KIM KARDASHIAN DOES LATE XMAS SHOPPING

// December 29th, 2008 // No Comments » // Hott Photos

Socialite KIM KARDASHIAN out shopping at the Beverly Center by herself.

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HOTT TRAILERS: NOTORIOUS

// December 29th, 2008 // No Comments » // Hott Trailers

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WILL LIFE BE NORMAL FOR THE OBAMA DAUGHTERS?

// December 29th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Hott Look@Politics

who knows?

“They’re only 10 and 7, and already designers are angling to dress them. They’ve been on the cover of People and Us Weekly. And there’s that standing invitation — unlikely though it is to be redeemed — to the set of ‘Hannah Montana’.”

By John Charles Reedburg

Oh, you lucky girls.

MALIA and SASHA OBAMA are unquestionably the world’s most famous tweens, and they haven’t even moved into the White House yet. When they arrive, do they have even a chance at the normal existence their parents have often said they want for them? I think the Obamas are clearly aware there’s a fascination with the girls and how they’re going to lead their lives. They’re going to try to chart a course.

They’re only 10 and 7, and already designers are angling to dress them. They’ve been on the cover of People and Us Weekly. And there’s that standing invitation — unlikely though it is to be redeemed — to the set of “Hannah Montana.”

A look at history suggests that the media, at least, will keep their distance. Chelsea Clinton, 13 when she entered the White House, was largely left alone at the request of her parents. Amy Carter, who came at age 9, was allowed to live a fairly normal life. And the much younger Kennedy kids were kept from the public glare by their mother, Jackie, who even set up a school for Caroline at the White House.

But this is a different world, one where photos and video can be snapped not just by mainstream photographers but anyone with a cell phone, and uploaded to the Web within minutes. It’s also a world where kids, now a powerful consumer force, eagerly devour news about celebrities closer to their own age: Miley Cyrus, for example, or the “High School Musical” bunch.

Are the Obama girls celebrities in their own right? “If you’re talking about people who fascinate the public, then yes, absolutely,” says Larry Hackett, managing editor of People, which has featured the Obama family on its cover three times. “But if you mean celebrity in the sense that we can cover their every move, then no. These are kids.”

Figuring out just how public the Obama girls can and should be, Hackett says, will be a tricky process not just for the media but for the Obama family.

“I think the Obamas are clearly aware there’s a fascination with the girls and how they’re going to lead their lives,” Hackett says. “They’re going to try to chart a course.”

Though the Obama girls weren’t constant fixtures on the campaign trail, they were hardly invisible, either. They occasionally appeared at rallies, spoke onstage to a video image of their father at the Democratic convention, and, with their parents, gave an interview to “Access Hollywood,” a move Obama later said he regretted.

“I think that we got carried away in the moment,” he said. “We wouldn’t do it again.”

Yet the girls, who captured many hearts with their poised, joyful, color-coordinated appearance on election night in Chicago, were clearly an asset to Obama the candidate, says Janice Min, editor of Us Weekly.

“These images of the Obama kids have been incredibly heartwarming,” says Min. “No one could doubt that these were great parents, and that they have great girls.”

But now, says Min, “it’s time for business, and I expect there will be far fewer pictures.” Except, of course, for the inauguration — “everybody wants to see them in something super-cute” — and perhaps a flurry of activity whenever their hotly awaited puppy makes his or her arrival.

Certainly, there will be slip-ups, no matter how protective the Obamas try to be. Paparazzi shots of a shirtless Obama on a Hawaii beach were one thing, but those of daughter Sasha in a blue bikini may have been another — at least according to some angry commenters on the photo agency’s Web site.

But once safely in the White House, the girls will be well protected and nurtured, says Ann Stock, who was White House social secretary during the Clinton administration.

“Will there be the occasional photo? I’m sure. But the people around these girls are going to work very hard to let them go about their routines,” says Stock, now at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Doug Wead details the various difficulties he says White House chil- dren have exp- erienced later in their lives. Not least of them, he says, is an identity crisis.

Can the girls live a normal life, or close to it? Stock, who watched Chelsea Clinton spend her preteen years in the White House, thinks they can. “I know it can work,” she says. “Chelsea went to her ballet rehearsals. Then she came home, did homework, ate dinner with her parents, went to bed.”

“You try very hard to make their lives be a childhood,” says Stock. She remembers the White House ushers setting up a scavenger hunt for Chelsea when she came, so she could get to know the place.

And the Obama family is starting with one huge advantage over the past few years: Dinner together, every night. “Remember, essentially they’re living above the store,” says Stock. “They’ll see each other seven days a week.”

We know the Obama girls like their dance classes, their soccer, their sleepovers. Those will likely continue. And surely we can expect President Obama, like candidate Obama, to never miss a parent-teacher conference at the private Sidwell Friends school.

Former White House curator Betty Monkman recalls the little Amy Carter, famous for once reading a book at a state dinner, engaging in lots of the normal activities of childhood — like hanging out in a tree house designed by her dad, or carving pumpkins with friends.

“I think they had enjoyable lives,” says Monkman of Amy and the other White House children she came to know during 30 years there. “Their families worked hard at it. Their fathers were there probably more than before. The media was not too invasive.”

