Half of Dali's Works are Fake??

Say it ain't so! Salvador Dali happens to be one of my favorite artists, now a new book by a Belgian former art dealer and fraudster claims that half of Dali's works are fake!

The book is Dali & I: The Surreal Story by Stan Lauryssens. He claims that Dali authorized thousands of forgeries of his own work in the later years in order to fund his lavish lifestyle. In the book, he quotes several people who worked closely with Dali saying that Dali indeed signed off fake work as his own and get half a million dollars of them.

Lauryssens also writes about Dali's orgies with actresses and with young boys and suggests that his wife, Gala, stole money from Kirk Douglas's wallet. This is not surprising since Dali is known for his extravagant lifestyle.

Spain is angry about this book and its author since they uphold Dali as their national hero. And I don't blame them. The guardian of Dali's estate is pursuing legal action for the release of this book.

I don't know about this guy. Lauryssens can quote anyone he wants but none of it is concrete evidence. Right now, everything is just hearsay. Besides, Lauryssens doesn't exactly have great credit. He was often criticized regarding the truthfulness of his work. In the past he wrote fake interviews with Hollywood film stars for a Belgian magazine - so I wouldn't hold my breath that what he's saying is true.

Apparently this book is interesting enough for Hollywood because next year, it will be a movie. Dali is played by the great Al Pacino and Lauryssens is played by Cillian Murphy.

Central Park Bathroom - toilet, sink, stage

Public bathrooms are obviously not pleasant. The Central Park ones are not that different, the smell, the mysterious puddles, the dark and the creepy.

But for Irish director and playwright Paul Walker, the Central Park bathrooms are the perfect settings for his play "Ladies & Gents." The play is set entirely in the bathroom, both men's and women's, the show portrays the seedy underside of 1950s Dublin, where politicians dished about corruptions and call girls (call girls, politicians? Sounds familiar lately?)

The audience stands in front of the rows of stalls to watch the play. During intermissions, they switch facilities to watch the other half of the play.

Apparently a man actually ran in to used the bathroom in front of the actors... it is still a bathroom afterall.

Herbie Hancock Surprise at Grammy's 08

I know everyone is surprised that Herbie Hancock won Best Album of the Year with "River: The Joni Letters," beating out the 2 favorites, Kanye West and Amy Winehouse. But I don't think it should be such a shock. Both Kanye West and Amy Winehouse did have great albums and great record sales, but the Grammy's is not about who put up the best numbers, it should be about musicianship. Not to take anything away from West or Winehouse who did a great job with their respective albums, but Hancock is definitely the better musician comparing to them both and I think he deserved the win.

Jaws Actor Roy Scheider Passed Away

In the midst of Heath Ledger's and Brad Renfro's death (which the recent coroner results reveal he OD'ed on Heroin), Roy Scheider's recent passing probably won't merit as much media attention. But I feel like he should be tributed.

Scheider played the police chief in "Jaws" - the first movie that earned $100 million at the box office, meaning it was the first Hollywood Blockbuster. That's a pretty big deal. Scheider also delivered the famous line of the movie, "You're gonna need a bigger boat," which was voted as #35 on the American Film Institute's list of best quotes from U.S. movies in 2005.

R.I.P.

Giants Win The Superbowl

In possibly one of the best Super Bowls ever - Giants beat the Patriots in a thrilling victory 17-14 (I actually predicted that Giants will win by 3 and I was right. Damn! I should've placed some bets!) Patriots had the perfect season before they enter the Super Bowl, all the sports analyst predicted they will win. Giants was the underdog, last place of the wildcard, but was in a winning streak on the road. For those who ever doubt the Giants, even after they won against the Cowboys and Green Bay Packers at the Packer's own freezing home turf where Packers should've had home field advantage, the Giants prove all these tight wads and sport analysts wrong. It's not all about the numbers, it's about heart and resilience- The Giants never gave up. With so many lead changes during the game and the Patriots keeping pressure on them, the Giants fought back. The last quarter has to be one of the most exciting moments in football history - Eli Manning somehow wrestled out of that Patriots defense, while they all grabbed a handful of Manning's jersey, and threw the ball perfectly to David Tyree who made the miracle catch with his hands and his helmet. Then the final winning touchdown to the sure handed Plaxico Burress (though pretty quiet for the beginning of the game).

Tiki Barber must be hitting his head on the wall repeatedly right now.

