5. So long dodgeball, hello Dance Dance Revolution. According to the New York Times, gym teachers across the country are using the Japanese video game Dance Dance Revolution in P.E. classes. The article suggests that “more than 1,500 schools are expected to be using the game by the end of the decade.”

6. Tonight’s the opening of the Pete Wentz/Gym Class Heroes bar in the East Village… Look out for Wentz’s GF Ashlee Simpson on Avenue A.

7. Feist’s The Reminder received a whopping score of 8.8 on Pitchfork today. Go, Feist, go!

You MMBloggers know that Mr. Mickey loves a show biz dynasty and that's what you're looking at in the this photo of Antonio Banderas en familia who spent Holy Week in Malaga. From left to right we have Antonio and Melanie Griffith's daughter Stella del Carmen, Mama Melanie, Dakota Johnson (Melanie's daughter with actor Don Johnson) and Papa Antonio. Missing is Melanie's son Alexander, son of hunky actor Steven Bauer (and godson of legendary ladies' man Warren Beatty). Sourpusses didn't think the Antonio and Melanie marriage would last but Mr. Mickey thinks this is a very sweet and modern looking family!!!

Photo from Hola!

British/Italian designer Allegra Hicks, whose flagship store opened in London's ritzy Knightsbridge neighborhood nine years ago, has found an equally well-to-do nook in Manhattan. On a recent trip to Hicks's new eponymous boutique, a perfectly put-together woman (I gathered, a society lady) was buying a beachy, beige tunic for a dinner party. Another -- nanny and baby stroller in tow -- searched for a white dress for a wedding in the Bahamas, and another hastily tried on triple-digit-priced items to wear that very night. It's true that Hicks's price points ($255 and up) can be exclusive, but her style doesn't discriminate: lots of sparkly cocktail wear, long printed dresses, patent-leather T-strap sandals (designed by Hicks in collaboration with Ferragamo) and breezy kaftans (a signature Allegra item), in bold colors like fuchsia, marigold and turquoise for women of any age. Aside from clothes, the store offers home accessories, such as a pair of fire-engine-red candles shaped like barren trees and matching dining trays. Hicks keeps things personal, with items like eye-catching Venetian-glass rings made by her friends at Leg and Brain and a children's book written by her husband, Ashley (who also designed the shop). To compliment the collection, Allegra has written The Getaway, a photo-illustrated comic book about a frustrated housewife who escapes from her humdrum life to team up with a hot bank robber wearing Allegra Hicks. And that's just what her clothes are made for -- a getaway, whether running off to a party or the beach. Allegra Hicks outfits your fantasy. 1007 Madison Ave., (212) 249-4241.

Sure, its been 13 years since Kurt Cobain left the building, but his pajamas are still keeping Courtney's buns warm at night. No more, says Love. She has decided to auction off his belongings at Christie's. She tells Spinner: "[My house] is like a mausoleum. My daughter [14-year-old Frances Bean] doesn't need to inherit a giant hefty bag full of flannel f***ing shirts ... A sweater, a guitar and the lyrics to 'Teen Spirit' -- that's what my daughter gets. And the rest of it we'll just f***ing sell."

Does this announcement, once again trafficking on the Cobain legacy, have anything to do with the fact that Love has a new record, Nobody's Daughter, about to drop in which she looks back at some of her celebrated affairs with Trent Reznor, Billy Corgan and Ed Norton. I'll leave it for you, dear reader, to decide.

"I still wear his pajamas to bed," she says. "How am I ever going to go form another relationship in my lifetime wearing Kurt's pajamas?"

OK, well maybe there are some other reasons she has not moved on to another relationship besides Kurt's pajamas. Like her personality and destructive habits. Seems like she still hasn't learned to take responsibility for her actions.

Here she is photographed with daughter Francis Bean Cobain.

Normally, Mr. Mickey, being a devoted royalist, tries to steer clear of these kinds of stories and photos but in this case, it's to editorialize a bit. Princess Beatrice of York was spotted all boozed up coming out of the London club Boujis at 3:15 a.m. according to the Daily Mail. Drunkeness aside, Beatrice looks pretty great. Now Mr. Mickey understands that the kids want to have a good time, but it looks bad for the family business to get hopped up in public and create a scene. Beatrice is certainly not giving Prince Harry a run for his money. Harry's behavior has been pretty shocking with his drunken attack on paparazzi. Yes the photographers overstep their bounds and are practically stalkers. Still, if these royals want to get drunk or carry on, they can do the dirty work in private. Mr. Mickey is not saying they don't deserve to have fun, MM just wishes they wouldn't be a mess in front of the cameras.

The other night I went to see the new Broadway play Coram Boy, which is still in previews, and I loved it! It opened last year to rave reviews on the West End and will open on Broadway May 2nd with an all new American cast.

I’m not a religious girl but I’m a sucker for Handel’s Messiah, which is sung throughout the play by a full choir in the rafters of the stage. I recently caught up with one of the stars of the show, cutie Wayne Wilcox, during tech week. He plays the grown-up Alexander Ashbrook, who runs away from his family responsibilities at the age of 15 to study music under Handel, leaving a mess behind at his family’s estate. He was terribly charming and after seeing the performance I'm convinced he's terribly talented as well. He starred earlier this year in the Roundabout’s production of Suddenly Last Summer and he’s also well known for playing Marty on Gilmore Girls. He's also very generous! And after we spoke, the Tennessee native sent me some of his favorite Vosges chocolates! Here's a window into our love connection. (OK, that's wistful thinking.)

How old are you?

I’m 28.

What’s your theatrical training?

I went to Boston University -- there are actually three of us from BU in the cast.

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Poor Nicolas Cage -- his new sci-fi action movie Next opens to universal pans and then this hilarious video round-up of his best/worse scenes from The Wicker Man, with either Cage screaming, punching women in the face or over-acting wildly. Anyway, this made me laugh all weekend!

Every year, young, super-innovative fashion hopefuls gather from around the world in the south of France in Hyeres for a competition that has become legendary. I've always wanted to go but have never had the time to actually do this... It is such an inspiring gathering of young creatives/talent, fashion lovers, talent scouts and enlightened fashion press. This spectacular annual gathering is called the Hyeres Festival of Fashion and Photography and took place this past weekend in a villa tucked away on a hill.

The final competition this year down to ten designers and ten photographers from countries like Sweden, Belgium, Germany, the UK, Japan and France. The jury is led by Christian Lacroix and also includes designer Kim Jones and other art directors and members of the non-mainstream fashion press (Dazed and Confused, Tank). Additionally, the festival offers alternative fashion-centric conferences, catwalk shows, parties and exhibitions. The best way to find out what went on there is through my friend Diane Pernet's blog (A Shaded View on Fashion). Check out her coverage of Hyeres 2007 here.

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Mathilde of the Belgians is one of Mr. Mickey's favorite Crown Princesses and you can see why here. Look at the leopard print. What about that bold accessory choice?

Photo from Hello! magazine.

There is a certain hubris in calling your new posh hotel the Bowery. For about the past 400 years, the street has primarily been associated with lowlife, heavy drinking, homelessness and Joey Ramone. Now, Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode have set up shop, and if anyone can change the Bowery's reputation, it's them. The two are the media-blitz sophisticates behind the Waverly Inn, the Park and the Maritime Hotel, Chelsea's converted Covenant House. The latter's nautical-themed and opium den-decorated basement has made it incredibly popular over the years. Like the Maritime, the Bowery is rumored to feature an Italian restaurant, but this time the overall theme is 19th-century Black Forest hunting lodge. It's beautiful. And, by the way, it makes Freemans seem minimalist by com-parison. (Freemans honcho Taavo Somer is an architect of the restaurant, and it looks like he's really indulged himself here.) If you like taxidermy, deep woodsy colors, smoky oil paintings and a real live fireplace, look no further. As of press time, the hotel is still under construction, although it is definitely open for business. On a recent visit, even the waitstaff seemed impressed. “If you like this, you should see the bar upstairs,” my waitress said breathlessly. “It's gorgeous." 335 Bowery, (212) 505-9100. Jonathan Durbin

Today is Ann-Margret's birthday, and here's the red-headed cutie frugging wildly in a loony 1966 movie called The Swinger. Nobody looks as good shaking her hips as Ann. Go, Kitten With A Whip!

The amazing Robbie D returns as Jer Ber Jones in FOWL, probably the best show I've seen in YEARS! While some people will be sweltering with a crowd of 60,000 in 120 degree heat at Coachella, YOU can be sipping an ice cold margarita in the cool, intimate environs of The Cavern Club Theater (located in the basement of the infamous Silver Lake Mexican restaurant Casita del Campos) having your mind blown by the astounding theatrical strangeness that is FOWL! Really, this show is FANTASTIC and unlike anything you've probaby ever seen before! Plus this latest incarnation features new songs!!!!

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So, when we posted that we were giving away a copy of the re-released Hope Floats soundtrack, we received a full-on onslaught of comments from people telling us why they deserved to own the CD. Clearly, we had hit a nerve! After poring over the oodles of emails, we finally decided to go the schmaltzy route, and settled upon Stefan. Here's why he deserves the Hope Floats soundtrack:

"My then-girlfriend (now my wife) and I watched this movie together back in 1998, just weeks before we got married. It was the first movie we watched together after getting back together after a 6-month break up. I am a sentimental fool, I admit, but it was this movie that convinced me to ask her the question. Our anniversary is coming up in a few weeks. Being able to give her this soundtrack would be a great anniversary gift."

Congrats, Stefan! Do us proud!

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The cuties came out last night to celebrate New York's most popular fashion designer Cynthia Rowley. Her new book Slim: A Fantasy Memoir is just that -- fantasy, but entertaining fantasy featuring fun drawings by the designer. A parade of fun types rubbed elbows on the fifth floor at BG including Anne Slater and John Cahill, Vanessa Carlton, Waris, Arden Wohl, PAPER's Hunter Hill, Kim Vernon, Daniel Benedict, Patricia Velazquez, Ryan McGinness and Emma Snowdon-Jones.

Photographs by Caroline Torem Craig

By special PAPERMAG correspondent Gary Pini:

Upfront full discloser: We went to the after-party but not to the film screening. More on the missed film in a second, but first back to the start of the evening. Carlo McCormick and I went to an artsy SoHo party for the latest issue of Zing magazine at the Grand Street loft of the magazine's publisher Devon Dikeou. Devon is also an artist and chef who had prepared some delicious lamb chops (see photo above). We got into an argument/discussion about whether or not a chef could be an artist when I announced that the curators for this year's version of Documenta. in Germany had invited the acclaimed Spanish chef Adria Ferran to participate. I say it's valid.

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I don't think anyone can put it better than The Washington Post did in Thursday's article, "A Noir Opening to Phil Spector Murder Trial":

Another creepy and sad celebrity murder trial began here (in L.A.) Wednesday morning as the troubled genius and record producer Phil Spector appeared before jurors in a courtroom down the hall from the one where O.J. Simpson was tried and acquitted.

The 67-year-old diminutive musicmaker arrived wearing a blond wig cut in a pageboy style, dressed in a cream-colored suit with a cranberry shirt open at the collar and a matching pocket handkerchief. He was accompanied by three burly bodyguards in pinstripes.

Spector's natty Saturday Night Fever outfit stood in stark contrast to the sordid and bloody facts being laid out in court. You can read all about it at the L.A. Times' ongoing Spector trial BLOG (Bookmark it now!). Ugh. Ick. Ew. Yuk. But can we turn our attentions away to something more lofty? Doubtful. Just wait till this tidbit from The Smoking Gun get's aired out for the jury (and media):

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Welcome to our first insallment of JD Ferguson Presents the Porn Stars, wherein he will regularly interview and photograph the hottest porn stars of the moment! When he's not getting cute boys to strip down to their skivvies, former-model Ferguson serves as a man about town as well as assisting such greats Karl Lagerfeld and Mario Testino. So, without further ado, here is the cute and delectable Ben Andrews... Enjoy!

BEN ANDREWS

Age: 21

Hometown: Cleveland, OH

Astrological sign: Gemini

Company you shoot porn with: Lucas Entertainment

Measurements: 11"x8" -- Uncut

What's the most memorable sex scene you've ever done and why?
My first scene ever was the most memorable. You never forget your first! It was with Jack McCarthy for Auditions 10 and I also had the honor of gracing the cover.

Which celebrity would you most like to have sex with and why?

I've always had a thing for Antonio Sabato Jr. He's been gay for pay in a couple of his recent movies and even flashed his hot Italian sausage in "Testosterone". So sexy!

What's the last movie that you saw?
The last thing I saw in the theatre was Vacancy (not by choice) and the last thing I watched at home was Failure to Launch.

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PAPER nightlife photographer Caroline Torem Craig is the nightlife photographer to end all nightlife photographer. Here's her report from the Vanity Fair's Tribeca Film Festival opening night party the other night:

On a warm and breezy Monday evening, celebrities ascended the beautifully-dressed Supreme Court steps (I am referring to hundreds of tiny candles and orange lights). It was the Vanity Fair opening party for the Tribeca Film Festival. Every year it is THE challenge to catch a flick of of Robert DeNiro as he makes one last grimace and races by the red carpet. David Bowie usually leaves the "posing " to Iman but this year, to our delight, he was incredibly animated and shared with us the fact that this was their 12th year anniversary. As he neared my camera, I asked if they were "still spiders from Mars." I truly don't know if he heard me, but this little dance move occurred out of the blue.

It was such a TRIP to see Narciso Rodriguez direct Jessica Seinfeld to pose for PAPER.

While it is common knowledge that Whoopi Goldberg can be cranky, this evening she told ET (as she glanced at nearby guest Kerri Washington), "See, I lost her in weight -- I lost 43 pounds and that's just about what she weighs."

Some of the other guests were Minnie Driver, Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon, Harvey Wenstein, Amy Sacco, Amy Fine Collins, Christy Turlington and Ed Burns, Walter Cronkite and host Graydon Carter. Interesting note: these were all loyal attendees last year and the year before.

One of the most bizarre questions posed to Kerri Washington was what she thought about Alec Baldwin's tirade and inappropriate phone call to his daughter. Without skipping a beat, she replied she was not a parent so couldn't comment except to say anything that took our minds off the war in Iraq was a good thing.

(Photos by Caroline Torem Craig. From left to right, Robert DeNiro, Grace Hightower, Iman, David Bowie, Jessica Seinfeld, Narciso Rodriguez and Kerri Washington.)

At long last, Mickey Boardman, aka Mr. Mickey, brings his PAPER Magazine column on sex, comedy and fashion (not necessarily in that order) to life. In this, his premiere episode, Mr. Mickey answers questions about slutty moms, sexy dads and takes on the age-old question: Ryan Gosling or Jake Gyllenhaal?

Have a question you'd like Mr. Mickey to answer? Send in your sexy, fashion-related queries to vip@papermag.com with the subject line "Ask Mr. Mickey."

I had the best lunch break this week when I got to attend the annual Easter Bonnet Benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS at the Minskoff Theater. At this yearly extravaganza, the casts of many Broadway and off-Broadway shows come together to perform skits mocking other shows and present their homemade Easter Bonnets to be judged by bigwigs in the Broadway community. This year's bigwigs included John Connelly, Bebe, Neuwirth, Baayork Lee, Tom Jones and Joan Didion.

The winner was the cast Journey’s End. The all-male cast stripped down to their jodhpurs for a laugh. My personal favorites were In the Heights’ cast’s hip-hop spin on Fiddler on the Roof, and the Company cast members with instruments in tow pretending to audition for their director John Doyle -- who has recently become well known for his productions of Sondheim featuring orchestral casts -- as if they were in A Chorus Line.

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The Last Supper is an outrageous, grisly Asian shocker about a handsome cosmetic surgeon named Dr. Yuji Kotonado (Masaya Kato). He is also secretly a cannibal, who delights in killing his dates and later grilling their body parts on the stove. He writes online a “Diary Of A Cannibal” on how he came to this, from first frying up some fat from one of the women he liposuctioned, to finding a woman hanging in the park who became his first real entrée.

“It is the desire to eat the meat of the one you love” is his mantra. There’s a wild scene when he travels to Hong Kong and goes to a private club where a woman is beheaded and the patrons all feast on her. Directed by Osamu Fukatani, mercifully some of the special effects are not great, but on the whole the movie is unbelievably bizarre. Yummy!

Am I a body builder or am I a porn star? This is a question that seems hard to answer these days. Queer Me Now, a fun blog, has been covering this developing story with lots of links to Hungarian and Czech sites. It seems in these countries that the (relatively) large bags of dough a cutie can get for baring his well-muscled ass (to say nothing of shaking it or spreading it) are too much to resist for body builders who have gym memberships to pay and very little source or income and very little non-workout time.

Take Tanek (pictured) who is obviously a serious competetive body builder in the Czech Republic. He's also a sexy (mostly bottom) star of porn films (you'll have to go to Queer Me Now to see some the XXX shots).

This situation is not exclusive to Central Europe. Some big porn stars of the past in California like Tom Katt and Caesar have placed in serious statewide body building competions and gave gays serious woodies with their seeming insatiable hunger for schlong.

Let us know what you think MMBloggers of this serious and hard-hitting issue!

PAPER film critic and blogger Dennis Dermody dishes on the best new TV show box sets -- Ironsides, I Love Lucy, South Park, The Wild Wild West and Twin Peaks.

I'm off to the desert later this afternoon, kids! For the next three days I will be putting on 45 SPF sunblock every half hour to protect my porcelain Irish skin from the hot sun. To be quite honest, I'm actually a bit nervous about the heat -- but who cares? I'm going to Coachella!

It's going to be quite the festival this year what with Bjork, The Jesus & Mary Chain and of course the main attraction and my ultimate reason for attending this year -- Rage Against the Machine! Other favorites scheduled to perform include The Arcade Fire, CSS, Explosions in the Sky, Interpol, Grizzly Bear, Air, Mika, Pop Levi, Peter Bjorn and John, !!!, The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem and Blonde Redhead. My head is spinning already from the thought of so much amazing music all in one same place!

If you're not going, weep not! You can watch it all live and online at the AT&T Blue Room, April 27-29.

A few days ago, I got something titled "Disgruntled Communique #452" in my email box from my pal Charles Hauther, armchair anarchist and buyer for the very groovy Skylight Books in Los Feliz. Chuck's POV on this mad world is always a welcome relief and I thought I'd share his observations on the show Painkiller Jane with ya'll. (I don't know about the TV show but the comic book looks purdy darned cool! But then again, so many are... until flesh and blood actors get involved.)

