Okay Buffy fans, listen up … it’s contest time. Amber Benson, who played the beloved character Tara Maclay on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, just released her debut novel Death’s Daughter this past Tuesday and she has graciously agreed to autograph a few copies for me to give away to a few lucky Pink is the new Blog readers:

From the book description:

Calliope Reaper-Jones so just wanted a normal life: buying designer shoes on sale, dating guys from Craig’s List, web-surfing for organic dim-sum for her boss…

But when her father—who happens to be Death himself—is kidnapped, and the Devil’s Protege embarks on a hostile takeover of the family business, Death, Inc., Callie returns home to assume the CEO mantle— only to discover she must complete three nearly impossible tasks in the realm of the afterlife first.

Amber tells me that Death’s Daughter is the first in a series of books that she will pen of her heroine Calliope Reaper-Jones … so you CANNOT miss out on reading this book.

In order to help a few lucky Pink readers out there, I am giving away three signed copies of the books in a new contest starting today. If you would like to be entered for a chance to win a signed book, all you have to do is send in a Buffy the Vampire Slayer-related photo like this …

… OR a picture of what YOU think Calliope Reaper-Jones looks like. You can base your ideas on the book cover or come up with one of your own imagining. I will accept submissions until next Sunday March, 8. There will be three signed books up for grabs and the best entry will be guaranteed a personalized autograph from Amber Benson herself. Isn’t that fun??

In case you simply cannot wait to get your hands on a copy of Death’s Daughter, you can order a copy from Amazon HERE or pick up a copy in your local bookstore.

Submissions for the contest should be sent to pinkisthenewblog@gmail.com with the subject line Amber Benson Contest. Get crackin’, I hoping there will be a lot of fun submissions :)

Much love and thanks goes out to Amber for helping out with this contest, I’m currently reading Death’s Daughter myself and I am loving it! I know you will, too!! Good luck!!

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So … I made it back home to SoCal without incident. I left my mom in really good spirits, she seemed very much back to her old self (save for the really dark bruises on her face). Her injuries aren’t getting her down so I was cool with not letting them get me down too. She is a remarkable woman, I love her dearly :)

My flight home from Detroit was pretty unremarkable … it left on time and arrived a bit early. My seat was in the last row so I wasn’t able to recline but I got an aisle so I was happy. I read a little and then watched the Sex and the City Movie on my iPod again. I think I’ve seen it, like, 10 times already but just like the eps from the series, I can watch over and over again.

I’ve been kicking around the notion of getting a desktop computer for my office and now that David and I have set up shop in our new home, I’m lookin’ to get off the laptop on a daily basis and work on a desktop computer. Best Buy had the HP TouchSmart IQ500 mega computer that I’ve been thinkin’ about in stock so I figured there was no time like the present:

My new baby has a 640Gb harddrive, 4Gb of RAM, an HDTV tuner and all the bells and whistles that one would expect from a new PC. I’ve been a big fan of HP computers for years now, so I’m thrilled with my new purchase. The touchscreen is really very cool … not that I plan to be dragging my fingers across the screen all day long (it has a wireless keyboard and mouse) but it’s a fun option. I’m still working on my tiny Sony VAIO TZ170N but I hope to be working on the new computer by the end of the weekend.

No plans for tonight just yet … but David and I have been talkin’ about a quiet weekend alone … we’ll see :) Happy Friday, y’all!!

• President Barack Obama promises to have most of the US troops out of Iraq by 2010.
• No Doubt will play the Gossip Girl season finale.
• Speaking of GG, Brittany Snow has been cast as the young Lily van der Woodsen in the new Gossip Girl prequel spin-off series.
• Russell Simmons agrees to pay $40,000 a month in child support to ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons.
• Morrissey gets sick, postpones the start of his tour.
• Facebook, which cannot handle the job, has decided to put the decision-making in YOUR hands.
• New Mexico very unfortunately does not pass a domestic partnership bill.
• Woot! Aussiebum releases a new set of promo images :)
• Jake Gyllenhaal rolls with Jamie Foxx in his new music video Blame It.
• Megan Fox trades fiancée Brian Austin Green for a tall, skinny latte.
• AnnaLynne McCord has an unfortunate run-in with a spray tanner.
• Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson take Marley & Me to Italy.
• Salma Hayek spent her honeymoon on the set of NBC’s 30 Rock.
• Chilli of TLC is 38, Grant Show (Melrose Place) is 47 and Elizabeth Taylor is 77 years old today. Click HERE to see who else is celebrating a birthday today.
• Axel Rose refers to former bandmate Slash as a “cancer”.
• Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony sue a stroller company for $30 million after their likenesses were used without their approval in an ad campaign.
• At last, Brad Pitt wins something.

