Newsflash!

Has work tortured your poor soul today? Indulge in some gossip. It always makes me feel better.

Who cares if Grey's Anatomy is so two years ago. Even I'll tune into this episode.

Well this is anti-climatic. Yawn. Next new couple please.

Does this mean she won't be on The Hills anymore?

Speaking of, did you miss The Hills last night? Here's your Gawker recap!

LC might have been MIA on The Hills last night, but her clothes are hot.

This really doesn't reflect well on me.

-M

"Lunch, you know, as in the meal before dating."

Happy Tuesday blogosphere!

Wait. It's Tuesday morning. It means only one thing -- the one thing that makes me get out of bed and into my office on Tuesday mornings. God love the Daily Intel blog and their weekly roundup of Gossip Girl.

Now, I must say. Tres impressed with the upswing that this episode brought my beloved Gossip Girl. Blair's Mean Girl style recruiting tactics were hilariously true to form -- and did anyone else catch her wearing a tiara during the interviews. Blair, you are my hero(ine).

I think V is crazy for not taking the money from Dutchess. It might be unethical money, but it's money nonetheless, and homegirl could use a little upgrade in the wardrobe department. A little Saks? Neimans? Okay, okay, I'll even settle for Bloomingdales or maybe some outlet version of any of the above. Please V - maybe if you start dressing better I'll stop making fun of you in my blog. Speaking of upgrades needed, this new girl/Dan's new interest/Chuck's sneaky project, Amanda, SO NOT ATTRACTIVE. I wonder how it feels knowing that you're the ugly girl on Gossip Girl. That people (including myself and my friend at my apartment) gasped in appallment (is that even a word?) when you appear on screen. I swear, I saw a hint of braces (as I did in the preview), and she looked even worse as her hair was scorched out by her "nairtini" (thank you Daily Intel, I didn't know what to call it before your article). She kind of resembles a bug, no?

Lily returns this episode! Hurray for being old and feeling more for the adult/parent storyline than the kids. She is SO OBVIOUSLY still pining for Rufus (can you really blame her?). I say cue the OneRepublic music and have them kiss in the rain a la this episode. Team Lily! I love her, and her daughter S, now that she's a bitch. Nothing beats a scorned teenage girl post-breakup. Believe me, I would know. Show Dan Humphrey hell, S! Once when I was going through a heinous breakup, I made an ex feel uncomfortable at his own party. It's that kind of attitude that we need to see out of S. Lonely Boy is zilch in the world of elite private schools. I mean, come on, who's going to befriend him now? He lives in Brooklyn, and Little J's an outcast. The coolest one in the Humphrey family is Rufus. Ouch. What a downfall. Anywho, it's nice to see who we all know is the original queen bee back on top. We might not want to see a bee-eff-eff battle between S and B, but it might be necessary in the name of Monday night television drama. Hallijuah.

-M

(EDIT: missed the nair scene? here you go kids.)

Nick, Nora... and Fluffy?

Get excited, it's a groundbreaking day here at Pop Culture Paradox. We have our first contributing writer (does this mean we made it?). Below is a review by Rae Scott (hereby known as R, in true Pop Culture Paradox style - we love initials) for the upcoming Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. I know I'm pumped for it to come out... That Michael Cera brings out the geek-lover in me every time I see him in a movie. Swoon.
-M

Thursday night I was offered the opportunity to attend a pre-screening of the upcoming teen-romance flick Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist a full two weeks before its general release. Having no social life, since all of my friends graduated from UMass, I jumped at the chance and found myself running out to my car five minutes before show time because the super-tight security around the film banned all electronic devices---even cell phones. As I deposited my brand new maroon enV2 in my center console, I huffed and puffed and swore if this movie wasn’t worth it…well, the ticket was free so I guess I had nothing to complain about.

