Happy congratulations are in order today for my fave contemporary author, Neil Gaiman, and the love of his life, singer/artist Amanda Palmer, who got themselves engaged to be wed this week. It’s unclear when exactly the couple got themselves engaged but Neil broke the news on his official website last night! Here is the photo and full text of Neil‘s happy (but brief) announcement … They’re gettin’ hitched, y’all!!

Dear The World,

we are going to get married,

signed,

Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman

I am completely and utterly thrilled by this news. It is plainly obvious to anyone even remotely familiar with Neil and Amanda that they are truly, madly and DEEPLY crazy in love with one another … news that they’ve decided to make things official and become a happily married couple is not surprising in the least. I hope you’ll join me in wishing them all the happiness in the world as they embark on this matrimonial journey together and that the couple will, truly, live happily ever after. Congrats!!!

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Fur lover and R&B singer Kelis posted a blogpost on her official MySpace profile this week altering her fans to the fact that she received a critical letter, personally addressed to her, from the animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. As you might imagine, PETA took great issue with Kelis‘s penchant for openly wearing and proclaiming her love for fur and decided that she needed a stern talking-to to try and get her to change her ways. Kelis, instead, responded to the PETA letter with an official statement of her own. Here is the full text of Kelis‘s response to PETA regarding her decision to wear animal fur:

Good morning all!

Ok, so you’re gonna love this. The other day I got a personalized letter from PETA! Lol so after some thought I’ve decided to write one back. Goes a little something like this:

There is no humane way to kill anything, let me start there. It’s unfortunate but it’s part of life. With that being said, I would eat pterodactyl if you found some and you told me it was meaty and delicious. And after doing a very minimal amount of research……. I found out that the founder Ingrid Newkirk is completely batty. I had a feeling but she far exceeded my expectations. I mean certifiably insane! Lol this chicks will is nuts, google it – it’s a riot! Beyond the fact that I think she’s a diabetic, which means she needs insulin, which is taken from lab pigs (I know this because my sister happens to be in veterinary school), which would be completely hypocritical. It’s like don’t abuse animals unless it can help me.

I feel very strongly about a lot of things such as the sweatshops that spin cotton and the blood on their hands. Btw it’s not just the look of fur. It’s warm as hell and feels glorious, ever rubbed faux fur on your body? Nothing luxurious about that. Then the letter proceeded to name artist and designers who don’t wear real fur. Great! More for me! I don’t judge them, don’t judge me.

The rest of Kelis‘s letter to PETA continues after the jump …

Yesterday we got to check out a blog post from trainwreck Tila Tequila wherein she threatened the world that she would “meet” her late fiancee Casey Johnson “in Heaven” because she is so consumed with grief (but is also consumed with blogging and tweeting, too) and today we get to read some more from Ms. Tequila. It turns out that in the span of 7-hours of tweeting on her official Twitter profile (140-characters per tweet), Tila published a mini-autobiography! She then culled together all of her tweets and republished them in sum on her official website for our reading pleasure:

Hmm….where should I begin? Well last night I was on Twitter and I was just tweeting about random things and somehow one Tweet into the next it lead me into writing a mini auto-biography through 7 hours of Tweeting!!!!!!! I originally had no plans whatsoever on sharing such a private, emotional, and personal life story to the whole world….but somehow, someway……it ended up that way. Everyone who read it was moved to tears and today a lot of people kept asking me where they could find that story. So I have gathered all of my tweets from last night about it and pasted it all in one blog for u to read. This has not been edited so it may not read correctly in a story format. These are just all the tweets I tweeted so that’s how it’ll read. In little spurts of statements…..therefor…..leading you into a glimpse of my sad childhood growing up. With that said, everyone has been so captivated that I have actually started to write an entire book about it! I know people want to hear what happens next….so let’s just say this is an “INTRO” to “TILA TEQUILA’S AUTO-BIOGRAPHY” It’s very painful for me to open up and share this with the world, but I’m a strong Woman today so I think it’s time the world hears my story. Here we go (remember these are in tweets I just copy & pasted from my profile) …

Holy shizz, the chick has TOTALLY LOST HER MIND. It’s just … nuts. She’s turned into a crazy amalgam of Courtney Love in franticness and Kanye West in douchiness with a little bit of Michael Lohan in pathetic attention-whoring. She makes Amy Winehouse look sane in comparison. If you are interested, curious or just plain brave enough to read the newly published Autobiography of Tila Tequila then check it out after the jump. Be warned, it is LONG, frantic and doesn’t make much sense …

As you may recall, troubled Johnson & Johnson heiress Casey Johnson, who was reportedly engaged to Tila Tequila last month, suddenly passed away at the age of 30 here in Los Angels, CA at the start of last week. Since that time, a “mournful” Tila has been flooding her official Twitter account with errant messages in expression of her heartache and pain being ever mindful to revel in the paparazzi attention that Johnson‘s death has given her. Always happy to pose for the photogs (despite what she sometimes says on her Twitter account), Tila hinted that she might be pregnant (a claim that she’s been making all month long) before she stepped out to visit a doctor in Beverly Hills, CA to meet the press:

Now, this kind of behavior is just par for the course where Tila Tequila is concerned. But, it would appear that Tila is not getting quite the level of attention that she really wants because sometime last night, she posted a long rant on her official website that suggested that she is ready to “meet” Casey “in Heaven”, leading some to believe she might be planning to commit suicide. The post was taken down shortly after it was published but you can read her crazy rant in full after the jump …

In 2008 Courtney Love promised the world that she would be releasing a new solo album titled Nobody’s Daughter on New Year’s Eve 2009 and when that date came and went, no new album was ever released. As 2009 progressed, C. Love changed her tune (as it were) and decided that Nobody’s Daughter would be released as a Hole album instead of a solo album and promised that it would be released sometime in 2010. I guess in between posting crazy rants online and losing custody of her only child Frances Bean Cobain, Courtney actually did some recording because she has launched a new official website at NobodysDaughter.com which features some of her new music and a few upcoming concert dates:

Well … okay … so the site doesn’t actually feature any new music per se but it does feature a guitar riff that Courtney is particularly proud of and cannot stop bragging about on Twitter. The fact that she’s got 3 shows lined up (in London, Milan and Amsterdam) means that she must surely be serious about getting back to her music career, right? Right. Well, now that she’s no longer burdened with the task of being a custodial parent to her child, she must have more time to work on her craft. I, along with the rest of the world, will be right here waiting with breath that is bated.

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Matthew McConaughey has announced on his official website that his babymama Camila Alves has given birth to the couple’s second child early Sunday January 3, 2010. McConaughey proudly announces that his second child is a girl the couple have named Vida Alves McConaughey:

It’s a girl for Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves. The couple welcomed daughter Vida Alves McConaughey at 12:13 a.m. Sunday, the actor posted on his Web site. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 7 oz and joins big brother Levi, 17 months. McConaughey, 40, and Alves, 26, announced the pregnancy in June, blogging, “We pulled off the greatest miracle in the world one more time. Camila and I are expecting our second child, bringing more life into the world, making more to live for. The future looks bright as the family grows.” The couple, who began dating in 2006, chose not to find out the sex of the baby prior to delivery, just as they did with Levi. McConaughey encouraged fans to guess, however. “Not sure if it’s a boy or girl but we have our instincts,” he wrote. “What are you thinking?”

Yes, folks, back in June of last year Matthew blogged about the coming of his second child and now he is, once again, blogging in order to share the announcement of his baby girl’s birth. Considering how adorably cute the couple’s first child Levi Alves is, I’m sure little Miss Vida Alves will be just as adorable. Much love and congrats goes out to the newly expanded family!! I can’t wait to see her!!

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source via Source]

NIN.com, the official website of Nine Inch Nails, was updated late yesterday with a new message from Trent Reznor. TR‘s latest missive to fans includes holiday greetings along with new information regarding the promise of new music to come in the new year! Here is the full text of TR‘s holiday message to fans:

12.23.09: wave hello

Happy holidays everyone and thank you for an exceptional year! Sorry I haven’t been around much lately, I’ve been working on not working for a couple of months, which for me is hard work. 2010 has a number of things planned including new material from nine inch nails and something else that isn’t nine inch nails. I am in a state of rediscovery and reinvention that feels unfamiliar, unsure and exactly what I need.

In the meantime, here are some miscellaneous performances from 2009.
See you and speak to you soon-
Trent

“Last” | Holmdel NJ 6.06.09: YouTube HD | Vimeo HD
“The Way Out Is Through” | Holmdel NJ 6.06.09: YouTube HD | Vimeo HD
“Somewhat Damaged” | Roskilde Festival 7.03.09: YouTube HD | Vimeo HD
“I’m Afraid of Americans” | Toronto 6.02.09: YouTube HD | Vimeo HD

Woot!! I’m certain that many folks, me included, are surprised at the announcement of new music from NIN in 2010. To be honest, I’m surprised at the announcement of any new music so soon after the end of Nine Inch Nails but … believe me, I am not complaining in the least. I’m most intrigued by the “something else that isn’t nine inch nails”. It’s great to hear publicly from TR himself about how he’s been doing in the past few months. I’m not sure if we should expect more messages like this from him any time soon but we should keep an eye out nonetheless.

Remember, The Gift video release (official NIN video footage of 3 separate concerts put together by the folks at This One Is On Us) will be released via torrent sites TOMORROW … So, whether you’ve been naughty or nice this year the NIN goodies just keep on coming.

