from The NY Daily News

Extortion scheme aimed at Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein undone when cops intervene in roommate feud over a bag of cat food

You can’t make this up: A violent extortion plot aimed against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein fell apart when cops had to intervene in a domestic disturbance over cat food in the home of the would-be mastermind and found an incriminating fake ID A violent fight over a bag of cat food helped bring down the man accused of demanding millions from Harvey Weinstein in a plot that threatened the movie mogul’s family. Suspect Vivek Shah, now facing federal charges he ordered Weinstein and four other wealthy individuals to pay up or he’d start killing loved ones, had a critical run-in with cops on May 22 after his female roommate called 911 claiming assault. The fight inside their West Hollywood, Calif., bungalow stemmed from a confrontation over Shah’s placement of a cat food bag in a recycling bin, Shah said in a court statement obtained by the Daily News. “[Shah] stormed into my room in a violent rage and slammed my door open so hard, it scraped the skin on the top of my foot and it started bleeding,” roommate Stephanie Harris said in a court filing seeking a restraining order. Cops who responded found Shah in possession of a fake driver’s license bearing the name Ray Amin – the ID used to rent the mailbox used in the alleged extortion scheme. The May 22 incident is mentioned without description in the federal indictment of Shaw made public Wednesday. “I’m scared of him,” Harris told The News Friday. “He’s a dangerous individual.” Harris told the court Shah, 25, boasted about taking a “muscle enhancement” that altered his moods. She said she asked him to move out after the altercation, but he refused. [ click to read full article at NYDailyNews.com ]

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from Letters of Note

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from The Chicago Sun-Times

Editorial: America should shoot for the stars again

The moment Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon, he became slightly other­worldly in our eyes, cloaked in a golden aura that did not sit easily with his shy and private ways.

But Armstrong understood the power of that aura and used it, sparingly, over the years for a cause he believed in fully: human space exploration. One of his last high-profile public appearances, in 2010, was to testify before a Congressional committee against the Obama administration’s plan to redirect NASA’s efforts away from human exploration of space and toward more basic long-term science research.

That, Armstrong said, would be “devastating.”

NASA’s first priority, he said with a touch of the same poetry he brought to his first step on the moon, should be “learning to sail on this new ocean.”

[ click to continue reading at The Chicago Sun-Times ]

from Grantland

You Either Smoke or You Get Smoked

An oral history of White Men Can’t Jump

COURTESY OF 20TH CENTURY FOX

By Thomas Golianopoulos

White Men Can’t Jump begins with a 19-minute sequence that features a version of “Just a Closer Walk With Thee” by the Venice Beach Boys, more rat-a-tat “yo momma” jokes than a season’s worth of BET’s ComicView and, of course, some pickup basketball. Director Ron Shelton (Bull Durham, Tin Cup) wanted to establish that his actors — a ragtag cast that included a burgeoning movie star, a fifth-lead sitcom actor, former NBA players, Division-I washouts, weekend warriors, and Kadeem Hardison in a goofy hat — really had game. So when the film’s stars, Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson, step to the top of the key for a best-of-five shooting contest, Shelton doesn’t cut away to the basket. No camera tricks, no editing, no ringers. There was just one problem: His actors couldn’t stop chucking up bricks.

“We were looking at our watches like, ‘When are these guys gonna make one?'” says actor Ernest Harden Jr., who looked on during the six-hour shoot. One day on set, Harden uttered what became the film’s mantra: That word action is a motherfucker. “You could be prepared,” Harden says. “And then you hear ‘action’ and everything goes wrong.”

[ click to continue reading at Grantland ]

from BBC

[ click to continue reading at BBC ]

from 10 News San Diego

Turtle Rescued After Being Taped To Balloons

Woman Who Reported Incident Defends Herself From Criticism

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — Authorities are looking for whoever taped a turtle to several balloons and sent it flying in an Oceanside neighborhood.

