Quentin Tarantino is planning to remake Russ Meyer’s graduate thesis on the complex and intertwined relationship between heaving bosoms and ultraviolence, Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
The New York Post reports that porn queen Tera Patrick is being considered for a role. “Quentin loves her, and she’s a dead ringer for original star Tura Satana.” said the source.
Patrick gushes over the Russ Meyer 1966 cult film about three women on a violent desert road trip.
“It would be the hottest remake ever, and I’m honored to be considered,” she told Page Six. “I was built for this part.”
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is a 1965 film directed by Russ Meyer, who also wrote the script with Jack Moran. It stars Tura Satana, Haji, and Lori Williams.
The film features gratuitous violence, sexuality, provocative gender roles, and campy dialogue. It has become a cult film favorite and has been widely referred to in pop culture.
It is one of Meyer’s more provocatively titled and explicitly exploitative films, yet unlike most of his films, it does not contain explicit nudity.
Brit Hume is going into semi-retirement, Howie Kurtz reports.
Brit Hume, a top anchor and executive with Fox News since the channel was launched 12 years ago, plans to step down at year’s end. But he won’t disappear entirely.
Sources familiar with the situation say that Hume, 65, will give up his job as Washington managing editor and anchor of “Special Report.” They say he is near a deal to continue with Fox in a senior statesman role, not unlike that of Tom Brokaw at NBC, for roughly 100 days a year.
In his new role, Hume would be a senior political analyst, anchor special events, serve as a panelist on “Fox News Sunday” and occasionally substitute for the host, Chris Wallace.
This was apparently expected. Certainly, the man’s got plenty of money and has earned the right to a lighter schedule.
As I’ve noted many times, I’ve all but stopped watching television news since starting the blog. I always enjoyed Hume, though, as an anchor or as a panelist.
UPDATE: Reactions are starting to pour in.
Matt Sheffield, Newsbusters: “He’ll be missed. Special Report was a rare island of sanity in the chaotic sea of cable news.”
Matt Corley, Think Progress, reports without comment. His commenters stay classy, as always.
David Hauslaib, Jossip: “Perhaps he’ll use the opportunity to make the official transition from hard news anchor to opinionated pundit.”
Recently two of the Internet’s loveliest personalities, Xeni Jardin of Boing Boing and sex columnist Violet Blue, had a very public row in the blogosphere when Jardin removed every reference to Blue from public view on her site, totaling around 70 posts.
As the New York Times notes, the fracas raised the issue of whether unpublishing posts on a popular blog (currently there are 1,600-plus comments on the decision) is something a blogger has a right to do.
We’ll, Playboy got a bit more excited when they saw old pics of the pair canoodling on Valleywag. Two sexy, smart, web-savvy women — they couldn’t think of anything hotter.
Playboy Asks: Who are some more of the blogosphere’s sexiest women?
Playboy scanned the web for some of the hottest female bloggers and video bloggers (or “vloggers”) from the worlds of finance, entertainment, tech and sex, and they want to know who your favorite is.
UPDATE (James): Apparently, Sarah Lacy is getting quite a bit of traffic out of the whole thing proving, as if anyone still doubted it, that sex sells.
I’ve had one of the biggest traffic days in months, post the whole Playboy mention. Of course, anyone coming here looking for sexy photos was probably disappointed to read about nothing but my book tour!
I’m a little surprised people have balked so much at the Playboy thing. Clearly, I would never consider actually posing nude and assume most of the girls on the list wouldn’t either. (No, TechCrunch commenters, not even for a lot of money. Seriously, what is wrong with men? Just because they’ll get naked at the drop of a hat they think it’s somehow irresistible?) But that’s not all Playboy is about either. Loads of politicians, celebrities, business people have been interviewed and featured in Playboy before, even if no one really reads it for the articles.
She is, incidentally, wearing clothing in all photos displayed on the site.
Stuck On Stupid linked with Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama’s Testicles...
Right Voices linked with Homosexual Sues Bible Publishers Because their versions of the Bible Refer To Homosexuality As a Sin Violate His Constitutional Rights and Have Caused Him Emotional Pain and Mental Instability
Right Truth linked with PATIENT EVIL - An R.J. Godlewski / Right Truth Blog Exclusive - Chapter Twenty-Three...
The Pink Flamingo linked with McCain's Millions - Money Money Money Moonneeyyy!...
Adam's Blog linked with Obama’s Strange Language...
DMX has been arrested at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on outstanding warrants. Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Aaron Douglas says the rapper, 37, was taken into custody Wednesday morning after arriving from Florida. DMX (real name: Earl Simmons) is being held on a $1,075 bond for driving with a suspended license and a $10,000 bond stemming from previous drug charges.
Douglas says DMX had failed to appear in court and warrants were issued. He is expected to appear before a judge late Wednesday. His lawyer in Phoenix, Cameron Morgan, declined TO comment.
The musician/actor has had a recent string of run-ins with the law. He was arrested Friday in Miami on charges of attempting to purchase cocaine and attempting to purchase marijuana.
Way to give rappers a bad name, dude.
