Cynthia Rowley Gets CuRious

 Gosh, one of my fav games as a kid was CandyLand, remember that game? I wanted to play it for hours. And while I'm not a huge candy nut, I won't lie and tell you I don't love a great candy store. When I first visited the Toys 'R Us in Times Square I was just like a kid in a candy store. Well, designer Cynthia Rowley has just opened a new four-story townhouse in upper Manhattan, complete with - you guessed it - candy. Folks, I missed the opening...

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Green for Spring

 It's hard to believe a pair of "green jeans" could be a wardrobe essential, but they are. Trust. Every, single time I wear my green jeans, I get compliments. They're just so cheery and green is so on trend for this year! I've been dyyyyying to try out C. Wonder - haven't you heard a lot of buzz about it? When they sent me images of some of their "green things" for spring, I was completely flipping out. AdorABLE. The length on these jeans looks...

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Holographic Heels, Anyone?

 Stop it right now. Ok, really, don't, Alejandro Ingelmo. My heart is beating at a rapid pace on this Monday. Holographic heels are a thing this spring, girls, so you might wanna get to these beauties fast. This pointy-toe, single sole pump (d'orsay style) silhouette is the shoe to own this spring season. But add a little excitement with a holographic shimmer and WOW. You just can't replicate this shoe (shaking my head).While there are quite...

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How I Wore My Heels: With Camo

 I took these photos in the moonlight because I thought that would be awesome! Ok, no, really, I just ran out of time (it's something called a toddler) and almost captured them in pure darkness by the time I was done, ha. Turns out these metallic black wedges by Bronx I just started testing out for spring truly glisten in the moonlight, and therefore, I heart them like no other. What else? Being from the south, I never thought I would wear...

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Obsessed with MiH

MiH is pretty much killing it lately with their line-up of endlessly chic, comfy clothing seen on one celeb after another. Olivia Palermo is one of my absolute fav style stars, and she recently wore this knit Pavillion Sweater ($220) with distressed jeans and a blazer. While the starlet wore red, it also comes in a pretty blue. As we head into spring in a few weeks, this is the type of oversized sweater I long to rock every, single week with my...

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Stuart Weitzman Does Black and White - Just Right

Sometimes a simple, yet stunning black and white shoe is all we need to brighten our Monday afternoon, yes? Boldly dramatic and truly embracing the color combo of the season, this Stuart Weitzman stripey strappy sandal makes me giddy, gleeful and downright giggly. Ain't no Monday gonna get me down. View the original article h...

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Whiny Wednesday: Me in a Tree

Can't believe it's just now Whiny Wednesday! Certainly seemed like it was yesterday here. :) Today I'm here to share with you a new online program I've discovered called Me in a Tree. I'm pretty excited about it! (Rest assured, I spent I way too much time perfecting my avatar look below...you like?)Anyone can try out this family-oriented interactive (life managing!) site for free - for two weeks! And that's the perfect amount of time to realize...

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Win "The Client List" Prize Pack!

 Ready, set...time to watch The Client List again - this Sunday! The show's back for a second season and I'm pumped because little C. dropped his nap and goes to bed early now. Can't wait to curl up and watch Jennifer Love-Hewitt as Riley Parks, a single mother of two who works at a day spa where all kinds of secrets seem to unfold. Eek! New guilty pleasure?Hewitt actually helped executive produce this show, and Lifetime has ordered 15...

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James Brown's "Living In America"/Weird Al's "Living With A Hernia"

When I think of the '80s, I don't usually think of The Godfather of Soul. Released in 1986, "Living In America" became Brown's first Top 40 hit in a decade, and as of this writing, his last (sure, he's dead, but come on, that never stopped 2Pac). However, I'm wondering just how glad Brown was to have been living in America just a couple of years later, when he was arrested for drugs and weapons charges, then led police on a high-speed car chase,...

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Joan Jett Suspiciously Claims To Love Rock 'N' Roll

I've always felt that songs about rock and roll are kind of stupid. If a song wants to rock, it should just rock; it shouldn't sit around and talk about how much it's rocking. Did "Jumpin' Jack Flash" stop and say, "Hey, look at me everybody, I'm totally rocking right now"? No. No it did not. Did "Purple Haze" pull over to the side of the road and say, "Hot damn, I am really rocking like nobody's business"? That's why I always thought Joan Jett's...

