Happy Birthday Macaulay Culkin (and some others)
There’s been a lot of attention today on the Twitters and the Facebooks and the Internets drawn to the thirtieth birthday of Home Alone star Macaulay Caulkin, starting (as far as I can tell) from the tweet from forever-young actor @GaryJBusey Macaulay Culkin turns 30 today, but I still don’t trust him to be left home alone followed by countless blogs relaying the information that Culkin will be spending his birthday “home alone” with some close friends.
In honor of Mac’s birthday, and all of us born in 1980, here’s a quick rundown of the wealth of talent born the year Reagan was elected and Lennon was killed.
January 17 – Zooey Deschanel, American actress
January 18 – Jason Segel, American actor
January 22 – Christopher Masterson, American actor
January 28 – Nick Carter, American pop singer
February 11 – Matthew Lawrence, American actor
February 12 – Christina Ricci, American actress
February 15 – Conor Oberst, American singer/songwriter
February 27 – Chelsea Clinton, First daughter
April 1 – Bijou Phillips, American actress and socialite
June 17 – Venus Williams, American tennis player
June 26 – Jason Schwartzman, American actor
July 10 – Jessica Simpson, American singer
July 20 – Gisele Bündchen, Brazilian supermodel
August 26 – Macaulay Culkin, American actor
September 9 – Michelle Williams, American actress
September 25 – T.I., American rapper
November 12 – Ryan Gosling, Canadian actor
December 18 – Christina Aguilera, American singer
December 19 – Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor
Meet Kat Von D
We are thrilled to announce the following appearances where Kat Von D will meet fans in conjunction with the release of her latest book The Tattoo Chronicles, on sale Tuesday, October 26, 2010.
If you’re unable to meet Kat on tour, pre-order your copy of The Tattoo Chronicles today.
Complete schedule after the jump.
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Susan Lucci to Pen Autobiography
New York, NY (July 28, 2010) – It Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced today that it will publish television legend Susan Lucci’s autobiography in 2011. As the most famous face in daytime television history, Lucci has held audiences spellbound for years as the sexy, sassy, beautiful “woman you love to hate,” Erica Kane on ABC-TV’s All My Children.
The book was acquired by Lisa Sharkey, Senior Vice President and Director of Creative Development for HarperCollins from Mel Berger of William Morris Endeavor. Vice President and Executive Editor, Hope Innelli will edit the book.
In her autobiography Lucci will recount her forty year-long career on All My Children, playing the beautiful and controversial character. As Erica Kane, Lucci has experienced many intense moments on screen: married many times on air, was one of daytime’s first working mothers, and has dealt with many of life’s greatest tragedies. In addition to providing readers with an exciting and satisfying behind the scenes look at her career, Lucci will devote much of the book to her personal life off-camera. Lucci will reveal information on her devastating car accident, her miscarriage, and the joy that came with finally winning an Emmy in 1999 after eighteen previous nominations. She recounts her experiences on Broadway, performing to sold-out audiences across the country as a cabaret, nightclub performer, and as a celebrity dancer on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. Named one of Barbara Walters’ “Ten Most Fascinating People,” Lucci will give readers an intimate look into her life as a daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, philanthropist, entrepreneur and iconic actress.
“I am so excited to share my life experiences with my fans,” Susan Lucci said. “It Books gave me the extraordinary opportunity to tell my story.”
About It Books: Launched in September 2009, It Books is dedicated to publishing exceptional books in entertainment, music, fashion, design, art, celebrity, pop culture and sports. It Books has published numerous New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times bestsellers including Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern, Getting the Pretty Back by Molly Ringwald, Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway by Cherie Currie, I Love Your Style by Amanda Brooks, and Satiristas by Paul Provenza and Dan Dion. Upcoming publications include Blow by Blow by Detmar Blow with Tom Skyes, The Red Hot Chili Peppers by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, How to Beat Up Anybody by Judah Friedlander, True Whit by Whitney Port, Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead by Neil Strauss and Al Jaffee’s Mad Life by Mary Lou Weisman. It Books is an imprint HarperCollinsPublishers, one of the largest English-language publishers in the world and a subsidiary of News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS, NWSLV). It Books can be found online at www.YourItList.com, www.Facebook.com/YourItList, www.Twitter.com/YourItList and www.Twitter.com/ItBooks.
PR Contacts:
Alberto G. Rojas, Senior Director of Publicity, 212-207-7891; alberto.rojas@harpercollins.com
Joseph Papa, Associate Publicist, 212-207-7326; joseph.papa@harpercollins.com
Sex and Drugs and Guns N’ Roses
Steven Adler, the infamous former drummer for Guns N’ Roses, kicked off his book tour to promote My Appetite for Destruction tonight at Book Revue in Long Island to a rapt crowd of fans.
In his memoir, Adler shares the shattering untold truth of GNR and his own personal struggles with addiction, as seen on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Adler bares it all in My Appetite for Destruction including:
- His childhood: As a young teen Steven was lured into a private party where he was sexually assaulted and beaten. Never before has this shocking, harrowing tale been told. Steven emerged a less trusting, but wiser 14 year-old. He reveals how he discovered a way to learn how to play from some of the best rock drummers in the world.
