Mereja

Author: Amanda Crum

  • Christine White Dies: “Twilight Zone” Actress Was 86

    Christine White, who played the wife of William Shatner’s tormented air-traveler in the “Twilight Zone” episode “Nightmare At 20,000 Feet”, has died. She was 86 years old.

    White had more than 50 acting credits under her belt, but perhaps none were so remembered and revered as that of Julia Wilson, whose husband battles a gremlin only he can see on the wing of the plane they’re traveling on in the infamous “Twilight Zone” episode. She also appeared on such popular television shows as “Father Knows Best”, “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”, and “Perry Mason”.

    White, who was born in Washington, returned there from New York in order to care for her ailing mother after a long acting career.

  • Chris Brown: Death Threats Being Investigated

    Chris Brown has had some threats made on his life this week, and police are launching an investigation to find the responsible party.

    Reportedly, someone called Brown’s lawyer’s office to make the threats, and while it hasn’t been released just what was said, attorney Mark Geragos took them seriously enough to phone police immediately.

    Brown has been the subject of much controversy since a violent altercation with former girlfriend Rihanna in 2009, after which he was arrested and she was left bruised and bloodied. Despite a restraining order that would have made it impossible for the two of them to be within 50 yards of one another, they resumed a relationship last year that was widely speculated upon on social media outlets like Twitter. His lawyer, who represented him after the domestic violence incident, says his client has changed only for the better since then.

    “He’s grown and matured, and as he would tell you, is still making good music,” he says.

  • Secret Photos Of Residents Subject Of Art Exhibition

    An L.A. artist is on the receiving end of some backlash this week after his exhibition opened in New York, because the subjects are none too pleased about the way they turned out. Mostly because they weren’t aware they were being photographed.

    Arne Svenson took the pictures with a telephoto lens through his loft window, aiming the camera into the apartments across the way…and therefore, into strangers’ lives. The exhibition, titled “The Neighbors”, is drawing criticism and outright outrage this week as the subjects have realized just how much Svenson saw.

    “This is about kids. If he’s waiting there for hours with his camera, who knows what kind of footage he has. I can recognize items from my daughter’s bedroom,” one resident said.

    The gallery owner, Julie Saul, is surprised at the anger she’s seen from some of the subjects and says most of the feedback she’s gotten about the pieces is positive. As for Svenson, he never shows the faces of his subjects.

    “For my subjects, there is no question of privacy,” he said in the exhibition statement. “They are performing behind a transparent scrim on a stage of their own creation with the curtain raised high. I am not unlike the birder, quietly waiting for hours, watching for the flutter of a hand or a movement of a curtain as an indication that there is life within.”

    Of course, many artists are controversial in what they do and for some, that is just the point. Last year, Damien Hirst found himself on the receiving end of some backlash of his own after using live butterflies in an exhibit and inadvertently killing 9,000 of them. But some say that filming others without their knowledge is pushing more boundaries than an artist should.

    For now, Svenson’s show is on display at the Julie Saul gallery in Chelsea.

  • Dying Man’s Blinks Identify Killer, May Be Thrown Out

    A dying man who had been paralyzed by a gunshot wound used eye-blinks to identify the shooter, but defense attorneys argue that the testimony shouldn’t hold up in an Ohio court.

    David Chandler was shown a photo of a man police believed had wielded the gun, was asked if he was indeed the shooter, and was told to blink twice for no and three times for yes. He died a short time later from his wounds. Authorities videotaped the questioning an submitted it as evidence against Ricardo Woods, who has now been charged with murder, felony assault, and at least one weapons charge.

    But defense attorneys say the video shouldn’t be admitted as a testimony because Chandler’s blinks were erratic, and because he was only shown one photo rather than given a choice when it came time to identify his shooter.

    “They planted the idea in his mind, and then asked him to respond,” attorney Kory Jackson said. “It is improperly suggestive. That causes false identifications more often than not.”

    But a doctor who examined Chandler said that he was perfectly capable of communicating with blinks before he died. And though his testimony wasn’t the sole evidence entered–an informant testified that Woods said he’d shot Chandler because Chandler caught him buying drugs from someone while he owed Chandler money–Jackson says he believes the charges are unfair.

