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The story of the real couple behind Before Sunrise.

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If you stick around through the closing credits of Before Midnight, the latest film in the trilogy that also includes Before Sunriseand Before Sunset,you’ll see that the movie is dedicated to someone whose name even the most die-hard fans have never heard before: Amy Lehrhaupt. Almost 25 years ago, Lehrhaupt met a young man named Richard Linklater and spent a night with him that he never forgot. Their encounter inspired Linklater to conceive and direct Before Sunrise, the first film in the series. She never saw it, though; unbeknownst to Linklater, by the time that movie came out, Lehrhaupt was dead.

Linklater never mentioned Lehrhaupt by name in the press before promoting Before Midnight—Ethan Hawke has said that the director was uncomfortable mentioning her until “extremely recently”—but he has long made brief references to their encounter. From a number of interviews he’s done over the years, we can now piece together the complete story of how Lehrhaupt helped inspire the series.

Linklater met Lehrhaupt in fall 1989, when he was visiting his sister in Philadelphia. He was 29 and had just finished shooting Slacker, and was staying there for one night while passing through on the way home from New York. Lehrhaupt was several years younger, about 20. They met in a toy shop, and ended up spending the whole night together, “from midnight until six in the morning,” “walking around, flirting, doing things you would never do now.” As in Before Sunrise, most of what they did was talk, “about art, science, film, the gamut.” Did they kiss? Yes. Did they have sex? The Times went so far as to ask Linklater in a recent interview, but he said he wants to “leave a little mystery.”

Even in the midst of that romantic night, the filmmaker in Linklater couldn’t help but consider its cinematic possibilities. In a 2004 interview with the New York Times, he remembered “walking around [thinking], ‘If I could just capture this feeling I’m having right now,’ instead of actually having that feeling.” On a recent episode of the podcastThe Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith, he recalled mentioning the movie idea to Lehrhaupt that night:





Even as that experience was going on … I was like, “I’m gonna make a film about this.” And she was like, “What ‘this’? What’re you talking about?” And I was like, “Just this. This feeling. This thing that’s going on between us.”

But as the night came to an end, the paths of Linklater and Lehrhaupt began to diverge from the fictional storyline of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy). In fact, on The Q&A, Linklater revealed that the ending of Before Sunrise was in part a response to what happened with him and Lehrhaupt. Unlike Jesse and Céline, who agree to reconvene in six months, the real-life young lovers exchanged numbers and tried to keep in touch while they were away. They called each other a few times, but it was “that long distance thing” that did them in. “It sort of did the fizzle,” he says, “So in the first movie that was a thing, the idea that they would intellectually kind of get beyond that and say ‘Well, we’re on different continents. What are the odds that it’s gonna work. Let’s just commit to this night.’ ”

Linklater soon became involved with another woman, who “swept into [his] life ... and took over for about a year or so,” and he and Lehrhaupt never talked again. He did think that maybe “she would show up at a Before Sunrise screeningor something.” In Before Sunset, Céline shows up at a reading of Jesse’s book This Time, which is based on their night together. “It would be so weird,” he said, in 2004. But she never did.

Linklater didn’t know then that Lehrhaupt had died in a motorcycle accident on May 9, 1994, before she reached her 25th birthday. Before Sunrise started filming a few weeks later. Linklater only learned of her death three years ago, when a friend of Lehrhaupt’s, who knew about the encounter, put it together and sent him a letter. “It was very sad,” Linklater told the Times. Ethan Hawke was similarly devastated when he heard it, though he reminded Linklater that if he hadn’t met her, then he never would have made these movies or met some of the people who worked on them with him. “Who knows how we reverberate through each other’s lives,” Linklater reflected in another interview, “But she’s an inspiration on this.”

In this way, Linklater did find another way to make that feeling, that “thing in the air” they once had between them, last: He turned it into cinema.




SOURCE

NFL Player Kerry Rhodes Gay Rumors Update: Alleged Lover Leaks Video Showing Pair Together In Bed

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Russell "Hollywood" Simpson who "outed" Kerry Rhodes, has released a video of himself with the NFL free agent a month after a website published photos of the football player on vacation with him.

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In the video that was leaked on May 30, the opening footage shows Rhodes discuss being traded from the New York Jets to playing for Arizona Cardinals and future goals he has for himself. He discussed pursuing a career as an actor in Hollywood. "It's something I've wanted for a few years," Rhodes says.

The rest of the video is a promotional trailer edited to promote Rhodes. It features various media titles that have profiled the NFL star cross the screen. It also includes the footage of Rhodes dressed as a police officer in Lady Gaga's music video. In one scene, a birthday cake is placed before Rhodes at a dinner gathering and the alleged lover is sitting next to him. The pair is seen together again in several instances with Rhodes sitting in the passenger seat of a car as Simpson takes the wheel.

Rhodes speaks highly of his former assistant in another scene, saying "(Simpson) is my right hand and my left," he says."He takes care of anything that needs to be taken care of.""Kerry is like my brother," Simpson adds.

The majority of the 7 minute clip featured Simpson with friends in various scenarios until the 6:12 mark where a topless Rhodes is lying in bed and Simpson is on the other side as the two exchange witty banter about a friend, J.D., who consumed too many cans of Mountain Dew soda.