In another related topic, this Super Bowl definitely made Fox very happy, it was a record breaking most watched Super Bowl ever and the second most watched event in TV history, second to the MASH series finale. 97.5 million watchers tuned in, (about 67% New Yorkers were watching). Those advertisers got their money's worth, paying only $2.7 million per 30 second spot, which is a bargain since so many people tuned in. According to TiVo, the most popular (and in my opinion, probably the best) ad was the E-Trade one, with the baby talking about trading than spitting out his lunch in the end. Here it is:

Heath Ledger Passed Away

I normally don't care for celebrity deaths, but was surprised to hear that Heath Ledger passed away in his Manhattan apartment today at SoHo (near where I work!). According to New York Times and other news sources, he was found with pills near his body. (This, I'm not surprised)

The only reason why I'm surprised by his death is that this was so unexpected, especially since he had only good things coming to him with the Batman release, The Dark Knight, coming up. He's a star now, but that Joker role would've propelled him to superstardom. I'm a huge Batman fan and has been waiting forever for this movie to come out. When I heard that Heath Ledger was going to play the infamous Joker, I had my reservations (because who can beat Jack Nicholson? He was genius as the Joker.) But with more and more viral marketing and clips, I was becoming more and more convinced that Heath Ledger was able to fill the Joker's shoes.

But I didn't doubt that he was a good actor, especially after Brokeback Mountain. This is sad and surprising news indeed, and so, at only 28 years of age, another young actor is gone.

Evel Knievel Passes Away

The famous daredevil, Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel passed away today (11/30/07) at the age of 69. He has been sick for years with diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He also contracted Hepatitis C from a blood transfusion 15 years previously.

I'm not old enough to see Evel Knievel do his live motocycle jumps (on TV) but I did see all the amazing clips of him making his jaw dropping jumps.

The one that made him famous was of course, the fountains in front of Caesar Place in Las Vegas. He was hoping to broadcast it live on ABC, but because at the time he wasn't famous yet, ABC did not eat up his tale of the stunt and rejected the broadcast. When Knievel made the jump in 1967, his motorcycle unexpectedly loss power and decelerate, which caused Knievel to come up short during the landing. Knievel hit the pavement and skidded into the Dunes parking lot. As a result, he ended up with crushed pelvis and femur, fractures to his hip, wrist and both ankles and a concussion that kept him in a coma for 29 days. After ABC got a hold of the footage, shot by Knievel's ex-wife, ABC quickly bought the rights, and that footage made Evel Knievel a household name.

The Six Flags at St. Louis was going to open a wooden coaster in 2008 after the legendary daredevil, too bad he won't be around to see it.

A man who escaped death so many times, ultimately gave in. Now he's jumping the sky.

Hey Ansel Adams, Let's Go!

For some reason, whenever I hear the name Ansel Adams, that's the phrase I am reminded of. If you're a Simpsons fan, you'll know what I'm talking about. In the episode "Marge Not Be Proud," the episode where Bart stole the game Bonestorm from Try 'n Save and got caught by the security guard and was warned never to step foot in that place again. When the Simpsons family returns to Try 'n Save to take a family photo, Bart was impatient, worry that the guard will catch him there, and he says to the photographer "Hey Ansel Adams, Let's Go! Take the photo." And I think... Bart knows who Ansel Adams is? Awesome.

But I digress...

The real reason for this post is Ansel Adam's proofs are on display, photos that were taken with a hand held camera that were not intended to be viewed by anyone. The pictures were taken in 1940 when Adams and his friend David Hunter took a trip through the Intracoastal Waterway from Virginia to Georgia. The exhibit of 50 photographs are being displayed at the Museum of the Albemarle, and was earlier displayed at Fitchburg Art Museum in Massachusetts.

Although these proofs are not the final art of Adams' and the photos might be interpreted differently in his final take, they're still art in itself, showing how the pictures look while they were a "work in progress." The proofs are still breathtaking. Here's one of them:

RealDolls

Read this.

The Movie "Lars and the Real Girl" stars a RealDoll, the silicone object of his affection. Until now I never knew about RealDolls (though the company's been around for 11 years): life-size, made of soft silicone to feel like real flesh with poseable joint skeleton, and takes 80 hours to craft. Customers orders them for companionship, muse, actresses, and of course an expensive sex toy (they cost around $6,500).

I guess it's easy to imagine a RealDoll as a real person and makes a great cure for loneliness (that is if you're rich). But frankly I think it's sad that you have to spend that much money to buy a fake companionship.

From a crafter's standpoint, I do admire the art that goes into these dolls though. They're very detailed and look very real.

