Sad news for music magazine fans … after 10 years as a print mag, it is being reported that Blender magazine will cease publication immediately. Back in 1994, Blender started out as the world’s first CD-ROM publication (omg, remember those?) and then in 1997 it went online. In 1999 the magazine launched as a traditional print magazine and has offered, IMHO, some of the most interesting articles and has featured some of the better interviews and photoshoots with the hottest musicians of the day. But, alas, the mag has not been able to weather the failing economic climate and has had to shut down operations:

Alpha Media Group closed Blender magazine today, eliminating about 30 jobs and reducing its portfolio of titles to Maxim alone. The April issue of Blender out now will be its last. The decision, delivered to Blender staff in a meeting this morning, came as part of broader changes that also included the departure of Alpha co-CEO Glenn Rosenbloom and the integration of editorial staff for Maxim and Maxim Digital. The remaining CEO, Stephen Duggan, said in a company memo that the company was closing Blender with great sadness. “Since 2001, Blender has provided unmatched music coverage and entertainment news in its unique voice to a profoundly dedicated audience of music enthusiasts,” Mr. Duggan wrote. “We are particularly grateful to the sales team and to the tremendously talented editorial staff for their hard work and commitment to Blender.” Joe Levy, who was editor in chief at Blender, was named editor in chief of the combined Maxim editorial operation. Jim Kaminsky, Maxim magazine’s editor in chief, is leaving the company. Ben Madden continues as group publisher. Jay Woodruff, editor in chief of Maxim Digital, was named chief content officer at Maxim. After the changes, Alpha will continue to employ 134 staffers … Alpha tried to build Blender’s circulation, pushing its paid-circulation guarantee to 1 million from 800,000 at purchase. But copies distributed to public places such as waiting rooms grew the fastest, from 13,000 copies in the second half of 2007 to 100,000 a year later, according to company reports with the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Paid subscriptions fell 8% to 768,000, while newsstand sales declined 18% to 44,233. Ad pages at Blender also plunged 31% last year and another 57% from January through April, according to the Publishers Information Bureau and Media Industry Newsletter. Monthlies as a whole, by comparison, sank 12% last year and another 22% through April. Ad pages at Maxim fell 11% in 2008 and 37% from January through April. Mr. Duggan’s memo to staff blamed the global financial crisis but said the company would persevere. “Alpha Media Group is weathering the current economic difficulties, and we are confident that with the changes we are implementing, the company is in the strongest position possible to continue moving forward,” he said.

This is really sad news. To be honest, Blender was the only music mag that I really read from cover to cover. Each issue was usually jam packed with great articles and little blurbs that I really enjoyed. Not that it would’ve made a difference in the long run but had I known the mag was in such dire straits I would’ve reinstated my subscription. When I lived in Detroit, Blender was one of the mags that I faithfully subscribed to. This is really sad news. I’m not sure if there are many Blender magazine fans out there but this is really sad news for everyone :( Peace the Spork Out, Blender … you will be missed.

[Source, thanks Abby]

The fabulous Kathy Griffin teamed up with Paris Hilton yesterday for a little shopping excursion on Robertson Blvd. with a few of their closest friends … with cameras. Both ladies dressed colorfully for the event and Paris even brought along her newest pet (a gift from current boyfriend Doug Reinhardt) to partake in yesterday’s fun. Here are a few photos:

HMMM, something tells me that this seemingly innocent shopping trip was prolly some sort of publicity stunt, yes? Kathy will be hosting Bravo TV’s second annual A-List Awards and methinks that yesterday’s outing had something to do with the show … call me crazy but that’s my guess. I seem to recall that around this time last year Kathy went on another high-profile shopping excursion with a notorious Z-List celeb … she was tooling around Beverly Hills, CA with Adnan Ghalib. That footage ended up on the last season of her Bravo TV series My Life on the D-List. I suppose it’s possible that her playdate with Paris Hilton might end up on the next season of D-List as well. Time will tell.

