Kim Kardashian Inconsolable After Dancing Loss October 1, 2008

A distraught Kim Kardashian could not be consoled after being the surprise third casualty of Dancing with the Stars Tuesday night.

Though she and partner Mark Ballas concluded the show with a playful rendition of one of their earlier dances, once the cameras were off Kardashian rushed to the waiting arms of her family and immediately broke down into tears.

Kardashian’s publicist followed the inconsolable bombshell around the press line with a box of Kleenex since, once the waterworks started, there was no stopping the outpouring of genuine emotion.

“It was a tough day for her,” Ballas said, “and we talked about it, and I imagine it will always be a sad day for her. I just hope that her time on the show was magical for her, and, at the end of the day, I will always be so proud that I was the one holding her hand up there.”

As it turns out, though brimming with potential, and with “assets” to spare, Kardashian couldn’t overcome her one, surprising stumbling block: Her shyness. “What people don’t realize about her,” stepfather Bruce Jenner told PEOPLE, “Is that she is incredibly shy. She’s a smart business woman, but a very shy and quiet girl.”

With the Keeping Up with the Kardashians wrap party waiting across town, the teary-eyed beauty quickly said a round of goodbyes, and disappeared with her family in tow.

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba, who shared a long hug with Kardashian after the show, told PEOPLE, “This could have been a great opportunity for her to blossom and show the world that she is more than just a beautiful face.”

Inaba added, “I don’t think she really understood what it was that she got into when she joined the show. It looks very glamorous, and it looks easy, but dancing is so athletic, and so difficult, and it’s not easy to improve each week, and that’s exactly what we demand from the contestants on the show.”

Relationship Deal Breakers October 1, 2008

By The Fly Guy

In my mind I wondered, “Am I moving too fast? Do I know enough about this woman to take the plunge into commitment?” It was a valid question since far too many times on previous occasions I had allowed the emotions of the moment to dictate my actions. If a woman made me feel good, then she must have been the one for me. What I didn’t understand at the time was while relationships are based on a mutual exchange of emotions, a rational weigh-in on the decision making process was also needed.

After experiencing the relationship setback of a lifetime (I’ll explain one day) my exchange with the opposite sex became much more meaningful. But this current woman had a way of making me set aside all logic or reason. Maybe it was the way she smiled when she saw me enter a room. Perhaps it was the way she gently rested her head on my shoulder as she watched me work. Whatever it was, she had me both ready and willing to let things escalate between us.

But then it happened…

After a particularly stressful day at her job, I decided to take her to a chic dinner lounge overlooking the city. As we stood on the terrace, gazing out at the skyline in an attempt to regain a sense of balance from the madness of the day, she began to share the traumatic details from work. While describing the increasingly erratic behavior of her boss, she reached into her purse, pulled out a fresh pack of Newport cigarettes, unwrapped the package, and fired up.

Whoa…

I consider myself to be diplomatic when it comes to relationships, but there are a few points that are non-negotiable. Smoking cigarettes is one of them. Now that’s not to say that I have anything against anyone who smokes, but I just don’t prefer it within my relationships. I consider it to be a deal-breaker.

Why didn’t I know early on that she smoked? I guess those emotions got in the way once again, and clouded my ability to objectively observe more than just her positive traits. My mistake brings me to the fly question of the day.

Being Single: The Good and Bad Side October 1, 2008

Written by  The Fly Guy

I’ve spent a lot of time admitting all of the stupid things I’ve done that have left me single. But today, even if it’s only for a day, I will stand up and be proud of my singleness.

Here are my favorite things about being single:

It’s cheap. Sadly, I don’t have enough money to even go on that many dates in this city. For example, my good friend goes out to dinner every week and has also been on a few vacations this past summer with his girlfriend. That has got to add up to at least $5,000 that I don’t have.

TV Control. I am so set in my TV viewing: Sports, History Channel, Discovery Channel, stupid ’80’s anything, and so on. If some girl came over all the time and attempted to commandeer the remote (and if she was sweet and cute I’d have to give in), I’d be pretty sad.

No Responsibility. I am not required to be anywhere on behalf of a girl. Again, my friend who goes out to dinner every week? He had a calendar he kept with his girlfriend all summer of the activities they did together. I don’t have to keep an organized schedule or pick up some girl’s parents at the airport, or sit through the sister’s boring musical.

My Head is allowed to be on a swivel. I can go out and talk to any girl I want. I’m still enjoying “playing the field” and meeting lots of girls. Nothing ever works out, but oh well.

