The new season of Shear Genius is on its way (which reminds me … I really need a haircut). If you’ve seen the promos -- and we hope that you have -- then you’re probably wondering, “What’s the name of that totally awesome song Bravo is using?” Wonder no more. It’s "Control" by Metro Station. Check them out. They rock. And they have very cool hair.

Watch the music video HERE.

Filmmaker Toddy Burton has created a super-hero for our times. After kicking cancer in 2005, Burton set to work on a short that is running at the end of this month in the Tribeca Film Festival. It's got stunning visuals, is impossibly colorful, and full of her signature dialogue quirks and character work. Seriously, it shouldn't be missed. Here's the website:

http://www.theaviatrix.com/

Ok, so maybe it isn't the Oscars but more of the Independent Spirit Awards for handbag designers but there is this amazing competition called the Independent Handbag Designer Awards where people duke it out to get the recognition that this underground culture is long overdue. With an all-star fashion judging panel and amazing prizes, this is sure to be the must-attend event of the summer. Afterall, everyone knows someone who is a handbag designer, right?
-Francine R.

As a New Yorker, I love bars. In moderation, I think they are wonderful places, but, like most wonderful things, idiots tend to ruin them from time to time. There are many bar behaviors I find deplorable, but the most offensive one to me is a flagrant disregard for jukebox etiquette. People, it is indecent to play 6 live Metallica songs in a row. Jewel is also unacceptable. And don't make us all sit through the High School Musical soundtrack just because you and your drunk buddies find it hilarious -- this is a bar, everyone here is a grown-up, and there is no room for Zac Efron and his Disney cohorts here.

There's also the matter of infuriatingly overplayed songs that need to be banned from bars forever. Readers, I beg you to think twice before you put your dollar in for the following songs:

That Was a Crazy Game of Poker...]]> http://www.bravotv.com/blog/staffpicks/2008/03/jukebox_dos_and_donts.php http://www.bravotv.com/blog/staffpicks/2008/03/jukebox_dos_and_donts.php Leisure Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:43:54 -0500

Once upon a time there was a President Clinton (Remember Bill?) and he had an affair with a woman named Monica. And although I hate to bring this up because frankly if I hear one more joke about the name "Monica" I'll scream, every time the story came on the news, one word was alway used -- "peccadillo." According to Dictionary.com, the word means "a very minor or slight sin or offense; a trifling fault."

In light of Governor Spitzer's latest, um, peccadillos, and all of the gay sex scandals this year, I haven't heard the word once. To be fair, I get most of my news from E!. But, you know what? I kind of miss the word. So, I say we bring it back. Now's as good a time as any.

Who's with me?

-- Monica R.

Caught Lismore at the NY Couture's Fashion Week afterparty. And I'm forever changed. Named for a remote town in the Australian outback, this pop outfit delivers speaker rattling synths over bouncing beats bound to get you dancing fast and hard for the rest of your life.

Jason C

A huge part of why pop culture obsession is so fun and addictive is reclaiming its catchphrases, re-purposing them for you and your friends, and basically overusing them until they're dead. We all know a guy who says, "Seacrest out!" before hanging up his cell phone, or a girl who calls everything "Maaaayjah!" in a Posh Beckham fashion, or someone else who can't stop saying, "Honest to blog!" ad nauseum. In my crew, for instance, we talk like Lolcats when on AIM, (i.e., "O hai, Mindy! Do you has plans 4 tonite?") The list goes on infinitely.

So, with that introduction, I'd like to reveal to you, dear readers, my newest catchphrase to use and abuse. It's inspired by Paris Hilton's tour de force film, The Hottie and the Nottie. Since its inception, I've taken to playing a game I like to call "Hottie/Nottie" while watching TV. It's where you deem anyone...]]> http://www.bravotv.com/blog/staffpicks/2008/02/nottie_in_everyday_life.php http://www.bravotv.com/blog/staffpicks/2008/02/nottie_in_everyday_life.php Style Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:48:31 -0500

A new musical on Broadway that originated at the Public Theatre, but moved uptown to the Belasco theater. I'm not kidding - it's the best thing I've seen on Broadway, ever, in my entire life. I don't know what else to say about it other than you should take your mom, you should take your friends, you should take your friends from college. The show follows the story of a guy who, (somehow without being at all self-indulgent) tries to uncover the secret to combining what is best about life, with what is best about art. That doesn't do it justice at all. Nor does the description I was given prior that it was "the next 'Spring Awakening.'"

Seriously. Best. Show. Ever.

PassingStrangeOnBroadway.com
Zac H

I love Kristi Yamaguchi. And you know what, I've wanted to share this with you, dear readers, for awhile. And now, I feel like it's justified because the lovely Ms. Yamaguchi has been added to the lineup of celebrities participating in this coming season of Dancing With the Stars.

I used to be a HUGE skating fan. I'm talkin' 'bout Golden Age mid-'90s skating here -- Paul Wylie skating to the music of Schindler's List, skating heartthrob Kurt Browning bringin' down the house with "Brick House," waiting for the incomparable Scott Hamilton to do his back flip at the end of every program .... Sigh. (Have I revealed too much?)

Anyway, this season of Dancing With the Stars hasn't even started, but we're already on Team Yamaguchi. Really, who else in the competition can do a triple lutz so flawlessly?

--Monica R.

Seriously, I knew that people loved Project Runway, but Jon Stewart watches?! Whaaa?! Anyway, Tim Gunn was on The Daily Show (technically A Daily Show at the time) recently talking about Season 4.

I love Tim Gunn. I love Jon Stewart. I love THIS CLIP.

-- Monica R.