They are two of the most badass women in rock, and odds are one of their songs was playing in the background during a formative experience in your life. Don’t worry, we won’t ask for details, because it’s probably best for all concerned that there are no witnesses.
In conjunction with the release of their 13th studio album Red Velvet Car, Bullz-Eye is taking part in a scavenger hunt where that has the band posting a new song from the album on a different site. We were lucky enough to score the band’s rockin’ new single “WTF,” which you can listen to right here. And you definitely want to listen to this, because it’s the hardest thing Heart’s done in decades.
To find out what web site is hosting the next song from the album, follow the band on Twitter, where they will be leaving clues as to the next location. (Look for the hash tag “#I<3Heart".) Man, this one will sound good in their live set next to "Barracuda." Party on, Wayne.
I’m sure some would still try to argue this point, but in a world where it seems like just about every comic-inspired movie finds itself atop the box office on its week of release, it’s hard to pretend that comics are strictly the domain of the geeks and the nerds. (Would that this transition could’ve occurred when I was still in high school.)
As such, Bullz-Eye is going to try to tackle more stories from the medium…and when I was sent a copy of “Ides of Blood,” a new series from DC / WildStorm which is – at least according to the press release – not entirely unlike a blend of “True Blood” and “Rome,” it certainly seemed like something that our readership might be interested in learning more about.
God bless DC’s publicity department: they quickly put me in touch with series creator Stuart Paul, who gladly answered a few questions for us about his own introduction to comic books, the origins of “Ides of Blood,” his semi-controversial decision to have characters in ancient Rome use modern colloquialisms, which of DC’s stable of superheroes he’d like to take a shot at writing, and much much more.
Since I’ve seen the phrase “new to comic books” used in conjunction with your history of writing for the medium, what’s your personal background with comics? And don’t be shy: if your memory stretches back that far, feel free to offer up the very first comic you remember buying.
My childhood experience with comics was pretty limited. Other than reading the occasional issue of Moon Knight or X-Men at my friend’s house, the only comics I personally bought were “Star Trek” comics—mostly “Next Generation” and some of the original crew that took place in the post-”Wrath of Khan” time period. It wasn’t until college that my girlfriend reintroduced me to comics through Sandman. Once I realized there were comics for adults out there, I started reading them more and more. Initially, I stuck with the superstars—Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, Brian K. Vaughan, Garth Ennis. I was kind of a Vertigo whore at first. I guess I still kind of am, but not as much. I have to hear a lot of good buzz about something before I’ll invest in a whole series like Walking Dead, but I’ve definitely branched out. Once I discovered Urasawa’s Pluto, I started getting into manga more. Right now, I’ve got 20th Century Boys, Basilisk and Lone Wolf and Cub to read. I also went through a period of reading a lot of DC superheroes. Jeph Loeb’s Batman stuff is my favorite. Sometimes I’ll still read X-Men, but it’s pretty rare for me to read superheroes these days. My favorite series right now is probably Okko. I think Archaia is doing some of the most creative and well-made comics today. Also, Chew is the only series I read on a monthly basis. Everything else is TPB’s, although the iPad is kind of changing that.
There’s been much talk about how fans of both “True Blood” and “Rome” will find much to enjoy in Ides of Blood. Is that combination what led to the concept for this series? If not, what were its origins, and how do you feel about those points of comparison?
No, neither show existed when I originally came up with the idea and wrote the first draft. I mean, I don’t have a problem with people using those as points of reference. It’s an effective shorthand, but it’s the type of thing you’d bring up in a Hollywood pitch meeting. The problem is that you don’t necessarily know what connotations those shows have for the reader and also, they’re such current references that it makes the comic sound like it’s just trying to exploit the zeitgeist. I mean, if you said it’s “Gladiator” meets… well, actually, “Dracula” might have too much baggage attached to the name, so I guess “True Blood” probably is a good descriptor. The point is, I don’t mind the comparison, but I do think it has as much potential to put-off readers as it does to draw them in. Anyway, the concept for the series came out of boredom. I don’t really like vampires, so it started as a challenge to myself to figure out what I’d have to do to make vampires interesting to me. Julius Caesar just popped into my head.