When Paris was finished playing with Kathy, she hooked back up with her boyfriend Doug Reinhardt and the pair made their way to LAX Airport. After the jump, check out a photo of the couple’s arrival at the airport last night and of the two of them sucking face in the security line …

READ THE REST OF THIS POST »

This just in … Madonna is reportedly making her way back to Malawi this week to take her adopted son, David Banda, for a visit to his home-country but sources say that she has filed paperwork there to begin the adoption process for a new child (which means that little David is gonna hafta learn how to share — whether he likes it or not) … now, whether or not the rumors of filed adoption papers is true, Maddy and son are making their way to the African continent this week (or shortly thereafter) so we’ll have to wait and see if she comes home with any substantial souvenirs:

U.S. pop star Madonna, who has said she may adopt another child from Malawi, may visit the southern African country in the next few days, a government official said on Thursday. Officials said Madonna will bring her Malawian son David, whose adoption was controversial. Critics accused the government of skirting laws that ban non-residents from adopting children in Malawi, which has been badly hit by an AIDS epidemic. “We expect her over the weekend or earlier than that…but without a doubt she is coming before the end of this month,” the official at the Ministry of Gender and Child Development told Reuters. The local Nation newspaper this month quoted Madonna as saying that Malawian friends had told her David needed a brother or sister and that she would consider adopting another child, but only with the support of the Malawian people. David is growing up in the high-flying life of a global popstar, worlds away from his village of Lipunga, where his relatives eat staple food like maize meal from simple bowls and meals are cooked on open fires. Madonna is expected to visit a site where her charity, Raising Malawi, will start building a multi-million dollar school for girls, the officials said. David’s father, Yohane Banda, told Reuters that he may see his son next week. “Someone from Raising Malawi visited me last week and told me that my son may be visiting me sometime next week. I am delighted, I want to see my son,” he said. Madonna, who began adoption proceedings in 2006, took David when he was 13-months-old after his father had placed him in an orphanage following the death of his wife. She has said he was happy to be involved in a case that might pave the way for more adoptions in Malawi. An estimated one million children in the country have been orphaned by AIDS. Rights groups tried to block David’s adoption, saying it would be illegal. Child rights activist John Soo Phiri said Madonna may find it more difficult to adopt another child as a single parent after her divorce from film director Guy Ritchie. “She will have to prove that as a single parent she still has the abilities to raise another child alone,” said child rights activist John Soo Phiri.

From the Daily Mail: An official at the Malawi welfare department said today that the pop star has filed adoption papers. Another person in Malawi close to the case says that Madonna will be in Malawi this weekend and a court could hear her adoption case as soon as Monday. They both spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.

HMMM … methinks that Maddy will be becoming a mommy again very soon. Despite all the claims that Madonna will not be allowed to adopt a second child from Malawi, I’m pretty sure that if Madonna wants to adopt again she will be allowed to adopt again. Interestingly, Madge was chatting with fans on Twitter last night via her manager Guy Oseary’s Twitter account. And altho she had nothing to say about her upcoming trip to Malawi she did make mention of her ex-hubby Guy Ritchie in a roundabout sorta way. When one fan told her that he was glad that she was single again she replied, “NOT AS GLAD AS I AM! M……………” LOL. In any event, while we wait for Madonna’s next appearance in the Twitterverse, I think we can expect to see photos of her Madgesty’s next visit to Malawi in no time. I’m thinking she’ll be getting a new baby soon. I guess we shall see.

[Source, Source]

Some of you may recall that we saw many photos of Lindsay Lohan workin’ hard on the SoCal set of the film Labor Pains last Summer and it was assumed that the film would be hitting movie theaters some time this year. It turns out that that isn’t the case. It has been determined by the powers that be that Labor Pains not be shown in theaters here in the US and will, instead, be going straight to DVD … well, not exactly straight to DVD, it will first air on the basic cable network ABC Family before it hits store shelves … so that’s something, right?