Interestingly, country music star Glen Campbell had a song, recorded before Simmons/DMX was born, called “By the Time I get to Phoenix.” It had nothing to do with getting arrested, though. But, five years ago Glen Campbell was arrested — in Phoenix — on drunk driving and hit and run charges.
Clearly, the lesson here is that, if you’re a popular singer who commits crimes involving your vehicle and intoxicating substances, you should stay the hell out of Phoenix.
Source: “DMX arrested in Phoenix on outstanding warrants” (AP)
Tyson Homosexual ran 100 meters in a wind-aided 9.68 seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials today, in what would have been world record time. I mean, Tyson Gay.
Leftie People For the American Way’s Right Wing Watch blog reports that,
In addition to blocking traffic from websites they don’t like, it looks like the web-geniuses behind the American Family Association’s OneNewsNow site have a few other tricks up their sleeves, such as automatically replacing any use of the word “gay” with the word “homosexual” in any of the AP stories they run … leading to instances in which proper names are reformatted to meet their ridiculous standard, such as this article about sprinter Tyson Gay winning the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in which he is renamed “Tyson Homosexual”
As Steve Benen observes, “auto-replace is not your friend.”
I checked and, apparently, someone tipped off OneNewsNow and they have rendered Gay’s name as Gay in updated stories such as “Gay runs 100 in windy 9.68 to make US Olympic team.” Which, in this context, is still a pretty funny headline.
Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson usually keep the PDA’s under wraps, but were spotted holding hands.
Despite all the Lohan drama last week with Lindsay’s supposed long lost sister, Lindsay and Sam went about their usual routine in LA.
The twosome did normal things like shopping at Barneys yesterday. It’s good to see Lindsay making these kind of headlines, unlike the headlines from the past.
A supermodel plunged to her death Saturday afternoon by leaping from her Lower Manhattan apartment window in an apparent suicide.
Ruslana Korshunova, barely shy of her 21st birthday, apparently jumped from the balcony of her residential building in Manhattan’s Financial District, police tell the New York Post.
Authorities said there appeared to be no signs of a struggle having taken place inside the 9th-floor apartment, which the green-eyed, 5′8″ beauty had occupied for only two months.
The Kazakhstan-born “Russian Rapunzel,” as she was known, had appeared as cover girl on editions of French Elle and Russian Vogue, as well as in ads for Marc Jacobs, DKNY, Vera Wang and Christian Dior.
“Our hearts are with her family,” a spokesman for her agency, IMG (which also represents Heidi Klum and Kate Moss) told the Post.
A former boyfriend, Artem Perchenok, 24, told the paper that the two had watched the movie Ghost and that he dropped her off at home at 5 a.m. Saturday. “She was a good person,” he said.
The Daily News suggests that Korshunova had become despondent over a lost love. She poured her heart out on the Web in the months leading to her apparent suicide.
“Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably,” the sandy-haired knockout wrote in a poem that concluded: “And never regret anything that made you smile.”
The Kazakh beauty wrote that love “blinds,” “sets souls afire,” and “is always the answer” in emotion-soaked passages posted on a social networking site.
Korshunova volleyed between Russian and English in her heartfelt prose, but love was a central theme no matter the language. “Do not confuse love and desire,” she wrote in Russian in her most recent posting May 30. “Love is the sun, desire - only flash. Desire dazzles, and the sun gives life.”
The soulful note warns of the perils of sacrifice.
“Love does not take away from one in order to give to another,” wrote Korshunova, a 20-year-old thousands of miles from her native Kazakhstan. “Love - this is the essence of life. But you will not give your life to another.”
Korshunova’s most telling message came three months ago: “I’m so lost. Will I ever find myself?”
She appeared angry in some postings, brokenhearted in others.
“I’m a bitch. I’m a witch. I don’t care what you say!!!” she wrote March 11. “I know what it is. I know why my other relationships didn’t work out, ’cause I’m unpredictable. Why are you afraid of it?”
In January, she wrote, “It hurts, as if someone took a part of me, tore it out, mercilessly stomped all over and threw it out.
“My dream is to fly. Oh, my rainbow it is too high,” she wrote in a March note.
This is very, very sad.
UPDATE (James): Fox News has shown video of Korshunova’s body . I think the family could have done without that. Sad, indeed.
Comic actor Harvey Korman has died at 81, according to the UCLA Medical Center.
Korman died at the center four months after suffering complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
“It was a miracle in itself that he survived the incident at all. Everyone in the hospital referred to him as ‘miracle man’ because of his strong will and ability to bounce right back after several major operations,” said Korman’s daughter, Kate Korman. “Tragically, after such a hard-fought battle, he passed away.”
Korman was a regular on “The Carol Burnett Show” from 1967 through 1978, for which he won Emmy awards in 1969, 1971, 1972 and 1974. He also won a Golden Globe for his work on the series.
The lanky Korman also appeared in Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles” (as the sneering Hedley Lamarr), “High Anxiety” and “History of the World, Part 1.”