We’re admittedly late on this one, but we have a perfectly good explanation. Well, we’re not sure how good an explanation it is, but it’s the truth – we couldn’t get the video to play.
Damn thing landed in our inbox in late June, but it kept stalling. And since there were 100 more ‘drop what you’re doing and watch/listen to this at once’ emails behind it, we moved on. (After taking last week off, there are now 200 of those emails waiting for us.) It’s that Yahoo player. Once the thing finally made its way to YouTube (ahem, excuse us, Vevo), it played just fine.
So here we are, late but still early enough to post this puppy before it crashes the Top 40. Damn, that bass line is the most awesomely sleazy thing we’ve heard in years. Like “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” with a libido. Let’s get right, okay?
Everything has been going right for Christina Hendricks lately. The ‘Mad Men’ starlet was recently named the “Best-looking Woman in America” by Esquire, nominated for an Emmy, and now she’s been chosen as the featured model for London Fog’s fall campaign.
From the press release:
Christina Hendricks stated, “London Fog is a classic brand, which I love. It also ties in to Mad Men, we used London Fog in the show and this was a nice way to tie everything together. The trench is such an iconic shape for men and women. It works for anyone – it worked in the 1960s and it works now.”
Hendricks was chosen for the London Fog campaign for her glamorous and sophisticated persona. The
alluring black and white campaign features Hendricks posing seductively in London Fog outerwear and
accessories. The campaign was created by the Iconix in-house marketing team and shot by photographer
Nino Muñoz in Los Angeles.
Dari Marder, chief marketing officer, London Fog, commented, “Christina has a modern appeal but also
harks back to a bygone era, which perfectly complements what London Fog represents. She is sexy and
gorgeous and the perfect woman to continue in London Fog’s tradition of celebrity portraiture in our
marketing campaigns.”
As you can see from the photos, if anyone can make a trench look hot, it’s Christina Hendricks. For more news, reviews, and photos from the current season of ‘Mad Men,’ be sure to check out the Bullz-Eye Mad Men Fan Hub.
Whether or not you’ve had that “a-ha” moment in your life in which you’ve found your true passion and can engage that passion without it feeling like work (most of the time), you need to read Peter Buffett’s new book, Life Is What You Make It. Buffett, of course, is the son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, but lucky for the son, his dad as well as his mom let Peter follow his own path to success–one involving music and, eventually, philanthropy.
What Buffett does in this book is not to just tell his own story, but to give tips along the way about how you can forge your own path. He talks about ultimately finding a passion to stoke your own internal fires rather than to just earn a paycheck and aid in fulfilling someone else’s dream. Throughout the book, you’ll be nodding that in fact he’s right–that you were or are in scenarios he is describing, or that he’s describing the lives of people you know and love.
Most of all, this is one of those books that is truly inspirational. I know the effect it had on me is this–that all of my back burner projects need to be seen through rather than revolving on various back burners. Because having a job or business you love is only part of what makes us whole, not the only thing that defines us.
Of course, when Buffett does talk about the various paths he’s taken, it’s a fascinating read, though he’s probably too humble to actually agree with that. He talks matter-of-factly about his success with early MTV bumpers and with music for Kevin Costner’s “Dances With Wolves” blockbuster. But Peter and his wife have found the most fulfillment in starting the NoVo Foundation for helping to empower young women to find paths to success themselves.
What’s unique and remarkable about Life is What You Make It is not the content itself. It’s the point of view, as well as the lessons it teaches–namely, that money isn’t the be-all, end-all. Happiness found through following passions and giving back are what really matter most, and Peter Buffett is living proof of just that.
A friend of mine has a theory which states that one out of every one hundred Dominican women will somehow have picture perfect genetics. Dania Ramirez is firmly within that 99th percentile, and she’s all over the place since landing a role opposite Turtle in Entourage (she had a pretty nice resume before Entourage, too).
