Miley Cyrus on The Huffington Post

April Daniels Hussar: Tiger Woods: Role Model?

2009-12-04T17:24:26Z

Well, looks like Tiger Woods is turning out not to be such a stand-up guy after all. A peerless athlete, yes. But as a person, as a husband and as a father the guy is... to put it mildly, woefully far from perfect.

So - what does that have to do with us?

Not much.

No, really - not much at all. Because here's the thing: Celebrities are not role models. I know, shocking, right? They're famous, fallible people whom we "know" but don't really know at all. Yes, they live in the spotlight - and it's both fascinating and unfortunate that that spotlight has grown so incredibly illuminating, so in depth, that we know so many details about the lives of people we've never met, even the "private" ones who don't court fame for fame's sake. But looking up to these people is a dangerous trap - and something I hope I never catch myself modeling for my daughter.

Read 10 Things You Didn't Know about Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren

Because guess what? We are our children's most important role models. It's no use getting outraged when yet another celebrity falls from his pedestal. What about the children who look up to him, we moan. What we should really be asking is - what kind of role models are WE? Forget about Miley Cyrus and her propensity to pole-dance. Forget about sports-hero / ladies man-centaur A-Rod. And, yes, forget about Tiger Woods. Sure, it's a shame when someone we've admired turns out to have ugly flaws.

Yes, people like Miley and Tiger, who hold the public eye - and the imaginations of our children, do have a responsibility not to act like assholes when their failures will be seen by so many. But so do the rest of us. And really, it's moments like this when, as annoying and difficult as it may be it's the perfect time to ask ourselves, as parents: What kind of example am I setting? And is it strong enough to override whatever nonsense comes from the celebrity world we're all so fixated on?

In a few years when my daughter (now only 6) is much more aware of the crazy world around her, when she starts reading magazines (note to self: find a better hiding place for Us Weekly) and understanding things she hears on the news, or on TV, or from her friends, I can only hope that her father and I have done a good enough job of modeling the kind of behavior we purport to value, and that we've established our authority strongly enough in her eyes that when she looks up, it's us she's looking at, and it's something admirable and good she's seeing.

That's a tall order. It's scary to be a parent, and to know that of all the people in the world, my husband and I will have the biggest influence on this perfect, innocent little being. It's exhausting, to be honest - and I know that I fail her every day in so many little ways, by not being patient enough, by fighting with my husband in front of her, by giving in to my road rage and cursing at that IDIOT in front of me, by losing my temper over her incredibly aggravating slow-motion math homework avoidance-tactics (AUGHGGH!).

But in the bigger things, I hope, I pray, that I'm making the right decisions, and leading a good life by example. As her parents, by what we do - not so much by what we say - we're showing her what's important, what matters, how to behave and interact with others, how to respect and love not just other people, but, most importantly, herself.

And that's where, in my opinion, Tiger has failed the most. Not as a public role model, but a private one. As a father, in his betrayal of his own children. They're too young to really understand what's going on, yes, and that's something of a blessing - though they are surely feeling the repercussions all the same. But that's something that he will have to reckon with on his own, and try to repair.

So when something like this happens, when yet another ersatz star falls out of the paper sky, rather than shake our fists at the corruption of another "role model," let's instead let it be a lesson, and an opportunity for a little old-fashioned reflection.

Tiger Woods is no role model. But are we?

This post is cross-posted at BettyConfidential.

Miley Cyrus' Tattoo On Her Chest: "Just Breathe"

2009-12-04T14:00:52Z

Looks like Miley Cyrus has added a new permanent accessory to her look: The 17-year-old appears to have gotten a tattoo that reads "just breathe."

The singer was taking that bit of advice to heart on Dec. 3 as she sipped virgin daiquiris by the pool of the Fontainebleau Resort in Miami Beach, where she recently wrapped her Wonder World. While sitting poolside in a bikini she revealed what seems to be new ink peeking out from under her bathing suit top.

(click through for a photo!)

Miley Cyrus' Bikini Vacation (PHOTO)

2009-12-04T11:17:47Z

Miley Cyrus stripped down to this eensy-weensy bikini in Miami today, and proceeded to undo the straps for tanning purposes.

Sally Miller: The Ever-Changing World of Tween Trends

2009-12-03T12:32:36Z

Justin Beiber may very well be the next David Cassidy. The 15-year-old Canadian singing sensation was to sign books at Roosevelt Field Mall November 21st, but had to cancel due to an out of control crowd with thousands of tweens cramming for a spot to stand. I saw on the news that parents were smushed up against walls and kids were separated from their Mom's, standing outside alone with other lost children. Pure Pop Idol Chaos -- just the way tweens have always liked it.

And although Justin and David both share the Tiger Beat must haves of great hair, charming smiles and smooth voices, David worked like a dog on television for years, whereas Justin became an overnight sensation thanks to posting videos on YouTube. Fred, another YouTube tween favorite now has a manager and a t-shirt line at Justice Stores, the 800 plus unit tween retail chain. I even suckered down and bought a $20 Fred t-shirt for my 10 year old.

This is the New World Order in Tweendom. This 8-14 year old crowd has a lot of power. But will Justin have the longevity that David has? The more than ever fickle and savvy tween girl is used to clicking her way around from her email account to her Facebook posts, and the news feeds travel at warp speeds. The days are over for note passing. These girls text what's in and what's out so fast you may have missed it completely. But some tween trends have staying power.

Just look at the success of Miley Cyrus: According to Forbes, in 2009, she is the fifth most googled person, net worth over 25 million, and has become a global brand. You can find her image on everything from pleather jackets to granola bars. Gone are the days of just one doll in the likeness of the person. Now you can buy clothes they design, go to movies they are in, attend concerts they perform and sleep on sheets with their likeness. In addition, you can go to chat sites, fan sites, video sites and learn and see more about them than ever before.

This helps maintain and expand their Empire.

But what happens when they try to grow up?

Miley's cover for Vanity Fair in nothing but a towel was a disaster. The pole dancing at the Teen Choice Awards in August was all anyone talked about for months. We don't want our idols to change or grow up, and if they become sexual, forget about it. We demand the safety for our tweens to explore and feel comfortable in.

Why do you think the Twilight trilogy has become such a mega success? It is all about romantic fantasy. As the girls bridge from childhood into adulthood, they are role-playing in the safe environment where nothing is consummated. The cast is innocent. Nothing really happens between the main characters except for longing stares at each other. We adults can breathe a sigh of relief as our daughters hang Edward and Jacob posters on their walls.

The boys landed on the November cover of Tiger Beat, just like fellow alums David and Justin. Tiger Beat, a tween celebrity and trendy magazine has been around for 5 decades. Not much has changed as a prerequisite to score the cover since the day it started in 1965. You have to be relevant in this tricky market. So why does this mag have staying power in a shrinking and oversaturated market of celebrity commentary?

Because it has always perpetuated who's hot, and stays fresh by reporting on all of the latest gossip, red carpet madness and fashion must haves of our current favorite Icons. After all these years, posters are still gently pried from their staples and put up on closet doors with great care. And as approachable as they make the "Idols" out to be, they are just a little bit unattainable, which maintains the comfort factor that these girls need in order to confidently navigate their ever-changing world.

David Wild: "The World Is Full of Crashing Bores": A Party Playlist for Tareq and Michaele Salahi

2009-12-01T14:18:33Z

As revealed exclusively in a hard-hitting interview on The Today Show in conjunction with Bravo, Tareq and Michaele Salahi turn out to be total crashing bores. Also Michaele's spelling seems questionable.

Still, here's a playlist for America's latest fun couple to be used at the very next party they crash together.

CRASHING BY DESIGN - Pete Townshend
THE WORLD IS FULL OF CRASHING BORES - Morrissey
PARTY IN THE U.S.A. - Miley Cyrus
IT'S MY PARTY - Lesley Gore
ENGRAVED INVITATION - Ben Harper
STRANGE INVITATION - Beck
OPEN INVITATION - Santana
CRASH - Gwen Stefani
YOU'RE CRASHING, BUT YOU'RE NO WAVE - Fall Out Boy
THE PARTY'S CRASHING US - Of Montreal
UNINVITED - Alanis Morissette
WHO INVITED YOU - The Donnas
HEREBY INVITED - Bill Mumy
DISORDER IN THE HOUSE - Warren Zevon
THE INVITATION - 50 Cent
STEP INSIDE THIS HOUSE - Lyle Lovett
ROCK THIS HOUSE - B.B. King and Elton John
HOUSE OF CARDS - Radiohead
ALWAYS CRASHING IN THE SAME CAR - David Bowie
MICHAELE - The Beatles

Okay, you are all now cordially invited to join in. What songs do you think should crash this playlist?

