Hawthorne

TNT's Hawthorne begins season three tonight with "For Better or Worse." Christina (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Tom (Michael Vartan) barely get through their "I do's" before having to rush off to work because of a neighbor's car wreck. At the end of the day, Christina is beat up badly in the parking lot. Tom convinces Brenda (Anne Ramsay) to do multiple risky procedures to try to save their baby, though Cat (Lauren Velez, Dexter) refuses. The baby dies anyway, and Christina insists on pushing it out, rather than having it removed. Nick (Marc Anthony, now a series regular) hunts, and eventually finds, her attacker. With Christina down, Morrissey (James Morrison) immediately and permanently replaces her as CNO with Bobbie (Suleka Mathew). After learning Bobbie has accepted the position, Steve (Adam Rayner) decides not to propose to her, as he has planned on doing. Candy (Christina Moore) returns to the hospital and delivers her own baby.
Given that Hawthorne begins as a standard procedural, there is no reason to watch the beginning of the series. This episode, however, is excellent, and if it representative of what the show has become, then Hawthorne deserves another chance. The story may be somewhat self contained, but also plays on larger arcs about relationships and pregnancies. There is a real focus on the characters and their various bonds rather than on a case of the week. With the slew of medical series currently on the air, this is the way to distinguish a show from its peers.

While Smith is perhaps not the best actress around, especially in the scene where she silently pushes out her dead baby, she is surrounded by a number of wonderful actors who will make viewers mostly forget her shortcomings, at least for this episode. Keeping her confined to a hospital bed likely helps. It remains to be seen whether being at the center of such a huge loss, speaking of the baby, will find Smith up to the task or not. Vartan, too, shows the limited range he demonstrates on Alias, but to his credit, it seems more a part of his character, rather than bad acting.
The contrast between Christina and Candy is nicely played, milking emotional impact out of both births, which happen very differently, but at the same time. Candy choosing to name her baby after Christina also slightly dampens the pure grief that comes with losing a child so early. While much of this episode focuses on death, the new life helps brighten the mood, though not in a stereotypical, cheesy way.
As for Steve and Bobbie, it's hard not to dwell on whether or not their relationship can weather such a disloyal move by Bobby. Morrissey's decision to choose a new CNO is understandable from a business perspective, though making it a permanent decision seems unduly harsh. Bobbie only accepts to keep the job from someone else. Perhaps she thinks she can give it back to Christina when the time is right, though others would not. Yet, it's easy to see why Steve interprets Bobbie's actions as blatant betrayal against a close friend. Will Steve come around to her way of thinking, or will they be soon splitting up?
Hawthorne airs Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. ET on TNT.

Gene Simmons Family Jewels

The tension between Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed boiled over during a recent taping of "The Joy Behar Show."

In an interview with the couple airing Wednesday, Behar tried to discuss Simmons'  infidelity, but received little response aside from Tweed's disgust.

When Behar, somewhat jokingly, asked the 61-year-old KISS bassist how his back is after bedding a reported 5,000 women, he joked right back – much to Tweed's chagrin.

"That's very nice for you to joke about it," Tweed said sarcastically. "F--- off."

The former Playboy Playmate, 54, then took off her microphone and walked off the set.

"Thanks for the question," Simmons said to Behar, who seemed shocked that he blamed her for Tweed's frustrations.

The couple's marital issues were front and center during the Season 6 premiere of their reality show, "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," on A&E Tuesday.

After 28 years and two children together, Tweed has tired of Simmons' affairs.

The "good news," she told Behar, was that they never got married, so a divorce wouldn't be necessary if she did ultimately decide to leave him.

But Simmons, despite his obvious discomfort, made clear he doesn't want to split.

"We belong together," he said.

Behar told Mediaite.com after the interview that she at first thought "they were kidding" when the couple talked of their marital problems.

"Then it got tense," she said.

Staffers said Simmons and Tweed had begun fighting in the green room before the taping started.

Behar admitted she left wondering if it was all a "hoax," but Simmons tweeted afterward that it wasn't "a publicity stunt."

"Wish I thought of it," he wrote. "VERY REAL on our end."

He also acknowledged that Behar was just doing her job.

"It's business" for the HLN journalist, he said, "not personal."

Good Morning America

Barry Manilow is releasing his first album of original songs in a decade and gave a special preview this morning on Good Morning America!
Barry’s new album of original songs is titled, 15 Minutes, and he gave a sampling for Good Morning America.
Why did Barry make fans wait so long for new original songs?