He starred in his own short-lived situation comedy, “The Harvey Korman Show,” in 1978, in which he portrayed Harvey Kavanaugh opposite Christine Lahti, who played his wife, Maggie.
He made dozens of appearances in other television shows and movies during his lengthy show-business career, including providing voices for several animated productions. Among those was The Great Gazoo, a helmeted space man who appeared in some episodes of “The Flintstones.”
Korman was born in Chicago, Illinois. His first marriage, to Donna Ehlert in 1960, ended in divorce in 1974. He married Deborah Fritze in 1982. Both marriages produced two children.
Korman landed some sketch work on “The Red Skelton Show” in 1961, followed by a four-year stint on “The Danny Kaye Show,” which led to his joining Carol Burnett in 1967.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Korman is survived by three other adult children — Laura, Maria and Chris — and three grandchildren.
I loved Harvey Korman and Tim Conway together — especially how Harvey could rarely keep a straight face.
UPDATE (James): See my thoughts and more clips at OTB. Like Allie, I always enjoyed the Korman-Conway duo. Apparently, we weren’t alone, as the two toured together for years after the show ended.
source: Comic actor Harvey Korman dies at 81 [cnn]
Dunkin’ Donuts has pulled an ad spot featuring Rachael Ray wearing a scarf around her neck because some thought it was a subtle nod of support to Palestinians.
Does Dunkin’ Donuts really think its customers could mistake Rachael Ray for a terrorist sympathizer? The Canton-based company has abruptly canceled an ad in which the domestic diva wears a scarf that looks like a keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men.
more stories like this
Some observers, including ultra-conservative Fox News commentator Michelle Malkin, were so incensed by the ad that there was even talk of a Dunkin’ Donuts boycott. ‘‘The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad,’’ Malkin yowls in her syndicated column. ‘‘Popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant and not-so-ignorant fashion designers, celebrities, and left-wing icons.’’
The company at first pooh-poohed the complaints, claiming the black-and-white wrap was not a keffiyeh. But the right-wing drumbeat on the blogosphere continued and by yesterday, Dunkin’ Donuts decided it’d be easier just to yank the ad.
Said the suits in a statement: ‘‘In a recent online ad, Rachael Ray is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design. It was selected by her stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism was intended. However, given the possibility of misperception, we are no longer using the commercial.’’
The terrorists have won. Or maybe we’ve just gone collectively insane.
I was blissfully unaware of both the commercial and the the controversy surrounding it until seeing a link on memeorandum this morning. But, seriously?
It’s true that wearing the keffiyah as a fashion symbol has been a recurring trend among Palestinian sympathizers and various hipsters over the years. But Ray’s scarf doesn’t look anything like Yasser Arafat’s.
Further, the terrorists wear headdresses because that’s how men throughout the Middle East and North Africa dress. It’s a protective covering for the head in brutally hot climates. In any case, none of them are paisley.
The iconic “spider-web” black-and-white keffiyeh is often displayed symbolically by members of Arafat’s Fatah party (which more generally uses yellow as its party colour), although it has never been able to expropriate it as their exclusive symbol. The zig zag style of stitching is sometimes described as symbolic of their historic struggle and their inability to progress towards their objectives without having to avoid obsticles. This is in contrast to how many members of the radical leftist PLO factions (such as PFLP, PFLP-GC DFLP) prefer the checkered red keffieyhs — red being both the traditional colour of the workers’ movement and the red scarf supposedly more indicative of a bedouin and rural (thus poorer, more popular) background. The Islamist factions, such as Hamas, use green — representative of the Islamic faith — as a party color, but for keffiyehs they stick to the traditional black-and-white or red variants, with no particular preference evident. While widely known, this color symbolism is by no means universally accepted by all Palestinians, and its importance should not be overstated — red or black-and-white scarves are used by Palestinians of all political stripes, as well as by those with no particular political sympathies.
But, just to be safe, we should assume that every white chick wearing a scarf is a terrorist or terrorist sympathizer. Ray’s lucky her ad’s just been canceled and she hasn’t been hauled off to Gitmo for questioning.
UPDATE: Via Steven Taylor, I see that Tom Grant has discovered a much more egregious example of terror chic:
These fiends are everywhere. (While Taylor is reminded of an old Monty Python sketch about communists, it seems more to me like Ray Stevens’ “Santa Claus is Watching You.”)
Meanwhile, Doug Mataconis thinks sympathy for Arafat is the least of Ray’s crimes.
(And while we’re on the subject, what’s with the extraneous “a” in Ray’s first name? Perhaps another homage to Arafat? Or . . . Al Qaeda?)
UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has even caught Meghan McCain — daughter of Juan McCain, hero of the Reconquista — wearing a purple plaid scarf keffiyah! Gawker has the photographic evidence. Nick Denton’s terrorist loving staff thinks it’s funny. They won’t think it’s funny, though, when the Straight Talk Express rams into Gawker HQ and explodes!
Authorities said there appeared to be no signs of a struggle having taken place inside the 9th-floor apartment, which the green-eyed, 5′8″ beauty had occupied for only two months.