- His love life: One of Steven’s lovers, thinking Steven was leaving her, tried to commit suicide by jumping out a fifth-floor window. And his first wife went out with one of her girlfriends one night, never to return…
- His health: Steven delves into the brutal depression and humiliation borne of his botched suicide attempts, his drug-related heart attacks, and the debilitating stroke that caused him muscular paralysis and permanently slurred speech.
- His band-mates: How Slash, against all reason, reached out to help Steven one last time after the rest of Guns N’ Roses had given up on him. How Duff snubbed Steven, humiliating him in front of thousands of fans at Farm Aid. And what Slash and Axl Rose did to Steven that can never, ever be forgotten.
- His heroics: How Steven discovered a seemingly unconscious and non-responsive Nikki Sixx all alone, and saved his life.
- …and his endless antics: How Steven managed to earn the seething wrath of Axl Rose, Eddie Van Halen and Rod Stewart. And incredible accounts of how Guns N’ Roses’ endless partying made virtually every night a gamble on whether they’d make it to the stage or to the morgue.
*Expires October 27, 2010.
The stories behind Mad Men revealed
The wait is finally almost over… the new season of Mad Men premieres July 25th on AMC. It’s about time. The recently released Season 4 poster has been getting a ton of attention including this in-depth examination and search for hidden meaning from TV Guide.
But to find out the real meaning behind the hit show you’ll need to read Mad Men Unbuttoned: A Romp Through 1960s America by Natasha Vargas-Cooper, the woman behind the highly popular blog The Footnotes of Mad Men.
In the book, Vargas-Cooper turns her eye to everything from Lucky Strike to Madienform, gray flannel suits to Burt Cooper’s Japonism, Grace Kelly to John Cheever — and examines iconic morsels from the show and the error. Very Short List agrees, Mad Men Unbuttoned is like a little time machine that takes us, as Mr. Draper so elegantly put it, ‘to a place where we ache to go again.’”
Still need more Mad Men in your life and on your computer screen? You can download two Mad Men wallpaper designs for your computer: What’s in Don Draper’s Desk and What’s in Joan Holloway’s Purse.
Buy the book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders or Books-a-Million.
Tell someone what you really think
The amazing SomeEcards.com have joined forces with the equally amazing Shit My Dad Says to bring you the perfect sayings from Sam Halpern fit to match any occassion (birthday, wedding, farewells, new baby and more).
Visit the Shit My Dad Says at SomeEcards.com store and let the truth be heard. Some choice examples:
Oh, and don’t forget to buy the # 1 New York Times bestseller Sh*t My Dad Says book.
It Books signs Sammy Hagar for Autobiography
PRE-ORDER now at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
NEW YORK, NY (June 24, 2010) – It Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced today a deal to publish Sammy Hagar’s autobiography in 2011. Hagar, the multi-platinum Red Rocker, is best known as the bombastic front man of Van Halen, one of the biggest-selling rock groups in history, and the lead singer of the hard rock group, Chickenfoot.
The book was acquired by Lisa Sharkey, Senior Vice President and Director of Creative Development for HarperCollins from Frank Weimann, President of The Literary Group International. Senior Editor Matt Harper will edit the book.
Hagar will provide readers with incredible behind-the-scenes stories from his multi-platinum career, including his rise as a solo artist and his eleven years with Van Halen, after the controversial departure of original lead vocalist David Lee Roth. During Hagar’s time with Van Halen, the band released four consecutive No. 1 albums. From worldwide stadium concerts tours to private jets, Hagar enjoyed the trappings of fame and success with Van Halen until he was, as he puts it, “unceremoniously fired.” Hagar later thrived as a solo act, leading his band, the Cabo Wabos, before returning triumphantly to Van Halen for an historic reunion tour after which he set off on his own once again.
“I’ve been writing this book my whole life,” says Hagar. “It’s time to put it between two covers.”
Honest and compelling, Hagar’s account spares no one, least of all himself. Hagar’s autobiography reveals the inside story of one of rock music’s most recognizable voices, from his humble beginnings in the town of Fontana, California, to his incredible business success with Cabo Wabo Tequila and the Cabo Wabo Cantinas. The book will be co-authored by Joel Selvin, longtime pop music writer for the San Francisco Chronicle.
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About It Books:
Launched in September 2009, It Books is dedicated to publishing exceptional books in entertainment, music, fashion, design, art, celebrity, pop culture and sports. It Books has published numerous New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times bestsellers including Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern, Getting the Pretty Back by Molly Ringwald, Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway by Cherie Currie, I Love Your Style by Amanda Brooks, and Satiristas by Paul Provenza and Dan Dion. Upcoming publications include Blow by Blow by Detmar Blow with Tom Skyes, The Red Hot Chili Peppers by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, How to Beat Up Anybody by Judah Friedlander, True Whit by Whitney Port, Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead by Neil Strauss and Al Jaffee’s Mad Life by Mary Lou Weisman. It Books is an imprint HarperCollinsPublishers, one of the largest English-language publishers in the world and a subsidiary of News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS, NWSLV).
It Books can be found online at www.YourItList.com, www.Facebook.com/YourItList, www.Twitter.com/YourItList and www.Twitter.com/ItBooks.