Media Takeout published pictures of Rhodes with Simpson on April 10 that the website said "looked suspect," along with an attention-grabbing headline: "Top NFL Superstar Is Photo'd On VACATION...With One Of His 'MALE FRIENDS.'"

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The following day, Rhodes issued a statement to debunk the claim."Photos have been circulating of my former assistant and I that have caused some rumors regarding my sexuality, and I wanted to address the situation," Rhodes told TMZ. "I am not gay. The shots were taken during a past vacation in a casual environment with my entire business team." Rhodes then said he "supports" the coming out of gay athletes and wishes them well.

After Rhodes denied being gay, Simpson came forward and said that he was dating the NFL player and that they lived together for a year. BallerAlert.com, whom Simpson shared the details with in an exclusive interview, later reported that Rhodes is set to marry a woman in June that he has been dating for ten years. Rhodes' fiancee has not been identified but sources revealed that she is a model who is "drama free" and is rarely seen with the football player because she prefers to "stay out of the limelight." A second source said she is a "corporate chick from DC" that does not "live off" of Rhodes and does not prefer to be a "baller's wife.

Rhodes was seen sitting courtside at a Los Angeles Lakers game with Dancing With The Stars alum Karina Smirnoff on April 14. Rhodes tweeted about his friendship with Smirnoff the next day. "Had a great time at the @Lakers game last night with my long time friend @Karina_Smirnoff," he tweeted with a photo of the pair sitting front row and courtside at the Lakers game. Watch the 6:12 mark where a topless Kerry Rhodes is lying in bed and Simpson on the other side.



Sources 1& 2



freshp

Thanks flaviavn for spotting the mistake. Fixed it.

Pacific Rim -- 'Oversized Robot Set' Featurette

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OMG I cannot wait for this movie any longer...take...me...now...


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Promo Pics for episodes 1x12 and 1x13 of 'Hannibal'

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Some serious crap is about to go down.









no why my bb ;.;



Oh crap! And why are they at Abigail's old house?


his feet D:


I couldn't find any press releases which is kind of odd since they've been releasing them before the promo pics.

Source 1, Source 2

Nicole Richie & Kids In L.A.

Actors Who Trashed Their Own Movies

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Actors don't often trash their own movies, but when they do, it's usually a cathartic experience for film goers. After all, it's one thing to think "The Happening" was a bad movie; it's quite another to have those thoughts confirmed by the film's star, Mark Wahlberg. ("It was a bad movie that I did.") Ahead, 10 instances of actors bashing their films, from Wahlberg and Shia LaBeouf to Katherine Heigl and Shia LaBeouf. (Shia does this a lot.)



Shia LaBeouf on "Indiana Jones & The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull":"I think the audience is pretty intelligent. I think they know when you've made [a bad movie]. And I think if you don't acknowledge it, then why do they trust you the next time you're promoting a movie. […] We [Harrison Ford and LaBeouf] had major discussions. He wasn't happy with it either. Look, the movie could have been updated. There was a reason it wasn't universally accepted."


George Clooney on "Ocean's 12":"It wasn't as good [as the first one], and that was our fault. So when we started working on this one, we thought, 'The secret is to get it back to just the guys doing what they do.' Steven said we should call it 'Ocean's: The One We Should Have Made Last Time.'"


Katherine Heigl on "Knocked Up":"[It was] a little sexist. It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It exaggerated the characters, and I had a hard time with it, on some days. I'm playing such a bitch; why is she being such a killjoy? Why is this how you're portraying women? Ninety-eight percent of the time it was an amazing experience, but it was hard for me to love the movie."


James Franco on "Your Highness":"'Your Highness'? That movie sucks. You can't get around that."


Mark Wahlberg on "The Happening":"[I]t was a bad movie that I did. […] F--k it. It is what it is. F--king trees, man. The plants. F--k it. You can't blame me for not wanting to try to play a science teacher. At least I wasn’t playing a cop or a crook."


rest at source

Another day, Another Becky G Promo Single: "Hola Hola" Premieres

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"Hola Hola" is Co-written by Becky G and produced by Dr. Luke and Cirkut. This is Becky G's 3rd promo single released ahead of her major label debut.

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I seriously hate Dr. Luke for continuously trying to make this trash happen.

Behold Your New Meme, ONTD

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Mean Gurlz by Todrick Hall




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This is absolutely hilarious

Complex's 100 Hottest Women Right Now

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top100hottestwomenrightnow


You can't sum up the achievements of the 100 women running pop culture in 2013 with a single word. What makes them attractive can't be distilled down into one quality. You just know that there's something about these individuals that's mesmerizing, both in their chosen careers and in their interests outside of their work. From pop stars flexing their talents on the silver screen, to athletes stepping into the professional spotlight for the first time, all these folks are just killing it right now.



89. Lena Dunham
89.


22. Lana Del Rey
22.


11. Kate Upton
11.


9. Miley Cyrus
9


5. Kerry Washington

5

4. Mrs Carter

4


3. Jennifer Lawrence
3


1. Rihanna
1


Demi Lovato, Jessica Chastain, Michelle Rodriguez, Vera Farmiga and more at the source.

Who snatched the crown?
pageantattack

ONTD's favorite child releases a rap video

Jessie J: Britain's Got Talent kids should all be illegal

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The Voice’s Jessie J has slammed Simon Cowell for allowing kids to go on Britain’s Got Talent — saying it should be illegal.

