Farrah Fawcett Barbie Becomes Instant Collectors' Item

I love this story, at Daily Mail, "Mattel's Angel: Bikini-clad Farrah Fawcett Barbie doll becomes an instant collectors' item."



Some of the proceeds go to the Farrah Fawcett Foundation for the benefit of cancer research.

Etnies Skatepark Expansion

Etnies Skatepark in Lake Forest has opened a huge new skatepark addition. See O.C. Register, "Expansion done, skaters enjoy 'perfect' Etnies Skatepark." And at TransWorld Skateboarding, "Final Expansion Will Make It the Largest Free Public Skatepark in the U.S."

I'm taking my kid over there right now. I'll post some pics later.

That's Creepy? ABC's Lara Spencer Runs Her Hand Through Jon Bon Jovi's Hair During On-Air Interview

It's not that creepy, but check NYDN, "Lara Spencer and other reporters getting too close for comfortm creepy in on-air segments." Looks like Bon Jovi doesn't mind either. See, "The Hair Is Shorter, but the Career Goes On and On: Jon Bon Jovi on Longevity, Jersey and Outselling Justin Bieber."

Rawley's

Good stuff at Maggie's Farm, "Best Hot Dog in the Northeast, right off I-95 in Fairfield, CT."

'In For The Kill'

At the request of my youngest, and I really like La Roux:

Another version here (reminds me of Siouxsie Sioux).

'Pumped Up Kicks'

When you drive around with a teenager you get bombarded with the lastest hipster pop music. And I like Foster the People:

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you'd better run, better run, outrun my gun.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you'd better run, better run, faster than my bullet (link).

'The D-Boyz' at X-Games

My boys hanging out on Saturday at Staples Center:

We might be going to Huntington Beach today, so check back from some fresh photo-blogging. The weather is really hot too!

'No Matter What'

Badfinger, rocking:

Singer Pete Ham committed suicide at age 27, same age of death as Amy Winehouse and so many others.

Vans Shoes Digs the Debt Deal!

Vans shoes are cool!

Shaun White on Twitter!

My young son suggested I follow him:

30 Years of MTV

At Independent UK, "It's 30 years since MTV launched and in its three decades, it’s changed the way we think about – as well as watch – music."

I just miss JJ Jackson and Martha Quinn. See, "MTV at 30: Original Veejays, Where Are They Now?"

Historic Chelsea Hotel Closes to Guests

At New York Times, "A Last Night Among the Spirits at the Chelsea Hotel":

Part of the allure of the Chelsea, beyond the creepy yet tantalizing feeling that the place is thick with spirits, is that from the inside looking out, New York can still feel gritty. Its cavelike hallways are lined with paintings, striking collages and old electrical wiring caked with innumerable coats of paint. A palpable heaviness lingers, especially in the first-floor room where Nancy Spungen was staying with her boyfriend, Sid Vicious, when she was stabbed to death in 1978. Artists, photographers, composers and producers still live there, making the place part art colony, part living museum.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

40th Anniversary of Concert for Bangladesh

Well, this gives me the chance to play George Harrison (via Selena Gomez on Twitter).

And check the George Harrison page here.

Shaun White Interview After Winning Vert Competition at X-Games 17

I snapped this shot of Shaun White's interview from the big screens inside the Nokia Center:

And here's the clip from the X-Games channel:

And a roundup of yesterday's results, at LAT, "Shaun White saves his best for last in Skateboard Vert."

Heading to X-Games

Okay, I'm heading out with my boys to Staples Center. I watched the big air finals last night on ESPN. And at LAT, "Bob Burnquist knows how to win gold at X Games."

Check back for a report late tonight, or probably in the morning ...

Lady Gaga on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'

I didn't even know she was in L.A.

At Los Angeles Times, "Lady Gaga takes over Hollywood Boulevard, peacefully."

Here's the clip. It might be taken down for copyright violation, so enjoy it while it lasts:

And at MTV, "Lady Gaga Finally Confirms 'You And I' As Her Next Single."

RELATED: At Daily Mail, "Lady Gaga takes the plunge in a daring low cut number slashed to the thigh", and "Forget your skirt Lady Gaga? Cheeky singer leaves little to the imagination in a pair of see-through tights." Gaga looks a little chunky at that last link.

