All stories about "Celebs"

Last month we rounded up hot spot hotels on the West Coast. This time, we're heading east, in particular to the area between Canal Street and 75th Street. And our self-imposed do-not-cross line would have been 14th Street if it wasn't for Lindsay Lohan. So if you're ever in Manhattan, you'll know exactly where to go or avoid depending on your taste for or aversion to celebrity-friendly accommodations.

The womb of Seattle's art scene, the Mcleod Residence has also spawned that city's first stab at Gakwer-inspired celebrity stalking/mapping with Seattle Notables. Since Cobain's death, this might seem like an oxymoron but indeed Seattle is home to "celebrities" and they, in general, hang out in some pretty cool places, which is where the map should interest you. For instance, a guy named Stone Gossard hangs out at a super cool cafe called the Hi Spot Cafe while another luminary, this one named Slats who looks like Slash and Joey Ramone frapped together, likes to spend his days and nights Bus Stop bar, a divey but legendary bar. And, Gawker take note, Seattle Notables even has coasters of the most notable notables, including, happily, Slats.

Seattle Notables
Hi Spot Cafe
Bus Stop bar

[Photo: ElMendez/Flickr]
Previously: ORgasm in Victoria, Pulled Out in Seattle, In Vino Volo Veritas, I Am Sam But Not Mentally Retarded and More Sculptural

While it's true that Gridskipper has a certain callous tone - some have gone so far as to call us "snarky" - we do have feelings. We're not too big to admit that we still haven't gotten over Anna Nicole Smith's death. We still wake up in the middle of the night, screaming "why dear God why? Why is it always the best among us? Why couldn't you have taken us instead", before collapsing and sobbing ourselves back to sleep. Anna was the closest thing to a New World divine, virgin Madonna. She blended the severe purity of a blushing Princess Diana, the natural elegance of the young Elizabeth Taylor, the innocent sex appeal of Marilyn Monroe. Her circumspect campaigns with PETA instantly called to mind the quiet charity of Mother Teresa, and we don't think it's overly rash to suggest that canonization may well be in her future. Now we can all humbly relive her last days by taking Stations Of The Cross-like tours in the Bahamas, where pilgrims can walk in Anna Nicole Smith's steps and touch the hallowed ground that she touched. Details after the jump.

Sad news for lonely women who have a penchant for short falsetto face-tattooed boxers. Heidi Fleiss's Stud Farm, outside of LV and where Mike Tyson was reported to be "available" "sexually" for "clients" has run into legal difficulties. We only know this because when we tried to apply for a position (missionary) we were 404'd. So I called up the PR people. Turns out that though prostitution is legal in the rural counties of Nevada (where Fleiss's man ranch is), felons can't be the proprietors. We're not sure if anyone remembers but Ms. Fleiss had a brush with the law shortly after having multiple "brushes" with numerous celebs. The ranch is still set to open at some point but we'll just have to wait to see if face-tattoos and crazy are hereditary. If this baby is to be believed then yes, yes it is.

Heidi's Stud Farm [Official site]

Previously: Oh, So That Explains The Freaks of Las Vegas, Best Use of Double Entendre in Slurpee Bar: This One, Porn Star Guides: Amsterdam

Perhaps it's the post-Valentine's Day upsurge in romance, perhaps it's evidence of the our culture's benighted sexuality, but air travel recently has gotten a lot more sexed up. First we have the wildly varying reports about the flight attendant who balled Ralph Fiennes in a Qantas bathroom. At first the 38 year old attendant and former P.O. denied it but recently admitted to the Daily Mail, ""It's true. We did make love on the plane that night...At first I denied it because I was so desperate to keep my job and I didn't want to hurt Ralph. I don't regret it. Ralph is gorgeous and the chemistry between us was amazing." Hmm, don't hold your breath for the wedding ring, lady. Oh yeah, and you're fired.