PUBLICITY CONTACT: Alberto G. Rojas, Senior Director of Publicity, 212-207-7891; alberto.rojas@harpercollins.com
YOURITLIST.COM CONTACT: youritlist@harpercollins.com
IT BOOKS CONTACT: itbooks@harpercollins.com
Why Pearl Jam matters
Its taken a week to wrap my head around Pearl Jam’s show at Madison Square Garden on May 21st - and to get my voice back to normal. Without a doubt, Pearl Jam always puts on an amazing show. Though not seeing them for several years (after seeing them a dozen times in a few short years with the exception of Eddier Veder’s solo acoustic show), maybe I forgot how incredible a group they are.
So…my thoughts on why Pearl Jam matters….
- Ed’s ever-present bottle of wine on stage to, you know, keep his throat from getting dry
- Tribute song, “I’m Open,” dedicated to Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States
- How Eddie still acts amazed when he stands on stage and lets the crowd sing “Better Man” to him
- The crowd clears out for bathroom breaks during a “popular radio song,” (ie “Daughter”) but no one moves when he stands on stage and talks to the crowd
- No matter how massive a Pearl Jam fan you are, you will hear at least one, possibly two, songs you don’t know
- No matter how massive a Pearl Jam fan you are, and how many times you’ve seen them in concert, you will hear at least one song performed that you have never heard them perform live before
- After doing this for twenty years, the band still brings it like its their first concert and keeps it going like it might be their last
- Because even though they will forever be linked by time and place, Pearl Jam is not Nirvana, which is a good thing for both bands
As incredible as the show was as a whole (I would have paid just to hear Eddie belt out “Neverman”), the show was stolen when Eddie invited Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses) out to accompany him on “Hunger Strike.” Watch that performance and sometime around 45 seconds into it Bridwell seems to realize what he is singing and who he is singing with. The only thing better than the look of awe on his face is the look of pride on Ed’s face.
Pearl Jam, Madison Square Garden, May 21, 2010
Main Set:
Corduroy, Hail Hail, Do the Evolution, Worldwide Suicide, Got Some, Breath, Nothingman, I’m Open (Dedicated to Howard Zinn), Unthought Known, Grievance, Amongst the Waves, Present Tense, Not For You/Modern Girl, Push Me Pull Me, Rats, Daughter/WMA, The Fixer, Why Go
Encore 1:
The End (w/ string quartet), Just Breathe (w/ string quartet), Slow Lukin (w/ strings), Black Red Yellow, Sweet Lew, Given to Fly, Spin the Black Circle, Rearviewmirror
Encore 2:
Wasted Reprise, Betterman, Black/We Belong Together, The Real Me, Hunger Strike, Alive, Kick Out the Jams, Yellow Ledbetter/Star Spangled Banner
Green Day loves rock’n'roll (and Joan Jett)
As our frequent readers have seen before (here and here and here), Your It List is a big fan of Green Day. And as you’ve seen before we also love The Runaways, Joan Jett (and of course Cherie Currie!). Oh, we also love Europe.
So it was just a matter of time before this trifecta of love came together.
It was just recently announced that Joan Jett and the Blackhearts will be joining Green Day on their European tour this summer. The thought of Billy Joe singing “I Love Rock’n'Roll,” of Joan singing “Longview,” I’m just hoping Joan decides to stick around for the US leg of the tour. Or at the very least the August 14th show at PNC in Jersey so I can see if for myself.
Joan Jett and The Black Hearts Join Green Day:
- June 2 in Denmark
- June 4 in Oslo
- June 5 in Gothenburg
- June 8 in Helsinki
- June 11 in Munich
- June 12 in Austria
- June 16 in Manchester
- June 19 in London
- June 21 in Glasgow
- June 23 in Dublin with Paramore
Ashley Fiolek is kicking up dirt
“Ashley Fiolek’s incredible story perfectly embodies the adage ‘the only thing that deaf people can’t do is hear.’ Fiolek is an inspiration to anyone who has a barrier to overcome. My hands are waving in the air, and I’m screaming for her; this book should not be missed.” —Marlee Matlin
Buy Kicking Up Dirt at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders or an independent bookseller.
At nineteen, Ashley Fiolek is already the top female competitor in a tough men’s sport: motocross, a form of off-road motorcycle racing that is one of the most competitive and dangerous extreme sports in the world. Since going pro in late 2007, Fiolek has taken gold at the X Games, won the American Women’s Motocross Championship twice, and become the first woman in American motocross history to be signed to a factory team—the highest echelon of industry backing.
But Fiolek’s rise has not come without obstacles. Fiolek was born profoundly deaf, a handicap that makes everyday life difficult—and competition on the track downright dangerous. Originally misdiagnosed as “mildly retarded,” she was a painfully shy and introverted child—until her parents introduced her to the world of dirt bikes, which helped her escape the silence in her head and connect with others who shared her passion. She began racing at seven, and as her successes grew through hard work and no small number of broken bones, so did her confidence.
