Perez Hilton, if you know who he is, you know he is the infamous celebrity blogger turned “celebrity”  himself.  Even if you don’t like him, you’ve got to admit he was extremely successful with perezhilton.com; that he is a pioneer for bloggers who want to make it big.

He’s releasing a tell-all book, “Perez Hilton’s True Bloggywood Stories–The Glamorous Life of Beating, Cheating, and Overdosing.”

Will his book be successful?  We think there will be some DEFINITE controversy surrounding it and it will be damaging to Perez’s reputation, not that that isn’t uncharacteristic of him.

Highlights of the book are  “Steamy Details on Twilight Dating”, “The Michael Jackson Catastrophe”, “Exclusive details on Perez’s controversial face-to-face encounters with Will.I.Am, Carrie Prejean, and Drew Barrymoore“, “Exclusive dish on Jon and Kate+8 debacle and other reality TV scandals”, just to name a few.  Does this dish sound delish?

Perez is also offering to personally autograph every book that is bought and sent to a special address.  As for live signings, there’s no information on that yet.

So, is this a win or fail move?  We’re tempted to look through the book if we see it lying around!

More @ PerezHilton.com

vesta @ pop prophecy

TWEET THIS “Win or Fail: Perez Hilton’s Book!? “!

Perez Hilton’s Twitter (1,636,800+ followers)

Lupe Fiasco is featured in “The People Speak Documentary” set to air on the History channel December 13th at 8pm EST/7pm CST. This documentary is inspired and based on the book ‘A People’s History of the United States’ by Howard Zinn. Other actors and musicians are featured in the film such as Kerry Washington, Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman.

More information on the documentary inside…

To view a sneak preview of the film, Click Here.

Here is Lupe with the author, Howard Zinn. Anthony Arnove from ‘Voices of People’s History of the United States’, was the co-executive for the documentary.

Make sure you tune in December 13th at 8pm.

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From the desk of Contributing Editor Eli M. Getson–

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I have always been fascinated by Bob Marley’s love of football, or as we say in America– soccer. The many images that captured his playing in formal games, or just juggling the ball, show a different side of the natty dread who would burn up the stage all over Europe in the 1970s.  We see a person focused yet loose, an athlete who truly had a passion for the game, and a man totally at ease with himself.  By all reports he was quite skilled with the ball, and could pass and score with equal proficiency.

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Traveling the world over the last few years, I always noticed that Bob Marley’s image (along with Che Guevara) is omnipresent whenever you’re in a country where the people are under oppression, live under a corrupt system, and struggle just to get by.  Marley’s music and life story make him a natural advocate for the oppressed– and to this day, his image is a top-seller on many a t-shirt the world over.

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In one of the great ironies of life, it wasn’t until after Marley’s death in 1981 that he became a musical and pop culture icon in the United States.  During his actual playing days he was a star in Europe and sold out consistently in both the UK (where the Wailers were huge due to the support of the Jamaican expat community, and from the support of people like Mike Jagger and George Harrison) and on the continent.  His two live albums:  “Live” recorded at the Lyceum in London in ’75 in front of a who’s-who of the London music scene, and “Babylon by Bus” were recorded in front of packed houses– if you listen to the recordings you can hear the crowd going totally nuts.  This same level of adulation was not the story in America– In the late 1970s the Wailers frequently had trouble packing a venue.  The radio was dominated by one format stations back then, and black radio was primarily by disco-driven.  The drum and bass driven thump of Reggae tended to get passed over by parochial station managers and DJ’s.  It was not until the mid 1980s when college radio began to take hold (a good five years after his passing), until the appreciation, and ultimate apotheosis, of Bob Marley in America began.

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For me I have always loved the music and actually made a pilgrimage with my family to Bob’s final resting place in Nine Mile, Jamaica in 1984.  The images of Bob playing football would be respectfully interpreted by Addidas for a small capsule collection in their authentics stores a few years ago, showing that while Marley was a man of substance, he had great style as well.