    “We’re disappointed in the verdict,” he said. “We have said since the beginning that the video should not have been allowed into evidence.”

  • Soap Actor: Cocaine Dealer Was Second Job

    Soap actor Dylan Patton was arrested this week in his L.A. home after authorities conducted a raid. The 20-year old had allegedly been selling cocaine from his home; after an undercover cop made a buy, the police swooped in and put him in handcuffs.

    Patton is best known for his role as Will Horton on “Days Of Our Lives” and has had a promising acting career, with roles on various television shows such as “Cold Case”. However, that could all be in jeopardy if he gets the book thrown at him. The young star faces up to nine years in prison and is currently being held on $30,000 bond.

  • Paul Shane Dies: British Actor Was 72

    Paul Shane, the British actor who became famous for his role on the show “Hi-De-Hi!” has died after a brief illness. He was 72 years old.

    Shane actually got started in showbiz in an unlikely way; after a mining accident at the age of just 27, he sang in small pubs in the ’70s and was eventually offered television roles. His biggest role was that of entertainer Ted Bovis on the popular BBC series “Hi-De-Hi!”

    Linda Kremer, Shane’s agent, had this to say about her client and friend:

    “Paul Shane was a consummate professional, a true gentleman, a good friend, and a joy to work with over the past 15 years. He didn’t suffer fools, always maintained his sense of humour, never stinted on the time he gave to his fans. He lightened my life and I’ll miss him enormously.”

    Shane is also being remembered on Twitter today by those who knew him and those who grew up watching him.

  • Wonder Woman Show Isn’t Dead, After All

    Wonder Woman is still expected to show up on the CW, network officials say, even though they didn’t order the pilot episode this season.

    Studio execs say they are still very interested in a small-screen adaptation of the popular comic, they just want a new writer to take over.

    “It is being redeveloped, we’re waiting for the script to come in; we haven’t seen it yet,” network president Mark Pedowitz said. “We are preparing to pilot it off-cycle should the script be what we want it to be. We do not want to produce something that doesn’t work for that particular character — it is the trickiest of all the DC characters to get done.”

    With comic book stories sweeping movie theaters and raking in millions, it’s no surprise that television execs want to cash in on America’s love for their favorite characters. The problem is finding a way to do it that remains true to the hero, yet translates to t.v. in a way that isn’t completely, horribly cheesy.

    The character summary for the show reads as such:

    [She comes from] a secluded country where she was raised as a solider in a brutal environment. Now a stranger in a strange modern big city, she’s a fierce warrior with the innocent heart of a romantic and she will fight to the death to make the world safe.

    The writer who has taken over the script is Aron Eli Coleite, whose credits include “Heroes” and “The River”.

  • Emma Watson Is Inspired By Kim Kardashian

    Emma Watson is playing a certain kind of girl in her next movie, “The Bling Ring”, and she says she was inspired by the Kardashian girls when she was trying to get into character.

    The “Harry Potter” actress has clearly moved away from her iconic “Hermione” character in playing a girl so fascinated with Hollywood celebs that she breaks into their homes and steals their belongings. The character is based on real-life accused thief Alexis Neiers, who allegedly broke into the homes of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Orlando Bloom–among others–with a group of friends. Neiers was the subject of the reality show “Pretty Wild”, which was being filmed right when she was busted. She ended up pleading no contest to the charges against her after word got out that Orlando Bloom would be testifying in court.

    “I watched a lot of Keeping up with the Kardashians and The Hills, and I tried to understand the psychology of this kind of girl as much as possible,” Watson said. “I didn’t want her to be just a parody. The accent was hard as it was a particular kind of dialect. I also thought a lot about what her parents must have been like.”

    The film, which is helmed by Sofia Coppola, opens in June.

  • Bea Arthur: Nude Painting Banned From Facebook

    Bea Arthur rose to fame as a strong, take-no-crap woman on sitcoms like “Maude” and “The Golden Girls”, and though her deep voice and severe, no-nonsense haircut were usually regarded as masculine traits, some men found her attitude sexy. One man in particular found it sexy enough to want to paint her in the buff, and he did.