Miley Cyrus And New Online Hub Encourages Teens To Get Their Good On

2009-11-25T16:52:04Z

Youth Service America and Miley Cyrus have joined forces in an effort to encourage teens to social network for good. Dubbed both a social network and a youth movement, Get Ur Good On was launched this week to help keep youth informed and engaged in ways they can improve their world. The new site features blogs, videos and photos of people giving back to their communities in an effort to showcase teens' efforts to make the world a better place.

Here's what Cyrus had to say about her new online network:

Youth Service America improves communities by encouraging young people to take leadership roles in their own communities and to continue their service toward others for their entire lives.

Check out the new online hub at www.geturgoodon.org.

Get HuffPost Impact On Facebook and Twitter!

Miley Cyrus Dresses As 'Pretty Woman' Hooker For Her 17th Birthday

2009-11-20T09:33:56Z

Miley Cyrus dressed as Julia Roberts' "Pretty Woman" hooker character for an '80s party to celebrate her 17th birthday Wednesday night.

Miley Cyrus Tour Bus Crashes, One Dead

2009-11-20T08:17:04Z

DINWIDDIE, Va. — The driver of a Miley Cyrus tour bus was killed Friday when the bus overturned, but the 16-year-old "Hannah Montana" star wasn't on board, Virginia State Police said.

Sgt. Thomas Molnar said the bus ran off the left side of Interstate 85, struck an embankment and overturned. The accident occurred around 8:15 a.m. in Dinwiddie County, about 40 miles south of Richmond. Speed and weather weren't considered factors.

Jackie K. Cooper: Sparks Specializes in Sad Songs

2009-11-18T14:53:28Z

There are those who would argue that each and every one of Nicholas Sparks' novels, beginning with The Notebook, is pure schmaltz. Many argue he aims for the tear ducts and won't rest until they are drained dry. Still, say what you want, Sparks writes books that touch the heart and entertain the mind and to my way of thinking that is just what he ought to do.

His latest heart-tugger is titled The Last Song, and it was supposedly written with teen sensation Miley Cyrus in mind. The movie version of the book is already in production and Cyrus is the star so I guess that rumor was true. In this case the book paints the picture of a young girl who certainly can be played by Cyrus.

The focus of the book is on Ronnie, a seventeen-year-old who is forced to spend the summer with her father at a beach in North Carolina. Ronnie's parents are divorced and she hasn't spoken to her father in three years. Now she and her younger brother Jonah are stuck with their father for months. Jonah likes the idea but Ronnie hates it.

Steering clear of her father Ronnie spends her first few days at the beach. There she meets some of the locals including a volley ball champ named Will. Meeting Will changes Ronnie's attitude about the summer, and in some ways changes her attitude about her father.

The Last Song is a complex story about love, fidelity, hate, teen angst and overall growing up. The relationship between Ronnie and her Dad is a complex one. She resents him for his leaving in the past and he adores her for just being alive. Watching these two characters evolve toward a resolution of their differences makes for engrossing and absorbing storytelling.

Sparks is not afraid to face the emotions of his characters. He does this with honesty and compassion, and sometimes with gut-wrenching intensity. There are moments in this story that are so affecting that you have to stop reading until you can see the pages through your tears. Is this contrived? Is this manipulative? Maybe it is, but it is also the true heart of the story.

Emotion is not a bad thing to feel while reading a story. Heartbreak happens in life and in books about lives. It is natural and honest. Sparks just happens to be talented when it comes to creating stories that reach out and touch us in more ways than one. Rather than condemn him for this, it is better to read and enjoy these stories for what they accomplish.

The focus of the book is on Ronnie, a seventeen-year-old who is forced to spend the summer with her father at a beach in North Carolina. Ronnie's parents are divorced and she hasn't spoken to her father in three years. Now she and her younger brother Jonah are stuck with their father for months. Jonah likes the idea but Ronnie hates it.

Steering clear of her father Ronnie spends her first few days at the beach. There she meets some of the locals including a volley ball champ named Will. Meeting Will changes Ronnie's attitude about the summer, and in some ways changes her attitude about her father.

The Last Song is a book that plays to our emotions. If you, as a reader, don't appreciate that type of story, then this is a book to avoid. However if you are okay with having your buttons pushed and human emotions touched then you will find this story one that will bring you to the heights and depths of feeling. The important thing is you will feel the joy and the pain of these characters as they live out the pages of Nicholas Sparks' latest book.

The focus of the book is on Ronnie, a seventeen-year-old who is forced to spend the summer with her father at a beach in North Carolina. Ronnie's parents are divorced and she hasn't spoken to her father in three years. Now she and her younger brother Jonah are stuck with their father for months. Jonah likes the idea but Ronnie hates it.

Steering clear of her father Ronnie spends her first few days at the beach. There she meets some of the locals including a volley ball champ named Will. Meeting Will changes Ronnie's attitude about the summer, and in some ways changes her attitude about her father.

The Last Song is published by Grand Central Publishing. It contains 390 pages and sells for $24.99.

Jackie K. Cooper

Miley Cyrus: I Want Nothing To Do With 'Twilight'

2009-11-18T10:36:25Z

"I've never seen it and nor will I ever," Cyrus, 16, tells Ohio radio station Q92 about the movie event that has infected the country.

"I don't believe in it," she continues. "I don't like vampires. I don't like the wolf that pops out of the screen when I'm watching my TV at night. I don't like it. I don't want anything to do with it. I don't like the shirts. I don't like any of it."

Andrew Zack: In Search of Reading Role Models

2009-11-14T11:14:03Z

As a father, I regularly look to my toddler son and ponder
how will I share with him some of the experiences I so fondly remember from my
own childhood: rainy days building forts
out of TV tables and blankets, snowy nights building model planes and tanks, and
Saturday afternoons watching the Creature Double Feature. And, of course, reading books. Lots and lots of books.

As a boy and a teenager, I read voraciously, knocking off a
book a day or at least two or three a week.
But those days are long gone. If
there’s one casualty of a career in publishing, it’s reading for fun. Reading manuscripts and sample chapters and
proposals, not to mention several hundred emails a week, puts enough wear and
tear on the average agent’s eyeballs that a monthly eye exam could easily be
justified as a business expense.

Kids today, though, have a lot more competition for their
attention. I had five TV stations
growing up, not five hundred. And if I
wanted to change the channel, or my dad wanted the channel changed, I had to
get up and change it (yes, I was the original “remote” in our home). I had a manual typewriter, not three
computers. And I lived in New England,
where it actually snowed and rained, unlike where my son is growing up in San
Diego, the land that precipitation forgot.
Other than the occasional day well into the nineties, the weather is
rarely conducive to a day spent inside reading.

All of which is a long way of introducing the subject that
book publishing as we know it is in deep poop, because kids today have far many
more options for their “reading time” than I ever had and their parents are
just as, if not more, distracted. My son
will grow up like most kids in America today, with hundreds of TV stations to
choose from, millions of websites to waste time exploring, an iPod full of
media (likely video as well as audio), and video-gaming consoles and handhelds,
plus a beach full of surfers just a few miles away. How on earth will I get him to read a
book? And how will the publishing
industry get today’s kids--and their parents--to read books?

No, I don’t actually have the answer to that last question,
but if there was a question publishers should be pouring money into answering,
that would be the one.

Harry Potter was a godsend to the publishing industry. Not just for the millions (billions?) of
dollars in book sales it helped generate, but because it got an entire
generation of children to read. And not
just to read, but also to look forward
to reading and look forward to that next book in the series. Dan Brown did something similar with
adults. Adults who hadn’t read a book in
years felt they had to read The Da Vinci Code. Surely a few went on to read Brown’s other
books and maybe after that even read some other authors’ books. But Brown took six years to write another
book and Rowling is “done” with Harry Potter.
Thankfully Oprah still picks a book now and then.

Once upon a time, US presidents would be seen reading books
and those books would leap to the best-seller lists. But when did you last hear anything about
what the president was reading? What the
publishing industry needs today is not just best-selling authors like Rowling
or Brown, but also reading role models
that will inspire children and their parents to pick up more books. Forget “game night.” We need “reading night” in America’s
homes. We need a president who tells us
what he’s reading that week, not to mention talk-show hosts, ballplayers, and
supermodels. Because, like it or not,
those are the individuals to whom Americans seem to pay the most
attention. Oprah already tells us who
she’s reading, but what about Katie or Matt or Jay or Dave? What about Tom and Gisele? Angelina and Brad? Or how about the Jonas brothers or
Miley? Somewhere on all of those concert
tours, they must pick up a book,
right? Maybe publishers should add some
more celebrities to the galley mailing lists.
Certainly if Angelina is seen carrying the latest children’s book
release around the sales would skyrocket.
If tween girls want so badly to be like Miley, maybe she could pick up a
copy of Pride and Prejudice, or even Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and
inspire those tweens to do the same.

