Diggin

Music: Having attended T4 On The Beach the weekend before last on a press pass for my day job, I have been enjoying all manner of poptastic tunes in memory of an awesome day. Yes, I met those McFly lads and although Sam doesn’t need to worry about me running off with Harry (though if I had to run off with a member of McFly he certainly smelled the nicest) I’m loving their new album Radio:ACTIVE. It’s lots of fun, even if we did have to buy the Mail On Sunday to get it. Staying on the poptastic jaunt I’m yet to grow tired of Drake Bell‘s music, which has improved remarkably over only two albums – It’s Only Time is the best of them. The live versions of tracks from his upcoming third album are also boding well… so bring it on! (Sorry Sam.) I’m also adoring the soundtrack to the awesome movie The Wackness which is full of 90s hip hop from the Fresh Prince to Biggie and Nas. It’s so summery and reminds me of the great film which I can’t see being overtaken as my favourite indie movie of the summer. Biz Markie’s Just A Friend is playing almost constantly in my head.

Film/TV: The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight. Wow. I gave it a 5 star review, I loved it that much – not a bad performance in the movie, and so much better than I even expected it to be. I also went to see Wall-E with Sam, which had me hooked too… such an adorable romantic movie with breathtaking CGI. Baby Mama was OK, lots of jokes fell flat but it was saved by the fact I love Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and Steve Martin’s small role was hilarious. Sam does not believe me on that, but it’s true. Also The Wackness is coming out on August 29 so in case I don’t write again before then you must see it. It’s fab.

TV-wise Gossip Girl has just finished so I won’t be watching that anymore, at least until the second season starts airing in the States. Sam, Tom and I had a bit of a The Hills season one marathon at the weekend which caused more debate than you can possibly imagine between the boys. Always entertaining. I caught a show called Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide today while waiting for my daily Drake & Josh fix (I know, it’s still going on…) which was fairly amusing and I probably would have enjoyed lots if I was still of school-age. Alas, alack, I am not – no matter how much some of my pop culture tastes would have you believe I am. In relation to this, my favourite moment of T4 on The Beach came when I met Joe Dempsie who played adorable Chris in Skins, and he was lovely and so nice. Can’t wait to see what he does next…

Books: I haven’t been reading anything too exciting lately as I’ve been spending most of my time on the internet… but I did manage to read The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss which has some fascinating ideas about how you could arrange your working life if you just have the balls to do it. Stuff to implement and stuff to ignore, but it makes you think. I also picked up a couple of books featuring photos of hip kids at parties – last nights party and misshapes… curiously fascinating.  Also have been putting some positivity into practice with Gala Darling’s amazing blog iCiNG – read it and smile.

Other: The web browser Flock, the sun (but not the heat), sorting out my office (again), Sam catching me up in age until February, my housemate John being in Edinburgh to take over with Silence In C Minor, my other housemate Tom’s costume for his IMAX showing of The Dark Knight, a few days off. And, as if I couldn’t make this anymore D&J centric – I’m diggin the amazing transformation of Josh Peck. Bravo, Josh, bravo.

Oscar Predictions: Betty, Tommy ‘n’ Johnny

So Betty and Tommy need to keep their spirits up and predict what will happen with the Oscar show tonight, trying desperately to keep up with me in the predictions race (which I am winning thanks to the Golden Globes). These are all set out at will win / want to win. Enjoy their losing after the jump.

The Second Weekly Dig

 

As I’m trying to get into the San Francisco wake/sleep cycle I figured I would do a weekly Dig too! Hurrah!

Music: Um… what have I been listening to? I’ve been loving the Juno soundtrack, with its jangly melodies and Kimya Dawson-centric tunes. Especially the beautiful duet between Michael Cera and Ellen Page on their cover of The Moldy Peaches’ Anyone Else But You… Dreamy. On a side note, All The Young Dudes by Mott The Hoople is now my number one ringtone! I’m also adoring anything I can find by Yelle and Office.

Film & TV: I’ve watched Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park which I thought was beautifully shot and acted, with a great cameo by Gossip Girl’s Jenny (Taylor Momsen). Lost is back on US screens, and what an opener it was – setting things up nicely for the next 8 episodes… thank god they went over what happened because I was a little lost (hoho). The inclusion of a character I didn’t think I’d see again made me incredibly happy. I’ve also been watching The O.C season 4 (aka the one where it all went insane) and have really been enjoying the bizarreness of it all. I’d like to see Willa Holland (Caitlin) cast in Gossip Girl – I think she’d fit in nicely. It also made me miss Rachel Bilson & Adam Brody, can’t wait to see Jumper for a little Bilson, but Brody – where are you going to pop up next?? And as a house we’ve been taking in Series 2 of The West Wing. Classic.

