Forget owling.

Now there’s Tebowing.

It’s an homage to former Heisman trophy winner quarterback at the University of Florida and starting QB at the Denver Broncos, Tim Tebow.

According the the website, Tebowing.com, the act is defined as: to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone around you is doing something completely different. You can see more user-submitted photos on their site.

Tebow is well-known for his Christian beliefs. His book THROUGH MY EYES was a New York Times bestseller.

Attention Harry Potter fans! You already know that we’ll be publishing a brand new book Harry Potter Page to Screen, which tells the complete story of how all eight films were made. It goes on sale October 25, but right now we have a special perk for anyone who’s already pre-ordered the book: through the link below, enter your proof of purchase from the store, and you’ll get exclusive access to never-before-seen 20 pages from the book. In addition, once you’re on the entry site, there’s one more bonus for you (maybe this?), so get going, already!

Click here to get access to the brand-new set of 20 pages:
I pre-ordered Harry Potter Page to Screen, now show me the exclusive excerpt!

And we don’t want to leave out anyone who may be waiting to get Page to Screen as a gift, so feast your eyes on and enjoy these additional 2 excerpts:
The Making of Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire
The Art of Harry Potter

Enjoy these sneak peeks, and we promise you, the full book is worth the wait!

Uniqlo flagship store to come, 5th Ave at 53rd St.

Opening on Friday, October 14, the Fifth Avenue location (at the southwest corner of 53rd St.) will be the Japanese retailer’s largest global flagship store.  Yes, Fifth Avenue has plenty of flagship stores, but Uniqlo will be a great addition to It Books’s little stretch of the avenue, saving us from Hollister/Gap/H&M fatigue.  Come the holidays, tourists will no doubt choke up the sidewalks even more, but I for one am happy to have another mid-market shop.  And it’s always nice to see an empty store front find a new store to call it “home”!

Is it just me or does it seem like she was just  feuding over Aaron Carter with Lindsay Lohan? I guess that was all “So Yesterday“ since apparently now the two girls are totes over it. Ah, young love.

But enough of Hillz’s dark past. She is an icon and Lizzie McGuire was an inspiration. I mean, don’t even tell me that the Lizzie McGuire Movie didn’t win an Oscar; It did in my heart. Mistaken for half an Italian pop duo Paolo & Isabella, Lizzie galavants around Rome posing as Isabella and eventually uncovers the not-so-nice truth about Paolo, and of course,  falls in love.

Her cartoon inner-psyche would bounce around the screen telling us all what Lizzie was REALLY thinking, usually something profound like, “Nooooo” or “Ethan Craft just said ‘hi’ to me!!!” But more important than her profound declarations in cartoon form is the fact that Lizzie is and was a trendsetter. Perhaps Lizzie’s unmatching clothes weren’t understood at the time, but today, most likely due to Lizzie McGuire’s forward thinking fashion, mixing patterns are a fashion do.

Lizzie tackled the tough issues of the day like, eating disorders, hanging out with the wrong crowd, sneaking into R-rated movies, family issues, and growing up.

Now that Nick has brought back its 90’s classics – All That, Kenan & Kel, Clarissa Explains It All, and Doug – what about Disney? Bring back Lizzie McGuire!!! Oh, and maybe even throw in a little  Even Stevens, The Famous Jett Jackson, So Weird, and Kim Possible.

I miss you, Lizzie. I really do. XOXO

In addition to being awesome, it would need to possess certain qualities:  

• Satisfying to watch repeatedly
• Enough of a relationship to the rest of the show that hours of entertainment could be had by discussing (with yourself or your volleyball) the larger significance of the episode
• Not a cliffhanger. How evil would that be?

For me, the answer is, hands down, the Buffy musical episode, “Once More, With Feeling.”  

For those of you who have seen it, I know that you know what I’m talking about. This is clearly the right choice.  

For everyone else: First off, I can tell that you’re thinking, “A musical episode of a show about high school students who fight demons? How could that be good?”* Well, I’m not the only one who thinks so. It was nominated for an Emmy, and received rave reviews, like “‘Once More, with Feeling’ is rhapsodic, original, deeply affecting, and ultimately, transcendental. Quite simply, television at its best.” (The Toronto Star) Also, if you’re a fan of Glee, just think: wouldn’t Glee be even better with a few vampires and Joss Whedon’s writing?**  

The basic premise is that a demon (a dancing demon…no, something isn’t right there) shows up in Sunnydale, and suddenly everyone is singing and dancing about anything and everything: dry cleaning, parking tickets, the difficulty of feeling connected to life when you’ve been brought back from the dead by your well-intentioned friends, secret plans for leaving town, bunny conspiracy theories. You know, the usual. It doesn’t sound too demonic until you realize that A) some people are dancing until they burst into flames and B) nobody has any control over what they’re singing, so they end up spilling their innermost secrets.  