But information much more germane to either you or I has little to do with Ralph Fiennes but does feature nudity. As has been semi-widely reported, the TSA in Phoenix recently unveiled an x-ray machine called the "Backscatter." The machine basically fulfills any 13 year old boy's fantasy: seeing naked ladies! The machine sees through clothes. Obviously, privacy advocates are worried about creepy TSA employees wacking off to the explicit imagery. To that end, the manufacturers have blurred certain "key segments." But aren't those same dirty areas perfect for a dirty bomb? At any rate, if you're unemployed and like looking at naked obese Americans (most of them are) the TSA employment website is here and you can easily call 1-800-997-1895 for free boobs.The implications of the machine are as yet TK but we predict an upsurge in secondary searches for hot models, Ralph Fiennes and the morbidly obese and a marked downturn for dark skinned dudes with beards.

Travelers Weary of "X-rated" Security Scanners [CBS]

Previously: DIck Cavett is A Crazy Dick, Airport Security Cruel, Rather Lame Game, Deadly ARachnida Bite on Plane Revives Snakes on a Plane Cliche, Big Ben is Watching You, Bukkake Air

Dear Drew,
It's come to our attention, thanks to the good offices of our intrepid news team at Gawker, that Drew Barrymore is finished with the movies and would like to change careers and become a travel writer. Well put your money where your mouth is Drew. That thing to the right of this post is called a Sidebar and that's where we put contributors or as they're called in the biz, "contribs." We'd cordially like to extend an invitation to you to join up with us. Now we won't force you to flash us, but we wouldn't mind. Ok, we might force you but that's how it works in the travel writing world.

Yours,
Gridskipper

Drew Barrymore Is A Nudist Little Bird [Gawker]

Stephen "The Iago of Top Chef Season 1" Asprinio's soon-to-open LA wine bar Tastevin hopes to be a hip wine-bar catering to 20-somethings with discretionary income. But it is our great hope that it will become a gathering place for some of reality tv's greatest villains. Perhaps Wendy Pepper will trek cross country from her hickville Virginia atelier to be joined by the satanic Ilan Hall. And who knows you might even get to see Puck and Chris Tamburello bonding over a glass of silky Pinot grigio. Odds are though that when the wine bar opens it'll be filled with your run-of-the-mill Los Angeleno yuppies, villainous in a more mundane sense. Tastevin, as Slashfood and LA Eater note, the wine bar will have wine on tap, whereby patrons can taste up to three wines before purchase. If Asprinio's venture succeeds he'll shockingly be the only Top Chef contestant to make anything out of their life, well besides a mockery.

The Next Step for Stephen Asprinio [Slashfood]

Previously: Buy the Clothes Off Kim Kardashian's Rack, The Best Table in the house at the Miracle of Science Bar, Sky Bar is Hip Again (Yay!) You Can't Get In Again (Boo!), LA's Village Idiot

Will America lose its least weird celebrity neologism, Brangelina, to Germany? All signs, sadly, point to Jah. According to the soon to fold weekly German publication Vanity Fair, the two have bought a 600 sq. meter apartment in the Mitte, the super hip Tribeca of Berlin. Specifically the two adults and myriad children have chosen to reside in SoTo, or to those not up on their Berlin real estate abbreviations, SoTo (South Torstrasse). The couple who sweat righteousness, have publicly stated they don't wanna raise their kids in Hollywood and Berlin, we guess, is the only other option in the world. Stay tuned for International Gawker Stalkings when the time comes.

Brad Und Angelina Kommen Nach Berlin [VF]

Previously: 15 Hours to Kill in Berlin? Two Words: Fass Binder, Hot Shots of Two German Bears, Pussy Not Posse, Helmut Newton Foundation: Foundation, that means it's not dirty, right?, A Guide to Not See Berlin, More Propeller City Lodge

Not watching Lost is un-American and anyone who says anything different is a terrorist. Unbeknownst to us, it turns out it isn't really a reality tv show as we previously thought and isn't filmed on a deserted island where Michel's a romantic spot at Colony Surf. Michel serves Hawaiian fusion the way it was meant to be, not like Ilan's bullshit saffron fritters. He also recommends Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. As literate as he is rugged, Holloway describes Giovanni's as an "old, beat up, white van parked on the side of the street. They serve the best garlic shrimp scampi." Word.

Yunjin on the other hand, is clearly the foodie of the cast. She recommends, Indigo,
"a popular Eurasian restaurant, where diners can sample the cuisine in the main room or unwind in the opium den and Champagne Bar;" Hoku's which serves "slow-braised Kahuku pork belly and pancetta=crusted snapper."