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Shoppers rejoice!!! Mr. Mickey's longtime favorite high-fashion salesperson is back. The sexy and chic Sergei Mihailov was King of the third floor men's department at Barneys and always steered Mr. Mickey to the most fabulous looks. Well sadly Sergei left Barneys (fear not, MM has found solace in the arms of salesman HB!). He spent some time at Dior Homme but now has landed at Jeffrey, which is fabulous news! MM just stopped in Jeffrey (he was on 14th St. popping into Stella McCartney to buy this season's tote bag) and MM must say they are so sweet at Jeffrey. MM doesn't know if any of you remember that skit they used to do on SNL where they portrayed the kids at Jeffrey as snobby fashion snots. MM was always outraged because the people are sooooo sweet there! Anyhoo, see you in the Meat Packing District girls!!!

Arriving on May 8th are two DVDs on www.bcieclipse.com of Euro-cult legend Paul Naschy. Naschy, actor, writer and director, was the Lon Chaney Jr. of Spain, and starred in a series of Universal-like films where he played a wolfman and then countless other gothic chillers. The two DVDs are Night of the Werewolf, a 1980 film where Naschy stars as Waldermar Daninsky, who rises from the grave to fight vampires and worry about the full moon when he turns to a bloodthirsty monster. In the other, Vengeance of the Zombies (1972), he plays three roles including a Hindu healer and Satan. It's a gory shocker about voodoo and living dead hellbent on revenge. Both are remastered and look stunning with extensive still and photo galleries and are a lot of fun.

I went to a really fun dinner on Tuesday night in honor of the wonderful woman Nicole Miller's 25th year in the biz. I love Nicole and it was great to sit down with 200 "close friends" (I know it sounds absurd but it was kind of true that these people have all known/knew each other over the past 25 years in our crazy city) who felt the same way. It was at Chinatown (the old Time Cafe) and it turned out to be so fun, because I saw so many old friends there, including my dear friend Paige Powell who flew in from Portland for the evening.

My table was super cute. I sat next to my old friend Ross Bleckner, the painter, who I adore, and across from the old school chef Kerry Simon, who was a doll (he just opened a new restaurant in Times Square called Spotlight). Lots of other old schoolers were there at our table including the fun Tama Janowitz, who I hadn't seen in ages, the amazing jewelry designer Janis Savit (she is one of the greats), my new BFF Mary Boone (I kid you not -- I've never met her, but she was so nice to me I was suspicious), this cute young scruffy photog named Sam Bassett, and of course my fave person in the world Paige.

Lots more fun folks were there... Cindy Crawford, Allison Sarofim, Bobby Kennedy, Andre Balasz, Karen Duffy (my neighbor who I adore!), Tony Shafrazi, Sara Wynter, Jay McInerney, Zac Posen, the list goes on. The thing about this particular dinner was that it was not an "event." (I go to millions of "events" where people are there for no reason.) It just felt good and fun because everyone was there to have fun and celebrate this person that they all really love -- Nicole who is a super good friend to tons of people. Good vibes. Congrats to her!

(Photos: Mary Boone, Kerry Simon and Paige Powell; Nicole Miller flanked by Andre Balasz and Tony Shafrazi; Me and Ross Bleckner)

1. Top Ten Happy Foods: In a bad mood? Maybe it's what you ate or didn't eat. This came to me a little late, but it's never too late to know about things that could make you happy. Nutritionist Joy Bauer broke down the happy food group here in bite sizes. Basically it's all about omega 3 fats, folic acid and fiber which translates to eating lots of fish, fruits, veggies and legumes. According to this study, if you are a hardcore carnivore then you are miserable!

1) Wild salmon - rich in omega 3 fats and vitamin D
2) Spinach - rich in folic acid and soluble fiber
3) Skim milk - rich in Vitamin D and B12
4) Ground flaxseeds - rich soluble fiber, omega 3 fats and folic acid
5) Blackberries - rich in soluble fiber and folic acid
6) Omega 3 fortified eggs - rich in omega 3 fats, Vitamin D and B12
7) Sardines - rich in omega 3 fats and Vitamin D
8) Soybeans - rich in soluble fiber, folic acid and omega 3 fats
9) Beans - rich in soluble fiber and folic acid
10) Brussels sprouts - soluble fiber and folic acid

Plus an extra for good luck!
11) Sunflower seeds - rich in soluble fiber and folic acid

2. All you Jack & Meg fans, you don't have to wait till June 11th, the official release date of the White Stripes' new album Icky Thump, to hear their first single of the same name. Set your alarms, because you can get it through iTunes music store starting at 12:01 a.m. this Thursday (4/26) -- and not a minute too soon.

3. Manny Is My Man: I care about baseball as much as I care about the rail & road report. But really, to my surprise, when I began thumbing through the new issue of The New Yorker, I couldn't put down the profile of the Red Sox bad boy Manny Ramirez. The story was so riveting! It had me at the first paragraph, which read: "Manny Ramirez is a deeply frustrating employee, the kind whose talents are so prodigious that he gets away with skipping meetings, falling asleep on the job, and fraternizing with the competition." Ramirez grew up in Washington Heights, sports dreads, drives a Caddy and (probably) smokes weed. A new folk-hero is born!

4. We heard... in case you haven't gotten enough of her already, jailbait it-teen Cory Kennedy has been tapped to be a subject of a documentary....

5. As I was leafing through the May issue of Vogue that has a cavalcade of blank-faced models sporting the new Gap-and-hot-young-designer-collab-whites on the cover, one thing really jumped out -- a full-page Band-Aid Active Flex Blister Block Stick ad! I hate blisters and regular Band-Aids always crumple up and leave a gross sticky mess on your foot. I guess you're supposed to roll it on the sensitive area like a stick of deodorant. Well, I'm into it.

6. Lastly, I found a great restaurant web site better than both City Search and Menu Pages called Urban Spoon. When you search for a restaurant, it lists all the reviews by bloggers, as well as by the usual critics, and it tells you other eating/drinking options in the vicinity.

Dear loyal PAPERMAG.com fans,

Because PAPERMAG is incredibly dedicated to bringing you the best in, well, everything, we've decided to throw a monthly party with The Musebox! And guess what? The first one is this Friday at the newly renovated Orchard Bar! There will be live music provided by The Beasts of Eden and Locksley to be followed with a dance party with DJs Stretch Armstrong, Jacques Renault, Bardi (Bang Gang) and June D + Shelly -- oh my! PAPER TV will be there to film it all, so don't feel blue if you live in Ohio.

And just because we love you all so much we're going to give you a chance to get on the list! The first 10 people who write an email to vip@papermag.com (telling us how much you love us so) will get on the list with a +1. Put "Party Time" in the subject line.

xoxo,
PAPERMAG.com crew

Tis the season for benefits. You'd be hard-pressed to find a not-for-profit that's not doing what it can to lure supporters to their star-studded events. Then there are others, like the surfwear company Billabong's charitable division Design for Humanity. This year, they're going all out to raise money for SurfAid International, a non-profit humanitarian aid organization that runs community-based health, education and disease prevention programs in village areas of the Mentawai Islands and Nias region of Western Sumatra where 25% of children die before reaching the age of twelve years from preventable and treatable diseases, including malaria, measles, tetanus, diarrhea and respiratory infections.

Tomorrow, April 26th, Billabong USA hosts an event in Los Angeles at the Avalon/Spyder Club in Hollywood. The beautiful thing here is that everyone can participate, as the entire event will be featured in a live webcast to be hosted at designforhumanity. The webcast will be approximately one and a half hours in length and will feature both the fashion, art and music components that can be purchased on Ebay as quickly as they appear.

I got an email this morning about a few cast recordings that have either just been released or will be in the coming weeks. One of which was High Fidelity, the disasterous musical based on Nick Hornby’s novel and the John Cusack movie which opened on Dec. 7th of last year and closed 10 days later after an onslaught of horrible reviews. What makes the producers think an audience that never existed in the first place will somehow come out of the woodwork to swarm the Virgin Megastore on May 15th when the CD is released?

I own a recording of the 1959 beatnik musical, The Nervous Set, which only ran for 23 performances on Broadway in 1959 due in part to hasty preparation and an over three-hour length. I’m glad they still released an album for this show despite its short run, since otherwise I never would have heard it, and parts of it aren’t half bad. But unlike High Fidelity, this show got mixed reviews (some reviewers thinking it was brilliant), and also had a successful start in St. Louis before flopping on the grander stage. So my point is, I don’t think I will be searching for the High Fidelity album in 50 years at the library… and hopefully for the sake of Broadway nobody will. It’s IBDB (Internet Broadway Database) page is plenty remembrance for me.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! The mock heavy metal band, Spinal Tap (immortalized by the ever-talented Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer) are reuniting to save the earth from global warming. The band itself, which includes Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls, are playing as part of the Live Earth concert series at Wembley Stadium on July 7th. Man. Sometimes I really wish I lived in London.

Also in attendance will the fake documentarian Michael DeBergi, otherwise known as Rob Reiner. Apparently he's put together a new 15-minute film about the band's reunion which will air at the concert and also at the Tribeca Film Festival. "They're not that environmentally conscious, but they have heard of global warming," said Reiner. Oops, I mean DeBergi. "Nigel thought it was just because he was wearing too much clothing -- that if he just took his jacket off it would be cooler."

The new film focuses on what the boys have been doing with their lives since the band broke up -- Nigel has been raising miniature horses to race, but can't find jockeys small enough to ride them; David is now a hip-hop producer who also runs a colonic clinic; and Derek is in rehab for addiction to the Internet. Awesome!

Thanks to wtopnews.com for this tasty little tidbit of information. And thanks to imdb for the following quotes from This Is Spinal Tap!:

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With Mai House, the new Tribeca venture from restaurateur Drew Nieporent (Tribeca Grill, Nobu and Centrico) and chef Michael Bao Huynh (Bao 111, Bao Noodles), Vietnamese food may be going the way of Chinese, which used to mean greasy takeout eaten at home on the couch wearing your fuzzy slippers but now implies plush banquettes and stilettos (think Buddakan and Chinatown Brasserie). Similarly, Mai House moves Vietnamese cooking in that same high-end direction. The beautiful space is set off by a series of flower lanterns and a stunning floor-to-ceiling curtain of intricately carved wood that separates the kitchen from the main dining room. Colorful cocktails crafted from sake and fresh juices liven up the bar, while in the dining room, the pleasures of the kitchen hit their mark. Summer rolls the size of Italian sausages are overstuffed with fresh herbs, vermicelli noodles and sweet succulent shrimp ($11). A spicy salad of rare beef is tossed with grapefruit, fiery chiles and juicy lime ($12). Dungeness crab ($29) is taken out of its shell, broken into lovely lumps and piled on a bed of glass noodles topped with garlic, chives and mushrooms. Clay-pot organic chicken ($18) is wildly saturated with flavor, and the house lacxa ($23) is the stuff dreams are made of: spicy curry loaded up with king prawns, baby shrimp and noodles. Due to the generous portions, you'll have leftovers. But don't worry: It's still OK to take them home and eat them on the couch in your fuzzy slippers. 186 Franklin St., (212) 431-0606. Andrea Strong

Kudos to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for adding the Wiccan pentacle to VA gravemarkers in our national cemetaries! Wicca families of fallen soldiers will now be allowed to affix the witchy emblam, a five-pointed star known to all Goths and Cher fans, to the government-issued headstones of their departed loved ones who lost their lives in our nations quest for power...uh, democracy.

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Just a heads up that one of my favorite designers Maria Cornejo has just opened a retail store that went live today. It's a simple site, but you can buy her collection Zero from her directly on line. So for all of you that can't make it to her NYC shop, it's a great place to get her super cool stuff. Check it out here.

A festival honoring Barbara Stanwyck starts Wednesday at BAM. Brooklyn’s own Ruby Stevens was born July 16, 1907 and rose the ranks in films from snappy pr-Code comedies like Baby Face and Frank Capra movies like Meet John Doe to stunning performances in Ball Of Fire, The Lady Eve, Double Indemnity and Sorry Wrong Number. She never gave a bad performance. Read Anthony Lane’s terrific piece on her, “Lady Be Good,” in this week’s New Yorker. What pleases me about the festival is that they’re including her last theatrical film on May 6th -- William Castle’s 1964 The Night Walker, co-starring her husband Robert Taylor, about a woman’s repeated nightmares which seem all too real. It’s campy and wonderful. Watch this trailer for it and see if you don’t agree. Hail Stanwyck!

Name: Jessica Sussman

Age: 22

Position: magazine intern

Hometown: Leonia, NJ

Heart is in: Tel Aviv, IL

School: FIT, Advertising and Marketing Communications

Facebook or Myspace: Regrettably, Facebook

Fave blog: Brooklyn Vegan

Fave designer: Phillip Lim 3.1 (for them), Lover (for me)

Best thing about interning at PAPER: Photo shoots and the proximity to Pinkberry.

The worst: Realizing I'm certainly not cut out to be a messenger.

Fave PAPER cover: Jean-Paul Goude's Maggie Cheung cover (Mar 2006).

Fave PAPER person and why: Samantha, because she is kind, quirky and treats me as an equal.

Where do you see yourself in five years: Smiling brightly with rough, bloody soles.

Fave free things you do in NYC: Sampling ice cream shops, salivating/fantasizing in Barney's, picnicking

Fave boutique: Opening Ceremony

Fave restaurant: The best meals I've had in a long time: In NYC: Cru; In Tel Aviv: Carmella Bistro

Fave bar: Black & White (Tuesday nights), Bembe (Every night)

First five songs to shuffle on your iPod:
1. After the Gold Rush - Neil Young
2. Wash the Day Away - TV On The Radio
3. Come Together - Beatles
4. White Palms - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
5. Me, Me, And What Separates Us - Rockfour

What's the best and worst things about being in a 6,000 mile long-long-distance relationship? Best - the empowerment of an iSight; Worst - the intangible factor.

By Blaire Huntley

1. Last night, Vanity Fair and Free Arts NYC hosted a benefit auction at Milk Studios. Hostesses with the mostesses Amy Sacco and Alice Stephenson oversaw the event, along with co-hosts Liv Tyler and Scarlett Johansson (who was a no-show) and Simon de Pury led the auction. At one point, De Pury got so carried away that his gavel-thingy broke! Spotted by us: Derek Blasberg and Lyle Maltz leaving with model Jacquetta Wheeler; a pregnant Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber looking mildly irked; Rachel Zoe seated with a man much her junior; and Rachel-Zoe-in-training Kristian Laliberte working the room with a girl in a hat.
MORE PHOTOS HERE >>

2. The most hilarious Bob Odenkirk (he of Mr. Show fame who most recently directed Let’s Go to Prison) just signed on to do 12 short episodes of a show called Derek & Simon: The Show for Super Deluxe, the comedy broadband newtwork. According to the show’s description, the shorts will follow “real-life friends Derek Waters and Simon Helberg as they chase girls around Hollywood.”

3. This drunk German man rode a horse into a bank.

4. In the two days since the weather became lovely, the Pinkberry on 32nd St. has gone from ghost town to traffic jam! We noticed that they were being a little skimpy with the fruit toppings. If all these ladies are going to be eating Pinkberry for lunch, they’re going to need more nutrients –- so bring on the blueberries!

5. Nadia, the made-for-TV movie that I rented so many times as a young girl that the video store finally gave to me, has come out on DVD at long last! The 1984 biopic follows the career of Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci. There’s even footage (played in slow motion) from her actual bar routine during the 1976 Montreal Olympics that earned her the perfect 10!

6. Rumor has it that everyone’s go-to session rock-star Matt Sweeney (who has collaborated with everyone from Will Oldham to Cat Power to Johnny Cash, and played with Chavez, Zwan and Earlyman) will be working with Neil Young on a new album. While you’re at it, check out Neil Young’s super-well-designed, politically-charged and anti-Bush website.

Pictured above: Liv Tyler, Mary Alice Stephenson, Amy Sacco (front row) & Simon de Pury. Photo courtesy of www.patrickmcmullan.com

Oh NO! I just recieved an email from Jim's partner, Terrence Savage, with links to Jim's obits! I knew Jim back in New York and adored him! Our paths continually crossed during the glory days in the East Village and every few years we'd get together to dream, scheme and generally catch up. A film editor of the highest caliber (he worked wonders editing Ghostlight, a film I did with Richard Move about dance legend Martha Graham), Jim was best known for his collaborations with Todd Haynes (Safe, Far From Heaven) and Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides).

This is sad, sad news. I last saw Jim a couple of years ago (two? three? four? time flies when you move to L.A. and lose touch with your old New York pals). He was out here for work and rang me up to meet for lunch -- which lasted for several hours. Jim was not only talented but one of the smartest men I've ever known. His understanding of film and story and just plain ole human behavior was extraordinary. Plus he was such a handsome, charming guy! Everyone has a crush on him. I can't even write anymore. This is a real loss. At 46 Jim had so much creativity ahead of him! He would've made an incredible director! All the best editors do!

Rest in peace Jim! We loved you so much!!!!

The Willowz released their third album, Chautauqua, on Dim Mak Records last month. I feel guilty admitting that I've only now given the album a complete listen-through, but boy am I glad that I did! It's their best album to date, laden with tightly controlled songs coupled with their signature raw, rock 'n' roll sound. I'm not sure how they do it, but they've miraculously made a classic '60s style rock sound modern and original. I mean, sure, they may all look like they walked out of a Woodstock film -- note lead singer Richie Follin's ever-growing locks and newly grown mustache and Jessica Reynoza's unending amount of '60s dresses -- but their music is anything but stale and antiquated. It was particularly cute watching French people dance to their music during a scene from "Science Of Sleep."

Anyway, if you haven't heard this album yet, hear some of it on their MySpace page and judge for yourself. Here's their video for my favorite song on the new album, "Jubilee." The Willowz play at the Mercury Lounge Wednesday, April 25th.

The Vatican has decided that Limbo really doesn't exist after all and unbaptised babies CAN get into heaven. What a relief. But something tells me Mel Gibson and pere aren't buying it. I wish Mel would make a movie of Dante's Divine Comedy (espeically the Inferno part) based on those magnificent Gustave Dore illustrations (image of Purgatorio above). Yeah! Use some of that newfangled CGI stuff -- a Sin City for the real sinners of the world! *I'm suprised someone hasn't made it into a video game yet!*

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Triad Election is another crackling crime drama from Hong Kong great Johnnie To (PTU). This is actually Election 2, the second in a series about the two-year term election of a Triad gangster boss. In this one, the boss (Simon Yam -- who Asian genre fans will recall as the scary star of Dr. Lamb) -- is not eager to give up his title, and one lower level mob guy is reluctantly forced to go after the title for strictly financial reasons.

With some amazing violent confrontations and a thrilling chase through an outdoor restaurant, this brutal and stylish film is a treat for fans. Don’t miss this and Election (the first one- which is spectacular) opening at Film Forum this week.

A woman I recently met named Jessica Glasscock just emailed me these photos of her amazing new pocketbook. Can you believe??? She said it was one of a series of 200 made by a Spanish artist named Nicola Costantino that she recently bought from the "Dangerous Beauty" show at the Chelsea Art Museum. Amazing no?