So let this be a call to action, Washington. Listen up, Hollywood. Our children need you to read and we need to
know what you are reading, so don’t be shy about actually being seen carrying a
book. And, please, let your choices not
just be from the best-seller list, because those authors are already doing just
fine.

Mike Ragogna: Stop Making Sense With Jerry Harrison & Chris Frantz, Plus a Robert Francis Interview, John Mayer News, and More

2009-11-05T03:00:40Z

Interviews With Talking Heads Jerry Harrison & Chris Frantz

This year being the 25th anniversary of the release of the Talking Heads' concert classic Stop Making Sense, a new Blu-ray version of the Jonathan Demme-directed flick was prepared that includes a refurbished film transfer, new 5.1 sound, and a few interesting extras. Among them is a clip of David Byrne interviewing himself (with wardrobe changes including the "big suit"), and storyboards with multiple viewing choices. Talking Heads Jerry Harrison and Chris Frantz gave some quick insights and reflections on the cult favorite.

Mike Ragogna: How do you feel about having a 25th anniversary Blu-ray edition of the movie?

Chris Frantz: I'm very pleased to still be able to enjoy it! Who knew that the movie would have such a lasting impact, and I'm very pleased that we made it in the first place. Not only does it hold up very well, but I would say it's a really good work of art.

MR: Everything about it seems to be from an artistic angle.

CF: Well, the first band David Byrne and I had together was called The Artistics, and we kind of tried to carry that concept through to Talking Heads. The amazing thing about the movie is that everybody did such a wonderful job on it, and not only the music. The performers are fantastic, but our Talking Heads crew and the film crew were like Trojan warriors. They held up for three days of shooting, and they did a wonderful job.

MR: One of the most beautiful things about Stop Making Sense is how it builds with a minimalist approach. How scripted was the show in order to pull off the vision?

Jerry Harrison: Well, the set was the same every night, and what you see in the film is really what we performed every day. There wasn't anything done in particular for the film other than there was a terrific director of photography who added lighting to what we had as our normal stage lighting. But the basic look of it with the rear slide projections, that was all done every night, as well as the stage being built by (the adding of) musician after musician.

CF: The director of photography, Jordon Croneweth, was fantastic. We had been very impressed with his work in the movie Blade Runner.

MR: That build is the thing that many people, at the time, said that was what they liked best, how the film never stopped drawing you in.

JH: I agree. I think that one of the things--I really would give David credit for this--was that it was done with "simple tools," so it doesn't have a particular technology dating when we made it. Like if you go to big concerts now, they're going to be very defined by the current state of the art in video projection technology. You're in L.A., did you get to see U2 in the Rose Bowl?

MR: Yeah, loved it.

JH: It was fantastic, and the video screens were just amazing. But if that's going to be filmed, that video screen sets the concert in this time period as opposed to, say, five years ago when a U2 tour or any tour showed there was a certain possibility for technology. Stop Making Sense, I would say, is kind of timeless. Its technologies are something that were largely available in the 1920s, with the exception of the rear screen projection. It all has a very analog feeling with basically slides being projected. And because of that, there's nothing that seems to be rooted in a particular technology of the time period, and therefore, it gives it a more timeless and long-lasting power.

MR: Right, including the costumes that, though they may reflect a time period themselves, weren't a new technology, just good ol' staging.

JH: Yes, and that was very deliberate. Now with the Talking Heads, we always wore clothes that looked like we could be caddies on a golf course. We were deliberately trying to not have those kind of things be so flamboyant that they took away from the music and the simple artistic statement.

MR: How did you decide what would be captured on film from your concerts?

CF: Jonathan Demme's girlfriend at the time was named Sandy McCloud, and she was a filmmaker in her own right, and is to this day. Jonathan was busy doing some other movie called Swing Shift with Goldie Hawn, so he wasn't able to go to all the shows. But prior to the shooting, Sandy McCloud must have gone to twenty of our shows, and she took quite extensive notes on direction, like who does what at different times during the set. She was able to convey that to Jonathan who was then able to direct the cameras. One great thing about that movie is the shots are very long. The camera lingers on the different performers to the extent that you really feel like you're getting to know the people. That was quite different than many other concert films that were the visual equivalent of a tossed salad where there's a lot of fast cutting, and a lot of close-ups of people's fingers and stuff like that. Stop Making Sense is quite the opposite, I think.

MR: Even the editing seemed to be minimal, giving it a real graceful flow.

CF: I think you're right about that. The editor, Lisa Day, did a wonderful job. Like I said before, everyone involved did great work, from the cameras to the editing to the sound recording. You know, that was one of the first films ever made with digital recording.

MR: What are your favorite group performances from the film?

CF: There are so many favorites to chose from, but I'm especially fond of "Take Me To The River." That's one of those songs that you never get tired of playing. It was written by Al Green, and it's the only song Talking Heads recorded that we didn't write ourselves. I'm really glad we did it, it's a genius song. It's religious in a really transcendent, gospel way, and it worked really well at the end of the set there. And, of course, I love "Genius Of Love." The guitar player, Alex Weir, said to me once, "You know, my people come to the show to hear 'Genius Of Love.' That's one of the high points to me. And I've got to say, the song "This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody)" is to die for it's so good.

MR: The inclusion of "Genius Of Love" was a nice nod to the Tom Tom Club side project.

JH: Well, there are a couple of things about that. "Genius Of Love," of our combined work, was one of our most successful songs of the time. It seemed that it should be included. And it gave David a chance to change into the "big suit."

CF: Yeah, David needed a chance to change into his "big suit," that's why we did it. In 1983, the song was still huge in all the clubs and all the basketball courts across America. And it was a real contrast to the rest of the set. I know that critic Pauline Kael was kind of harsh about it, she felt it didn't work with the rest of the set. But I thought, on the contrary, it's like a little vacation in the middle of a Talking Heads set. It was a little sorbet.

MR: How involved was the band in the Blu-ray reconstruction?

JH: I was the one who was the most involved, mainly by just checking it out, and asking questions. Jonathan Demme and I got advanced versions, so I went through it comparing it to the DVD, both for sound and picture.

MR: So you were included after the fact.
`
JH: I wished I'd been involved from the very beginning because, with ET Thorngren, we did all the remixes of all the Talking Heads albums in 5.1 that were put out on DVD audio. So I would have actually thought it would have been thrilling to remix it, although I don't think there would have been room to have multiple formats.

MR: Technically, it's in 5.1.

JH: Yeah it's got two 5.1 mixes of the stereo mix, and it's in DTS 96 which is great, but I had some questions in what they had done in the sampling rate. No matter, it still sounds much better, so it's a big improvement and it's great.

MR: So you feel there was a significant upgrade in the audio as well as the video?

JH: With the new dolby and DTS formats, you have something that's comparable to what DVD audio or SACD was. Potentially, it's a wonderful new world of home entertainment, you know? I think we live in a world where everyone's become so obsessed by the convenience of listening to things on their computer and iPod. There are friends of my kids, they talk about how many songs they have rather than how good the songs sound. I think people have a tendency to go for ubiquity rather than quality, so they don't care that they have highly digitally compressed versions. So, it's exciting for me to have something like Blu-ray where it's all about trying to raise the quality, and I wish there was more of it.

MR: Who was the force behind it coming out on DVD initially?

JH: It was me that put it together to come out on DVD earlier.

MR: Jerry, you oversaw the initial element transfers?

JH: That's right. And Jonathan got involved with the picture, and I left that up to him. But the deal was the result of a friend of mine, David Beal, who was running Palm Pictures, then I put the whole thing in motion. Then David (Byrne) and Jonathan and a whole bunch of people got involved.

MR: How would you rate Stop Making Sense with the rest of the Talking Heads catalog?

JH: I would say that if no one had heard of the Talking Heads, it would be the first thing I would point them to because, with the exception of the later records, it's very singular. As great as our records are, I think our performances often raise things to a higher level. That being said, thinking back, I think Remain In Light will probably go down as the most original album we ever did. I think it changed the way people thought about making music.

MR: When you watched the final cut back in the day, did the band and Jonathan sense this was going to be one of the great rock films?

JH: Yes. One of my goals when we did this was to do something that rivaled The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which a theater would start playing at midnight every week on like Saturday night. And it actually did that, it was one of the reasons why it was so important not to insert any interviews because they break the flow of concert movies.

CF: It was very popular in the art film circuit, and also in any theater near a college campus. I was just told by some friends that it was shown late at night in an IMAX theater in Chicago. I would LOVE to see it in IMAX!

MR: Were there endorsements from the art community?

CF: I know that the magazine Art Forum has featured it a few times as something that they highly recommend. It's a VERY serious art magazine, you know? I know that critics James Walcott and Pauline Kael were crazy about it.

MR: Twenty-five years later, what kind of impact do you think Stop Making Sense has had on the rock world?