Reading: Mostly magazines to be honest. Vogue Paris, Elle UK & US, the UK version of which has employed Chloe Sevigny as their style advisor in a fab move, also am loving their new cleaner subscriber covers. I’m looking forward to doing a bit more reading on my trip…

Anything else? Pop-culture is now my job as well as my hobby so I’m loving every darn bit of all that. Planning my trip has been fun, although a lot of it has been taken care of for me, and now I can’t wait to meet up with the girls at the airport tomorrow and get on the plane to the US! I have a new haircut, so I’m a big fan of Toni & Guy, and the lovely manicurist Aggie who works in my local salon too. Chocolate buttons and clementine slices are delish, as is mango… yum. I’ve seen my lovely parents in the last week and had a lovely walk round town with them as well as a yummy Chinese meal in our local. So everything’s pretty good at the moment.

Leaving, On A Jet Plane…

 

So it’s time for me (Beth) to check out temporarily – I’m off to San Francisco thanks to the very exciting opportunity to train over there for my new job as UK Editor of PopSugar, at Sugar Inc. I’m flying out to San Francisco on Monday, so I’ll be away from E&L for a couple of weeks, leaving it in the very trustworthy, hilarious, intelligent and handsome hands of Sam.

Make sure you check out PopSugar from Friday if you’re in the UK, as we’ll be launching all-new UK content on both Pop (celebrity and entertainment) and Fab (fashion)!! How exciting!

Anyway enough of the shameless self-promotion; keep on coming back here as I’ll be back in a fortnight and it will be as if I had never left. Who knows, maybe I’ll post from the States too!

Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Link

The Guardian has a lovely tribute to Jeremy Beadle, the UK’s numero uno prankster, who died this week.

PopMatters gives another ringing endorsement to Vampire Weekend.

Thurston Moore is releasing an iTunes live EP.

Flight of the Conchords’ Jermaine Clement is to star in Gentlemen Broncos.

Slate well, slates those stupid movie spoof things with focus on Meet The Spartans.

This passed me by but ladies and gentlemen, Falco the Movie.

This is a little old but for all of you looking to get some ideas of new books to take in as part of that new year’s resolution to read more, here’s the best books of 2007 from The Boston Globe.

Thieves… watch out how much salami you consume. It’ll be ya downfall.

The New Yorker explores Johnny Greenwood’s adored soundtrack to There Will Be Blood.

Come on now- everyone wants more Seventeen Again info – Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Melora Hardin – it’s all good! Here’s a more detailed plot synopsis, and here’s some info from a set visit, all via ComingSoon.

Britney had a bad night last night which ended in her being committed. Lets hope she gets better soon. PopSugar has more details.

And finally, here’s Justin Timberlake’s funny new Pepsi ad…

D.I.V.O.LINK.C.E

 

“Step by Step. Grraaaaargh” – Just one of my highlights of the NKOTB song Step By Step. Here, PopJustice states what their return means for you, reminding us they paved the way for greats like ‘Take That and Freefaller.’ Oh yes.

What?? Alexa Chung is getting more presenting work??? I do prefer it when she’s in magazines writing her Company column and looking pretty in the latest kooky fashions. Still, lets not write it off, she’s a clever girl… – take over, PR people…

BBC’s amazing new music comedy, chat show THE WALL, presented by Popworld’s ALEXA CHUNG, this fantastic new live show will feature comedy, sketches, chat and top, top music performances. Joining Alexa will be sketch troupe WE ARE KLANG, comedians SIMON BRODKIN and LUCY MONTGOMERY, ones-to-watch in 2008 THE YOUNG KNIVES, and the inimitable KELLY OSBOURNE. This is gonna be a top night of entertainment!

There’s an intervention going on in Britney-land… 

1 Star?? Maddy Costa of The Guardian really doesn’t like Cat Power it seems. In comparison, last time I saw her live she was sublime…

Got a bit of extra cash in your pockets? Well Net-A-Porter has snapped up the new relaunched Halston line before it has even shown on the catwalks. They have such faith in it that they’re going to be putting each item up for sale the day after the catwalk show. Not a bad investment if you ask me – it will fly off the e-shelves on February 5th.

A new TV series based on the movie Crash will be coming to our tellyboxes in the future.

On the 25th Feb the Take That Beautiful World Live DVD will be released! Featuring classics old and new as part of the main show, a documentary following the boys on the massive tour AND a commentary where no doubt Barlow will be imparting much wisdom this DVD is going to be a must for me!!

Harry Judd of the band McFly is one of many people entering the London Marathon this year on April 13th for the Teenage Cancer Trust and Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust. If you can’t work out which one he is, he’s the drummer and the one who supposedly spent a little time with Lindsay Lohan (Who hasn’t? Oooh, ouch…) Anyway, if you would like to sponsor him on this 26 mile exhaustion creator then click here – you could also win tickets to the pre-Marathon pasta party and spend some time with the teen heartthrob himself! (Harry, that is, not Zac Efron or anyone like that…)

“Pa Pa Pa Paye Yeh Dil” – that’s how you sing HSM’s Bop To The Top in Hindi, in case you were wondering. The New York Times has a really interesting article about the spread of the High School Musical phenomenon internationally and how Disney are doing it by localising the films as much as possible to ingratiate them within each culture.

