the 'what the frick' award of the week: cumming 'the fragrance'

if you didn't think i already was a wanker (pardon the pun), well... here's a new opportunity.



actor alan cummings continues to amaze with the launch of his new fragrance cheekily named cumming.

honestly, i don't really have that much more to say.

mariah premieres her new video 'shake it off' on yahoo

making hoochyglam into a campy artform, mariah proves herself a maven once again!


check out the 3rd single off the hugely successful emancipation of mimi album by MC. produced by jermaine dupri, the laid back 'shake it off' is actually a slow groove jam that you'll be singing along to in no time.

the video itself (world premiered on yahoo music), is directed by the talented jake nava (beyonce, destinys child, lindsey lohan) who is easily THE go to guy for any female performer that wants to look hotter than they usually do.

in the case of MC, he's done one better by lifting her subconscious camp factor and increased it to a new subtle level (i'm sure MC thinks she looks glamourous... but i couldn't stop thinking of miss piggy). surprisingly one of the better videos out now, if you really want, try to download it here.

ricky gervais, creator of 'the office' returns with a new series 'extras'

please stop compairing this show to the office!


after the massive success of the office, the pressure to come up with another hit comedy forced writing partners ricky gervais and stephen merchant to tap into their own lives and make fun of themselves.

extras follows the adventures of two actors andy millman and his best friend maggie jacobs (ricky and the hilarious ashley jenson). one is searching for a way to raise his performance level to bit player (in ep #1 he bribed an influential crew member to get a line with a 15 pound voucher... to top shop), as for maggie, she's just looking for... a shag, really.

throughout the six episode series, the two find themselves amoung actors who play horrible versions of themselves (so far, ben stiller has already made an appearance as an egomaniacal director trying to make his 'schindler's list'). also scheduled to appear are kate winslet and samuel l jackson.

the show is already on in the UK and US audiences will have to wait until the fall when it premieres on HBO.

to check out clips, go here

watch gwen stefani's new video 'cool' now!

looking more and more like marilyn (monroe, not the tranny pop star of the late 80's) everyday




already onto our 4th single from the wonderful L.A.M.B. album, gwen stefani finally gets around to releasing the post summer anthem cool (co written by dallas austin).

directed by the amazing sophie muller and shot entirely at italy's lake como, gwen jumps between ages as she is both a hot blooded young brunette and a respected platinum contessa within a 3 minute period.

definitely my favorite track from the album, watch the video on aol music here

the 2005 mercury prize shortlist is announced

it's that time of the year again when the best names in indie/alternative get recognised and promoted through the prestigious nationwide mercury prize.

previous winners franz ferdinanz (2004), dizzee rascal (2003), ms dynamite (2002) and pj harvey (2001) have proven that these awards have no real agenda but to showcase the most exciting music of that year.

this years nominees include a smattering of hipster crossover acts (bloc party / kaiser chiefs / MIA / coldplay) mixed in with some surprises (antony and the johnsons / the go! team / the magic numbers).

according to nme, the odds for the kaiser chiefs are the highest the moment, but you never know with this award.

the shortlist (go and buy these wonderful albums now!)
Bloc Party – 'Silent Alarm'
Hard-Fi –'Stars Of CCTV'
Kaiser Chiefs – 'Employment'
MIA – 'Arular'
The Magic Numbers – 'The Magic Numbers'
Coldplay – 'X&Y'
The Go! Team – 'Thunder, Lightning Strike'
Antony And The Johnsons – 'I Am A Bird Now'
KT Tunstall – 'Eye To The Telescope'
Maximo Park – 'A Certain Trigger'
Seth Lakeman – 'Kitty Jay'
Polar Bear – 'Held On The Tips Of Fingers'

buzz film: the 40 year old virgin

trust me, you will think i'm cute by the end of this film

with the wedding crashers easily taking the reins as the 1st all and all funny movie of the year, it will feel like an early xmas when just a mere 3 weeks later, the romantic comedy the 40 year old virgin will make its' ways onto our screens.

directed by the wonderfully talented judd apatow (freaks and geeks), the hilarious premise focuses around dorky electronic store employee andy stizer (played by the funny, yet weirdly sexy, steve carrell of the daily show & the office US), who is unfortunately a virgin at the ripe old age of 40.

with the help of his band of merry/twisted co workers (paul rudd, seth rogan & romany malco), the group tries to help the virgin with his predicament with one insane situation after another. of course, everything gets even crazier when andy meets trish (catherine keener) and realises that she may just be the one.

though raunchy humor is rampant throughout the film, the film has a surprising amount of humanity in which you openly want andy to get over his hump with a... ahem... hump.

easily the frontrunner for the funniest movie of the year.

great website: postsecret

normally i'm only keen on discussing media related information, but today (call it a birthday syndrome) i came across this wonderful site in which anonymous folks submit secrets on custom made postcards and have them posted on this site.

though many of these secrets are hilarious, there are a few disturbing and heartbreakingly honest submissions.

would i turn something in? maybe i have... it's a secret!

random viral ad campaign: brawny man

have you met my new boyfriend?

taking their image into a new era with a wonderfully tongue'n'cheek viral ad campaign, brawny paper towels introduces a night in with the brawny man.

called innocent escapes, you can either choose from a preset 'date' with this hunky guy or choose your own version of an evening 'in' (my customized version included 'en francais', 'freshen up' & 'serenade'. the whole thing takes less that a few minutes, but trust me, it's hilarious!)