The turtle was spotted duct-taped and dangling from balloons that were caught high up in a eucalyptus tree. Some neighbors next door saw what was going on and tried to help the turtle.

“We look up and there’s green and blue balloons up there,” said resident Chanelle Wright. “He was just swinging his arms trying to get out of it. Somebody had taped him to the balloons.”

In the meantime, the turtle hung dangling in the wind. That’s when Joel Rabago’s mother got out her camera and started taking video of the hanging turtle.

“When something like this happens, she always takes the video camera, no matter what it is,” Rabagos said.

The Oceanside Fire Department eventually arrived with a big ladder truck, but as they were about to rescue the turtle, a gust of wind blew him down to earth.

[ click to read full story at 10 News ]

from The NY Daily News

Dogs gone wild! Pack of crazed pit bulls demolish California minivan

In an attack reminiscent of ‘Cujo’ four pit bulls attack Dodge minivan trying to get to cat hiding in fender.

By Erik Ortiz / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

A pack of pit bulls ripped through the front of a Southern California man’s minivan in a stunning display of force that would make Cujo cringe.

So what drove the dogs to such destruction? A kitty stuck in the bumper area, Palm Springs police Sgt. Mike Kovaleff said Tuesday.

The unidentified owner of the Dodge minivan was parked at his home in Banning when he saw the damage to his vehicle Monday morning, according to CBS affiliate KESQ in Palm Springs.

The kitty, described as a short-haired tabby about seven weeks old, was even given a name “Fender Lynx” — after the fender she was found in and because her ears resemble those of a lynx.

No more car fenders for this plucky pussy cat. The Palm Springs Animal Shelter hopes to find her a permanent home Saturday.

[ click to read full article at NYDailyNews.com ]

from The New Yorker

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from TMZ

Director Tony Scott Commits Suicide – Jumps Off L.A. Bridge

BREAKING NEWS

Famed director Tony Scott — who directed “Top Gun” among many other major films — jumped to his death today off an L.A. bridge … this according to the L.A. County Coroner.According to the Coroner, 68-year-old Scott — Ridley Scott’s brother — jumped from the Vincent Thomas Bridge spanning San Pedro and Terminal Island around 12:30pm.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Jennifer Osburn said a suicide note was found in Scott’s Toyota Prius, which was parked on one of the eastbound lanes of the bridge.

Scott directed such films as “Top Gun,” “Beverly Hills Cop II,” “Enemy of the State,” and “The Taking of Pelham 123.”

[ click to continue reading at TMZ.com ]

from The New York Daily News

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from The Guardian

Pussy riot trial: ‘We are representatives of our generation’

As three members of the Russian punk band await a verdict, we examine how they managed to find themselves in the dock

By Miriam Elder in Moscow

They have targeted some of Moscow’s most well-secured sites with their flash concerts – the metro, a jail, Red Square – but it was a 40-second performance inside Russia‘s official church that proved a step too far for a system increasingly intolerant of dissent.

“We are representatives of our generation,” Maria Alyokhina told the court in an opening statement that reads like a manifesto, as Pussy Riot went on trial on charges of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. “It is important for me to understand whether the church is growing along with society or whether it remains a conservative institution. In the search for an answer, I did not expect a repressive and inquisition-like reaction.”

Pussy Riot formed as an anonymous feminist punk collective in October 2010, in the weeks after Putin’s declaration that he would return to the presidency after four years as prime minister. He had stepped down because the constitution did not allow more than two consecutive terms as president. His formal return, although expected, sent a wave of anger through segments of Russian society. Some began to refer to him as Tsar; others used the word “authoritarian”.

The women of Pussy Riot, students and graduates of some of Moscow’s most prestigious schools, were among that number.

“A lot of us couldn’t sleep after this announcement,” a member of the band, who identified herself as Tyurya, told the Guardian during a rare interview early this year. “We felt such anger because of this rudeness, this arrogance towards citizens. So we decided, damn it, we need to do something.”