Fans waiting to see Lindsay Lohan’s latest movie won’t have to leave their living rooms. Lindsay’s new film, “Labor Pains,” will not be released in theaters, Access Hollywood has learned. Instead, the comedy will premiere on ABC Family, a source for the film’s production company, Nu Image/Millennium Films, confirmed to Access. The movie will debut on the cable channel in July 2009, with a DVD release coming in August. In the film, which wrapped production in August 2008, Lindsay plays a woman who fakes being pregnant to save herself from being fired and is then forced to keep the lie going for nine months. However, the source did say the movie would hit theaters internationally. No release date was available. Lindsay was last seen on the big screen in “Chapter 27,” opposite Jared Leto. Her other recent film credits include “Georgia Rule,” “I Know Who Killed Me” and “A Prairie Home Companion.” She has reportedly lined up a new as-of-yet untitled romantic comedy, alongside Nick Cannon about a girl trying to make it in New York’s fashion world who gets set up on a date with a guy who is blind.

HMMM … it never bodes well when a production company decides to cut its losses and scrap plans of a theatrical release for a cable/DVD release … do you suppose the change has anything to do with the quality of the film? Nah, can’t be. I gotta say, tho, that the concept of her movie with Nick Cannon (where Lindsay’s character goes on an actual blind date) sounds pretty terrible, too. Might that one be headed for the USA network? Only time will tell, only time will tell.

[Source]

Rihanna seems to be normalizing again just a month after she was assaulted allegedly at the hands of her then (current?) boyfriend Chris Brown back on February 8. We’ve heard of and seen Rihanna do a lot of things in the time since that incident occurred but this latest news could be the most telling. Rihanna enlisted the aid of her favorite tattoo artist, a man called BangBang, and had him give her a new tattoo. At first, she thought about getting the tattoos on the front of her shoulders but, in the end, opted for a single small tattoo on her right ribcage. Check out RiRi’s new tattoo of a handgun:

Given her recent domestic assault, one might think Rihanna would be the last person who’d want to glamourise violence. But the 21-year-old made the unusual decision to have a handgun tattooed on her body this week. The singer, who has often been seen wearing a miniature gun pendant necklace, had the weapon etched across her ribcage. She visited Los Angeles based tattoo artist BangBang, who initially drew two guns on either side of the tops of her arms. But the singer decided against having the weapons inked on in such a prominent position because of her contract with make-up brand Cover Girl. BangBang wrote on his website: “I really wanted to put it here [on her arms]… She loved ‘em. But, Cover Girl wouldn’t have liked it much… and they pay the bills!” He continued: “Ended up doing it on her ribs.” Rihanna already has many other tattoos, including a collection of stars plunging down her back, a music note on her ankle and a Pisces sign behind her right ear. She also has a star inside her left ear, a Sanskrit prayer going down the hip, the word Shhh… down her index finger, and a tribal patter on her right hand. Rihanna has been keeping a reasonably low profile in recent times following her assault drama. She was allegedly beaten up by her boyfriend Chris Brown during a heated argument in his sports car the day before the Grammy Awards. The couple, who reconciled after the incident despite his domestic battery charges, are said to be on a break. Brown is expected to be back in court for an arraignment on April 6. Legal experts have claimed that the case against Brown could hinge on Rihanna’s co-operation. Her spokesperson has previously insisted that she will “do everything that the law requires her to do”.

It’s an interesting choice for a tattoo. I dunno that a handgun makes a nice design at all, seems really severe to me, but each person has their own reasons for their own tattoos. I wouldn’t necessarily infer too much from this particular tattoo … but, who knows? After the jump, check out one more photo of Rihanna at the tattoo parlor — the next pic shows her considering getting this gun tattoo inked on the front of her shoulders …

READ THE REST OF THIS POST »