Fiolek has never believed her disability should stand in the way of her dreams. Nor has she allowed her gender to limit her career—motocross historically has been a men’s sport, but with the love and support of her dirt-obsessed family, including her “Grandpa Motorcycle,” her little brother, Kicker, and her dogs, Turbo and Rocco, Ashley has emerged as one of the sport’s most talked-about stars, changing the way the entire industry views women. Armed with her extraordinary talent, contagious grin, and deep faith in God, Fiolek continues to venture into unknown territory, relentlessly pushing herself—and women’s motocross—to ever-greater heights.
Kicking Up Dirt is a remarkable, inspiring tale of a young woman’s courage and determination to succeed in the face of truly challenging obstacles.
Read an excerpt from Kicking Up Dirt, follow Ashley Fiolek on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, and enter for a chance to win over $1400 in motocross prizes.
Molly Ringwald gets the pretty back
The iconic Molly Ringwald shares intimate stories and candid advice in Getting the Pretty Back, a fun, stylish, and sexy girlfriend’s guide to life.
Buy Getting the Pretty Back today at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders or an independent bookseller.
To her millions of fans, Molly Ringwald will forever be sixteen. As the endearing and witty star of the beloved John Hughes classics Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink, Molly defined teenage angst, love, and heartbreak. While remembered eternally as the enviable high school princess Claire, or the shy, vulnerable Samantha, Molly has just celebrated her fortieth birthday. Facing a completely new, angst-inducing time in her life, she is embracing being a woman, wife, mother of three, actress, and best friend with her trademark style, candor, and humor.
In Getting the Pretty Back, Molly encourages every woman to become “the sexiest, funniest, smartest, best-dressed, and most confident woman that you can be.” She shares personal anecdotes and entertaining insights about the struggle to get through the murky milestones and identity issues that crop up long after the prom ends. Whether she’s discussing sex and beauty, personal style, travel and entertaining, motherhood, or friendship, Molly embodies the spirit of being fabulous at every age, and reminds us all that prettiness is a state of mind: it’s “the part of you that knows what you really want, that takes risks.”
Lavishly illustrated by Ruben Toledo, Getting the Pretty Back is sure to charm women of all ages with Molly’s unforgettably personal, refreshingly outspoken take on life, love, and, of course, finding that perfect red lipstick.
Read an excerpt from Getting the Pretty Back, view Molly’s favorite fondu recipe from Artisanal Bistro, read an interview with Molly on Tonic.com and become a fan on Facebook.
Rebel with a gun
Fifty-six years ago two young actors appeared together in a twenty-three minute episode of General Electric Theater. Today, both men have reached heights of popularity and cultural significance neither could have predicted. And after more than half a century “The Dark, Dark Hours” starring James Dean and Ronald Reagan has been discovered.
The Atlantic has the video – edited down to 6 mins – of James Dean portraying a rebel with a gun (10 months before the premiere of Rebel Without A Cause) holding a doctor (Reagan) and his family hostage while trying to get medical attention for his wounded friend.
What struck me most about this short film is the hint of roles to come in Dean’s performance, most notably the conversations between Dean (calling Reagan ‘Dad) and Reagan (calling Dean ‘Sonny’) and the physical altercation between the two followed by the emotional breakdown of the younger actor.
The physical altercation between Dean and Reagan plays out much in the same fashion as Dean’s altercation with Jim Backus, who played his father, in Rebel Without a Cause – though this time it’s the father figure attacking the younger man.
Reagan attacking Dean quickly escalates into Dean’s emotional breakdown – mimicking, almost exactly – the scene Dean may already have been preparing for in East of Eden, when he, as Caleb Trask, tries to buy his father’s love (Raymond Massey) only to be rejected, sending him into a tailspin of self-destruction.
In many ways ”The Dark, Dark Hours” can be seen as a sort of screen test for Dean, working through many of the themes and acting styles that he will then bring to the three film roles he left behind, in Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden and his final picture, Giant.
Thank you all from the pit of my burning, nauseous stomach
Sixteen years ago today the world learned of Kurt Cobain’s suicide. It was – and still remains – a massive loss to music and to an entire generation. It has all been said before, by people much more capable to capture this, so I won’t try to do that here.
For people who were not born when JFK was killed or when man first walked on the moon, Cobain’s death became the first “where were you when” moment. I was in eighth grade, biology class, a little before 2:00 in the afternoon. My friend Ken, appropriately dressed in a flannel shirt, walked into class, tossed down his bag and said “Kurt’s dead.” It was one of those moments.
MTV’s blog has a great post today about Cobain’s death - it seems appropriate to read it from MTV (remember MTV?) as I remember that day, sixteen years ago, going home and sitting in front of Kurt Loder on MTV for hours on end with news updates, tribute messages, videos and a few days later when Courtney Love talked about Kurt for the first time after his death and read parts of Cobain’s suicide note where he thanks his fans from the pit of his burning, nausous stomach and quotes Neil Young “its better to burn out than to fade away.”
The irony lies in the fact that by killing himself so young, at 27, he ensured that Kurt Cobain will never fade away.
Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway
The Runaways, one of our most highly anticipated movies will finally debut in theaters on March 19th. We’ve been waiting a very long time to see seems to be two great actresses bringing to life two amazing performers: Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie.
Buy the book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book-A-Million, Borders or an Independent Bookseller.
Click here to read a preview of the first two chapters.
About Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway by Cherie Currie
Cherie Currie, with her signature Bowie haircut and fishnet stockings, was the groundbreaking lead singer of ’70s teenage all-girl rock band the Runaways. At the tender age of fifteen, she joined a group of talented girls—Joan Jett and Lita Ford on guitar, Jackie Fox on bass, and Sandy West on drums—who could play rock like no one else.
Arriving on the Los Angeles music scene in 1975, they catapulted from playing small clubs to selling out major stadiums, headlining shows with opening acts like the Ramones, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, and Blondie. Currie lit up the stage with the provocative teen-rebellion songs “Cherry Bomb,” “Queens of Noise,” and “Born to Be Bad,” riding a wave of hit songs and platinum albums, all while touring around the world.
On the face of it, Currie’s is a riveting story of girl empowerment and fame. But it is also an intensely personal account of her struggles with drugs, sexual abuse, and violence. She and her bandmates, runaways all, were thrown into a decadent, high-pressure music scene where on the road, unsupervised for months at a time, they had to grow up fast and experience things that no teenage girls should. Neon Angel exposes the side of the music industry fans never get to see, and chronicles the group’s rise to fame and their ultimate demise.
Shocking and inspiring, funny and touching, Neon Angel stunningly re-creates a bygone era of rock and roll, all the while providing an inside look at growing up hard under the relentless glare of the public eye, and chronicling one tough woman’s fight to reclaim her life.
About The Runaways
The Runaways is based on lead-singer Cherie Currie’s book ‘Neon Angel’ – a reflection of her experiences as a rock star, but also delivering a strong anti-drug warning to teens and others. David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” serves as a metaphor for the narrative– a slow countdown, a surreal but spectacular rise to fame, then alienation and burnout – a long long way from home.
The movie chronicles THE RUNAWAYS from 1975 – 1977; formed by teenage girls living near Hollywood, CA., and heavily manipulated by their manager Kim Fowley as ‘jailbait rock’ (all the girls were 16 or younger when the band recorded their first album). The band ultimately succeeds on their own merits as musicians, becoming the first all-girl rock-band to ever break into the world of arena-filling hard rock acts.
The movie focuses on the band’s formation, and their meteoric rise to fame. Their first single, ‘Cherry Bomb’, gets some attention in the United States, where THE RUNAWAYS’ U.S. tour hits major venues (Cobo Hall, with RUSH) and sleazy rock-clubs, often pairing them up with The Ramones, Cheap Trick, Tom Petty, and other popular 1970′s rock acts. But ‘Cherry Bomb’ and several other songs from THE RUNAWAYS’ first 2 albums become huge hits in Japan — and their arrival for a set of shows there in 1977 is like Beatle-Mania. The band is overwhelmed by the Japanese reception. Almost prophetic, THE RUNAWAYS’ last big hit song in Japan is ‘Neon Angels On The Road To Ruin’.
Cherie is initially thrilled to be in the band, and lives the rock star life. She pushes the edge — and their records sell well, generating lots of media controversy and hype. But during the tour of Japan, her personal life disintegrates, and she burns out — ultimately leaving The Runaways when they return to the U.S. The bass player (Jackie Fox) quits too, leaving only Lita Ford, Joan Jett and Sandy West. Joan Jett has decided that rock & roll is her life, and that The Runaways is her ‘family’; she is upset by Cherie’s decision to leave, but knows that decision is best — for Cherie.
THE RUNAWAYS’ success was earth-shaking in rock music — changing the rules forever. But with the successful 5-girl lineup no longer intact after the Japan tour, their future was dubious, at best. Lita Ford (guitar) and Sandy West (drums) still think the band can make it big again, so they persevere with Joan Jett.
Where to stay for New York Fashion Week
After a long day of walking in heels and hitting all the shows and parties at New York Fashion Week this February 11th to 18th, without a doubt the best place to return to has got to be Paramount Hotel. As if the highly-recomended Library Bar is not reason enough to stay there, Paramount is offering a Runway Deal tied into Fashion Week.
Between February 8 and February 20 guests will receive two fantastic cocktails per night in any of Paramount’s bars, a free copy of Amanda Brook’s book I Love Your Style, plus a luxuriant 3pm checkout on your day of departure. And the added knowledge that you’re staying at one of New York’s premiere spots just a few blocks from the Bryant Park and the center of the Fashion Week World. Victoria’s Secret top model Marisa Miller agrees, Paramount is the only place to stay.
Make your reservation HERE and keep up to date on Facebook and Twitter.
Cooler than cool
*** Full Disclosure: I just hijacked this piece from the wonderful website Iceland Review because I like what they have to say. Read their blog. ***
Cooler Than You: The Tragically Hip
Hot damned Reykjavík is cool. Coolest place on earth, always has been, always will be. Cooler than whatever town you are from, even if you’re from Reykjavík.
And if you think you can come here, slip’n’slide your way into the hip crowd. Well that’s just not possible. These kids are hipper than a year’s worth of surgery in a specialist hip replacement ward.
Or that was the case. Until now, until my sure fire 12-step guide to being hip in hipsville.
1. Find your own style.
First and most important. You gotta make your mark in zero seconds flat, from across the room, across the street. Across the town. Every hip kid has his or her own style. Fortunately it’s easy to find your own, just remember this mantra: I want to be an individual, like all the other individuals. Look around, copy, steal.