Many years ago (as the story goes), while singer Tori Amos was still pregs with her first child, the amazing author (and personal friend of Tori) Neil Gaiman composed a poem/prayer for her “bump” that Tori and her husband Mark Hawley said looked like a blueberry (or something along those lines). Tori loved the poem/prayer so much that she allowed Neil to use it to raise money for various charities in the years since the birth of her daughter Natashya Tash Lórien Hawley in September of 2000. Now, 9 years later, the poem/prayer Blueberry Girl is being made available as a children’s picture book illustrated by the amazingly talented Charles Vess. Here are a few screencaps from a just released promo video that features Neil reading the poem and some animated images of Charles’s illustrations:

Longtime fans of Tori Amos know what this poem/prayer means to her and I, for one, am thrilled that it is finally being made available to us. I was VERY fortunate to get to hear Neil read Blueberry Girl aloud at a book reading he did here in SoCal late last year. You can click HERE to watch my video of Neil’s reading of the poem back then — or you can click below to see the new promo video for Blueberry Girl that has just been released to the Internets …

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Sweethearts Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson, I am happy to report, are still very much happily together as this week the ladies made their way to the UK presumably for a little work (on Sam’s part) and a little fun (on Lindsay’s part). Here are photos of L. Ron as they made their arrival in London yesterday and a couple of photos of a snack food run they did within moments of said arrival:

I am very happy to know that all the reports of discord that we’ve been hearing from these two in the past few weeks (and months) have either been fabricated, blown out of proportion or have had ZERO effect on their relationship. I don’t remember any of my romances ever being as overly-dramatized as the epic romance between L. Ron (at any age) but I am glad to know that the couple continues to soldier thru all the bullshizz and remain so happy together. I hope they behave themselves over there in Londontown … I don’t want no trouble. Or, at least, if there is trouble I hope it’s nothing to get all worked up about ;)

[Photo credit: Splash News, INFdaily]

Earlier this week we saw photos of Robert Pattinson’s arrival in Japan as well as Kristen Stewart’s arrival … and today we learn that Taylor Lautner has also made his way to Japan as all three of the Twilight Saga stars were on hand for a press conference in Tokyo, Japan to promote their film Twilight which premiered there last night (which was actually today in Japan):

Yay! I love that Taylor is there in Japan as well … he may not have had a splashy arrival but his presence there is appreciated. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I’m 100% Team Jacob (Taylor’s Twilight character) but I did champion his drive to retain the role he originated in Twilight and I’m happy that he will continue to portray Jacob in New Moon.

After the Twilight kids were finished doing promo work for the Japanese press, it was time to bundle up and brave the chilly rain to promote the movie and the film’s premiere later the same day. After the jump, check out a few photos from the Japanese premiere of Twilight last night …

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Welp … it looks like the Italian party is OVER for our dear David Beckham. After some very public whining in the press and a failed bid on the part of AC Milan to buy his services permanently for their team, the LA Galaxy has put its foot down and is recalling Becks to return to the Galaxy fold to serve out his contract with them (like a good boy) after his last game with Milan next Sunday … much to his chagrin, I’m sure:

Los Angeles Galaxy today stated that on-loan midfielder David Beckham is due to return from AC Milan as originally planned, despite rampant transfer speculation. The England international joined the Rossoneri on loan from Major League soccer in January in a bid to maintain fitness during the American close season, and did so in some style: Beckham’s form has been a revelation during his time in Italy. So impressive was he, in fact – and so lucrative is his likeness still considered – that AC Milan duly made public their attempt to retain Beckham’s services on a permanent basis. Meanwhile Beckham himself has stated in no uncertain terms that he is eager to remain at San Siro. But LA Galaxy have maintained that they have no intention of losing one of their star assets, their deadline of February 13 for an improved offer from AC Milan having long since passed. Today they confirmed this stance in a phone interview with Goal.com’s Andrea Canales, stating that Beckham will return to the Golden State as planned. “He plays on the 8th,” said the Galaxy press office, referring to AC Milan’s Serie A encounter with Atalanta on March 8th. “He’s due to head back after that game.”

Poor Becks. I’m sure he is really sad and upset that the soccer team that he signed a contract with is actually making him honor his legal commitment to them but I’m sure he’ll get over it. After a few weeks of sobbing into his piles of LA Galaxy money, I’m sure he’ll get over his crybaby-ness and will be able to move on like a grown adult man … at least, I hope he can. Still, Sunday is still a few days away … I suppose anything is possible at the last minute. There is new word that the rumors that Becks has moved into George Clooney’s Italian villa are totally untrue, according to Clooney himself, so … yeah, he should just come home to SoCal where he belongs :) I hope all this nonsense about jumping teams is settled after this weekend … I’m trying to plan on seeing an LA Galaxy game once the season starts up again in a few weeks. Altho he’s being whiny about it, I’m looking forward to watching Becks in action once again as a member of the LA Galaxy.

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