Luckily, the movie lived up to my expectations. While there was nothing groundbreaking about Nick and Norah, the storyline was entertaining and funny. Michael Cera’s stereotypical neurotic and awkward teen persona take center stage in the opening scene as Nick leaves a long, rambling message to Tris, the girl who broke up with him on his “b-day.” Fast forward through the introduction of Nick’s two gay best friends/band mates, and meet Norah (Kat Dennings), Tris’s sort-of friend who steals the mix tapes Nick makes for Tris. And poof! Nick+Norah+indie mix cds=LOVE.


The storyline takes off when Tris, Norah, and Caroline (their alcoholic best friend) head to NYC for a night of music, booze, and searching for Fluffy. Yes, Fluffy, an underground band that leaves clues for their fans about the time and place of their next performance. To kill time, Norah, Tris, and Caroline head to a seedy club to watch Nick’s band perform. An argument with Tris leads Norah to kiss Nick in an attempt to convince Tris the two are dating (without knowing of the Tris-Nick connection). Cue the jealous ex-girlfriend’s overreaction and Norah’s instinct attraction to poor, broken-hearted Nick.

The rest of the movie revolves around Nick & Norah search for Fluffy. Oh, and of course they are veered from their course (and forced to spend more time with each other) when a drunk Caroline, thinking the boys who are driving her home, breaks out of the van and wanders into New York City alone and barely coherent. For a little added entertainment, we learn Norah has a secret that allows her instant access to any club, regardless of how many people are waiting outside. Throw in Norah’s jealous and scheming ex-boyfriend and the night is primed for adventure and conflict.

If you’re looking for a ground breaking movie, you may want to skip on Nick and Norah. But if you’re simply looking for a laugh (and if you love movies that have a constant soundtrack in the background) Nick and Norah is for you. The film is chock full of laughs ( like when SNL’s Adam Sandberg makes a cameo as a homeless gay man who comes on to Nick) and the many storylines help keep things entertaining. Honestly, if I had grown up outside New York City, I would want my life to unfold in exactly the same way—Hollywood stereotypes and all.

Newsflash!

It's Monday! Keep awake at your cubicle with these riveting stories.

The Daily Intel finds the nastiest people to blog every week. (And by nasty I mean I wouldn't sleep with them but I will read about their exploits.)

Girl Code 2009. Men, take note.

I missed the Emmy's last night to take out my roommate for his birthday. Good thing Gawker has me covered.

Oh my bejezzzus. I think I died and went to heaven.

Twenty bucks says both are fuming about this.

Ari Gold. I'd do you.

Not to push my political agenda but -- Palin, really?! You're a disgrace to women.

-M

Monday's TV Preview

It's Monday. Which means one thing. My predictions/what previews have given away to me about tonight's Gossip Girl. Thankfully maybe those advertising people at the CW have taken my hint -- only 4 minutes worth of previews are around for tonight's episode. Even still, I feel as though some vital information has been leaked that I could do without knowing before watching.

S and Lonely Boy are dunzo. Which means, in true teen drama show spirit, there's a competition to see who would date first. I wish me and my exes played this game, because I'd always win... seeing that normally there was overlap with boyfriends, which means if this game was an Olympic sport, I'd be on a frickin Wheaties box (take that Michael Phelps).

The apple of Lonely Boy's newly single eye? New girl. Amanda -- who I'll only call A. Which is slightly wrong, seeing that A comes before B and this girl is no Blair. Is it just me, or does she have braces in this preview? What is she? Twelve? She's a walking joke among the Constance Billard (think, Dalton School) campus, and with those frumpy clothes, she could use a makeover a la Tai in Clueless pronto. Downgrade, Lonely Boy. You're like Ryan Phillipe post-Reese Witherspoon. Tsk tsk. The apple of S's eye? Word is that she's having lunch with hockey boys. Another thing S and I have in common (aside from our amazing sense of fashion and love for studded tops).

Vanessa (aka Punky Brewster) stops taking Nate's calls. He whines, which is awfully unattractive for a gigelo. Little J gets ignored by B's minority army in the hallways -- why does the Asian girl never get to talk? I take offense to this. If anything, I would know that trendy Asian girls are so not the silent type.

4 minutes sure gives a lot away (and a lot to talk about). Good improvement Gossip Girl preview makers, but keep trying.