[ click to read full article at The Guardian ]

from Entertainment Weekly

An extraterrestrial interview with ‘Rise of Nine’ author Pittacus Lore — EXCLUSIVE

by Stephan Lee

When Lorien elder Pittacus Lore called me earlier this week, I had a hard time understanding him at first. Of course it was due to the voice-changer he was using to hide his identity, as he is in the midst of a high-stakes, intergalactic battle against the Mogadorians. At great personal risk, Lore spoke to EW about his new book Rise of Nine (Aug. 21) in the Lorien Legacies series. He also shared his thoughts on the I Am Number Four movie and what Loriens like to read and watch. Also read on for news of Lore’s possible book signing appearances in the future.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Your books have been widely read since I Am Number Four. Are you loving the author’s life?
PITTACUS LORE: I don’t live an author’s life. I live the life of a general at war. While I have been writing the books during moments of peace, my full-time job is hunting and killing Mogadorians. That being said, I appreciate all the support we have gotten from readers around the world.

Have you enjoyed interacting with earthling readers?
Yes I have. I interact with them online every day and occasionally I show up at events though none of them know I am actually Pittacus Lore. Readers of Earth have been great to me and to the other Loriens here on Earth.

What can we expect from Rise of Nine?

Rise of Nine starts more or less where the Power of Six ends. Number 4 and Number 6 are trying to find the other Lorien on Earth. They are both wounded and have both fought massive battles. They are trying to find their brothers and sisters so that they can end the reign of terror brought on by the Mogadorians.

[ click to continue reading at EW ]

from The San Jose Mercury News

Steve Jobs home burglary suspect accused of stealing wallet, driver’s license, special computers with house key

By Mike Rosenberg and Jason Green / Staff writers / © Copyright 2012, Bay Area News Group

PALO ALTO — Detectives say Kariem McFarlin told them he was desperate for easy cash when he saw the Palo Alto home being renovated, hopped over the fence, found a spare key and went inside. No lights, no alarm, no one home. Then he discovered what hallowed ground he was on: the home of the iconic late Apple CEO, Steve Jobs.

Alone and with free rein of a house belonging to one of the richest and most secretive families on the planet, McFarlin made off with some of the legendary gadgets Jobs helped create, police said in a report released Tuesday, one month after a break-in just now being publicized. He grabbed iPhones, iPads, Macs and iPods, then found Jobs’ wallet — with a single dollar inside — and, perhaps most shockingly of all, took his driver’s license.

Police said he also snatched $60,000 worth of Tiffany & Co. jewelry and Cristal Champagne, and even took a soda-maker and kitchen blender.

[ click to continue reading at The SJ Merc ]

from The New York Times

Ron Palillo Dies at 63; Played Horshack on TV

ABC, via Photofest

By PAUL VITELLO

Ron Palillo, who portrayed the goofy high school underachiever Arnold Horshack in the hit 1970s sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter” with such definitive oddballness that he had trouble for years afterward finding work as an actor, died on Tuesday in West Palm Beach, Fla. He was 63.

“I know him, love what he does, not right for the part,” Mr. Palillo said in a 1997 newspaper interview, repeating what he said was the mantra of every casting director he met after his years on “Kotter,” which was on ABC from 1975 to 1979. “Everybody thought of me as Arnold Horshack. I resented Horshack for so many years.”

Welcome Back, Kotter” starred Gabe Kaplan as a high school teacher returning to his alma mater in Brooklyn to take over an unruly class of remedial students known collectively as the Sweathogs (because their top-floor classroom was always hot). The Sweathogs were Vinnie Barbarino (played by John Travolta), Freddie Washington (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs), Juan Epstein (Robert Hegyes) and Horshack, to whom Mr. Palillo imparted two trademarks: a braying laugh that sounded like a DisposAll with a utensil caught in it, and a wild waving of his hand to answer Mr. Kotter (usually wrongly) while grunting: “Ooh, ooh, Mista Kahta! Mista Kahta!”