L'Oreal Ads Banned by Britain's Advertising Standards Agency

At Fox News, "L'Oreal Forced to Pull Julia Roberts Ads After Watchdog Groups Deems Retouching Unrealistic."

And at New York Times, "British Authority Bans Two Ads by L’Oréal":

On Wednesday, an advertising watchdog group in Britain upheld complaints that had been lodged against the cosmetics giant, forcing the company to withdraw two advertisements deemed misleading.

The group, the Advertising Standards Authority, began investigating the ads after Jo Swinson, a member of Parliament from the Liberal Democrat Party, filed a complaint about them. According to reports, Ms. Swinson and other Liberal Democrats support banning advertisements that use digital technology to create misleading ads.

The ads in question featured the actress Julia Roberts and the supermodel Christy Turlington. Ms. Roberts’s ad was for a Lancôme brand foundation called Teint Miracle. Ms. Turlington’s ad, for a Maybelline brand foundation called the Eraser, showed parts of her face covered by the makeup as having fewer wrinkles in contrast to the parts of her face that were not covered. The ads ran in the February editions of women’s fashion magazines Red and Grazia in Britain.

The funny is that these are beautiful women without all the retouching.

More at the link.

Dan Peek, 1950 – 2011

Just learned of Dan Peek's death, at Wizbang, "Dan Peek, RIP."

I posted this clip last year, "This Is For All the Lonely People..."

See the write-up at Ultimate Classic Rock, "FOUNDING AMERICA MEMBER DAN PEEK DIES AT 60." Also Aaron Goldstein at American Spectator, "Dan Peek, R.I.P."

Plus a news report at Kansas City Star, "Dan Peek, founding member of soft-rock trio America, dies at 60."

Sixties too young. God bless Peek's family.

Tony Hawk Birdhouse Tour 2011

At Birdhouse Skateboards:

RELATED: X-Games Seventeen kicks off this week. I'm taking my boys to the vert final on Saturday. I'll try to post on skateboarding throughout the week.

Amy Winehouse, 1983 – 2011

I got a sharp hit to the stomach upon seeing the news, at Bob Belvedere's, "NO SURPRISE: Amy Winehouse Found Dead – Overdose Suspected," and following the link there to Joy McCann, "Amy Winehouse Found Dead in Her London Flat."

I wasn't the biggest fan, but her substance abuse was troubling to me. A beautiful and talented woman, now lost to a blues singers' ugly death.

See New York Times, "Amy Winehouse, British Soul Singer With a Destructive Image, Dies at 27":

Amy Winehouse, the British singer who found worldwide fame with a smoky, hip-hop-inflected take on retro soul, yet became a tabloid fixture as her struggles with drugs and alcohol brought about a striking public career collapse, was found dead in her home in London on Saturday. She was 27.

The cause was not immediately known. The London police said that they had been called to an address in Camden Square in northern London on Saturday afternoon and found a 27-year-old woman, who had been pronounced dead at the scene. The police did not identify the body, but according to a report by The Associated Press, the London Ambulance Service said it was Ms. Winehouse.

The police said that they were investigating the circumstances of the death, but that “at this early stage it is being treated as unexplained.”

Ms. Winehouse’s American record label, Universal Republic, said in a statement: “We are deeply saddened at the sudden loss of such a gifted musician, artist and performer. Our prayers go out to Amy’s family, friends and fans at this difficult time.”

Instantly recognizable from the heavy makeup and high beehive hairdo she borrowed from the Ronettes, Ms. Winehouse became one of the most acclaimed young singers of the 2000s, selling millions of albums, winning five Grammy Awards and kicking off the British trend of retro soul and R&B that continues today.

Yet from the moment she arrived on the international pop scene in 2007, Ms. Winehouse had an image that seemed almost defiantly self-destructive. In songs like “You Know I’m No Good,” she sang alcohol-soaked regrets of failed romances, and for many listeners the lyrics to the song “Rehab” — which won her three of the five Grammys she took in 2008 — crystallized her public persona. “They tried to make me go to rehab,” she sang, “I said, ‘No, no, no.’ ”

I'll have more later. Fausta blogs Winehouse as well.

Added: Now a Memeorandum thread.