Saturday, January 21, 2012

Cele|bitchy

Cele|bitchy

“Vanessa Bryant is walking away from Kobe with $75 million” links

Posted: 20 Jan 2012 10:38 AM PST

Vanessa Bryant is walking away with $75 million? And all of the houses. [Bossip]
Gossip Nostalgia: John-John and Carolyn Bissette. [LaineyGossip]
LOVE the review of Madonna's film. Love it. [Dlisted]
I think I'm going to see Haywire this weekend. [Pajiba]
Matt Damon & Chris Hemsworth are bros. [Pop Sugar]
Rihanna's ass in a thong. I bet she's totally baked here. [Celebuzz]
I don't understand Sarah Jessica Parker's ensemble. [I'm Not Obsessed]
Kathy Griffin stripped for David Letterman. [Seriously? OMG! WTF?]
Vanessa Hudens' famewhore game needs some work. [The Blemish]
Jersey Shore's Sammi might pose for Playboy. [Evil Beet]
January Jones homewrecked some fug sleeves. [Go Fug Yourself]
Rumer Willis is still bearding for Zac Efron?!? [Yeeeah]
You could tell dudes this, but they would still cheat their asses off. [Jezebel]
Ricky Gervais dressed up like Hitler. Er…?? [Videogum]
Kate Beckinsale's "dong gone awry" story. [Celebslam]
Jesus, the He-Man cartoon was really… WRONG. [OMG Blog]
Michael Phelps has an old-school 'stache. [A Socialite Life]

Etta James passed away at the age of 73 after losing her battle with leukemia

Posted: 20 Jan 2012 09:56 AM PST

As far as ladies singing the blues, I was always partial to Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. But! I did have an Etta James album, and I wore it out. Her voice was like butter, rich and smooth. And now that voice is gone – Etta James has passed away at the age of 73. People Magazine has more details about Etta's life and death:

Etta James, the powerful blues voice behind the chart-topping 1961 evergreen “At Last,” has died after a lengthy struggle with leukemia. She was 73.

Her longtime friend and manager, Lupe De Leon, first confirmed the news to CNN. “This is a tremendous loss for the family, her friends and fans around the world,” De Leon said. “She was a true original who could sing it all – her music defied category. I worked with Etta for over 30 years. She was my friend and I will miss her always.”

Because of her health concerns, James had curtailed her concerts in January 2010 to enter the hospital with a blood infection, among other ailments, including Alzheimer’s disease. In May 2011, James was again admitted to a hospital in Riverside, Calif., with a urinary tract infection and the blood infection sepsis, her son Sametto James told Reuters at the time.

The winner of four Grammys and a 1993 inductee to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, James was portrayed in the 2008 movie Cadillac Records by Beyoncé Knowles. Christina Aguilera also cited James as a major influence.

“There’s a lot going on in Etta James’s voice,” Bonnie Raitt once told Rolling Stone, which ranked James 22nd on its list of the 100 Best Singers of All Time. “A lot of pain, a lot of life but, most of all, a lot of strength. She can be so raucous and down one song, and then break your heart with her subtlety and finesse the next. As raw as Etta is, there’s a great intelligence and wisdom in her singing.”

Born Jamesetta Hawkins
The Los Angeles-born James began singing in church and was discovered in 1954 by bluesman Johnny Otis, who amended her name from Jamesetta Hawkins. Over the next decade she built up a catalog of hits – “Roll with Me Henry,” “Call My Name” and “I’d Rather Go Blind” – along with an addiction to heroin. “It took over my life,” the 5’3″ singer told PEOPLE in 2006, shortly after she had successfully shed 235 of her 400 lbs. through gastric-bypass surgery. “You get up every day and look to score.”

Her drug problems landed husband Artis Mills (whom she married in 1969) behind bars from 1972 to 1982, when he took the fall for the couple’s arrest on heroin-possession charges. James made several trips to rehab, including a 17-month stint in the mid-’70s, without success. Finally, during a 1988 stay in the Betty Ford Clinic, just before her 50th birthday, this time for a codeine addiction, “I took back my life,” says James, who remained clean after that.

Among the Greats
Mills, who has been putting up a legal fight to wrest control of James’s reported $1 million estate from her sons Donto and Sametto James, survives the singing legend, as do her sons.

“Etta always comes through with feeling,” music biographer Peter Guralnick told PEOPLE in 2006. “She coexists with Aretha Franklin and Billie Holiday.”

[From People]

Etta was last in the news in 2009, just a few weeks after Barack Obama's inauguration. Beyonce had covered "At Last" one of Etta's standards, and Etta was not pleased about that, and she said so publicly. Thoughts and prayers to her family, and I hope Etta is in a better place now.

Here’s Etta doing “At Last”

“I’d Rather Go Blind”

And “Something’s Got a Hold on Me”

Photos courtesy of WENN.
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Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds’ dogs are causing relationship problems

Posted: 20 Jan 2012 06:34 AM PST

From the very beginning of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' torrid affair, it was immediately obvious who the REAL stars were – the dogs. Ryan is so vanilla, and Blake is so… Blake. But their dogs are awesome. And the dogs often make it into the paparazzi shots too. Ryan's beloved puppy is a golden retriever mix named Baxter – Blake was even photographed walking Baxter in NYC a month ago. Blake's puppy is a Maltipoo named Penny. Penny is adorable and probably weighs about five pounds, if that. Five pounds of pure rage and puppy jealousy, apparently. According to the Enquirer, Penny is totally a diva, and she doesn't like sharing her mom with that bastard Baxter.

Love may be in the air for Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, but their dogs are at each other's throats! Blake's pint-sized Maltipoo, Penny, is used to being the center of attention and hates it when her owner showers Ryan's friendly golden retriever mix, Baxter, with affection. Now pals say the war of the dogs has escalated to the point where it's affecting the couple's sex life!

"Penny is a real diva and is accustomed to getting her own way," a source told The Enquirer. "She's having a terrible time adjusting to Ryan and Baxter sharing her turf! Blake constantly spoiled Penny and made her the center of her world. Now, with Baxter as competition, she growls and bares her teeth whenever Blake pets or plays with Ryan's pooch!"

Initially, Ryan and Blake thought handling the canine conflict would be good practice for dealing with children in the future. But they might never get to that point because the dogfight has spilled into the bedroom!

"They both love to sleep with their dogs on the bed – but Penny wants to be the only pooch in the room," explained the source. "She tries to scare Baxter away. Ryan and Blake spend so much time trying to break up the feuding dogs, when it's time to go to bed they're so exhausted the last thing they think of is romance."

The source continues, "Blake and Ryan are really in love… they just wish their four-legged friends would get along too!"

[From The Enquirer, print edition]

LOL, it's just a funny story, and God knows, it might even be true. Penny seems like she could be a diva, and it does seem like it's always the little dogs who are always trying to start something. Baxter is probably looking at Penny like, "You little bitch, I could eat you with one gulp. STFU!" Here's why I doubt the story though – because everything about Blake is so manicured and perfect – she would NEVER have a dog who misbehaves. NEVER. Baxter, meanwhile, always seems so chill. Most of the time, I don't even think Ryan keeps Baxter on a leash – which is a sure sign of a well-behaved puppy.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame and PCN.
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