-M

Newsflash!

Just because the work week ends doesn't mean the world of pop culture blogging does.

This weekend's tragedy. My thoughts are with both of them and their families. (Not to sound unsympathetic, but does Nicole Richie have a statement issued?)

OH MY FREAKIN GOD - Next Sunday is so close!

I love me some brooding white boys.

I know those are fake tears, Lo Bosworth!

Spotted. Little J kissing who? I saw this storyline coming last season... (SPOILER ALERT)

Ashley Olsen! Hire me instead!

"For me, touching Brian’s dick for two seconds—that’s not part of our sex life. That’s me playing around; you know, you just cup it a little. For a few seconds." - Megan Fox is the classiest bitch ever.

-M

College vs. Real Life

Being a recent college graduate, I was left with the storybook ending of starting my "professional, adult" life -- while still having a boyfriend in college. This poses my life revolving around wearing high waisted skirts, Lacoste polos and Rebecca Beeson tops on Monday-Friday. Saturday and Sunday I reintroduce myself to Juicy Couture hoodies, flip flops and collegiate tees. I feel the blending of these two styles on any given day. No one at work bats an eye if I stroll into work wearing my twentysomething Hollywood starlet styled aviators, or one of my many graphic tees during casual Fridays (the best thing to occur in offices since paychecks). However, I find my style increasingly more off-color in the college atmosphere.

Case in point. Last night, I pulled out my inappropriate camo mini for an army themed party. Paired with a brown babydoll top, I tossed a black Juicy zip-up over to shield myself from the New England wind. I stroll into the party to find multitudes of amazingly younger looking girls (since when do they allow 16 year olds in college?) all looking like they stepped out of Miley Cyrus' music video for '7 Things.' One girl strolled into the party wearing what looked like a camo sarong, which was really just a piece of scrap fabric. I saw American Eagle (ew) jeans with buttoned over back pockets. I saw so many off-the-shoulder army tees that I thought that Jessica Simpson circa 2000 had come back to western Massachusetts.

Me? My feet were screaming for designer shoes and my legs felt exposed and all I wanted was a Diane Von Furstenburg wrap dress on. I think this means that I've officially grown up, and I think that should be a good thing, but, rather, it's left me confused. In a few years, when these little girls enter the workforce, will their style evolve too into the more subdued shades of black and designer, or will I be looking at them from my office shaking my head? Regardless, this weekend I am walking amongst Bratz dolls. Any readers in the Amherst area? Feel free to find me, I'm easily recognizable in my conservative and modest Seven for all Mankind jeans. Heaven forbid my legs are covered up on a Saturday night.

India Inc.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you will know that the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week concluded a few days ago in New York.

As usual, I was super-excited to see a few brown faces in the "usual" mix of MJ, 3.1 Phillip Lim, DVF, Zac Posen, Badgley Mischka (and...errr...Project Runway?)

2 stand-outs: Naeem Khan and Sabyasachi Mukherjee.

Khan, who did not exactly get the most positive reviews from papers such as the Post (but then again, who really cares what they think?) surprisingly had a few wearable, cutesy, fun dresses...wait, is that what made them so unappealing to the Post?

(Pssst...Eva Langoria is a fan, how bad could he be?! Other clients include Beyonce, Marcia Gay Harden and Princess Aga Khan...In the States, his collection is carried by Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, and Neiman Marcus.)

Sabyasachi is a fairly more well known Indian designer, especially in India (he has even designed for a few Bollywood films)...He seemed to have a more obvious nod to his roots in his collection...(umm, the Post agrees with me on this one...ha!)...He's also known as 'the King of Kitsch'...decide for yourself, I guess!

Ummm...what is with the pseudo-hipster/sexy librarian black frames the models are wearing?

By the way, this is something I kind of stumbled upon when I was online at work (sshh...don't tell!)...I put the interesting/related bits in italics. Enjoy!

