Squirrel Gymnastics

Well, I don't really agree w/ it either ... I meant to imply that it's not based on what looks good but on what they think will sell. Not artistic values, esp. when the covers seem drastically different in tone from the mag's contents.

Here comes my usual blowhard overanayltical know-it-all crap. I've been thinking for a while that Vogue maybe has made a conscious decision to start using cover portraits that have a lot of graphic impact, or that at least look unusual, and it just so happens that those are often less flattering to their subjects than we're used to. The basis for this choice could be a desire for Vogue covers to stand out in magazine displays, and it might be backed up by marketing studies showing what kind of covers potential readers pay attention to. Fire the retoucher? Not in a million. At least not without an instantaneous replacement. Oh, and now that I think about it, just one retoucher? I imagine there are several, if not a squadron.

Humidifiers I actually can understand, because it's hard (even potentially damaging) to sing with dry vocal cords. But it seems like with such an entourage, someone could pick up a couple of humidifiers.

Hmm. Can this really be the first time a couple had a Christian ceremony abroad and then a Hindu one in India? Over the years I've had friends marry interculturally and do exactly this.

Hilary Duff: I Felt Pressure to Lose Weight MONDAY MARCH 19, 2007 12:00 PM EST By Monique Jessen [in People] When Hilary Duff lost a noticeable amount of weight two years ago, she chalked it up to healthier eating habits. But now, the singer-actress, 19, admits she felt pressure from the media to get thin. "I did get skinny," she tells Britain's Mail on Sunday. "I've felt that pressure like everyone else in my position. When a newspaper comes out that says 'Duff Puff – she must have gained 15 pounds' or something like that, how would any normal person react?" She continues, "It's so mean, but everyone keeps buying that stuff and talking about it, so it's not going to go away." Duff, whose 2½-year relationship with rocker Joel Madden ended in November, tells the magazine: "I felt like we were great together, and being on my own is great too." After a trip to Europe to promote her new album Dignity, Duff is now back home with her sister Haylie, 22. The two live together in Los Angeles in a house they shared until recently with their mom, Susan – who just moved down the street, much to her daughter's chagrin. "It was her idea," Duff says. "She said, 'I want to give you guys more freedom,' and I'm like, 'I don't want that. I want you here.' So I call her every day and I still always consult her before any big decision."

The spin has begun ... From Reuters: Heather Mills wins praise in TV dancing debut Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:46 PM ET By Belinda Goldsmith NEW YORK (Reuters) - Heather Mills McCartney, vilified in the British press over her bitter divorce from former Beatle Paul, made her debut in a U.S. television dancing contest on Monday with the judges calling her an inspiration. Mills, 39, the first contestant with an artificial leg to compete in ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," said she joined the contest to show you can overcome any disability. The former model turned charity campaigner wore a pink and creme sequined dress as she danced the foxtrot with professional dance partner Jonathan Roberts, receiving a standing ovation from some of the audience as their routine ended with few wrong steps and with Mills high-kicking. "There was far more right about that routine than wrong," said Len Goodman, one of the three judges. "I think you are an inspiration to people to get out and dance." The two other judges also praised her performance and the fact she joined the contest. Mills had her left leg amputated below the knee after being hit by a motorcycle in 1993. But they criticized her tense upper body and gave the pair 18 points, which was middle of the field. Mills, however, was pleased with the outcome. "I'm just glad I did not fall over," said Mills, who had previously joked about flying limbs. "I thought I would be lowest so I am pleased." The couple was among 11 pairs taking part in the fourth season of the popular dancing show on the Walt Disney-owned network in which professional dancers team up with celebrities in a knock-out contest. But it remained to be seen whether the U.S. public -- whose phone-in votes count for 50 percent of scores -- would be as enthusiastic as the judges, or react as adversely to Mills as the British press, with the votes to be unveiled next week. Other celebrities in the new line-up include world female boxing champion Laila Ali, the daughter of Muhammad Ali, and former 'N Sync boy band member Joey Fatone. Mills has been thrust into the media spotlight since her divorce battle with McCartney started in the middle of last year. As the divorce grew increasingly nasty, Britain's tabloid newspapers have portrayed her as a gold-digger seeking to cash in on British icon McCartney's fortune.