Getting Lost in Paradise [MSNBC]

Previously: $325 Shots in Hawaii, Sumo Food, Wasabi Bistro, Wang's World, Seattle Got the Hook-Up

Don't you just hate it when you're hanging out in a hotel lobby and some celeb comes up to you and says, "Hey, do I know you from somewhere?" Well, at the Sunset Tower Hotel in Los Angeles, one place that won't happen to you (at least with P. Diddy). The paternal and dapper star was kicked out of the hotel after trying to crash a Golden Globes party. After the jump, a dramatic reenactment of the encounter,

Austin Scarlett shares few qualities with Austin, TX; Brooklyn Beckham shares nothing with Marty Markowitz's borough but New York, from the Flavor of Love, shares everything with her name sake. Like her, our most treasured possession is also her vagina. More evidence from the VH1 blog as to why New York is the most perfect New York synedoche after the jump.

Though we humbly disagree with LA.com's assertion, "LA will always be home to the native Angeleno,"--the man is a preternatural Windsor Terracer--Jake Gyllenhaal has been putting in some serious face-time in the world's zeitgeistiest city. LA.com has been there to add pithy commentary and addresses to where it is exactly his puppy dog eyes have been turning, his well-formed pecs have been flexing and where his sartorius has been attaching to his anterior superior iliac spine. There are the same hangouts to which all celebs flock (Chateau Marmont) but also some more salt-of-the-earth places like Angellini Osteria and of course M to the OZZA.

Spotted: Jake Gyllenhaal [LA.com]

Previously: Best Bistros of LA, Best of the Rest(aurants): LA Edition, Weeneez: Ceci N'est Pas Une Weenerie, Shawarma Kitchenb: The Way it was meant to be

Well beside the fact that one sucks and the other bites, what are the differences between Joe Sharkey, Time's writer and Robin Leach, chronicler of the lives of the rich and famous? Has anyone else noticed that one never sees Sharkey and Leach in the same place at the same time? Our theory is that either they are alter egos or twins who, like Romulus and Remus, feud. Sharkey's latest article, and the first one not milking his near-death experience like the buxom milkmaid he is, doesn't help his case for individuation. The article is Leachian in its focus on the super rich, a primer to owning your own jumbo jet. These jets, "favored by Arab sheiks and other fabulously wealthy people who tend not to advertise their opulent lifestyles" come equipped with movie theaters, emergency rooms and full-size bedrooms. Leach, for his part, recently chronicled a $6,000 Carl Jr's Combo meal that's served at the Palms Hotel. Oh, all the news that's fit to print.

For the Super-Rich, It's Time To Update the Old Jumbo Jet .[NYT]
Robin Leach's Luxe Life

Previously: This Is What You Get, Nobody Leans on Sharkey's Machine, NY Biz Hotels, Guy Trebay: In the Velvet-Lined Trenches

New York magazine's stellar Home Design issue came chock-a-block with historical celebrity apartments, which, as you might know, is a Gridskipper subject of choice. One of the nicer apartments featured is the capacious former lodgings of Leonard Bernstein. The composer, pianist and musical director of the New York Philharmonic, lived in the famous Dakota building on 1 West 72nd Street from 1974 to his death in 1990. In 1996, the 15-room doozy was sold for $4 million to Peter G. Terian who died in 2002. Now the apartment is anonymously inhabited. But the Dakota is perhaps one of the most famous apartment buildings in New York.

Built in 1884, the Dakota brought the Upper West Side out of the wilderness. Since it's unveling, the building has been the home of Boris Karloff, Judy Garland, Judy Holliday, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Paul Simon, Lauren Bacall, Mr. Bernstein of course, John Madden. It's even had two big, albeit it, singularly named rockstars: Bono and Sting. In 1980, John Lennon was killed in front of the building.

