Britney Spears on The Huffington Post

Hot Messes Of The 2000s (PHOTOS)

2009-12-16T07:21:39Z

Hot messes aren't just disaster areas. They're not just scandal makers. They're a very specific breed of person who is persistently crazy in both style and substance. Someone who deteriorates or intensifies or explodes over time. Someone you can't believe actually exists. Yes, they're pitiful, they're bonkers, and some are under the influence, but they're also mesmerizing. Here's our list of the hottest messes of the decade. Enjoy!

Britney Spears: A Budget Guru The Public Can Count On?

2009-12-15T16:35:23Z

Now here's one way to measure the public's faith in their elected officials.

Californians would just as soon allow the meltdown-prone pop princess Britney Spears to run their family budget as they would leave their finances in the hands of their state legislators, according to a new poll.

Annie Leibovitz Shoots Britney Spears For Ad Campaign

2009-12-15T08:42:14Z

Britney Spears has been looking pretty darn good lately, but she's about to look even better. Why, you might ask? HollywoodLife.com will tell you: famed photographer Annie Leibovitz is back to work and shooting Brit Brit's new Candie's for Kohl's clothing ad campaign. Sweet!

Britney Shares A Birthday With K-Fed's Girlfriend

2009-12-03T07:43:47Z

While Spears hung with her sons at home, ex-husband Kevin Federline celebrated his girlfriend Victoria Prince's birthday -- which happens to fall on the same day as Spears's.

Federline, 31, and Prince, 27, had a late lunch at Mexican restaurant Casa Vega in Sherman Oaks, Calif. "She looked very pretty when she arrived for her bash," says an observer.

Britney Spears' Ex Sentenced To Jail

2009-11-21T08:31:06Z

LOS ANGELES — Britney Spears' ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib is being sent to jail for 45 days for leaving the scene of an accident.

Los Angeles District Attorney's spokeswoman Jane Robison says Ghalib was taken into custody immediately after being sentenced Friday.

Qanta Ahmed, MD: From Wall Street to Neverland: The Year America Didn't Sleep

2009-11-16T11:11:19Z

America didn’t just lose money in the Crash -- America lost a lot of sleep. The annual Sleep in America Poll published by the National Sleep Foundation focused on Health and Safety this year. The report is available on line for anyone to download. It makes for compelling reading.

From Wall Street to Neverland, Americans have been sleepless. The starkest example of the struggle with insomnia came earlier this year on June 25th, when Michael Jackson’s quest for sleep resulted in death. In these columns we have discussed some of the painful lessons derived of those Propofol Lullabies. A year or so earlier, in an anonymous New York City night, we had quietly lost the incandescent talent of Heath Ledger who had also struggled with insomnia in the weeks leading up to his death. This had followed Britney Spears' very public insomnia, preceding her hospitalization for mental illness. The lives of these celebrities is far, far removed from those of my patients, but the struggle for rest and sleep is a universal experience. And money simply can’t buy it.

One in three Americans is experiencing a sleep disorder due to economic concerns. Astonishingly, these findings have been little discussed in the professional academe or in the public sphere. This past week at the annual congress of the American College of Chest Physicians, in San Diego I discovered my colleagues were not always aware of such dramatic observations.

Since I first read the survey this spring, I began adding a single question to my interviews when I meet new patients for the first time: “ Without intruding into your financial affairs, do you believe the economy has affected your sleep?” The response has been startling. Every sector of the population relates to this question, whether the patient is a 42 year old account manager for a hedge fund describing a flare of insomnia as Lehman Brothers began its plummet over the edge, or an 87 year old grandfather concerned about his grandchildren’s future, or an overworked physician struggling to make college fees, or a single mom working in a pet store late into the night, or a 60 year old ex-service man taking on an extra shift at UPS for health insurance benefits or even a loan book manager for an international investment bank. There has been almost no patient I have interviewed who cannot relate to this observation, yet the discussion is barely beginning.

Americans are extremely concerned about the economy. They list economic fears, including the economy in general, more specific fears relating to job security and health coverage, ahead, way ahead, of concerns about the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan or the interminable global war on terror. Americans are anguished and hurting and its affecting their sleep.