–Eli M. Getson

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We’re watching the heavens so you don’t have to.

The moon entered Aries on November 26th, 2009 @ 22:10 EST.
Hope Moon in Pisces wasn’t too bad! Comment!

TWEET THIS to your friends ”Horoscope: Nov 26-29″!

Our focus changes from resting on our laurels to being influenced to take action and be more productive.

On the early 27th, we feel the period beginning most, and it starts with stressful energy, and potential for chaos.

We will face difficulty keeping up with our longterm goals and plans that we’ve started; the energy to continue our goals may be lacking, or we may have fears that they are impossible.

If you are overly feeling this energy–take a break while you plan your next actions for when you don’t feel so overwhelmed, rest momentarily and come back better than before ( continued… click link below )

Relationships will be shaken; those at the tipping point will break. Committment will be a challenge. Some of you may realize the harsh truth of your relationships; that certain someone wasn’t all they were cracked up to be. Important relationships may end, but you should find this as a beneficial thing.

It is an excellent time to focus on “you”. If you’ve had to end an important relationship, you’ll find it easier to cope now and live the single life again happily–if you choose to.

Thankfully, after the peak of this stressful energy we will have a sense of optimism and good fortune, “that everything will work out”. It will, if you keep the faith. We’ll find abundant energy to be creative and realize goals and dreams. So again, focus on you and making things happen, you’ll find it a better than normal time to do so.
Around the 28th, you’ll have lots of energy to burn so make good use of it. Home matters may come to the forefront, and those of you who work at home will find this time very productive.

At the end of this period it’s very good for being social, and paying attention to your health. We will feel a sense of general good fortune concerning our goals; don’t be too overconfident because it will easily lead to setbacks.

Money
Watch your wallet, you may see opportunities for income but don’t use it as an excuse to spend more money than usual right now. Money should improve around the 28th. Wait until the 28th to splurge.

Love & Dating

If single, dating is recommended, but don’t get too invested. If you’re just looking for fun, this is an excellent time for fun but not committment.

If you’re in a relationship, this is the time to focus on yourself and reaching YOUR own goals. If you don’t know what they are, it’s time that you define them. There may be hiccups in the early part of this period in your relationships–be strong–you’ll find it easy communicating with your partner in the later part, and the romance should strengthen.

Career
At first, there will be certain stress. But afterwards, this is a good time for career. Work will be a strong focus, but the energy should be more light and carefree. Try to advance and show your superior that you’re worth it, they’ll notice. Your mental abilities will be enhanced.

This period officially ends in the early morning on November 29th, 2009 @ 5:33 EST.

Enjoy Moon in Aries!

vesta @ pop prophecy

Ronnie Fieg got together with Polo Ralph Lauren Footwear to create the Grey Ranger “Cookie” boot which will be releasing this coming “Black” Friday, November 27th exclusively on (DavidZ.com) as well as the David Z. flagship store in soho.

The video was shot by Chris Lee ctothejl.com

Movie adaptations of popular novels are troublesome things, especially when the novel’s fanbase is so intense and visible that a filmmaker could be pushed into thinking they’re making the film for the fans of the novel, as opposed for filmgoers in general (or, God forbid, to please his/her own sensibilities). This is the kind of thinking that results in borefests like Chris Columbus’s two Harry Potter movies, and Chris Weitz’s New Moon.

(Just so’s you know: the fangirls are overjoyed with New Moon. The critics – and pretty much everyone who didn’t love the books to death – are not so much.)

One problem with Meyer’s books is their off-balance structure. Two-thirds of Twilight and New Moon were made up of angst and swooning – nothing wrong with that in and of itself – until Meyer realised she’s writing a book about vampires and werewolves and there should probably be some kind of actiony plot. So in Twilight we get the evil, human-eating vampires showing up (some might call them ‘proper’ vampires) and deciding they’d quite like Bella for supper, and in New Moon we get the highly convoluted situation of Jacob inadvertently leading Edward into believing that Bella’s dead, and Alice showing up to drag Bella off to Italy with her, because she’s foreseen that Edward’s gonna off himself there.