“Well, I was having a great run with these decade albums,” Barry told GMA. “But I missed songwriting. I just missed it. So as soon as I could, I started to come up with an idea to write an album about…[15 Minutes].”
“It’s about fame,” Barry explained. “It’s about what happens — especially these days. Young people become famous overnight.”
Barry then performed his brand new song from his new album, “Bring on Tomorrow.”
What do you think?

Owl City

Adam Young, the one-man band best known as Owl City, became one of the world's most famous people virtually overnight in 2009, thanks primarily to his monster hit single "Fireflies" from his platinum-selling debut, Ocean Eyes. He's toured the world, played hundreds of shows, and says he's grown up quite a bit since—but he's still just as shy as he's ever.
Which is why when we asked for an interview to discuss his new album, All Things Bright and Beautiful, Young opted to do the Q&A via e-mail—just as he did when we interviewed him last year. Young says his shyness "certainly hasn't decreased by any means" and "telephone conversations still terrify me." We didn't want to terrify the guy, so e-mail it was.
In this digital conversation, we talked to Young about his sudden fame, his new album, his relentless schedule, his "romantic butterflies," and his faith. Young says, "Music is something that I can't imagine living without, and though it means more to me than the world itself, there is something that weighs significantly heavier on the scale of all things valuable and important in my life, that being my relationship with Jesus Christ. I am completely and utterly bereft of speech at how the Lord has chosen to use music in my life and what I do as Owl City."
When we last traded e-mails, your life was nuts—a grueling world tour, a lack of sleep, always on the move, barely a moment to relax. When you finally had a chance to slow down, what did you do?
The past twelve months have certainly been a whirlwind, and I could probably count the number of off-days I've had on one hand. But when your career revolves entirely around your passion, it's not a bad way to work by any means. The day after I returned home from the Ocean Eyes world tour, I started pre-production on All Things Bright and Beautiful. The day after I turned it in to the record label, I was out the door preparing for the upcoming six months of touring. Life is a roller coaster indeed! But at the end of the day, I always find myself on my knees thanking the Lord for allowing me to do what I'm most passionate about. There's no end to my sincere appreciation for the blessings I've been given.
How did overnight success affect you, for better or worse?
Despite the tidal waves of new situations and life scenarios mixed with heavy doses of insanity, I believe I've emerged from the smoke and debris a bit older and wiser. My innate level of shyness certainly hasn't decreased by any means (telephone conversations still terrify me), but I feel as though I'm able to tackle new endeavors and adventures in a healthier way than I was able to before any of this happened. The journey has seasoned me in a manner of speaking, and I feel like I've gained a bit of courage despite the onslaught of awkward uncertainty for such an introverted guy.
Why did you title the new album All Things Bright and Beautiful?
The Anglican hymn as well as the James Herriot book were a big part of growing up for me. I was raised singing the hymn in church, and my mother was a huge fan of Herriot's literary works and always had them around the house. The title was floating around in my head for who knows how long before I put two and two together and said, "That's it. That's what the new record has to be called."
How is the new album similar to Ocean Eyes, and how is it different?
A lot of inspiration found its way into this new record specifically regarding vocals. I spent the last twelve months onstage singing my lungs out in front of two thousand people every evening, and I grew pretty comfortable with the dynamic energy of that kind of atmosphere. I'd say the biggest step up in All Things Bright and Beautiful has to do with the lead vocal. It's more powerful, it's more aggressive when necessary, it's far less processed and Auto-Tuned; it's just more gutsy and bold. I'm not really a singer by nature, so that was a big step for me. Beyond that, the album feels a lot more conclusive; I believe it sounds more "finished" thanOcean Eyes does. The album was written, recorded, produced and engineered all in one room by one person, and thus I think it has a "watertight" quality to it that makes for a very definitive final product. My fingerprints are all over it!
On the new song "The Real World," you sing, "Reality is a lovely place, but I wouldn't want to live there." Over the last couple of years—word tours, becoming a "celebrity," rarely sleeping in your own bed—do you think you've experienced much "reality," at least like the rest of us?
I find it fascinating how some people think of daydreaming or "escapism" as a reckless way of turning one's back on responsibility, but for me, it couldn't be more opposite. The idea of going to/returning from a place in my head where everything is beautiful and absolutely perfect has an uncanny way of influencing almost EVERYTHING I do, whether it be creating music or writing lyrics or even living life day to day. I love imagining what the world would be like if things were in factperfect because it makes me WANT to do whatever I can to fulfill that dream in and around my own life.