CF: After we did that movie, a couple of people in rock 'n' roll decided they wanted to make a movie too. Theirs didn't fare as well as ours did. (laughs) If you don't have the songs and you don't have the performances, you can just forget it.

JH: Frankly, I don't think it's been surpassed. I think that, really, The Last Waltz and Stop Making Sense hold up as films that people keep coming back to. It's not that there haven't been some other great movies, like I think the one Scorsese did with the Stones was a terrific rock movie. But nothing's come along that just draws you in more. It is very exciting to have it in Blu-ray, where if you have a good 5.1 system, you really can have a more theatre-like experience than you ever could before. It's really, really satisfying.

MR: So what will Stop Making Sense's place be in rock history?

JH: I'd like that it could make as much money as that movie about Miley Cyrus, but I don't think it's going to. (laughs) But I do think it will just continue being one of THE rock performance movies.

MR: What do you think Talking Heads' legacy will be?

CF: My feeling is that it was a wonderful group and I'm so glad that we actually managed to pull it off. Talking Heads was really remarkable in many ways, especially in the fact that we sort of rewrote what a rock band should be like. Great rock bands before us were like The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones--bands that were a great influence on us. But we felt like those guys had already done such a great job at that, there's no way we can outdo them at what they do. So we came at the rock band thing from a different angle. Thanks to that, a lot of normal kids from the suburbs feel like they don't have to dress up in leather clothes and stuff like that in order to get their message across. Also, we were one of the few bands who could have artistic credibility and commercial success at the same time. We could really kind of have our cake and eat it too which was remarkable. Especially today, it's very hard to balance artistic ability with commercial success. You don't see too much of that.

An Interview With Singer-Songwriter Robert Francis

Mike Ragogna: Your new album, Before Nightfall, seems to capture some of the same desperateness as Bruce Springsteen's Darkness On The Edge Of Town because your characters' lives and relationships are challenged by the times. Are all these adventures based on a certain relationship or a few different ones?

Robert Francis: I think this record is pretty much based around one relationship, though I've gone through a few stages in my life where I've had many different girlfriends. But this one was the end-all-be-all that shaped why I think about things in such a different way, that's how I started formulating the songs.

MR: You use "darkness" as your theme throughout. Was that due to the nature of the relationship, or was it more about fighting personal demons?

RF: I definitely was bailing her out a lot, there's so much ground that it covers. A lot of the darkness is literal and metaphorical, but it mainly had to do with memories and how I remember things during that time when I was sort of abusing a lot of substances like alcohol. The way my mind gathers these memories is sort of in black and white. I remember how the night, that darkness, actually felt, waking up, and the way that the light would fall across different objects. So, a lot of it is about the feeling of that darkness.

MR: In the song "Darkness," you have the line "No one's gonna find you if you ever get lost this time..." which captures how dangerous it is to fall into society's cracks. And most of your songs have at least one or two lines that dig this deeply. With your material coming from personal experience, it seems like feel you've had an intense life.

RF: Yeah. Definitely, I was thinking about it the other day. It feels like I'm so young still, but I've been through a lot already.

MR: "Junebug" also is a powerful yet addictive song with still more very original perspectives on life. It's also pretty hooky, and your falsetto kills. Is this your single?

RF: I think iTunes is featuring it as the single. I think Atlantic wants to get the album out there first as a body of work before they do the label thing with a single. But I think when they decide to go there, yeah, that'll be it.

MR: You can hear snippets of a few classic artists on Before Nightfall. Who are some of your influences?

RF: There are so many musicians that I love but those that really inspired me where the greats--Dylan, Neil Young, and Townes Van Zandt. The way those guys made records is real rare. There are no fillers, all the songs are heartfelt. You could take any of their songs and they're great.

MR: Who else?

RF: Other people that I love? John and Beverly Martyn, Karen Dalton, Glen Gray, Alexander Spence. I loved The Band, of course. They made records, and that's what I want to do.

MR: You got your National guitar from Ry Cooder. What was it like having him as a family friend?

RF: It was pretty incredible. I read an interview with him the other day on how he'd sit in a room with the Reverend Gary Davis. You could give him a dime and sit in a room with him and watch him play. I remember reading that you had to be there with that person, it's not something you can just see "live" or watch on TV.

MR: Like being within the presence of the teacher itself to pick up on subtleties, unconscious communication, all that.

RF: Yeah, it was the same thing with me, sitting there with Ry, being that close to him and watching him play throughout my childhood. It's that energy and magic you can't get otherwise. It isn't having that "sound," since that can only go so far. You kind of get removed from space and time, and I would just be able to sit there and soak it in. It was something I was extremely lucky to have done. He plays like no one I've ever heard, and he definitely gave me a real firm understanding of what "soul" really is and how it can be expressed at a really young age. I never got confused or got in on the technical part of guitar playing; I was always searching for that "soul," and that's what I got from Ry.

MR: So feeling is the most important element of your writing process?

RF: Yeah. What'll happen is that something will come over me like a feeling of elation or sadness, whatever it is, and that will spring some sort of melody or idea. I'll probably end up writing the chorus before I write the rest of the song, and figuring out the verses lyrically is how I find a way to pinpoint what I'm singing about in the chorus.

MR: Speaking of Ry Cooder, he supplied the music for Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas, and you've said it affected you profoundly.

RF: When I saw that movie when I was young, it was one of the most inspiring (films) I'd ever seen. I knew right then that I had to pursue my dreams, and I think it made sense--how people need to be searching for something, though it's never really clear what that is. I wanted to figure out exactly what it was that I was searching for. So that's how I began to play music, to envision what I'm doing now, to get this dream together and follow it.

MR: And eventually, you traded a college education for your first record, right?

RF: Pretty much. I was trying to get through school, and couldn't do it. I just dropped out and hit the road pretty quickly with my sister's band playing bass. Then I made my first record.

MR: Did your family have your back when you made the decision to pursue music?

RF: Without the support of my sisters and my parents, I wouldn't even come close to be doing what I do now. If they hadn't been as supportive and raised me the way they did, life would be very different from the way it is.

MR: How would you describe your first album, One By One?

RF: The first record's real innocent, and so much has changed since then, though it was just three years ago. Everything's changed in my outlook on life, on human beings, and relationships. Even my voice has changed a lot since then.

MR: Was it centered around the same cast as Before Nightfall?

RF: Yeah, it was the beginning of that same relationship.

MR: So trusting in yourself paid off since your first album was well received.

RF: Right, it got great reviews.

MR: Then you hooked-up with Atlantic. How did that come about?

RF: After One By One came out, there was probably more interest coming from labels than fans, press, or anything else. I think there were about five record deals on the table, and I was going to go with one of them. But my manger called this A&R guy at Atlantic, Sam Riback, and he got it to him and asked if there was anything that we were missing, like was there a label we should be going to, general opinions. Sam heard the record and fell in love with it. He got it more than anyone else did. The label then pursued me, and I got to know them after a while.

MR: How did you land Dave Sardy as your producer?

RF: I was trying to produce the record myself, and the label supported me. They gave me money to build a studio in the desert, so the band and I went out and demoed these new songs. But when I handed-in the recordings, well, looking back at it, I did need a producer. I heard Sardy always wanted to do the record. I met him in London about two years ago when I was playing a show there for One By One. He was doing the new Oasis record at Abbey Road (Studios). His reputation as a producer was that he's pretty intense, he'd tell you if something's not right. And I wasn't interested in a producer who wanted to make it all comfortable and cozy, I wanted to be around one that was as serious as I was about making it. So, I met with him and began recording the record about a week after that.

MR: And you set-up in the studio like it was your home.

RF: Yeah, we really made it like that. I brought a whole lot of furniture from my house, and we did it in the same way we'd do it in my living room, real intimate and personal. It definitely was a lot of fun.

MR: Where do you see yourself five years from now?

RF: I hope to have at least four or five more records, to try to keep creating as much as I possibly can, and for the records to be as successful as they can be. There's nothing that I enjoy more than just playing songs for my fans and for people who enjoy the music. I'd just like to see that go as far as it could. I have no real plans on intentionally burning out or stopping, this is just what I love to do, and I've always loved doing it. Hopefully, it will take me to a place where I can settle down on a little piece of ranch property and get some old cars, sort of relax one day...