That's right! You read that correctly, Jesus & Mary Chain are adding more shows to what was originally going to be only a two-show reunion (they're playing in California twice this week -- Friday at Coachella). The only other North American stops are two nights at Webster Hall, May 21st and 22nd. There is a God!

JAMC haven't played together since 1998 when they broke up during a show. When looking back at that show, Jim Reid said, "I suppose you could say this is another good reason for our reformation, cause that was no way for the Mary Chain to end." Indeed.

Tickets aren't on sale yet, but I can already feel my wallet being emptied out. Who cares, though, it's the Jesus & Mary Chain! This band is arguably one of the most influential bands of the last three decades. And boy are we lucky that they're gracing New York with their presence.

1. Who would be in your dream threesome? According to the rumor mill, heartthrob photographer Ryan McGinley just shot Kate Moss and BF Pete Doherty nude for the upcoming issue of W.

2. Art stars of today Elizabeth Peyton, Tony Just, Maurizio Cattalan, Dan Colen, Cecily Brown and Clarissa Dalrymple all came out for the Turner Prize winner Brit Jim Lambie's opening at Anton Kern Gallery last Thursday.

3. Fergie's lady humps were caught in high-waisted body-squeezing jeans by Judi Rosen of downtown boutique The Good, The Bad and The Ugly as reported by the fashion bible In Touch.

4. Vogue's Alexandra Kotur has a tough job of deciding who makes Style.com's Ten Best Dressed List each week. Look who made the cut last week!

1) Kirsten Dunst
2) Chloe Sevigny
3) Miuccia Prada
4) Coco Rocha
5) Doo-Ri Chung
6) Lisa Airan
7) Hilary Rhoda
8) Camilla Belle
9) Lauren DuPont
10) Demi Moore

5. Name Change: On a more, delicate note... Over this weekend, when rendering the Virginia Tech shooter's name, The New York Times decided to go by Seung-Hui Cho, rather than the easternized-style Cho Seung-Hui, which has been the official name used by the media world-wide since the release of his identity. There have been many whispers on the Internet among sensitive Korean-Americans about this uncouth placement of his surname.

After the downpour on Friday, the sun peaked out from behind the clouds and turned Tinsel Town into a gleaming Technicolor Munchkin Land. Not enough to put a dent in our drought, the rain did bring out the best in my rose garden!

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I must confess that I haven't been a big Jason Schwartzman fan. He was good in Rushmore, but I wasn't convinced. And I sort of liked his band Phantom Planet, but not enough to ever listen to it on my own. Now I have had a change of heart. I loved him in Marie Antoinette and I love his new song called "West Coast" out on the label Young Baby Records. Most of all I love the video of a performance by the Nijinsky of skateboarding Mark Gonzales. The video was originally shot by Cheryl Dunn in 1988 at the Stadisches Museum Abtelberg in Monchengladbach, Germany. So when I called Dunn for the backstory you can imagine how surprised I was to discover that this was all news to her.

Spinner, where I first saw the video, says Schwartzman just released a solo album under the alias Coconut Records called Nighttiming. It goes on to say that "For the disc's first video, 'West Coast,' Schwartzman tapped his pal Cheryl Dunn for directorial duties and pro-skater Mark Gonzales as the subject. Since Schwartzman is currently off shooting the Ben Stiller film The Marc Pease Experience, Gonzales crafted the video with rare skateboarding footage from an exhibit in Germany."

Well, for starters Dunn has never met her "pal" Schwartzman. She found out about the video, which she made 10 years ago, through friends who began sending her emails. Another unfortunate consequence of this is that people tend to jump to all kinds of wrong conclusions like this one at obtusity.

"Compiling obscure footage surrounding an art exhibit in Germany, director Cheryl Dunn puts together a compelling video without any appearance from the singer or a massive narrative. She simply captures the excitement and beauty of a moment in 1998 from beginning to end -- culminating in an amazing performance of athleticism and grace by pro-skater Mark Gonzales. This arc is perfectly matched to the rising and falling of the song, making for a surprisingly thrilling experience."

While we agree that the video works beautifully, Cheryl didn't merely assemble the piece, she shot it, too. So Jason (or Jason's people) would you please get in touch with Cheryl Dunn. She's not by nature litigious, but she would at least like to find out more about how the video came about. And so would we.

Isn't it strange how DUMBO went from being an industrial wasteland that barely had sanitation service to being ultrahip and expensive without any of the usual stages in between (check-cashing kiosks, liquor stores, etc.)? That was largely by design -- the area was developed primarily by one company, Two Trees, which bought up the undesirable real estate, attracted artists to the empty spaces through space grants and let momentum do the rest. Sinister genius, huh? Well, now with the arrival of Zoë this past fall, the transformation is complete, like it or not. (West Elm was one thing, but Zoë makes West Elm look like Target.) A former box factory, which not so long ago housed such artistic endeavors as the visionary NTUSA theater company and Ugly Duckling Presse, is now home to Zoë's new 3,500-square-foot space, a spare, stylish sweep of minimal racks hung with high-end pieces from dozens of top designers (Prada, Mayle, Zac Posen, Phillip Lim 3.1 and Daryl K among them), and for spring, some standout items from Mint and Rebecca Taylor. The store also carries a deep selection of denim (Earnest Sewn, Acne and J Brand are among the brands offered), with a staff that knows how to steer a customer toward a perfect fit. Zoë has long been established in Princeton, New Jersey, as a style beacon but appears quite able to hold its own in DUMBO, as well. In general, it seems comfortable with its swankiness: It's not pretending to be anything other than what it is. And if you're tempted to wax nostalgic over the old days of DUMBO, when there were actual artists working here, you'll just have to settle for whatever glow they've left in their wake, like the beautiful, mysterious paintings of birds in flight on an old warehouse a few blocks down on Water Street. 70 Washington St., Brooklyn, (718) 237-4002. Olive Ridley

I just saw two fun summer collabs from Japanese designers Rei Kawakubo and Junya Watanabe. Kawakubo worked with Speedo to create a very cool line of swimsuits and Watanabe worked with Converse creating four cute graphic summer Chuck Taylor-style kicks. Check them out below.

Great news for Film Noir fans -- on July 31, Warner Brothers is releasing Film Noir Volume 4, a 10-movie, five-disc set with sensational titles. Some classics like Nicholas Ray's 1948 masterpiece They Live By Night starring Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell, and two fun Robert Mitchum crime dramas -- The Big Steal and Where Danger Lives. Others include: Act Of Violence, Mystery Street, Crime Wave, Decoy, Illegal, Side Street and Tension.

Most have commentaries and extras. Also check out Robert Altman's sensational 1974 remake of They Live By Night, Thieves Like Us, starring Shelly Duvall and Keith Carradine which came out on www.mgm.com/dvd last week. (It includes a wonderful commentary track by the late master Robert Altman that is illuminating and funny).

This story from China really sends chills down my spine. Nothing scares me more than crocodiles! I think it started when I read a story in the New York Post ('natch) about some dumb vacationing Americans swimming in a swimming hole somewhere Down Under where a Danger: Crocodiles sign was posted. Dumb Americans ignored the sign and a model was snatched up by an Aussie croc and pulled down under herself. (I know this sounds like an urban myth but I SWEAR it was in the news!) They found her body in the crocodile's nest, buried in mud where the prehistoric monsters like to put their prey to soften it up before mealtime.

ARRGGHGHHRRRGHGHGHGHGHGGHHGH!

I can't believe I once went swimming in the ocean in northern Australia not far from where the Danger: Crocodiles signs were posted!! Those SAW movies can't be as scary as the thought of being pulled down and marinated in some crododile's lair. And now they've found the remains of nine-year-old inside a Chinese croc??

ARRGGHGHHRRRGHGHGHGHGHGGHHGH!

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I got an email from the only Guerilla Girl I have actually ever corresponded with today named Frida Kahlo. For those of you who don't know, the Guerilla Girls are a super-old-school feminist art collective made up of anonymous female artists whose sold mission is to point out how fucked up the art world is when it comes to women... they do amazing stuff, performances wearing guerilla masks, and take on the names of dead female artists.

The collective was invited to create a page for yesterday's Washington Post and you can see here what they did. The numbers are shocking, no? Ninety-eight percent of the National Gallery's art seems to be made my men, and 99 percent is made by white artists. The GG claim that when the Washington Post called to fact-check these numbers, the National Gallery began to scramble through their archives, desperately searching for art made by women and people of color to throw up this week. Ya gotta love the Guerilla Girls.

According to Frida, the Guerilla Girls will start blogging next month for the Huffington Post!!!

Oh kids, if there's one thing Mr. Mickey likes, it's ogling cute boys in man panties for charity. Well that was what went on a few days ago at the Jeffrey Fashion Cares benefit where tasty treats like the ones pictured pranced for the enjoyment of such luminaries as Andre Leon Talley and Princess Diane von Furstenberg. It raised $400,000 for Lambda Legal, Hetrick-Martin Institute and GMHC (Gay Men's Health Crisis).

See, the fashion folk can make the world a better place too!

You may laugh but Atlanta public access talk show host Alexyss K. Tylor really tells it like it is! This video is making the rounds (much like the dawgs Alexyss has 'dated') and is probably not safe for work and young children's ears but I think Ms. Tylor's hard-won wisdom should be heard by every teenage girl before her first menses. Talk about A Vagina Monologue! (Eve Ensler only wishes!) Alexyss speaks the truth more plainly than those lame sex education films we were marched (boys separate from girls) into the junior high school auditorium to watch. Sadly, it is our own experience with those who abuse their penis power that ultimately teach us the hard way (no pun intended). But the good news is that I finally understand that if my man can't even spring for shrimp dinner at Long John Silvers he is NOT worth my time!

FYI, Tylor's mother appears with her on the Atlanta Public Access TV9 show and offers the last word (probably the only real defense any of us have): stay prayed up!

ALSO CHECK OUT ALEXYSS' HALLOWEEN SHOW! Really love the schtick about the government cheese! (You know, the more I watch these videos I'm beginning to wonder if this isn't a comedy sketch afterall? If not, then it's the most brilliant performance art since Karen's Finley's I'M AN ASS MAN!)

We'll tell you what you can do with all that junk inside your trunk. This Sunday (April 22) you can get your spring cleaning on and get rid of all your old, unwanted and unsightly electronics (computers, monitors, printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, TVs & cell phones) and clothes from around the house in Union Square. Just walk over to North Plaza (southeast corner of 17th St. and Broadway) and be prepared to dump like it's going out of style! I personally think it's a rad program and I applaud the Department of Sanitation for organizing it! Click here for more lo-down on the dumping party.

This lil guy arrived in our mail-bin the other day. What a cutie! This stylish wallet is made by Vans. And is checkered. A winning combo if you ask us! Write in the comment box below why you want this wallet, and it's yours!

Here is everyone's favorite Take That model Blaire Huntley!

I've only recently discovered Feministing.com and don't know how I ever got along with out it! In a culture where there are fewer and fewer voices of reason in our mainstream media (really, how idiotic did those people at NBC look pretending they weren't pawns in some maniac's mass-murdering game?), it's important to check in with the fearless females who are making smarter choices.

Besides being whip-smart, these chicks also know how to entertain! Case in point: the clip above of this absolutely adorable kid who has definitely made this dreary, rain-soaked Friday here in L.A. a lot brighter!

The clip below from Feministing has also helped revitalize some of our brain cells whose synapses been severely dampened by today's rain (I know the drought-affected southwest needs it but... HELP! I feel S.A.D) Yet despite what the insightful Jennifer Pozner (from Women in Media & News) has to say below (in this Feministing clip from a PBS show about sexism in reality television) I think this young dude above is more likely to come out the winner when the next generation takes over. (Surely there is some young Simon Cowell practicing his barbed judgements on YouTube as well?)

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I'm going to get a little shady here for a sec. It dawned on my one day that my favorite shape of shades for the summer is the classic Ray-Ban à la Risky Business. I find the oversize Jackie-O's too Nicole Richie and the Olsens, the wraparounds trés Posh Spice and the aviators, well, very Brangelina. But I didn't really want the classic Ray-Ban because that seems so cliché and also, they've been making the rounds since Chloë Sevigny was photographed rocking a pair of white Ray-Bans at the As Four show during Fashion Week a few years back -- this incident also ignited a white frame fad that was hot for a while.

Then I stumbled upon the perfect alternative. Oakley and Supreme teamed up and came up with these super-cool shades called Frogskins. They come in five Lifesaver colors -- my favorite is red (see picture) -- and only a limited edition of 2,000 pairs were made ($168). You can get them at Supreme stores and via www.supremenewyork.com and they come with a Supreme logo printed elastic band that basketball players use with their glasses which I think is a total bonus!

Gary Pini gives us his report from last night...

On the way to Webster Hall to see Tussle we spotted some fantastic life-size stainless steel trees in Madison Square Park that are the work of artist Roxy Paine. Check them out while you wait in line at the Shake Shack -- they will be up until the end of the year. After the show we went to a great party sponsored by Burton Snowboards in their showroom on lower Broadway. It reminded us of other downtown loft parties -- particularly those at Dana Giacchetto's place -- that seem to be happening less often in recent years. In between free drinks, mini burgers and the musical stylings of DJ Steve Aoki (pictured) we met some kids from Burton's office in Cali that flew in for the event and asked (seriously) if we were snowboarders. I told them no, but I did go water skiing in the 50's. We also spotted some samples of Burton's cool new line of Andy Warhol outerwear and ended the night at Max Fish.

Here is a scrumptious snap of Spain's sexiest brothers Luis and Rafael Medina. MMBlog readers are no strangers to Rafael (who is the Duke of Feria, on the right in the photo) because MM has been desperately in love with him for ages!!! Mr. Mickey loves a sexy European with a large nose. Throw in some major family history and Mr. Mickey is ready to do the kinds of things that are still illegal in 14 states!!! Both boys are un-married so call Iberia Airlines and book your tickets to Spain senoritas!!!!

Photo from Hola! magazine.

In case you hadn't noticed, we have. Today marks the harmonic convergence of month and date with the universal daily call to smoke up at the appointed time. In other words, today at 4:20 o'clock on the date 4-20-2007 there will be an even more massive smoke in than occurs daily at this time. As added inspiration, I include a sample from Build This Bong: Instructions and Diagrams for 40 Bongs, Pipes and Hookahs with text and illustration by Randy Stratton.

Last night my buddies from San Francisco, Tussle, played Webster Hall (opening up for Hot Chip). A four man all instrumental group, Tussle bangs the hell out of two (TWO!) drum kits along with a bass and some synthesizers. Their music is tightly constructed and appears effortless. In fact I don't think I've ever heard such addictive rhythm. It's practically impossible to not shake your booty when you hear them. Our very own Senior Editor, Carlo McCormick, is quite obsessed with them.

Since being asked by Hot Chip (who remixed their track, "Flicker") to play with them during a leg of their tour, Tussle has had the opportunity to gain more exposure than they've ever had before. It's great for them, yes, but I'm not sure if larger venues are the best place to see them for the first time. Of course, that's just me being selfish and wanting to see my friends play at a house party where people can really get their dance on. Lucky for me, then, that after their tour with Hot Chip they'll embark on their own tour which will bring them to the Cake Shop May 11th. Go see them! ...and listen to them on their myspace page!

The quest to develop ever more entertaining reality-based TV may have reached another lowpoint with the development of Nightclub Confessions, the first original programming created specifically for the web by FOX TV.

"Confessional booths for the first series have been placed in several clubs across Los Angeles, Long Beach and Orange County and will travel across the country in future series, to capture confessions of bar patrons, bartenders, DJ’s and even club owners. 30 web episodes (8 – 10 minutes each), with all the mischief and excitement exploding Saturday, June 30 in the exclusive one-hour televised event, will give reality fans the opportunity to hear scandalous confessions from the minds of club-goers."

Surely the sight of the shit-faced looking into the camera, slurring their words and bearing their souls is bound to create a ratings juggernaut, but I won't be one of them.

party people photo by Cobrasnake

When I interviewed Charlotte Gainsbourg for the cover of the April issue, she told me about a film that she starred in while making her album, 5:55. She was ecstatic (and typically self-deprecating) about it: “It’s a wonderful film. I’m not talking about myself—its really—just the film is incredible. It’s called The Golden Door. It’s an Italian film and we shot everything in Buenos Aires… It talks about the whole immigration from Naples to Ellis Island, of the Italians coming here. You sort of follow one family throughout the film. They start in Sicily, and take the boat from Naples. It’s so original. It’s done in quite a magical way, in that the rhythm is so special, its… He [Emanuele Crialese] is a wonderful director.”

So naturally, I went to see it. And I can vouch for her enthusiasm. Firstly, cinematographer Agnès Godard shot it. She deals with the dream sequences and masses of people in confined spaces with zero claustrophobia. Vincenzo Amato stars opposite Gainsbourg.

I had not seen Respiro, Crialese’s first major film, but I know people loved it. Gainsbourg plays a lone Englishwoman who suddenly tacks onto Amato’s peasant family in Sicily before they board the boat (unaccompanied women were not admitted into US) to America, a country which they have never seen and only ever imagined: In their minds, it represents hope, fear, success, failure, the impossible and the sublime. Gainsbourg, foreign, aloof and outspoken in her corset and hat, does nothing to assuage these anxieties, although she is just as fearful. Amato and Gainsbourg’s relationship is built on a mutual feeling of trust which plays out through stolen glances on deck. When they arrived at Ellis Island, I was as curious as they were to see what America was like.

The Golden Door (original name, Nuovomondo) opens May 25th in New York.

Open on Friday at The Film Forum is Robert Altman's dazzling 1973 neo-noir The Long Goodbye, and it’s one Altman’s best. Based on a Raymond Chandler book, Elliot Gould is perfect as the hipster gumshoe detective traversing a sleazy slize of L.A. in the 1970s. The film also stars Nina Van Pallandt (famous then for her connection to Clifford Irving, now brought to film in The Hoax), Sterling Hayden as a boozing writer and Mark Rydell as an oily gangster (whose act of violence to his girlfriend still makes audiences gasp)

A bust at the box office at the time, another example of a movie “too hip for the room," but just perfection. And that ending!!!!

One of my favorite L.A. 'women' is the legendary punk/club impressario/performer/lecturer and all-around dazzling art star Miss Vaginal Davis! I wrote about her fab Roaring Twenties themed BRICKTOPS club in the hard copy version of PAPER way before the LA and NY Times covered it (PAPER rules!) and have known Miss Davis for... well, lets just say a while.