In terms of desert island appeal:  

• Think of the weeks of entertainment that could be gained by learning all of the songs (if, um, one didn’t already know them) and the corresponding dance moves.
• The execution is brilliant; hours could be spent marveling over how well the songs move the action forward. The songs are a realistic (within the Buffyverse) way of having secrets come into the open all at once–how cool a premise is that?
• Because of that, there are many major plot points happening within this episode, so there’s tons of stuff to analyze. (To be fair, this would only be helpful if you had seen, at a minimum, the first part of the season.)
• There are a number of jokes that are easy to miss the first time or five around, so it only gets better the more you watch.
• Spike. (Swoon.)
• Perhaps most importantly, if you are stuck on an island watching a single episode of anything over and over again, you need an episode that will motivate you to get your butt in gear, build a raft and/or signal fire, and figure out how to get off the island already.*** Buffy’s struggle to reconnect with her own life should resonate with you and motivate you in your time of need.

So–if you had to pick only one hour of TV to bring to your island, what would it be? 

*Technically, because this episode is in the 6^th season, only Dawn is still a high school student. The others graduated in epic Sunnydale style at the end of Season 3. Speaking of which–Alyssa Rosenberg has an excellent post about graduation & after here. 

**Yes.  

***It seems like Lost or Survivor might also have episodes that would be good for this particular purpose. But do they have singing and dancing? No. No, they do not.

I’ll admit that I didn’t start watching ‘Friday Night Lights’ until I found out it was cancelled, which seems to be a general theme with my TV show-watching experiences (Arrested Development, I miss you). After being snubbed for the past four years at the Emmys (the New York Times called it “their most egregious wrong of the last four years”) the show was finally given a few nominations, including best drama, best actor Kyle Chandler (Coach Eric Taylor), and best actress Connie Britton (Tami Taylor). Chandler and Britton were also both nominated in 2010.

Based on the book by H.G. “Buzz” Bissinger Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream and the movie based on it, Friday Night Lights, the show just wrapped up its fifth and final season. Peter Berg, the second cousin of Bissinger, directed the movie version but wanted to do more exploration of the deep interpersonal topics from the book that he didn’t have time for in the film. So, he turned to television.

Berg envisioned a rather revolutionary way of TV filmmaking: They never rehearsed, the camera operators were trained to follow the actors rather than have them stand in one spot and have the cameras around them, the show used hundreds of local people as extras, everything was done in one shot at once (no cutting, little blocking) to keep an authentic feel, and the actors were allowed to change things that they thought weren’t true to their characters.

Critically acclaimed for its honest potrayl of middle America and exploration of its central characters, it’s definitely a show worth watching. It’s not just a show about football – it’s a show centered around a family and their life in a small Texas town. The show tackled contemporary issues, such as lack of economic opportunities, racism, drugs, and abortion. In addition to the recent Emmy nods, the show was awarded a Peabody Award, a Humanitas Prize, and a Television Critics Association Award, as well as several technical Primetime Emmy Awards.

“The moment that critics from New York to L.A. loved the show, I knew we were doomed.” — Brad Leland (Buddy Garrity)

The show overcame some hefty odds and low numbers. After airtime on NBC, the show struck a deal with DirecTV to offset some of the production costs. After season 3, they thought the show was for sure over, but they managed to push through to get two more seasons. You can catch Friday Night Lights seasons 1 through 4 on Netflix streaming and season 5 on Hulu Plus.

And as the lights turned off for ‘Friday Night Lights,’ Vulture prepared an homage to the many words of wisdom by Coach Taylor.

Clear eyes, full hearts. Texas Forever.

 Jack White is best known for being part of The White Stripes. He was ranked 17 on Rolling Stone’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time,” and is also part of the bands The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. (As an interesting side note, White was an upholsterer before he became a rock star. He loves upholstery so much that he named one of his many side projects “The Upholsterers.” You can listen to his 6-minute spiel about upholstery on NPR.)