The star, a judge on the BBC singing show, slated her ITV rival for taking advantage of young wannabes.

Jessie said: “I cannot agree with kids having to go through three or four auditions when it’s purely for ridicule. I don’t understand why it’s legal, I think it’s wrong.

“I watched BGT auditions and there are these kids getting laughed at by the audience, I’m like, ‘Woah, why?’

“I get very uncomfortable seeing young kids on stage because I know what it’s like. I know however much greatness there is in this world, there are also a lot of mean people behind computers. Children need to be children.”

Jessie’s comments come in the wake of a long-running row between BGT boss Cowell, 53, and TV veteran Strictly Come Dancing host Bruce Forsyth, 85, over whether young children can handle the stress of the spotlight.

Jessie praised The Voice, saying it celebrates talent and does not create national figures of ridicule.
She claimed viewers have lost interest in watching telly that humiliates contestants. Jessie said: “I think the public, thank god, have finally realised that it’s wrong.”


Goddess of UK has a point.
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Tyler Posey talking that's all that matters

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Developed by Jeff Davis, the hit MTV drama series Teen Wolf returns for a super-sized, 24-episode third season that debuts on June 3rd. Picking up four months after the events that nearly ended Jackson’s (Colton Haynes) life and resurrected Peter Hale (Ian Bohen), Season 3 finds teen werewolf Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) and his friends Stiles (Dylan O’Brien), Lydia (Holland Roden) and Allison (Crystal Reed) beginning their junior year of high school unaware that a new threat has arrived in Beacon Hills – a deadly pack of Alpha werewolves intent on bringing Derek (Tyler Hoechlin) into their fold.

With the filming relocated to Los Angeles, Collider was invited to check out the set and chat with the cast for a series of exclusive interviews. While hanging out in his trailer on a break from shooting, actor Tyler Posey talked about where things are at for Scott now, what it’s been like to be on a show that really shakes things up every season, the most unexpected and surprising storylines, Scott’s relationship to the new characters, the possibility of new love interests for Scott, how the friendship with Stiles has evolved, where Scott and Derek are at this season, and how much he loves getting instant feedback from fans through social media. Check out what he had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

Collider: Where are things at for Scott, when the show picks back up for Season 3?

TYLER POSEY: It’s been about four months, since the end of Season 2 and the beginning of Season 3. Last season, he and Allison broke up, and they were pretty sure that they were going to be broken up for awhile. So, Scott didn’t want to focus on that, or dread or stress any of that, so he’s focusing more on school, and being a good son, a good friend, a good student and a good driver. He’s just trying to pick his life back up and become a “normal” kid again. Things have calmed down in the Beacon Hills world of the supernatural, and he’s taking advantage of that. He’s been getting good with his studies, reading books and working out, every day. Right now, he’s in a really, really good place, before things get crazy. But, you can’t have the lead actor on a show be content, or else there’s no show. That’s what (show creator) Jeff [Davis] told me. There must be much torture.



How has it been to move the show to Los Angeles?

POSEY: I thought it was going to be weird. I didn’t know how comfortable I was going to be, but I knew it was going to be awesome. The tight crew that we have is always great. But, there was a lot of crew from Atlanta that I miss. They’re my best friends and family. But, coming back was seamless. The only difference is that I get to go to my house afterwards and sleep, invite friends over, and see my girlfriend and my family, all the time. It’s awesome! I do miss Atlanta. Atlanta was my home for two years. But, working in L.A. is great. A lot of people are jealous of us. The kids from The Vampire Diaries are jealous. I love it! I’m very happy and content here, and in a very good place. It helps with morale. There are opportunities to do other projects. When I was in Atlanta, I never wanted to leave. I was so busy on the set. Even if there was a three-day weekend, it wasn’t enough time for me to recoup. While I’m here, I can do other things. It’s absolutely great! But, I do miss my friends from Atlanta, though.

One of the big worries of doing a TV show is getting stuck in a character that’s the same, season after season, but this show changes every season. What’s it like to be on a show where you keep learning so many new things about your character and you have all these new actors coming in?

POSEY: It’s really cool. It keeps things fresh. I believe when actors say they can go crazy playing the same role, over and over again. Especially with this season, we’re diving way deeper into the characters’ personal lives and coming up with great arcs. It’s just great. It’s absolutely awesome! The new characters are awesome. There are new relationships and chemistry between the characters. It’s so much fun! My character has been completely changing, from the first season to this season, and he’s going to progressively change, whether it’s for better or worse. It’s great!

What have been the most unexpected or surprising storylines for your character?

POSEY: Pretty much everything that comes out of Jeff Davis’ mind is surprising. It’s crazy! I can’t imagine writing a show like this. It’s insane! For me, for this season, there’s a lot of surprise when it comes to my boss, Deaton (Seth Gilliam), which I wasn’t expecting, but it makes for great story.

What is Scott’s relationship to the new characters?

POSEY: As of now, Scott is mostly dealing with the Alpha pack, out of the new characters. The Alpha pack is a huge threat to him, Derek (Tyler Hoechlin) and everybody else. Scott is trying to be peaceful about it. He goes to them and says, “Okay, I don’t want to fight. I don’t want anyone to die. Can we just talk things out? Is that possible?” That’s Scott’s mentality about all of it.