Now. Catherine Hardwicke got around this last-minute plot problem quite well by interspersing scenes of the evil vamps killing people in the early parts of Twilight. A small change, but a very important one. It meant that when the evil vampires showed up to the Cullens’ game of baseball, we already knew who they were, and that they were bad news. (Of course, their indecently long hair and swaggering tipped us off to their evil ways too.) And it meant that early on, amidst all the angst and swooning, we also knew that it was all leading somewhere – that a momentum was building.

Chris Weitz, however, makes no changes to Meyer’s original structure, and packs all of the important stuff – the jaunt to Italy, the face-off with the Volturi (it’s Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning, people! Give them more than five lines each!) into the last half hour. There is very little foreshadowing or preamble for this, and so it feels tacked-on – silly, even. Part of the problem is that we have no idea where the Cullens have been for most of the film, and so it falls to poor Ashley Greene to be Exposition Girl when Alice eventually turns up.

But it’s a movie. Why not show the Cullens in exile, and Edward’s dark night of the soul, visually? Why couldn’t we have had interspersed scenes of Carlisle and Emmett trying to tempt Edward into playing vampire baseball, only to have him sulkily decline? Seen Alice having her vision of Bella jumping off a cliff, and telling Rosalie about it? Seen Edward heading off for Italy?

But Weitz, unlike Hardwicke, would not mess with the original structure. And consequently, the novels’ fans love Weitz and despise Hardwicke. But you know what else? Hardwicke’s Twilight feels a hell of a lot more efficient than Weitz’s New Moon – despite being only about 20 minutes shorter in actuality. (Also sorely missing from New Moon is Carter Burwell’s kick-ass score – Alexandre Desplat is a lot more generic.)

One hears a lot of talk about the virtues of “staying true to the book” when adapting a novel into a movie. But I say, screw that. They’re different mediums, and require different structures. Sometimes a movie can even improve on a novel’s structure. Take the TV show Veronica Mars. Via voiceover, we’re privy to Veronica’s thoughts, and it’s certainly her story – but we also see scenes that Veronica doesn’t.

This is difficult to do in a novel – if it’s in first person, the only way to relay a scene that the narrator hasn’t witnessed without ‘cheating’ is through heavy-handed exposition. And this is basically what happens in the novel New Moon. But there was no reason for this clunky structure to be repeated in the movie. Bella is the main character, and certainly, we should feel what she feels – but not to the detriment of the other (more interesting) characters, or of the storyline as a whole.

Kay, rant over. Personally, I think Eclipse will rock. It’s being directed by David ‘30 Days of Night‘ Slade. Does this mean the vamps will be hideous and communicate via ungodly shrieks? One can only hope …

I have already posted one of Keith Schofield’s videos here already – the wonderfully 80’s Justice/Lenny Kravitz “Let Love Rule”. Now his video for Charlotte Gainsbourg (featuring Beck)’s “Heaven Can Wait” is blowing up all over the internet, and deservedly so – it’s a beautifully surreal piece of visual art. While looking for more information about him I found another video of his I thought worthy of mention – one he did for Diesel where he has taken old porn footage and attempted to make it safe for work! It has to be seen to be believed, is incredibly funny and probably NOT SFW!

god i know so many blogs have been done about this but SERIOUSLY. it should’ve ended a long, long, long time ago with Anne Rice. as much as it bothers me i’m going to try to discuss it in a non-biased way. the people who are opposed to this vampire fad must understand why it is happening.

in this modern day and age, materialism and beauty are so important and we can see that projected in most movies and magazines everywhere. we can easily connect this to the vampire theme seen lately. they are beautifully flawless, and usually have lots of money due to either the amount of time they’ve been on this earth or the fact that they don’t have to spend money on basic necessities that mortals do. they are never overweight, and they stay up all night. it almost sounds like how celebrities are projected to appear in the media. simply PERFECT! this whole craze is simply an alternative to following the latest gossip on celebrities, or at least that is how i see it. yes, it is becoming quite annoying but it certainly has taken attention off of famous drug-addicted jet setters, celebrities, and socialites. and i don’t know about you but i’d rather not hear anything about all that shit. so bring on the vampire fantasies, ugh.