No Structure. Luckily I don’t have girls coming over on a consistent basis, so I don’t have to keep my apartment in tip top shape or even comb my hair.

Having hope and the thrill of the chase. It’s exhilarating to have hope in eventually dating after I meet a cool girl and it’s fun to give it a shot and chase, whether I fail or succeed.

Self improvement. One of the best things you can do while you’re single-even if you’re unhappily single-is work on yourself. You can try new things, go new places, develop talents and network and try to grow professionally. When you are in a partnership with someone else, you can still improve, but it’s not so easy to focus on yourself 110%.

Well, I couldn’t let this go without saying some bad things about being single. Here you go:

I’m still without a clue. It would be nice to have someone there who was actually good little things I suck at: getting my collar to stay down, keeping my clothes unwrinkled, managing my money, decorating the apartment…whoa I suck at a lot of stuff!

Slow Dances At Weddings. I am always the single guy among my friends at a wedding. When those slow songs kick in, and everyone couples off, I have no one. So I go hide (and drown my sorrows) at the bar.

Holidays. Yes, I get all caught up in the holidays. It gets chilly, people get happy and I want someone to be close to. The holidays in NYC are very romantic. Not to mention, at this point, my family probably thinks I’m gay because I never bring any girls home for the holidays.

Down Time. I know I harp on how I love controlling my own time and having no responsibility but once in a while it would be nice to know that someone is always there if I want to spend some down time with them.

Creative dating. I love thinking of fun things to do and cool places to visit with a girl. There are so many interesting things that are made more fun with a girl…from camping to cooking. Sometimes it’s just nice to have someone to make happy.

Someone to hold. It’s more fun watching a scary movie with a special girl. I love listening to storms and rain outside, but it would be even better with a girl I was really into.

The bottom line is that there is green grass on either side of the single or not single fence. My friends with girlfriends and wives are jealous of my freedom, and I’m jealous of their great relationships. The key to remaining happy whether you’re single or not is to celebrate the great things about being single or not single. And, try to be happy no matter what situation you’re in because chances are you’ll be on the other side of the fence at some point.

What would you say are your favorite and least favorite things about single life?

MTV SETS A DATE FOR DIDDY’S ‘STARMAKER’ October 1, 2008

MTV has announced that “StarMaker,” a new reality show from Sean “Diddy” Combs and “Survivor” producer Mark Burnett, will premiere its first season in January.

 

      The competition series follows a group of wannabe solo singers living together and competing in a series of tasks designed to test their star power – including photo shoots, paparazzi drills and on-stage performances.

 

       “It’s a privilege to partner with Mark Burnett on my latest television venture. He is one of the industry’s best,” Diddy said in a statement. “I am confident that we will do great things together with ‘StarMaker’ and beyond.”

 

      MTV and Diddy began developing the series in the fall of 2007, while Burnett – who also produces ‘The Apprentice,” “The Contender” and “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?” – came aboard in the spring.

 

       Diddy’s reality show resume includes executive-producer roles on MTV’s “Making The Band,” “Run’s House” and VH1’s “I Want to Work For Diddy.”

LUDACRIS DESIGNS NEW ERA CAP October 1, 2008

Ludacris is the latest celebrity to design a cap for New Era’s “Capture the Flag” limited-edition series, joining previous participants Fabolous, Cam’ron, Fat Joe, and The Game.      

       The actor-rapper designed the cap himself with such features as a large Atlanta Braves “A” style crest on the side-front left that is half clear crystals on the right and half black crystals on the left.       

       The Luda-designed cap is black with red piping and also features the “Disturbing Tha Peace” logo in the flocked lining and undervisor flip along with the “Just Getting Started” logo on the back.       

       The cap is due to hit retail on Oct. 17, and will be available exclusively at New Era Flagship stores and online at www.neweracap.com for $125.00. Only 200 units are available worldwide.

SPRINGSTEEN, JOEL ROCK FOR OBAMA October 1, 2008

Music icons Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel will treat fans to a special performance in New York City this month to benefit Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

 

      The candidate is scheduled to make a personal appearance at the event, which will be held at the Hammerstein Ballroom on Oct. 16, one day after his final debate with Republican John McCain at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.

 

       Tickets range from $500 to $10,000 a piece, reports the Huffington Post.

NEW JAY-Z ALBUM GETS A RELEASE DATE October 1, 2008

Rapper Jay-Z is said to have chosen Dec. 2 as the release date for his new CD “The Blueprint 3,” the last in a trilogy of albums that began in 2001.