have fun clicking away, but remember folks, he's all mine!

buzz tv show: battlestar galactica

who'd of thought sci fi could be so sexy?

i'm the first to admit when my pop culture blip skips on things that i learn to enjoy later on (degrassi being the biggest miss on my part). so when more than a few friends started to talk about battlestar galactica with that exhilirated speech pattern, i knew that i should give the show a go.

funnily enough, sci fi channel did a full day of season 1 repeats last week (with three highlighted shows on nbc over the weekend) to prepare for the much anticipated 2nd series premiere this friday (july 15).

of course this current version of battlestar galactica is a complete remake of the 1978 classic (richard hatch even has a recurring role as a political prisoner) with some twists (starbuck and boomer are both played by women, the cylon (ie the bad guys) have infiltrated humankind AS humans and best of all everyone is getting it on).

darker, intelligent and totally taking it's time with plot twists and intrigue, this show has officially made me into a scifi geek... and i love it!

my summer guilty pleasure has ended! beauty and the geek

now that chuck is $125,000 richer, i'm sure he's meeting ALOT of women

who could have thought that the minds behind the uber lame punk'd would be able to come up with a relatively sweet and hilarious reality show about 7 mensa 'geeks' and 7 ditsy 'babes'. by pairing them up, these couples compete every week to learn from each other (social skills and fashion tips for the geeks. actual facts and basic knowledge for the beauties)

easily one of the most surprisingly entertaining tv shows of the summer, beauty and the geek finally finished it's run with kung fu brain surgeon chuck and fashion expert caitilin plowing their way through the competition.

along the way we got to see chuck lose his nosebleed habits when things got stressful, richard get kissed three times in his life, mindi proving that she's the smartest girl amoung all the other girls and cheerleader scarlett screaming at boy scout master shawn for not knowing how to pitch a tent (the real kind).

the adventures between these 7 couples have shown once again that if you scratch beneath the surface, you're likely to discover a wealth of gems. already working on season 2, this show has easily become a favorite of the summer.

other fun shows out now:
i want to be a hilton (hicks are not only hot, but they are funny!)
the 70's house (where kids thinking they're going to the real world are actually forced to live like it's the 70's the whole time they are competing with each other. the random hustle drills alone is reason to watch this funny show)
30 days (morgan spurlock's wonderful social experiment in which people choose to live for 30 days as someone else. so far a devout gun toting christian moves to the castro to live with gay men, a catholic lives life as a muslim and morgan himself lives on minimum wage for 30 days.)

watch live 8 again!

madonna 'music' just one of the many performances you'll be able to see again this saturday on mtv/vh1

for many of us who missed last weekends showing of live 8 (whether due to MTV/VH1's horrible coverage of 'highlights' or just the fact that you just missed it), there are a few ways to check out the whole event again.

firstly, due to massive complaints, mtv and vh1 have decided to rebroadcast the whole concert without interruptions this saturday (july 9th) [billboard.com report] from 10am to 8pm (vh1 til 3, mtv takes over til 8pm).

or throughout the summer aol music, for a fee which will benefit the one organisation, will show you the complete concert on demand.

but if you can't wait, check out this site for a limited time access to some of the days highlights including all of madonna's much talked about performance, u2, coldplay, kanye west, destiny's child, bjork and loads more!

Luther Vandross: 1951 - 2005

truly one of the best voices ever, fans will definitely miss you.

when i was growing up in hong kong, access to the world of r&b was regulated to finds from trips to the US or american/uk top 40 (my peers didn't help cause they only listened to classic rock or other forms of musical travesties). but somehow along the way, acts like anita baker and luther vandross found their way into my walkman, offering me a world of soulful drama that enhanced my teenage years (now my friends understand where some of my drama comes from).

the now classic albums 'rapture' by anita baker and 'give me the reason' by luther, not only offered master classes in vocal performances (to which i still shine at karaoke), but gave me a glimpse of passion and emotion that i had yet to experience.

listening to luther's music these past few days have not only brought me back to my naive mid 80's, but also shows me that no one has captured that pureness that this man could convey through his immaculate voice.

he shall be missed.

watch the crazy ass ghetto opera 'trapped in the closet'

i want you to get on yo... oh wait, you're too old. darn!

it's like crack, but every time i think i'm going to write off r.kelly as a freaky hack, he breaks down my barrier and comes up with something that just shocks and amuses my urban sensibilities (think beauty school meets an 'on no you didn't' neck grinding reaction).

based on radio soap operas of the 30's in which every chapter ends with a cliffhanger, r. kelly
has recorded 5 chapters of an urban operetta called 'trapped in the closet'. telling a story of a two timer who wakes up to one of the craziest days of his life, the whole thing is ghetto preposterous and totally stupid compelling at the same time.

in response to watching these 1st five chapters, i've been inspired to sing my life from now on.
to watch these chapters in one go, download the whole thing here, if not, go to launch.com to watch them one after the other.

rumor bandwagon! that piece about tom and rob

from the war of the worlds premiere last week:
oh my god! that kid from jerry mcguire is definitely going through a funky puberty!

if you haven't heard yet, there's yet another 'twist' in the tom cruise gossip mill. though we've already heard about the 'auditions' of a few actresses for PR life partner (katie won the part), the latest involves a certain rob thomas (who is definitely a cutie and if he is bi, then can someone pass on his contact info!).

here's something from the superficial and to read the incriminating email that's been going around last friday, here it is from jossip.