Today at Flavorpill, we procatinated. We learned about 25 celebrity couples that we previously never knew existed. We watched Justin Bieber do his best to single-handedly ruin steampunk while making awful faces. We kind of fell in love with these little kids dressed up like TODAY hosts — especially the mini Kathie Lee and Hoda. We read Nerve’s sex advice from modern-day Mad Men. We wondered if Harry Houdini had the most demanding rider agreement of his time. We were surprised to discover that we have an old Hollywood starlet to thank for GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth technology. We looked at some of the AV Club’s favorite moments of 2011. We were terrified by some of the things that were lurking in Clair Huxtable’s closet. We were happy to make BuzzFeed’s list of the best Tumblrs of 2011. And finally, we couldn’t believe all the things that crazed Doctor Who fans have converted into homemade TARDISes — although our favorite is probably the Murphy bed that a man in New Zealand built for his son.
1. Last night, while co-hosting the 2011 Mayor’s Awards for Arts and Culture at Lincoln Center, the always adorable Alec Baldwin introduced himself as the city’s mayor, much to Bloomberg’s feigned dismay. All joking aside, a run for office definitely seems to be in the 30 Rock star’s future plans, wouldn’t you say? [via NYDN]
2. James Franco has signed on to play a drug dealer (again!) in a new Harmony Korine film called Spring Break; the story “follows four college-aged girls who rob a fast food restaurant to afford spring break in Florida, only to get arrested upon their arrival.” Franco’s character bails them out, and convinces them to kill his arch-rival… a murderer named Arch. [via Slashfilm]
3. After bombing in Abduction (which is currently at 4% on Rotten Tomatoes), Twilight star Taylor Lautner is teaming up with director Gus Van Sant on an indie film that’s based on an unspecified nonfiction article from The New Yorker. Lautner will also produce the project. [via THR]
4. Rick Ross says that those recent seizures that led to his hospitalization in mid-October were caused by lack of sleep, and that he’s totally healthy now. [via NME]
5. Following an alleged 30-second tryst backstage at one of his concerts last year, a 20-year-old woman in California is claiming that Justin Bieber is the father of her 3-month-old baby, and is now suing him for child support. [via NYP]
Bonus Buzz: Neil Patrick Harris’ Halloween Family Portrait
You always knew Nickelback were terrible, but did you realize that their music makes a very effective contraception? It’s true! The dating site Tastebuds.fm, which revealed back in April that Coldplay fans are prudes, has just released some fascinating new data on the way our musical preferences affect our sex lives. After surveying thousands of Tastebuds users, they’ve determined which bands are the biggest turnoffs. Nickelback tops the list of acts mostly likely to send a potential partner running for the hills, with Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga following fairly close behind. When Tastebuds divided responses by gender, the Nickelback-Bieber-Gaga trifecta still topped both lists. The biggest difference thereafter was that women were actually more bothered by a partner who enjoyed female pop stars (Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj) than men, whose top 10 turnoffs included Coldplay, U2, Lil Wayne, and Creed. See the gender breakdown infographic after the jump. If we had to guess, we’d say this has something to do with heterosexual preferring to date gender-normative men and women. Anyone else have a theory?
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Lady Gaga. Justin Bieber. Katy Perry. You might expect to see these names on, say, the list of big winners at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also, it turns out, the only people in the world with more popular Twitter accounts than Barack Obama — who edges out famous-for-being-famous divorcée-to-be Kim Kardashian by less than 150,000 followers, according to new stats compiled by Twitaholic. The remainder of the top 10 includes four pop stars (Britney Spears, Shakira, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift) and Ashton Kutcher. Friends, you’ll have to scroll all the way down to #23 to find a news organization (CNN Breaking News). Also depressing? Perez Hilton has more followers than The New York Times. See how many followers each of the 10 most popular tweeters has racked up after the jump, and then visit Digital Media News if you think you can stomach the entire top 100. Spoiler alert: In case you’re still laboring under the illusion that Twitter users are still elite, media-savvy types, this is all the evidence you’ll need to convince you that those days are long gone.
