Despite the fact that I am all the way in Paris, France I was still able to watch last night’s episode of Project Runway since David’s DVR/cable box is properly hooked up to the Slingbox which allows us to stream things recorded on his box online. The challenge in last night’s ep took the designers out of the sewing workroom and onto the streets of New York City in search of inspiration:

Some of the contestants rose to the challenge, some of them failed miserably and Suede annoyed the HELL out of me, yet again. After the jump, find out who was in & who was out …

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Today is Harry Potter author JK Rowling’s birthday and in celebration it has been announced that her previously unavailable handwritten tome of short fairytales (written by Rowling after she penned the 7th and final Harry Potter book) will be published for sale to regular folk like us. The original handwritten copies of the book were given away to personal friends of Rowling and the 7th was sold at auction for almost $4 million bucks to Amazon.com … and now, the book will be published in a special edition version (for $100) and a standard paperback edition (for $8) — the Collector’s Edition will be sold exclusively on Amazon.com:

Wizard news, Harry Potter fans: A book of fairy tales written and illustrated by J.K. Rowling is to be published for charity. A British charity said Thursday it hopes to raise $8 million through sales of “The Tales of Beedle the Bard.” Rowling co-founded The Children’s High Level Group charity, which supports institutionalized children. She has signed over her royalties. The book is a collection of five wizarding tales referred to in Rowling’s Potter saga. It was initially produced in an edition of seven handwritten copies. Six were given away by Rowling as gifts, and one was bought by retailer Amazon at an auction in December for almost $4 million. Rowling said the new edition would include her illustrations and introduction, the stories themselves and commentaries ostensibly by Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of the fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, “which appear by generous permission of the Hogwarts Headmasters’ Archive.” The book will be published Dec. 4 by Bloomsbury in Britain and Scholastic in the United States. Amazon also plans a leather-bound collectors’ edition priced at $100 … She has described “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” as a distillation of the themes found in the Harry Potter books, calling it her goodbye to a world she lived in for 17 years.

Hot damn! This is great news! I was hoping that Tales of Beedle the Bard would be published one day despite the fact that we were told that the book would never be published (henceforth making the sole auctioned copy of the book so valuable). It makes sense that Amazon will be the exclusive seller of the Collector’s Edition since they ponied up the $4 million bucks for the auctioned copy of the book. I already placed my pre-order for both the Collector’s Edition (which you can pre-order HERE) and the standard edition (which you can pre-order HERE). This is absolutely amazing news for Potter fans. It may be JK’s birthday but I feel like we all have cause to celebrate today :)

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Whoopi Goldberg laced up her rollerskates, slipped on her legwarmers and joined the Broadway cast of Xanadu this week to begin a 6-week limited engagement with the musical as the evil Muse sister Calliope. Here is a pic of Whoopi taking her first bows this past Tuesday night (with regular castmember Andre Ward) at the Helen Hayes theater, a screencap of the musical’s official website announcement of her short tenure with the show and a report from Broadway World on her stint with the show:

Whoopi Goldberg joined the cast of the hit Broadway musical “Xanadu” on Tuesday, July 29th for a special six week engagement through Sunday, September 7th. Ms. Goldberg is playing the role of Caliope. Jackie Hoffman, who created the role, will be releasing her new cd “Jackie Hoffman Live from Joe’s Pub” and will return to the production on September 9th. In a statement, Ms. Goldberg said “What better way to stick my toe back on to the Broadway stage than to join the amazing cast of “Xanadu”. It’s such a fun show and is definitely my sensibility, as written by the divine Douglas Carter Beane. For me, it’s going to be unbelievable”. Producer Ahrens wholeheartedly agrees by saying “On behalf of the entire “Xanadu” family, we are overwhelmed and appreciative that Whoopi has chosen to return to her turf of Broadway with our musical. We are thrilled!”

Hello! I *am* thrilled! I am really hoping to get to see the show (for the third time, mind you) with Whoopi in it during my super short stopover in NYC at the end of this weekend … I’m flying back to LA on Tuesday so I think Sunday is my only chance to see it. In any event, if any of y’all are considering seeing the show — go now! What better way to see this really fun show than with Whoopi Goldberg playing one of the funniest characters. Get your tickets now, she’s only there until September 7th!