2. Drink coffee.
This is your daytime activity. From the moment you wake (no earlier than 1 pm) till the kids go home, you are going to subsist in 101 coffee-shops. Latte, espresso, black or with milk, doesn’t matter what you like, that’s not the point. Drink whatever everyone else drinks, just be seen doing it. Books, pen and paper are for hippies, PC’s for losers, make sure to have a Mac in front of you at all times.
3. Drink. At bars, a lot.
This is how you spend the night. Every night.
Weeknights: Drink beer, the watery stuff from the tap. Weekends: Beer and sugary shots. 1 for 1. Spend all your time at the bar, sit on it for extra marks. Never ever try to dance, no one is impressed. By anything. Ever.
4. Eat out.
Always eat out. Time spent at home is time not seen—ergo time wasted. It doesn’t matter if the food is bad. Taste and the hip go together like toothpaste and orange juice.
5. Be seen, be heard. Ad nauseam.
This is a war of attrition people. The hip of the town are the most seen—in the most places, with the most people. If people aren’t sick of the sight of you, then you aren’t working hard enough.
6. Act like you own the place.
You’ve wheedled your way into the communal hip consciousness, now you gotta get the act down. No problem, just remember this one word. Obnoxious: You’re hip, it’s your right, it’s your duty. What’s the word: obnoxious!
7. Talk about projects you are working on.
Incessantly. At any given opportunity. No one was ever hip just for being hip. You need to be seen to be doing something, and people need to know about it. Something creative, exciting, energetic. Something hip.
8. Never ever work on your projects.
Of course no one who was hip never actually did anything, apart from being hip. This isn’t a contradiction, it’s a paradox. A hip paradox.
9. Tell everyone you love them when you are face-to-face.
Diplomacy is all important in a city as small as Reykjavík. Like any good politician, learn to press the flesh.
10. Criticize everyone behind their backs.
As soon as the schmoes turn their back, get ready to drag their name through the dirt.
11. Never express an opinion that might come back on you.
Diplomacy is a balancing act—with no net. Get it wrong and a fall’s coming.
Remember this: your opinion is worth nothing. The only opinion that is, is the opinion of the Greater Hip. If you have to stand up for your words, then they’re the wrong words. He who stands alone, falls alone. Mean what you say, never say what you mean.
12. Take a day off every now and then.
Mystery is good. It gives the impression that you have more important matters. Of course you don’t, but who’s to know?
This is the perfect time to look up those YouTube clips to screen in coffee-shops, and to dream up hilarious(ly hip) updates for Facebook and Twitter. If you aren’t big on the net, you aren’t big on the streets. Just don’t get too big—500 friends maximum.
So, there you go, that’s it. Follow these 12 steps and you too can be obnoxious, arrogant, ubiquitous, irrelevant.
Though when you put it like that, it just doesn’t sound quite so… What’s the word?
Hip.
Poor Michael Furey… He said he did not want to live.
Today we are taking a page out of the playbook of the second best blog on these here internets, FiftyTwoStories.com, and talking about … a short story. But not just any short story. Possibly the greatest short fiction ever written (apologies to “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”).
Why you ask? Because today is January 6th. In addition to being the day Nancy Kerrigan went and got herself clubbed, Mother Teresa arrived in Calcutta and Joan of Arc being born in Domrémy, January 6th is known through all of Ireland as Little Christmas or The Feast of the Epiphany. It was this night, in 1904, that the Morkan sisters threw their annual holiday party where
Lily, the caretaker’s daughter, was literally run off her feet.
And so begins James Joyce’s “The Dead.”
Here is a story that captures the holiday season as none other can. A packed house on a cold, snowy night. Music and singing and dancing and food. A middle-aged man breaking the promise to his mother of not getting drunk again. A dozen or so young women fearful of spinsterhood approaching. Dinner conversations of music and travel, religion and an increasing lack of it, politics and the decreasing amount of rights and freedoms, traditions and the younger generation’s lack of interest in them. And more politics. And more religion.
But above all else, there is the ghost of the past. The remembrance of a life cut short. The ultimate act of love.
Poor Michael Furey… He said he did not want to live.
And the realization – the epiphany – that the great life you are living should have belonged to someone else.
Generous tears filled Gabriel’s eyes. He had never felt like that himself towards any woman but he knew that such a feeling must be love. The tears gathered more thickly in his eyes and in the partial darkness he imagined he saw the form of a young man standing under a dripping tree. Other forms were near. His soul had approached that region where dwell the vast hosts of the dead. He was conscious of, but could not apprehend, their wayward and flickering existence. His own identity was fading out into a grey impalpable world: the solid world itself which these dead had one time reared and lived in was dissolving and dwindling.
Read “The Dead” or visit it and celebrate January 6th.
No uncertainty about Uncertainty
We are all faced with hundreds, maybe thousands, of minuscule decisions each day. Bus or subway? Where and when to go to lunch? Work late or cut out early? The other day during a much-needed day of hookey from the YIL-factory I was walking by the IFC Center and saw a poster for Uncertainty, next showing in twenty minutes. I was sick of walking the streets in the cold and not buying Christmas presents so I ducked into the theatre and am very glad I did.