NY Mag Home Design
The Dakota [Wikipedia]

Previously: Pic of the Day: Midtown Has Never Looked As Good, Open House NY, Culture+Travel: Review, Surf the Serifs

Many of Manhattan's literary contretemps has taken place at 1703 Second Avenue at a restaurant called Elaine's. Undoubtably known by most New Yorkers (at least New Yorkers who read the New Yorker) Elaine's is the neighborhood joint everybody from Capote to Woody Allen to Polanski frequented. Our literary brethren at Gawker recently featured a review by noted libertine novelist Jay McInerny about the place which makes mention of its highly cultured crowd. But perhaps the best place to look is the 2004 book Everybody Comes to Elaine's. You'll learn of when Truman Capote was turned away with a doorman saying "I'm not letting fags in here." On a typical night, one could find Candace Bushnell, Mia Farrow, Frank Sinatra, Leopold Stowkowski, Lord Snowden, George Hamilton and Angela Landsbury. But by far, my favorite story is also one of the more sordid and litigious ones. Who can forget Lewis Lapham's account of Roman Polanski's amorality?

Paris Hilton dropped by Oktoberfest to flash her bodiced titties and hype Rich Prosecco, a drink, one assumes, made Dark Crystal-style by sucking the life blood out of the proletariat. A Mozart opera that included a scene in which Mohammad's severed head was displayed was severed itself after Islamic threats were reported to police. Strangely, Buddhists threats of violence were reported. Speaking of severing, an ex-insurance salesman will break up with your soon-to-be-ex for you. Just give Bernd Dressler three reasons and €20 to do it over the phone or €50 in person. Dammit, and I've just been sleeping with their best friend to get the message across. Hitler's watercolors are up for sale; they are expected to bring in US$190,000 and will be pleasant adornment for some rich neo-Nazi family room.

Previously: Uber Ennui Makes For Good Shopping, Berlin Wolf Parade, Berlin's Gummy Wall, Roofies, Battle of Berlin: Anti-Ad Activists and the Companies Who Co-Opt Them, Origami: Some Real Street Shit, I Will Always Bleibtreu: Berlin Boutique Hotel, Forgotten Photographer On Display in Berlin

Goddamn the New York Times. You get up on Sunday and you've literally got three hundred pages to read. Even with the reprieve for subscribers (half of Sunday's paper on Satruday) and the automatic ejection of the Business section, you can kiss any Sunday plans goodbye. This weekend though, was a particular horror/delight as the Times' dropped its Style magazine focusing on Fall Travel. The cover story is Sofia Coppola take on Paris and since she's rich, pretty and famous, she takes a lot. Lynn Hirschberg goes shopping with the taste/champagnge maker for a couple ofdays and clearly has a girl crush on her (understandable). Though the article isn't recommended reading for those prone to jealousy, Coppola's picks aren't too trendy or even too pricey. Here are some of the shopping stops that find favor in Miss Coppola's almond-shaped eyes, her beautiful almond-shaped eyes.

Azzedina Alaia: King of Cling's boutique and shoe shop in the Marais
Benneton Graveur: Stationery, Heraldic Engraving, Bronze Casts
Galerie 213: Tucked into Rue Charlot, this librarie focuses exclusively on photography books
Dary's: Antiques, according to the NYT, an "Ali Baba-ish cavern teeming with artists, actors, models, and jewelry lovers."
Deyrolle: Best stuffed dead stuff in the world
Free P Star: Despite the name, the thrift store is one of the best in the Marais, or Paris, or, I guess, the world.
Les Archives De La Presse: Old magazines in the Marais
Sabbia Rosa: US$400 bras. I bought one here for my SO and wrote about it at the TMN

[Photo: NYT]

Previously: Tis The Season of Les Vide-Greniers, Death Becomes You, Artazart: Designy Bookshop, I'm Rick Owens, Beeatch, Crea Craft Mecca, Paris On Sale, Aurore-Capucine Patisserie

Continuing our chronicle of Banksy, aka De La Vega done well, the Bristol graffiti artist sold one of his paintings entitle Picnic to Angelina Jolie for $226,000. The painting, featured in his recent show Barely Legal, depicts a white family picnicking while a group of emaciated Africans stare forlornly on. It seems like Miss Jolie is seeking to atone for her white-than-wonder W spread. But considering how much she and Brad got paid for that spread, she's got a couple of more acquisitions to go.