Robert Francis - Before Nightfall

Tracks:
1. Darkness
2. Junebug
3. Nightfall
4. Climb A Mountain
5. I Like The Air
6. Keep On Running
7. Mescaline
8. Where You Came From
9. One By One
10. Hallways
11. Playground
12. Do What I Can

PRESS RELEASES DU JOUR:

JOHN MAYER ANNOUNCES "BATTLE STUDIES" TOUR WITH SPECIAL GUEST MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD

MAYER'S NOV. 17 RELEASE TO BE CELEBRATED WITH LIVE CONCERT BROADCAST ON FUSE IN THE U.S. AND MILITARY BASES GLOBALLY VIA AMERICAN FORCES NETWORK

Today Show, Nightline, Late Show w/David Letterman, Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Jay Leno Show, Larry King Live Appearances Planned
(New York, NY - November 4, 2009) - There is no substitute to seeing John Mayer perform live and the release of Battle Studies later this month will kick off a North American tour beginning February 8th in Charleston, SC and feature special guest, Michael Franti & Spearhead (dates below). Tickets for the majority of dates are planned to go on sale to the general public on Nov. 21, with an American Express cardmember pre-sale window from Nov. 16-20. For those starting their holiday shopping early, a special offer on www.johnmayer.com allows fans who pre-order Battle Studies now through November 10th to access their own exclusive tour pre-sale to purchase up to 12 tickets before they're available anywhere else. Further information for on sale dates to be released soon on www.johnmayer.com.

Kicking off release week, Fuse today announced that their "Fuse Presents: John Mayer Live From the Beacon Theatre," broadcast will now be broadcast overseas to U.S. troops and their families by AFN, The American Forces Network, to reach those stationed in 175 countries and on 140 U.S. Navy ships at sea. Fuse, Madison Square Garden's national music television network and Madison Square Garden Entertainment have teamed up with the American Forces Network (AFN) - now Mayer's performance will air live on Fuse, in HD and SD, on November 17th at 9pm ET in the U.S. and will be simulcast live that night via AFN Radio. Additionally, AFN Television's "Spectrum" channel will air the concert on December 6, 2009 at 8pm and on New Year's Eve.

In addition to an intimate performance of his current single, "Who Says" on the Today Show on Thursday, November 19, Mayer has another special event up his sleeve with The Late Show with David Letterman. Mayer will perform as Letterman's musical guest, and then take over the studio for an extended concert for fans that will be webcast on Letterman's website. On November 19, Mayer will appear on The Late Show as a both a sit-in artist with Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra and as the show's musical guest before performing a post-show fan concert, which will stream live and remain online through the beginning of the Battle Studies Tour. Other television appearances and special announcements are planned for December, including The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Jay Leno Show and Larry King Live.

Battle Studies is the fourth studio album from the seven-time Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter/guitar player/producer and incorporates the warmth, melodies and simplicity of 70's and 80's California rock and pop. Battle Studies is a confessional, relaxed and liberated album recorded in a private home in California where Mayer lived and worked over the course of six months before wrapping at the famed Capitol Studios in Los Angeles. The album was co-produced by John Mayer and Steve Jordan and will be released on November 17th, 2009 on Columbia Records.

MAYER'S BATTLE STUDIES TOUR W/SPECIAL GUEST MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD:

February
8 Mon Charleston, SC North Charleston Coliseum
9 Tue Birmingham, AL BJCC Arena
10 Wed Nashville, TN Sommet Center
12 Fri Auburn Hills (Detroit), MI The Palace of Auburn Hills
13 Sat Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
16 Tue Ottawa, ON Scotiabank Place
17 Wed Montreal, QC Bell Centre
19 Fri Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun
20 Sat Washington, DC Verizon Center
21 Sun Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
24 Wed Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
25 Thu New York, NY Madison Square Garden
28 Sun Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena

March
1 Mon Milwaukee, WI Bradley Center
2 Tue St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
4 Thu Omaha, NE Qwest Center
5 Fri Oklahoma City, OK Ford Center
6 Sat Houston, TX Toyota Center
8 Mon Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
9 Tue Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
10 Wed New Orleans, LA New Orleans Arena
12 Fri Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena
13 Sat Louisville, KY Freedom Hall
15 Mon Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum Complex
16 Tue Charlottesville, VA John Paul Jones Arena
17 Wed Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
19 Fri Memphis, TN Fed Ex Forum
20 Sat St Louis, MO Scottrade Center
22 Mon Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
23 Tue Denver, CO Pepsi Center
25 Thu Los Angeles, CA Staples Center
26 Fri San Jose, CA HP Pavilion
30 Tue Portland, OR Rose Garden
31 Wed Seattle, WA KeyArena

April
1 Thu Vancouver, BC General Motors Place
3 Sat Calgary, AB Pengrowth Saddledome
4 Sun Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
6 Tue Saskatoon, SK Credit Union Centre
7 Wed Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre
8 Thu Fargo, ND FargoDome
10 Sat Chicago, IL United Center

WEEZER INTRODUCES THEIR VERY OWN SNUGGIE, AVAILABLE TODAY

FANS GET A COPY OF NEW ALBUM RADITUDE AS BONUS GIFT WITH PURCHASE OF A WEEZER SNUGGIE

"THE BLANKET WITH SLEEVES" IS A NATIONAL SENSATION, WITH MILLIONS SOLD AND STILL GOING STRONG

Alternative rock band Weezer and Allstar Products Group, marketer and distributor of the Snuggie, America's favorite "blanket with sleeves," have joined forces to create the official Weezer Snuggie. It will be launched today and will bear the band's trademark "Weezer" logo. This latest addition to the Snuggie collection will allow fans of the band to stay warm while keeping their hands free to rock out. And rock out they will; fans who purchase a Weezer Snuggie blanket will also receive a copy of the band's brand-new album, Raditude, as a bonus gift.

The Weezer Snuggie will be available for $29.99 for purchase online. It arrives around the same day as the band's latest album, Raditude. This new offering sees the band trying a brand-new approach, choosing to collaborate with a wide variety of musicians, songwriters and producers. The result of this collaborative effort is a collection of songs that amplifies Weezer's musical trademarks- deep-digging pop hooks and raucous rock riffs- while at the same time breaking new ground for the band. Raditude features appearances by Lil' Wayne, Jermaine Dupri and even a host of traditional Indian musicians.

From the subtly ironic but club-worthy "Can't Stop Partying," to the gleefully lascivious classic arena-rocker "The Girl Got Hot," to the sleek electro groove of "I'm Your Daddy," to the slow-building, anthemic "Love is the Answer" and the clanking, Motown-flavored "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To," Raditude, like Weezer, is full of thrilling surprises. As lead singer Rivers Cuomo says, "It sounds like a roomful of people having a great time."

The Snuggie blanket was featured at New York Fall Fashion Week in September, where models graced the catwalk in some of the latest Snuggie designs, such Snuggie Wild Side in zebra and leopard print, Snuggie Soft Rose for breast cancer awareness and limited edition Snuggadelic Snuggie in funky tie-dye print.

The Snuggie blanket is more than a fun idea, impulse buy or kitschy TV ad; it is a truly innovative and ultimately functional product. It's made of lightweight, soft fleece that keeps people of all ages warm indoors and out, with large, roomy sleeves allowing for free movement. It answers a basic need shared by many - staying warm and comfortable while having hands free to do what you please - channel surf, snack, read a book... or crank up the volume on your favorite Weezer song.

CONGRATULATIONS TO COLUMBIA RECORDS ARTISTS WINNERS AT THE 2009 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS!

BEYONCÉ
Best R&B/Soul Artist Female
Song of the Year "Single Ladies"
Album of the Year

MAXWELL
Best R&B/Soul Artist Male

MARY MARY
Best Gospel Performance

The 2009 Soul Train Awards premiere on Sunday, November 29th at 9pm et/pt on BET and Centric

ROONEY TO RELEASE SELF-PRODUCED, LIMITED-EDITION EP, WILD ONE

BAND EMBARKS ON NATIONAL HEADLINING TOUR IN SUPPORT

L.A. five-piece Rooney is gearing up to release a new, limited-pressing EP, Wild One and will embark on a national headlining tour beginning November 27th at Los Angeles' El Rey Theatre, in support. Fans can get a first listen to Wild One as the EP will be available exclusively at these upcoming shows before becoming available at iTunes in early 2010. Only 5,000 EPs will be pressed.

Wild One was produced and engineered by the band, and features four brand-new tracks. The EP was mixed by Dave Trumfio (Wilco, Built to Spill and My Morning Jacket) and mastered by Dave McNair (Willie Nelson, Patti Smith.)

After signing with a major record label and working with some of the music industry's most esteemed producers since their inception, the band is proud to showcase this collection of songs they crafted entirely themselves. Rooney's latest offering features some of their best, most inventive and original material to date.

Rooney was signed to Geffen Records in 2002 after independently releasing a series of EPs and demos. They released their self-titled debut in 2003; shortly thereafter they saw significant success with single "I'm Shakin" and a cameo appearance on hit teen drama The O.C. The band has toured with a variety of superstar acts including Kings of Leon, Weezer and The Strokes.

Rooney is Robert Schwartzman (vocals/guitar,) Taylor Locke (guitar / vocals) Ned Brower (drums / vocals) Louie Stephens (keyboard / vocals) and Matthew Winter (bass).

