http://www.blackbookmag.com/ en fkamer@blackbookmag.com Copyright 2009 2009-07-02T23:00:01-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/img/logo2.gif http://www.blackbookmag.com http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/paint-the-town-red-white-and-blue/8804 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/paint-the-town-red-white-and-blue/8804#When:23:00:01Z As we’ve seen, a frosted-out flag cake can be the perfect confectionery complement to your stars-and-stripes bikini and Old Glory nail art. Yet, if you’re as OCDelightful as me, you cannot stop there. It’s your all-American duty to go overboard. It’s as if MJ, Mr. America himself, were looking down from his Peter Pan-plastic surgery-Diprivan heaven, imploring you in high falsetto: it don’t matter if you’re black or white, but this independence day, you best bring the red, white, and blue. Ow! nightlife 2009-07-02T23:00:01-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/industry-insiders-dagny-mendelsohn/8792 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/industry-insiders-dagny-mendelsohn/8792#When:22:30:00Z Dagny Mendelsohn is the front woman representing the 11 total owners at Macao Trading Company. Hailing from the other serious foodie city, San Francisco, once she set foot in New York, she learned the heart of the restaurant business from one of the best, Keith McNally. She embraced the underground hipster scene from being part of APT, as well as gaining an education from the the fashionistas (a.k.a. Richie Rich). At Macau, she brings it all together under one roof with dinners for people like Perry Farrell, Mick Rock and Morimoto. people 2009-07-02T22:30:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/how-to-survive-cinespias-hollywood-forever-screenings-and-jaws/8721 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/how-to-survive-cinespias-hollywood-forever-screenings-and-jaws/8721#When:22:20:01Z As a former New Yorker, I had to endure years of New Yorkers proclaiming New York City to be so original that no city could ever measure up. While it’s true that New York is unique in its ability to be overcrowded, dirty, expensive, and loud, there is something that Los Angeles has that New York will never have: the Cinespia Hollywood Forever movie series, or, The Greatest Summer Invention of All Time. nightlife 2009-07-02T22:20:01-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/middle-mgmt-hometown-brooklyn-concert-is-bad-for-the-kids/8802 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/middle-mgmt-hometown-brooklyn-concert-is-bad-for-the-kids/8802#When:22:00:00Z I’ve always had this theory about MGMT: they suck. Or more specifically, they suck because they don’t aspire to be anything better than the status quo. Don’t get me wrong, I want to like them. They represent Brooklyn - where they’re based - to the world. They’re suing the President of France, which is awesome. And they are seen wearing sunglasses often. These are all reasons to like them. But why do I - along with hundreds of their fans at last night’s “hometown” show in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park - feel something just south of sheer ambivalence for them? pop culture 2009-07-02T22:00:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/kanyes-slo-mo-opus-drakes-best-i-ever-had-video/8800 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/kanyes-slo-mo-opus-drakes-best-i-ever-had-video/8800#When:20:44:00Z When the rapper Drake burst on the scene, I was skeptical. Being from Canada, I knew Drake as Aubrey Graham, the actor who played Jimmy on Degrassi Jr. High and ended up in a wheelchair after taking a bullet to the back. I didn’t think there was any way he could ever become a legitimate, respected rapper. But, when Kanye West directs your first music video, it becomes pretty undeniable. In the video for Drake’s song-of-summer contender “Best I Ever Had,” West does for slow motion what he did for auto-tune: makes it awesome. I know West fancies himself an innovator, but he’s totally cribbing from Baywatch here.  pop culture 2009-07-02T20:44:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/blackbooks-los-angeles-fourth-of-july-survival-guide/8741 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/blackbooks-los-angeles-fourth-of-july-survival-guide/8741#When:20:40:00Z I find the Fourth of July in Los Angeles, or really any major party holiday, kind of terrifying. When you add driving to the equation of barbeques and all-day beer drinking, you end up with a mess. This is why last year, I spent the evening in Venice and biked to the beach and the parties we attended, as did all the people in the area. It was fun. That said, if you insist on driving around to Fourth events, we have a few: nightlife 2009-07-02T20:40:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/a-strange-video-courtesy-of-major-lazer/8798 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/a-strange-video-courtesy-of-major-lazer/8798#When:20:10:00Z So this is weird. A few weeks ago we published an interview with the mysterious Major Lazer, a Jamaican zombie slayer who may or may not be the creation of DJs Diplo and Switch. The interview was cryptic, and written