I first met 'her' when I put out a call to a Cal Arts friend to wrangle a gaggle of "Manson Family Glitter Rock Groupie Dancers" to appear on stage with us when Bongwater opened up for the Happy Mondays (at the infamous LA venue The Palladium, which is about to undergo a million dollar facelift!). It turned out to be a nightmare event -- the USC crowd out to see the Happy Mondays was NOT digging The Bongwater (we fared much better in San Francisco where, not so suprisingly I suppose, a big chunk of the audience was there to see us). Because the Mondays had that guy (their dealer?) Bez doing nothing but dancing on stage with them we decided we too needed dancers. Hence the Manson Glitter Kid Dazzle Dancers. Instead of having ONE dancer we wanted MANY. So one-by-one these absurdly-attired art students and LA punk rock scensters came on stage until by the end the stage was packed with dancers. The final dancer was Miss Davis, about 7 feet tall in heels and looking GORGEOUS in a prehistoric fur bikini. What a finale!

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Last night while watching Lost, I was struck by the inordinate number (two in one hour!) of car commercials that featured indie rock heavy-weights. First it was a Pontiac commercial featuring Peter Bjorn And John's anthemic track, "Object Of My Affection" (see music video below). A bit later it was Honda with The Go! Team's "Huddle Formation." I'm not trying to suggest, of course, that this advertising scheme is by any means new (remember Modest Mouse's "Gravity Rides Everything" in a Nissan Commercial?). Nor am I shocked. It just struck me last night how frequent it's become.

With the music industry suffering as much as it has, it's no secret that musicians have been forced to seek alternative means of income. Touring has always been an obvious way, but let's face it -- unless you're Justin Timberlake and selling out coliseums, you're not going to make that much money from it. With that in mind, I don't consider selling your song rights to a car company to be "selling out" (a term which I believe is completely antiquated at this point anyway).

What struck me is just how smart these giant companies really are sometimes. Indie rock is filled with positive and uplifting anthems that are perfect for the spirit of, say, buying a car and taking a road trip. I myself am planning a cross-country trip for later this summer and aside from a few small details (i.e. getting a license), the only thing I've really planned out so far is all the music I want to listen to. It seems to me that as the years go by the line between leisurely activities and commerce is becoming more and more blurry. Who knows? It may come to the point where I can't listen to my favorite band without immediately conjuring up images of things I want to buy. It's a crazy world we live in!

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On a balmy evening in late March, everyone who was anyone (and then some) came out to celebrate the release of PAPER Magazine's 10th Annual Beautiful People issue at Hiro Ballroom. Check out the video above. And read more about the part-ay here.

A madman has struck and left a trail that tells one of the most frightening stories that we've heard in a long time. It's a story that we don't want to hear which is why Cho Seung-Hui, America's home-grown suicide bomber, chose this way of telling it. Devoid of any meaningful social contact on the campus of Virginia Tech or elsewhere, he became a cypher of a world without love. Like the terrorist Muslim suicide bombers of the Middle East, he leaves a multimedia manifesto of words, photos (the one of above, of bullets, is by Cho) and videos as a final testament. He speaks of the "martyrs," uses the name "A Ishmael," rails against "hedonism" and makes reference to 911, Osama, Kim Jung II, Hummer and Bush. Though what he says can scare your pants off, the student who couldn't connect with anyone communicates beautifully with the camera. We know all this about Cho because he took the time to shoot, edit and Express Mail it all to NBC. (MSNBC has done an incredible job covering this and has been releasing pages and visuals from the manifesto.)

Cho's Multimedia Manifesto leaves behind a treasure trove of material for experts to rummage over in the coming years as they try -- with 20/20 hindsight -- to understand what motivated this young man to do such a horrible act. I expect that anyone as proficient with multimedia tools as Cho, and as talented an artist, will have many more writings, drawings and videos stashed away in his hard drive.

On the day of the shooting I was on the phone with Jon Savage, the British author of Teenage, a monumental book of cultural history that traces the creation of youth culture. When I mentioned the events at Virginia Tech to him he said, “Remember, your country and my country are at war in Iraq. When you’re at war it hits people in a weird way, especially young people. When the top guy is waging war and acting like a big bully, it’s going to make a difference. Kids pick up on this. But they don’t have the wherewithal of adults who learn how to handle it.” Given Cho's multimedia handiwork and the numerous allusions to the Middle East in his video, Savage's comments -- made before anything was known about the killer -- seem more prescient than ever.

Nothing pleases me more than watching this medley from William Castle's 1964 Strait-Jacket starring Joan Crawford as an axe murderess released after 20 years in an asylum into her daughter's (Diane Baker) care. So get away from depressing news footage of college massacres and return to a gentler time -- when "crazy" meant fun.

With the imminent release of Volta on May 7th, all I hear, think and dream about is Bjork! With appearances by Antony Hagarty and tracks produced by Timbaland, this is certain to be Bjork's most exciting work to date. What's more, Brooklynvegan just posted an amazing email interview with her. Unfortunately for us though, no singles or album streams have been leaked yet (but I'm sure the label is happy about that). Here is a short clip from a song on the upcoming album called, "Earth Intruders" (the entire single/video will be out on April 24th).

The eternally elegant Kitty Carlisle Hart has finally passed away at 96!

Known as a tireless advocate for the arts, Hart was a real class act who first began working as an actress way back when a "lady" wouldn't be caught dead trodding the boards on Broadway! She knew everyone and travelled effortlessly between show business and high society with class, sass and wit. I remember first being captivated by her sophisticated presence while watching her on the '60s game show "To Tell The Truth". You can see Kitty Carlisle radiate her charm on this clip from the show on YouTube (embedding disabled, alas). I love her questions posed to the young women in the vintage swimsuits who are trying to fool the panelists into choosing the wrong girl (whose real life job is as a whale trainer).

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Perez Hilton is known as a scandalous Internet gossip monger, but I find that his musical tastes are pretty good, too. He was an early Amy Winehouse and Mika booster and he keeps a good eye out for cool new videos. All by way of thanking him for calling attention to this video ditty cooked up by Peaches in response to a recent Alanis Morisette video parody of Fergie's "My Humps." Of course, Peaches being Peaches takes it up a notch by titling her contribution to this growing cannon "My Dumps" -- as in poop. You know it.

And who the hell is that, you ask—which is just what I said myself when I saw the book, “The Paris and New York Diaries of Ned Rorem” in a secondhand bookstore. Having lived in Paris and now in New York, I’m always fascinated by any vivid personal accounts of those who have done the same. The book cost two dollars. I then sat and read it for three hours straight, not looking up once. Rorem is an American composer whose talent and ambition lead him to Paris in 1949 (then in his late twenties), where he cavorted with people like Cocteau, Julien Green and Paul Eluard, and due to his good looks, openness about his homosexuality and opulent wisdom, was the best person to have around for parties. His diaries are so candid, shocking, brilliant, revealing, honest and absorbing that had I had a pencil, I would have underlined everything (good job I didn’t, or the pages would have been ruined). Best part: the bugger is still alive and well, composing music and living in Nantucket. Read those diaries. Here is where I was officially hooked:

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Name: Lucas Alexander Mascatello

Age: 16

Hometown: SoHo

School: NYC Lab School

Facebook or MySpace: Facebook

Fave blog: PAPERMAG Blogs

Fave designer: Marc Jacobs

Best thing about interning at PAPER: feeling hip and the occasional gem in the intern bin

The worst: physical labor and the crappy internet

Fave PAPER cover and why: De La Soul, because it's De La Soul

Fave PAPER person and why: Blaire, because she feeds me and her hair is badass.

Where do you see yourself in five years: taller, sadder, more jaded

Fave free things you do in NYC: July movies in the park in DUMBO, walking aimlessly, eating free stale Dunkin' Donuts at 2 a.m.

Fave restaurant: Tabla

First five songs on random shuffle on his IPod:

1. Joy Division - Transmission
2. Jimi Hendrix - Remember
3. Pavement - Filmore Jive
4. Andrew Bird - Sovay
5. Pixies - Crackity Jones

Describe your perfect lazy day: Watercoloring, tea and wool socks

By Blaire Huntley

Paris Sandwich is Chinatown's latest addition to the banh-mi constellation clustered around Mott Street. The clean, narrow takeout shop, open all day until around 8 p.m., aims to serve both die-hard devotees of the staple Vietnamese sandwich and curious passersby who might be beckoned by the Eiffel Tower imagery and vivid yellow interior. The Technicolor-picture menu features 12 different sandwiches for no more than $3.50 each. Impressive house-made baguettes are filled with grilled or barbecued meat or fish of your choice, pickled carrots, cilantro, peppers (on request) and spicy mayonnaise. The grilled chicken, barbecued pork and Vietnamese meatballs are runners-up to the winning "Paris Special Baguette." When I asked the counter girl what the Paris was like, she responded, "Very classy." It proved to be filled with Vietnamese cold cuts and French pâté. It's not for me to say if eating this sandwich improved my social status, but it's safe to say that it's more authentically Vietnamese than the American-style sandwiches rounding off the list (ham and cheese, turkey and cheese). An array of fluorescent-colored, cloyingly sweet rice-based desserts and straightforward Vietnamese rice and noodle dishes are serviceable. Stick to the sandwiches, which are no slouch and cheaper than a cappuccino. 113 Mott St., (212) 226-7221. Isaac Kardon

photo from www.roboppy.net

By yesterday morning the whole world knew the guy behind the beyond-tragic shootings at Virginia Tech. Every headline read that the killer was "a 23-year-old student from South Korea." And then it was cemented forever that he was a loner. While it is legally correct that Cho Seung-Hui was a Korean native, a resident alien in the U.S. and a South Korean immigrant (all descriptions used by the media), many of the articles made it out as though he had just come off the boat last week -- when in fact he was a mere 8-year-old when his family emigrated to the U.S. None of these facts excuse the monstrosity of his murderous act -- though beyond his green card status, he was a seriously disturbed social-outcast.

I feel like the media is not owning up to the fact that he was more or less a common law American. They're emphasizing his foreignness in order to further demonize a murderer who is already dead. And for what purpose? To perpetuate a racial backlash and deepen the remorse and paranoia that already exist among the Korean-American community? (nytimes.com has been flooded with comments by Koreans all over the world expressing apologies and regrets.)

Like so many, I've been freaked out, haunted and saddened by the nightmare at Virginia Tech. I've been following the news closely since the moment I first heard it on jetBlue en route from North Carolina (it's a weird thing to hear the biggest breaking news while on an airplane -- it had never happened to me before.) Later that night back in New York, my obsession with following the news grew even more when I found out that the suspect was an Asian male. After hitting many global news sites, I came across this unsettling photo (above) in the UK's Daily Mail of an Asian man on the VT campus being handcuffed. I was confused because I had thought that the gunman had killed himself after the rampage. I hope nothing happened to this guy. I see him and I see the faces of my own friends, cousins and brother. And I hope that we don't lose sight of the real issues at hand here.

This weekend opens the uproarious new film by the Shaun of the Dead director Edgar White: Hot Fuzz. It's about a tough London Sergeant (Simon Pegg) who is relocated to a bucolic British village and paired with a sweet bumbling PC (Nick Frost). He begins to suspect a series of deaths are not accidental and he can’t get anyone to help him track down a shadowy hooded character seen fleeing from each crime. A takeoff on buddy cop movies that is consistently comical and gets better as it goes along. Shaun Of The Dead I found amusing, but it wore thin towards the end. Here the comedy builds and by the time you get to the finale -- involving a violent shootout throughout the village -- you will be convulsed in laughter.

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost make a great pair -- a postmodern Laurel & Hardy. Even the wonderful Bill Nighy and Steve Coogan make cameos in this riotously funny film.

Here's a cute shot of Crown Prince Willem Alexander of the Netherlands showing off his new baby daughter. It's his third little girl after the future queen Amalia and her sister Princess Alexia. The name hasn't been revealed yet. MM loves the Netherlands because the oldest child inherits the throne regardless of gender. MM hates sexism of any kind so let's hear it for the House of Orange!

Photo from Hello! Magazine

After throwing out the bait, we received a slew of very beautiful candidates for PAPERMAG's First Annual Beautiful Person Contest. The inked-up Sean Risley, however, won us over.

So without further ado, here is Sean.

Prince Joachim has a new girlfriend! Her name is Marie Cavallier and she's French. This is her second time hanging with her boyfriend's family, as she spent a ski trip with Joachim and the kids. You devoted MMBloggers know that Joachim is divorced from the lovely Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg. Alexandra just got remarried to a hunky photographer. Oh these royals are so modern with their marrying outside the caste and divorcing!!! Mr. Mickey misses the old days, but we have to be modern and remember royals are just people!

photo from Hello! Magazine

The music community is all a buzz buzz buzz about Lily Allen, who just cancelled pretty much all of her North American tour. There have been rumors for a while concerning her immense home-sickness and reluctance to completely devote herself to her "music career," but this seals the deal. She wrote on her MySpace page the following:

"Hey Guys, I'm writing to tell you that I have cancelled many of my May and June tour commitments in America. The reason for this, is because my mummy and daddy are very rich, and I have never been in a position where i have actually had to do any hard work before. I thought that being a popstar meant going out getting trashed with famous people and sleeping in all day. The fact that this is not true has come as a huge dissapiontment [sic] to me, and as a result I am throwing the towel in.

No but seriously, I have been on tour with this album for a year now, I have fulfilled every commitment up to this point. I am tired, but more than that I don't think I have been giving my best performances recently. I have been getting really drunk because i've been so nervous about doing bad shows, and I don't want people spending money on a going to see a show that isn't the best it could be. I am not falling apart at the seems, I am not suffering with exhaustion, I am not pregnant, and I am not going to rehab. I will be here in America, promoting the album and also starting to write the second album, which I am beyond excited about. The LA and New York shows will still be happening, and I am still playing Coachella and Bonaroo and all the other festivals.

I'd like to apologise [sic] to anyone who has bought tickets, but you can get your money back, if you take 'em back to the place you bought them from."

And there you have it!

Photo by Dan Monick

What you see here is a dying star. Called the "Red Square," this particular nebula displays a unique symmetry that is dazzling astronomers and layfolk alike! Thanks to infrared cameras at two different observatories, this composite image can now replace your old screen saver. And provide a rather effective mandala for meditation as well.

According to New Scientist Space, the reasons for this memorable exit are unclear. "Towards the end of their lives," the site reads, "many low-mass stars, like the Sun, slough off their outer layers to produce striking 'planetary' nebulae. But the hot star at the heart of the Red Square nebula, called MWC 922, appears to be relatively massive, suggesting another process formed its signature shape."

And according to National Geographic's website, "few other such nebula have been detected -- among them the Red Rectangle Nebula in the constellation Monoceros -- but what causes the phenomena has been poorly understood. Scientists say the new image shows the Red Square to be a bipolar nebula, with stellar winds blowing cone-shaped jets away from its hot central star. "

If only some of the bipolar central stars currently blowing hot stellar wind out here in Hollywood could burn out so spectacularly!

As many of you all saw from the giant ads all around town that appeared today, GAP has launched their special young designer capsule collection of white shirts and shirtdresses by the three CFDA/Vogue award winners: Doo-ri, Thakoon and Rodarte.

The stuff is CUTE, not to mention cheap, and I think super collectible and available today while the supplies last in GAP shops and on line where you can buy everything. When Roland Mouret did a little GAP line, the clothes sold out in what seemed to be a minute, so if you want some of this stuff my advice is to buy it right now.

Remember the blog I wrote two weeks ago about opening a shop that would sell all these low priced fabulous designer collabs, from Target to Uniglo to Top Shop to H&M? Well these GAP pieces need to be in our fantasy shop also! See how cute these white cotton 88 dollar dresses are (from l-r) Doo-ri, Rodarte, Thakoon. (There are also some really fab shirts available as well for 68 bucks each).

When you search for the definition of “Grindhouse” movies, a perfect description is the new Lionsgate film The Condemned opening April 27th. An illegal website rounds up 10 violent prisoners from death rows in remote countries and bring them to a remote island to fight each other to the death. The survivor is promised freedom. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin stars as Joe Conrad, one of the contestants who is really a government agent who fell behind enemy lines and his wife has to watch him fight for his life from a local bar when the smack down begins broadcasting. Like Battle Royale, it’s wild, violent and lots of fun, especially when Conrad and some of the other cutthroat killers go after the sleazy internet team. Austin is a rather likable figure on screen and he’s built like a brick shithouse.

Headline grabber Prince Harry was in Barbados two weeks ago with his Zimbabwean girlfriend Chelsy Davy. They went to the cricket world cup and lounged in what will be their last days together before Harry, who is a soldier, heads off to Iraq. Newspapers reported recently that Harry was making out with some hussy in a club but Chelsy seems to not be bothered by the scandalous publicity they both receive.

Mr. Mickey must say that he really has a warm spot in his heart for Chelsy. She's fun and cute and modern. Sadly her father is in bed with one of the biggest scumbags today, Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe.

Harry, the younger son of the late Diana, Princess of Wales is lovable but has a habit of doing really stupid things like wearing a Nazi uniform to a costume party and getting wasted in public and accosting photographers. Ah the kids today!

Photo from Hello Magazine

There's been much ado about the closing of the club Tonic, a haven for experimental and avant garde music on the now burgeoning Lower East Side. The latest to weigh in is the New York Times which felt the closing significant enough to assign a reporter to spend the night there to witness the club's last show, the dismantling of the equipment and the eventual arrest of Rebecca Moore who refused to leave the premises in protest.

I'm as much as a supporter of Tonic's programming as the next person, which is part of the problem. I supported Tonic in theory, but attended shows only on rare occasions. If the Times had given the performers there as much attention in its closing as it did when it was open, perhaps it would still be around. The Voice's nightlife columnist Tricia Romano also weighs in on the closing, using it as a jumping off point to ask the age-old question: Is Downtown dead? Well, the answer is a resounding yes and no. If by downtown we mean that our memories of what is was like before real estate prices skyrocketed and the neighborhood was a true creative community of indie sensibility, then yes those days are over. On the other hand, downtown has become a destination for all types of people and, therefore, thriving as never before.

Whether we in Manhattan like it or not, the downtown we remember fondly has moved on to Williamsburg. Venues like Tonic, featuring essentially non-commercial music, are always going to have a hard time surviving in the market place. They need outside support from from both public and corporate institutions. Where would jazz be today without Lincoln Center. Experimental and avant-garde music is indigenous to New York and must be viewed as an art form needing official recognition and support. Maybe the powers that be will see this now. MacArthur grant recipient John Zorn, who closed out Tonic with a final show, is probably best positioned to become the spokesman for the cause just as Wynton Marsalis was for jazz. Lets hope he (or someone) picks up the baton.

photo of John Zorn via nytimes

I've been in Raleigh, North Carolina on a press trip since Thursday and as luck would have it, the nasty Nor'easter decided to whip trough my travel route on the day I was supposed to return. I managed to rebook my flight for this morning with Jet Blue. But after stalling on the runway for two hours, burning fuel, the captain made the announcement to reevaluate the status due to high winds. So here I am stuck at the airport! Here's a picture of my Jet Blue plane getting re-fueled and my captain answering questions from the passengers after we de-boarded...