From portfolio.com:

Lynn Forester de Rothschild: ...You know India has luxury in its DNA. All you've got to do is look at the maharajas and look at the Taj Mahal. There's no Hermès or Louis Vuitton that's going to tell India anything about luxury. Luxury is a very interesting, undeveloped piece of India. I don't think it will be a big piece for a long time, because of the income level, but I think it's interesting. We do think luxury when we think retail, but we also think more mainstream, aspirational brands and opportunities
Lloyd Grove: And the country obviously has an exploding middle class, so that could be a good market internally-or are you thinking for export as well?
L.R.: I am thinking more about the domestic markets, more about the growth of the domestic market, because 10 million people are entering the middle class every year in India. You know, there are more billionaires in India than anyplace else. Let me put it this way: Every day in India, the entire nation of Great Britain is on the train, one way or another. So the numbers are pretty colossal. Seventy million people in India can afford anything they want. It's a small percent, but that's a reasonable number.
L.G.: That's a pretty healthy market.
L.R.: Two hundred fifty million are middle-class, so you might not go for the Chanel glasses, but you sure could go for an Estée Lauder lipstick or a Starbucks coffee.

- P

Newsflash!

It's Friday! What's happening in the world of pop culture?


Banning bloggers? Is this professor nuts?!

...Unfortunately I (and no other woman) is on the list.

Why wasn't I invited? :(

Wait. Who cares about the photos. Kristin Davis has an alleged sex tape? How very un-Charlotte of her.

I am so obsessed with this woman.

This could have easily been me last night. J.Simpson, be my new best friend?

Team LC. I hate skeezy, violent men too.

I don't care! I still heart Bratz! (But I'd never let my hypothetical daughter play with them.)

-M

The night dessert was held hostage...

"Take my number!"
*Blank stare*
"Here, take my number. Friends only. Friends only. Take it. Miss call me, now," he insisted, coming up close behind where I was seated.
"401blahblahblahblah"
"Ummm," I was so surprised I didn't even know how to deal with the situation.

In my current life as a journalist (and I use the term lightly) in K., I often come across the oddest things (Crime stories on illegal dairy rings? I rest my case)...this was just another one of those times.
I was reviewing a trendy new Arabic fusion restaurant that just opened up here...the experience was going well for the most part...good food, massive quantities, dessert included (woohoo), attentive service...we were seated outside, there was a lovely breeze (which would occasionally send the paper napkins flying from one patron's lap onto another one's face...oh well...) but we had an amazing view of the marina and I had excellent company :)
We had tucked into as much as food as we could manage to eat without exploding and were waiting on dessert when...

"Here, take my phone, put your number in," our waiter said, placing his phone on the edge of our table.
HUH?
"Umm, could you please bring out the dessert? And then we will see," I said, trying desperately to divert his attention from getting my number to just getting my dessert.
"Give me your number," he said, slowly walking away, not even bothering to complete the most basic of the 'hitting-on-a-woman' ritual: getting her number.
"UMMMMMMMMMM!!" (I know I know, but he didn't exactly inspire me to be particularly eloquent)
So, I just sat there, willing for the phone to disappear (maybe if I just stared hard at the leftovers on my plate, it would just go away?)

What is it about two single women that makes it okay for them to be hit on by random skeezy guys. Our waiter had been perfectly polite before this, no sketchiness…that I detected anyway…and then suddenly he felt the need to exchange numbers? (Gotta give it to him though, it was a ballsy move, I guess)…still, why can’t women just walk around, chill out, relax and just BE without being hit on for no reason. It is not like we did ANYTHING to invite the attention either… we were dressed fairly conservatively (not that that should have anything to do with it….I should be able to wear whatever the hell I want, but that’s a whole different post/rant!)…we were not particularly giggly or flirty…sure, we were being polite and courteous to the staff, smiling, saying thank you etc…could that somehow have been twisted into some kind of “OMG! SHE WANTS ME” message in this guy’s head?
Whatever it was…it definitely left me with a bad taste in the mouth…and while the experience overall had been fairly decent, this incredibly uncomfortable experience has me wanting to stay away from the resto, if only to avoid the sketchball waiter.

Needless to say, he did NOT get my number or a tip.