Daniel Edwards — the American sculptor who created controversial statues of Britney Spears giving birth on a bearskin rug titled Monument to Pro-Life, a topless bust of Hillary Rodham Clinton and the pink plastic babytoy sculpture of Octomom Nadya Suleman titled Octomom: String of Babies (but not the artist who created the Kate Moss in yoga pose statue called Spinx, that was Marc Quinn) — has set his artistic talents on Angelina Jolie and her love of breastfeeding. A new sculpture titled Landmark for Breastfeeding will go on display in the metropolitan Oklahoma City area next month before it goes on permanent display in London, England. Inspired by Angelina‘s comments (and photos) on the wonders of breastfeeding in W magazine last year, Edwards decided to immortalize the sacred act between mother and child (well, in Ange‘s case children) in his latest work of art. Here is a photo of the new sculpture and the accompanying press release:

For World Breastfeeding Week, Phantom-Financial announces the unveiling of a life-size park bench sculpture of Angelina Jolie nude with her twin babies by New York artist Daniel Edwards just minutes from Brad Pitt’s own birthplace in the Oklahoma City Metro area in September before its Fall exhibition in London. “Landmark for Breastfeeding,” inspired by last year’s cover of W magazine featuring Angelina Jolie suckling her baby, depicts a seated nude Jolie double-breastfeeding twins. The tranquil bronze statue demonstrates the “football-hold,” an accepted technique for breastfeeding two babies simultaneously. In recognition of the global effort to encourage breastfeeding, one twin is depicted as being of African descent. Future castings of the statue will represent other world cultures through variations of the babies’ patina coloring. “We believe the statue sends a beautiful message by promoting the acceptance of public breastfeeding. Mothers should be encouraged to nurture their babies anywhere,” said Sandy Wilson of Phantom-Financial. “Hopefully, my sculpture inspires an increase of wetnurses to assist women who have concerns about mastitis, or passing HIV to their infant,” said artist Daniel Edwards in his Connecticut studio where the Jolie statue currently resides. “La Leche League International and Loretta McCallister have been very helpful,” said project coordinator Cory Allen. “We are applying for approval to put ‘Landmark for Breastfeeding’ on permanent display in a Metro area park.” The Jolie monument will be unveiled September 11th at MAINSITE Contemporary Art in Norman. A cast of the sculpture is expected to be auctioned by Sotheby’s October 7th for The New York Academy of Art’s annual Take Home A Nude art auction, after being displayed at Holster Projects in London’s West End.

Can I just say that I LOVE that this piece of art will go on display in Norman, OK … home of my beloved alma mater the University of Oklahoma! I’m not sure how the Okies will receive this new piece of art but … I’m glad they’re being exposed. Edwards really seems to have a knack for melding pop culture with controversy to come up with interesting artwork. IMHO, none of his works have yet surpassed his masterpiece statue of Britney giving birth, Monument to Pro-Life, but I can appreciate that he continues to push the envelope. After the jump, check out a couple more photos of this new Angelina-inspired statue and check out a short video of Daniel Edwards talking about the creation of his latest piece of art …

Happy, Happy Day today!! Yesterday we learned that President Bill Clinton made his way to North Korea to meet with their supreme leader Kim Jong-il to orchestrate the pardon and release of two jailed US journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were sentenced to 12 years hard labor on trumped up charges of trespassing and have been incarcerated for the past 4 months. Happily we learned late yesterday that President Clinton, Ling and Lee had left North Korea and were already making their way back home to the US. This morning, at about 5:30AM PT, they arrived at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, CA to their families, friends and the waiting press. They’re finally free, y’all!