The line, "Reality is a lovely place but I wouldn't want to live there" is a fun way of saying I appreciate life exactly as it is, and although I can't change the world by any means, I can touch it. It's merely my way of dealing with things by proclaiming I can't keep the dark days from happening or the frustrations from occurring, but I can fix my eyes on that one blue patch of sky and thus keep my eyes focused on what truly matters.
Talk about what happens in your head when you compose—the creative process before you write it down or put your hands on the keyboard. How does your faith play a role in that process?
The instant I hear a melody or a chord progression in my head is the instant I strike gold. I can hear the beginning, the middle, and the end of a given song, and know exactly where I want to steer it along the way. Coming up with ideas has never been a dry well for me; the real problem occurs when I must decide which road out of literally thousands I'm going to take! A song could go so many different directions, a lot of them tempting for various reasons (in a healthy way), but my prayer has always been, "Lord, just give me the songs you want me to write so I can record them, release them, put them in the can, and reflect all glory and praise back to you."
When you write, do you ever consciously think, "This will work well with the Christian market; that will work well with the mainstream"? Or do the songs just fall where they may?
In a manner of speaking, my music has an extraordinary way of writing itself, and I'm usually just "the guy at the desk"—and the same goes for lyrics. I never consciously think about what specific line or lyric will resonate with what audience. I merely try to push all that aside and write sincerely from the heart, as if myself and God will be the only ones ever to hear it. In that way, I believe it keeps my music very pure and uncontaminated by whatever preconceived notions I might start injecting into the writing process. I just sit down to write a song as if it's the first and last piece of art I'll ever have the privilege of working on. And a privilege it is.
What's the story behind the new song "Deer in the Headlights"?
I enjoy writing largely from the imagination, and usually that produces rather abstract imagery. But with "Deer in the Headlights," I wrote a personal song that plays close to the chest in a way that no other song I've written ever has. I was ending a serious relationship at the time, and I was harrowed by the fact that so many people (specifically me) have a funny tendency to desire romance merely for the sake of avoiding loneliness, which ultimately means it's not about LOVE at all! Sometimes it's easy to be "blinded by the light" and forget all about what true romance is designed by God to be. When all you focus on are the warm fuzzies, a relationship can become dangerous and disastrous very quickly. So the song plays closely to the fact that I needed to pull myself out of the lights and remember what's more important than the romantic butterflies.

Big Sean

Big Sean

As underwhelmed as we were with Big Sean and Kanye’s leaked track “Marvin Gaye and Chardonnay” yesterday, that’s how refreshed and pleasantly surprised we are with “Woopty Doo” today. Not officially a Big Sean jam—it’s Kanye’s other protege, the G.O.O.D.-signed mixtape grinder CyHi da Prynce who gets the lead credit on this one—it nonetheless also features Big Sean in a guest appearance and ‘Yeezy behind the decks with co-producer No I.D., making it feel like a makeup for yesterday’s disappointment. And as overblown, disjointed and obnoxious as “Chardonnay” was, that’s how chilled, smooth and breezy “Woopty Doo” is.
The real heroes here would have to be No I.D. and Kanye. From the first bleated notes of that sax riff, on top of that laid-back, tambourine-heavy beat, you know that the song’s daunting-seeming six-minute runtime is gonna feel like nothing at all. The riff is so light and quintessentially jazzy that it’s eerily reminiscent of old-school Pete Rock—something longtime fan (and recent collaborator) Kanye would undoubtedly take as a huge compliment, and deservedly so. With that loopy sax running underneath, the song could go for 15 minutes and would still feel like sipping on a mojito on a cool summer day.
CyHi and Sean don’t have to do much to sell the song’s beat, but their tales espousing the importance of prioritizing family and friends over wealth and hangers-on hit most of the right notes—especially on the chorus, where various shallow accomplishments (“You hit the club and made it rain / You spent like 50 on the chain”) are met with the titular reaction of fake excitement. Big Sean is particularly nice on his verse, admiring his hard-earned riches but pausing to ask himself “Who your real friends and friends by technicality? / They ask how yo momma is or ask for a salary?” Indeed, the hard questions one must take the time to ask when one is Finally Famous—good to see you’re ahead of the curve, Sean.

Hummus

Yield: 12 to 18 servings
12 ounces (1 1/2 containers) roasted garlic hummus
3/4 cup chopped grape tomatoes
Greek seasoning blend
Dried oregano
3/4 cup chopped, peeled English cucumber
Lemon-pepper seasoning
4 ounces crumbled light feta cheese
3 tablespoons chopped kalamata olives
Chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped green onions (mainly green portion)

1. Spread hummus in the bottom of a 9-inch pie place. Top evenly with chopped tomatoes; sprinkle lightly with Greek seasoning and oregano.
2. Top evenly with cucumber; sprinkle lightly with Greek seasoning and lemon-pepper seasoning.
3. Add a layer of feta; sprinkle evenly with olives, then parsley, then with green onions. Serve with assorted raw vegetables, pita wedges or crackers.
Per serving (based on 18): 60 calories; 3.5g fat; 0.5g saturated fat; 2mg cholesterol; 2g protein; 5g carbohydrate; 2g sugar; 1g fiber; 225mg sodium; 20mg calcium.