    Artist John Currin painted the Golden Girl in a nude pose in 1991, although he stressed that he worked from a clothed photo of the actress. The painting has now gone for $1.9 million at auction, but Facebook apparently doesn’t want the photo posted on their site. According to The Daily Beast, they weren’t allowed to upload it due to the exposed breasts in the painting, although Facebook has said before that art doesn’t apply to that rule.

    Facebook has caught some backlash before due to their strict “no breast” policy after taking down photos of mothers breastfeeding and showing off pregnant body art. Site reps eventually apologized to The Daily Beast, saying, “Our policy prohibits photos of actual nude people, not paintings or sculptures. Unfortunately, this image was erroneously removed under the same clause we use to prevent more graphic images from propagating on the site.”

    Christie’s Auction House sold the piece to an anonymous bidder, but the price was expected to go much higher than it did. When Currin’s show opened in the early ’90s it was lambasted by art critics, one of whom said that the pieces were “acrid fantasy portraits of menopausal women — images suspended, in his words, ‘between the object of desire and the object of loathing.’”

    Arthur was aware of the painting before her death in 2009 and said that perhaps Currin was simply drawn to strong women.

    “Maybe [Currin] was attracted to the feminist movement of the 1970s. Because of ‘Maude,’ I was the Joan of Arc of feminism. He certainly couldn’t have done anything with Marlo Thomas of ‘That Girl.’”

    Check out the painting below, courtesy of Christie’s. Could be NSFW depending on your view of nude art.

    bea arthur nude

  • “Big Bang Theory” Finale To Include Cliffhanger

    “Big Bang Theory” is about to wrap up its latest season tonight, and actor Simon Helberg–who plays Howard–says fans shouldn’t expect anything to be wrapped up in a neat little package.

    “This time, the adventure is for Leonard,” Helberg said, referring to the character played by Johnny Galecki. “Howard finds Stephen Hawking’s crew is sending out an expedition to the North Sea, and he gets Leonard a job, going on a boat for four months.”

    The problem is that Leonard and his girlfriend Penny have just hit a sweet spot in their relationship, and now he will be forced to choose between his dream and his dream girl.

    The show has earned major viewership in the past couple of seasons, becoming popular even with all the science-speak the characters use. Perhaps it’s the relatable way they have about them that draws viewers in, as they are all still struggling with the same problems the rest of us do despite having genius IQ’s.

    “I think we’re all having a good time,” Helberg said. “And I think the show is far from being stale. It is kind of constantly — not reinventing itself — but just expanding on these characters. So, yeah, I think we’re going strong for now, as long as people keep inviting us in.”

  • Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera Come Back To “The Voice”

    Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera are both coming back as judges on “The Voice” after they took a hiatus to work on their respective projects.

    Aguilera left to headline a tour, and Green went on to focus his efforts on a Vegas show. Their big red chairs were kept warm by Usher and Shakira, who seem to have enjoyed their time on the show, but the original judges want their spots back. Aguilera has already signed her contract–which will pay her $12.5 million for a fifth season–and Green is negotiating his. The show has gained popularity in the last couple of seasons, and producers say they will continue to work with their celebrity judges in order to keep everyone happy.

    “These are current touring artists, so it’s a matter of balancing schedules. They’re all in demand, and we’re just balancing it all,” executive producer Mark Burnett said.

    Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine and country star Blake Shelton are also set to return for the next season.

  • Jessica Alba: Street Fighter Photos Tear Up Web

    Jessica Alba’s photos pretty much always get attention on the web, usually because she’s donned some form of sexy gear. But this time, it’s all about Hadouken.

    Hadouken, which was started by Japanese schoolgirls, involves photos that are made to look like special effects are going down in real life. Alba has posted several tries on her Instagram account, all with varying levels of success. The latest, though, is making rounds online because it looks pretty damn good. Check it out.

    jessica alba street fighter

    jessica alba street fighter

    jessica alba street fighter

    jessica alba street fighter

    jessica alba street fighter

    jessica alba street fighter

  • LeAnn Rimes Feud With Brandi Glanville Just Keeps Going

    LeAnn Rimes has a long and storied past with Brandi Glanville; since LeAnn married Brandi’s ex, Eddie Cibrian, the two have been going at it in the press nonstop. Brandi was initially upset that Eddie cheated on her with LeAnn while the two of them were filming a movie together, but now she’s set her sights on LeAnn’s mothering skills and even the way she gives Mother’s Day gifts.