Dania dropped by the AXE Lounge this Saturday night and talked a bit about her character’s development over the course of the current Entourage season. She also talked about her role in the upcoming ‘Premium Rush’ with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and offered some quick tips for guys looking to catch a woman’s eye. You can catch the video after the break. Read the rest of this entry »
To say that Christiano Ronaldo leads a charmed life would be a gross understatement. He’s at the top of the most popular sport in the world, making millions upon millions of dollars both as a player and a global icon, and at the end of the day, he comes home to this. Irina Shayk – one of the hottest swimsuit models to ever grace the pages of Sports Illustrated.
Miss Shayk was kind enough to step in front of the camera over at GQ, and damn if she didn’t deliver. If you thought nothing could top her latest bikini spread, close your door, turn down the lights, and go take a look at the slideshow.
Say, did you hear about Snoop Dogg blowing up an armored car in the middle of the Nevada desert as part of a publicity stunt to celebrate the 10 millionth visitor to Zynga’s latest “Mafia Wars” expansion, “Mafia Wars: Las Vegas”?
Maybe you did. Maybe you even watched it happen at MafiaWars.com, since the event was streamed live…and if you did watch it live, then you no doubt noticed that, despite the designated start time having been established as 6 PM PST, it didn’t actually go down ’til a little bit later.
Yeah, I noticed it, too. Except I noticed it live from the Nevada desert, since I was standing right there when the whole thing went down. And it wasn’t much of a surprise to me, since I’d been watching the events unfold for the previous two hours.
First, for those of you who didn’t see it happen, here’s a video of the event:
And, now, here’s the story of what happened and how I came to be there.
Last month, we observed, “Everybody loves Snoop Dogg…or if they don’t love him, they at least know who he is.” An approximation of the phrase could very well be said of the online game phenomenon known as Mafia Wars: even if you don’t actually play it, you’re almost certainly aware of it. (You can play the game on several mediums, but for my part, I’m well familiar with the cry of my non-playing friends who bemoan the constant barrage of Wars-related posts on Facebook.) Tonight, the man who brought gin and juice to the masses is joining forces with the latest game in the franchise, “Mafia Wars: Las Vegas,” to – for lack of a more cultured phrase – blow shit up.
Snoop Dogg will blow up a four-ton armored truck to commemorate the 10 millionth visitor to “Mafia Wars: Las Vegas”, which debuted on July 21. That’s right: it was launched less than a month ago, and it’s already hitting the 10-million-visitor mark. That’s how popular this game is. The massive explosion is taking place in the Las Vegas desert, but it’ll be streamed live via the official Mafia Wars website, so everyone can watch Snoop Dogg light it up.
A handful of people, however, will be there in person to watch the event go down…and – ahem – yours truly will be one of them.
Stay tuned to your friendly neighborhood Bullz-Eye Blog for the post-event wrap-up, wherein I’ll offer my firsthand experience of the event and, if everything goes according to plan, the details on my few minutes one on one with Mr. Dogg.
They don’t make pretzels like they used to. Pretzels you buy in the store either don’t have enough salt, are too bland or buttery or boring. And don’t get me started on soft pretzels, which Auntie Anne’s has pretty much ruined for all of America. However, there is hope, and there are still awesome pretzels sold in bags and in tubs. And the best of these is Utz brand pretzels. I found these in stores occasionally when living in New York, but hadn’t seen them since moving away from there years ago. But I found Utz products recently online, and bought a few different types of pretzels. Not only do they taste exactly as I remember, but they seem to be even better.
I bought a bag each of the rings, small logs and regular logs. Utz pretzels have very few ingredients so they taste fresh and not processed. And they don’t have that fake shine that most store-brought pretzels have. They are crunchy, generously salted, and just plain delicious. In fact, after going through the three bags rather quickly, I ordered two more large tubs of Utz pretzel rods. Yum.
Oh, and for good measure I also tried the 7-grain pretzels Utz carries. Amazingly, these are also delicious. With seven whole grains, meaning lots of healthy fiber, these are snacks you can feel good about eating and feeding your kids. It can’t be easy to make something healthy taste this good, but Utz delivers, again.