Speaking to a physician colleague recently about this survey I was met with irritated resignation. Well, what can we do about this? We can begin by acknowledging the realities that many more individuals are experiencing insomnia in the slow motion collision that has been our economy of recent. Empathizing about this problem as a shared, national experience can be helpful and patients often sense that they are finally being heard in a climate where economic decisions are being made by faceless suits remote from reality. To quote my mentor from residency, Dr. Michael Ammazzalorso, "as physicians we are privileged to be closer to our patients than a priest is to his parishioner". These are times when we need to remember to minister to ourselves and each other. Sharing a nation’s loss and beginning to examine its many manifestations by spending time hearing about them from our patients can accomplish much.

In the endless 24/7 news cycles since the 2008 implosion of the Dow from the vertiginous altitudes of 14,000, the impact of the economy on sleep, or the impact of sleeplessness on the economy, has been a silent void. We live in a culture of not-so-wholesome Sleep Machismo and economic hardship is bringing the extremes of American lifestyles into sharp relief. Patients who are parents are contorting their schedules to accommodate work hours, long commute times, shift work, child responsibilities, homework and even higher learning. Patients who are unemployed are struggling fiscally, emotionally and without the structure of work, which has become a form of puritanical Americanism. As a nation we are known for our long work week, few vacation days and endless work hours. In contrast, the unemployed have lost their church of redemption -- workaholism, which has been, for a long time the foundation of a uniquely American ethos. Possibly only the Japanese rival us in this pursuit. Outside of a workplace, Americans often find themselves deprived of purpose, community, means and hope. The speed at which health coverage is lost following the end of a job adds to calamity and many patients attend for consultation under pressure of a rapidly uncoiling COBRA coverage.

In times like these, it is, as my colleagues have pointed out, hard to offer constructive help. In a health care system where patient encounters result in investigations and financial burden, we have to remember how to dispense practical advice. We must target behaviors in a way that results in meaningful change for our patients without submitting to the model of medicine as a diagnostic temple serving evaluation yet eternally devoid of healing. We must help and heal, even without a DRG code check box.

We begin by educating our patients about how we sleep, why we need sleep and how to sleep better. Many times a detailed interview can uncover obvious behavior to target. As a nation we are growing up without learning how to fall asleep or how to build an environment which promotes sleep at bedtime. Enter economic calamity and transient, acute insomnia quickly becomes chronic and untreated insomnia contributes to depression. Daytime performances decline, memory is impaired, attention wavers. Tempers fray, workplace litigation costs rise, health care utilization goes up. Workplace conflicts proliferate. I could go on.

The public health burden of insomnia on the United States is measured in the hundreds of billlons of dollars. While some of the costs are direct, many are indirect: covering for staff shortages due to absence, accidents triggered by sleeplessness and the impact of sleeplessness on wider society. Much of this decline is unaddressed in employee wellness programs, or in regular visits to the clinician. While as a nation we routinely cut calories, or cram exercise into demanding schedules, sleep has not even entered the conversational lexicon.

At a time of extraordinary hardship, we can ease suffering by shining the spotlight on America’s sleep habits. We need to look at our culture of Sleep Machismo which views sleep need as an expendable luxury rather than a biological necessity and the brilliant lessons extracted from Dr. Mathias Basner’s evaluation of the federally administered American Time Use Survey and his work at the Philadelphia School of Medicine. I will be devoting a specific column to his fascinating work. We need to acknowledge the socioeconomic impact of a sleepless, overworked nation in a climate of economic volatility and ignite a dialogue on protecting our most vital function of wellness: sound sleep in unsound times.

Without doubt, this is a conversation long overdue. From Wall Street to Neverland, it is time we realized: unlike Greed, Sleep is indeed Good. Americans are not only in financial debt but also rapidly spiraling sleep debt. Losing sleep is costing us money and losing money is costing us sleep.

Its time to stem the losses.

Britney Twitter HACKED With 'Satan' Posts (PHOTOS)

2009-11-12T09:52:43Z

*See photos below*

Britney Spears' Twitter account appears to have been hacked by hijackers looking to create mayhem for the pop star.

The hackers changed the background on Britney's Twitter account, and switched her profile picture to a more Satanic, red-hued image. (See screenshots below).

The hackers also Tweeted two messages from her account, which since appear to have been deleted:

I give myself to Lucifer every day for it to arrive as quickly as possible. Glory to Satan!

i hope that the new world order will arrive as soon as possible! -Britney

See screenshots of the two Tweets below:

Here's a view of the account with the altered background and photo:

"#DontHackBritney" and "Satan" were Trending Topics on Twitter following the reported hack into Britney's account.