Wild One track listing:

1. Suckceed
2. I Don't Understand
3. Wild One
4. The Days Keep Going By

Tour Dates:

11/27 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
11/28 - Pomona, CA - The Glass House
11/29 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's
11/30 - Eugene, OR - WOW Hall
12/1 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre
12/2 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
12/4 - Salt Lake City, UT - In The Venue- Club Sound
12/5 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
12/7 - St. Paul, MN - Station 4
12/8 - Chicago, IL - House Of Blues
12/9 - Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre
12/10 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
12/11 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
12/12 - Baltimore, MD - Club Stage
12/13 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East Underground
12/14 - West Chester, PA - The Note
12/16 - Atlanta, GA - The Loft
12/17 - New Orleans, LA - Tipitina's Uptown
12/18 - Houston, TX - Meridian
12/19 - Austin, TX - Emo's
12/20 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre
12/22 - Tucson, AZ - Club Congress

ALEC OUNSWORTH TAKES FLASHY PYTHON ON THE ROAD

ANNOUNCES DATES WITH COLD WAR KIDS

Anti-Records is proud to announce tour dates for Alec Ounsworth, whose new album, Mo Beauty, was just released. Starting with four shows opening for Cold War Kids, Flashy Python, featuring Ounsworth, Matt Sutton, Peter Modavis, Brian Ashby and Jonas Oesterle, will be playing songs from Mo Beauty, Flashy Python's debut Skin and Bones and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's catalogue. The band gave their premiere performance at this year's CMJ Marathon.

Mo Beauty was recorded deep in the heart of musical New Orleans with an ensemble of local heavyweights including George Porter Jr. of the Meters and drummer Stanton Moore of Galactic, and was guided by veteran producer Steve Berlin (Los Lobos, Replacements). The album is a stunning union of powerful rhythms and imaginative arrangements in the service of evocative literary songwriting.

Praise for Alec Ounsworth's Mo Beauty has been strong:

"This sound is voluptuous and muscular, and it suits him well."- Pitchfork

"The Sharpest arrangements and best songwriting of his short career: Almost every tune on Mo Beauty equals or betters those on CYHSY's lauded 2005 debut." - Spin

"Ounsworth has crafted an album that transitions seamlessly from ballads to more frenetic tracks with a straightforward sound that lets the songwriting and hooks resonate without being over-produced." - Filter

"Strikingly compelling" - Relix

The dates supporting Cold War Kids are below. Flashy Python will be spending most of 2010 on the road. More shows will be announced soon.

January 2010
22 - Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern Theatre
23 - San Francisco, CA -The Fillmore
29 - New York, NY - Terminal 5
30 - Chicago, IL - Vic Theater

Miley Cyrus Stalker Gets Plea Deal

2009-10-30T09:00:08Z

SAVANNAH, Ga. — A 53-year-old man pleaded guilty Friday to resisting police outside the set of a Miley Cyrus movie on the Georgia coast after prosecutors dropped charges that he tried to stalk the teen pop star.

Mark McLeod, who told police he was engaged to marry the 16-year-old "Hannah Montana" star, was sentenced by a State Court judge to two years probation and was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation. He was also banished from Savannah and surrounding Chatham County and ordered to stay away from Cyrus and her family.

Michael DeJong: Halloween? Bah, Humbug!

2009-10-29T18:12:46Z

Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy festive holidays as much as the next person, but we eco-freaks can't help ourselves from sucking the fun out of things -- particularly when it comes to harming children.

Do you remember growing up and the only thing to worry about on Halloween was getting an apple with razor blades in it? First of all, what an Urban Myth. All one kid needed to do was point out which house gave out the fatal fruit, and the entire neighborhood would have been out with pitchforks and flaming torches. And, if anyone on my Halloween route had the nerve to stick a piece of fruit in my Trick-or-Treat bag (razor blades or not) I'd have put it in a paper bag, lit the bag on fire, rang the bell and ran. What kid wants fruit?

So now we come to my fun-sucking dilemma. For the sake of full disclosure, I feel it's important for me to admit that as an adult I hate Halloween. The thought of being in a parade or at a party with drunken strangers in masks is like some people's irrational fear of clowns--it just gives me the willies.

But Halloween, everyone says, is for the kids. And let's suppose for the sake of this blog that that's true. Here is how I see it:

1. Jack-o-Lanterns: Thanks to years of Martha Stewart one-upping herself each Halloween, carving a traditional buck-toothed, triangle-eyed pumpkin just doesn't cut it anymore--it's your kid's equivalent to having last year's X-Box games. So, one either has to have the carving talents of Rodin, or else Mommy goes to the big box store and buys one of those foam "pumpkins" made in China from God-knows-what toxic petrochemicals. The carbon footprint of making, packing, and flying that fake gourd alone could prevent us from ever reaching 350. And now that we no longer carve real pumpkins from the pumpkin patch for fear of being accused of All Hallows Eve banality, we lose out on one of Mother Nature's greatest once-a-year secrets--scraping the pumpkin seeds out, rinsing them off, sprinkling them with salt and then baking them at a low temperature until they are toasty, golden, and crunchy delicious. Foam pumpkins don't even come with foam seeds.

2. Costumes: Here, you have your two types -- Mommy-made or store-bought. Mom-made costumes are going the way of the horse and buggy, 8-track tapes, and analog clocks. First, most of the mom's I know, if they are lucky enough to be employed, are the second breadwinner in the family, and are too exhausted to sew and dye fabrics that any self-respecting six-year old wouldn't be caught dead in. Show of hands--how many moms out there even know how to sew or have a sewing machine? And when did "What Tiffany is wearing for Halloween" become the equivalent of the Bar Mitzvah wars? Now stores of all stripes have racks and racks of adorable, perfectly appointed ready-made costumes that can put mom back anywhere from $15 to $50--and in today's economy, that ain't hay. But what's worse is that unlike pajamas that were mandated to be flame retardant years ago, the materials that most store-bought witches, ghost and goblin get-ups are made from can't be made fire retardant--100% nylon, acetate and acrylic tend to resist flame retarding, and foreign made materials often have unknown chemicals in them to enhance bulk or texture. These "unknowns" can cause problems. So not only isn't junior's Frankenstein or Spiderman costume not flame retardant, it's also off-gassing into his poor lil' pores.

3. Mask or Make-Up? Neither is a good choice for a little one. Remember when you were a kid and you got one of those hard plastic masks with the rubber band that went over your ears and behind your head? And do you remember how wonderful it smelled when you had it on--kind of a kid's version of new car smell. Well, now we know that when plastic smells, watch out--there's toxins in them thar' masquerades. And let's say that you are one of the lucky mom's with kids still young enough to go for the bed sheet-turned-into-ghost costumes. No sewing required, just a scissor to cut out a hole for the head, and to trim off the bottom so baby Justin doesn't trip over himself trying to carry all his trick-or-treat booty home. Well, little Justin can't just have his everyday head sticking out of that ghostly sheet--who would that scare? So, mommy either buys ghoul make-up at the local drug store, or pulls out her old discarded Revlon, Cover Girl, Maybelline, etc., from the bottom of some forgotten bathroom drawer, and paints the kid's face. For anyone concerned about the chemical contents of make-up, I refer you to Womens Voices for the Earth's report, "Pretty Scary," about the heavy metal content in make-up made specifically for kids at Halloween time (http://www.womenandenvironment.org/pdf/PrettyScary_Oct2009.pdf) as well as their report "A Little Prettier" as part of their ongoing Campaign for Safe Cosmetics investigations and lobbying efforts to make the adult cosmetics industry manufacture healthier products (http://safecosmetics.org/search.php).

And if you wanted to be creative in a retro sort of way, and make a mask out of a brown paper bag, try and find one made from either recycled pre- and post-consumer waste or one made with paper approved by the Forest Stewardship Council. Most are still made from virgin trees.

4. The Booty: And even though the "razors in the apples" scare has died down, parents warn their children to not eat anything that is not store-bought and wrapped in its original foil or plastic hermetically sealed protective coating. Industrial sized bags are now available for sale at every big box store and large supermarket. As a kid, my favorite Halloween treat was Candy Corn--and not the yellow, orange and white ones either--no sir--the neighbors that gave out handfuls of the yellow, orange and brown Candy Corn were my heroes. Today, loose candy is immediately thrown away when mom and dad investigate the contents of the night's take. So we're left with individually wrapped miniatures of 60s classic candy bars, and by the time little Allison can unwrap one of those impervious Tyvak-like wrappers, her arms, already tired from carrying the haul home, are numb, and her little fingers are frostbitten from the sudden drop in temperature between 6:00 and 10:00 pm, and she just thinks, the heck with it, I'll handle this in the morning, only to wake and find mommy and daddy sprawled out on the living room floor in a massive sugar crash from having eaten all the goodies. It's probably for the better because mommy has already indoctrinated 10-year-old Allison that she is too fat and if she wants to be the next Miley Cyrus she had best be dieting and not eating all that sugary crap.