The problem with having a prestigious team of high profile black scholars and smarty britches curate a traveling exhibition showcasing the contributions of black folk in America is that a whole bunch of them will invariably approach such an endeavor with the intention, as worded in the New York Times today, “to attract African-Americans who do not regularly attend museums.” OK, first of all, who, black or white, regularly attends museums? Sure, if you’re a regular museum attendee you’d probably get really excited by a first edition of Phyllis Wheatley’s 1773 book of poetry presented behind glass or velvet ropes—but if you’re not, and again, most of us are not, then from the outset, this whole idea sounds like a vanity project.

Those “who do not regularly attend museums” is merely another polite way to talk and write about our poor, struggling black folks left desolate in the margins. Tavis Smiley (pictured above), the author and TV/radio personality who came up with the idea, is smart and enthusiastic and a sincere presence in the black community -- I like him (we’ve never met personally but know many of the same people in publishing and media). I applaud his efforts, and I do think he is in touch with generations of black Americans outside of his own. But is a museum exhibition (traveling or stationary) really the way to build a bridge between Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (predictably a member of the exhibition’s advisory board) and Tamika Shanique Ruth Jones in central Oakland?

The Times story listed (in addition to the Wheatley volume) a few other items the road show is set to display, among them the gloves Muhammad Ali wore when he knocked out Sonny Liston, a pressing comb used to straighten kinky hair, and MLK’s Nobel prize. Interesting choices, fine. But how about an interactive exhibit whereupon members of the elite advisory board -- Toni Morrison, Anna Deveare Smith, Cornel West -- actually bring the selected items to schools, colleges, and town halls across the country and then give small group tutorials about the items’ significance? As a young brown girl growing up in rural New Hampshire, I would have been inspired and delighted by such a thing—but most of all, I would have felt known by one or two of these highly regarded and well positioned black Americans who are ceremoniously chosen to represent us all. And that would have taken me a long way.

If the intention of this project is to attract those who don’t usually go to museums, I’m not sure curating a museum exhibition is the way to do it.

Saturday night was quite possibly the best night of my life. Of Montreal! Karaoke! Michael Showalter! David Wain! Paul Rudd! These things are incredible on their own, but together at Studio B they equalled perfection.

Michael Showalter (as himself and also as one of his characters from Wet Hot American Summer, Alan Schemper) hosted the night. Of Montreal played an amazing set featuring songs mostly from Hissing Fauna and Sunlandic Twins. Kevin Barnes and company are amazing performers, with shows that get more theatrical every time I see them. This time there was a gimp that adorned over-sized crustacean body parts and danced on stage while the band played. Barnes even got on his shoulders at one point -- while singing!

After their set there was a brief intermission followed by Of Montreal Karaoke! The band had picked a set of standard Karaoke songs (ie "Rasberry Beret," "Sweet Child Of Mine," "Blister In The Sun," etc) that they would play while attendees sang! It was incredible. The highlight of the night was definitely Paul Rudd and David Wain's surprise performance of Boston's "More Than A Feeling." The crowd went insane.

What's more, NY Doll went a little bit nutty herself. I was standing by the bar when Paul Rudd first walked in. I was basically in a Paul Rudd/David Wain sandwich at one point (see pics at right). Swoon!

“Never should have gotten off the interstate...” Those words were so true for Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) in Psycho and they’re really apt for David (Luke Wilson) and Amy (Kate Beckinsale) in Vacancy when their car breaks down and they end up spending the night at a fleebag motel out in the middle of nowhere.

The clerk (Frank Whaley) is creepy, the room is buggy and crummy and there’s a video tape on top of the TV that shows a snuff film shot in that very room. That’s when they notice the hidden cameras behind the vents throughout their room. This absolutely terrifying thriller is directed by Nimrod Antal who also did the excellent 2003 film Kontroll about a train ticket inspector haunting the bowls of the Hungarian subway system. He’s great with claustrophobic spaces and there are plenty to spare in this chiller. Nightmarishly suspenseful, it really doesn’t let up once it begins. Not to mention the best credit sequence since the late Saul Bass (Psycho). So hang on for dear life -- this one’s a white-knuckle ride.

Yesterday the L.A. Times blew the cover of Hollywood's long-standing dirty little 'secret' -- the whole town is run like Czarist Russia and the Romonovs need to be shot! Printing the details of the economic debacle that was the ill-concieved blockbuster "Sahara, the Times outlines the insane, out-of-control spending that goes on in Tinsel Town.

This is not news to anyone who has actually worked in The Industry. (I just heard Nicolas Cage's line to himself from Adaptation, "Don't say The Industry," ringing in my ears). Supporting actors have known for years that the inflated salaries of the stars has sent everyone else to the poorhouse. But who knew that it was also the salaries of the set director, the 'marine coordinator' and Steve Zahn's 'entourage' (Steve Zahn has an ENTOURAGE???) that results in peanuts paid to the supporting cast? Matthew McConaughey's 'colorist' was paid $72,800!? Wow, I gotta get to hairdressing school FAST! Check out the article and the lovely "pie chart," which resembles a retro-hip George Nelson sunburst ball clock (probably on the wall at CAA - although you know their's is an original).

From the L.A.Times:

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Good news for the movie Teeth, the wonderful dark comedy by Mitchell Lichtenstein about a teenage girl named Dawn (Jess Weixler) with teeth in her vagina. It just got an R rating, which is a big relief for a movie like this. An NC17 can really cripple box office, and this film needs to find its audience. Saw a rough cut of the movie many months ago and it was just terrific -- almost a feminist horror comedy, but fun from start to finish. Think it will reach theaters in the Fall.

Is it really over? Reliable sources (People Magazine and Perez Hilton!) are reporting that the world's most eligible bachelor, Prince William of Wales and his girlfriend of 5 years, Kate Middleton, have broken up! Too bad for the souveneir companies that had already produced truckloads of commemorative dishes celebrating the engagement that never happened. Here at MMBlog we like Ms. Middleton and we're excited about the possibility of a wedding for Wills at a young age. Well now maybe he can go out with Charlotte Casiraghi!!!!

Photo from People.com

Or at least for one performance in London. Pete Doherty and Carl Barat sang 12 Libertine songs the other night to some crazed British fans. It's not certain whether or not the band will actually get back together. Frankly, if I were Barat I would be on the fence about the whole situation. On the one hand they were best friends and made incredible music, but on the other hand Doherty's a functioning heroin addict who has stolen from him before. It's a tough call! Here's them singing "Tell The King" and "Don't Look Back Into The Sun."

Mr. Mickey is pleased to report that there seems to be some exciting gay movement in Asia!!! And we're not talking about a convention of Rice Queens in Bangkok!

MM read on Towleroad, a fascinating gay blog, that there was a gay equality demonstration in Patna, India and Mr. Mickey says, "you better work Indian gays and gals!" It's illegal to be gay in India thanks to an old British colonial law. As Mr. Mickey gets older he feels like anyone who wants to discriminate against any person for any reason can just fuck off and die. Not just the gays. Any sexist or racist must be neutralized. Whether it's someone harassing a girl on the street because she's hot or whether it's German chancellor Angela Merkel saying she thinks Turkey shouldn't be allowed in the European Union. I'm sorry Angela. I'm excited that a woman is leader of a huge economic power but you're a racist and you can fuck off! This Patna demonstration is a small step for gay equality but an important one.

Meanwhile in China, MM was excited to read about a new Chinese TV show about the gays called Connecting Homosexuals. The show will cover gay interest issues (and no that doesn't mean Liza Minnelli) and even have a blind date set-up segment. When it comes to human rights in general, China is pretty piss poor but we at the MMBlog applaud this step. After all, communists can enjoy hot man-on-man action as much as the next group!

Wow! Yesterday's wind storm knocked out power all over town, including up on our hill in Silver Lake. Yup, didn't have no electricity for over 17 hours! Lived life like back in that there 19th Century. That's righty neighbor! No heat, no TV, no internet, no blogging!!! But the gas stove worked and we had plenty of candles (which they say you are not supposed to use but, whatever).

Over dinner -- which tasted better than ever (I'm told that when one sense is diminished -- sight -- another is enhanced -- taste), the Mister asks me, he says, "Hey Ma, ever been to The Gamble House over Pasdena way?" Why goodness gracious! What a silly question to ask! Of course I have! And he knows it! But I kept those vexing thoughts to myself.

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Even though we are tired of exhibits featuring the same object decorated by a posse of artists, we stopped by the Eyejammie Gallery (516 W. 26th St.) last night for an exhibit of 54 skateboard decks by everyone from Krink and Haze to Sacha Jenkins and Cycle (pictured). Curated by Cey Adams, the show was a little out of the ordinary for former Def Jam publicity maven Bill Adler's gallery because he normally focuses on photography. It's up until May 5th, so stop by if you're in the hood. All the decks in the show are available as a group for $30,000. Gary Pini

Sometimes I stop and think about how much I love my truly yin yang life, doing what I do here in New York City. Take this week, where I swung from moviestarhollywoodland to OC surfercutieland... from saying "hey" (and swooning when I saw how gorgeous he is looking lately) to Tom Ford up at his new super luxe over-the-top mens emporium to stopping into a fun surf art show called The Happening and meeting all the newest cutest long and shortboard champs and the punky artist/surfers who have been putting a super new cool aesthetic vibe on that world.

When we hit the new Tom Ford shop Tuesday evening for a preview, the first person we ran into was Richard lambertson and Dawn Mello, who, for those who aren't familiar with Gucci history, were the first people to begin to drag Gucci out of the stone age in the early nineties. Dawn was hired by the Gucci company (it must have been in the early nineties) and she hired Lambertson as a consultant (who I knew quite well from his days designing at Geoffrey Beene) to come up with some ideas to bring Gucci into modern times as their demo was at that point geriatric. I remember I went nuts when I saw Richard's first collection because he'd taken the traditional Gucci suede loafer and offered it in jelly bean jewel tones like hot pink, turquoise, bright yellow, kelly green. He also designed a simple Gucci suede backpack in these same colors. I bought four pairs of shoes and three backpacks IMMEDIATELY. (I still have them to this day.) Of course I wrote about them immediately in PAPER too. Then a few years later, Mello took an even braver step and hired the then very young designer Tom Ford and the rest was history. When I saw Richard and Dawn at the Ford shop this week, we gabbed about those backpacks and shoes. I should donate them to the Met or something! (They're in my closet still.)

Then last night, at the opening party for "The Happening" (the show/party was organized by one of my old friends Randy Hild who runs the cute girlie surfer collection Roxy), I fell in love with the work of two artists I saw there and can't get it out of my mind. One guy is called Jeff Canham and he's a surfer living in San Fran who works as a sign painter as well as at the super cool surf shop Mollusk there. I ADORE THIS guy's work (see a photo of him and his stuff below). The show will up from 6-9 p.m. at the MILK gallery (450 W. 15th St.) today (Friday the 13th!). There's also a huge party at the Maritime tonight with lots of surf-friendly music. (check the website for more info.)

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This week's Curtain Cutie is Ward Billeisen who plays Brick Hawvermale, one of the actors in the show within the the new musical Curtains, starring David Hyde Pierce and Debra Monk. I couldn't keep my eyes off him in the big dance numbers -- of which there are plenty. He was so lively and charismatic on stage that you would never know he had just come back from a major foot injury. He's so brave! We became acquainted over email and here's what he had to say...

We'll start off easy. How old are you?

28

What is your theatrical training?

I attended AMDA here in NYC 10 years ago and graduated early from the program to start working professionally. Otherwise I learn as I go. It's amazing how much you can learn from your peers, coworkers and the experience at hand.

Where are you from?

Born in Denver, Colorado. I lived in Longmont, CO until I was about eight, and then Littleton, CO until I moved to Sierra Vist, AZ for the last few years of high school. Been in NY ever since!

Why did you want to become an actor?

My brother used to make me and my sister perform Christmas shows for my mom and dad. I loved making them laugh and feel good. It was always a great time for my family. We were always creating something when we were little and I think it was just meant to be. Everything just fell into place for me. It was my mom that really helped me realize that I could do it if I wanted to.  I love to bring people on journeys that they don't expect to go on.  If I have made a person laugh or cry or just follow what my character is going through then I have done my job. That is why I am an actor.

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I received this press release in my inbox the other day:

"After launching a brand partnership to support non-commercial radio at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (TMS) and Urban Outfitters (URBN) announced some of the 13 bands who will make the upcoming “Free Yr Radio” Tour. “Free Yr Radio” is a series of free, in-store performances by some of the biggest indie music names at Urban Outfitters locations across the country. The tour, part of the multi-phased “Free Yr Radio” campaign that will channel much-needed funding to participating independent radio stations, kicks off April 15th at the Chicago Urban Outfitters with a performance by British psychedelic-progressive-pop trio, Klaxons, who will perform songs from their U.S. debut, Myths of the Near Future.

The tour will hit 12 additional markets through July 21 with a stellar lineup including: The Ponys (Lawrence, KS), Voxtrot (Houston, TX), Long Winters (Seattle, WA), The Rapture (Philadelphia, PA), Rogue Wave (Santa Cruz, CA), Tapes N Tapes (Minneapolis, MN), Dinosaur Jr. (Boston, MA), Annuals (Raleigh/Durham, NC), along with others to be announced soon.

Each performance will be co-presented by a local non-commercial radio station that will benefit from the campaign’s fundraising. Participating stations will be able to award one of their listeners with a brand new Toyota Yaris, presented with a check which can be used towards modifications suggested by the station’s Free Yr Radio band. Stations will also receive proceeds from a “Free Yr Radio” compilation CD that will be released at the end of the year-long program."

Hmmm, okay, well, erm, I hate to admit this but... this is pretty cool!

Check out www.FreeYrRadio.com for more information.

David Byrne is many things -- musician, artist, lecturer, blogger -- but most endearingly he's an avid city bicyclist. The vision that lingers most from Miami's Basel Art Fair was that of Byrne making the rounds on his bicycle. So you can imagine how I felt when I heard the news that his bike was stolen over the weekend right in front of the IFC theater! "If anyone sees a bike with both a Che sticker and one for the MOST space telescope that's mine," says Byrne who's already back on the streets sporting a new two wheeler as he goes around organizing an Alternative Transportation Music Festival for Oct. 6 at Town Hall

PAPER film critic and blogger Dennis Dermody dishes on two more horror films: Lizard in a Woman's Skin and Wilderness.

The genius that is Barbra by Halstead continues! Here is Part Two in the ongoing saga of The Canine Crank Phone Call. Gosh, why can't this show be on NBC's new fall line-up, right before "30 Rock"? Bet it would help boost their sagging ratings! In fact, why not have Barbra by Halstead as a guest star? I bet 'she' and Alec Baldwin could collectively chew all the scenery between 30 Rock and The Pacific Palisades!

Our good friend and co-worker Gary just passed this along to us:

"Check out this amazing shot of what happens when you get too close to an alligator. The good news is that they sewed it back on and the guy is doing fine. The shot reminds us of last year's "exploding snake." Papermag is the new Discovery Channel."

Years ago I read about a movie in Phil Hardy’s Encyclopedia Of Horror -- a 1975 film called Who Can Kill A Child (Quien Puedo Matar a un Nino)? Directed by a Uruguayan-born director Narcios Ibanez Serrador, it was about an American couple -- Tom (Lewis Flander) and his pregnant wife Evelyn (Prunella Ransome) -- who show up at an island seemingly devoid of adults. They soon discover to their horror that the children have banded together to kill the grownups and they rush to escape from the murderous moppets.

It was always a tough movie to track down -- especially with the opening segment intact -- newsreel footage of atrocities perpetrated on kids through the years. Now thanks to Darksy Films, the film is being released on DVD in June. It’s an amazing movie -- politically charged and chilling too.

As it tends to happen nowadays, Swedish-based pop-rockers Peter Bjorn and John became the Next Big Band of 2007 virtually overnight. In 2005 they put out a self-released record and distributed it here and there, but suddenly 2006 rolled around and they had a hit ("Young Folks") a record deal (with v2) and worldwide distribution (including Japan). Then it became 2007 and "Young Folks" was playing on Grey's Anatomy. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've surely heard the catchy whistle intro and adorable boy-girl duet featuring Victoria Bergsman of The Concretes. I recently chatted with frontman Peter Moren from his home in Stockholm about PB&J's rapid rise to fame, the markedly personal content of his lyrics, what it's like being defined by a single song and where the band wants to go next -- the answer might surprise you.

NY Doll: Writer's Block was a pretty huge break-out hit for you guys. What came before that and how did it lead to this gem of an album?

Peter Moren: We did another album that I still love. I think it's almost as good as the new one and even better in some ways. That album actually came out in the states in 2005, and nowhere else. It was just Sweden and America and we didn't go on tour in America or anything. It was released on a small label and nothing much happened. We've had to jump labels for each new record and record everything by ourselves so we never had any budget or anything. Every penny that we earned went into the next record. In the summer of 2005 we started to work on [Writer's Block] by ourselves and then we started to play a couple of songs for V2 in Sweden and they were interested.

From there we licensed it to Whichitaw Richards' label and that was why it was released all over Europe and it started to pick up in August 2006. Everyone else came afterwards. It was released in Japan in December so it's kind of been progressing. I guess it makes a big difference to have the proper distribution and the chance to get it across different countries, which is something that we always really wanted but never really worked hard to get. And now it's happened. And of course we have a hit, which makes it easier -- it opens the audience's ears.

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Yes folks, it's time for another Shameless Plug! I'll be performing material from my new CD "Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories" this Friday the 13th (and Saturday the 14th) at the coolest, new(ish) venue in town, The Steve Allen Theater -- located in beautiful downtown Los Feliz (and possessor of it's very own LARGE and FREE parking lot!).

But don't take my word for it, read all about it in BOING BOING, one of the coolest blogs in cyberspace (wait a minute, do people still say 'cyberspace'? They must, right? At least in San Francisco where Boing Boing resides... right??) OR if you prefer, check out Flavorpill.

One thing both BOING BOING and Flavorpill missed was the fact that our special musical guest is the one and only Prince Poppycock! (Who is currently appearing as Jesus Christ in The Steve Allen Theater production of The Beastly Bombing which just won an L.A. WEEKLY Theater award for Best Musical!)

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The great R&B singer Al Green, who was born on April 13, 1946, turns 61 tomorrow. To me there is no other singer whose voice can melt my brain to mush like Al. Even when he became a Reverend and started singing Gospel songs I bought every album and attended every concert when he played New York. You used to always catch Lou Reed there too. He once came down the aisle and shook my hand (which I refused to wash for a week). Let's face it, Al Green is God. Here's a clip from a bizarre 1970s TV special with the group Chicago. But just listen to him wail "Tired Of Being Alone"....