What do you think? Harmless prank or serious violation?

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Michelle Madhok: Learn From Braless Starlets' Missteps - These Bras Could Have Saved Them

2009-11-11T16:29:19Z

Seeing a braless celebrity is a little like spotting a shooting star -- it happens more often than you'd think. From Kate Moss to Britney, the minor epidemic spans across celebs of all ages. Luckily, there are lessons in all this.

Below, some of our favorite (unfortunately braless) starlets and the best bras they can opt for to save themselves from ending up on our list again. See the full slide show on SheFinds.

We're not sure why Kate Moss left her camisole at home; those boxes don't hide much. NuBra's Feather Light Adhesive Bra would have provided Kate with nip-slip insurance and a bit of support while still -- against all odds -- remaining invisible.

While we can't help Britney with her crying kid, we can advise her that a one-shouldered top does not preclude the wearing of a bra. What Brit-Brit needs is a seamless, convertible option, like Aerie's Abigail Pushup Bra, which is a convertible, versatile garment (wear it strapless, one-shouldered, racer-backed, etc.).

We're pretty impressed that not only can Katie Holmes run a marathon, she can do it braless. Really, that's amazing. But probably kind of uncomfortable. We'd encourage Katie to give Road Runner Sport's fitness bra a spin. It's made from moisture-wicking fabric, and it's long enough to serve as a tank, too.

Fans Storm Out Of Britney Spears Lip-Syncing Concert

2009-11-09T08:32:10Z

On Friday, about 100 angry fans reportedly stormed out of Britney's concert at the Burswood Dome in the Western Australia city of Perth, saying they were disappointed by the lackluster performance and Spears's lip-synching during her two-hour show. Spears gave Perth fans a generic welcome, never mentioning their city by name. "What's up Australia?," she said from the stage. "How you feeling tonight? It's so good to be here tonight. Your country is beautiful."

Bad Extensions And Wigs: Whose Weave Is The Worst? (PHOTOS, POLL)

2009-11-08T17:21:22Z

Many starlets' hair is not entirely their own, but some of these ladies have especially fake looking coifs. Whose sewn-on hair is the worst? You decide.

PHOTOS:

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Britney Spears In Australian Lip-Synching Controversy

2009-11-06T07:06:08Z

Britney Spears just arrived in Australia on Thursday, but already she's the subject of government scrutiny -- over whether concertgoers realize she'll be lip-synching portions of her concerts.

Britney Spears' "3" Video: Watch The Threesome Song Single

2009-10-30T19:36:08Z

Britney Spears has released the video for her provocative new song "3," an ode to threesomes. Spears tweeted the video out Friday morning, which features her dancing in some sparse black and white outfits with male and female dancers.

WATCH:

Andy Ostroy: Reality TV Makes People Do the Darndest Things!

2009-10-20T16:44:10Z

Mad-scientist/inventor/"Wife Swap" alumnus Richard Heene thought it was a great idea to send a giant flying-saucerish home-built helium balloon into the air and then tell authorities that his 6-year-old-boy Falcon was inside as it careened for hours and 60 miles across the bright blue Colorado skies to the horror of the entire nation. The following day, under the intense stress of TV lights and his dad's lies, poor little Falcon was reduced to vomiting during a "Today Show" interview. The family also appeared on CNN's "Larry King Show." Pressed for details by guest-host Wolf Blitzer, Heene asked his boy why he didn't come out of the attic he was hiding in when he heard them calling for him. "You guys said we did this for the show," he said. He was referring to the reality tv program his parents were aggressively pitching to producers. Blitzer had his now-famous "Aha!" moment, and the rest as they say is history. Heene and his partner in crime, wife Mayumi, now face misdemeanor and Federal charges that include conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and lying to the federal government. Prison time and hefty fines could follow.

The "Balloon Boy" saga proves one thing: that the insatiable hunger for reality TV fame makes people do really stupid things. And once they actually have a show, it can destroy friendships, families, marriages and leave a pile of emotional carnage in its wake. The reality show casualties-list is a long one, and includes Jon and Kate Gosselin, Danny and Gretchen Bonaduce, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie, Hulk and Linda Hogan, Carmen Electra amd Dave Navarro, and Britney Spears and Kevin Federline. In fact, having cameras follow you around 24/7 is almost a certain kiss of death in the romance of reality. Yet, people like the Heenes scratch and claw still to get their name in lights. In the case of the Heenes, the party's now over before it even started. And it's their kids who will ultimately suffer the most.