in Lazer’s broken patois, making it hard to decipher. We thought that was the end of it. But today, I got a surprise e-mail from someone claiming to represent Lazer. It led me to a video recreation of my interview with Lazer, which was initially done via e-mail. Check it out after the jump. How they got that picture of me, I’ll never know.  pop culture 2009-07-02T20:10:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/neil-patrick-harris-getting-set-to-host-emmys/8794 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/neil-patrick-harris-getting-set-to-host-emmys/8794#When:19:30:00Z Now, gentle reader, you may be wondering, “Why even bother scraping together some low-rating bit of TV pus to honor shows that peaked three years ago or have always been kind of crappy?” And gentle reader, in that overlong query, you’ve got yourself a point. Some things we can already tell about this year’s Emmys: True Blood will never get the love it deserves; Weeds will be rewarded for turning in what’s so far been a lackluster fifth season; somehow CSI and Law & Order will sew up all the guest starring awards even if that one may actually deserve to go to Weeds, or more specifically to Jennifer Jason Leigh for her work as Bitchface; one of the Desperate Housewives will get a nomination for Best Actress nomination even though with the exception of Felicity Huffman, they’re no more talented than any of the girls on Gossip Girl; and Mad Men and Breaking Bad will be handed a grab-bag of nominations based on their performance at last year’s Emmys. But enough bad news. The silver lining on all this is that this year, Neil Patrick Harris could be pulling hosting duties. Swoon! pop culture 2009-07-02T19:30:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/moby-still-mad-at-michael-jackson/8796 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/moby-still-mad-at-michael-jackson/8796#When:19:00:00Z For most music makers and fans, the passing of MJ was a sad occasion to reflect on the talent, influence and life of a troubled, ground-breaking genius. Some artists, however, prefer to vent their grief through the prism of their own success. In August 2006, the usually reserved Moby branded Michael Jackson “the creepiest thing he’d ever seen...He (MJ) looks like Elizabeth Taylor hit by a truck. Does he know how terrifying he is? Does he know that kids have nightmares about him? It’s really scary.” That hadn’t stopped the Connecticut-bred Moby, of course, from remixing MJ’s classic “Beat It” track for the Ben Stiller comedy Zoolander in 2001. And it’s not stopping Moby from continuing to air his displeasure with the King of Pop, even after MJ’s untimely passing. Moby wrote in (via BlackBerry) to music industry guru Bob Lefsetz this week to let the music insiders who devour Lefsetz’ daily online musings that he’d be numero uno if not for MJ’s pesky death. Moby’s tasteful, mild-mannered diss, after the jump. pop culture 2009-07-02T19:00:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/united-may-suck-at-customer-service-but-they-have-a-sense-of-humor/8745 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/united-may-suck-at-customer-service-but-they-have-a-sense-of-humor/8745#When:18:30:00Z As we mentioned earlier, United Airlines is definitely not a favorite among fliers. With a discontinued customer service line, mimeographed apology letters, and planes full of broken power outlets, it’s not hard to see why they’re circling the drain in terms of customer satisfaction. However, though they might not be able to leave airports on time, at least they can laugh away the pain. Apparently, United’s of humor remains intact, as demonstrated by their Twitter account. Witness the following exchange between NPR reporter Peter Sagal and United Airlines. travel 2009-07-02T18:30:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/older-models-make-us-feel-even-worse-about-ourselves/8782 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/older-models-make-us-feel-even-worse-about-ourselves/8782#When:18:00:00Z The lovely ladies competing for a spread in SELF Magazine, a contract with Wilhelmina, and $100K on She’s Got the Look are not your average models. They’re all proudly flaunting a little detail about themselves that most models strive to conceal at any cost: their age.  It’s hard to be cynical about a show that according to celebrity stylist and SGTL judge Robert Verdi, “is desperate to show the beauty and diversity of women over the age of 23.” And these women, ranging in age from 35 all the way up to 72 are smokin’ hot. “There’s been a major cultural shift,” Verdi explains, “women are now allowed to be mothers and to be sexy, to be married and to be sexy.” fashion 2009-07-02T18:00:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/things-people-would-rather-do-than-sit-in-the-middle-seat/8780 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/things-people-would-rather-do-than-sit-in-the-middle-seat/8780#When:17:30:01Z 3M Privacy Filters just published results of their latest survey on the subject of seat preference in airplanes. Unsurprisingly, people reported that they in fact, do hate the middle seat. How much do they hate it? travel 2009-07-02T17:30:01-05:00