Manhattan or Brooklyn?
Easy question. Where to spend the 4th of July. Your girlfriend’s family’s party in Brooklyn or your buddy’s party in Manhattan. Flip a coin.
That’s how Uncertainybegins. With the flip of a coin. What follows are two separate movies: one follows Bobby (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his girlfriend Kate (Lynn Collins) to Brooklyn. Intertwined is the second movie – what would have happen had the two chosen to spend the day in Manhattan.
At first glimpse the premise is reminiscent of the less-than-stellar Gwyneth Paltrow 1998 film Sliding Doors (I much prefer her Great Expectations from the same year). To keep both Uncertainy story lines separate the film’s writers/directors used color: Yellow for Manhattan (clothes, taxi that brings them there) and Green for Brooklyn (clothes, minivan that brings them there). A much more clever device than Paltrow’s odd blonde/brunette hair cut and coloring.
What follows are two incredible stories as different as can be. In Manhattan Bobby and Kate find a cellphone in the back of a cab that leads to a fast-paced, gripping espionage story of murder, blackmail and what two people would be willing to do for more money than they could ever fathom having with action scenes of roof jumping that rival the Jason Bourne films. Not an easy feat for an independent film.
In Brooklyn, surrounded by her family, Bobby and Kate come to terms about their feelings for each other, their future, her mother’s disapproval. It is an intense, sometimes stifling, family/relationship drama.
The in-depth, claustrophobic nature of the film and the relationship presented on screen set to a defined period of time of both the Manhattan and Brooklyn films reminded me of a mix of Ethan Hawke/Julie Delpy Before Sunrise and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers/Scarlett Johansson Match Point.
While not the perfect movie – a few of the loose ends seem to tie up a bit too easy at the end – Uncertainly certainly is a movie to be seen. Levitt, once again as he did in (500) Days of Summer (which you may or may not have heard I kinda liked), proves his ranking as one of the top actors under thirty today and Lynn Collins shows her dramatic abilities are far superior to her roles in True Blood and X-Men: Wolverine (which is a damn good show and a fine movie themselves).
Its too late to see Uncertainty at the IFC Center in New York (though it does seem to be still playing in LA), but the smart folks over at IFC released the movie On Demandsimul with the theatre release. So look for it there.
Our Favor!te Things 2009: Kevin
Considering he saw (500) Days of Summer eight times (at last count), we’re pretty surprised that our marketing head honcho Kevin Callahan actually had time to enjoy other pop culture delights this year. Apparently he did, and apparently these were his favor!tes.
Favor!te Film: (500) Days of Summer. Because “this is not a love story.” Because in the hands of actors less talented than Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel the movie could have taken an entirely different direction, but what they do in it is remarkable. Because I want to live in Tom Hansen’s apartment. Because of this.
Favor!te Concert: Nirvana, Live at Reading. Because very rarely can you be transported back in time and witness something amazing happen.
Favor!te Album: Green Day, 21st Century Breakdown. Because five years ago Rolling Stone wrote “Tell the truth: did anybody think Green Day would still be around in 2004?” and Green Day not only proved their importance then with American Idiot but far-surpassed it in 2009 with 21st Century Breakdown. Because seeing Billie Joe Armstrong in concert is a religous experience. Because What’s the latest way that a man can die / Screaming hallelujah? Because even though Billie Joe has a son in high school, you still believe him when he tells you how mom and dad will never understand.
Favor!te Book: The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, Reif Larsen. Because every now and then you can get completely lost in the mind of a book’s character and forget that he doesn’t actually exist. Because Reif Larsen has created an inventive forms of storytelling. Because the interrior looks like this.
Favor!te Art-type thingy: Hamlet. Because Jude Law made the funny lines actually funny. Because he didn’t over do “To Be or Not to Be.” Because the scene of Polonius’s murder was the best version I’ve ever seen. Because in my opinion Getrude is the toughest role to have and Geraldine James was incredible in it. Because the costumes and set decorations were brilliant in their simplicities. Because it snowed on stage. Because I’m a Hamlet snob so for me to like it as much as I did, it must be good.
Favor!te Fashion: Hoodies. Because a hoodie under a blazer is warmer than a winter coat. Because 2007 was the last time GAP made a decent hoodie. Because 2007′s hoodies are now perfectly worn-in.
Favor!te TV Show: Gossip Girl. Because I lost a little faith after Seaon 2, but Season 3 has more than made up for it.
Favor!te Blog/Website: HTMLGiant. Because it contained the Best Essay of 2009: Blake Butler‘s “James Joyce does not exist.”
Favor!te Real Housewives: Dina Manzo and Caroline Manzo from Real Housewives of New Jersey. Because they are thick as thieves.
Favor!te Twitterer: @God. Because, well, he’s God.
Favor!te You Tube Video: When Pandas Attack. Because this is the video proof that underneath all that fur, pandas are mean fuckers.
Bonus:
What are you most excited about for 2010? Emile Hirsch’s Hamlet may surprise a lot of people. Ed Westwick as Heathcliff and Gemma Arterton as Cathy in a new Wuthering Heights. And I still have high hopes for Shutter Island.