Reality television is a stain on our society and an insult to culture. It's dumbed-down television at its worst, lowest common-denominator. It makes people like Richard Heene act like an anger-management-starved idiot on "Wife Swap." It makes former House Majority Leader Tom Delay dance like a Viagra-fueled, lip-syncing freak on "Dancing with the Stars." It makes former "Taxi" star Jeff Conway expose his tragic, humiliating substance-abuse on "Celebrity Rehab." It makes fat people cry on "The Biggest Loser." It makes people eat bat-shit and lie with rats on "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Outta Here!" It makes guys act like disrespectful pigs on "The Bachelor/Bachelorette" It makes rich housewives in NJ, NY, Atlanta and Orange County, CA act like a bunch of spoiled, vacuous, obnoxious, catty, neurotic beeyaches. It makes families neglect their children and put them through a life of media hell, all for some quick cash in their pockets and the feel of red-carpet under their feet. It brings out the absolute worst behavior in people, while bringing them to embarrassing levels of prime-time foolishness. And, not to get into a whole other case against it, but it's also put an awful lot of very talented, hard-working television writers out of work. Enough, I say.

Some cultural phenomenons have their watershed moments. The Manson Family murders served to kill the Summer of Love. The violence at the Rolling Stones' Altamont concert dampened the Woodstock generation and effectively put an end to the 60's and peace-and-love. Maybe the Heene's colossal bout with selfishness, irresponsibility and sheer attention-seeking desperation will be the nail in the reality television coffin. Let's hope so

Jay Michaelson: An Introduction To Kabbalah, Part 1: What Is Kabbalah?

2009-10-15T09:46:22Z

I first encountered Kabbalah eighteen years ago, as a student at Columbia College. I had no idea that its obscure texts and abstruse concepts would one day become a central part of my life -- let alone Britney's, Madonna's, and Demi's.

Despite all the fame, or maybe because of it, it's often quite hard to get a clear answer to what Kabbalah actually is. It seems to depend on who you ask. A scholar will tell you it's a library of medieval texts. A contemporary teacher might tell you it's the secret to getting everything you want. Someone else might try to charge you to learn more.

Over the next few weeks, I'll try to give a thorough, objective, and uncompromising introduction to Kabbalah. I'll do so as a scholar (I'm currently finishing my Ph.D. in Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University, focusing on Kabbalah), a spiritual teacher, and a cultural critic (I've written and spoken about the Kabbalah Centre many times, and have much to say about it). My goal? To give people interested in Kabbalah, either personally or simply as spectators, an introduction to this strange system of thought that is often distorted, often vulgarized -- yet frequently quite beautiful.

Let's start with the word itself. What does "Kabbalah" mean? Here are four answers (fans of Kabbalah will already have noticed that I've used some significant spiritual numbers... all just part of the fun):

1. Literally, it means "receiving," as in a received tradition. Some Kabbalistic teachings go back thousands of years, and were passed from master to disciple. Others were invented yesterday. Kabbalah was an oral tradition, and even once books were written, they were often concealed from the general public. You had to "receive" Kabbalah from a teacher.

2. Figuratively, it also means "receiving," as in receiving the truth of what is happening right now. One core of that truth is that everything is God -- you are God reading about God on a screen which is God. Of course, most of us don't really "receive" that truth fully, because of how our mind, body, and heart works. The forms of Kabbalah can help you receive more of it.

3. Historically, "Kabbalah" refers to an ancient, fascinating, and complex system of Jewish mysticism and esoteric knowledge. Rich in symbols, myth, and literary merit, the Kabbalah "library" contains thousands of books written over many centuries. Scholars generally date the beginning of this written literature to the 12th century, with additional "waves" in the 16th and early 19th centuries.

4. Literarily, Kabbalah may be understood as a way of reading texts, and the world, on multiple levels of depth. Kabbalah is all about levels of reality, and balance among them. We strive not to move from "lower" to "higher" but to integrate them; not to favor one side of our lives over another, but to balance them. Reading and seeing deeply enables us to do that.

