Monday, March 31, 2008

Paris Hilton on National Geographic cover!

It looks like a typical National Geographic cover with the signature yellow border. So what's Paris Hilton doing on there?

The folks at Harvard Lampoon persuaded employees of one of the most respected magazines to help them ensure their April Fool's parody - with stories on Mongolia's wildest waterparks and Native Girls Gone Wild - looked authentic.

The issue, coming out on Tuesday, is the latest in a string of Harvard Lampoon magazine parodies.

But the undergraduate group had never done National Geographic, which quickly responded when contacted by the students last summer.

"My guess was they were just extremely bored and they were tired of working with animals and scientists and wanted to hang out with college students," said Hayes Davenport, who edited the magazine with fellow Harvard senior Ross Arbes.

Davenport said other publications have helped with their parodies in the past, such as when USA Today printed the Lampoon's version on its press in 1989.

And he said National Geographic's staffers - who had no editorial control over the parody - were eager to make fun of their ultra-serious image.

The magazine helped print the parody and distribute it alongside its own April edition in some areas, Arbes said.

A designer also helped lay out the parody to make it look as much like the original as possible.

"They provided things that were really valuable to us," Arbes said.

Editors from National Geographic could not be reached on Monday, but the magazine released a facetious statement.

"Editors are unavailable for comment, having left the country ... as usual," it said.

- Yahoo News

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Van Halen scraps more shows amid mystery ailment

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Rock band Van Halen's reunion tour fell into disarray on Monday when it announced it would postpone all shows through April 19 while guitarist Eddie Van Halen undergoes tests for an unspecified medical condition.

The news came a week after the group postponed four shows for the same reason.

Seventeen shows are now affected, beginning Tuesday in Charlottesville, Va., and running through April 15 in Baltimore, which was one of the four postponed last week. The next scheduled show is set for April 19 in Las Vegas.

According to organizers, Van Halen, 53, who has battled cancer and substance abuse, "is currently under doctors' care" and will "continue medical tests to define a course of treatment." No further details were made available.

Fans are being asked to keep their tickets, which will be honored at makeup dates to be announced.

Van Halen returned to the road last fall with original lead singer David Lee Roth for the first time in 20-plus years. The tour, which features Eddie Van Halen's teenage son Wolfgang on bass in place of co-founder Michael Anthony, has routinely sold out North American arenas.

- Reuters/Billboard

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Jessica –- I'm So NOT High-Maintenance

Jessica Simpson is flogging reports that her trip to Kuwait to visit the troops is a big production.

Her rep tells People that Jess flew commercial and that she is in fact staying in the barracks with the troops. What's more, she denies that her trip is more of a fly-by than an actual visit: "She's been with the troops all day. She's had her meals with them."

As for reports that she had a full-scale beauty battalion with her, the rep says that super-stylist Ken Paves isn't with Jess, and that she has "significantly scaled back her entourage."

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Justin -- Brit's Just a "Madonna Wannabe"

Justin Timberlake didn't keep his stick in a box on Monday night, when he jabbed at ex-galpal Britney Spears at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony.

"The world has always been full of Madonna wannabes," said JT as he introduced the Material Mom, an inductee, reports Us. "I might have even dated a couple." Day-um. He also zinged, "She has still found time to kiss someone I may or may not have publicly kissed myself while I was in the audience. Of course you know I was talking about Sean Penn."

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Britney Spears' lawyer says K-Fed can pay own bill

If Kevin Federline can afford to tip a waitress two grand, he can pay his own legal fees, say lawyers for Britney Spears. Monday in a Los Angeles court, K-Fed pleaded poverty, saying his ex-wife should continue to pay his hefty law bill — $405,000 to be exact. In just four months, the acrimonious exes have racked up over a million dollars in lawyers' fees, all of which Brit is currently responsible for.

But Stacy Phillips, Britney's newest legal eagle, says that the once down-and-out Federline is more than capable of paying his own bills. "He needs to take responsibility for the diligent work being done on his behalf," she said.

Phillips told the court commissioner Federline should pay between $150,000 and $175,000 and claimed he omitted his $200,000 spousal- support checks from his earning declarations. Phillips also argued that Federline recently tipped a waitress $2,000 on a $365 bill, and has blown $20,000 on jewelry, phone calls and food while listing the charges as "business expenses."

Mark Vincent Kaplan, lawyer for Federline, says that Britney should not only keep signing his checks, but that the singer is actually getting a bargain. Said Kaplan: "If the court does not order [her] to pay, there cannot be a legal playing field. Our fees are far under the market level for the package you get."

He may be right. Spears' old law firm, Trope and Trope, charged her $630,000 for four months' work, while Federline's bill from Kaplan was about $250,000 less.

Spears didn't actually attend the hearing — her dad, Jamie Spears, executor of her estate, made an appearance. The pop tart may have been home preparing for her upcoming foray into television: CBS has confirmed that Spears will be a guest star on an episode of "How I Met Your Mother" this season.

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