Before he was a fake newsman, Colbert claims to have been in an 80’s power-ballad called Stephen and the Colberts. One of those power-ballad love-songs was the Pet Shop Boys-inspired “Charlene (I’m Right Behind You).” With White’s help, Colbert is attempting to get on the charts with a follow-up single called “Charlene II (I’m Over You).”With the help of the Black Belles, a mysterious band on White’s label Third Man Records, Colbert performed the song on his show Thursday. He also performed the song live over the weekend at New York City’s Highline Park.Colbert won a Grammy in 2010 for his record “Stephen Colbert’s A Colbert Christmans.”

IT’S HOT! Really hot.

Like the sun is exploding hot.

AHHHHH! RUN, don’t walk, to your nearest “cooling center”!! Buy an air conditioner! Have one? Buy another!! We’re in a heat wave baby.

You would think that in a major metropolis coverage of weather related matters would, perhaps, follow politics, crime, major national news stories, stories about dangerous teenage trends…but no. We LOVE complaining about the weather. As soon as the mercury starts rising out comes the steaming b-roll: Children frolicking in fire hydrants! Really sweaty men and women running on hot pavement! Old guys playing checkers in the Bronx  looking, well, hot!

Who wants to watch sweaty people look unhappy? Enough already! Get these guys some SPF.

As we bravely face down the predicted 100 degree temps today, I thought I’d provide some cooling vibes to help you survive the day. Be strong—in six months we’ll be talking about Thunder Snow again!

Enjoy!

Puppies love snow.

My kind of sprinkler.

Remember this guy?

Google "Ice Diving." It's a real sport!

Stay cool out there.

Ellie Goulding
The adorable British songstress fit for royalty.
In case you needed more reason to love Princess Kate Middleton with her perfect hair and her perfect clothes and her perfect life, she also has some pretty legit music taste. After she and Prince William watched one of Ellie Goulding’s performances (from backstage, of course), they asked her to perform her beautiful rendition of Elton John’s “Your Song” for their first dance as a married couple. The song catapulted Goulding to the top of the UK charts in November 2010. And, after appearing on SNL with Tina Fey hosting, her album reached the U.S. charts as well. Ellie Goulding’s rise to stardom has only just begun. Check out her catchy singles: “Starry Eyed” and “The Writer”

Goulding will be performing in New York City on July 29 at Terminal 5 and throughout the country. Check out her other U.S. tour dates.

Childish Gambino
Ain’t Nothing Childish About This Guy.
About a month ago, The Village Voice, posted an article titled “Donald Glover is More Talented Than You,” and in today’s world of musicians, writers, “singers” (lookin’ at you, Ke$ha), and reality fame whores, I’d have to say this is entirely true. He really is one talented dude; he is a stand-up comedian, an actor on NBC’s Community, a former Emmy-winning writer for 30 Rock (which he started while still an RA at NYU), AND a witty rapper under the moniker Childish Gambino. Although his IAMDONALD half stand-up comedy, half rap tour is over, he did strongly suggest on his Twitter @donaldglover (which used to be @donglover, but he ultimately decided that it looked too much like “dong lover”) that he’d be back to Brooklyn to play his new album before it’s released. He’ll for sure be back in NYC playing at Rock the Bells on Sept. 3 on Governor’s Island and there’s no doubt he’ll be back touring the U.S. before long.

Check out his breakout single, “Freaks and Geeks,” which was also recently featured on a Dwight Howard Adidas commercial. (Dwight, don’t ever leave Orlando!) Best of all, you can download all of Childish Gambino’s music free and legally. And if you’re opposed to semi-graphic language…well, he’s a rapper. Deal with it.

The Weepies
Get weepy for The Weepies.
I am in love this this pop-folk duo. Like King Midas, everything they touch is pure gold. Okay, fine, they did have a brief stint where they co-wrote a few tracks on Mandy Moore’s album, Wild Hope, but they at least turned Mandy Moore’s usual sugary pop songs to a respectable pop album.   Don’t be fooled by their sad name, not all of their songs are sad and weepy — “All This Beauty,” “Be My Thrill,” and “I Was Made for Sunny Days” are all upbeat folk tunes. The most famous songs by this husband-and-wife duo are probably, “World Spins Madly On” and “Gotta Have You.” The Weepies’ music has been featured on countless commercials and TV shows, so if you haven’t heard of them you probably have and just didn’t know it. They’re touring around the country with all acoustic sets and they’ll be at Irving Plaza September 3 in New York.

