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Exhibit A: The Modern-Day Hipster

Most of this past week was spent in Manhattan trying to figure out why the hell anyone would want the label of ‘hipster.’ I was shacking up at the Hotel on Rivington, a really awesome boutique-hotel away from the noise of 42nd street and Times Square, and right in the heart of Alphabet City. Now, at one time, Alphabet City was THE spot in NYC for the homeless, artsy, pop-Warholian set who strayed from convention and prided themselves on being individuals while living outside the J. Crew-inspired Manhattan bubble.

It’s changed a bit… Okay, it’s changed a lot. Gone are the hookers and homeless. It’s now a place where if you don’t like what one Pottery Barn has on sale, you can go to the other one… ACROSS THE STREET. *argh*

As I was walking down Rivington, I realized that everyone, male and female alike, all looked the same: Like they stepped out of a Urban Outfitters catalog, with just the right amount of cynical pout coupled with a dash of Bedhead’s hair wax. I suddenly felt like I was in Mississippi. Everyone could have been related.

Givens and O’Hurley hit Broadway

The first night in town had me headed to the long-running revival of Chicago, where former Head of the Class beauty Robin Givens (along with Seinfeld’s John O’Hurley) is starring as Roxie Hart. I didn’t go in with too much expectation, but came away surprised. Had a chance to meet with her after the show and chill out backstage. Extremely gracious (and talented) lady with some of the most talented and hardworking ensemble members on Broadway today. And yes FYI, it took all of my self-control not to ask her about the whole Mike Tyson situation… Eventually headed over to Mario Batali’s Del Posto for dinner and had an excellent meal. The food he serves is incredible, but the menu reads like Shakespeare: Overwrought at times with a wait staff that’s almost too eager to please. Yes, it’s theatrical as only a great meal can be, but with a menu that serves something as down home as Venetian-inspired liver, it was a startling contrast.

Del Posto is an inviting dining room without being too stuffy. It’s closely resembles a 1920’s supper club, while modern table lamps give the room a cozy, updated feel overall. It’s definitely not haute cuisine, even if the prices say otherwise.

All that being said, I wouldn’t pass up another opportunity to dine at this amazing new Italian eatery. Highly recommended.

Went for some coffee and stargazing at The Mercer later than night. Highlights included watching Steven Dorf trying to score some young poon-tang and finding out he was the weakest link. REJECTED!

The next day (and across the street) I mercilessly was lured into the evil clutches of Economy Candy Store. Talk about a diabetic’s nightmare. Hard-to-find chocolate like Sharffen Berger and Odense are stacked sky-high there, with the entire three floor location covered from head-to-toe in anything and everything sweet. I loaded up with about $40 worth of crap, took it back to the hotel and have regretted it ever since.

Not the EXACT kind of Candy Shop i was talking about, but okay…

I had a friend of mine hold onto my credit card at Diesel. As some sick kind of joke, he gave it back to me and I ended up leaving the place with $600 in new clothing. I’m still trying to justify spending $200 on underwear, but I’m sure some of you out there know what I’m talking about. In the words of Zero Mostel: If ya’ got it flaunt it! FLAUNT IT!

Diesel took my money and i loved every minute of it!

Damn, the Knicks suck this year. I watched them get spanked by the Nuggets the next night. It seemed the crowd was more into WHO was at the game rather than the Knicks winning or losing. Loraine Bracco, Penny Marshall and one of the less-fat Baldwins were courtside, all gnashing their teeth for the cameras and trying to look somewhat interested in the actual game. Sitting near Bracco and Marshall at the game, I had a chance to realize two important things: One, Penny Marshall is a real smartass and I like what she has to say and, two, Loraine Bracco is an idiot. This just reaffirmed my notion that it doesn’t take much in the smarts department to be an actor and made me marvel that people actually LISTEN to what this woman thinks she’s saying.

Oh dear.

Got my first acupuncture treatment there too. Interesting feeling, but not crazy about the thought of needles going into my skin. While it didn’t hurt, it didn’t do much else for me either. I got much more relief from the deep-tissue massage beforehand. So very nice.

Interesting bit of gossip I heard in NYC: So, we all remember the never-ending 15-day wake for Coretta Scott King and all of the politicos who used the occasion to trump each other on the craptastic Bush administration, right?

After being initially invited, it seems that Human Rights champ Harry Belafonte was cordially DISINVITED thanks to direct orders from the Bush White House. Bush Jr made no mistake in saying that if Belafonte was around, he wouldn’t be, leaving the King family to make a precarious decision about who’s ultimately coming to dinner.

PSSST! That red scarf looks like shit

Thanks to the RR for these unabashed pics of Fall Out Boy’s prettyboy frontman Pete Wentz, but upon closer investigation, it turns out that these vouyeristic gems are actually from his old Manhunt.net profile. YEOWZA!

Seems that at the very least that Wentz goes both ways. Sources say that these cocktastic images are just the tip of the iceberg, with more hitting the internet soon and a possible jack-off vid in tow. Interesting. I’ll see if i can get my hands on it in the near future. Stay tuned.

Pari
s: She’s always screwing something…

That Paris Hilton/Nick Carter sex tape is closer than ever to hitting the mass-market thanks to Hilton’s inability to pay for a storage unit where she hid the tape, along with various diaries and photos. Paris’s personal items are now owned by a third-party who bought the contents outright for $500. The new owner is planning on taking inventory and selling everything on an individual basis through more established auction houses, reportedly fetching up to $30 million total for the booty. Ouch!

With so many homo sub-plots, it should be called ‘V for Very Gay’

Caught an sneak-peek of V for Vendetta (which is now open) and thought it was one of the most well-done films I’ve seen in awhile. Brilliant casting. A little light on the plausibility scale, but hell, it’s an action film. Tune in, turn off, right? Run, don’t walk to see this. Watching Natalie Portman turn into a what appears to be a bull-dyke right before your eyes is well-worth the price of the movie ticket alone…

While I’ll wait for it on DVD to avoid a possible ‘public indecency’ charge in the movie theater, She’s The Man hit theaters this weekend, starring Amanda Bynes and this extremely hot guy:

Channing Tatum started his career as a male model and spends most of this film shirtless and in various states of undress. I can handle that. I also hear that most of the male cast is buff and not afraid to show it off. So it’s a blatant rip-off of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night? It’s got ripped guys and very little clothing all under the guise of a family film. Another ‘run, don’t walk’ recommendation. LOL.

Two cool websites to share with you guys and then it’s onto the Eye Candy for this week. First up is PostSecrets.com, where you can send the author your deepest and darkest secrets in snail-mail, to which he randomly (and anonymously) posts them online with a dash of his own artistic creativity. It’s really an interesting premise.

The other site is YouTube.com, which allows anyone to post anything in video form online for the whole world to see. While the more racy stuff is taken down pretty quickly, it’s a great one-stop-shop for muscle vids, exhibitionistic (and hot) guys, major cockteasing and more. With all respect to fellow blogger Rico at The Rico Report (who harnesses some of the hottest vids from the site), I say THANK GOD for free web-based entertainment like this. HOORAY!

… and now, without further ado, here’s this week’s EYE CANDY. Need I say more? I didn’t think so. *wink* Enjoy!