Did you know Lost‘s Jorge Garcia (Hurley) has a blog? Me neither. Well – here it is!

In light of the WGA strike, fashionable teen drama Gossip Girl‘s first season is being rerun already in the US – but the CW are being super-clever about it by repackaging the episodes with extra footage, the Los Angeles Times reports… –

“…the CW gathered the cast at a posh Hollywood club on a recent warm morning to shoot segments for the new campaign. The winsome young stars — dressed in Chanel and other top labels — lounged on a sea-green ottoman in an ornately gilded room, delivering lines written by the network’s marketing staff. The group hadn’t been together since production in New York shut down in December, and they giggled and bantered as producers conferred between shots.

“Save the energy for the takes, please!” shouted a harried director.

The material will be used in “Gossip Girl Revealed,” a package of DVD-like extras such as outtakes and cast interviews that will be wrapped around the first few repeats.”

Skins Series 2 Preview…

Can’t wait!!

And for bonus joy – here’s Skins starBill Bailey dancing with a dog.

9 to link, what a way to make a livin’

Dolly songs this week. For literally no reason at all. (Except the overruling reason that they’re FABULOUS! – Beth)

Let’s kick off by going all proggy with a select group of ridiculous album covers.

Dude… I gotta read the news more. You gonna eat those Cheetos??

Guillermo del Toro is reported to have entered talks to direct The Hobbit. Awesome.

Sparks are playing 21 shows in a row. The Guardian salutes the genius of Mael.

Pitchfork loves the Afro-pop indie of Vampire Weekend. So do I! Pitchfork and I should become BFFs!!

Slate reviews Breaking Bad. I watched the first episode of this last night and I’m undecided as yet.

The really quite lovely Marion Cotillard’s career is really kicking off post La Vie en Rose. Now she gets to meet Depp.

Wilmer Valderrama and Rosario Dawson make out in a dramatic telenovela about VOTING! Come on Americans – Declare Yourself!

The world is really being kind to me lately – now there’s going to be a HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL… erm… musical, live in London at the Hammersmith Apollo. There is a god. And his name is Zac Efron*.

(*I’m guessing Zac will not actually be in it. I’ll just take my contact lenses out and pretend it’s him up on stage… ahem.)

Erm – NOOOOoooooooooooo… McFly are parting ways with their record company. (Although still making music apparently.) They’re going the way of Busted… oh good lord, I’m still not over the demise of Busted… where are you Matt Willis? Get back on my tellybox!

NBC is casting for contenders for the second season of American Gladiators – BuzzSugar wants to know what your Gladiatorial name would be. Ponder carefully…

Smirnoff Link

 

 My new favourite singing sensation – the super-fun and French Yelle.

The Guardian has a superb interview with the gorgeous and wonderfully down-to-earth actress Allison Janney.

Anna Wintour is disappointed in Hillary Clinton’s fear of being feminine in her latest Vogue editor’s letter.

The Soup‘s Joel McHale says the thing we’ve all been thinking re: the coverage of Heath Ledger by some parties.

They’re coming baaaaaaaaack! After the underwhelming success of Upper Street, ex NKOTB-er Danny is rejoining New Kids On The Block!!

A Times writer attempted to be Morrissey’s roadie, and lasted just a day – read more here…

Girls Aloud‘s Cheryl Cole has kicked out her footballer husband Ashley since The Sun‘s revelation that he recently cheated on her. I hope she gave him a piece of her mind too… what an idiot he must be…

Now I’ll be working from home, I might have to get myself one of these wooden bed desks… how fab! Thanks SavvySugar!

Pina Colinka

Photo: ©2005 JamesLooker.co.uk

So it’s changed from beers to alcoholic drinks as beers didn’t really work out. Good to stop it early though.

The AV Club shuffles back in its seat so it can look over Joshua Glenn’s shoulder and note his iPod selections.

Karen O loves The Boosh!

The line-up for Coachella is going to be trippy baby!

The New York Times has some updates about the deals being done at Sundance.

Pitchfork digs the Times New Viking record. You can download one of their tracks right here.

Moldy Peaches appeared on The View. Here it is.

Morrissey’s residency at The Roundhouse is going well.

The lesser of Drake & Josh is showing he’s actually the more…er… oh dear. Um, basically Josh Peck is hip and cool. Whereas Drake Bell makes perfectly decent McFly-like albums and stars in ads for Best Buy. Peck has lost a whole load of weight and is currently at the Sundance film festival, showing off a film I really want to see – The Wackness – a movie set in the 90s and co-starring Juno’s Olivia Thirlby, Mary-Kate Olsen, Ben Kingsley and Famke Janssen.

Ahhh This Morning. EVERYONE loves it – for reasons like this….