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This week, Nicki Minaj was a guest judge on the millionth season of America’s Next Top Model. Now don’t get us wrong, we love Nicki, and we even have a soft spot in our hearts for that crazy lady Tyra Banks, but we’re not exactly sure what she was doing there. Aren’t the guest judges usually photographers or people who have anything to do with what’s actually going on in the show, rather than blatant cries for more viewers? Oh, look at us, bemoaning the loss of integrity on ANTM. Silly. Regardless, Nicki’s blonde bobbed cameo got us thinking about the other strange, random or otherwise incongruous guest stars that have popped up on some of our favorite TV shows, whether in integral roles or tiny walk-on parts. Click through for a trip down memory lane of some of the weirdest instances, and let us know if we’ve missed any of your favorite guests in the comments!
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You’re taking a stroll through Boston Public Garden. You stop to acknowledge the fingerpicking fellow busking nearby, maybe throw him a dollar, and then you realize — surprise! It’s Bruce Springsteen. Well-known rockers rarely take to busking, since they don’t have much need for petty cash, but impromptu public jams from Bruce and other musicians are always appreciated. We’ve gathered some noteworthy street sessions after the cut.
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Today at Flavorpill, we were surprised to discover how Time Warner actually profits from Anonymous’ attacks thanks to the group’s fondness for wearing Guy Fawkes masks. We watched the Foo Fighters take an NSFW shower together. We wondered why Justin Bieber decided on someone as innocuous as Taylor Swift for his first pranking victim on Punk’d. We made a mental note never to operate a party bus within arm’s reach of Matthew Fox. We enjoyed listening to Jarvis Cocker and The Strokes covering The Cars. We were thrilled that US bikini laws aren’t as strict now as they apparently were back in 1922. We were intrigued to hear that Josh Brolin will star in Spike Lee’s completely unnecessary Oldboy remake — perhaps this makes the project a little less egregious. We couldn’t resist downloading “Lick Yourself Clean,” the debut track from LCD Catsystem. We were thankful to Pop Candy for posting this list of the 10 best heavy metal documentaries. And finally, we found that just looking at this house made us hungry for dinner.
1. Abercrombie & Fitch wants The Situation to stop wearing its clothes — and is offering up a “substantial payment” to make sure that it happens. From the company’s official statement: “We understand that the show is for entertainment purposes, but believe this association is contrary to the aspirational nature of our brand, and may be distressing to many of our fans.” [via Speakeasy]
2. Following outcry from fans and objections by the singer’s estate, Kiss has been dropped from the bill of an upcoming Michael Jackson tribute concert because Gene Simmons has previously said in interviews that he believes the pop star was a child molester. [via Rolling Stone]
3. After Universal unceremoniously ditched the project last month, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are looking for new ways to distribute their adaptation of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series — including Netflix — but don’t look for anything to happen until next year. [via THR]
4. Beloved film critic (and Flavorpill favorite) Roger Ebert has posted the opening pages of his forthcoming memoir on his website. Life Itself hits shelves on September 13. [via PopCandy]
5. Bono — who bought $210 million worth of shares in Facebook back in 2009 — is about to make $1 billion on his investment thanks to this week’s $65 billion valuation of the social networking site. Hopefully he won’t spend all of that cash on giant claws… [via NME]
Bonus Buzz: Juggalo Justin Bieber
“Everybody needs his memories,” Saul Bellow once wrote. “They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.” These days, the same can be true of fame. It’s no surprise then that celebrity memoirs and autobiographies continue to flood the market — much to our personal glee. As self-proclaimed aficionados, we’ve decided to help you navigate the waters; here are a few contemporary titles, paired with a soft focus homage to their vintage predecessors, never to be forgotten. If you’ve got a recommendation to add to our list, be sure to leave it in the comments.
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Last night was the MTV Movie Awards, the network’s annual film awards show that’s always more about parodies and interactions between celebrity presenters than who wins what. If you missed it, have no fear, reruns will be airing round the clock for the next month or so. But be warned: If you were born after 1990, you’re not only older than most of this year’s winners — there will also be some moments from the broadcast that will make you feel ancient. Click through as we run through some of the most egregious examples.
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