I think this is genius.

Neil+Young+Sings+Fresh+Prince.

Found a cool site that has a collection of graphics and art form the early days of computer gaming called Art of the Arcade. It’s amazing how contemporary some of these graphics look. Click here to see more.

Learn how to make this here.

On Set for, "Let's Talk About It"

Tiffany Smith has lived all over the country, from L.A. to San Diego, Hershey to New Haven. Every move provided an exciting opportunity to explore, develop new friendships, and cultivate new interests.  Each experience instilled in her the spirit of adventure, a love for travel and the ability to connect with just about anyone.  From So Cal surfer to Manhattan fashionista, she is equally at ease.

Tiffany always knew her path was going to be in entertainment.  She started early with dance, singing and modeling lessons.  And she made it obvious to her friends and family from begging her parents for an agent each night when they tucked her into bed, to being in school plays, to recording a demo which snagged her a spot in a Pop Girl Group called, Impulse.

As with anything Tiffany pursues, she never does it halfway.  So, she applied for admission to one of the leading broadcast journalism schools in the nation, Syracuse University’s prestigious Newhouse School of Communications, earning a degree in Broadcast Journalism with a minor in Music Industry.

Since moving to New York full-time, she has put her outgoing and charismatic personality to good use – hosting shows for iVillage, AT&T’s Tech Channel, AOL Music, Spike TV, Activision and Scholastic to name a few.

In her spare time, Tiffany can be found singing, snowboarding, gaming, perusing the stacks at her local comic book shop, or trend spotting at the hippest shops with friends from London to Manhattan.  She is passionate about helping out with charities like Operation Smile, Charity: Water and Shaohannah’s Hope.

She has also become the tech guru of her social circle.  Always the first to try out a new gadget and of course, report about it on her blog!  She is an avid blogger and loves sharing her thoughts on anything and everything about pop culture!

Tiffany is thrilled to be starting her next hosting assignment with Inasectv.com, a sports enthusiast’s web heaven, hosting The A Show, MMA Confidential and Trufan Boxing.

Currently, Tiffany is living in New York City and setting her sights on her next incredible gig!  Whether it’s hosting, acting or singing, she’s always ready for another big adventure, and she can’t wait to take audiences along with her!

De fiecare dată când deschid pagina Yahoo ca să-mi verific mailul, mai arunc câte un ochi şi peste articolele din rubrica news. De cele mai multe ori este vorba de politică sau de subiecte care sunt drăguţele/ridicole/stupide (în diverse combinaţii). De data asta, cuvântul (de fapt, expresia) care îmi vine în minte este e al naibii de enervant.

Ca să vă daţi seama despre ce aberez: articolul prezintă povestea unui japonez care s-a căsătorit cu un personaj dintr-un joc electronic din categoria aşa numitelor dating-game. Jocul în sine nu poate fi descris drept culmea feminismului în niciun caz. Jucătorul, care de obicei este de sex masculin, are scopul de a seduce prin diferite mijloace fata sau fetele din joc. Îi cumpără flori, o complimentează, o scoate la plimbare etc, ce mai, ca şi cum ar curta o fată adevărată. O altă modalitate de a obiectifica femeile – şi asta e o faţetă a culturii nipone care nu mă încântă deloc. Dar na, fiecare cu buba lui. Japonezii au romanţele lor virtuale, americanii se ascund în spatele paravanului oferit de Facebook, Myspace sau alte site-uri de teapa lor, iar noi, de exemplu, ne complacem în show-uri ucigaşe de neuroni şi ne dezvoltăm mica noastră cultură de macho.