Now, Kabbalah is rooted in the Jewish tradition, which speaks of the One in terms of "God." Yet as you will see if you learn Kabbalah, that word does not mean what you think it means. The "God" of the Kabbalah does not exist -- it is Existence Itself. But it is also not the same as the Brahman or the Tao or the All: the God of the Kabbalists is also a mythic, sexual, anthropomorphic family of personalities; a dynamic structure of energies and potentials; and very, very unlike the Old Man in the Sky we know from Sunday School. In large part, Kabbalah is about the multiple levels of reality, from Oneness to Multiplicity and back, and about balancing the various energies of reality on all those different levels. So it includes both "all is one" and "all is many." More on this in a future post.

Scholars often define Kabbalah as "Jewish mysticism." Mysticism means a direct experience of Ultimate Reality -- which in Western religions means, a direct experience of God. Rather than reading about God in the Bible, or praying to a God we don't experience, a mystic meets God "face to face." That scholarly definition -- Jewish mysticism -- is about half right. Kabbalah does contain accounts of mystical experiences, and techniques for having them yourself. These techniques work, in my experience, and you can try them too. We'll get to some of them later. But Kabbalah is more than just accounts of, and guides to have, mystical experiences. It also contains what might be called "esotericism," or, deeper readings of texts and life. It contains folklore, magic, legend, myth, philosophy, guides to meditation, music.

Some of the questions Kabbalah has asked over the 800 years of its existence include: What is the world? Who are we? What is the significance of our lives and actions? What is God? How can we come to know ultimate reality in our own experience? How do the body, heart, mind, and spirit fit together? And what are the roles of myth, ritual, morality, eroticism, meditation, ecstasy, sacred text, and prayer on the spiritual path? There is no fixed canon of Kabbalah, and different texts give different answers to these questions. But they do tend to focus on these sorts of topics more than others.

So -- if this has struck your interest, there'll be more here next week. I look forward to your questions and feedback. Stay tuned!

Khloe & Lamar's Marriage: How Long Will It Last Vs. Other Famous Couplings?

2009-10-10T08:29:28Z

Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom may have 'wed' on September 27th, but they still aren't legally married. Reports claim the prenup is still being hashed out.

As we wait to see if the pair will ever legally be man and wife, we thought we'd take a look back at some of Hollywood's other shortest weddings, and then vote.

Whose marriage will, in length, be most like that of Khloe & Lamar? Will they be like Eddie Murphy and 'wife' Tracey Edmonds, who never made it legal before splitting? Will they last 5 months like Tom Green and Drew Barrymore? Or will they make it two years, like Britney and Kevin Federline? Perhaps they'll stay together forever.

Scroll through the below, remember some of Hollywood's shorter marriages, and pick what you think the most likely outcome is for the reality TV couple.

Kevin Federline Accused Of Trashing Rental Home

2009-10-07T11:08:31Z

Kevin Federline is accused of being a dirty, filthy, chain-smoking, home-wrecker -- and now his allegedly trashy lifestyle could cost him more than $100,000.

It's all over the Tarzana, California home where K-Fed lived until this past May -- the people who own the pad claim Federline suddenly disappeared without paying his last 6 months in rent. But the worst part -- the owners claim Federline turned their home into a cigarette-riddled, spit-stained dump.

Crazy Stage Costumes: Which Is The Greatest? (PHOTOS, POLL)

2009-10-05T07:31:43Z

An insane stage wardrobe can transform a talented performer into a cultural icon. Who would the Material Girl or Ziggy Stardust be without their costumes? But sometimes sartorial creativity works in the other direction, making the whole performance look like a big, loopy mess. Which of these bold statements are great ones?

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Britney Spears' "3": New Song Is About Threesomes

2009-09-29T20:39:29Z

Britney Spears' new single "3" premiered on a New York radio station today.

The song is about threesomes.

The New York Daily News:

News flash: Britney Spears just figured out the joys of threesomes.

The pop tart's new single, "3," released to radio today, oohs and ahhs over multi-partner whoopie.

"I don't see the harm," Britney chirps. "Love in the extreme. Are you in?"

Rolling Stone:

"3″ is yet another product of producer Max Martin, the Swedish pop savant who also gave the world Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" and Spears' "If U Seek Amy," so a track about ménage à trois would be the feasible next step in his repertoire.