Oh kids, Mr. Mickey has been running around seeing all kinds of exciting things. Fall collections, new things at the car show and so on. Through it all, Mr. Mickey, being a magpie, is attracted to everything sparkly!!! So here are some highlights of what you'll be seeing this summer and into fall!

Car Shoes has this duo of gorgeous metallic high-fashion sneaks. Sadly for Mr. Mickey, they're leather but you kids should go crazy for them!

Also in footwear news, check out the C'N'C hightop. C'N'C is the new line by Ennio Capasa of Costume National. Their ad campaign is already out in Europe and features Juliet Lewis and her band The Licks! That band is outrageous!!!

For you purse carriers like MM, how about a gold lamé M Missoni bag? Mr. Mickey, being a middle-aged queen, usually feels the secondary lines are a bit young and kicky for him but the M Missoni is too scrumptious to pass up.

For blousewear, you can't beat this Just Cavalli sparkle top that shows plenty of cleavage!! Decolletage never goes out of style ladies and gentlemen.

And finally, here's a shot of Mr. Mickey in the new Volkswagen Eos convertible. Talk about arriving in shiny style!!!

Now get out there and sparkle plenty MMBloggers!

Peering into Kampuchea Noodle Bar, passersby might think it's just another hip Lower East Side bar. But a closer look reveals diners sitting elbow to elbow atop stools at communal tables, eating anything but your standard tavern fare. Kampuchea's concept and food are courtesy of Cambodian-born Ratha Chau. His focus is on Southeast Asian street food, specifically that of southern Cambodia. The menu is divided into five sections: salads, crepes, sandwiches, soups and grill items. Skip the wimpy pickle plate ($5) and start the meal off right with grilled corn ($6) slathered with coconut mayo and chili powder. Berkshire pork appears no fewer than five times on the menu, most successfully when simply grilled with a honey glaze ($9). The pork's flavor is sabotaged by globs of chili mayo in an otherwise tasty num-pang-style sandwich ($9). Soups include chicken noodle with sweet sausage ($15) and chicken curry noodle with Thai eggplant, pumpkin and long beans ($16). An impressive beer list ($6 to $9) includes selections from Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines. Fresh-fruit-infused cocktails, such as the smooth margarita ($11) made from lime, pineapple, watermelon and coconut juices, are thirst quenching and flavorful. If only Chau could make his food as intense as his drinks, he'd really be in business. 78 Rivington St., (212) 529-3901.Charlotte Kaiser Weinberg

Another psychedelic day-glo moment from the Huntington Botanical Gardens. This aloe plant from "The Desert Garden" reminds us that heaven -- the trippy version -- really is here on earth! Or is that really just a prop from the "Going Back to Eden" episode from Star Trek? Happy Spring everyone from those of us in succulent-rich Southern California!

Last night I saw the birth, maturity and ultimate demise of the "ad hoc indie supergroup," Final Fantasy Online aka Internet. The band served as the music accompaniment to the comedic, McSweeney's show "The World, Explained." And while the show itself was really amazing I'm only going to be discussing FFO aka Internet because, well, someone should immortalize this shortly lived, somewhat disastrous, albeit hilarious band. The band included several Montreal boys including Dante DeCaro and Hadji Bakara from Wolf Parade, Jamie Thompson and Nick Thorburn from Islands (formally from The Unicorns, pictured here), and finally Syd Butler from Les Savy Fav.

They may have only played for a grand total of 15 minutes, but those 15 minutes sure were entertaining! The first song they played was instrumental and meant to sound like information being downloaded over the Internet (so interpret as you will). They followed up that gem with several interesting covers including a song from "Annie," U2's "With Or Without You" and NKOTB's "Hangin' Tough." During the U2 cover, one of their friends (whom host Eugene Mirman later referred to as "Drunk Chris") came running down the aisle, jumped onstage and grabbed the microphone to ask, "Can I play with you guys?" Then he threw off his shirt, picked up a spare guitar and started playing "Crazy Train" by Ozzy. At that point the whole band gave up and walked off stage while Drunk Chris continued until Eugene Mirman finally came out laughing in an attempt to take control of the situation.

Some very hilarious ad lib followed as the band forgot to turn off their pedals, thus creating the worst feedback known to man. Mirman turned it into a funny joke by saying, "I love it when I'm backed up by instruments that no one is playing, 'Isn't that right, Keyboard?'"

All in all it was an immensely entertaining performance by a band that I'm sure will never be seen again by anyone other than the audience in attendance last night. During the NKOTB song, when FFO seemed to have completely given up, Bakara yelled out, "Wait wait! Let's do that cool bit we practiced." Thorburn shouted back, "What practice?" A few moments later, Drunk Chris bounded up the stairs and body slammed Thorburn.

Monday night was the opening of the Broadway revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten, starring Kevin Spacey, Eve Best and Colm Meaney at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. The play by Eugene O'Neill is about the unrequited love between a farmer (Meaney)'s alcoholic landlord (Spacey) and his ogrish daughter with a ruined reputation (Best).

The opening night party was at 230 Fifth, with the plan to use the rooftop bar. But because of the unseasonable weather they had to move inside. But a few of the stars still came out to help celebrate the cast’s almost three-hour performance including the gorgeous Aaron Eckhart, who was in town promoting his new movie No Reservations with Catherine Zeta Jones and Abigail Breslin. Eckhart hinted that he had been supposed to make his own appearance on Broadway this year but due to a scheduling conflict with a film he’d had to put it off.

Patrick Swayze looked amazing with a thin beard, shyly posing for photographers saying he’d been out on his ranch too long, (maybe doing some on-site research for his turn in the new musical Prairie) and wasn’t used to the attention. The slight Sam Rockwell talked about his role as Charley Ford in the Brad Pitt vehicle The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Haley Joel Osmont, who starred with Spacey in Pay It Forward and is currently attending NYU, said the great performances in the play made him eager to make a stage appearance.

Although Ben Brantley from the New York Times called Spacey’s performance too speedy, he praised Colm Meaney and the British import Eve Best for their interpretations.

I’m resisting the urge to put up a picture of Aaron Eckhart in favor of this cast photo, which I think is only fair seeing as how they were the reason for the party and my conversation with Aaron in the first place. (l-r) Kevin Spacey, Eugene O'Hare, Eve Best, Billy Carter and Colm Meaney.

Carlo McCormick, PAPER's senior editor talks tattoos and sneakers with Linkin Park's Chester Bennington.

Though it's not a requirement, its certainly encouraged here at PAPER to sample the fruits of New York City's delicious nightlife. And then some. There's usually some fabulous event or another that one of us is attending on any particular evening. And sometimes us PAPER folk like to just order in Vietnamese food and watch America's Next Top Model. PAPER people are just like you from time to time! In any case, we're bringing you this new feature, "About Last Night..." in which we'll recount the events of the previous night. What went down, with whom and where. For our first installment, Mr. Mickey, one of PAPER's most nighlife-friendly, recounts his action-packed Tuesday night. So without further ado, Mickey?

Last night felt like a tour of Manhattan. I started with Kim Hastreiter at the GORGEOUS new Tom Ford (top left) boutique. This store is outrageous. It's like the chicest old school European department store. I spent some time in the Parfumerie and was living for Japan Noir. The only thing more good-looking than the store was Tom himself. He's fucking hot. The party was filled with VIPs from all Tom's past incarnations.

Then it was off to the Bald Ego launch party at Home. Glenn O'Brien and his crowd is always very intellectual. Gary Indiana, who has contributed to every issue of Bald Ego did a reading.

Then finally to the Box. Nightclub legend Steven Lewis did some guest door work with the Box's sexy Sadako (whom I first met when she was a hostess at Indochine). The party was celebrating the fifth anniversary of Tricia Romano's Village Voice column "Fly Life." It was a very nightlifey crowd with people like Larry Tee, Thomas Onorato and DJ Tommie Sunshine (pictured with girlfriend Daniela). You might not recognize Daniela with her clothes on. She's the bikini-clad model on the cover of Tommie's CD and the posters that are wheatpasted all over town.

Photo of Tom Ford by Caroline Torem Craig and photo of Tommie Sunshine and Daniela by Mickey Boardman

Just got my hands on an import DVD of the “prequel” to Suicide Club, the 2002 Japanese shocker by Sion Sono which begins with 54 Japanese schoolgirls holding hands and merrily jumping to their death in front of a subway. The rash of suicides are all linked to a weird website and an all-girl bubblegum pop band. The new film is called Noriko’s Dinner Table and it’s about an unhappy 17-year-old girl who runs away from home and hooks up in Tokyo with a girl she meets on this subversive website. The girl lives with a family that is hired out to be a “family” for lonely grandmothers and fathers. That part of the movie is so bizarre and wonderful. Soon the other daughter in the family flees home and the father (a reporter) tries to uncover clues to the daughters’ whereabouts.

The film is way overlong -- over 2 1/2 hours -- but surprisingly tender and moving. And typically, there’s a bizarre fake “happy family dinner” staged in a room littered with bloody corpses. Sion Sono is a strange, unique, director -- his other film Strange Circus about family sexual abuse is wonderfully twisted. Both Suicide Club and Strange Circus are on www.tlareleasing.com. And he has a new movie in the works called Hair Extensions about hair extensions that attack the women who get them. Can’t wait.

Sometimes I get so caught up with telling everyone about bands they've never heard of that I forgot to blog about the really "important" music news. For example, is everyone aware that The Fillmore (yes, the one in San Francisco) has taken over Irving Plaza and renamed it The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza? Well they are, and what a mouthful of a venue it is. Just a few hours ago the sign officially went up. Being born and raised in San Francisco, I have very fond memories of the original historic venue. I went through every possibly music phase through high school and The Fillmore was there through it all -- ska (The Pietasters), hip hop (too many to count but a memorable one was Cypress Hill) and electronic (Tricky). Lily Allen will be the first to play at The Fillmore New York tonight, April 11th.

It's no secret that Mr. MIckey loves to see Puerto Rican dreamboat Ricky Martin shake his bon bon. Honestly, is anyone sexier than Ricky? Well les grecques have their own little spitfire named Sakis Rouvas and it seems Sakis is not shy about taking off his man-blouse!!! Mmmmm. Mmmmm! MM discovered Sakis at a charming but adult-contenty blog called Queer Me Now that always has all kinds of interesting tidbits. Check it out but beware that you'll find naked weenies and such!

Douglas Sirk's classic '50s melodrama Written on the Wind was on TCM this weekend and what a treat it was! The art direction in this movie is something to behold! So are the performances! Dorothy Malone took home a well deserved Oscar for her intense and delicious portrayal of a nymphomaniac rich girl hopelessly and futilely in love with the insanely handsome Rock Hudson (who never seems very gay to me, especially in this movie).

Later TCM host Robert Osbourne informed us that Lauren Bacall (who played the virginal "good girl"... ah, the '50s!) once said to her co-star Robert Stack (who took his role of the alcoholic son of a wealthy Texas oil baron very seriously), "You aren't acting crazy, you ARE crazy!" But the best scene is this one where Malone, as the "tramp" out-of-control daughter of the same wealthy oil baron, dances herself into a mambo frenzy (to a photo of Rock Hudson, no less) while aforementioned wealthy oil baron father suffers a fatal heart attack.

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Meet the INTERN-ally hip Monica LoCascio, PaperTV Intern...

Age: 22

Hometown: don't have one -- I'm a global nomad, but my heart is in Vienna with my parents.

College: Emerson College, majored in New Media and Visual Arts

Facebook or Myspace: MySpace

Fave blog: Woostercollective.com, The Sartorialist, RVCA ANP Quarterly

Fave designer: Caitlin Mociun

Best thing about interning at PAPER: Helping out at parties and photo shoots.

The worst: The day after a photo shoot when you're the only intern in the office and you have to personally drop off about 60 pounds of clothes on foot and your arms are tired and sweaty and sticking to the garment bags when you hand them over to the uber-polished fashionista as one big sticky crumpled mess.

Fave PAPER cover and why: November 1990. 1. Ooh how sexy, that techno purple on deep dark black. 2. I can almost hear Isaac Hayes callin' me baby. 3. It says 'Fuck Censorship.'

Fave PAPER person and why: Carlo McCormick. He is a talking NYC art encyclopedia.

Where do you see yourself in five years: Berlin

Fave free things you do in NYC: collecting artist postcards while gallery-hopping in Chelsea, people watching, park/roof parties in the summer time.

Fave boutique: the New Museum Store, Beacon's Closet

Fave restaurant: Gusto for brunch, NorthEast Kingdom for dinner.

Fave bar: Manhattan: The Scratcher on E. 5th; Brooklyn: R Bar

Describe your best "arty" experience since moving to NYC: BOüM!

By Blaire Huntley

The handsome charismatic actor Calvin Lockhart died on March 29th at age 72 and his obit was in the New York Times about his career and film roles in such films as Cotton Comes To Harlem and Let's Do It Again, but they omitted a favorite of mine: The Beast Must Die, a 1973 British horror mystery set at a country mansion where one of the guests is a werewolf. There's even a werewolf break at the end so the audience can guess who the shape-shifter is. Here's the funny trailer for this gem.

Floppy Daily Show correspondent John Oliver is one of our favorites. Tonight he's going to be present and accounted for at Symphony Space for "McSweeney's Presents: The World, Explained," a benefit for 826NYC hosted by Eugene Mirman. In addition to Oliver, David Rakoff, Joshua Davis, Rodney Rothman, and Indie Supergroup Final Fantasy: Online aka Internet, featuring: Nick Thorburn & Jamie Thompson of Islands, Dante DeCaro & Hadji Bakara of Wolf Parade, Amber Webber of Black Mountain, and Syd Butler of Les Savy Fav, will be on hand. That was quite the mouthful!

In any case, PAPERMAG scribe Isaac Kardon recently e-chatted with John Oliver. Here's what went down:

Do you feel as though you are forging a new path for British comedians in America?

Well, no. The British have a long line of Entertainment in America which runs through Monty Python, all the way back to General Cornwallis.

If you weren't British, what would you prefer to be? Please feel free to make offensive generalizations.

I think ‘Please feel free to make offensive generalizations’ is in your Constitution isn’t it? In response to the question -- I always thought I’d make a very good Greek.

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Mr. Mickey has been hitting the town a LOT lately and he wants to bring you MMBloggers some of the highlights. MM was on the roof of the Gansevoort Hotel last week for a fabulously chic tea hosted by Benetton and Sisley. Benetton just celebrated their 40th anniversary last October with a devastatingly chic soiree and fashion show in Paris last October (of course Mr. Mickey was front and center!). This tea showcased the fall looks from Benetton, Sisley and some of the special 40th anniversary Benetton pieces. In the photos you can see a cute men's Benetton look as well as a super sexy shot of Benetton babe Anissa Nouhi is a sexbomb look alongside Allure's Michael Carl, a judge on the new Bravo show Shear Genius which debuts this week!!! Be sure to put on your best Benetton look and tune in!!!

Shock jock Don Imus has been suspended for two weeks from his highly rated show because his mouth got the best of him. Calling the members of Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy headed hos," Imus had crossed the line that not even allowing Rev. Al Sharpton to humiliate him could fix. That cowboy-hatted bumpkin pose is clearly not working anymore for Washington's favorite radio host. That said, I don't think suspending him is the way to go. It removes the responsibility to take a stand away from the media elite and beltway politicans whose appearances on the Imus show lend credence to the otherwise mundane musings of pseudo hicks.

Now that the onus has been removed, the mediaocracy can eagerly await their invitation to appear with the chastised Imus. With justice served, they can obsequiously pick up where they left off free of facing their moral responsibility. They have lucked out and sidestepped the question altogether. The true test would have been to see how the Imus dittoheads reacted when the mask of showbiz was pulled away. Would they continue to appear on the show? Or take a stand on principle and refuse? We'll never know. Instead, they'll come back and Imus will be a bigger star than ever. Somewhat like Britney's rushed rehab, you can expect to see Imus here again before too long.

It's rare that I see a headline on the cover of the L.A. Times that makes me jump out of my seat and leap for joy but it happened on Easter Sunday when the news came that Venezuelan wunderkind Gustavo Dudamel (top) would be succeeding Essa-Pekka Salonen (bottom left) as conductor and music director of the L.A. Philharmoic in 2009! Don't get me wrong, I love Essa-Pekka (I especially love to say Essa-Pekka over and over again) but after seeing Dudamel conduct at the Disney Concert Hall earlier this year I've reconsidered the exit strategy out of L.A. that my husband and I were planning. (It's the traffic, man! I mean, c'mon! It's almost intolerable! In five years it's gonna be HELL here on the freeways, not to mention here in Silver Lake which is getting WAY too crowded! Sunset Boulevard at rush hour is bumper to bumper now!)

But Dudamel was a force of nature at the Disney Concert Hall and his passion and exhuberance (not to mention talent) is enough to keep me sitting in 24 hour traffic here in LA for the next ten years!

Seeing him conduct on January 4th was the best birthday present I've received in years! When I blogged about him back in January there were hardly any GOOGLE entries. Now there's an avalanche of them! This guy is a classical music superstar on the rise! Los Angeles really is going to be THE city to live in during the 21st century (even if the traffic will suck)!

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Although it doesn't feel anything close to balmy, technically it is spring and around this time of the year I always start thinking about shoes that you wear sans socks. I've been doing some research (that means eye-shopping and no actual buying) on spring fling shoes at Jeffrey, Miu Miu, Intermix (secretly every girl I know checks out Intermix) and online department stores.

The three big things I saw everywhere and by every designer for spring/summer are patent leather, peep toes and ankle straps. I'm really feeling the shiny leather look since everything I love ends up being patent. Peep toes I'm not too crazy about but they can work as both casual and dressy, and they give your toes some ventilation. But I really don't care for ankle straps. I think they are uncomfortable (like they're going to cut off your blood circulation any sec) and they are hard to pull off no matter how leggy you might be.

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I've been listening to Bill Callahan A LOT lately. I wrote about him just just last week, as a matter of fact. Most of you Smog fans know that he's been dating Joanna Newsom for three years now. Well, she's not the only indie heavy-hitter that's a Bill Callahan fan. Chloe Sevigny loves him too. Here's his video for "I Feel Like The Mother Of The World" from the last Smog ablum, A River Ain't Too Much To Love, in which Sevigny is the heartbreaking star.

Don Imus calls Rutgers University basketball team “nappy-headed hos” and gets a two-week suspension off the air… yeah, that’ll fix it.

