Nine Inch Nails played an insanely raucous yet beautiful show at The Forum in Inglewood, CA to close out the first leg of their Lights in the Sky Over North America Tour. I am very pleased to inform that I was invited to photograph the show by the man himself, none other than Trent Reznor. Without going into too many manic details, I received an email from TR earlier this week asking if I would like to come out to see the show. My intense skepticism wouldn’t let me believe that it was really him … but after a short volley of emails with Trent and his assistant, I managed to secure a photo pass to take pics of the show last night. Here are are some of my pics:

I cannot tell you how awesome it was to be up close to the action like I was last night. It was truly an amazing experience, one that I won’t soon forget. The show itself was just … beautiful. I cannot think of a word that so adequately expresses what I saw last night. Sonically, the show was as hard-hitting as ever but visually … I was stunned into silence. The Ghosts portion of the show was riveting … and seeing Nine Inch Nails put down most of their electronic instruments in lieu of more traditional instruments (a stand-up bass, xylophone, etc.) was just remarkable. I will never fully be able to comprehend the level of talent that Trent Reznor and his band bring to the stage night after night, month after month, year after year. Folks, TR has been doing this stuff for about 20 years now … and he hasn’t lost a damn thing. In fact, having seen many NIN shows thruout the ’90s, I contend that he has only gotten better. Truly, this show is amazing. I have to extend my deepest appreciation and thanks to both Trent and his assistant Brett for taking such amazing care of me last night. A million times, thank you!!

In the crowd I got to meet Pink readers Nathan and Stacy, who I got to take a photo with:

As well as some lovely ladies who yelled out to me from the stands. It was really great meeting all of you :)

People, I must urge you to try and see this show when NIN comes back to the US for the second leg of the tour in November, December. It is an experience you don’t want to miss. I know for sure that I will be seeing it at least one more time, maybe two. Click HERE to find out if the boys will be coming your way in the coming months.

This afternoon, I will be at the Paramount Studios Lot for the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. I’m not sure what to expect when I get there but I know that MTV is going to turn that mother out as they do year after year. Will Britney Spears surprise us all by performing? I guess we’ll find out in just a few short hours …

• Don’t forget! Britney Spears will appear, in some capacity, on the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards tonight!
• Gloria Steinem believes that Sarah Palin is the “wrong woman” with the “wrong message”.
• Madonna dedicated her song Like A Prayer to the Pope at her Rome concert stop this weekend.
• Jessica Simpson makes her debut at the Grand Ole Opry.
• Leighton Meester’s mother is planning to write a tell-all memoir.
• Iron Man 2 set to begin filming next year.
• Evan Rachel Wood is 21, Julie Kavner (The Simpsons) is 57 and Gloria Gaynor is 59 years old today. Click HERE to see who else is celebrating a birthday today.
• “I love Broadway!” — Daniel Radcliffe

Are you ready for some football? With the college football season already in full swing, I thought it might be nice to introduce a bit o’ pigskin into our weekly gawkfest called the Hot Dude of the Week. Josh is a hottie that I have featured on the site before but I simply couldn’t pass up posting this amazing football apropos pic:

Yeah, something about this pic of Josh makes me want to go long … er, that was meant as a football term, nothing more :) Even tho I’m not the biggest football fan in the world, I do enjoy watching (well, following mostly) my fave college football teams. I always root for my alma mater, the University of Oklahoma, but I also like to cheer on my Michigan teams U of M and MSU. To be honest, pics like this one of Josh really remind me why I should pay more attention to the sport. Hut one, hut two … enjoy!!!

[Photo credit: All American Guys]

Here are a couple of cute pics of Jessica Alba, hubby Cash Warren and (altho you can’t really see her ‘cuz she’s hidden away inside her baby dome carrier) Honor Marie doing a bit of shopping at their friendly neighborhood Target store:

I gotta say, I really love it when celebs go shopping at Target. Not only is it the overall best store EVER in terms of pretty much everything, I think it really humanizes these rich and powerful folks that we might think of as untouchable. To be quite honest, Jessica Alba doesn’t always strike me as the nicest person around but seeing her shop at Target makes me think that she might not be a such a meanie after all. I LOVE it when celebs keep shizz real like this :)

[Photo credit: Splash News]

After trying her luck in the designer jeans game (to questionable success), Victoria Beckham is about to embark on a new career in fashion that has her designing dresses. Women’s Wear Daily was able to preview Vicki B’s new dress collection, which will be fully (altho, privately) unveiled at New York Fashion Week this week and here is our first look at two of her signature pieces:

Victoria Beckham’s first dress collection stays true to her style. The line, previewed exclusively to WWD, clearly follows the former Spice Girl’s fashion mantra. The 10 looks are tailored to the body, made with fabrics such as basket-weave cotton, fine gazar and georgette silks and have touches of Indian embroidery and hand-sewn beading. “The collection was inspired by the femininity and sophistication of the midcentury silhouette,” Beckham explained. “I’ve always been drawn to intricate, seam-detailed designs, as their structure enhances the flattering shape of a woman’s silhouette.” … “I like to focus on the posture of a woman and how she holds herself, which led me to incorporate features such as modern corsetry and grosgrain details,” she said. “All corsetry is made for comfort and support with the finest materials, and, in addition, there are finer grosgrain belts that are incorporated into the line of the softer constructed dresses to give this effect in a more subtle way, thus enabling women of all sizes to wear my dresses to create a magnificent silhouette.” After launching her dVb label with jeans and sunglasses, the dress collection is the third fashion extension for Beckham … The label will say both Victoria Beckham and dVb, and the collection is priced between $600 and $1,400 at wholesale. The collection will be unveiled during private appointments next week. Company executives declined to give sales projections for the line, which targets distribution to upscale department and specialty stores. “Dresses are very signature for me, as I have always dressed in a very feminine and ladylike manner,” Beckham said. “This collection may be new, but it’s been a lifetime in the making for me.”

I mean, the dresses look like something that VB would wear so, I guess she’s on the right track. I dunno, with young whipper-snappers like Lauren Conrad and even Heidi Montag getting themselves into the design game I think VB needs to watch her back. Granted, these dresses are more high end and are more sophisticated … but I don’t understand how a woman who wants to spent a nice chunk of change on a dress would choose to do so for a Vicki B. design rather than, say, a Diane von Furstenberg design. Anyone?

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Here are a couple supercute pics of Cameron Diaz, who was previously attached to Justin Timberlake, and model Paul Sculfor, who was previously attached to Jennifer Aniston, currently attached to one another by the mouth on the very public streets of NYC earlier this week:

Cameron Diaz’s love life appears to be going from strength to strength – and she doesn’t care who knows it. Having spent the better part of the week publicly displaying her affection for new boyfriend Paul Sculfor, the actress doesn’t look set to stop anytime soon. The couple took a romantic stroll in New York, stopping on numerous occasions to admire the view – each other- as they shared a tender kiss along the way. The couple began quietly dating in June, not long after the former bricklayer split from former Friends star Jennifer Aniston. Lady Victoria Hervey – a close friend of the model – told Hello! magazine that the 36-year-old model was overwhelmed by Jennifer’s celebrity status. Still, it wasn’t enough to put Paul off another high profile romance with Cameron, who had previously shared a four-year relationship with Justin Timberlake. While their relationship has become increasingly serious, the 36-year-old says she isn’t preoccupied with getting married. “There are a lot of ways to approach commitment and relationships – and marriage is just one of them,” she said recently. “I think partnerships are a wonderful thing in whatever form they take, and I definitely want that in my life, whether or not it’s in the traditional sense.”

This is the first seeming relationship that Cameron Diaz has been in since her break-up with JT and I would have to say that she’s done very well for herself. Paul is a major hottie and he is well worth her time. I think these two make a great couple and they really seem to be into one another. Cam’s gotta be in love to be so public with her affections like this. Good for them! Good for luve!

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Daniel Radcliffe made his Broadway debut yesterday as his new play Equus opened in previews at the Broadhurst Theatre in NYC. As you may recall, Dan stunned his Harry Potter fans last year when he premiered his Equus role in the UK … a role that requires full-frontal nudity on stage. Equus officially opens on Broadway on September 25 but last night was the show’s first preview performance. According to reports, Daniel gave a riveting performance:

Some might even say it was a magical evening. Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe appeared in his first preview performance of the Broadway drama Equus … earning raves from fans. “I thought that he was terrific,” Mandy Menaker, a college student who attended the performance at New York’s Broadhurst Theater, told PEOPLE. “He had a lot to offer. So I thought it was great.” Danielle Manente from New Jersey agreed that Radcliffe was wonderful. “He was really good. He captured the character [and] he was so into it. He never broke character. I believed everything he said.” In the revival of the 1973 Peter Shaffer play, which was also staged last year in London, Radcliffe stars as Alan Strang, a distressed and hostile teen who commits the horrifying act of blinding six horses, while a psychiatrist (played by Radcliffe’s Harry Potter costar Richard Griffiths) tries to get to the heart of why he did it. Radcliffe first entered stage embracing an actor playing a horse … His very emotional performance, which reveals Strang’s anger and fear, was met with enthusiastic applause from the audience. Not to mention wowing the crowd with the nude scene, which comes toward the end of Equus. “Oh my God! That was nice,” said Manente of Radcliffe’s character fully undressed himself in an attempt at lovemaking with a young woman. “I’m not gonna lie. He looked pretty good.” “By that point he was so in the character,” Menaker added, “that you don’t think of it as Harry Potter naked. He’s naked as a character emotionally, so you’re not at all thinking that he’s physically naked. You’re so involved in the scene by that point that you don’t even notice.”

Yeah, I don’t care how “in character” he gets in this performance, I think I’d notice his nekkidness. Throughout the entire West End run of Equus last year no nude frontal photos of Daniel Radcliffe managed to make their way out of the theater (altho, a few pics of the very nekkid Alfie Allen hit the InterWeb earlier this year when he took over the role after Dan’s run ended). After the jump, check out a few grainy pics of Daniel Radcliffe’s NSFW nude scene in the first preview performance of Equus last night …

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