What sort of relationship will Scott and Allison (Crystal Reed) have now? Are they trying to stay away from each other, or do they still have to interact?

POSEY: They have interactions, definitely. It’s hard to fall in love with somebody, and then break up and not have feelings for that same person. They’re going to interact, and they’re going to be longing for each other, a little bit. But, they know that being together, right now, is not the proper thing to do, so they try to stay away from each other and they try to be mature adults about their situation and they try not to lead each other on. As of right now, they are strictly broken up.

Is there the possibility of other love interests for Scott?

POSEY: Yeah, there’s always the possibility of that. Scott thinks he’s faithful to Allison and that they will always be together, but he’s also maturing faster than a lot of the other characters because of all the stuff that he has to go through and all of the decisions he has to make. So, he’s in a place where he’s okay, if he meets somebody else who isn’t Allison. I think he still loves Allison and could still be with Allison, if she wanted to be with him. But if not, he’s going to step away and be like, “I can’t just wait here forever for you,” even though he says that. I think a new love interest is definitely possible, in Scott’s world.

How has the friendship between Scott and Stiles (Dylan O’Brien) evolved?

POSEY: The season picks up with them as best friends. They’re always best friends, no matter how hard times get in Beacon Hills. Their friendship is going to be tested again, a lot this season. But, they’ve worked out a balance for their relationship. Stiles is the detective, and Scott is basically the muscle of the friendship. They have a great relationship, and they’re more then just friends now. They’re allies and partners and protectors. No matter what, even if there’s a little bump in their relationship, it will always be water under the bridge because they’re brothers.



Is it fun to have Lydia (Holland Roden) more involved, now that she knows what’s going on?

POSEY: Yeah, that’s cool. She was the token person who didn’t know anything about werewolves, and that scenario was getting old. Now that she does know, it’s really fun to have her use her intelligence for the werewolf side of things, and not just school or academics. Now, she can definitely help out with the crew and solve problems ‘cause she’s very smart.

Are there any stunts that you’ve felt goofy shooting, but were really impressed with, once you saw the finished product?

POSEY: Yeah, totally! Pretty much every stunt is like that because we’re all fake fighting and it is completely goofy. It feels awkward I don’t fight, so I don’t really know how to punch. It does feel weird. It feels like you’re punching the air, and you have to miss the person’s face. It just feel awkward. None of it is natural. I guess punching someone in the face isn’t natural, either. It does feel weird, but it always comes out looking awesome. With that in mind, I have changed my attitude about it, a little bit. As I’m doing a stunt, I’m like, “Okay, this looks cool!,” and sometimes it doesn’t, but most of the time it looks good. We have a lot of confidence on this show because we have a great crew and everyone is on board to help make the show look awesome. That’s the best thing we could have.

What sort of relationship do Scott and Derek (Tyler Hoechlin) have this season?

POSEY: This season, Derek knows that Scott is there to help him out. He can finally trust Scott. That was really the only thing that was holding their relationship back before. Derek was just kind of a dick and didn’t trust Scott, and Scott was like, “Just trust me, dude. You brought me to this world, kind of. Now, deal with me. I’m okay.” So, I think Derek is finally realizing that, and realizing that Scott is not only an ally, but can really help him survive. Derek’s view on Scott is completely different now, and Scott’s view on Derek is completely different. They’re friends. They’re definitely allies, and they’re going to help each other through, as much as they can.

Do you enjoy having the instant feedback from fans through Twitter and social media?

POSEY: I love it! I think it’s awesome. I’ve been doing that ever since Season 1. I’m very active on Twitter and Instagram. I’m always posting pictures from set, and little clues and teasing people with fun things. It’s awesome! I love how much the fans love the show and are so supportive of it. It’s the coolest thing, ever. And then, fans come to set because they win a visit to come hang out for awhile. We’re definitely very friendly with our fans.

Teen Wolf airs on Monday nights on MTV, starting on June 3rd.


the background at the source is ugly jsyk

Jessica Alba Takes Daughters To Soho House

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Haven is starting to look more like Jessica.
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Celebrities react to #OccupyGezi protests in Istanbul, Turkey

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OCCUPY GEZI: POLICE AGAINST PROTESTERS IN ISTANBUL

Gezi Park is a small rectangle of grass and trees just north of Taksim Square, in the center of European Istanbul. Separated by concrete barriers from a particularly congested traffic circle, it doesn’t have a lot going for it in the way of charm or landscaping. But it does have trees—six hundred and six of them, according to some reports—which makes it a distinct space in the heart of one of the world’s fastest-developing cities.

Last year, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Gezi Park would be levelled to make room for a reconstruction of the Halil Pasa Artillery barracks, which had been built there under Sultan Selim III, more than two hundred years ago; the reconstructed barracks would then be converted into a shopping mall. On May 28th, a peaceful demonstration convened in Gezi Park to protest the bulldozing of the first trees. The weather was, and continues to be, beautiful. But over the course of the week, Occupy Gezi transformed from what felt like a festival, with yoga, barbecues, and concerts, into what feels like a war, with barricades, plastic bullets, and gas attacks.