    Glanville took to Twitter to talk about LeAnn’s gift–a bouquet of flowers–and said that the two of them don’t speak when they run into each other in public.

    LeAnn reportedly replied with, “This was actually the first acknowledgement of my gesture I was made aware of. I didn’t see anything else sent to me. It wasn’t for the ‘thank you.’ It was to just simply say Happy Mother’s Day,” though that tweet appears to have been deleted. She did seem to allude to the situation in another post, however.

    LeAnn has claimed in the past that she entered a rehab program to learn how to cope with stress after two of Brandi’s friends allegedly began harassing her and making threatening phone calls. They have also had Twitter wars before, after Brandi accused LeAnn of keeping laxative pills in her purse and being negligent when Brandi’s son ate them, thinking they were candy.

  • Kirstie Alley Slams Abercrombie CEO

    Kirstie Alley isn’t happy with Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries after some remarks he made about the way his company does things.

    Jeffries was quoted in a Salon interview in 2006 as saying: “In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely….”That’s why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that.”

    Though he said the words several years ago, they’re coming back to haunt him now after resurfacing during promotion for a book called “The New Rules Of Retail” by Robin Lewis and Michael Dart. The authors reference the fact that A&F don’t offer XL sizes in their stores, which has garnered a petition on Change.org. Now, the fact that the company openly admits to having exclusionary practices has enraged many, including celebrities.

    “Abercrombie clothes are for people who are cool and look a certain way and are beautiful and are thin’ and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That would make me never buy anything from Abercrombie,” Alley said. “I’ve got two kids in that bracket, but they will never walk in those doors because of his view of people — forget women, his view of just people.”

    Jeffries’ comments have received so much backlash that a filmmaker, Greg Karber, went on a mission recently to find A&F clothing at Goodwill stores and donated every piece he found to homeless people in his city. So far, Jeffries has had no comment.

  • Miss USA: Crush On Prince Harry Is “Meant To Be”

    Miss USA, Nana Meriwether, isn’t shy when it comes to talking about her crush; maybe it’s because they’re both royalty.

    Meriwether, who has a model’s physique and stands at a statuesque 6′ tall, was overjoyed to hear that Prince Harry is 6’2″ and says that must mean the two of them were meant to be together.

    “Perfect!” she said. “We are meant to be! Miss USA is like royalty in America so it’ll be a pleasure to meet him…It would make a great story — we should totally get married.”

    Sadly, it’s unlikely the prince would be down for marriage just for the story, and since he’s already got a girlfriend it doesn’t look like she’ll be earning a new title soon. But she isn’t the only one who admires Harry; she was joined at his charity fundraiser in New York by several celebrities, including Will.i.am, who had nothing but kind things to say about the young royal.

    “I am a great admirer of Prince Charles and his charity work and I think it is incredible Harry has made it part of his legacy to carry this on. He doesn’t have to do what he does, so I applaud him. He’s a party prince, a soldier and a philanthropist. He’s a regular guy. If Harry was a movie character he would be Iron Man,” he said.

  • Fred White Dies: Broadcaster Was 76

    Fred White, who was a sports broadcaster for the Royals, has died from complications of melanoma just a day after announcing his retirement. He was 76 years old.

    White had a 40-year career with the Royals, some of which was spent in charge of the Royals Radio Network and as director of Broadcast Services. When he wasn’t broadcasting for the team, he was calling basketball games.

    “Fred White has been synonymous with Royals baseball as long as anybody can remember,” Royals vice president of communications and broadcasting Mike Swanson said when the team announced White’s retirement. “There are so many people in Kansas City who, when they hear a voice, they knew it was Royals baseball, and Fred was that voice along with Denny for so many years. He had a huge influence on my life back in the ’70s, and I’m personally honored that I had a chance to work with him when I came back to town and wish him and his family nothing but the best.”