5. TPing: Oh the days when throwing roll after roll of toilet paper into the neighbor's tree brought endless joy, and belly-aching, roll-on-the-ground laughter. However, for the 21st Century eco-minded, not just any TP will do anymore. And since the only eco-friendly TP readily available is Seventh Generation, at $2.99 or more a roll, this "trick" is not only wasteful, but becomes a major investment.

But never fear, another Halloween will soon come and go, and lest we even try to hold onto our memories of All Hallows Eve, three weeks ago, the candy aisles were already empty, the only costumes left on the racks were the ripped and rejected, and ever since Columbus Day, it's been beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Bah, Humbug!

Noah Cyrus, Miley's Little Sis, Has An Interesting Halloween Costume (PHOTO)

2009-10-29T17:05:55Z

Here's Noah Cyrus, Miley's 9-year-old sister, at a Halloween fundraiser last weekend. Surely her parents must realize that underage sexification will be hard to pass off as an innocent misstep.

At least Noah stayed away from the stripper pole this time.

PHOTO:

Get HuffPost Entertainment On Facebook and Twitter!

eSarcasm: Suck on This, Apple Fanboys

2009-10-22T17:16:36Z

Hey, we love a good cat fight as much as the next guy. And if anyone should get into a hair pulling, face-clawing, blood-on-the-floor tussle, it might as well be Apple and Verizon.

Verizon has taken a shot at Apple with a clever commercial titled "iDon't" that points out everything its new Android 2.0-powered phone, The Motorola Droid, does that the iPhone does not.

The Droid Web site, on the other hand, looks like it was constructed by the Arnold Schwarzenneger character from Terminator 1 (not the lovable Teutonic hero of Terminators 2 & 3). And then there's the rather ambitious claim they appear to be making:

You betcha. And if it vibrated at precisely 200 kilohertz, we'd be singing "Jizz in My Pants."

However, we'll believe that claim the day our cell phones a) fix our traffic tickets, b) get us laid, or c) explain to our significant other(s) how we managed to get laid when they weren't in the room.

Also, the name: Droid is just a little too close to the 'Noids, that execrable marketing campaign Dominoes Pizza foisted on us in the late '80s. We've been Avoiding the Noids -- and Dominoes -- ever since.

Still, anyone willing to make fun of Apple, thus taking some of the heat off us, is OK in our book. In fact, we liked the idea so much we made our own little list of things we at eSarcasm don't or won't do.

WeDon't:

... eat our own filth

... eat other people's filth (unless it's high-quality imported filth)

... give even the tiniest shit about Jon and Kate Gosselin

... believe anything Michael Arrington writes unless he's got a station wagon full of nuns as witnesses, and the nuns have all passed lie detector tests, and they can prove they're really nuns and not just guys dressed up like nuns

... party with Lindsay Lohan (and not just because she hasn't asked us to yet)

... pretend our six-year-old son is piloting a helium balloon at 10,000 feet when we've really just stashed him inside a cardboard box in the attic

... name any child 'Falcon' (heck, why not Fairlane or Taurus?)

... vomit and/or fart loudly on national television (but there's still time)

... live blog Apple's earnings announcements

... let friends use AOL

... post nude pix of ourselves on Flickr. Isn't that why God invented MySpace?

... speculate over which no-name actor/model/general douchebag is statutorily "not having sex" with Miley Cyrus

... have posters of Megan Fox on our cubicle walls*

... DM Ashton Kutcher on Twitter

... claim to be close personal friends with Ashton Kutcher just because he responded to one of our DMs (OK, we lied)

... understand why anyone over the age of 12 ever reads Digg

... use the word "manscape"

... practice any form of Tantric sex. If that's what you need, call up Sting. We're sure he'd be happy to oblige after he's done manscaping

... watch any program that uses the word "cougar" in its title and isn't on Animal Planet

... post photos of much hotter guys on Hot or Not and pretend they're us

... actually know what 'fo shizzle ma nizzle' means

... purchase any fragrance based on a character from "Sex and the City." Whatever that smells like cannot be good

... attend launch parties for mediocre operating systems

... cream our jeans over every new fucking cell phone to hit the market

... own iPhones. Not that they aren't cool and all. But there's no way we're paying AT&T $80 a month for anything

Is there anything you don't do? Post them below.

* But only because we don't have cubicles.

Crave yet more Geek Humor Gone Wild? Please come visit us at eSarcasm.com. You'll be glad uDid.

Candy Spelling: The End of the Affair in Hollywood

2009-10-16T20:30:13Z
Can it be true? Is there a Hollywood break-up with international repercussions happening behind the scenes? It's not that I like to gossip about relationships, but I couldn't miss this one.

On Monday morning, my Los Angeles Times greeted me with a story headlined, "Angry Stars All a Twitter." The sub-hed was, "It's now the go-to site for celebs to rant about each other," and went on to give examples of big stars going public on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere with their complaints about other stars.

Guys, I know we're in a new media landscape, but that's a real no-no. That's why you have publicists and agents and managers and whomever all those other handlers are. We're not supposed to read your name in a story about stars acting up in the morning newspaper.

The Times, clearly one of the few remaining arbiters of celebrity etiquette, rightly noted: "Indeed, there's a wide gulf between what entertainers say on Twitter and in their carefully modulated public statements." Duh. That's why people collectively pay publicists millions of dollars a year.

Yet, Kirstie Alley, Spencer Pratt, Courtney Love, Mark Cuban, Miley Cyrus, Chris Brown and even celebrity veteran Demi Moore were cited in the story for their upper case, exclamation-pointed honesty, a real no-no.

I figured all the publicists emailed the story to their clients, and packaged civility would return.

But, now there's another fissure.

On today's front page of The Hollywood Reporter is a story, "Hey Showbiz Folks: Check Your Contract Before Your Next Tweet." It begins:

Hollywood is coming down with the Twitter jitters.

There's a growing number of studio deals with new language aimed specifically at curbing usage of social-media outlets by actors, execs and other creatives. The goal: plugging leaks of disparaging or confidential information about productions via the likes of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Ooops. Now executives and creatives are being warned, too. They're supposed to be watching over the stars. Twitter, Facebook, even old MySpace are terrific promotional vehicles for Hollywood. All Hollywood needs to do is to keep human emotion in check, and the relationship can thrive.

I can imagine Louis B. Mayer or Lew Wasserman advising their stars: If you can't say something nice in 140 characters, maybe you shouldn't say it at all. Can you hear it, too?

Read more: Blogs, Myspace, Twitter, Los Angeles Times, Facebook, Hollywood Reporter, Publicists, Celebrities, Miley Cyrus, Courtney Love, Spencer Pratt, Kirstie Alley, Demi Moore, Entertainment News

Miley Cyrus Raps About Twitter: Star's YouTube Video Explains Tweet Exit (VIDEO)

2009-10-11T09:17:56Z
*See video below*

After deleting her Twitter account (to the chagrin of her fans), Miley Cyrus posted a rap on YouTube to explain why she's said goodbye to Tweets.

Watch the video below for Miley's reflections on a Twitter life.

So why'd she quit?

"I want my private life private," she raps. "I'm living for me."

"Everything that I do, those lame gossip sites take it and they make it news."

Miley also tries to dispel rumors that she deleted her account because her beau, Liam Hemsworth, wanted her to, saying: "It wasn't because my friend told me to. I stopped living for moments and started living for people."

Entertainment Weekly makes a good point:

Of course, it totally makes sense to want to keep things private then release a video spelling that out--and simultaneously putting yourself back on display. I mean, yeah. Or something.

WATCH:

Read more: Miley Cyrus, Miley Cyrus Video, Miley Cyrus Twitter Rap Video, Miley Cyrus Twitter, Miley Cyrus Twitter Rap, Technology News

Miley Cyrus Twitter Saga: Billy Ray Begs Star To Return To Tweets

2009-10-09T12:33:08Z
NEW YORK — Most parents want their kids to twitter less, but not Billy Ray Cyrus.

The country music star is urging daughter Miley Cyrus to return to Twitter. The 16-year-old pop star quit the microblogging site earlier this week, puzzling her fans. She had more than 1.1 million followers on the site.
Read more: Billy Ray Twitter, Billy Ray Cyrus Miley, Miley Cyrus, Miley Cyrus Twitter, Billy Ray Cyrus Twitter, Miley Twitter, Billy Ray Cyrus, #Mileycomeback, Technology News

Miley Cyrus' Twitter Account DEAD: Star Quits Tweeting

2009-10-08T15:43:06Z
There's a little less celebrity Tweeting in the online universe today. Miley Cyrus has deleted her Twitter page after posting a message apparently referencing Australian actor Liam Hemsworth, her The Last Song costar and rumored love interest.
Read more: Miley Cyrus, Miley Deletes Twitter Account, Miley Deletes Twitter, #Mileycomeback, Liam Hemsworth Miley Cyrus, Miley Cyrus Twitter, Liam Hemsworth, Miley Cyrus Stops Tweeting, Technology News

Miley Cyrus Confirmed For 'Sex And The City 2'

2009-09-26T08:37:09Z
For weeks rumors have swirled that Miley Cyrus will have a role in "Sex and the City 2."