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John Belushi Lectures The Go-Go's About Using Coke ... And Then Offers Them Coke

On Miles Copeland's orders, the Go-Go's traveled to New York to record their debut album. But making a hit record was hardly the only activity on the band's mind:Before leaving L.A., some of us had started to get into cocaine, though none more than me. I finally had enough money coming in to afford such an occasional indulgence. The funny thing was, I only knew one person who dealt it - a guy in a photo lab on Santa Monica Boulevard. I had to have...

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Madness' "Only" Hit AKA That Song About A House

In America in 1983, Madness came out of "nowhere" and released their "only" hit, "Our House." When friends in college used to play "Our House" on the stereo, they would get this look on their faces which seemed to suggest thoughts such as "Who sings about their house? What a silly topic for a song!" But instead of this being an amusing insight, this was only an unintentional comment on the sad state of American pop music, where 95% of radio hits...

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Margot Olaverra and Kathy Valentine: The Pete Best And Ringo Starr Of The Go-Go's

If the Go-Go's were the female L.A. Beatles of the '80s (and they obviously were), then Margot Olaverra was their Pete Best. Like Best before her, Olaverra suffered through the difficult, unglamorous years with her band, only to be kicked out at the last minute and be denied even the tiniest sliver of fame and fortune. Pete Best's main problems were threefold: 1) he couldn't play the drums very well, 2) he was boring and he had no sense of humor,...

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Meet Miles Copeland: The Founder Of I.R.S. Records

*courtesy of the Dash Cafe Ever wonder what it would be like to be the son of an American CIA officer and a Scottish intelligence agent who grows up to found a record label? Miles Copeland doesn't. From Wikipedia:Miles was born in London, England, to Miles Axe Copeland, Jr., a CIA officer from Birmingham, Alabama, United States, and Scottish Lorraine Adie, who was in British intelligence. Due to Miles Jr.'s profession, the family moved throughout...

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Orange You Glad The Fun Boy Three Discovered Bananarama?

Perhaps hoping to re-create the male-female dynamic the Specials had briefly experienced when the Go-Go's made a cameo appearance on their second album, the Fun Boy Three decided to collaborate with a previously unknown female trio going by the vowel-challenged name of Bananarama. From whence did this "Bananarama" appear? The trio were ardent followers of the punk rock and post-punk music scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s and often performed...

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Specials Release Crowning Achievement, Promptly Disappear Like Ghosts

I wouldn't have pegged early '80s Britain as a bouquet of roses, exactly, but I was surprised to learn about the true depth of urban turmoil and violence during that era. From Wikipedia:In 1981, the United Kingdom suffered serious riots across many major cities in England. They were perceived as race riots between communities, in all cases the main motives for the riots were related to racial tension and inner-city deprivation. The riots were caused...

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The Small Games of 2012 (Part 1)

2012 may not have brought about the apocalypse, but it did produce a slew of excellent small games. So excellent in fact that multiple media outlets have awarded the small games Journey and The Walking Dead game of the year. Journey comes from thatgamecompany, who brought us 2009's Flower. The Walking Dead, based on the comic/TV series, comes from Telltale Games. Unfortunately, I haven't played either (my Playstation 3 broke this summer so I haven't...

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Why Beauty And The Beat Is The Greatest Album Of All Time

I used to keep a list of all my favorite albums by year of release. It was quite a sight to behold. I think 1969, 1970, and 1973 were the overall champions, but even so, I had at least one album per year for every year from about 1964 through 2001. Every year, that is, except for one: 1981. Once I thought I had it when I added The Clash's Sandinista! to the list, but nope - released in December 1980. Damn. Well, the moment I heard Beauty and the...

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Women Who Rocked - In The '80s

As I have established by now (and will continue to establish going forward), the Go-Go's rocked. But if you thought they were the only women in the '80s who rocked, well, you've got another thing coming. Of course, there were women who rocked long before the '80s: Brenda Lee, Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, Tina Turner, Suzi Quatro, Patti Smith, Heart, Siouxsie Sioux, etc. etc., so on and so on. But I think the women who rocked in the '80s managed to...

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You Don't Get To Celebrate, Muni

In the barrage of significant milestones that have taken place in 2012, you may not have noticed that 2012 was the 100 year anniversary of Muni. I wouldn't have noticed it myself, aside from the fact that Muni told me. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Muni, the transit system decided to let its passengers ride for free on Friday. That was wonderful, except I'd already paid for a monthly FastPass and Muni's little anniversary gift saved me ......