[ click to read full obit at NYTimes.com ]

from The Wall Street Journal

Cosmo Editor Helen Gurley Brown Dies

By Ray A. Smith

Getty Images

Helen Gurley Brown, the iconic editor in chief of fashion magazine Cosmopolitan whose frank, modern attitudes about women and sex brought her fans and simultaneously made her a lightning rod, died Monday after a brief hospitalization in New York, according to a press release issued by Hearst Corporation. She was 90.

With her landmark 1962 bestseller “Sex and the Single Girl” and her stewardship of “Cosmopolitan,” from 1965 to 1997, she opened up conversations about sexuality at a time when female empowerment was a growing topic of discussion and debate. The magazine offered style tips as well as sex tips that were far from coy.

The magazine wasn’t shy about showing skin. One of its most famous photo spreads featured a nude Burt Reynolds with his privates strategically covered.

[ click to continue reading at WSJ.com ]

from Refinery29

Odd Couple Alert: James Frey Weighs In On His Weird JWoww Pairing

By Kristian Laliberte

In last Thursday’s Watch What Happens Live, Andy Cohen, and the kooky Bravo powers that be put together a bizarre guest duo that seemed straight out of a strange, humorous trip. Yes, we’re talking about A Million Little Pieces author James Frey (NB: We loved the book despite the controversy) andJersey Shore starlet JWoww.

What ensued was definite food for thought — Frey seemed a bit shy (though he dished on Oprah’s smell — “awesomeness”), and Jenni not at all (surprise, surprise, she even knew who he was!). Plus, there was the unexpected-but-cool revelation that Frey is, as Cohen so subtly puts it, “a sex symbol.” Duly intrigued, we hit up Mr. Frey for more elevated dirt on Jenni Farley, reality TV in general, and, of course, Andy Cohen. Read what happens (sorry, we had to) in our exclusive interview below. 

Are you a reality TV fan? If so, what shows are your guilty pleasures?
“Real Housewives of New York, Miss Advised, Million Dollar Listing. I love The Bachelor and Bachelor Pad. Still watch Survivor.”

What’s your take on Andy Cohen and Bravo and the whole movement to turn reality stars and housewives into full-fledged phenomenons? 
“He’s an incredibly smart dude. He was a visionary in seeing the future of reality TV and basically creating it. Bravo makes the best shows, creates the most hype, has the best brand. That is in large part because of Andy. I have a huge amount of respect for him.”

What did you think when you were asked to be on the show?
“I laughed and said, ‘What time should I be there?'”

[ click to continue reading at Refinery29.com ]

with thanks to David W. and Kat S.

The Hokey Pokey Shakespeare style! By Jeff Brechlin O proud left foot, that ventures quick within Then soon upon a backward journey lithe. Anon, once more the gesture, then begin: Command sinistral pedestal to writhe. Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke, A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl. To spin! A wilde release from Heavens yoke. Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl. The Hoke, the poke — banish now thy doubt Verily, I say, ’tis what it’s all about.         — by “William Shakespeare”

[ click to read at Phantom Ranch ]

from The Wrap

Marvin Hamlisch, Composed ‘The Way We Were,’ Dies at 68

Composer and conductor Marvin Hamlisch, best known for the torch song “The Way We Were,” died Monday. He was 68 years old.

In a career that spanned over four decades, Hamlisch won virtually every major award: three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony, and three Golden Globes.

Hamlisch composed more than forty motion picture scores, including his Oscar-winning score and song for “The Way We Were,” and his adaptation of Scott Joplin’s ragtime music for “The Sting,” for which he received a third Oscar.

Hamlisch’s musical scores, though intricately conceived, never drew attention to themselves. They served to compliment the on-screen action, not overwhelm it — enhancing each gesture, each glance, each moment of drama. That subtle approach allowed him to be something of a musical chameleon, easily gliding from searing dramas to off-beat comedies and making him a close collaborator to a diverse group of directors such as Woody Allen, Steven Soderbergh and Alan J. Pakula.