Former President Bill Clinton arrived in Los Angeles Wednesday morning after a dramatic 20-hour visit to North Korea, in which he won the freedom of two American journalists, opened a diplomatic channel to North Korea’s reclusive government and dined with the North’s ailing leader, Kim Jong-il. The private plane, carrying Mr. Clinton and the journalists, Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, landed at 5:50 a.m. Pacific Standard Time at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, just outside Los Angeles. The two women stepped off the plane in jeans and sweaters, rushing down the stairs to be reunited with their families, who clustered around them. Ms. Lee, in tears, picked up and embraced her 4-year-old daughter, Hana. Mr. Clinton stepped off the plane a few moments later, embracing Al Gore, the founder of the media company that employs the journalists. “Thirty hours ago, Euna Lee and I were prisoners in North Korea,” Ms. Ling said in brief remarks to reporters, blinking back tears. “We feared that at any moment we could be prisoners in a hard labor camp. Then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting. “We were taken to a location and when we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton,” she said, recounting the final moments of her ordeal. “We were shocked, but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end. And now we stand here home and free.” Mr. Gore then spoke. “President Obama and countless members of his administration have been deeply involved,” in the effort to bring the women home, he said. “To everybody who has played a part in this,” he said, “we are so grateful.” The North Korean government, which in June sentenced the women to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering North Korean territory, announced hours before the jet’s departure from North Korea that it had pardoned the women after Mr. Clinton apologized to Mr. Kim for their actions, according to the North Korean state media. Mr. Clinton’s wife, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, said Wednesday that the administration was “extremely excited” that the women would be reunited with their families. But she denied that her husband had apologized. President Obama, who contacted the families of the women on Tuesday evening, said that he, too, was “extraordinarily relieved” at the journalists’ return. “I want to thank President Bill Clinton — I had a chance to talk to him — for the extraordinary humanitarian effort that resulted in the release of the two journalists,” Mr. Obama said outside the White House on Wednesday morning. Mr. Clinton’s mission to Pyongyang was the most visible by an American in nearly a decade. It came at a time when the United States’ relationship with North Korea had become especially chilled, after North Korea’s test of its second nuclear device in May and a series of missile launchings. It ended a harrowing ordeal for the two women, who were stopped on March 17 by soldiers near North Korea’s border with China while researching a report about women and human trafficking. They faced years of imprisonment in the gulag-like confines of a North Korean prison camp. And it catapulted Mr. Clinton back on to the global stage, on behalf of a president who defeated Mrs. Clinton in a bitter primary campaign last year, and who later asked her to be his secretary of state. Mrs. Clinton was deeply involved in the case, too. She proposed sending various people to Pyongyang — including Mr. Clinton’s vice president, Al Gore — to lobby for the release of the women, before Mr. Clinton emerged as the preferred choice of the North Koreans, people briefed on the talks said. About 10 days ago, these people said, Mr. Gore called Mr. Clinton to ask him to undertake the trip. Mr. Clinton agreed, as long as the Obama administration did not object.

Wow … what a happy ending to what could’ve been such an outrageously tragic tale. Thankfully, both Laura Ling and Euna Lee seem to be in relative good health and spirits … considering the months of captivity they spent in North Korea, well, I’m just glad to see them looking so well. The photo of Euna being reunited with her husband and daughter really says it all. I imagine we’ll be hearing much from these two women about their ordeal in the weeks to come … for now, I’m sure they’ll be spending as much time with their families as possible in an attempt to get back to their normal lives — as normal as they can be under the circumstances. President Bill Clinton is a hero in my eyes. This is just such happy news!

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Paula Abdul announced on her official Twitter profile last night that she will NOT be returning to the ratings hit reality series American Idol after WEEKS of public speculation about the terms of her contract with the show . In a string of announcement tweets last night, Paula broke the news that she is parting ways with the show … presumably after she and FOX (the network that produces the show) could not come to terms on her contract. FOX, for their part, released a statement wishing her “well” and squarely place the blame of her departure from the show on her shoulders. HMMM … there is something rotten, methinks, in the state of Denmark. Here are all of Paula‘s tweets and the story about the whole sorry mess:

From Paula: With sadness in my heart, I’ve decided not to return to #IDOL … I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent,but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day1become an international phenomenon … What I want to say most, is how much I appreciate the undying support and enormous love that you have showered upon me … It truly has been breathtaking, especially over the past month … I do without any doubt have the BEST fans in the entire world and I love you all.

From People: Abdul — out! Ending speculation about her future on one of the most popular shows on television, Paula Abdul confirmed Tuesday she will no longer be at the judge’s table on American Idol … No reason was given for her departure just two days before she was to return to work. Abdul’s rep declined to comment except to confirm she was leaving. The highly rated show is about to begin taping segments for its ninth season, with auditions starting Thursday in Denver. The show returns on the air in January. “Paula Abdul has been an important part of the American Idol family over the last eight seasons and we are saddened that she has decided not to return to the show,” FOX TV says in a statement. “While Paula will not be continuing with us, she’s a tremendous talent and we wish her the best.” The announcement comes shortly after her manager angrily said there was no contract on the table and that “sadly” it didn’t appear she would be returning. Her previous contract ended after the eighth season. Her departure now returns the number of judges to three, with Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson joined by Kara DioGuardi, who was just confirmed to be returning.