The Naked & Famous
New Zealand indie rock group.
Aside from providing the backdrop of Lord of the Rings, I didn’t know that New Zealand had much to offer, especially in terms of pop culture. (I think I just lost some major cool points for referencing LOTR). But as I learned this year, it has produced some pretty cool musicians: Brooke Fraser (on tour in Europe this summer), Natasha Bedingfield, Flight of the Conchords, Keith Urban (get off my back; I like country sometimes), and also a rock group called The Naked & The Famous.  Check out their upbeat tunes like Young Blood, Girls Like You, and Punching in a Dream. They’ll be playing in Central Park for FREE on August and around the U.S. and Europe this summer.

Ben L’Oncle Soul
A Soulful Frenchman.
I don’t think anyone, even the band themselves, has ever claimed that Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” is a good song. But that didn’t stop this soulful Frenchman from taking this terrible song and making it into a lovely tune. He also covers The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” and has his own original tunes, such as “Soulman,” in which he sings in both English and French. He is incredibly talented and has a beautiful voice, and at the price of FREE in NYC, you should go check him out as part of Fete de la Musique on June 21 in Central Park, which also features a film about French music legend Serge Gainsbourg.

James Vincent McMorrow
Irish Folk God.
In the same vein as Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens and Ray Lamontagne (all three of whom are on tour this summer), James Vincent McMorrow is an Irish folk singer-songwriter who writes perfect music for a relaxing day. He wrote his debut album, Early in the Morning in the seclusion of a beach house in Ireland, and that feel really comes through on his album. His songs have already been featured on hit TV shows like Chuck, Parenthood and Grey’s Anatomy. Check out his beautiful song “We Don’t Eat.” McMorrow will be playing June 10 at the Mercury Lounge in NYC and touring the country with The Civil Wars, another wonderful folk duo.

The Decemberists
A band for many months other than December.
Having never been to their live show before, I have only read magical things about it. As their lyrics often deal with historical events or old folk stories, their eclectic shows sometimes involve audience participation, in which audience members re-enact historical events like sea battles on stage. They recently released their sixth studio album, with the summery single “Down by the Water.” They will be in Brooklyn on June 14, and touring around the country as well.

M. Ward
The Him of She & Him.
Before he was the “Him” of She & Him with actress Zooey Deschanel, Matt Ward had his own blossoming solo career under the stage name M. Ward. In addition to his solo act and She & Him, Ward was also a member of the band Monsters of Folk. He also has an impressive resume of co-writing and producing. Check out his song “Rave On” and “Never Had Nobody Like You,” both of which feature Zooey Deschanel on back-up vocals. He will be playing at the Newport Folk Festival and Festival d’été in Québec – both of which look pretty damn cool. Check out this list of full tour dates.

Other noteworthy summer shows to check out, not necessarily in order of awesomeness:
Two Door Cinema Club. Check out “Something Good Can Work.”
Kurt Vile. Check out “Overnite Religion.”
The Dodos. Check out “Fools.”
Theophilius London. Check out “Why Even Try?”
Florence and the Machine. Check out “You’ve Got the Love.”
The Kooks. Check out “Naive.”
Ratatat. Check out “Loud Pipes.”
Sia. Check out “Soon We’ll Be Found.”
Bon Iver. Check out “Skinny Love.”
Andrew Bird. Check out “Fake Palindromes.”
Peter, Bjorn and John. Check Out “Second Chance.”
Ray Lamontagne & the Pariah Dogs. Check out “For the Summer.”
Sufjan Stevens. Check out “Chicago.”

If Marilyn Monroe were still alive, she would be 85 years old today. In honor of this, this Fall, It Books will be publishing Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis by David Wills–a dazzling portfolio of images from every period in Marilyn Monroe’s life, from her earliest sittings in 1942 until just weeks before her death, two decades later.

With more than two hundred first-generation photos – including countless luminous, unseen color photos from the very start of her career – “Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis” chronicles her meteoric rise from a humble catalog model to one of the most recognized faces in history.

So with that, from It Books, Happy Birthday Marilyn!

____________________________________________

Australian-born curator and preservationist David Wills has accrued one of the world’s largest independent archives of original Marilyn Monroe photographs. The book will feature images by Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, Philippe Halsman, Milton Greene, Andre De Dienes, George Barris, Alfred Eisenstaedt, and others.