One author on presidential children has a somewhat more pessimistic view. In “All the President’s Children,” Doug Wead, a former aide to President George H.W. Bush, details the various difficulties he says White House children have experienced later in their lives. Not least of them, he says, is an identity crisis.

“Most White House children live in the shadow of the White House for the rest of their lives,” says Wead. “For all their accomplishments, they are forever defined by something they said or did there.”

If that’s true, it could be one reason why so many White House children decline now to speak to the media, Carter and Clinton among them. But it’s not a problem the Obama girls will be facing anytime soon.

First, they’ll have to make new friends. At school, one can assume that neither Malia nor Sasha will be the odd girl out.

“You’re probably not going to be the picked-on girl,” jokes Min, of Us Weekly. “You’re already going in as the queen bee.”

On the other hand, even that can be difficult, says Carol Weston, an author of books for young girls and the advice columnist for Girls’ Life magazine.

“I don’t think they’ll get left out of anything,” says Weston. “But you want to feel you’re invited because you’re you, not so your parents can get invited to the White House! In New York, we see this all the time with kids of regular old celebrities.”

Weston thinks that if anyone can successfully navigate the pitfalls of newfound celebrity at such a young age, it’s the Obama family.

“I truly believe the Obamas have laid a good foundation,” she says. “You get a sense that there’s a lot of love there, a lot of back and forth. Michelle says she wants to be mom-in-chief — how wonderful is that? And Barack Obama says ‘I love you’ to his kids right up there on the stage. That wins me over.”

Of course, the tricky part comes with adolescence — something Malia, at least, would be experiencing at the end of a first Obama term. With middle school comes all sorts of issues: rebellion, body issues, mean-girl stuff. But there’s plenty of time to think about that. Right now, there are rooms to decorate and lots of people to meet.

And will the Obama girls be treated like celebrities? Weston thinks that’s a given.

“This is America,” she says. “And who’s more famous than the Obama family? We’re curious. Who wouldn’t be?”

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BERNARD MADOFF STUCKED FOR THE LOOT

// December 28th, 2008 // 3 Comments » // Hott in the Headlines

reaping what’s owed

“The property manager left the residence one afternoon, and when she returned, she noticed a statue that was normally kept by the pool was missing”

By John Charles Reedburg

Maybe, it was someone he scammed.

Police say a sizable statue worth more than $10,000 was stolen this month from the posh Florida estate of BERNARD MADOFF, the Wall Street investment adviser accused of operating a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

The 4-foot-high statue, which portrays two lifeguards sitting on a bench, was stolen December 19 from Madoff’s estate in Palm Beach, police said.

The theft happened eight days after Madoff was arrested in New York in connection with the investment fraud allegations.

“The property manager left the residence one afternoon, and when she returned, she noticed a statue that was normally kept by the pool was missing,” Palm Beach police Sgt. Richard Sorge said.

Sorge said investigators have “no leads, not a single clue” in the investigation of the heist.

Madoff, a former Nasdaq chairman, was arrested December 11 and charged with securities fraud. He is accused of operating a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme from his investment advisory business, federal authorities said.

The 70-year-old is under 24-hour house arrest at his Manhattan apartment while awaiting court proceedings. His $10 million bail was secured by properties owned by Madoff and his wife, including the Manhattan apartment and the Palm Beach estate.

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FASHION TO TELL BLACK CULTURE STORY

// December 28th, 2008 // No Comments » // Hott Fashion

Fashion will be used by the NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY to showcase the larger story of black culture.

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PARIS AND NICOLE HILTON SPOTTED IN ASPEN

// December 28th, 2008 // No Comments » // Hott Spot!

Paris Hilton makes her first appearance in Aspen for Christmas with her new BFF, Brittany Filckinger, sister Nicky Hilton and her boyfriend David Katzenberg. They went shopping at almost every store to celebrate the holiday.

PARIS and NICKI HILTON stroll the streets of Aspen much to the delight of the celebrity watchers on patrol.

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FACEBOOK’s BAN ON BREAST-FEEDING PHOTOS, PROTESTED

// December 28th, 2008 // No Comments » // Hott Articles

every reason to blame mother nature

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she said in wonderment”

By John Charles Reedburg

A mere nipple isn’t anything. Want worst? Go to MySpace.

Online, the virtual “nurse-in” to protest FACEBOOK’s ban on breast-feeding photos has taken off, with hundreds hourly joining a group that crept toward 70,000 members Saturday evening.

The real-life, pavement-pounding protest drew fewer placards than photojournalists Saturday, with only a handful turning out to sing, chant and breast-feed in front of Facebook’s downtown Palo Alto headquarters. But it had all the elements of a Palo Alto protest: A handful of peaceful pickets discreetly tucked away in a University Avenue plaza; placards reading “Hey Facebook, Breast-feeding is not Obscene,” protesters chatting up the media; and indifferent passers-by. A member of the Raging Grannies, the Midpeninsula activists who stage various theatrical protests, showed up to proclaim in song that “our breasts aren’t porn.”