Well, Gossip Cop has an answer.

Gossip Cop can confirm that in the current script, Cyrus has one scene, and in it she wears the same dress to a red carpet event that Kim Cattrall's character buys to look "hot and young." In the script, Mario Cantone's character Anthony responds by exclaiming, "Mother of God: She is wearing the same dress as Hannah Montana."
Read more: Miley Cyrus Sex and the City, Sex and the City Sequel, Sex and the City 2, Sex and the City, Miley Cyrus, Film, Entertainment News

Miley Cyrus' 'Party In The USA' Video: Better Or Worse Than Pole Dancing? (VIDEO, POLL)

2009-09-24T12:32:22Z
Miley Cyrus' video of 'Party in the USA' is out, and unlike her performance at the Teen Choice Awards last month, it does not include a pole dancing performance. You can take the stripper pole away from the girl, but you can't take away her moves...which she performs in cowboy boots and short-shorts in the bed of a pickup truck--a reference, she says, to her humble Tennessee upbringing.

"I'm like, 'This is to represent where I am from,'" she told MTV. "I'm so proud of it. All the girls trying to be Hollywood and stuff with their big glasses, me shooing them away. I love it. It's about my roots."

Watch Miley keeping in real in her video and working the pole at the MTV awards and vote for your favorite performance of the song.

WATCH the video:

WATCH the pole dancing version:

Get HuffPost Entertainment On Facebook and Twitter!

Read more: Miley Cyrus, Video, Music, Party in the Usa, Poll, Entertainment News

Mike Ragogna: Metro Station and Miley & The Rockits Plays Staples Center

2009-09-23T05:04:46Z
First, oh discriminating HuffPost readers, please bring half an open mind to this review, okay? Second, did you know Billy Ray Cyrus has a musically talented son, Trace, and he's one of the two front men for the power-pop group Metro Station? It's all true. These hyper-pop-rockers played the Staples Center Tuesday night and pretty much set the tone for the act that followed... Miley somebody. Now, granted, they played in front of the largest, youngest audience probably ever, but those thousands of little eyeballs were hypnotized by tattoo-boy Trace Cyrus and his best friend and main guitarist, the headbanded and be-sunglassed Mason Musso, as they really did rock for a full 41 and change minutes.

During that time--normally reserved for rudeness to the opening act--Trace and Mason had full control of their screaming pre-pubescent minions, and they, along with synthist Blake Healy and drummist Anthony Improgo, supplied many faux-U2 and Clash hooks to the surprisingly receptive youngsters. Watching Cyrus and Musso cheerlead the sold out arena was impressive since they didn't have the following act's technologies with which to mesmerize, but there was a lot of onstage (and offstage) jumping, electric guitar flingings, nymph-y choreography (uh, dudes, these are little girls, come on), and a not so spontaneous shirt striptease (hey, remember the South Park episode on Disney and The Jonas Brothers?).

Musically, they chugged out infectious, punky anthems such as "California," "Tell Me What To Do," and "Kelsey" so expertly, it seemed to have all the challenge of texting; and the best compliment would be that, playing live, the boys are as good as or, occasionally, better than their studio recordings. On the other hand, "Seventeen Forever" seemed to miss the cool dynamics and textures of the recording; but on the other, other hand, the band's performance against a back-screened video of the track was a nice moment. Their new song "Japanese Girl" was sufficiently seventies and Cure-like (on speed), and their wacky "Shake It" was a cute aerobic closer. However, whatever song has the "Take It Off, Let's Just Touch" suggestion, well, I dare them to sing it to my six-year-old daughter. But this creepy faux pas probably occurred because Metro Station should be enjoying a slightly older, more rock-appreciative audience, not just little kids.

Now. About Ruby & The Rockits. David Cassidy, his brother Patrick, and their brother Shaun...what? Oh, right, Miley Cyrus. Mostly famous for being the sister of Trace Cyrus of Metro Station, Miley Cyrus always was bound to someday make something of herself with some hard work, a little luck, and about two hundred million Disney dollars. From the technological perspective, this was an amazing show to witness, sophisticated enough for parents as well as their rambunctious preteens. And there were moments of brilliance, like when Miley's song "Fly On The Wall"--complete with an audience flyover by the young lady--concluded with a mini-Thriller tribute that included Vincent Price's macabre laugh track. The sets and Broadway-style choreography were the absolute best that money could buy, with themes ranging from futuristic to apocalyptic, and effects covering colorful pyrotechnics and indoor fireworks. Nothing sucked here.

What did stink? Well, Disney was involved...can you guess what happened about three-fifths into the show? Out rolled a trailer for Miley's upcoming coming-of-age flick The Last Song. Then there was the song from The Last Song. Yay! But to be fair, Miley herself gets a pass for emotionally singing the environmentally-themed "Wake Up America" with scenes of turmoil associated with global warming projected on screens behind her during her vocals. The weird thing here is you've got Wal-Mart sponsoring Miley's tour and the more progressive Disney goliath endorsing this allegedly liberal message. Kind of makes you wonder if Wal-Mart is lightening up a little. Perhaps Disney should have the teen test the waters further with a song on healthcare reform.

As far as Miley's vocal chops, you couldn't hear any pitch-correcting gizmos if they were being used, so...they were...in tune! Actually, she is a good singer. Her repertoire included the hits "G.N.O." (that sounded like The Go-Go's), "Party In The U.S.A.," and "See You Again," a song on which "Sunglasses At Night"'s Corey Hart should be credited as co-writer. She did a fine job with Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (atop a flying red motorcycle), and her last song, "The Climb," ended the concert with a monster ballad gut-wrench that we all expect, nay, demand of our pop singers' finales. Her dancing and timing were impeccable, and she handled the stage gymnastics and minimal acrobatics like The Flying Graysons (shameful Batman reference for Jacques Lambert). If fame doesn't whack her out (translation: careful with those Annie Leibovitz photo sessions and pole dances, okay grownup handlers who should know better?), she eventually will attract that older demo and is going to mess up her competition in a major way. Why, she may even become more popular than Ruby & The Rockits. (Nah, never happen.)

Dicey iPhone Photo of Metro Station @ Staples Center (anyone know how to work the zoom?)

Read more: Miley Cyrus, Wal-Mart, The Cure, David Cassidy, Billy Ray Cyrus, Metro Station, Joan Jett, The Flying Graysons, The Jonas Brothers, The Last Song, Mason Musso, Ruby & the Rockits, The Clash, Trace Cyrus, Patrick Cassidy, U2, The Go-Gos, Disney, Staples Center, Batman & Robin, Shaun Cassidy, Annie Leibovitz, South Park, Entertainment News, Entertainment News

Tina Fey On Miley Cyrus: "Working The Pole Is A Rite Of Passage" (VIDEO)

2009-09-21T15:00:31Z
Tina Fey proved she's just as funny off-camera when she had the whole room in stitches during her post-Emmys press conference. The reporter perhaps thought he was throwing Fey a curveball by asking her about Miley Cyrus' stripper pole dance and young women "sexualizing themselves." Fey batted it right back:

Fey: I only saw it on the internet. I can't believe I have an opinion about this. I thought she was just hanging onto the pole to not fall off the ice cream cart. It didn't seem dirty to me. It seemed like a technical safety device.

Questioner: So how do you feel about young woman, teenagers, sexualizing themselves.

Fey: I think working the pole is a rite of passage in Western culture that we can expect all our daughters to pass.

Another hilarious moment comes at the end when Fey accidentally gives out co-star Jane Krakowski real hotel room number.

WATCH:

Send us tips! Write us at tv@huffingtonpost.com if you see any newsworthy or notable TV moments. Read more about our media monitoring project here and click here to join the Media Monitors team.

Read more: Miley Cyrus, Tina Fey and Miley Cyrus, Tina Fey, Tina Fey Emmys Video, Tina Fey the Emmys, Tina Fey Video, The Emmys, Entertainment News

Miley Cyrus' Mullet Dress

2009-09-18T16:52:13Z
Miley Cyrus arrived at the VH1 Divas show on Thursday night in a black dress that had a short front and long back. Speaking of short in the front and long in the back, the mullet hairstyle with a similar description was made famous by her father Bill Ray.

She later changed during the telecast.

PHOTO:

Get HuffPost Entertainment On Facebook and Twitter!

Read more: Miley Cyrus, Poll, Vh1 Divas, Mullet, Billy Ray Cyrus, Entertainment News