Jolie spends £200,000 on Banksy art [Yahoo.UK]

Previously: The Namibia Hotel Where Brad and Angelina Picnicked, Angelina Buys Dubai, Getaway Girls, The Best Graffiti That Wasn't, Laughing All The Way to the Banksy, Banksy Hits NYC Museums, Collections Increase By One, Banksy on Melbourne Street Art, Pic of the Day: 1 Picture=1,000 Pictured Words, Arofish's Warzone Stencils, Anti-Ad Activists and the Companies Who Co-opt Them, Origami: Some Real Street Shit, They're Not Homeless, They're Art!

Yahoo! Current is, in the words of some PR hack, YouTube for adults. The video site recently launched a channel devoted to travel called Yahoo Current Traveler which kicked off with a video by ubiquitous celebrity Bono. Entitled "A Day in the Life of The Edge in Miami," the video is 5 minutes or so of Bono annoying the crap out of The Edge. The two part epic does however shed some light on Bono, The Edge, Miami and Yahoo capricious whimsy. The Edge, funnily, is called The Edge always. You'd think there'd be some nickname like Edgie or T'edge. But no, when Bono strolls into The Edge's hotel room in Miami to wake him up, he calls out, "The Edge? The Edge?" which brings us to the second interesting fact though one we all suspected, Bono is irritating. Not only does he rouse The Edge from slumber but he does so while giving an exposition about the "new sort of news channel" called Current. The Edge, appropriately parries by saying, "I don't want to be on the news, You do." Later, The Edge gives a tour of their ridiculously opulent suite, talks shit about yoga and insults the paparazzi and Bono proves he can be annoying even when he's not in front of the camera but behind it.

Yahoo! Current Traveler

Previously: Dan Smith Has Taught Me Guitar, Bono, Hotelier, Bono Probability Positioning System, Dennis Hopper May Have Slept Here, Club A in Miami, Oasis Hotel: A Better Place to Stay?

For an underground artist, Banksy is pretty ubiquitous. His work has popped up everywhere from Disneyland to CD shelves in Paris, museums in Brooklyn and on A1 of the Times. Now he's even had his first show in LA called Barely Legal. The warehouse show lasted merely three days, which meant lines of celebs queued around the warehouse for the VIP preview while standard issue hipsters curled up outside of the building during the hoi polloi preview. The brevity of the show is made more understandable when one notes one piece was a painted elephant. Renting an elephant for more than a weekend could break even Banksy.

Banksy [Official site]
Banksy Photos [Flickr pool sans luminaries]
Banksy Photos [via Supertouch featuring Brad Pitt, Meg White and Everlast]

[Photo: Banksy Hits NYC Museums, Collections Increase By One, Banksy on Melbourne Street Art, Pic of the Day: 1 Picture=1,000 Pictured Words, Arofish's Warzone Stencils, Anti-Ad Activists and the Companies Who Co-opt Them, Origami: Some Real Street Shit, They're Not Homeless, They're Art!

International and intranational celebrity sightings outside the purview of New York or Los Angeles are anonymously contributed by readers worldwide. Send your own stalkings, paparazzi experiments, and legitimately casual celebrity encounters to tips@gridskipper.com

Sunday (9/17), waiting at the gate for a Northwest Airlines flight from Detroit's airport to LaGuardia -standing at the front of the line: Darth Vader himself- well, his voice, at least - James Earl Jones. Mr. Vader was dressed in all black and quite affable to anyone who approached him as we waited for our delayed flight. He boarded the plane first, without an entourage of publicists or stormtroopers.

I spotted Julian Casablancas at the Conrad hotel in Chicago meeting his drummer for a show
tonight (Sept. 14th).  Julian and I waited for an elevator to get to the lobby and while we stood there,
he adjusted his leather wrist cuff nervously.  He looks meatier in the face than he did back in good old
2001, but I'm not complaining

Saturday the 9th at the screening of The United States vs. John Lennon at the film festival in Toronto:  Reichen from the Amazing Race (Incandescently beautiful) and Lance Bass of N'Sync.  Before the movie started Lance gave Reichen a foot rub.