See, here’s where we are with the issue of race in America—we’ve created and insist on perpetuating a culture whereupon white neo-liberals set the tone with this kind of “I’m cool with race and if you’re not that’s not my problem, because I’m cool with it” attitude. Nobody is actually talking about anything—it’s like, the antebellum North: Slavery is over, let’s move on, get a job and pull yourself together, black people. So when folks like Michael Richards and Don Imus (albeit total dumb-asses the both of them) spew some egregious, racial epithet in a public forum, all hell breaks loose—like nobody else in the country is thinking the same exact things they said. And then the morning shows bring in the usual suspects (Al Sharpton would be out of a job if this were to change) to talk about how these comments are going to set us back another million years, and how we’re still struggling with our sense of self as a race (we, meaning black folks; I’m black). And the hideous loser who made the comment then launches a celebrated “apology tour.” And in some instances, like with Imus, some sort of good show, grand-scale punishment is issued (by whom I really don’t know): two weeks off the air, Imus. Take that! That’ll teach you not to badmouth emotionally fragile, self-loathing black girls (even if in this case most are probably 6 feet tall and 150 pounds) with hair issues that go back centuries!

Can someone please talk about something that will actually change something on the subject of race? As part of his mea culpa Imus told Sharpton he helps sick black kids at his charity ranch in New Mexico. You help sick black kids? That’s your response? Don Imus, are you serious?

Here's one of my favorites -- Zsa Zsa Gabor doing an old car commercial and having a fit when the guy slams the slate in front of her. Just wondering what she had to say when her husband went for a paternity test for baby Dannielyn, saying he'd been having an ongoing affair with Anna Nicole Smith.

Mr. Mickey was invited to a cute dinner last week for Tom's Shoes designer Blake Mycoskie who, in addition to being yummy to look at, is an inspiring entrepreneur and new school philanthropist! For each pair of shoes sold, a pair is donated to a shoeless child in some developing part of the world (Argentina seems to be where the whole thing started). The shoes are only $38 (more for special collaborations) ,which is a steal! MM insists you log onto Tom's website and buy yourself some shoes. MM wears his around the house with Rick Owens shorts and a Lacoste top. That's MM's lounging look.

Anyhoo, here's a shot of Blake at the dinner with second generation glamour puss Alessandra Balazs and a darling girl who's name Mr. Mickey sadly does not know! Mr. Mickey is quite the professional journalist isn't he?

It's Monday and I'm still a bit groggy from the weekend. As a result I keep getting distracted by Trent Reznor despite trying really hard to concentrate on other important things (mainly work). Nine Inch Nails' latest album, Year Zero, comes out April 17th and I can't wait. I've been listening to the entire album online and am just tickled pink about seeing Reznor in all the magazines again. I have a theory that every girl between the ages of 21 and 32 has been in love with him at least once in their life. Here's the video for their first single, "Survivalism." I love him. I mean it.

Wait until you see the new movie called Zoo! It's pretty terrific and based on a real incident in which a man was dropped off at an emergency room in Seattle, Washington, dying with a perforated colon. This incident went on to reveal a secret ring of “Zoos," men into bestiality who partied at a remote farm. Director Robinson Devor obviously was obsessed with the true story and attempts to tell it in a fanciful, alternative way. The gorgeously photographed compositions make you think you’re watching a Terrence Malick film but then you catch yourself -- oh, wait, it’s about guys having sex with horses. Still it’s artful, haunting and disturbing all the same. This Think Film release (opening in late April) will prove to be very controversial because of the subject matter but it doesn’t play out that way when you see it. Don’t miss it. It also gives new meaning to My Friend Flicka.

Mr. Mickey's got a new bag! Mr. Mickey was out pounding the pavements on a million appointments last Thursday and found himself with a few minutes to kill in the Meat Packing district. Well MM was tired of his fabulous but slightly threadbare Marni tote bag so he popped into Stella McCartney to see what was cooking in the man-purse department.

You regular MMBloggers know that Mr. Mickey is a cruelty-free cutie and wears no animal products, so Stella -- the queen of cruelty free high fashion -- is a perfect fit for MM. Five minutes later MM was walking down 14th Street carrying this charming and delightful tote bag. MM still has his eye on a silver man-purse that's more formal so we'll keep you posted on that one. MM is including a close-up photo of the bag so you can really see the cute detail.

Best Easter Sunday headline ever! From the L.A.Times:

The archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Francis George, was hospitalized with a slight hip fracture Saturday morning after he apparently slipped and fell inside a church while blessing Easter baskets, archdiocese officials said.

I'm sorry to laugh. I kinda feel like Madonna in Truth or Dare giggling about her hairdresser getting sodomized. Naughty! Naughty! Why does it all seem connected?

Image above of Mauricio Cattelan's "La Nona Ora" ("The Ninth Hour")

I adored the accessory piece that one of my very favorite photogs Martin Parr shot for Sunday's New York Times Magazine. (see one of his photos below). I was totally jealous and wish he'd done it for us instead! I've been trying for years to get Parr to shoot a fashion piece for PAPER but he's out of our price range unfortunately... Hats off to the Times for doing such a fabulous piece.

Speaking of great photography, you absolutely cannot miss the Taryn Simon show at the Whitney. She's another one we've been begging to shoot for us for a while but she seems out of reach at this point especially as she's now a Gogosian artist and has a big Whitney show. Her photos at the Whitney are also published in a new book put out by Steidel which is a must-have, guys. The book (and show) titled "An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar" is filled with her mindblowing, lush, spooky photographs of secret spots that normal people would never see. (the creepy image you see below is a shot of confiscated stuff taken in a 48 hour period from customs at JFK). Other pieces show weird peeks at places like the CIA's art gallery, where death-row prisoners get fresh air, a bottle of live HIV virus, the printing press that prints money (with a skid of uncut bills) and lots more. Dont miss this show. She's amazing and these photos are important to see. (For more Simon, check out PAPER's May issue... there's a short piece on her.)

Martin Parrr

Taryn Simon

Saw a screening on Friday of a terrific New Zealand horror film about rampaging mutant genetically engineered sheep called Black Sheep, directed by Jonathan King, which will screen at the Tribeca Film Festival and then open in New York in late June. It’s gory, funny and really baaaaad-ass. But believe it or not, this isn’t the first mutant sheep movie. A retarded 1973 film called The Godmonster Of Indian Flats -- watch this clip and howl!

I've come to depend on Del.icio.us as my filing system. It's where I save articles I might want to refer to at a later time. Now I can share. Here's what I tagged this week.

French Politics in 3-D on Fantasy Web Site -- "Protesters attacked the cyberspace headquarters of extremist French presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen in the popular 3-D Internet fantasy world Second Life." A great place for people to get out their aggressions. Let's fight all wars on Second Life. All four major French presidential candidates are conducting campaigns on Second Life.

Italian TV Bans Reality Shows -- "In Italy, the state broadcaster Rai has taken an unprecedented decision to scrap reality shows from next year. It's a decision winning popular support." And the ratings suck anyway.

Why That Hoodie Your Son Wears Isn’t Trademarked -- Economists "argue that the lack of intellectual property protection actually promotes the functioning of the [fashion] industry. If the extension of copyright to fashion prevented clothes manufacturers from copying each other, the industry would be ceding a major role to the lawyers and become much less creative. We’d see the same thing year after year. In other words, women’s fashion would look much more like men’s fashions — boring, boring, boring." Diane von Furstenberg is currently lobbying for intellectual property protection for the fashion industry.

Meet The Model Pop Star -- The former supermodel Carla Bruni goes from Vogue to verse in classic poems she’s set to music." Bruni's fans are not only from the French hipoisie.

Disney Opens Weddings to Gay Couples -- "Same-sex couples who want to exchange vows in front of Cinderella's Castle now have the chance." Will goofy now come out?

I had forgotten how sublime The Huntington Botanical Gardens are -- especially the intensely surreal and seriously psychedelic cactus garden! My father asked if we could visit there during his recent visit to L.A. last week and I was so happy to be reminded of this amazing treasure that is only a short drive from home! We went on Palm Sunday and it was probably a more jubilant and spiritual experience than any church service could ever have been (except perhaps some of those Baptist ones!)

If you want to feel truly Born Again this Easter weekend, check out these amazing gardens which are part of The Huntington, a lavish estate in San Marino (near Pasedena) that was once owned by railroad baron Henry E. Huntington. (There's a town named Huntington near my hometown of Charleston, West Virginia that is named after him. There are probably a few all over the country -- no doubt wherever a railroad passed by.)

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There is an Eeyore-ic quality to Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, the musical alias of film school dropout Owen Ashworth (who is currently on tour with Xiu Xiu and is playing the Bowery Ballroom this Sunday). The breathy, sometimes dry-mouthed, always tortured ballads are meant for the ears of those who are not just alone, but painfully alone. Of his third album, Etiquette, released last year, Ashworth recently told me: “The album was intended to be listened to on a subway car, on headphones, surrounded by strangers, not anywhere really, between two places.” While his songs, accompanied by sparse percussion and (of course) a battery-powered Casiotone, are tear-jerking tales of un-had New Year’s kisses and the like, talking to Ashworth over the telephone, one realizes that the man behind the band is no less than Pooh-ish in nature.

Up until Etiquette, Ashworth stuck to keyboards and only keyboards. “While in film school, I had these really strict rules for art. So doing this project, I made a set of rules for myself. I would only use these instruments, and I was really kind of strict about it.” But after doing three albums with the Casios, it was “time to try something different.” As he puts it, “I realized that the rules of the project were something to hide behind, and I was jealous of my friends in bands… so I decided to experiment.” With Etiquette, Casiotone officially made the transition from “project” to “band.” Backed by a band, Ashworth’s weird and wonderful sound is all the more weird and wonderful.

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"When life fell apart, love fell into place."

Recognize those bittersweet words? It's the tagline of 1998's Hope Floats, the rom-com directed by Forest Whitaker (who knew?!) and starring Sandra Bullock, Harry Connick Jr. and Gena Rowlands.

The other day, the soundtrack arrived in the mail. "How weird," we thought. "A little late, no?" Apparently, it was early, as the soundtrack is being re-released at the end of April and includes six bonus tracks!

Here's the tracklist:

1. Main Title: Going Home - Dave Grusin *bonus track
2. In Need - Sheryl Crow
3. Honest I Do - The Rolling Stones
4. Chances Are - Martina McBride, Bob Seger
5. All I Get - The Mavericks
6. Paper Wings - Gillian Welch
7. Stop! In the Name of Love - Jonell Mosser
8. Wither, I'm a Flower - Whiskeytown
9. What Makes You Stay - Deana Carter
10. To Get Me To You - Lila McCann
11. Smile - Lyle Lovett
12. When You Love Someone - Bryan Adams
13. To Make You Feel My Love - Trisha Yearwood
14. Daybreak - Barry Manilow *bonus track
15. I Can't Get Next To You - The Temptations *bonus track
16. Cool Night - Paul Davis *bonus track
17. Who Cares Anyway - Laura Harding *bonus track

Want it? It's yours. Just post in the comment box below why you should own it. As always, pictured above with the soundtrack is the lovely Blaire Huntley.

The iconic underground trio have a new album coming out April 10th called 23. It's been three years since their previous 2004 release, Misery Is A Butterfly, the longest gap between albums since Misery and 2000's Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons. The first delay was due to the recovery time needed after leading lady Kazu Makino was trampled by a horse (which also inevitably lead to the numerous equestrian references in their last album, such as the song "Equus" and their video for "Melody" below). One can only stipulate as to the reasonings behind the delay in 23, but who cares because it's almost here!

I've listened to the new album a few times already. It maintains Makino's recognizable, eerie soprano voice, but aside from this, Blonde Redhead is straying slightly from their signature sound and venturing further into shoegazer territory. Regardless, Makino and the twins, Simone and Amedeo Pace, have created another beautiful album that is both melodic, lush, dark and laden with guitar-driven walls of sound. Another interesting aspect is Amedeo. The guitarist sings lead vocals on several songs more than he ever has previously, thus adding a Muse-like quality to the album.

Blonde Redhead is on tour now. They'll be playing Webster Hall on May 8th (a much larger venue than Barnie's Co-Op where I last saw them play). And for those of you who can't wait until next Tuesday, you can listen to five tracks off of 23 HERE.

OK, there is no good reason to put up this photo of Jake Gyllenhaal. No reason except that he's so hot Mr. Mickey is about to mess himself!!!

Photo by PatrickMcMullan.com

I love this week’s Time Out with the 20 dirty secrets about New York theater. TONY’s theater editors David Cote and Adam Feldman plus Kirk Miller and Robert Simonson put together the list and there are some very funny tips, great advice and a column of blind items that has been driving me nuts all day! For example; “Which box-office magnet is much closer to his male assistant (now his business partner) than his much publicized wife?” If anyone out there in the blogosphere knows the answer please don’t hesitate to clue me in!

Here are my favorite secrets from the list:

#1: "Actors are obsessed with gossip." This entry namechecks the Post’s theater columnist Michael Riedel as outing most of the gossip on Broadway. Apparently the British and big-headed director, David Leveaux, once knocked Riedel off a barstool for writing something not so nice. I love it!

#10: "Chorus Girls are Gorgeous -- From Afar." This seems especially true for Curtains.

And maybe one of the most useful tips:

#20: "Never see a show after its first year." This is the reason I have not and will never see Hairspray. It’s a shame but by the time I made my way to the Big Apple, Harvey Fierstein was no longer playing Edna Turnblad and I refuse to go to see an endless string of American Idols and failed pop stars play Penny Pingleton and Amber Von Tussle while sitting next to a fanny packed mom and her candy-chewing children.

Here’s Time Out's double cover featuring the stars of Wicked and Phantom of the Opera.

If lieu of going to one of those ultra-depressing Good Friday church services (where everyone silently and sadly files out of the pews in front of that moribund crucifix) spend some time with the original cast of Jesus Christ Superstar! Last year I saw Ted Neeley in one of the first performances of his Jesus Christ Superstar farewell tour, which is still snaking its way around the country! In the L.A production at the Doolittle Theater, Neeley was joined by Yvonne Elliman as Mary, Ben Vereen as Judas and Jack Black as Herod! I blogged about it then and still haven't fully recovered from the sublime experience.

It was one of the most satisfying nights I have EVER had in the theater! And although Neeley & Co. are a bit longer in the tooth, they all brought an intensity and a (dare I say the dreaded word?) gravitas to their roles than no younger actors ever could. The audience (which included Harrison Ford and Danny Bonaduce -- together at last!) went BERSERK! Especially in the balcony where us real JCS maniacs were. Later that night I went on a YouTube/Superstar feeding frenzy and found this clip of Neeley from The Tonight Show (when he could still really nail -- pardon the pun -- the high notes!). And if Jesus IS on the other side, waiting to greet us all, I am sure he has one helluva Tonight Show band backing him up.

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Easter's coming and it's time to pray to the Easter Bunny and colored eggs. For me this holy time is when I dust off my DVD copy of Night Of The Lepus. This is the 1972 classic about giant mutant bunny rabbits starring Janet Leigh, Stuart Whitman and Rory Calhoun. It's time again to let those rascally rabbits rampage!

Tonight is the opening night of The Pirate Queen on Broadway, the new musical from the Les Mis and Miss Saigon masterminds, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg -- but last night the show hit some rough seas. Halfway through the first act, the star of the show, Stephanie J. Block, who plays Grace O'Malley, the swash-buckling woman after whom the show is named, was replaced with stand-by and stage star in her own right Kathy Voytko. Apparently Stephanie got sick and had to leave the stage. Kathy was great, but this is sad news so close to opening night. She's been with the show for almost a year now and to not be a part of opening night on Broadway would be devastating! Feel better Stephanie!

Here's a pic of Stephanie and co-star Hadley Fraser during a press preview.

Once again my fabulous connections have offered up delectable treats for all the NY Doll fans (I know there are at least 10 of you!). This time it's not quite music related, but if you're anything like me than you're all giant fans of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. And what's more, I bet you're all just salivating with anticipation for the new ATHF movie. Am I right? I know I'm right!

So here's the contest deal. In the comments below, you (the dedicated NY Doll and ATHF fan) answer the following question: If you could add any musician(s) to the ATHF team, who would it be and what would their character be? For example, my entry would be The Black Lips and they would all be beer cans. Get it?

The winner will be chosen on Friday the 13th and wil receive a Meatwad-tastic gift bag that includes a meatwad beach ball, meatwad socks, a mug koozie, an ATHF shirt, post cards, a movie poster and a CD sampler. How could you not want to enter? Remember kiddies, there is no wrong answer!

Mr. Mickey is in the midst of a series of mini-profiles of his favorite cuties out and about in the naked city, and today's cutie is Andrew Saffir. Andrew does the fabulous Cinema Society Screenings that are always glamorous, fabulous and fun fun fun. Mr. Mickey will be present and accounted for at a screening of Fragment with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Candian heartthrob Ryan Gosling, which is cohosted by Hugo Boss. Mr. Mickey usually only sees movies on planes but will make an exception for Cinema Society.

This shot of Andrew shows him with the lovely Helena Christensen, a modeling legend and store owner.

Kate Moss for Topshop is almost here (Yayee!) -- May 1st. I can't think of a non-designer who's more qualified to have her own collection than Kate Moss. She is the most fantabulous model of our time and is a bona-fide style icon who arguably has more influence on how young women want to dress than Anna Wintour. So needless to say, it is so exciting to see what Miss Moss has pulled from the lot of her own favorite outfits to cull together a line for Topshop this spring! Here's a sneak peek at the best of the Kate Moss for Topshop look book which is all about Kate and her BFF Irina Lazareanu playing dress-up!! Hint: Expect signature Kate Moss items such as cropped skinny jeans, tuxedo vests, vingtage-esque mini-dresses and an overall rock 'n' roll, sexy vibe with a splash of modern boheme.

And go to this web site (katemosstopshop.com) for more on Kate and Irina!!!

p.s. For those of us who are not going to be across the Atlantic near a real Topshop store, you can go nuts on their web site.

I'd like to score some tickets to The Police reunion show if only to hear them do this song! (Which I've always wanted to cover... and just might when I play -- SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT-- the Steve Allen Theater April 13 & 14!) GAWD, Sting is HOT in this video -- resplendant in all his Dune-era glory! And dig the crazy '80s Thunderdome aesthetic!

I heard Andy Summers when he was on Sex Pistol Steve Jonses' great radio show JONSEY'S JUKEBOX a few weeks ago and he assured everyone that the Police songs were going to be played by just the three of them in the ole, straightforward rock manner (no Sting-ified jazz arrangement or lutes!). The two of them then compared notes about living in L.A.:

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I was greatly distressed to hear of the passing of Roger Watkins, the director of the infamous cult classic Last House On Dead End Street on March 6 in Apalachin, N.Y. I saw that movie on 42nd Street and it really freaked me out at the time. The director’s name listed was “Victor Janos” (which was just a pseudonym for Watkins). Watkins was a director, author, editor and starred in the film as Terry Hawkins, just released from prison after a one year drug bust. Pissed off at the world, he rounds up a few friends and they decide to direct some films aimed at a “specialized” audience of degenerates. Actual snuff films, which they can make money from and get back at society with.