This is absolutely infuriating. I KNEW from the moment that AI thought it best to add a fourth judge, another female judge, that the time was running out for Paula Abdul on American Idol. I find it extremely difficult to believe that Paula just decided to quit this high profile job. There has to be more to the story. To be honest, I don’t watch the show … but when I did, I tuned in for Paula Abdul. She is a shining light of hope, optimism and joy on that wretched show. While Simon Cowell is tearing people down and Randy Jackson is saying Yo Dawg, yo dawg, yo dawg, Paula was cheering every contestant to victory. This development is a huge disappointment.

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In June we learned that US journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years hard labor by the high court of North Korea after they were convicted of an array of trumped up charges (at the time of the women’s arrest, they were working on a news report on human trafficking in that area of the world). Since their sentencing, the governments of the world have been trying to figure out a way to encourage the North Korean government to overturn this ruling and to free the convicted journalists. Yesterday, President Bill Clinton flew to North Korea to meet with North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-il to act on behalf of Ling and Lee to hopefully facilitate their release and was able to convince Jong-il to pardon them. According to The New York Times, President Clinton, Laura Ling and Euna Lee have already left North Korea and are on their way to the US right now:

Former President Bill Clinton left North Korea early Wednesday, after securing a pardon for two jailed American journalists from the reclusive North Korean president, Kim Jong-il, Reuters reported. The two journalists, Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, were returning to the United States with Mr. Clinton, the news agency reported, after having been held by North Korea since being detained by North Korean soldiers along the Chinese border on March 17. They were on a reporting assignment from Current TV, a San Francisco-based media company co-founded by Al Gore, the former vice president. They were eventually convicted and sentenced to 12 years at hard labor for “committing hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry.” But they were held near Pyongyang rather than sent to a labor camp after the sentencing, raising hopes that North Korea might be willing to pardon them. The administration, which had initially said the charges were “baseless,” began discussing a possible “amnesty” for the women, signaling a readiness to acknowledge some degree of culpability in return for their freedom. On Tuesday, the Ling and Lee families issued a joint statement on their Web site in which they thanked the Obama administration, President Clinton and “all the people who have supported our families through this ordeal.” They added that they were “counting the seconds to hold Laura and Euna in our arms.” The pardon added to speculation among analysts in Seoul that North Korea, after months of raising tensions and hostile rhetoric towards Washington, may be ready to return to dialogue with Washington.

Tensions have been high since a nuclear test by the North on May 25 and the subsequent American-led effort to impose international sanctions against the North. Administration officials sought to temper suggestions that Mr. Clinton would engage in sweeping discussions with Mr. Kim about North Korea’s nuclear program. His brief, one official said, was strictly limited to the imprisoned journalists … Mr. Clinton flew into Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, in an unmarked jet early Tuesday morning local time, Central TV, a North Korean station, reported. The White House confirmed the visit on Tuesday, but said it was a private mission. “While this solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans is on the ground, we will have no comment,” Mr. Gibbs said in a statement. “We do not want to jeopardize the success of former President Clinton’s mission.” It was widely assumed that Mr. Clinton would not have undertaken the mission without specific assurances that Ms. Ling and Ms. Lee would be released … Television footage from Pyongyang showed Mr. Clinton being greeted at the airport by North Korean officials including the chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan and Yang Hyong-sop, the vice parliamentary speaker. The footage showed him smiling and bowing as a young girl presented him with flowers. Photographs released by North Korea showed Mr. Clinton sitting next to a thin, though not sickly looking, Mr. Kim. The Obama administration had been considering for weeks whether to send a special envoy to North Korea. The visit by Mr. Clinton, even if officially a private effort, was clearly undertaken with the blessings of the White House, and marked his first diplomatic mission abroad on behalf of the administration. Mr. Clinton’s wife, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, has been deeply involved in the journalists’ case.

This is amazing news!! To be honest, all North Korea ever wants is to be taken seriously by the governments of the world and like a spoiled child, they act out in order to get the attention they so desperately want. Having a former President of the United States of America visit their country and ask for the release of these journalists was prolly enough for Jong-il to get what he wanted, cuz clearly that is all it took to orchestrate their pardons. It’s terrible that Laura and Euna had to be used as pawns in this way but perhaps this is the first step for new diplomatic ground between the US and North Korea. At this point, that is up in the air … all that matters right now is that Laura and Euna will be reunited with their families very shortly. Happy, happy news!!

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