Just before dawn on Friday, police raided the demonstrators’ encampment with tear gas and compressed water. Several people—twelve, according to Istanbul’s governor Hÿseyin Avni Mutlu, though participants say the number was higher—were hospitalized with head traumas and respiratory injuries. Twitter was flooded with images of violence, including one of a protester on his or her knees using a sign that read “CHEMICAL TAYYIP” as a shield against a police hose. Ahmet Sik, an investigative reporter who spent much of last year in jail, had joined the protests only to get hit in the head with a police gas canister.

I stopped by Gezi Park early Friday afternoon. It had been completely sealed off by police, hundreds of whom were standing inside the park in small groups, adjusting their body armor, snapping pictures of each other on their cell phones. Gas masks lay in the grass, as did a few trampled plastic forks and an abandoned tepsi börek (a phyllo pastry baked in a tray). Noticing a small crowd convened beside one of the barricades, I went over to see what they were doing. They didn’t seem to be doing anything.

Thinking the demonstration was winding down, I went back home and tried to work on my novel. The demonstration wasn’t winding down. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators were flooding the streets. I texted the photographer Carolyn Drake, a friend and colleague. We covered our mouths with scarves and set out to meet each other. I started walking up Siraselviler, the street that connects Cihangir, where I live, to Taksim Square. It was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with demonstrators chanting anti-government slogans, some of them quite inventive. (When I asked about the meaning of one popular chant, “I’m sorry Tayyip but you look like a light bulb,” I was told that it alluded both to the light-bulb logo of Erdogan’s conservative Islamist A.K. Party, and to the shape of Erdogan’s head.)

I got as far as the German Hospital, where the crowd became too dense to penetrate. Carolyn meanwhile was stuck at the northern edge of the park. I never did meet her, though she’s been sending me the pictures she snaps from her cell phone. During the twenty minutes I spent standing in front of the hospital, two ambulances came careening in from Taksim. The crowds climbed up on walls to let the ambulances by, almost drowning out the sirens with their chants: “To your health, Tayyip!” Later, everyone started jumping up and down, chanting “Jump! Jump! Jump or you’re a fascist!” I, too, hopped up and down a little, to signal my disapproval of fascism. I tried to strike up conversation with a demonstrator, a young woman in her twenties with a surgical mask around her neck, but I could see I was interrupting her tweeting. In fact, I realized that almost every person there was either typing on a phone or recording the scene on a tablet.

Back in my apartment, I turned on the television. CNN Turk was broadcasting a food show, featuring the “flavors of Nigde.” Other major Turkish news channels were showing a dance contest and a roundtable on study-abroad programs. It was a classic case of the revolution not being televised. The whole country seemed to be experiencing a cognitive disconnect, with Twitter saying one thing, the government saying another, and the television off on another planet. Twitter was the one everyone believed—even the people who were actually on the street. In a city as vast, diffuse, and diverse as Istanbul, with so many enclaves and populations and interests and classes, and with such imperfect freedom of the press, gauging public opinion, or even current events, can be fantastically difficult. The Twitter hashtag #OccupyGezi brought up hundreds, maybe thousands of appeals urging BBC, Reuters, CNN, and other English-language news outlets to “show the world” what was happening in Istanbul—as if only the international media could do what the news is supposed to do: provide an objective view of what was going on outside.

The feeling of unreality and disconnect is at the heart of the Gezi demonstrations. Istanbul loves to demonstrate; I can’t remember ever walking through Taksim without seeing at least one march or parade or sit-in, and on weekends there are usually several going on at the same time. Usually, they are small, peaceful, and self-contained, and the police just stand there. For some time now, the demonstrations have had a strangely existential feel. Again and again, people have protested the destruction of some historical building or the construction of some new shopping center. Again and again, the historical building has been destroyed, and the shopping center constructed.

Nearly every slogan chanted on the streets right now addresses Erdogan by name, and Erdogan hasn’t been talking back much. On Wednesday, he told protesters, “Even if hell breaks loose, those trees will be uprooted”; on Saturday, he issued a statement accusing the demonstrators of manipulating environmentalist concerns for their own ideological agendas. It’s hard to argue with him there; there’s little doubt that the demonstrations are less about six hundred and six trees than about a spreading perception that Erdogan refuses to hear what people are trying to tell him. In recent weeks, he has overridden objections to the construction of a controversial third bridge across the Bosphorus, to be named after a sultan considered by some Turkish Alevis (members of a religious minority combining elements of Shi’ia Islam and Sufism) to be an “Alevi slayer.” Earlier this month, thousands of unionized Turkish Airlines workers went on strike to protest the firing of three hundred and five other unionized Turkish Airlines workers for participating in an earlier strike. The original workers were not rehired. Last week, he passed anti-alcohol laws, which outraged many secularists as well as the national beer manufacturers. On May Day, peaceful demonstrations were quashed by riot police with tear gas and hoses. Looking back, it seems inevitable that a larger uprising was to come.

So it wasn’t that surprising when yesterday’s court decision to suspend, at least temporarily, the construction at the park, failed to put an end to the demonstrations. At midnight, the street where I live was gas bombed. Demonstrators in gas masks and goggles marched below the windows, cheering “Spray! Spray! Let us see you spray!” Pepper gas poured through the open windows and immediately filled my seventh-floor apartment. Around one, a tremendous racket broke out as people all over the city started beating on cymbals, pots, pans, and metal street signs; I saw one man looking around in vain for a stick, and then cheerfully starting to bang his head against a metal storefront shutter.