Listen to Britney Spears' new single:

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Jon Chattman: Backstreet Boy Nick Carter: "Call Us What You Want to Call Us...We Really Don't Care"

2009-09-09T15:02:34Z

Call them bubblegum. Call them a boy band. Call them, well seeing as how they're much older than any Jonas, Backstreet Men. It doesn't matter to Nick Carter so long as people keep listening to their unapologetic dance pop music and buying their records. "Words can't describe the way I feel," the Backstreet Boy said of his band's forthcoming new album "This Is Us" - out Oct. 6. "Everything just fit like a glove." The band's seventh studio album is vintage Backstreet: infectious dance tracks (like first single "Straight Through My Heart") to killer ballads but with a twist. The producers and writers on the album include T-Pain, Max Martin, RedOne, and Soulshock. Impressive, and Carter knows it. I spoke with him late last month about the record, and how he and bandmates (Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and AJ McLean) have managed to stick together no matter how many times they've been thrown under a bus (especially Carter).

It's been awhile since we've heard from you guys. What was the logic going into the studio this time out?

It's been a little while. We found this out in the past - when you over think something in the recording process, it just sort of gets a little muddled. This was just the right amount of time. We just immediately had a direction we went in. We did only 25-30 songs in the demo recording process. [The album has 11 cuts.]

What are your hopes at this point for the album? Yet another hit single or acclaim?

Honestly if we have success of this in a commercial way that'd be great, but I think the music just feels so good that we just want to take it to the stage, and perform this amazing show on the caliber of great artists like Michael Jackson, Janet and Britney. We want to do what we do best and that's entertain. That's our main goal: [to] reach out to people who are fans, and people who were fans. We want them to come to a show with their families, girlfriends, boyfriends and have a freakin' blast in a time where honestly there's not a lot of great performances anymore.

Not too many great performances?

Sure there's bands. I love rock bands -- guitar and drums -- but we're bringing four dancers on the road, having a magnificent million dollar stage -- on a level like only a certain amount of pop artists can do. We're dancing again. We're in great shape. Madonna does stuff like that as well, but we're younger than Madonna. We're younger than Janet. We're younger than the late Mike [Jackson]. We still have got a lot to offer.

How have you guys evolved throughout your career? You guys are all grown men now.

The good thing about us is we can always sing love songs. The majority of our songs are the good side of love or the bad side of love. We never get too political on issues that have gone on. We don't tend to put them in our songs as much, because who wants to hear that from a boy band? We just want to create music people can dance to, and [let people] just smile and forget about the problems. We're not a candidate to be president or anything.

You don't mind the label of boy band?

Call us whatever you want to call us. We really don't care anymore. I think when you put the title of "boy band" it's looked at as some kind of negative but we have gotten positives.

What's your secret to staying together for so long?

We're all group guys and love pop music that's all it is. We have a common goal and we're entertainers. We're performers and we love being on stage singing, and love creating that next album.

You've been through the ringer with tabloids -- how do you all; stay focused on the music and drown out the noise?

It really doesn't matter what others think. If we start worrying about the outside world too much then it starts to affect your decision making. You've got to dig down deep enough, and know what you've done for the past 17 years been together.

And you guys all learn from your mistakes and it makes your relationship stronger?

Yeah exactly that's what it's all about: evolving. We've always been a little sheltered -- stepping out here and just learning.

Are you guys often bothered to give advice for today's boy bands like the Jonas Brothers or whoever?

They ask advice. Ultimately, everyone has their own path and everybody's life is different. I mean there's some fundamentals that you should take into consideration when it comes to career. Always pay attention to history. It'll teach you not what to do.

Pregnancy Cravings Of The Stars

2009-09-08T16:10:55Z

What weird foods do stars crave when they're expecting?

Nicole Richie is preggers with her second child. She looks like she barely eats at all, so we were pretty shocked when Joel Madden told People that he goes on runs to In-N-Out at all hours of the night to satisfy his wife's burger cravings. (People)

When she was pregnant with twins, Angelina Jolie craved chocolate flavored with cinnamon and chili, and onion rings with mustard. (OK! Magazine)

Madonna's Many Lovers: Who's The Hottest? (PHOTOS, POLL)

2009-09-07T19:30:11Z

Madonna accumulated her share of bedtime stories before meeting her current beau and Israel travel buddy, 22-year-old Brazilian model Jesus Luz. Which liaisons were hot, and which are better forgotten? You decide.

You can watch Madonna's new video costarring Jesus Luz here.

PHOTOS:

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Giles Slade: Nothin' From Nothin' Leaves Nothin': Levi Johnston at 19

2009-09-04T11:09:20Z

Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears have been behaving themselves recently, so Vanity Fair, a magazine named for the foremost representation of social ambition in the English language, has just published excerpts of Levi Johnston's forthcoming book-length account of what? Himself, I suppose; how he became marginally involved, albeit briefly, in national level politics after impregnating and then deserting the impressionable daughter of Alaska's former governor and the GOP's current looby*-in-chief.