The Manson-like girls in his gang wear see-through masks and they film in an abandoned college building. Shot on 16mm, it’s grainy cinema verite shooting and the overdubbing give the film a creepy realistic rawness. And the murders are graphic and unpleasant -- they saw off a woman’s legs, yank out her intestines and play with them. They plunge an electric drill through a man’s eye. A topless girl with a deer hoof sticking out of her jeans forces a man to fellate it before they brutally kill him on camera. Audiences really freaked out when the film was over, because it felt so real and so wrong. Years later on Barrel Entertainment, a two-disc DVD came out which uncovered the history behind this nasty little shocker.

Watkins shot the movie after getting out of SUNY Oneonto college in 1972. In an interview he said there was $3,000 for the shoot but only $800 was used on the movie. The rest “I think it was to buy drugs,” he said. “I didn’t spend anything on that film.” It’s original title was The Cuckoo Clocks Of Hell (a reference from Kurt Vonnegut’s Mother Night). After it was finished it went through many shady distributors and didn’t hit theaters until 1977 as: The Fun House and later: Last House On Dead End Street, tying it into the Last House On The Left popularity. But as a film it still manages to unsettle -- it’s a nihilistic dark little horror masterpiece.

iO from PaperTV takes female rapper and Beautiful Person Tippy to Ohm recording studios in Philadelphia, in the new Hummer H3X. This hilarious feisty lady gives the low on being a female in the game, managing oneself and "feeling like a 42 year old bitch." See Tippy behind the wheel and behind the mic, plus get a sneak glimpse of her dope music.

We here at PAPER love our interns: Namely because they’re hard-working and wear cute outfits. It’s the general rule around these parts to be nice to the interns -- cause sometimes they grow up to be famous (Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters, Beth Littleford, actor David Moscow, etc.) and then when we ask them for favors, they will remember how we were nice to them! In all seriousness, our interns rock, and in this regular feature, “Intern-al Affairs,” former intern and current receptionist Blaire Huntley will be introducing you to the PAPER intern crew, one by one. The first ‘tern? Ambreen. Meet her. Know her. Love her.

Name: Ambreen Hussain
Age: I'll never tell.
Hometown: Houston, TX
School: The New School/ Parsons
Title: Web Production Intern

Facebook or MySpace?: MySpace.

Fave blog: Collegecandy.com. No really.

Fave designer: Marni to wear, Hussein Chalayan to watch. I also adore Corey Lynn Calter.

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I'm a lover of all things Wolf Parade, including the countless side projects by singer-songwriter Spencer Krug. Wolf Parade's other, perhaps less well-known singer-songwriter, Dan Boeckner, has his own side projects going on as well, but nothing concrete up until recently. Many music nerds such as myself have argued over which Wolf Parade songs were better -- those written by Krug or those by Boeckner. I love them both but any regular reader knows that Krug's Sunset Rubdown holds a special place in my heart.

Regardless, I had heard rumors of Boeckner starting his own band with fiancé Alexei Perry but nothing substantial enough to get me incredibly excited. Imagine my delight, then, to read on Brookynvegan that Boeckner and Perry's band, Handsome Furs, were about to release their first album, Plague Park, on Sub Pop this May! What's more, they'll be touring through NYC then as well. This is just shortly after Sunset Rubdown comes through in April - double yay!

After listening to Handsome Furs on myspace I can easily say that Boeckner has got talent in spades just like his Wolf Parade counterpart. It's similar to WP but with more electronic blips and beats. His raspy voice is so endearing and the synthesizer is, quite frankly, always what the doctor ordered. Listen to this Broeckner-written Wolf Parade song and then the Handsome Furs one. See what I mean?

Wolf Parade - Shine A Light
Handsome Furs - Handsome Furs Hate This City

Mr. Mickey must say that if you really search the ole world wide web, it's easy to find pictures of cute boys in underpants that have a newsy component! Here is a shot of New Zealand rugby player Dan Carter who is a new spokesman for Jockey. Being a tasteful blog, we're only showing Dan flashing his man panties! Okay, we couldn't find a shot of him fully briefed-out so we had to go with this. We found the news on a charming little blog called AllAussieBeef, which you should check out if that's your cup of tea. Dig in and enjoy!!!

A few months ago we wrote about the phrase "solo missh," used by our favorite ladies from MTV docu-dramedy The Hills. Two nights ago, on the season finale of the show, we were introduced to a new morsel of slang goodness: "The Homeboy Phone." Apparently, Spencer, Heidi's boyfriend (with whom she decided to move in), explained to his best friend Brody Jenner, that he has two cellphones -- a "girlfriend phone" and a "homeboy phone."

Here, we'll use it in a sentence for you:

Guy 1: Hey, what you up to tonight?
Guy 2: Think Ima hit up a strip club.
Guy 1: Sweet. I'll call you later and we can meet up.
Guy 2: Sweet. Remember -- call my homeboy phone, my girlfriend thinks you and I are going to see Music & Lyrics

This just in:

NBC ADDS '30 ROCK' TO 2007-08 PRIMETIME SEASON WITH EARLY RENEWAL OF CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED COMEDY

In a press release sent out earlier this morning, NBC announced that the hilarious and best-show-on-TV 30 Rock will be renewed for a second season and will return to the network's lineup this Thursday with a special, 8:40-9:20 p.m. episode. Will Arnett, he of Arrested Development, will guest star. And from then on, 30 Rock will air from 9-9:30 p.m. (as opposed to 9:30-10).

In honor of this exciting news, may we present to you a very amazing Wikiquote page with heaps and heaps of 30 Rock quotes. Here are some nuggets:

Liz: Why are you wearing a tux?
Jack: It's after six. What am I, a farmer?

***

Tracy: Affirmative action was designed to keep women and minorities in competition with each other to distract us while white dudes inject AIDS into our chicken nuggets.

***

Kenneth: Well, I got your nose. (grabs his nose and runs off.)
Ridikolus: Jay, go get my nose back.

I was reminded of the genius that is Barbra by Halstead while watching my favorite show American Dad the other night. In that episode, Roger the Alien is searching for a nose (since as an alien he has none) and in The Celebrity Nose Kit he ordered was a toucan's beak called The Barbra Streisand. Yeah, I know, cheap shot but it works everytime. Barbra by Halstead, however, finds the humor in the Streisand legend and turns it into sublime surrealism.

I know I've blogged about this before but it bears a return visit (or 500!) Halstead used to have 'her' own public access show where 'Barbra' made crank phone calls to the unsuspecting citizenry of Los Angeles County. "Dogs" is a classic and when I first saw this show I thought I'd never recover from the laughing spell it induced. Thank goodness YouTube has become the 21st Century's answer to the glory days of cable public access. And thank goodness these classic Barbra by Halstead clips can be watched over and over again.

Oh, by the way, Roger chose The Kevin Bacon -- a tiny upturned nose that got him into a whole peck of celebrity trouble!

Here it is: Eli Roth's fabulous fake trailer for Grindhouse: "Thanksgiving," a gory slasher movie in the spirit of My Bloody Valentine and other holiday related splatterthons of the 1980s.

We all love YouTube. It's an amazing resource for lost footage of great performances of one kind or another as well as a great outlet for new creative work. It has alas brought the much maligned genre of the musical video back from the dead. The latest one storming the Internet world is Alanis Morisette's devestating parody of the Black Eyed Peas and Fergie's "My Humps." She not only sends up the song, but the video takes a page from the YouTube aesthetic -- though it's intentionally bad unlike a lot of the just plain bad that's out there. Here's a funny take on the video.

You longtime MMBloggers might have noticed that we've cleaned things up a bit here at MMBlog. No more nearly nude male prostitutes just for the fun of it. MM has decided that he can show churning hunks of burning funk but only in a news-related context. So here we are with some news!! MM was reading the charming blog QueerMeNow and came across a juicy tidbit about COLT Man Gage Weston appearing on Bravo's reality show Workout.

For you non gay porn lovers, COLT is a legendary name in Gay Erotica and COLT Men are usually super butch and hairy a la Tom of Finland. Gage, it turns out, works out with one of the trainers on Workout Personally, Mr Mickey is a whore for Bravo shows although MM can't take Jackie (the star of Workout)'s girlfriend Mimi. This is Jackie's show bitch, not yours!!!

So set your DVRs kids and catch some hot porn workout action.

Here are some snaps of last Friday's dramatic brush fire up in Griffith Park. When I first saw the mushroom cloud (while pumping gas on Silver Lake Blvd. near the 101N on-ramp) I thought my house on the nearby hill could be on fire. In a panic I drove back home and was relieved to see the smoke was much further away. In fact, as you can see in this photo taken near my home at the time, I discovered that the disaster hit the Valley! Could a plane taking off from Burbank airport have crashed? Might one of the studios been bombed by a terrorist attack? (No such luck) Could a fissure on the San Andreas Fault unleashed a new volcano and began the first reel of our glorious Apocalyptic end?

No, just two teenagers from Illinois playing with fireworks on the edge of Griffith Park which resulted int the destruction of about 160 acres... and killed God knows how many poor birds and animals! Those kids should be put in stocks in the middle of Universal City Walk and made to feel the ire of the populus! OR be forced to recover every animal burned in that terrible fire! And plant every tree, bush and wildflower destroyed!

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The iconic lo-fi singer/songwriter, Bill Callahan, is releasing a new album as himself on April 24th, called Woke on a Whaleheart. This may not sound strange to many of you, but for fans of Callahan it's a first. The musician has released 12 albums to date, but all under the moniker Smog or (Smog). I like to think of it in SAT format: Smog is to Bill Callahan as Bonnie Prince Billy is to Will Oldham. Get it? It's an alter-ego!

One can only assume, however, that Callahan is finally ready to come out of the closet (so to speak). His music is hauntingly quiet and beautiful. If it doesn't make you cry you can at least be guaranteed that it will sweetly pull on your heart strings. Listen to a single from his new album below. And did I mention that he's been dating Joanna Newsom for the past three years? Power couple!

Bill Callahan - Sycamore

So the Gap is taking some tips from their competition and wooing some young designers to do some very limited capsule collections, sure to get the company some new buzz which they seem to need desperately. According to yesterday's Fashion Week Daily Gap has bought into the Vogue CFDA awards with a 1 million dollar donation. The three designers chosen were the winners and runner-ups of the Vogue CFDA prize: Doo.Ri, Rodarte and Thakoon (all pictured below). I cant wait, I must say, to see what the Rodarte girls do for the Gap!!! I'm sure it will be smart.

Wouldn't it be great if someone opened a crazy eclectic retail store that reflected all these low priced high designer colabs and only sold all this inexpensive fashion stufff? In the shop could be : Behnaz Sarafpour, Isaac Mizrahi, Libertine, Proenza Schouler all for Target, Karl Lagerfeld, Viktor and Rolf and Madonna all for H&M, Kate Moss, Vivienne Westwood, Zandra Rhodes for Top Shop, Roland Mouret, Rodarte, Doo.Ri, and Thakoon for the Gap. Oh and of course Thom Browne's mens and womens wear from Brooks Brothers. Then they could sell Pumas by Alexander McQueen shoes and Adidas Stella McCartney stuff. And there are so many more! That would make an incredible store don't you think?

In the mid-'80s on Manhattan Public Access Cable TV, Mari Lyn appeared weekly with The Golden Treasury Of Song where she sang light opera. Friends used to call screaming with laughter over this wonder that brought to mind the off-key singing of Mrs. Miller, or Florence Foster Jenkins or more recently Wing. Now thanks to Donald Collup's website http://www.collup.com/ you can own three DVDs (each consisting of three of her memorably nutty shows). Check out her salute to Puccini with ear-splitting arias from Tosca or "Southern Anti-Bellum Era" where she screeches Swanee River. She was a legend!

For PAPER's first annual LA Issue, we did a gorgeous photo story entitled "Tribes of LA" that showcased some of the cutest and most stylish groups in the fabulous city of Los Angeles. Naturally we included the divine Miss Chi Chi Valenti and her gay porn boys. One of the porn studs was Johnny Hazzard and Mr. Mickey must say he still hasn't recovered from the charms of Mr Hazzard. Yes he's outrageously gorgeous but he's also a sweetie and his smile makes MM melt. Could Johnny be the next gay adult star to cross over? He's been working on music and he's now starring in an ad campaign for Rufskin clothing. This photo was taken from a charming blog that covers adult gay topics, Starfucker.net!!!

No doubt it's been noted that James Murphy in no way resembles a rock star. He's a little chubby, seldom shaven (and not in a fashionable way), he has a Supercuts hairstyle, and he's 37 years old -- younger than Bono, sure, but old for a guy with only two albums to his credit. Well, no one at the Bowery Ballroom seemed to mind this as Murphy's band, LCD Soundsystem, rocked out for 90 minutes in front of a sold out crowd. The show was part of a two-night stand following a tour of Europe, before the band plays Coachella and starts a U.S. tour next month.

LCD's records can best be described as dance-rock, but the live presentation -- helped along by five musicians playing a combination of drums, keyboards, guitars and, yes, cowbells -- leans toward rock. During "Movement," from the band's self-titled first record, the crowd actually formed a mosh pit. The second song of the night, "Daft Punk
Is Playing at My House," turned into a fast-paced funk workout, with a previously buried bass line doing the heavy lifting. Still, songs from the band's latest, Sound of Silver, carried the set. Murphy dedicated "North American Scum" to his sister (she had just gotten a passport), and played it like the anthem it was always meant to be.

The encore began with a loving (if sloppy) cover of Joy Division's "No Love Lost," but the night belonged to the final tune, "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down," in which Murphy makes a reluctant declaration of love for his hometown. "It's not really true tonight," Murphy said by way of introduction. And afterward, as he smiled and took a bow, you could tell that he meant it. Paul Underwood

Both Dan Neil and Ann Powers sounded off on Starbucks in Sunday's LA Times. Powers took the coffee giant to task for their bland musical tastes:

By making (Paul McCartney) it's label's showcase signing, the company sends out a strong signal about how that sound will evolve....a "Starbucks Sound" duller than last week's beans.

Dan Neil began his always entertaining 800 Words column this past Sunday with a shout out to Casbah, one of our favorite local hangouts (we go for the dates and stay for the cous-cous!) Read excerpts from "Starbucks Nation" below:

http://www.cdbaby.com/annmagnuson2

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It is so dead around the PAPER office today because it's the last day of deadline and most of the May issue has been shipped, not to mention that we have one person at jury duty. But we're also missing a couple of key players due to today being Passover a.k.a. the Festival of Unleavened Bread! The Japanese, ever so inventive and ingenious, have found the solution to the age-old problem: how to break a Matzo without making a crumbly mess. So move over Passover-lover and let the Japanese take over!!

Poor Louisiana -- first Hurricane Katrina, now The Reaping. In Stephen Hopkin’s overcooked gumbo of a horror film, Hilary Swank plays a scientist, and born-again atheist, who debunks “miracles” by exposing them as toxic spills, etc. She is called to the Southern town of “Haven” because the rivers have turned to blood, frogs fall from the sky, boils appear on people, locusts attack, and other assorted biblical nightmares are making it hard to sell their cute wind chimes (that the town makes).

It’s all connected somehow to a strange young girl that lives out in the bayou. The audience I saw it with roared with laughter when actor Idris Alba (The Wire), as Swank’s co-investigator, said: “Let’s get out of town before the last three plagues...” The movie did make me think back (fondly) on those 70s devil-worshiper movies where everybody at the end stood in a circle in hooded robes and chanted: “Hail Satan!”

A lot of Cormac-McCarthy-related news in the air. Just found out that screenwriter Joe Penhall has been tapped to adapt The Road, McCarthy's highly-touted, bleak post-apocalyptic novel, for the big screen. And last week it was announced that the super-reclusive author will be making his first television appearance ever on Oprah. Go, Cormac, go!

Here's what our friends over at GADNY have to say:

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Last Monday, Atlanta, Georgia's, The Black Lips, played Bowery along with The Ponys and Panthers. The show was insane! I have to admit that I only went for The Black Lips. After all, their live shows are legendary. I've heard tales so shocking (i.e. playing guitar with a penis, setting the drum kit on fire, etc) that I went expecting a raucous show... and I wasn't disappointed!

During "Hippy Hippy Hurrah," the guitarist vomited and they had to start the song over. A few minutes later the other guitarist (the one with gold fronts, yes I said "gold fronts") went over and started making out with him. How political! But on a serious note, the show itself was incredible. Their 1960s-style garage punk is just what this stagnant indie-rock world needs. I particularly like the song "Fairy Stories," with lyrics that go, "My daddy has got a gun / It's not a toy but it's loads of fun / It gotta hold it to you hear it click / Things like that will make your mamma sick." God how I love this band.

The Black Lips - Stranger

(photo from Sandwich!'s flickr page)

In support of Grindhouse opening Friday here's one of my favorite double-bills on 42nd Street: I Drink Your Blood, the great David Durston film about a Manson-like gang who are fed meat pies infected with rabies and become blood-thirsty savages & I Eat Your Skin, a dumb zombie movie. I have this fabled double-bill one-sheet framed in my living room to remind me of the great days of exploitation....

Mr. Mickey loves harmony. He's a Libra, after all (with Leo rising and moon in Sagitarrius). Also MM is a sucker for anyone who is nice to him. Still Mr. Mickey can't understand the sudden anti-Olivia Palermo backlash which seems to be fueled by one of MM's favorite websites, SocialiteRank.com. MM j'adores Socialite Rank and thinks they do an amazing job covering the social scene. Still, Olivia has always been very nice and friendly (to MM at least) and gorgeous. What has she ever done to deserve disdain? There are always going to be new cuties on the block and MM doesn't see how the new girls have done anything different that the superstars of the society scene did when they started out. MM just loves everybody (well not everybody, there are a few that MM thinks are phonies!!!) So someone please either explain to MM what Olivia did wrong or be nice to the girl!!!

Photo from Q Magazine snatched from SocialiteRank.com

Mr. Mickey's friends James Fuentes and Waris were working on a downtown yearbook at one point and MM so loves the idea of a guide to the New York Scene that he's co-opting the idea and will be presenting you some of his favorite folks both old and new, uptown and downtown, gay and straight and so forth! And what better way to start than with a sexy blonde? This is the charming and delightful Jackie Astier. Jackie is the fashion director of Avenue Magazine and she knows how to have fun!!

Mr. Mickey first bonded with her on the Zac Posen/ Vakko trip to Istanbul and have had fun out on the town together ever since. Jackie is often with one of MM's all time favorites/longtime PAPER family member Peter Davis as they were the other night at the Saks party for Rachel Roy, the Versace store party for Save Venice and the Bergdorf's Proenza Schouler party.