I got in touch with members of Çarsi, the leftist fan club of Istanbul’s Besiktas soccer team; I’d written about them for the magazine in 2011. They had come up with a new slogan: “Give us 100 gas masks, we’ll take the park.” I asked Ayhan Gÿner, one of Çarsi’s senior members, what he had to say to New Yorker readers. “Çarsi is the last barricade. Çarsi keeps alive the hopes of the people in the resistance of Gezi Park,” he told me. “This resistance has inspired the leaders of Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe”—rival Istanbul soccer clubs—“to come together. Damn American imperialism to hell.” Fifteen minutes later, I got another text: “Pepper gas is the Besiktas fan’s perfume. Nobody can intimidate us”; and, shortly after that, “We are the soldiers not of the imam, but of Mustafa Kemal” (referring to Ataturk, the founder of the secular Turkish Republic).

This morning, forty thousand demonstrators are said to have crossed the Bosphorus Bridge from the Asian side of the city, to lend support in Taksim. Hundreds of backup police are reportedly being flown into Istanbul from all around the country. The conceptual artist Sibel Horada came by my neighborhood to pick up the gas mask she usually uses for casting polyester; she told me she ran into an old high-school friend who had dressed for the protests in shorts and Speedo swimming goggles. (“He had obviously never clashed with the police before.”) Shortly afterwards, she reported that police had briefly removed the barricades at Taksim and let the demonstrators in—then turned back and attacked them. On my street, spirits seem to be high. Someone is playing “Bella, Ciao” on a boom-box, and I can hear cheering and clapping. But every now and then the spring breeze carries a high, whistling, screaming sound, and the faint smell of pepper gas.

Angry Protests Grow in Turkey as Police Continue Crackdown

ISTANBUL — Violent protests against the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan engulfed this city on Saturday, as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets and alleyways in a second day of civil unrest and faced the tear gas and water cannons of a harsh police crackdown.

Mr. Erdogan, in a televised speech on Saturday morning, vowed to go forward with a plan to remake a city park in Taksim Square into a replica Ottoman-era army barracks and mall, the move that set off the initial protests earlier in the week.

For many demonstrators, however, the protest has moved beyond that project and become a broad rebuke to the 10-year leadership of Mr. Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party, which they say has adopted authoritarian tactics.

Mr. Erdogan, in his first comments on the growing unrest, seemed determined to maintain the aggressive police response. His only conciliatory note was to promise to investigate claims of excessive police force against peaceful protesters on Friday that resulted in nearly 1,000 injuries, according to the Turkish Doctors Association.

“The police were here yesterday, they will be there today, and they will be there tomorrow in Taksim,” Mr. Erdogan said.

In late afternoon, the police withdrew from Taksim Square and allowed tens of thousands of protesters to gather there unhindered. By evening, no police officers were in sight, and most of the protesters were gathered on the lawns of the square, some drinking beer, others chanting antigovernment slogans.

Others went on a rampage, destroying buildings used by the construction company that had begun razing the park, and throwing rocks at bulldozers.

The widening chaos here and the images it produces threaten to tarnish Turkey’s image, which Mr. Erdogan has carefully cultivated, as a regional power broker able to shape the outcome of the Arab Spring revolutions by presenting itself as a model for the melding of Islam and democracy.

Now Turkey is facing its own civil unrest, and the protesters have presented a long list of grievances against Mr. Erdogan and his government, including opposition to its policies of supporting Syria’s rebels against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, its crackdown on dissent, its intimidation of the news media and unchecked development in Istanbul.

“He criticized Assad, but he’s the same,” said Murat Uludag, 32, who stood off to the side as protesters battled with police officers down an alleyway near the Pera Museum. “He’s crazy. No one knows what he’s doing or thinking. He’s completely crazy. Whatever he says today, he will say something different tomorrow.”

Many of the protesters, some of whom voted for Mr. Erdogan, said they had grown tired of his leadership, which they said had become increasingly dictatorial. Mr. Erdogan still maintains a strong power base among religious conservatives, who represent a large voting bloc.

“When he first came to power, he was a good persuader and a good speaker,” said Serder Cilik, 32, who was sitting at a tea shop watching the chaos unfold. Mr. Cilik said he had voted for Mr. Erdogan in the past but would never do so again.

An older man standing nearby, overhearing the conversation, yelled, “Dictator!”

Mr. Cilik, who is unemployed, continued: “He brainwashed people with religion, and that’s how he got the votes. He fooled us. He’s a liar and a dictator.”

Protests that began days earlier as a peaceful sit-in against the demolition of a central park have widened to neighborhoods across Istanbul and to other cities around the country, including Ankara, the capital. There was also a protest in New York on Saturday, where about 500 people waved Turkish flags and denounced Mr. Erdogan.

In Istanbul, the protests turned violent on Saturday as police forces tried to disperse people with tear gas and some protesters pelted them with rocks, calling them “murderers” and “fascists.”

Police helicopters flew low over Istiklal Street, a main pedestrian thoroughfare, which would normally be clogged with tourists but on Saturday resembled a war zone, with shops shuttered and antigovernment graffiti sprayed on some shop windows. Using the Turkish initials of Mr. Erdogan’s party, one message on the facade of a department store, in blue spray paint, read, “A.K.P. to the grave, the people to reign.”