Despite whatever large amount Vanity Fair paid him, Mr. Johnston's short-lived delay en route to his unavoidable obscurity has already cost him big time. Mother Sheryl L. Johnston was busted in Wasilla last December for selling a prescription painkiller (oxycontin-sometimes called 'hillbilly heroin') to an undercover Alaska State Trooper. "Sherry" Johnston was then sentenced to a fiver in the state pen. Without any prompting the Troopers assured everyone that their investigation, which resulted in only one conviction, had nothing to do with Levi's disastrous relationship to the gubernatorial family. -- OK.

Mrs. Johnston was also very forthcoming. She told the court that she had become addicted to oxycontin during a series of unsuccessful operations that began with a hysterectomy. There's a missing step, of course, in her transition from addict to dealer, but no doubt this will be the topic of a future Vanity Fair piece entitled 'Painkillers and the Change of Life: Levi's Mom Tells All.'

Like Sarah Palin, Levi has a forthcoming book entirely about his peripheral (and somewhat sordid or depressing) relationship with the Palin family. If I was Sarah Palin, I would be rejoicing today in the knowledge that the current Vanity Fair piece will no doubt kill any further interest in Mr. Johnston's book. Mr. Johnston wants to begin a career as a male model and/or actor. I'm not sure he'll be successful, but I think he avoid any further effort involving the written word.

It's pretty dull crud. If my 19 year old had written it, I'd imagine I'd failed him somewhere. But I'd be very unhappy if he impregnated and then deserted a young woman. However, then turning on her parents -- yes, even the Palins -- seems to worsen the creepiness of this narcissistic child. I wonder if he was brought up by wolves, but -- of course -- this would give beautiful Alaskan gray wolves a bad name. They're extremely loyal animals.

Obviously, Sheryl L. Johnston is not the person to imbue her offspring with literary or moral standards (creating this impression may actually be the very reason she was arrested), but where's Levi's dad? This again, is the topic for a future Vanity Fair piece entitled: "Wasilla Deadbeat: Levi's Dad's Secret Pain.'

Well, this is a very short phlegm-ball, and I apologize. I've already wasted too much time on Sarah Palin in other posts. When next she and I meet in print, it will be to give serious attention to her memoir, which, I'm sure, ghostwriters and editors in New York are laboring over even as you read these final words:

What the hell has happened to Vanity Fair? They used to have standards.

Gail Collins writes about "Levi's Revenge" in the New York Times here.

Marcus of the Washington Post has a nice take on "Levi's Johnston's Smarmy Tale" here.

and Levi's VF piece "Me And Mrs. Palin" in can be retrieved here.

Enough already!

* gloss for "looby": a clumsy lout, a foolish person. Palinesque.

What Britney Spears Can Reveal About Alzheimer's Disease

2009-09-02T15:56:32Z

Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic report that they may have found a way to identify those most at risk of developing the neurological disorder long before symptoms develop - simply by asking them whether they recognize celebrities such as Britney Spears and Johnny Carson.

Britney Fans Removed From Concert For Provocative Dancing

2009-08-27T09:04:48Z

THERE seems to be a double standard at Britney Spears'concerts. During Tuesday's packed show at Madison Square Garden, a spy tells Page Six that some fans were escorted from the aisles and taken into the hallway by security guards after being told they were dancing "too provocatively" at their seats.

Britney Spears & Russell Brand Read Each Other's Naughty Minds In VMA Spot (VIDEO)

2009-08-26T17:11:49Z

Britney Spears and Russell Brand did their best to ignore the sexual tension elephant in the room in a 2008 Video Music Awards spot, and now they're conveying their desire for one another telepathically in a promotion for this year's VMAs.

"Should I have played it up more when he was flirting with me last year?" Spears, poolside in a white bikini, asks herself. "I have to admit, there is something sexy about his dangerous ways."

Back in his hotel room, Brand can hear her lustful thoughts! "Britney," he thinks, hoping she can read his mind. "This is the voice of your mind. Go to Russell's hotel room and abandon yourself. Give yourself to him, Britney. Sleep with Russell!"

Brand's off-color monologue ruffled some feathers when he hosted the VMAs last year, but he will be back this year for a repeat performance live from NYC on Sunday, September 13.

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