Hawthorne

Marc Anthony believes viewers can learn everything they need to know about the third season of TNT’s “HawthoRNe” from its promotional tagline “For better. For worse.”
“It really speaks volumes,” Anthony told the Herald in a recent telephone interview. “There are challenges of every kind. None of them stereo-typical.”
After being a guest on the show last season, Anthony joins the cast full-time this season (starting tonight at 10) as Detective Nick Renata.
Star and executive producer Jada Pinkett Smith and her husband, Will Smith, convinced him to take the gig.
“They explained to me each episode and where they wanted to take it and push every single boundary that you can imagine, and I was game,” he said. “I saw it as challenging. I saw it as something I could really sink my teeth into.”
Anthony was also named executive music producer of the show. He now has a recording studio in his trailer and is working on giving the drama a distinct sound.
“This is a precious opportunity to give the show an identity,” he said.

Earlier in the spring, wife Jennifer Lopez served as a judge on Fox’s “American Idol,” and Anthony was often in the audience. He met with the contestants to give them advice. “I’m a huge protector of artists,” he said. “I got to know these kids, and I knew how talented they were.”
He keeps in touch with them. “They e-mail me, ‘Marc, what do you think? Can I run something by you?’ They’re at a pivotal moment,” he said. “I think we’ve earned each other’s respect. It’s a privilege to be able to be looked at as that person who is going to be fair and honest. It’s not about imposing your will. It’s about just polishing the diamonds, because they’re diamonds already.”
After wrapping “HawthoRNe,” he and Lopez will head out to cast the Latin American talent competition “Q’Viva! The Chosen.” “It’s to celebrate Latin music, Latin culture, Latin art,” he said. The docu-series will follow the casting and the rehearsals leading up to the live show. Anthony said a network for the show will be announced soon.
In September, Anthony begins a multi-city tour and launches his clothing line with Kohl’s. With all this going on, would he have time to be part of the fourth season of “HawthoRNe”?
“If they invited me back, it would be really hard not to strongly consider making it part of my life,” he said.

Gene Simmons Family Jewels

KISS star Gene Simmons and his longtime live-in love Shannon Tweed have been making the talk show rounds to promote the upcoming season of their reality television show Gene Simmons Family Jewels, and in the wake of last week's verbal beat-down from Chelsea Handler, Simmons endured another televised humiliation yesterday as Tweed toldToday show hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb that the couple's 28-year relationship "is pretty much unraveled."
Simmons has been candid about his many infidelities, claming to have bedded more than 4600 women during his touring career with KISS, while Tweed has always maintained that his boasting is merely a public stance that he takes to enhance his image as a rock star. But in 2008 a sex tape featuring Simmons and model Traci Anna Koval leaked onto the Internet, and Tweed said Monday that she has held it together with Simmons for so many years for the sake of their two children, adding, "Those last two were a bitch."
Promotional clips from the upcoming season show Tweed confronting Simmons with yet another round of online pictures showing him with several young models, which he tries to shrug off, prompting her to pack and leave.
Asked Monday about the women in the photo, Simmons replied that he didn't know them previously, prompting Tweed to cut in, "Please . . . what he means is he didn't know their names."
"Did you have a fling with those girls, or was it just a picture?" Hoda Kotb asked Simmons outright.
"He's had a fling with many girls," Tweed answered, again cutting in while Simmons just sat there, visibly uncomfortable. He finally tried to explain himself, saying, "It's clear that men . . ."

"Please don't lump yourself in with . . ." Tweed cut him off again. "Other men are good," she continued, causing him to wince.
"Oh God," he said, "I'm so happy to be here."
"Didn't you know what you were getting into?" Gifford asked Tweed.
"You know what your mate tells you to be true," Tweed responded. "If somebody tells you something, you believe them or you don't believe them, and you go forward."
Asked outright if the upcoming season of the show will depict their relationship coming apart, Tweed said, "Well, you'll see. I don't want to give away everything, but it's not looking great."

Gene Simmons

Gene Simmons

After 28 years together and never ending rumors of his wandering eye, Shannon Tweed finally confronts Gene Simmons on Tuesday night's premiere of "Family Jewels."

