celebrity

Director Brett Ratner hosted a Young Hollywood Reception for Senator Hillary Clinton at Hillhaven Lodge in Los Angeles last night. Guests included: Which prompted Hillary to ask:

Hope you’ve done your celebrity homework, folks — because it’s pop quiz time! Calum Best at the opening of Diesel’s Melrose Place flagship store in L.A. Lindsay Lohan’s occasional boy-toy and British tabloid regular Calum Best is: 1. Showing how many lines of coke he snorted before the party 2. Counting how many remaining days of fame he has 3. Tallying how many original thoughts he’s ever had 4. Explaining to the photographer that after classical times, the Latin “V” came to be pronounced like the English “V,” losing its phonetic resemblance to “U”

Yet another celebrity hottie is celebrating a birthday under the Sun sign, Gemini.

Today, May 31st, Irish cutie Colin Farrell turned 31 yrs old. This fine Irish import has rocked the Hollywood scene since 2001. He has appeared in a host of block-buster films such as Minority Report and most recently Miami Vice.

Lately, it seems a much more tame and sober Colin has emerged. Apparently he has been laying low and working on a number of smaller films. Where ever you are in the world Colin, your fans wish you the very best on your special day. We look forward to seeing you on the big screen soon.

Happy Birthday C. Farrell (from one “Gem”ini to another).

While her peers are dabbling in combining “a useable amount” of cocaine and vodka-flavored water or Vicodin and pot, Mischa Barton spent her Memorial Day weekend partying like the smartest of your high-school friends: with amoxicillin and Mickey’s. TMZ reported last night:

TMZ has learned that actress Mischa Barton was rushed to the hospital this evening after suffering an adverse reaction to medication.

Sources tell TMZ that the former “OC” star was at a friend’s Memorial Day BBQ enjoying a few holiday cocktails when she began to feel extremely ill. Mischa, who has been quite sick with bronchitis since traveling to Cannes, London and Paris the past several weeks, apparently didn’t get the memo — you can’t drink alcohol while taking antibiotics!

The 21-year-old celeb was rushed to an undisclosed medical facility in Los Angeles, where we are told she is “resting comfortably.”

A rep for Barton tells TMZ that the starlet is with family and “feeling much better.”

Just in case Misch gets confused on other such matters, here’s a short crib sheet on other things that don’t work well in combo: Pop Rocks and Coke, ammonia and bleach, Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant, battery acid and exposed skin, gonorrhea and genital warts (It itches like a motherfucker. Or, you know, so we’ve been told).

Now that I’ve got those pesky awards out of the way, you guys can look forward to some of these projects:

A new Cinema of the Absurd entry. This one focusing on quite possibly the most absurd film of all time: Showgirls. I have yet to figure out the particulars, but it’s most likely going to be the most epic blog entry I’ve ever done. I’m thinking a scene-by-scene written commentary. Analysing dialogue, costumes, monkey shit. It’ll all be there. But, boy, that’s gonna take some effort so don’t expect it straight away.

A possible blog-a-thon. I’m not sure whether I wanna do one (for fear of major disappointment, I guess). If I did one it’d be an Australian Film theme. But until I do decide there are several blog-a-thons to partake in. There’s Nat’s action heroine one, there’s Emma’s life-changing acting one and Windmills of my Mind has a film music one. So I’ll be partaking in all of those (if I remember, eep).

Reviews. Not only of 2007 releases, but also older ones. Rosemary’s Baby came in the mail yesterday and I’ve been waiting for that for aaages. Plus, stuff like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane, Funny Games and lots of other older titles have just recently been released on DVD here so I’ll hopefully be commenting on them over the time.

Plus, more music, good and bad movie posters, underrated movies, career retrospectives on the likes of Sally Potter and Errol Morris and more random discussions about ultimately pointless trivial things!

Senator Hilary Clinton

Brett Ratner and Rebecca Gayheart

Quincy Jones and Brett Ratner

Jeremy Piven and Michael Kives

Michelle Trachtenberg

Ethan Bortnick is only 6 years old, but he’s one incredible piano virtuoso. Besides the 200 tunes he knows by heart, he can also memorize and play melodies by just hearing them. The boy’s amazing talent has even impressed pop star Nelly Furtado, who invited him to open for her at one of her upcoming concerts.

SELLER: Michael LaFetra
LOCATION: Elkins Road, Brentwood, CA
PRICE: $3,995,000
SIZE: 3,108 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: Rich House Residence 1967. Restored to its purist state, the Mid-Century Modern, designed by Thornton Abell, a Case Study Architect, is a masterpiece created by this International Stylist. The indoor/outdoor flow w/modified courtyard lvg. Walnut wd paneling walls & split mrbl fp & dng rom. Walls of glass. St. to st. lot apx. 3/4 AC w/ natural amphitheater. Lrg mstr w/ patio, walk-ins & dressing area. Registered as a LA Historical Cultural Monument.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Well, here we have a house with a serious architectural ped-i-gree that has been worked over by actor/producer and serial renovator/restorer Michael LaFetra. No, he’s not a household name, nor does he make for juicy stories in the tabloids. But anyone who cares a lick about the Los Angeles architectural modernism scene certainly knows who this dude is.