Elle Macpherson and Viggo Mortensen making out at the Electric Cinema bistro on
Portobello Rd, Notting Hill, London. 5 minutes ago. (September 5th)

Previously: International Gawker Stalker: Lethem Leaves Fortress of Solitude; Liu Shops at Outlets; Dan Quayle Still Dumb, Intranational Gawker Stalker: Hulkscaping, International Gawker Stalker: Sad Corduroy, Adoring Owen, Napoleaonic Albino

Liam and Noel Gallagher are switching from destroying hotel rooms to creating them. The brothers, whose powers combined form the Britpop band Oasis, are up to their hairy pale ankles in a plan to "open as many hotels as possible by the end of 2007." This means Oasis hotels in New York and Miami. True to the egotism that made Liam Gallagher code for "bratty arrogant rock star", the brothers plan to model the rooms after titles from their hit songs and name the chain Supernova Heights, after Noel's home (yeah, he named his home). The duo plan to "install booze and fags in every room of their New York hotel, in honour of their track Cigarettes & Alcohol." This plan, however, has run afoul of anti-smoking (perhaps even homophobic) New Yorkers. I am personally looking forward to the "Don't Look Back in Anger" suite which'll include, perhaps, an in-room slide (for her soul to slide away on), a comfy bed (to start a revolution from) and enough qualuudes you'll look back only in euphoria.

Oasis hotel? Some might say... [Daily Star]
Oasis [Official site]

Previously: Another Bratty Celebrity's Foray into Miami Hotels, The Future of NY Hotels, Hotel Porn Has Conservative's Collective Panties in A Bundle,

The Detroit Metro Press this week is inaugurating a new column called Motor City Cribs and Rides, a rather straight-forward affair in which the houses (cribs) and rides (cars) of Motor City (Detroit) celebrities (D-Listers) will be showcased. The first installment was promising. We see the 1972 Monte Carlo the bassist of the Detroit Cobras drives and the porch where J-Dilla used to hang out. Most interestingly, by far, is the history of the house where seminal proto-punks MC5 lived (pictured). Metro Press:

Tucked in a well-kept row of University of Michigan fraternities and sororities at 1510 Hill St. in Ann Arbor is the home that housed the MC5. Drive-by history lesson: The band, fleeing Detroit arson and cops -- and FBI harassment, natch -- would find more of the same up in A2. They lived here in 1968 and 1969. The stately Victorian mansion was also home to John Sinclair and the White Panther Party. Later these residences became an ashram. In 1984 the houses were purchased by the Inter-Cooperative Council and now are known as the Luther Coop. The basement, where one can picture the MC5 kicking the jams back in the day, is now a weight room. Perfect, eh? Anyway, U-M students can live where the 5 slept, rocked and fucked. Today, the house is just around the corner from Sigma Phi -- the "metal" fraternity.

Let It Roll [Metro Press via Good Produce]
MC5 [Official site]

[Photo: Metro Press]

Previously: Detroit Magic Stick, Escape From Detroit, Detroit Rock and Other Musical Genres As Well Thank You Very Much, Detroit Technotronica Mecca, Detroit: World's Least Sexiest City

International and intranational celebrity sightings outside the purview of New York or Los Angeles are anonymously contributed by readers worldwide. Send your own stalkings, paparazzi experiments, and legitimately casual celebrity encounters to tips@gridskipper.com

I just sat next to Jonathan Lethem @ the Friendly's in Bennington, VT. And yes, I made an ass of myself.

I saw Lucy Liu shopping at the Ralph Lauren outlet (I know, right?) in Rehoboth, Delaware. she had no makeup on, but that voice and those cheekbones are unmistakable. no one else seemed to notice her except me and my sister. She bought about $500 worth of stuff.

From Rome: I ended up sitting next to Dan Quayle and his wife. First I thought I was sitting
next to a really stupid man (the waitress brought over a bottle of wine and smelled
the cork and then gave it to him to do the same but he just looked at it and kept
nodding and smiling, his wife had to tell him that you're supposed to smell it.)
She was really mean and pushy and kept complaining about how the Colosseum
was really boring or something

[via Gawker]

Previously: Intranational Gawker Stalker: Hulkscaping, International Gawker Stalker: Jew Boob, International Gawker Stalker: Sad Corduroy, Adoring Owen, Napoleonic Albino, International Gawker Stalker: Gracious Way, Tiny Diner, Rock n Roll Solid Ass

Maintaining their focus on forward-looking curatorial praxis, Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum unveiled a wax rendering of Shiloh Pitt-Jolie, the two-month-old creature who sprung from the loins of Brad Pitt. You can even snatch the infant up and pose with it. In a bid to assuage their guilt at prostituting an infant, Tussaud's is donating $1 per each photo to UNICEF. That all doesn't do much to assuage the jealousy of wax Jennifer Aniston who glares dolefully from a nearby gallery, watching her waxy dreams of a family melt away.