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Back in 2007, former Marilyn Manson keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy (née Stephen Bier but also known as Pogo) brought suit against Marilyn Manson himself (née Brian Warner) for breach of contract, alleging that MM spent band money that should be shared among all members of Marilyn Manson on personal items (including Nazi paraphernalia, an engagement ring for Dita von Teese, a skeleton of a young child and other creepy things). The lawsuit was settled on December 11 but MM just decided to chime in on the matter on his official My Space blog early this morning. Here are some deets about the suit settlement and the full (colorful) blog posts from Marilyn Manson:

Stephen Bier, better known by the stage names Pogo and Madonna Wayne Gacy, brought his breach-of-contract suit in Los Angeles Superior Court in August 2007 against Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner. The law firm of Grodsky & Olecki also was among numerous other defendants named. Bier, who was seeking more than $20 million, alleged Manson used money from their former band partnership to buy items ranging from Nazi paraphernalia to a $150,000 engagement ring for ex-wife Dita Von Teese. Lawyers told Judge Michael L. Stern on Dec. 11 that a settlement was reached, but that some matters had to be completed before he could dismiss the case. The terms of the accord were not divulged. On Thursday, the settlement effort hit a snag when Grodsky & Olecki filed a lien for attorneys’ fees stemming from their successful effort to persuade Stern to dismiss all of Bier’s allegations against them in November 2007. Stern’s ruling was upheld by a panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal on June 4. The firm now wants to be paid from the settlement money and their lien at least temporarily puts a hold on a complete resolution of the case. Stern scheduled a hearing for Jan. 15 on any further motions regarding the settlement. Grodsky & Olecki represented both Bier and Manson while they were involved in previous litigation involving a third party. The allegations against the firm involved Bier’s contention that it breached its duty to him with an alleged “threat letter” that was “a transparent attempt by Manson to frighten Bier into leaving the band,” according to the keyboardist’s court papers. But Stern agreed with the firm’s lawyers that the letter was written in contemplation that Bier might file a lawsuit and was therefore protected. Bier’s lawyer, Olaf J. Muller, said that despite the temporary setback due to the filing of the lien, Bier is for the most part happy with the resolution of the case.

So while Madonna Wayne Gacy (Bier) may be pleased with the outcome, what do you suppose Marilyn Manson (Warner) feels about the matter? After the jump, find out for yourselves …

And so … the latest installment of the Tiger Woods Cheating Scandal is upon us. Late afternoon Friday, Woods posted an official statement on his official website first acknowledging his marital infidelity and secondly announcing that he is taking an “indefinite break” from competing in professional golf. Here is the full text of his latest statement:

I am deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children. I want to say again to everyone that I am profoundly sorry and that I ask forgiveness. It may not be possible to repair the damage I’ve done, but I want to do my best to try. I would like to ask everyone, including my fans, the good people at my foundation, business partners, the PGA Tour, and my fellow competitors, for their understanding. What’s most important now is that my family has the time, privacy, and safe haven we will need for personal healing. After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person. Again, I ask for privacy for my family and I am especially grateful for all those who have offered compassion and concern during this difficult period.

In order for a person who so desperately tries to protect his privacy to release 3 official and very public statements (first one HERE, second one HERE) in the wake of a firestorm of cheating allegations, you just KNOW the shit had to hit the fan, like, Whoa! In the span of a couple of weeks, Tiger‘s assessment of this Cheating Scandal went from a mere “embarrassing situation” to “transgressions” and now to admitted “infidelity” … at least he seems to be more comfortable coming clean about what it is that is really going on. I’m not sure who he’s referring to when he thanks those who offered “compassion and concern” for him during this “difficult period” … I’d be very interested to know who these people are that feel bad for him because he got caught cheating on his wife with reportedly (and at last count) 10 different women. With this announcement, I suspect that Tiger Woods will find himself a dank hole to crawl into in the hopes that this mess will eventually go away. It remains to be seen what his wife Elin Nordegren will do with the couple’s children but I’m guessing that she will not be following faithfully behind him as he tries to hide away from the world in said dank hole. At least Tiger Woods is being more forthright about this behavior … I guess we’ll have to see what will come next from this ongoing and UNBELIEVABLY messy saga.

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

Nicole Richie, who just a week ago announced production of a new TV show, is once again sharing with readers of her official blog. Nicole posted a batch of supercute family photos which include her children, with Joel Madden, Harlow Winter Kate and Sparrow James Midnight (who was born in September) … behold:

Aren’t they the cutest lil’ family? This is the first time we are seeing little Sparrow James since he made his worldwide debut in the pages of People magazine in October. In these pics it kinda looks like Nicole cut off all of her hair … but her long hair may just be tucked behind her back. Honestly tho, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nicole did cut off her hair and went back to her shorter bob ‘do. After all, both Britney Spears and Taylor Swift are rockin’ new hair’dos these days. In any event, short hair or long, Nicole looks exceedingly happy with her lovely family. I imagine Nic/Joel and their children are really looking forward to sharing the best Xmas ever this year :)

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