Colbert Running For President

Stephen Colbert announced on his show that he was going to run for the White House.

I know it's a skit but won't it be great if he actually does it?

Give Britney a Break - Kinda

Everyone's quick to taunt Britney Spears and her horrid performance at the VMA, but give her a break. I'm not saying the performance was good, because it's not. The bad lip syncing, the lethargic "dance" movements and the blank expression that exudes exanimation. That's definitely not the Britney who built her career on performance - the sexiness, the dance moves, she was a great entertainer even if she didn't have real talent.

But c'mon, she's still in better shape than a lot of us. People who are calling her fat are probably fatter than she is. This just further promote the skinny-obsessed Hollywood. We want to make aware that eating disorder is not good, but we're quick to make fun of a little body fat that'll make people get into eating disorder.

Brit's performance however was no excuse. This was the "comeback" performance that'll probably make or break her sales with this new album, (if not make or break her career.) She needs to step it up. She really should've put more thought into practicing instead of partying.

In Honor of Pavarotti

Pavarotti had one of the most beautiful voice the world has ever heard, very sad that he passed away.

Here's a very cool video of him performing with the one and only James Brown, may they both rest in peace.

Halle Berry Pregnant with First Child!

Halle Berry is Pregnant! The 41 years old actress says she's three months pregnant and the father is Canadian Gabriel Aubry, a model she met in 2005. They're going to have a gorgeous kid.

I don't know if I can do this to my cat...

How to Untangle MP3 Headphones - Watch more free videos

List of Fall Movies

For the complete list, click here.

I'm a huge movie buff. Some of the movies that I look forward to are:

Balls of Fury: I like ping pong ok? That and Christopher Walken is in it and he's always awesome.
Halloween: I don't particularly like any remakes of anything. I'm just interested to see how Rob Zombie will handle the Mike Myers story.
Lust, Caution:I watch anything when Ang Lee directs. Gotta support my fellow Asians.
3:10 to Yuma:I like Christian Bale
Elizabeth: The Golden Age:A continuation of the original Elizabeth, Cate Blanchett returns to play the Queen. I enjoyed all these Oscar-types flicks. It evolved from me taking loads of film analytical classes in high school and college. I love films that's full of metaphors, symbolisms, interpretations, etc. The original Elizabeth was really well done so I look forward to this one.
Saw IV: Well I saw all the other ones, I'm kind of forced to have to watch this too.
We Own The Night: Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg and Robert Duvall star in a crime thriller set against New York's 1980s drug trade. Besides Marky Mark, great actors in this movie.
Beowulf: Angelina Jolie and Anthony Hopkins star in the Norse legend of the warrior who battles Grendel and his mother. Tales of legendary characters are always fun when done well.
The Bucket List: Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman? I don't care what the movie is about, I'm there.
Sweeney Todd:Tim Burton is one of my favorite directors and he's teaming up once again with Johnny Depp and Helen Bonham Carter. And it's about a murderous barber! What else do you need?

2 Car Crashes

Hulk Hogan's son, Nick Bollea was seriously injured in car crash. Police says that alcohol is not involved and the incident is due to excessive speeding. The car hit a median and flipped over.

And John Singleton, who directed "Boyz N The Hood", "Shaft", "2 Fast 2 Furious" hit a jaywalker. The woman was pronounced dead. Police do not think that alcohol or drugs were in play.

Vermont is the Official Home of The Simpsons

Read Article Here

Springfield, VT has beat 13 other Springfields and has the smallest population out of all the town competed (9,300)

Here's the video they submitted (it's pretty good), just skip over the Olbermann part.

Clay Aiken Gets Beaten by a Woman

Read Article Here

Clay Aiken got into a dispute with a woman on a plane that apparently got the FBI involved (but no charges were filed). The woman complained that his foot was resting on her arm rest and during an argument she shoved him down.

Funny.

But in reality, even a little girl like me can beat up Clay Aiken.

Avril Lavigne Sued

Avril Lavigne is being sued by a 1970's band Rubinoos for copyright infringement of her hit "Girlfriend." You make the call...

New Products and The Simpsons

Before I begin, since I'm a huge fan of the Simpsons (who isn't), I just wanted to share this article with you about how all the Springfields in the US are competing to have the movie premiere at their town.

Now onto Daibe Beads news...

I haven't had the time of late to make any new products or even promote Daibe Beads and sure enough, sales have been pretty sad. But rest assure that new products are coming out soon - new charms / zipper pulls in Swarovksi crystals and new figurines! Stay tuned...