When the Kiss bassist is photographed leaving a restaurant with two women -- when he should have been attending a family function -- his long-suffering partner has had enough and snaps.

Tweed admits she turned a blind eye for years while the un-married couple's two children, Nick and Sophie, were living at home.

But now that the youngest, Sophie, has left for college, she's taking Simmons to task -- and the cameras will capture it all for its sixth season.

"Oh, we're going to show lots of warts this year," Tweed tells TV Guide. "There were a lot of things that I kept to myself until they did go to college. A lot of mothers do that. A lot of couples stay together for the children. I think it's an obligation that parents have... You made a commitment, you had children, you should see it through."

But not everyone is happy the family is airing their dirty laundry.

Sophie, a freshman studying computer engineering, not only "hates" the cameras, she adds that it was difficult to juggle her parents' troubles and her schoolwork.

"I missed a lot of classes to come back and make sure everything was OK," she says.

Her big brother meanwhile didn't mind working through family issues on TV. "I like having a paying job," says Nick, a budding rock star who hopes to follow in his father's footsteps.

Tweed actually thinks "Family Jewels" has helped heal many of their emotional wounds. "It's kind of like therapy out in the open," she says. "By the time you're done, you're pretty much over your problems."

The sixth season of "Family Jewels" premieres Tuesday night on A&E at 10 p.m.

Sean Bean

I don't care what happened on last week's Game of Thrones.  For all intents and purposes, Sean Bean remains immortal in all forms.
E! Online reports that in a bizarre twist, the Game of Thronesactor recently found himself stabbed in a London bar brawl, but thankfully remains in good health.  Sustaning a glass shard stab wound to his arm and some punching bruises to his face, the actor refused a trip to the hospital, accepting first-aid from the pub's kit before proceeding to order another drink.
The incident arose when a fellow bar patron apparently made lewd comments to Bean's companion, 22-year old Playboy model April Summers, outside of Camden Hill's Bar and Brasserie.  Bean confronted the man for his actions and warned him off, only for the man to return and incite the resulting scuffle.

This bizarre happening occurs just days after :::spoiler alert::: Bean's character Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark faced a different kind of blade during his untimely death in ninth episode "Baelor."  Given the nature of the real-life incident, we'll assume the episode contains deleted scenes of Stark laughing things off and ordering an ale.
Bean's heroic actions aren't the first bit of violence related to Game of Thrones either, as back in April two Florida men ended up in a scuffle over the series that saw one of them hurled through a glass window.  Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt in either incident.

Army Wives

The Army Wives season finale didn’t feel much like a finale at all really. Surely the show will go on as it has already been announced that it will be renewed next year.
The question to ask is what characters will be returning for the next season’s show?
One of the big riddles was the excitement surrounding the drunken driving incident with Michael in the previous show was anticipated and expected to come into play during the finale, but it was mysteriously absent. This left the viewers wondering why it wasn’t included or mentioned in the last show.

Probably the most touching moment of the finale was when David finally accepted his situation and called Joan “mom,” this was a touching moment that caused many viewers to reach for a tissue. The finale had a welcomed theme based around the family and what it means to be part of one.

TGIF

Who's in Katy Perry's new video, you ask? It's more like who's not in Katy Perry's new video.
The video for the latest single "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" shows Perry's new attempt at comedy character acting (yeah, NewsFeed doesn't really get it either) where she plays a teenage nerd by the name of Kathy Beth Terry complete with braces, headgear and glasses. The video shows nerdy Terry venture into the unfamiliar world of a high school party, receive a geek-to-chic makeover, disturbingly grope a passed out football player and basically have the time of her life.

And why was this party so amazing? NewsFeed suspects it has to do with the stellar guest list, starting with the party-throwing, makeover-giving, Friday-loving Rebecca Black (who, thankfully, seems to have gotten over her anxiety over which seat to take). What's more, Hanson and Kenny G. are performing at this party, which is also attended by some of the people from Glee (but not Chris Colfer or Lea Michelle or Jane Lynch or anyone you'd recognize if you didn't watch the show). Whew! And if that's not quite enough celebrity action for you, the 8-minute video ends with Terry being lectured by her once-cool-but-now-square parents Debbie Gibson and Corey Feldman (be on the look out for the witty Lost Boys reference).

Okay so maybe we're being quick and loose with the word "celebrity" here (note to Perry: a cameo by your hubby Russell Brand would have vastly upped the star factor of this video) and the song itself is seriously annoying (we'd actually rather be listening to Black's "Friday" on repeat) and don't even get us started on Katy Perry's character. But, hey, it's always nice to see Kenny G. back in action, right? 