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Okay … I think I tend to cut Ed Weswick’s Gossip Girl character Chuck Bass a helluva lotta slack when it comes to his fashion choices … but I dunno that I can really get on board with this latest look:

Purple is a hot color right now … but this lavender is just a touch too … no. I have a hard time believing those pants are even men’s pants … I mean, ugh, no. I’m pretty much on board with many of Chuckie’s bold fashion statements but this one gets a resounding thumb’s down from me.

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Jennifer Garner was spotted on the construction site of the new home she is renovating with her hubby Ben Affleck this week and I couldn’t help but notice that her tummy continues to get bigger and bigger … clearly there is a baby in there, check it out:

So, now that we’re practically certain that she is incubating a new person inside her womb, we can now move on to the speculation about when that little person might be making their debut outside her womb. E! seems to think that she may be due in March of next year (they are basing their assumption on a piece of paper that she was seen holding with the date March 2 circled on it) and I suppose that’s as good as guess as any — but will she be having twins … that is the question.

[Photo credit: X17]

Well, well, well … it’s been about a year and a few months since the AMAZING COUPLE made up of Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling (collectively known as McGosling) broke up and now it appears that the couple may be getting back together — well, okay, that might be a bit of a stretch to say but they are friendly and were hanging out very coupleylike this week. Ryan made his debut as a DJ in Hollywood and Rachel came out to support him … and possibly get back in his pants ;) Here is a pic of the couple as they exited the Green Door nightclub in Hollywood Tuesday night where DJ Ryan was spinning:

Ryan Gosling made his deejay debut Tuesday night at Green Door lounge in Hollywood, with a surprising guest in the crowd – his ex-girlfriend Rachel McAdams. Arriving at 9 p.m., the actor settled into what is said to be a weekly gig at the lounge’s Tuesday jazz night. McAdams arrived later “supporting Ryan,” says a Gosling pal. “They talked when he was away from the deejay stand,” says the friend. “They really looked like good pals. He seemed happy to see her.” For Gosling, deejaying is “a pretty new thing for him,” says the friend. “He’s been messing around. He’s really into music, and he’s a fan of the night – and here he is.” Spinning tunes from the ’40s and ’50s, Gosling, 27, was dressed from the era, sporting a white T, black pants and motorcycle jacket.

OMG, they are SO back together! Or, at least, they are SO doing it again! Hee hee … okay, it may be wishful thinking but I think it was really dope of Rachel to come out to support her ex-beau … perhaps in the hopes of making him her beau once again. I’m pulling for the reunification of McGosling … they made a great couple once, they can make a great couple again :)

[Photo credit: X17; Source]

In an effort to show the world that everything is fine in their marriage (at least, that’s the way it looks to me) after a new claim was made by Star magazine that the couple are in trubs, Sarah Jessica Parker and her hubby Matthew Broderick were snapped out on a date together in NYC last night … something that they rarely if ever do. Here are a couple pics of the happy couple:

Sarah Jessica Parker and husband Matthew Broderick were photographed having a date night in New York on Wednesday following a report that the actor had an affair with a 25-year-old woman. The couple, who are rarely pictured together in public, emerged from a Midtown restaurant Wednesday night, Broderick’s arm wrapped around his wife as they smiled at photographers. It’s the first time the pair, who have been married for 11 years, have been seen together since Star magazine claimed he had a three-month relationship with another woman while Parker was filming the “Sex and the City” movie. Broderick and Parker’s reps never responded to FOXNews.com’s request for comment on the Star magazine report, and Broderick never commented on the matter.

Personally, I don’t necessarily believe the Star report that any infidelity occurred in their marriage but I totally get why the couple may have decided to step out together for this photo op. Just one date night can do much to undue some of the damage done by the report. In the end, tho, it’s impossible to really know what may or may not be going on in a couple’s marriage like this. Mebbe I just want to believe that everything is fine for these two cuz I like them both so much. I hope they’re doing ok and that this date night together was more genuine rather than more contrived.

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]