NYC Wax Museum Show Off Jolie-Pitt Baby [Netscape]
Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum New York

[Photo: AOL]

Previously: Wax Babies In Florence, The Hotel Where Flesh Baby Shiloh Was Born, Brad Pitt Rebuilds N'Awlins, The Sounds Of Shiloh's Being Made, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Make Pilaf

Not that anyone ever said it was, but Birmingham wants you to know it is not shit. It's an industrial powerhouse, dammit!!! So eager are the Brummies over at Birmingham: It's Not Shit to prove their inherent lack of shititude that they've posted a short video of Kojak, the tough-talkin' Telly Savalas narrating a short film about the glorious Birmingham which is not, by the way, shit.

Telly Savalas Looks At Birmingham [Birmingham: It's Not Shit]

Previously: Fabulizing Travel Agent Next on Oprah's Shit List

Jonesin' for some sweet action with a bevy of dead French scribes, but don't have the green for a quick jaunt to Paris? Fear not, for the Cimetiere du Pere LaChaise website offers a great virtual tour, complete with 360 degree views and easy navigation. "Walk" through the cemetary grounds or jump directly to the final resting place of the celebre of your choice. See multiple views of the grave sites of Apollinaire, Gertrude Stein, Balzac and the smooch-covered grave of Oscar Wilde.

Cimetiere du Pere LaChaise [official site]

Pere Lachaise [via wikipedia}

[Diane Cohen]

Previously: Italians Strip; French Curl Up in Foetal Position, Santi Gets Haughty with Water, Crea Craft Mecca

Peering up from steerage or from a neighboring booth, Gawker stalkers can spot celebrity from a mile away. If you've seen a celeb, served a celeb, or saved a celeb (Werner Herzog, this means you!) in the US, internationally or in international airspace, email us at tips@gridskipper.com. Now for this week in spying on fame:

Saw Elijah Wood on a Virgin flight from London to JFK. Recognized his eyes immediately but was taken aback by the fact that he is smokin' and a little but taller than I thought. My hubbie was also excited to tell his friends he saw Frodo- his excitement made my drooling a little bit more acceptable.

Just saw James Woods dining at Bugaboo Creek, a steakhouse in Warwick, Rhode Island. James' mother and brother live nearby and James is here quite a lot. Beautiful young blonde dining with him tonight, Sunday 7:30pm est.

Sarah Ferguson on a Virgin Atlantic flight from JFK to London last night (Saturday). I was about 3 seats away from them in Upper Class and thus had the rather unpleasant experience of seeing Fergie in her PJs with her gnarly bare feet hanging over the edge of her sleeper seat. Let's face it, she's always been a frump so I really can't fault her for looking horsey and unkempt - that's her thing - but it was still a bit surreal to have a sleepover with the Duchess of P...York. On the other hand, she seemed surprisingly unaffected as did her daughter (I think it was the younger one) who was polite and even kind of pretty.

[via Gawker]

Previously: International Gawker Stalker, International Gawker Stalker: Hulkscaping, International Gawker Stalker: Jew Boob

A post at fellow B.A. blog Buenos Aires: city of faded elegance points us to a take on the city we'd never seen before: David Byrne's blog of a recent trip to the Argentine capital to hang out and play with La Portuaria, a band with whom he recorded a song that won the Argy equivalent of a Grammy. He stayed at the bobo Hotel and, amidst able observations on the city ("This hotel is located on Guatemala, between Jorge Luis Borges and Thames -- the names alone say a lot about the cultural makeup of this town. A mixture of Latin America and Europe -- a mixture that produced a writer and culture that are completely unique."), he bikes to the Parque Ecological, shoots a video across the street from the Chacarita cemetery (above), rehearses in San Telmo, and heads off to Bariloche. This is what DB does when he's not burning down the house.

David Byrne on Buenos Aires & Argentina [Buenos Aires: city of faded elegance]
David Byrne Journal [DavidByrne.com]
La Portuaria [Official site]

[Ian Mount]