Aşa, deci cât de ciudat, cât de pervers, cât de jalnic. Mă rog. Pentru cineva care nu ştie nimic despre cultura pop japoneză şi despre problemele sociale foarte grave cu care se confruntă ţara, articolul pare de-a dreptul hilar. Aş putea să vă povestesc despre alienare socială, marginalizare, cultul muncii, pierderea identităţii individuale, dar mi-ar lua prea mult, şi nu ştiu în ce măsură vă interesează. Ca să revenim la oile mele. Nu mă deranjează deloc subiectul articolului în sine, ci tonul sarcastic şi superior pe care l-a adoptat autorul. Din câte ştiu eu, are şi SUA „ciudaţii” ei, şi sunt suficient de mulţi ca să umple jumătate din rubrica de ştiri de pe Yahoo. Ar trebui să scăpăm starea asta de încuietudine mentală care ne infectează pe toţi. Dar într-adevăr, de ce să ne rezolvăm problemele noastre sociale când putem să râdem de ale altora?

Articolul se încheie cu un glorios „Hmmm, well, there’s a name for chaps like that. Either way, the words ‘only’, ‘in’ and ‘Japan’ are springing all too readily to mind…”. La care îmi vine să răspund: hmmm, da, there’s a name for attitude like that. Intoleranţă cu aromă de rasism şi stereotipizare.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I hope our Native American friends like what we’ve done with the place.

Years ago when I entered graduate school, I read a book called THE BLACK MANAGER

It was a well written text which had a academic tone while having more pop(ular) aspirations. The book was written by an African American couple who dedicated their lives to a massive Midwestern corporation. They illustrated the process of climbing the corporate ladder in distinct chapters and phases of progress.; they even created “interaction models” to suggest how a Euro-American from Germany might interact with a Jewish American or a 3rd generation Austrian American, for example. This is to say that there are proven reactive dynamics demonstrated by distinct ethnicities and perhaps the results of these interfaces can be gaged, canned and sold to the masses.

I used this text to engineer a rather rapid climb up the otherwise Euro-American world of advertising. I will post a more detailed exposition of my experiences later.

In the mean while, see this link: http://www.bmfonline.co.za

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Do you have a black manager?

(polls)

Though it might seem like a tired concept, shots fired (in lyrical, not literal, form) are crucial to keeping hip-hop fresh. Ranging from tragic (i.e. Biggie “versus” Tupac) to comedic (Soulja Boy vs. Ice T), rap beef can be integral to the art form if it’s restricted to punch lines and dis tracks. Your favourite rapper has probably been mired in it at least once, if not multiple times, and some of hip-hop’s most scathingly sick moments have been recorded as a result of healthy competition.

The latest, most high profile, rap beef is between Jay-Z and one-time affiliate Beanie Sigel. It wouldn’t be wrong to be unfazed by this: Jigga’s had all varieties of beef, from McDonald’s chuck to certified Kobe (his greatest rivalry was arguably with Nas who pionereed the term “Ether” in reference to Jigga, and was the muse behind the ultra-dope “Takeover”). But many rap fans have matured alongside Jay and so the seemingly unnecessary, 50 Cent-endorsed (yup, what we have here is a grown man schoolyard fight) brouhaha caused by Beans just seems like we’re a babysitter keeping tabs while our insanely hot boyfriend is over. (Eye roll, gum snap).

Still if you, like me, feel the need to keep up on current affairs in hip-hop, Jay Smooth over at IllDoctrine has us covered with this quick primer on rap’s latest non-incident.