Kevin Mchale

Katy Perry, Rebecca Black and Kevin McHale had fun partying Last Friday Night!
Few days ago we reported that Rebecca Black will gonna make a cameo on Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night video as she was spotted as one of the party goers on the teaser. But it turns out to be a surprise when the 13-year-old Friday singer played a major role on the video.

Dr.Luke really makes a good creation – putting Friday hit makers together in one place and connecting their story about ‘teenage weekend celebration.’ On Rebecca Black’s Friday video, she and her friends are heading to a house party while on Last Friday Night video, Katy Perry a.k.a. Kathy Beth Terry joins Rebecca Black’s party.
On the video, Katy Perry’s 13-year-old fictional character named Kathy Beth Terry seen bothered on the ongoing gig next block. Kathy headed to the partying neighbor to complain but Rebecca Black snatched her to join the party. Black gives Kathy a makeover and helps her to get the hunky-popular guy.
Katy Perry also includes Kevin McHale – the Friday crooner from Fox hit comedy series Glee. Kevin plays the love interest of Kathy Beth Terry. Same as Perry, McHale disguised as a nerd but this time he’s out of the wheelchair. During the prom episode of Glee season two, Kevin gets his vocal chords taking on Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday,’ giving a gleeful remake with Chord Overstreet and Mark Salling. Saxist Kenny G also made a cameo appearance on the video.

Bacon

Science has solved spam. Once the scourge of in-boxes everywhere, junk e-mail now sets off automatic traps that identify, quarantine, and eliminate spam with near perfect accuracy. So why do in-boxes still feel so cluttered?
"We got to this point in our e-mail where the spam filter is doing its job, yet our in-boxes are still filled," says Jamie Siminoff, a serial Web entrepreneur in Santa Monica, Calif.
For Mr. Siminoff, the spam has been replaced with "bacon."
Bacon describes the gray area between the personal e-mail you want and the spam you don't. It's newsletters, coupons, and notifications – commercial e-mail that you probably signed up for but now receive far too often.
"Bacon is all of your Facebook notifications or bank e-mails saying that a bill is due," says Tommy Vallier, a social media consultant and one of the people that coined the term at a Pittsburghtechnology conference in 2007. "We came up with the word just as bacon really started to become a problem."
That year, retailers sent an average of 85 e-mails to each of their subscribers. Since then, the number has nearly doubled to 152 messages, according to the marketing firms Responsys and Sendito.
Web watchers expect that this outsized helping of bacon will continue to pile up. Shipping an e-mail costs 1/100th of a cent, 1/2000th the cost of bulk postage rates. And according to Brightwave Marketing, on average, every dollar spent on bacon brings in $43.52 in sales. No wonderForrester Research expects e-mail marketing budgets to climb by a third to $2 billion in 2014.
Bacon may be good business, but Mr. Vallier says it also drags on his productivity. So he devised a few tricks to keep his bacon consumption under control.
"The biggest thing that I recommend to people is filters, filters, filters," he says. Most modern e-mail clients, such as Gmailor Outlook, can automatically flag bacon – marking a message with a colored tag, placing the letter immediately into organized folders, or deleting it on sight.

For example, Vallier used the "mail settings" in the top-right corner of his Gmail screen to categorize incoming messages as soon as they arrive. The website can automatically label e-mail based on who sent it, the subject line, and whether certain words are or are not included in the letter. E-mails from his wife get a bold tag, so he'll notice them right away. Bacon receives a light blue sticker, visual shorthand for "not urgent."
In other situations, families hunting for a good deal on a new television could set their in-boxes to highlight any bacon that mentions "TV" or "plasma." Expecting parents can flag everything containing the word "baby."
If you're wary about handing out your e-mail address to retailers, Hotmail, Gmail, and Yahoo's paid Plus service each allow users to set up disposable e-mail accounts called plus addresses.
This lets you add the + symbol before the @ and then attach any term you want in between. For example, you might give one store anna6000+bestbuy@live.com, then give another retailer anna6000+sears@live.com. You can then filter your in-box based on these plus addresses. (This also lets you see who is sharing or selling your e-mail address to other vendors.)
If this all sounds like too much work, Gmail introduced an experimental Priority Inbox feature late last year. The service automatically sorts your in-box, placing friends or desired bacon at the top and nuisance mail near the bottom. How does it figure out which is which? Priority Inbox tries to learn by watching which letters you reply to, which you simply read, and which you ignore. It then ranks incoming messages in that order, so important letters always rise to the top.
Unlike spam, bacon often comes with the option to unsubscribe. So rather than his bacon and let it pile up, Siminoff initially tried removing his name from each mailing list. "But that takes time to do," he says, "about two minutes each."
Frustrated by this slow process, Siminoff and some business partners started Unsubscribe.com, a company that will keep your e-mail address off unwanted mailing lists.
Unsubscribe's software creates a new button in your e-mail box. Highlight any unwanted letter, give it a click, and Unsubscribe will jump through the hoops of ensuring you never get another message from that company. The service costs $3 a month or $20 a year.
"Spam may come from Russia and Nigeria, but bacon comes from legitimate companies," Siminoff says. "Even if they're not doing it properly, they know to stop bothering you if you ask."

Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris sang and danced, battled Hugh Jackman and closed the ceremony by rapping during last night's Tony Awards.

And those are just some of the "How I Met Your Mother" star's hosting highlights.
Harris opened the show with a tongue-in-cheek musical number that declared the Tonys "are not just for gays anymore." It involved Stephen Colbert, Brooke Shields, Bobby Cannavale and bunch of bleeps.

Later, he engaged in a Tonys host face-off with actor Hugh Jackman, who has hosted previous ceremonies (this was Harris' second time hosting). They started off by bantering on what it takes to be a good host, then launched into an "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better" song-and-dance number. They riffed on everything from pacing to keeping the show on time to improving gift bags.

Harris also promised not to do too many "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" jokes - only as many as he could fit into 30 seconds. One of them was: "I sent Bono [who composed the show's music with U2 bandmate the Edge ] a congratulatory cable, but it snapped."

Others targets of Harris' humor included Daniel Radcliffe, Angela Lansbury and Al Pacino.

He also performed a second time during the broadcast, with the star-studded cast of "Company," and finished off the show by rapping.

What did you think of Harris as host? Vote in our poll and tell us your favorite moment from this year's ceremony in the comments.

Keeping Up With The Kardashians

The sixth season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians began last night with Kim sharing a thoughtful dinner conversation with her new boyfriend/future husband-to-be Kris Humphries. Ignore, for a moment, the cosmic coincidence of a Kardashian girlA) falling in love with someone whose name already starts with a “K” and B) falling in love with a guy who is named “Kris,” just like their mother. No time for cynicism, this is love! Within seconds, Kim and Kris were burping into each other’s mouths. It was like watching a bullfrog mating session. Or, as Kris insisted, “Birds throw up and then feed it to their children. This is nothing.” There you go: It was like watching two birds vomit live bullfrogs backwards and forwards. Season six, gang!

But even though poor Kim has finally found a ray of sunshine in her life of misery, all is not well in Kasa Kardashian. Mama Kris has been working too hard; the family only gets together when they’re all working. Kourtney and Scott tried throwing a family Game Night, and dear Lord, I was badly hoping for a massive Kardashian Monopoly showdown, Sopranos-style. But Kris skipped the party because she was busy, and Kim skipped the party because she was in New York with her man, and there were probably a few other Kardashians running wild in the countryside somewhere.
In the midst of all this family drama, we witnessed one of the most important conversations in Kardashian history. Kim asked her sisters: “Are you naming your kids with ‘K’ names?” Khloe explained her plan to name all her daughters with “K” and all her sons with “L.” Kim fired back that she wanted to claim dibs on some of the best “K” names. Unfortunately, they didn’t wind up debating which names were good or bad, but here are some free ideas: Karen, Kinky, Kooky, Kayak, Kashmir (for a boy or a girl), and Kalifornia. You laugh, but someday we’ll all be watching Kayak and Kinky Konquer Kansas City.
Anyhow, Khloe and Kourtney told Kris (the mother) that they didn’t want her to work so hard, because family comes first. But meanwhile, Khloe also told Kim that she wouldn’t respect Kris (the basketball player), because Khloe’s tired of Kim’s revolving-door boyfriend policy. Kris (the mother again) told Khloe she should treat Kim better; after all, “You’re the one who’s been bitching to me for weeks about Family First.” Khloe responded, “Bah, I am hoist on my own petard,” not in so many words.
The whole night wound up with a family dinner. All the far-flung Kardashians and Kardashian relatives arrived: Kendall, Kylie, Beppo, Zeppo, Moon Unit, etc. Rob decided to pick a fight with Kim because she was texting, to which Kim responded, “You are a 24-year-old man who gets an allowance from his sister.” Oh, that’s why we stopped having family dinners.

Fathers Day Gifts

Father's Day is coming up Sunday, so this week we've got some gift ideas that might inspire you when you're looking for something to please the No. 1 man in your life.