As they winced and rubbed their eyes of tear gas, protesters wagged their middle fingers at the helicopters and chanted that the government should step down.

On streets running off Istiklal, young men tore up granite slabs from the sidewalk and bashed them against the road, picking up the splintered pieces to throw at the police. On some streets, protesters set up makeshift barricades with trash cans, panels of wallboard from construction sites and potted plants taken from outside fancy hotels.

On another major boulevard, protesters stopped a municipal water truck, which they believed was on its way to refill the police water cannons, and opened its valves, flooding the street. Nearby, protesters marched past the headquarters of the state television network, T.R.T., shouting, “Burn the state media!”

Many of the protesters complained about the lack of coverage on Turkish television, and said the silence of much of the local news media would help the protest movement grow because people, unable to see events on television, would want to see them for themselves. Some newspapers also were largely silent on the protests: on Saturday morning, the lead story in Sabah, a major pro-government newspaper, was about Mr. Erdogan’s promoting a campaign against smoking.

His party has accused opposition parties of stoking the protests, and in the late afternoon, Mr. Erdogan weighed in on Twitter: “Their issue is, how can we hit the A.K.P.? Wherever they try to hit us, we will stand tall and strong.”

Istanbul Protests Grow In Size As Demonstration Enters 5th Day

As the "Occupy Gezi" protests in Istanbul entered their fifth day Saturday, police withdrew from Taksim Square in an effort to calm tensions that so far have left at least a dozen injured. Law enforcement officers have used tear gas and high pressure water hoses on the protesters.

The protest also seemed to grow in size Saturday, as photos and videos showed large crowds crossing the Bosphorus Bridge, which connects the European side of Istanbul to the Asian side:



The protests have spread to other areas of Istanbul and to the nation's capital, Ankara, where riot police also used tear gas on demonstrators, the BBC reported.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that police may have used tear gas excessively in attempting to disperse demonstrators, but he was mostly defiant in his response to the violent clashes. "Wherever you go in the world, in places like this ... governments would take measures," he said, according to Reuters.

On Saturday, Erdogan called for an immediate end to the protests, Reuters reported.

Some world leaders have criticized the violent tactics used by Turkish police. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Turkey's stability and prosperity were best guaranteed by "upholding the fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly and association, which is what it seems these individuals were doing."

Martin Schulz, the head of the European Parliament, said in a statement that, "The severity shown by police is completely disproportionate and is leading to the spreading of the protests," according to Reuters.

Reports that Turkish police have used plastic bullets on demonstrators have begun to circulate. Photos on Instagram appear to show welts and bruises from the projectiles.

Earlier, police used jammers to block social media communication in Taksim Square, where the protests began, Sky News reported.

The violence began early Friday morning when police raided a peaceful Occupy-type sit-in at Taksim Square, where demonstrators were protesting plans to demolish a small park to make way for new development, including a shopping mall.

Source 1
Source 2
Source 3 and Twitter.
Also this tumblr is pretty great: http://occupygezipics.tumblr.com/

Mods, I fixed the Tilda image and added one more tweet from Moby. Thanks!

Bruno Mars' mother dies of brain aneurysm on Saturday June 1st

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Image and video hosting by TinyPic


Bruno Mars' mother Bernadette Hernandez (second from left) is in recovery on Saturday after suffering a serious heart attack.
According to Star magazine the 55-year-old was rushed to the hospital near her home in Honolulu, Hawaii on Friday night and is currently in critical condition.
'Bernadette is in hospital and the grandkids are all here, I’m looking after them,' family friend Anita Sojot told the magazine.
'The family is on it’s way here right now and we are going to discuss what to do next.'
Growing up one of six children, Bruno has not been one to shy from expressing his love for his mother.
The 28-year-old singer opened up about his childhood in the April issue of Rolling Stone, talking about his family's penchant for music and dressing as Elvis as a toddler.
'I wouldn't trade it for anything,' Bruno told the magazine of singing in a family band. 'Because I feel like I can enjoy this so much.'
When he was four he recorded a tune he penned titled I Love You Mom, an 80s style synth ballad in which he repeats the title and calls her 'my favourite girl.'
'My mommy helps me with my voice / cuz a superstar singer is my first choice,' he rhymes.


source






Update:
The mother of Grammy-winning pop star Bruno Mars has died in Hawaii.


Bernadette Hernandez died Saturday of a brain aneurysm, according to a publicist for Mars' label, Atlantic Records, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak on the record.
Hernandez was 55 years old. She died in Honolulu at Queens Medical Center; no other information was given.
Mars is one of pop's top acts with several No. 1 hits including his most recent, "When I Was Your Man." His mother, a hula dancer and a singer who immigrated from the Philippines, nurtured her son's interest in music at an early age.




Source
My heart goes out to the whole family and to Bruno, a son who so proudly proclaimed his love for his mother.

Jessica Chastain Denies Hillary Clinton Movie Rumors

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Jessica Chastain has denied reports that she is in the running to play Hillary Clinton in a new biopic.

Speaking to Digital Spy and other journalists at the Sound of Change concert in London on Saturday (June 1), the Zero Dark Thirty star claimed that she only heard about being linked to Rodham online.