[ click to continue reading at The Wrap ]

 click to pre-order THE RISE OF NINE at Amazon

 

[ click to pre-order THE RISE OF NINE ]

from The NY Daily News

Karl Taro Greenfeld’s novel ‘Triburbia’ tells how artistic Tribeca fell prey to wealthy Wall Street types

Story centers on a group of fathers who meet for coffee, and some of them seem to resemble real Tribeca denizens

BY SHERRYL CONNELLY / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

BRYAN SMITH/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

The new novel “Triburbia” maps an intersection in time in Tribeca. It’s 2008, and the creative types who’d claimed the nabe from actual artists watch as the hedge fund millionaires invade. In a shaky economy, the holdouts from an earlier era have only their cultural pretensions to protect them.

“The bankers and lawyers here now don’t even pretend to care about theater and literature,” says author Karl Taro Greenfeld, who lives at Warren St. and West Broadway. “The people they’re replacing at least fancied themselves as being part of the creative class.”

Greenfeld’s story centers on a group of fathers who form a coffee klatsch that meets mornings at Socrates, the now-shuttered Greek diner on Hudson St. The cast includes a sound engineer with his own business, a sculptor supported by his wife, a one-hit playwright, a film producer seemingly always between projects, a best-selling memoirist exposed as a fraud and, oh, a gangster.

It’s hardly an affectionate portrait of the neighbors, though it is funny. Does Greenfeld expect any blowback from, say, the actual coffee klatsch of fathers he meets with many mornings? Or chef David Bouley or memoirist James Frey, both of whom are figures in the neighborhood?

“No, no,” he says hastily.

“These aren’t their stories. Though Frey does live in Tribeca.”

[ click to read full article at NYDailyNews.com ]

from The Guardian

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from bon appétit

I’m Sick of Robot Food

3:00 PM AUGUST 1, 2012 by Jason Kessler

(Credit: Erik S. Peterson)

HEY! Have you seen the mashed potato dispenser from that 7-11 in Singapore ??? OH. MY. GOSH. It’s incredible! It’s innovative! It’s… disgusting. Seriously. Mashed potatoes from what’s essentially a modified espresso machine? To borrow a colorful Valley Girl phrase from the 80s, “gag me with a spoon.” Actually, gag me with anything–as long as it’s not 7-11’s mashed potatoes. Are we so desperate for food that’s convenient that we’re willing to ignore the fact that mashed potatoes should not dribble out of a nozzle? Apparently so.

[ click to continue reading at bon appétit ]

from The Nation

Remembering Gore Vidal

Jon Wiener on August 1, 2012 – 1:36 AM ET

Gore Vidal. (AP Photo/file)

Victor Navasky tells one of the most revealing stories about Gore Vidal, who died July 31 in Los Angeles at age 86. In 1986, Gore wrote an essay for the magazine’s 120th anniversary issue. Shortly after it was published, Victor was invited to lunch by the publisher of Penthouse magazine, Bob Guccione, at his East Side townhouse, famous for its $200 million art collection. “We had barely consumed the amuse gueules when Bob asked me how much it cost to get Gore Vidal to write his essay,” Victor recalled. “When I told him we had paid each contributor to that issue $25 and Gore got the same $25 that everyone else got, he almost choked on his Chateau Margaux and told me he had offered Vidal $50,000 to write an article forPenthouse and Vidal declined.”

Gore, who had accepted Victor’s invitation to join the magazine in 1981 as a contributing editor, published forty-one articles in The Nation at those rates. Some of his most memorable quotes appeared in The Nation: “We are the United States of Amnesia,” he wrote in 2004. “We learn nothing because we remember nothing.” In that same essay he called the US a place where “the withered Bill of Rights, like a dead trumpet vine, clings to our pseudo-Roman columns.”

[ click to continue reading at The Nation ]