To say that Mister LaFetra likes modernist houses in an extreme understatement. The gentleman with an eye for modern has bought, renovated, and sold a handful of significant Modernist houses including a Rudolph Schindler house in Sherman Oaks, and Case Study House #21 up on Wonderland Park Avenue in the Hollywood Hills that was designed by one of Your Mama’s favorite maverick architects, Pierre Koenig. LaFetra also commissioned the very last residential design by Koenig, a big glass box on an ocean front lot in Malibu.

Even if you don’t recognize Koenig’s name, you would absolutely recognize his most iconic design, the breathtaking Stahl House (Case Study House #22), from the thousand and one television commercials and print advertisements it has been featured. The house, built in 1960 and located on Woods Drive, appears to float above Sunset Boulevard and represents the quintessential Los Angeles sexy pad.

However, let’s get to the house that has recently been put up for sale high up in the canyons of Brentwood. Built in 1967 by one of the lesser known Case Study architects, Thornton Abell, the front of the house wraps around an entrance courtyard. Your Mama loves a courtyard almost as much as we love a long, gated driveway. Courtyards keep our long bodied bitches Linda and Beverly safely contained.

According to property records, Mister LeFetra bought this flat-roofed beauty in January of 2005 for an undisclosed purchase price and quickly moved to have it registered as a Los Angeles Historical-Cultural Monument. Which is lovely and certainly sounds great, but it really doesn’t mean much other than the city of Los Angeles deems the property notable for one reason or another and would likely move to stop any sort of demolition or significant alteration. However, As Your Mama understands, the LAHCM has no real authority to actually stop demolition or alteration. Too bad. Your Mama prefers preservation committees have some teeth and power.

We don’t really know how much work and money LaFetra put into this house, but from the photos it looks mostly like a cosmetic renovation. Have the bathrooms been updated? Anyone know?

We like the spare and all-white kitchen, but that 7-burner electric stove concerns us a bit. We’re sure that relic heats up, and for some people it’s probably nice to have more than a half dozen burners, but who buys a $4,000,000 house and wants to cook on electric coils anymore? We totally get the red apples are meant to tie into the red paint accents on the exterior of the house, which is a little be cheeseball, but none the less, we do like the way they look lined up and ready for some skinny bitch in a glittery Tori Burch dress to pluck one off the shelf for her dinner before heading out to Les Deux.

The fireplace in the large living room appears to have been re-faced with some sort of stacked stone. Your Mama thinks a twisty brass sculpture hanging over the fireplace would look great. The floor to ceiling sliders look original to the house, and we love them. This room beautifully operates as a shelter from the elements while blurring the distinction between indoors and out with the huge amount of glazing.

Your Mama is not in love with the landscaping in the backyard, we might like to see more drought tolerant succulents and grasses. We get so tired of seeing crazy shaped water pits in the backyard that are supposed to look like ponds or some other cockamamie natural creation, so we are completely loving the big, simply shaped rectangular swimming pool that isn’t trying to be anything but a swimming pool. Your Mama is always on the hunt for a nice spot to sit in the shade and protect the fragile skin, and the small patio off the living room overlooking the pool suits us just fine for a shady and cool place to sit sipping a gin and tonic in the late afternoon.

It’s unclear to Your Mama if LaFetra actually lives in this house, but we expect there is a long list of folks in Los Angeles who are looking to purchase architecturally significant houses and we imagine Mister LaFetra will be saying goodbye to this house very soon.

Sources: Sky Scraper City

Ne-Yo and ATL Falcon Ovie M.

So Ne-Yo opened a brand new studio in the ATL last night called Carington House. All kinds of folks came out to celebrate. And word has it that Ne-Yo’s new main chick was there…and it’s none other than Supahead. SOHH Gyant has the rundown here. Hot damn…

Remember Irulan and Arissa from Real World Las Vegas?:

Oh yes. They’re back.

The entire Las Vegas cast is doing a Reunion season now and it kicked off this week on MTV. This was one of the best season’s of Real World…pre-whackness..and I, for one, am happy about the reunion. I admit it. I’ll be watching.

CiCi’s gracing the pages of In Style magazine:

Definitely a good look.

The uberly fab J-Lo hit up the Paul Simon Children’s Health Fund event last night at the NY Hilton hotel:

This chick can do no wrong.

The Peete Family is in the new issue of People magazine:

Cute.

Pics via CBB

Holly’s oldest son RJ has been diagnosed with functional autism and the family has been extrememly outspoken about educating African Americans about the disease. Sarah over at CBB has the interview and more pics. Lovely.

Celebs hit up the Diesel store opening on Melrose in LA yesterday:

Where you been Elise?

Luda was there.

So was Tichina who was not on her shoe game.

Celestina from DanceLife was there. What the hell happened with that show? I know I wasn’t the only one watching. Was there ever a finale?

Hairspray is almost here:

Latifah and John Travolta

{Thanks Jennie}

The movie hits theaters July 20th. You can check out the trailer here.

Diddy thought it was a good idea to do a Bad Boy Upfront event last night:

Y’all know Ryan Leslie was less than half a step away from his meal ticket Assie:

And Elephant Man is pure foolywang material.

People people…

While she did say the same thing about 5 years ago…do we really need to rush this?

The Randomness:

1. Looks like D.U.I. Hilton isn’t the only one getting special treatment. Story
2. We stopped caring 15 years ago Paula. Story

Justin Timberlake has teamed up with Interscope Records to start his own record label. Tennman Records - whose name is a nod to the singer’s home state of Tennessee - will announce it’s first signings in the next few weeks. Timberlake himself is signed to Jive Records, though will act as chairman and CEO of his new venture.