 

      According to reports, the set will include a sequel to the M.I.A.-sampled hit “Swagger Like Us,” a track on rapper T.I.’s new album “Paper Trail.”

 

       Jay-Z’s “Swagger Like Us: The Sequel” includes verses from Young Jeezy, Andre 3000 and Nas.      

       Kanye West is the main producer on “The Blueprint 3″ alongside Timbaland.

NBA’S ALONZO MOURNING RELEASES BOOK October 1, 2008

NBA star Alonzo Mourning can now add author to his resume following Tuesday’s release of his book “Resilience,” a 231-page account of his life story, including his battle with the life-threatening kidney disease, focal segmental glomerular sclerosis.

 

      The athlete said he was encouraged to share his life story after following the resilience of cyclist Lance Armstrong, who survived testicular cancer that had metastasized to his brain and lungs.                 

       “Lance was one of the people who inspired me to write this book,” Mourning said in an interview with The Associated Press. “He played a big role in my overall approach to coming back and playing the game, reading both of his books, learning more about his life, his experiences and how he dealt with adversity. He motivated millions and millions of people in their lives, and I felt my story could have that same impact.”

 

       “Resilience” chronicles Mourning’s years playing college basketball at Georgetown and his NBA stops in Charlotte, New Jersey and Miami, where he spent the bulk of his career and the team he’d like to return to at some point this season.       

       He’s still waiting to determine if he can recover from major injuries to his knee and leg suffered in a fall at Atlanta on Dec. 19, 2007 — the fourth anniversary of the kidney transplant that saved his life.       

       The book also touches on several other facets of his life, many of which he hasn’t discussed at much length publicly before. Among the highlights:       

• How Bill Cosby helped shape his life by paying for an education at Howard for the woman who would eventually become his wife, Tracy Wilson Mourning.

• The tribulations of the recruiting trail as a coveted high school player, when Maryland, Syracuse, Virginia and Georgia Tech all wanted him to sign and wooed him with clothes, shoes, fancy dinners, even a trip to a strip club. “Everyone understood I could have gotten money at any of these places. The message was sent,” Mourning wrote.

• How he was nearly too muscular to get a kidney transplant, because surgeons were having trouble finding a place in his body to put the new organ without cutting copious amounts of muscle. If they’d gone about the procedure that way, Mourning’s career would have ended in the operating room.

LIL ROMEO ON LIFE AT SOUTHERN CAL October 1, 2008

Rapper-actor Lil Romeo, a freshman basketball player at the University of Southern California, has been on campus for five weeks and has already had three of his expensive bikes stolen. 

 

       “Lock your bike!” the 19-year-old says to People magazine. “Now I just have a little $5 bike that hopefully no one will want.”       

       The famous son of rap entrepreneur P. Miller says he’s much more protective when it comes to securing his pricey jewelry.      

       “I don’t bring anything expensive to the dorms,” says Romeo, who plans to major in film production. “I just sleep with my earrings on.”       

       Despite the bike thefts, the Trojan point guard says he’s appreciates his new independence.      

       “I love college life,” he says. “It’s like a vacation.”

RICKY WILLIAMS STILL JONESING FOR WEED October 1, 2008

Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams has admitted that he still struggles with his love for marijuana and was tempted to smoke during the team’s bye weekend, reports the Miami Herald.

 

      The athlete said that when players were given Friday off, “automatically your mind, which is so constrained since training camp began … says, ‘I’m free, what can I do?’”

 

       “So there was definitely an urge,” he said in Tuesday’s Miami Herald. “But I just thought about what I have to lose, and it was easy. The urge didn’t last very long.”

 

       Williams has been in the league’s substance-abuse program since 2002 and has tested positive for marijuana. If he were to get caught with the herb in his system again, he would likely be out of the NFL for good because he has already violated the league drug policy four times.

 

      “There’s no space, no wiggle room for me,” Williams said, adding that he fought the urge to smoke over the weekend by meditating instead, which gives him the same “feeling of being free.”

 

       “A lot of times when people have some kind of addiction, what happens is they make a mistake and trip up and afterward say, ‘I don’t know what I was thinking,’” he said. “If you always try to be aware of what is going on in your mind, you won’t ever get to that point where it’s too late.”      

       Williams said he will not smoke marijuana again while he’s in the NFL, but he’s uncertain whether he’ll abstain when his career ends.      

       “I’d be lying if I said I’m never going to do it again after I’m done,” he said. “I don’t know. I don’t spend much time thinking about it.”