It’s hard to say whether either demonstration will move Facebook executives — who appeared to not be at work Saturday — to lift the site’s prohibition of breasts displayed on members’ profiles and albums. Facebook says the areola, the dark skin around the nipple, violates a policy on “obscene, pornographic or sexually explicit” material.

On their Facebook group site, which also serves as an open petition to the company, nursing advocates by Saturday evening had posted more than 10,000 wall comments, two dozen videos and nearly 3,000 photos of breast-feeding, while starting more than 1,500 discussion threads. Facebook, it seemed, was not removing them.

All this might not have happened had the social networking site simply answered Heather Farley’s e-mail asking why the networking giant in October removed photos of her breast-feeding her baby.

When she posted another photo and then received a letter threatening to delete her account, she went public.

“I felt bullied,” said Farley, of Provo, Utah, who decided to protest while she was in California for the holidays visiting in-laws.

Her challenge drew support from other Facebook critics and lactation advocates. Among the pickets Saturday were her mother-in-law, Sheri Farley of Placer County, who breast-fed her eight children and now boasts that 19 of her 20 grandchildren have been nursed.
Alexa Sockol of Redwood City, a doula who assists with childbirth and newborns, was nursing 6-month-old Ethan at the protest. “There are enough challenges with initiating and continuing breast-feeding without complicating it with social rules,” she said.

The picketing also drew Facebook newbies like Lucile Couplan-Cashman, 56, of Palo Alto, and Bernadette Gersh, 46, of Redwood City. “I didn’t know that Facebook was so puritan,” said Couplan-Cashman, who doesn’t have an account on the site.

Heather Farley, a self-described “avid user” of Facebook with 200 online friends, said she doesn’t know how far she’ll pursue her protest. She doesn’t want to lose her Facebook account, which is the primary way she keeps in touch with high school and college friends and is the place she and her husband post their family photos.

Still, she’s blogged about her disputes with Facebook. And although the company still hasn’t answered any of her electronic messages, she’s now hearing from people worldwide. “I can’t believe this is happening,” she said in wonderment.

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THRILL-SEEKERS GET WET WITH CROCODILES

// December 28th, 2008 // No Comments » // wtf

A WILDLIFE PARK in South Africa is offering tourists the opportunity to get up close and personal with crocodiles underwater.

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ARCANGEL EL FENOMENO – POR AMAR A CIEGAS (ESPANOL)

// December 28th, 2008 // No Comments » // Hott Music Videos

Arcangel El Fenomeno – Por Amar a Ciegas (Video Clip) 2008 OFFICIAL VIDEO

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EVAN BEATS GRIFFIN FOR TITLE, MIR WINS AT UFC 92

// December 28th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Hott Sports

no fear, is greater than any victory

“I’ve never been more afraid in my life than when I walked into the ring,” Mir said, relieved.

By John Charles Reedburg

The good, the bad, and the victorious.

Las Vegas, NV — RASHAD EVANS stopped FORREST GRIFFIN to win the light heavyweight championship Saturday night in UFC 92.

Griffin, the winner of the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality television show, and Evans, a second season winner, became the first two winners from the show to face off for a championship. After two rounds of exchanging punches and kicks, Evans dropped Griffin to the mat in the third.

Evans landed multiple shots and a flailing Griffin was unable to defend himself. Evans landed a hard right which dazed Griffin then continued to connect with punches and the fight was stopped at 2:46 of the third round.

“It sounds good,” said Evans, asked how it sounded to be called the champ.

“It was a great fight,” he said. “Forrest gave me all I could handle the first two rounds.”

Evans remains undefeated and now becomes the second winner of The Ultimate Fighter to capture a title.

In the co-main event, former champion FRANK MIR stopped ANTONIO NOGUEIRA at 1:54 of the second round, earning a title shot against newly crowned heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.

Both Mir and Nogueira were coaches on the latest season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

The two stood toe-to-toe in the first round with Mir landing numerous shots, flooring Nogueira twice. Mir continued to apply pressure in the second round and landed a left that sent Nogueira to the mat. Mir immediately pounced on his downed opponent. He landed a flurry of punches and the referee jumped in and stopped the fight.

“I’ve never been more afraid in my life than when I walked into the ring,” Mir said, relieved. “I didn’t even think I could beat Nogueira.”

On the undercard, former light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson knocked out Wanderlei Silva in the first round.

Silva had knocked out Jackson in both the two previous meetings. Jackson got his revenge, rocking Silva with a left hook and at 3:21 of the first.

“This is really sweet,” Jackson said. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time, Rampage is back.” Cheick Kongo used a devastating ground and pound, stopping Mostapha Al Turk by TKO at 4:37 of the first round and C.B. Dollaway stopped Mike Massenzio by TKO at 3:01 of the first round.

In the preliminary bouts, Yushin Okami defeated Dean Lister by unanimous decision and Antoni Hardonk stopped Mike Wessel by TKO in the second round.

Matt Hamill knocked out Reese Andy in the second round. Brad Blackburn earned a unanimous decision over Ryo Chonan and Pat Berry defeated Dan Evensen by TKO in the first round.

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