Who do you most want to smooch on New Year’s Eve? Patricia Highsmith. Because “My New Year’s Eve Toast: to all the devils, lusts, passions, greeds, envies, loves, hates, strange desires, enemies ghostly and real, the army of memories, with which I do battle — may they never give me peace.” – Patricia Highsmith, January 1, 1947. 2:30 am.
Dita wows London (naturally)
The US may have Wal Marts and Sarah Palin’s bus tour, but the UK really know how to throw a book signing. The lovely, amazing, inspiring Dita Von Teese recently signed copies of her new book Dita: Stripteese at Waterstone’s Piccadilly location and proves that Palin isn’t the only woman fans will stand in line for.
On a steel horse (or train) I ride…
A few days ago we caught you up on all the goings on with Bon Jovi. And there’s more!
New Jersey Transit Commuters – be on the look out for the poster below on your trains through out the month of November. Take a photo of the barcode on the bottom left with your barcode enabled smart phone, sit back and enjoy some great content on the Bon Jovi mobile website. It will make your commute fly by.
Then take a photo of the poster and email it to YourItList@HarperCollins.com and we’ll send the first 10 people a free copy of Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful.
Lancôme invites you to meet Nina Garcia
Meet Nina Garcia at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City on November 12th and hear her discuss her latest book The Style Strategy and to hear about Lancôme‘s new Genifique Eye Youth Acting Eye Concentrate and Absolue Precious Cells.
The $75 reservation fee is redeemable in Lancôme products and you will receive a free copy of The Style Strategy. Space is limited so RSVP today!
Can’t make it? Stylists from Marie Claire will be making appearances at Lancôme boutiques in Brea, California and Short Hills, New Jersey on October 28th. Details below!
Saks Fifth Avenue New York
Nov. 12th, 5 to 7 p.m.
RSVP: 212-940-2187
Lancôme The Boutique, Short Hills, New Jersey
Oct. 28th, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
RSVP: 973-258-0790
Lancôme The Boutique, Brea Mall, Brea, California
Oct. 28th, Noon to 7 p.m.
RSVP: 714-671-0267
Bon Jovi, it’s their life
Bon Jovi, America’s favorite band, has a busy fall coming up.
Their new single, “We Weren’t Born to Follow” is currently playing on every station. Their new studio album The Circle drops on November 10th, they just announced today a tour in early 2010 (including the first concert at the new Meadowlands in May), Showtime will air a behind-the-scenes documentary about the band on October 24th and on top of all of that the band has a book coming out November 3rd - Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful – which celebrates their 25th anniversary with never-before-seen photos and stories from Jon, Richie, David and Tico.
The book is available now to pre-order and you can get an exclusive, early SNEAK PEEK INSIDE THE BOOK before it goes on sale.
Check back with YourItList.com as we will be releasing more information about the book and the band over the next few weeks.
Green Day sets a new stage on fire
I know I’m not the only Green Day fan who wishes he lived in San Francisco.
Photo c/o Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Ever since American Idiot first exploded in 2004 comparisons to The Who’s Tommy were endless. Rolling Stone‘s review called the album an “old school rock opera” and there’s been continuous talk of bringing the album to the stage. And that time has finally come – almost 5 years to the day since the album came out - with the recent world premiere of American Idiot: The Rock Opera at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
National reviewers have not been invited to see the play, though the New York Times has a decent feature about the opening. The San Francisco Chronicle seems to have the most extensive review coverage of the play itself (as well as photos):
Heidi Schumann for The New York Times
“Wildly entertaining…The music of Green Day practically blasts the lid off Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre. The cast and creative crew match the pulsating wall of sound for sheer energy and pump it up with Broadway-quality pipes, stage-rattling, thrashing choreography, flying bodies and walls crammed with pulsating video and projected images. Never has the Roda appeared more expansive yet bursting with images and action…The rock opera that opened Wednesday, in a world premiere with Broadway aspirations written all over it, packs plenty of excitement and entertainment into a remarkably theatrical rock concert…The lyrics are crystal clear as well. Every poetic twist and angry pun of Armstrong’s words comes through.”
One comment I’ve been reading about – which is something that I can see being an issue – is the flow of the narrative of the play seems to stall at times. The play follows the songs of the album, bringing in the songs’s charaters (St. Jimmy, Johnny, Whatshername, Jesus of Suburbia) to life. The problems lies in the fact that the entire play is only the lyrics from the album. No additional text has been added, no bridges to connect different scenes, no overarching narrative to connect the storylines.
That said, it still must be one helluva show. American Idiot has some of the most powerful music Green Day has ever written, mixed with director Michael Mayer and starring John Gallagher Jr. (both of whom just won Tony awards for Spring Awakening) an eventual Broadway debut seems likely.
At least that’s what I keep telling myself to keep me from booking my flight to San Francisco (the limited engagement has been extended to November 1st).
John Gallagher, Jr. and Tony Vincent star as Johnny and St. Jimmy. Photo courtesy of mellopix.com
John Gallagher, Jr. as Johnny, Rebecca Naomi Jones playing Whatsername, and Tony Vincent playing St. Jimmy. Photo: Liz Hafalia / The San Francisco Chronicle