    White reportedly died while under hospice care. Funeral arrangements are pending.

  • LinkedIn: Prostitutes, Peddle Your Wares Somewhere Else

    LinkedIn has recently updated their terms of use policies to make it clear that they don’t want prostitutes advertising their “skills” on the social networking site.

    LinkedIn, which boasts over 225 million users, has become a huge source for employers and those looking to boost their careers in the past few years. Networking used to consist of mixers and business cards; now, the site makes it easier than ever to find the right job or hire. Naturally, prostitutes want in on it.

    The company has made it explicitly clear that they don’t want their site to be used for illegal activity and revised their policy to read: “Users must not create profiles or provide content that promotes escort services or prostitution”. That includes anyone living in a state where prostitution is legal (we’re looking at you, Nevada). The full revision reads that no one may:

    Upload, post, email, InMail, transmit or otherwise make available or initiate any content that, even if it is legal where you are located, create profiles or provide content that promotes escort services or prostitution.

    The company made the changes after realizing that people were being endorsed for prostitution on the site and getting away with it because of the way their terms of use was worded.

    “In the old [user agreement], we had it covered by saying that one could not use a profile to promote anything ‘unlawful,’” a LinkedIn rep told Mashable. “However, in some countries, that activity actually is lawful.”

    There were several users promoting their services on the site as of this week; take a look here to see a few.

  • Arias Death Penalty Trial To Begin Today

    Jodi Arias, the young woman who was found guilty last week of first degree murder in the death of her boyfriend, is awaiting the results of a new phase of her trial: that which decides her fate.

    The court reconvened today to decide whether or not Arias will receive the death penalty for the murder of Travis Alexander, who was found in his bathtub in 2008 with multiple stab wounds, a gunshot wound, and a slit throat. Arias pinned the murder on an intruder at first, but after evidence was introduced that put her at the crime scene, she admitted she’d killed Alexander and said it was in self-defense. The defense attorneys painted a picture of a woman in love, who often wrote poetry to Alexander; the prosecution, however, said she was a jealous, spurned woman out for revenge after Alexander rejected her.

    In order to get a death penalty sentence, prosecutor Juan Martinez will inevitably argue that Alexander died a cruel and bloody death, as evidenced by the numerous defensive wounds found on his body. He’ll also be calling on more witnesses and speaking to members of Alexander’s family in order to convince the jury that Arias deserves to die for her crime.

    As for Arias, she says she’d rather die than spend the rest of her life in prison, which is the alternative to the death sentence.

    “Longevity runs in my family, and I don’t want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place,” she said. “I believe death is the ultimate freedom, and I’d rather have my freedom as soon as I can get it.”

  • Britney: Another Baby On The Way?

    Britney Spears says she wants to add a little girl to her boy-dominated brood, and now everyone wants to know who it will happen with.

    Spears was talking to “X Factor” host Mario Lopez recently about family, and when he mentioned that he was jealous that she had boys (he himself has a 2-year old daughter), Britney declared she wants a little girl. But since she broke things off with ex-fiance Jason Trawick, when will it happen?

    Not anytime soon. The singer is working on a new album (and fans are hoping for a tour to go with it), and will be headlining her own show in Vegas soon.

    “I’m excited,” she said. “I love Vegas any time I get to go there, so I’m excited, I’m pumped. I haven’t done a show in a really long time, so it’ll be fun.”

  • Khloe Kardashian: Braces, Or Not?

    Khloe Kardashian reportedly got braces recently, and posed for a picture with her dentist which she posted on Twitter. But later, in response to a fan’s comment, she said she didn’t have braces. Was it just a cheeky nod to the Invisalign hardware she got put on?

    The photo is now sweeping the web as fans try to figure out whether she actually had work done. But it appears that she already had a near-perfect smile, so many are confused as to why she would need braces in the first place. Her dentist, Dr. Kevin Sands, may have cleared that up.

    “She’s a perfectionist and so am I. We’ll take her from a 9.5 to a 12,” Sands said.