Four More Accusers Hit Celeb Designer with Sex Charges Anand Jon Alexander, the celebrity designer accused of raping two people, is facing 13 shocking and lurid new charges from four new victims. Clad in an orange jumpsuit, Alexander stood emotionless inside a Beverly Hills courtroom as a Los Angeles District Attorney announced the new charges, which include forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by a foreign object, sexual exploitation of a child, sexual battery and assault with intent to commit a felony. Anand's family members were in court and wept uncontrollably as the new charges were read. In total, fifteen of the charges are felonies, while five are misdemeanors. The 33-year-old designer was initially charged on March 13 with seven counts, including forcible rape, lewd act upon a child, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, sexual battery by restraint and attempted forcible oral copulation. Earlier this month, Jon's attorney, Ronald Richards, told the L.A. Times that the allegations were were made up by models looking to get even with Alexander for not hiring them. "These girls fly in for model jobs after months of dialogue filled with flirtation, they have sexual interaction and if he doesn't put them in the show ... then sometime later they claim they had unwanted sex," said Richards.

That doesn't make any sense, given the high number of (esp) nose jobs done today....It might be more about maintaining a Hollywood mystique? Yeah, maybe. As in, who ever heard of a goddess needing a nose job?

I have no problem with plastic surgery. So I'm guessing that the perception is that most Americans _do_ have a problem with it? And do celebrities lie about it because their publicists etc. say that they must? I mean, if Halle admitted she'd had a very good nose job and it was a requirement for her line of work, I suppose all hell would break loose, like it did when Ashlee Simpson got hers done and it was so obvious? Apparently when a star says, "I haven't had plastic surgery but would consider it," that means, "Oh, yes, I have had multiple tweaks and you can expect many more in the future."

For me, *it* is smug.

I like her looks, like her acting and her attitude (so far as I can tell through the media). She's beautiful, but her face is not classically beautiful in its proportions, and apparently she knows it. Over the years I've read about facial proportions a few times; I recall that even babies prefer a certain kind of face. One that looks like this: (Illustration from a site for grids that outline the stereotypically beautiful face, including ethnic variations.) I think Scarlett's face deviates from that standard in some significant ways. Maybe that's why some people don't see her beauty.

OMG, that scene is right out of _This Is Spinal Tap._ Yet it's somehow much more plausible than a bunch of Texans rushing Jared Freaking Leto, at least in a friendly way (I'm a Texan, so I reserve the right to speak for them all ). I finally saw a 30 Seconds to Mars video last week, and it was one big hunk of self-aggrandizing shallow crappity-crap. For this people pay money? Sign o' the Apocalypse, or at least of Rome's imminent burning.

See {ducking flying rotten veggies here}, I kind of like this wacked-out interview. She's obviously nutso, but she kind of knows it. She seems to know she's a hardass, bitchy, dishonest, shallow person, and she doesn't really apologize for it. I guess she got me with the cigarettes comment. When I was younger and smoking, I said something similar, though not quite as dumb. I always said that I loved smoking, and that as long as I was doing it, I was going to love it and not beat myself up over it. And today, many years after I successfully kicked that habit, I still tell people that when I smoked, I loved doing it, period. Of my smoking friends, I'm the only one so far who successfully broke the habit, and I'm also the only one who didn't hate myself for having the habit. And I think that's not a coincidence. Anyways, I know Sienna's gross, but I'm liking her more as time passes. So sue me!!!! I am now officially entertained by this crusty skank.

My husband rented You, Me & Dupree, and I fell asleep on the couch before the opening scene even started. But in my sleep, I kept seeing Owen Wilson's nose in my mind. His whiny voice resonates in his honker.

I think her lips are fake but the rear is for real. Although I appreciate her physique, I have to like her less for a JT hookup. I know everyone thinks he's great, but I look at him and just think, "Weaselly twerp." I'm so not into him. If he's bringing sexy back, where's he bringing it back from, exactly? Certainly not from anyplace in his own past. And how is he bringing it back? By rockin' the teenage hoodlum look? Feh.