It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time but never really found the right outlet for: write about hip hop scholarship. Presenting: Excursions into Hip Hop Theory, a 10 post series about what hip hop is and what it is not. I’ll be posting a new episode on a weekly basis on your other favorite space: laid-back.be. Big up to Julius.

Picture by Anattitude Magazine @ Flickr.com

I haven’t accepted it yet. I’m glad I got to see him play, even if it was a charity game. I’m pretty sure that will continue and I’ll get to see him one more time.

AI w/ the 2 youngest & wife

I hope he won’t go into hiding. Although I could understand that. He has five kids and a wife. He has enough money to never work again (confirmed by him – I know a lot of athletes go broke). I’m happy for him in that way. But selfishly I want him on a team. Damn the Knicks! They would rather tank it develop their players then fill Madison Square Garden. What about the Bobcats? Does Michael Jordan have something to do with him not playing there? Ugh, I’ve never liked him.

I don’t think his playing days are over. He is very popular overseas. His wife is open to living overseas. I think she likes Italy and he was there this past summer. (He is really close with his family. He would not go anywhere without them). Iverson could pick any them he wanted.

I don’t want to read ‘analysts’ analyzing his retirement. Most of the articles will be full of negativity. I remember the good. He is my 3rd favorite player of all time. He will be missed.

If you did not know,  I am not fan of crApple. Their commercials are fanboyish and their cRAC books are way over priced. Plus, they do not run Microsoft office efficiently. Office 2007 far outshines Snow Leprosy. Word, Powerpoint, Publisher; nuff said.

My Toshiba Satellite has served me well for over a year now and I like it even better because of Windows 7. I was only using one 32-bit processors when I purchased the student edition of Windows 7 for $40. Then, I upgraded to utilize both of my processors. After some initial kinks due to the changes I had made, I have come to enjoy how fast my computer runs now. This is just the beginning and I cannot wait to try all of the new feature on here.

Truth and Peace,

Rod

Today we should be thankful. In real life, I am thankful for my family, my job, fucking medical insurance, having the best cats EVER, the coffee bean and some great GREAT friends that fill my heart with joy.

In Second Life, as a dreaded and despised blogger, I am thankful too. Here are five things that make me smile in SL. May your cup never run dry, your arms never tire and your bodies always be warm! A thousand kisses to you and yours….

Slaughter City – I love the Slaughter City sims owned by Putrid Gloom. They are my home and there are no words to describe how thankful I am for Miss Gloom. She’s a wonder, a delight, irreverent and brighter than any sun. My Second Life wouldn’t be the same without her. She is the rock in which so many designers have trusted in and I truly admire that about Miss Gloom. My boo, you are straight trippin with your gangsta love.

Minnu Palen – I absolutely adore Minnu Palen. I think she and her collection of great people have really elevated Second Life business to do better. No matter what people say, I know that she’s pretty great, charming, generous and lovely to work for/with/and around. I am VERY thankful to call her a friend and truly admire her artistic vision.

&Bean Skin – I don’t get a lot of free stuff for my blog. A majority of what I write about, I pay for out of pocket. I am happy to do that too! But when Keiko Morigi gave me her line of new skin, I almost fell out of my chair. I am SOOOO fucking thankful for my &Bean skin. I find it difficult to NOT wear. Thank you Miss Morigi. I am so very thankful of you and your amazing talent.

Fifty Linden Fridays – Despite their “laugh-out-loud” copyright^ disclaimer at the bottom of the announcement notecard, I am very thankful for Fifty Linden Fridays. I think this is a wonderful way of getting to know some neat vendors. Often, prices would have stopped me from trying their work. Now, through this “program” I can totally check them out and see some amazing talent in action. OMGWTF Barbecue, well done.

Lastly… I thank YOU. I want to thank anyone that has read this blog. I know there ain’t a lot of you, but those that do – thanks. If I could give you kisses all the way down your neck, I would.

Alright. I think it’s time for some turkey.

^ Fifty Linden Fridays is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.