Jessica Alba Attains a Deeper Hotness

Filed under “Media” and “Sex & Gender
by Adam at 11:55 PM

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Jessica Alba, on the cover of Rolling StoneJessica Alba is a hottie. Everyone knows this. Still, I paid her little mind until last night. “Dark Angel” was lame and derivitive (and her acting awful), and her movie choices have been less than great (though I’m witholding judgment on Sin City). Fairly or not, I judge actors not just on their performances, but also on my opinion of the parts they choose. Alba just didn’t seem that interesting to me, great body or no.

Last night, while looking for supporting dirt for my post on the Cruise–Holmes fiasco, I ran across a post on Defamer that linked to an Alba interview in Rolling Stone. In the article, she talks about the perils of being exceedingly gorgeous in Hollywood (typecasting), jokes wearily about the kind of scripts she gets (“[They all] start ‘Tawnya is in the shower. The water streams down her naked, perky breasts.’”), and speaks shrewdly and openly about her plans for the future of her career.

It turns out that Jessica Alba is more than just a hottie. Evidently she’s also a smart, level-headed, no-nonsense hottie. And man, there is just nothing sexier than a combination like that.

P.S. This has been the innagural post of the Sex & Gender category. Are you as amazed as me that it took almost two years to get one of those? What was I thinking?

Bizarre Katie Holmes Interview Stokes Brainwashing Rumors

Filed under “Media,” “Oddities,” and “Spirituality & Philosophy
by Adam at 1:32 PM

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I’ve been doing my best to stay away from the bizarre celebrity coupling that’s become known as “TomKat,” but a recent article on Salon.com got my attention. Apparently, Holmes has gone into full-on Stepford Fiancée mode…

Katie Holmes’s eerie behavior during an interview for women’s mag W has cranked the creepiness factor of the Cruise–Holmes relationship to 11. Interviewer Robert Haskell paints a disturbing portrait of Holmes, “her beautiful green eyes focused on nothing in particular,” rambling on worshipfully about her beau in response to every question, no matter what the topic. The non-sequiters flow fast and furious:

Do you worry that this might be a rebound romance for either of you?

“I’ve never met anyone like Tom.”

Do you ever wonder whether this is just a honeymoon phase?

“Tom and I will always be in our honeymoon phase.”

Do you feel that, with more relationship experience, you get better at resolving conflicts?

“Meeting Tom—I’m just exhilarated. He makes me laugh, we have fun, we understand each other, everything is so aligned. I feel so lucky and so—like I’ve been given such a gift, such a gift, you know?” She pauses. “And it’s just really amazing.”

Is there anything you guys don’t have in common?

“You know, we appreciate each other.”

Has it been a challenge to make his kids feel comfortable?

“They’re just exceptional people.”

Isn’t it an adjustment to move in with someone—and after only a month?

“He’s the man of my dreams.”

Does he leave his dirty socks on the bedroom floor? Something? Anything?

“No.”

A creepy photo of Katie from W magazine
The glassy-eyed stare of true love? (photo from W magazine)

Perhaps even more troubling was the (required) presence of her new “best friend” — high-ranking Scientologist Jessica Rodriguez — at the interview. Holmes recently announced that she’s converting to the kooky alien cult alternative religion, which her man Tom is a vocal proponent of. Rodriguez jumped in to answer one question on Holmes’s behalf (about rumors that the pairing is a publicity stunt), and at one point prompted the starlet with “You adore him” when Holmes seemed to be running out of effusive praise.

Finally, there are the pictures that accompany the article, one of Katie in a wedding dress. In almost every photo, she has this creepy glazed-over look in her eyes that chills the spine. What on earth is happening to this woman? Shouldn’t someone stop it?

(Props: Salon.com and Mostly Fit to Print)

Elsewhere…

  • Visit Operation Clambake, run by an ex-Scientologist of thirty years, for the low down on the cult.
  • Gizmodo offers the scoop on the e-meter, a key piece of Scientology’s “spiritual technology.”
  • Columnist Mark Morford predicts that it’s only a matter of time before Cruise decides to make a film called The Passion of the Hubbard (science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard founded Scientology in the 1950s).
  • TomCruiseIsNuts.com — The name says it all. Full of memorable quotes such as, “There is no such thing as a chemical imbalance” and “It’s just like, ‘Huh? Wow, man. Wow.’…”

Updates

Don’t Touch My Bone

Filed under “Media,” “Oddities,” “Humor,” and “Video
by Adam at 7:26 AM

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This video was sent to me by a co-worker yesterday. A dog bravely defends a bone at all costs… against its own foot. Very weird.

Click the image below to download the full video (Windows Media format, 3 MB). Click the play button to watch it via Google Video:

Microsoft, HP Collaborate on Orwellian National ID Program

Filed under “Privacy,” “Technology & the Law,” and “Politics
by Adam at 1:32 AM

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Tech giants Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft are working together to make the jobs of overbearing governments everywhere just a little bit easier. In late May HP rolled out the National Identity System, based on Microsoft’s .Net technologies. The system is designed to make implementation of, say, a national ID card much simpler. It appears from HP’s press release that NIS can be made to work with either biometric data such as fingerprints, or more traditional tracking mechanisms like bar codes. No doubt support for RFID, everyone’s favorite nascent Orwellian technology, can’t be far behind.

With the passage early this summer of the REAL ID Act — tucked sneakily into a sure-to-pass appropriations bill for the war effort — technology like this will soon be making its way into American wallets.

(Props: Hot for Data,” by Annalee Newitz)

More Info

Spamusement

Filed under “Humor,” “Technology & the Law,” and “Arty Stuff
by Adam at 3:37 PM

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Just like the site says: “Poorly-drawn cartoons, inspired by actual spam subject lines!” Funny stuff.

(Props: Jesse’s Blog)

Update