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Zrbo Reviews: Halo 4 (343 Industries, 2012)

Reviewing Halo 4 is no easy task. As the first in a new trilogy of an already storied franchise, reviewing Halo 4 is perhaps a good exercise for what critics will face when reviewing the new Star Wars movies when they inevitably arrive. Developer 343 Industries has the weight of a massive franchise to carry, with huge expectations to meet, and they mostly succeed. It's nearly impossible to review Halo 4 without taking a look at it's reason for being....

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Zrbo's Five Favorite Songs of the Year

It's nearing the end of the year, so it's time to start rolling out those year-in-review lists.  Here's my selection for my favorite songs of the year.  And yes, just like last year, you may notice that some of these songs aren't necessarily from 2012. #5 - Psy'Aviah - "Timor"My fifth favorite song of the year is a Shakira song. No, really! Belgian duo Psy'Aviah (not to be confused with that other Psy who dominated 2012) deliver a fresh take on a song from a completely unexpected artist and genre. While the song has a completely different...

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Pat Benatar: Androgynous Name, But All '80s Woman

If you put the words "woman," "rocked," and "80s" into a Google search engine, the first thing that would probably pop up is a picture of Pat Benatar. Pat Benatar had the ultimate '80s rocker name: "Pat" is androgynous, and "Benatar" sounds like a cross between a Bengal tiger and a centaur. In addition, Pat Benatar's period of commercial success is exclusively confined by the '80s; she had her first Top 40 hit in 1980 and her last in 1988. She is...

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Tommy James Finds Himself With A Hit In The '80s - And Not For The Last Time

She may have been talented in many ways, but Joan Jett doesn't appear to have been the most prolific songwriter; most of her big hits have been cover versions of other people's songs. But hey, Elvis didn't write songs, either. Anyway, its not what you cover, but how you cover it. "Crimson and Clover" was a #1 hit for Tommy James & the Shondells in 1969. Tommy James is the kind of artist who had about a thousand hits that everyone still knows,...

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Obama State of Union speech watched by 33.5 million on TV

U.S. President Barack Obama (C), flanked by Vice President Joe Biden (L) and House Speaker John Boehner (D-OH), delivers his State of the Union speech on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 12, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Charles Dharapak/PoolView the original article h...

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Lady Gaga needs hip surgery, cancels remainder of tour

Lady Gaga performs onstage during the Rolling Stones final concert of their ''50 and Counting Tour'' in Newark, New Jersey, December 15, 2012 Credit: Reuters/Carlo AllegriLOS ANGELES | Wed Feb 13, 2013 10:38pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lady Gaga canceled the remainder of her "Born This Way Ball" concert tour to undergo hip surgery, promoters Live Nation said on Wednesday.The 26-year-old singer announced she was suffering from an inflammation...

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West, Kardashian in security screening flap at JFK: reports

Rap musician Kanye West is seen court side with reality television star Kim Kardashian as the Miami Heat play the New York Knicks in their NBA basketball game in Miami, Florida December 6, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Andrew InnerarityNEW YORK | Wed Feb 13, 2013 10:34pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two celebrity passengers - reported by newspapers to be Kanye West and Kim Kardashian - were allowed to bypass airport security to catch a flight at New York's...

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Josh Groban beats Tim McGraw to top of Billboard 200 album chart

Singer Josh Groban poses at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) 2012 Art + Film Gala in Los Angeles, California October 27, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Mario AnzuoniBy Piya Sinha-RoyLOS ANGELES | Wed Feb 13, 2013 2:21pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Singer Josh Groban scored his third No. 1 on Wednesday as his latest album shot to the top of the Billboard 200 album chart, edging out new entries from Tim McGraw and rock band Coheed and Cambria."All...

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"Endless Love" leads Billboard's top love songs

By Noreen O'DonnellNEW YORK | Wed Feb 13, 2013 4:17pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - When it comes to love, sometimes old songs say it best.The 1981 Motown ballad "Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie topped Billboard magazine's "Top 50 'Love' Songs of All Time" list on Wednesday, just in time for Valentine's Day.The duet, written by Richie and used as the theme song for Franco Zeffirelli's film of the same name, earned Richie an Academy Award nomination for best original song.The list is based on the rankings on the Billboard Hot 100 singles...

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Asian shares gain on improving sentiment, G20 eyed

1 of 9. A woman looks at an electronic board showing Japan's stock price index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo February 6, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Toru HanaiBy Chikako MogiTOKYO | Thu Feb 14, 2013 3:14am EST TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares rose on improving risk sentiment while the yen steadied ahead of the weekend meeting of G20 finance and central bank officials, whose views on global growth and differences over currencies will be scrutinized...

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