Asked about the Clinton movie rumours, Chastain replied: "No, that's actually not true. I found out about the project online, but, yeah, there's a lot of stuff out there."

Chastain also praised her Tree of Life co-star Brad Pitt for "see[ing] everyone as equals", and said that he would be in support of the women's empowerment gig.

"The great thing about Brad is he's nice to everyone," she said. "He's a gentleman.

"I don't believe in terms like 'top of the bill', and maybe Brad doesn't [either]. He just sees everyone as equals, and that's why we're here tonight."

Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon and Amanda Seyfried are among the other stars apparently being considered to play Clinton in Rodham, which documents the politician's time as a lawyer in the 1970s.

Source

Source 2















IMO, good decision.

Norman Reedus Talks About His New Book & Season 4

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From Norman's Sirius XM interview:

On Season 4
“The scripts this season are just amazing. The sets are crazy. It feels like we’ve shot about three movies already. It’s super intense, and everything’s for a specific reason, and it’s great right now.”

“They’ve introduced a way to make zombies scary again, and they’re terrifying. The new threat is just unreal. I can’t of course tell you what that is, but it’s brilliant writing.”


On Scott M. Gimple now running the show
“Yes, of course, with new people there’s chance. But also, when Frank was the showrunner, Glenn was his number two, so we knew Glenn. And when Glenn took off, we already knew Scott. As far as the internal group, we’re all the same people, but the structure of the writing’s a bit different, and it’s so intense. These are our best scripts so far.”


On Daryl's feelings about the people from Woodbury coming to the prison
“Daryl’s got a little bit different responsibility right now. We all do. People have sort of fallen into their crevices so to speak, who they are within this group and what they contribute. There’s a whole bunch of different elements to that. When you find people that are alive and can contribute and help build something, everyone takes a helm and everyone takes responsibility for it. There’s also all these new personalities as well, you just have to watch.”


On Merle's death
“That day sucked for me personally. Michael Rooker’s a good friend of mine. It sucks when you do scenes like that, because you read the script and you go, ‘Ok, this day’s going to suck.’ And it did. But as far as Daryl’s character, I think he grew up a lot in that moment. He got hard.”

“The thing about having a big brother sort of under his thumb for awhile, he wasn’t there except for that one hallucination that he had in the Chupacabra episode. I think he sort of during that time started to become this man that he was never going to be before. And when he was reunited, he kind of reverted back to little brother mode for a little while. If you noticed in that arena scene, it’s all about me connecting with Rooker.”


On his new book
“I have a book coming out, that I’m working on right now. It’s coming back from the publishers, like what do you call it, the first run of it.”

“Some of the photographs [I'd been selling off my website], I would print them in large format and send them to people, and that money went to charity. But people have been asking me for a book for so long, so I’m working on like a coffee table book right now, so that should come out soon.”


On his previous roadkill photos auctioned for charity
“They asked me to take photos of my time down in Georgia, and I kind of think that they wanted behind the scenes photos on the set. Which of course I’m not allowed to do, you know unless it’s in my trailer with my tongue sticking out.”

“I sent them the photos, and they kind of freaked out. ‘These are holiday shoppers in New York. They don’t want to see cats with their eyeballs popped out.’ But they went for it, and we sold every one of them. It was thirty photos.”


If you want to listen to the interviews:


Part 1


Part 2

There aren't any major new spoilers, but I tagged it just in case.
Source 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

♛ Beckham Post ♛

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Miami Heat Game:









Touring stadiums and fueling rumors that he plans to bring MLS back to Miami:

























One Direction 'Increase Laundry Security As Underwear Is Stolen'

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1D apparently have to enlist a specific laundry person to look after their clothes.

Apparently One Direction are having so many items of clothing stolen while on tour that they've had to specifically recruit someone to watch over it all and make sure it all gets cleaned without any fans helping themselves to it.





It is alleged that everything from T-shirts to underwear is being pinched from everywhere from the boys' dressing rooms to tour bus.

The Daily Star Sunday adds that, in many cases, stuff is being nicked before it's even been washed. Ewww!

A source tells the paper's Rehab column: “Somehow fans have got to the dry cleaning and taken the boys clothes... even before they are dry cleaned. Others get into dressing rooms or on tour buses.

“Now they are giving the job to another crew member in their wardrobe team. She has the task of getting all their clothes clean and back to them without anything going missing.”

In better news for the band, Blondie front woman Debbie Harry has given her approval to their cover of her hit One Way or Another, calling Harry Styles and co "a hot group."

The band covered the 1979 classic, alongside a sample of The Undertones' Teenage Kicks, for Comic Relief earlier this year, and 67-year-old Debbie sounds pleased to hear her classic performed in a new way.

"Well, I was so flattered they wanted to use it - they're a hot group and they're getting lots of attention," she explained to Q magazine. "That's good for Blondie in terms of remaining visible and perhaps gaining a younger audience.

"I saw a live performance of them doing it and it worked for me."

source: http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/116583/Fans-Get-In-Harry-Styles-Pants-One-Direction-Increase-Laundry-Security-As-Underwear-Is-Stolen

Official Premiere of Fantasia's "WITHOUT ME" Lyric Video featuring Kelly Rowland and Missy Elliott

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