Dad just may be the best accessory in the kitchen -- and Father's Day could be a good time to encourage his staying power. For the grill-master, how about a durable denim shop apron by The Stronghold that’s cut, sewn and finished locally, in Venice? Made of heavy-duty Japanese selvage denim in organic cotton with an organic indigo dye, it’s BBQ garb that he can also wear in the garage. Launched way back in 1894, The Stronghold was the first denim company in L.A. and has a legacy of quality craftsmanship.  We adore the metal rivet detailing, seven handy pockets, generous size and genuine cotton ties. It also comes in work-worthy railroad stripes and in a shorter version—packaged in a chic drawstring bag, so no wrapping is required. $125 at The Stronghold, 1625 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
For adventurous dads who prefer a backwoods campfire, there’s this down-to-earth Magnesium Fire Starter, handmade in Montana. With a naturally-shed elk antler handle, it  looks seriously good in a throwback, Davey Crockett kind of way. Soggy matchbooks aside, this tool is guaranteed to prevail even in the most inclement weather.  $29.95, also at The Stronghold or www.kaufmann-mercantile.com
If Pop has aspirations of running his own food truck (or simply loves to get things cooking), polish his kitchen skills with a cooking class at The Gourmandise School, which just opened in The Market at Santa Monica Place. Manly offerings, from "BBQ: The Meat Class" to a "Beer, Cheese & Pizza" course, are sure to help him champion his cooking techniques. $75 per class; save 10% when you buy three or more. To order a gift certificate, call 310-656-8800 or buy online at www.thegourmandiseschool.com.

War Horse

The Tony Awards are rarely viewed as a prognosticator for Oscar glory. (That honor usually goes to film festivals and other film-centric awards ceremonies.) But at last night's Tony's, the near-sweep by War Horse, a play about a horse's travails in a Europe devastated by World War One, might signal big-screen success when the film versioncomes out in December. And it certainly doesn't hurt that Steven Spielberg is the director.

War Horse, based on the 1982 book of the same name by Michael Morpurgo, picked up five awards, including Best Play, and has been racking up similar prizes since its 2007 UK debut. Already, Spielberg’s film, which stars newcomer Jeremy Irvine as the young man who searches the charred ruins of war-torn France for his beloved horse, is a lock to pick up a Best Picture nomination—it’s Steven Spielberg and war, after all—but yesterday’s win makes the film an odds-on favorite.

Despite all the adulation, War Horse is still an undiscovered property for many audiences, but some believe Spielberg’s take on it will make the story a cultural phenomenon. For us, the opening 27 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, when the allied troops storm the beaches at Normandy, remains some of the most visceral and brutally realistic filmmaking we’ve ever seen. There’s a part in War Horsewhere the title character finds himself in so-called No Man’s Land, that hellish purgatory between the enemy trenches on the WWI battlefields, and we’re jonesing to see what he can do with that kind of terror. Anyway, let the Oscar forecasting begin!

Bruce Springsteen

Clarence Clemons, the saxophonist who is part of the signature sound of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, has suffered a stroke.
A person who has worked with Clemons in the past confirmed Sunday night that he had a stroke at his home in Florida. The person spoke on condition of anonymity and had no additional information on Clemons's condition. A report on Showbiz411.com said he was seriously ill.
Clemons, 69, started playing with Springsteen in 1971, and his sax solos can be heard on songs such as Born to Run, Thunder Road andBadlands.

He is known as "Big Man" in the E Street Band, and he gave that title to a 2009 memoir he co-wrote with Don Reo.
The veteran musician has also worked with Ringo Starr, Aretha Franklin and the Grateful Dead. He played with Lady Gaga on the season finale of American Idol last month. Clemons and Jackson Browne recorded the single You're a Friend of Mine in 1985.
Clemons underwent double knee-replacement surgery in 2008 and had to perform in a wheelchair for a short time. However, he was up and walking in time for Springsteen and the E Street Band's performance at the 2009 Super Bowl.

Nickelback

Chad Kroeger has been ordered by a judge to pay $25,000 a month in spousal support to his ex-partner.

Nickelback

The Nickelback frontman and Marianna Goriuk were together for seven years, with their union being declared common law under Canadian statutes. They ended their relationship in 2009. He has been ordered to pay Goriuk $25,000 a month in support payments, including $5,100 a month in pet care for her horse.
The figure of $25,000 per month was awarded after Goriuk took Kroeger to court, arguing that the originally stipulated sum of $10,000 per month was not sufficient and that she was owed $96,760 in payments each month. Goriuk is still seeking property and other assets or monetary compensation from Kroeger, with whom she owned properties in Abbotsford, B.C. and Mexico.
Kroeger is estimated to have earned over $9.7 million last year.