J.K. Rowling Announces ?Pottermore?

As of there wasn?t enough hype for the ?Harry Potter? franchise, author J.K. Rowling has launched a new online adventure called ?Pottermore.?

Rowling released a video explaining that Pottermore is her way of thanking fans for such loyal support over the past 13 years.

She stated, ?The digital generation will be able to enjoy a safe, unique reading experience built around the Harry Potter books. Pottermore will be the place where fans of any age can share, participate in and re-discover the stories.?

As an added incentive to get involved, Rowling teased, ?I?ll be sharing additional information I?ve been hoarding for years about the world of Harry Potter.?

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/harry-potter-and-half-blood-prince/jk-rowling-announces-%E2%80%9Cpottermore%E2%80%9D-517282

Michelle Behennah LeAnn Rimes Lindsay Price Rebecca Romijn Kelly Ripa

'Wilfred': Fetching yet far-out

By Robert Bianco, USA TODAY

Welcome to FX's odd dog days of summer.

  • Go get it: Elijah Wood, left, and Jason Gann star as neighbors who share an unusual bond. Gann also is the show's creator.

    By Michael Becker, FX

    Go get it: Elijah Wood, left, and Jason Gann star as neighbors who share an unusual bond. Gann also is the show's creator.

By Michael Becker, FX

Go get it: Elijah Wood, left, and Jason Gann star as neighbors who share an unusual bond. Gann also is the show's creator.

If odd is what you're after, you won't find much stranger than Wilfred, a remake of an Australian hit about a man who sees his next-door neighbor's pet as a guy in a dog costume. A darkly funny twist on Mister Ed, Wilfred satirizes our tendency to anthropomorphize our pets while riding the wave of our affection for them.

And as creator and star Jason Gann proves, there's just something amusing about an ungainly Australian in a cheap dog suit chasing after a laser pointer light.

Granted, that "something" won't work for everyone. Wilfred is willfully scatological, crude sometimes beyond reason, and clumsy at times when a defter touch would be beneficial. But in a sea of summer (and spring, and fall, and winter) sameness, it's refreshing to find a show that is content to go its own way ? and wag its own tail.

While Gann is clearly the comic driving force, the emotional center is artfully upheld by Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood as Wilfred's damaged neighbor, Ryan. In his reluctant acceptance of his unusual situation ? only Ryan can see and hear the humanized Wilfred ? Wood blends wonder with just the right undertones of insanity. Face it, if the neighbor's pooch started alternating between worshiping you and threatening to kill you in your sleep, you'd look a little wide-eyed, too.

And that's one of the clever keys to Gann's approach: We're never quite sure what Wilfred is up to. Wilfred is the reverse of every owner who's ever wanted his dog to act like a person; he wants people to act like dogs, and he's not above manipulation, trickery and threats to get what he wants. Ultimately, he also wants what's best for Ryan ? but only when it's also best for Wilfred.

FX, Thursday, 10 ET/PT
* * * out of four

What you're left with is a bizarre update on the traditional buddy comedy, as the wilder friend tries to get his more restrained compatriot to loosen up. In this case, that loosening just happens to mean violating the laws against dogs on beaches, sneaking your pup into a stripper bar, and indulging your canine friend's fondness for marijuana.

By now you've realized it's an off-kilter premise, but Gann and Wood sell it, with Gann being particularly good in those moments when Wilfred is most conventionally doglike, as when he's determined to take doggie-revenge on a passing motorcycle. In the first three episodes, most of the stars' support comes from Fiona Gubelmann as Wilfred's beloved owner and Ethan Suplee as Ryan and Wilfred's neighbor nemesis, but if you hold out, there's a parade of big-name guests to come.

Still, in essence, this is a two-person show that threatens to be a one-joke one. It's a good joke, when Gann doesn't take it too far or make it too vulgar, but it may not be the kind of joke you necessarily want to hear told every week. Luckily, the last thing many of us need in summer is another show that demands our weekly attention. Entertainment we can dip in and out of will do.

And if that's what you want, Wilfred is a good dog indeed.

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Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/usatoday-LifeTopStories/~3/IYhHeK39fVM/2011-06-22-wilfred-fx-review_n.htm

Minka Kelly Emmanuelle Chriqui Kristanna Loken Cameron Richardson FSU Cowgirls

Joanne Wilson Meets Emily McKhann, Founder, The Motherhood

I met Emily a few years back and every time I see her, we seem to talk forever.  She is charming, engaging, interesting and super smart.  I wanted to piece together how she got to the launching of The Motherhood.  We finally got together this past week for breakfast.  Definitely not enough time to talk but that always seems the case when we get going. 

Emily grew up in Baltimore.  A middle child between two older brothers and two younger brothers.  An interesting spot as someone pointed out to her once that she is actually a single child because being the only girl in the family is an interesting dynamic when there are four other boys.  She grew up traveling.  Her family eked out every day they could to explore and live in different places.  They would leave the minute school ended and return the day before.  Her Grandparents were in the foreign service and so that desire to see the world continued for her parents.  That exploration definitely made an impact on Emily.

Emily went to Kenyon College.  She spent ther junior year in Tel Aviv working for the embassy where she arrived about a week before the 1982 Lebanon war. 

Bombs were literally bursting in the air but she stayed put and finished her year making it an incredible experience to say the least. 

After graduating from college, she moved to Japan for a year.  Her honors professor told her about a program that had just been launched called the Mombusho fellows, now called the Jet Program.  You are hired by the Japanese Department of Education which is located in Tokyo.  Taking English for eight years was part of the Japanese curriculum and although the kids could read and write English beautifully they couldn't speak it.  This program was designed to bring in American college graduates for a year to help pivot the program so that the Japanese students would be able to converse in English.  Emily was sent to islands in Japan that had never seen an American before or anyone outside their community.  The program has changed over the years but this was the original one and she was there in 1983/1984. 

She returned to the States and was hired by a PR firm located in DC.  She lived there a few years and then was moved to Dallas where she opened up their offices.  Eight years of corporate PR.  What came out of this job were a variety of relationships.  She struck up a friendship with the CEO of Frito Lay who was involved in the Dallas International Group.  The idea was to make Dallas a more international city.  This was in the early 90's.  Emily became part of that group which was an entrepreneurial experience.  She was involved by being the executive director of this economic development platform.

Dinkins was made the mayor of NYC and they were looking for someone to head up the International initiative in NYC too. 

Her name came up as the perfect person to becoming the acting Commissioner for the United Nations and Consulate Corp.

All interesting jobs but it was time to go out on her own.  Emily launched the McKhann Group and many of her past clients came to her.  Her first hire was Cooper Munroe who eventually becomes her partner in The Motherhood. 

Emily's best friend was a woman name Erin Kramp.  Erin introduced Emily to her husband Andy.  Such a good friend that both of them were dating someone else and she told each of them that they should not be dating those people but should meet each other.  Emily gets married and is going through infertility hell and then Erin gets cancer.  She took a step back as life had just changed.  She and Erin wrote a book together called Living with the End in Mind

They were on Oprah and the book was a huge success but in the end she lost her best friend. 

She realized that life is too short and she needed to do something meaningful.  To start, she decided to start focusing on herself by taking half an hour a day just to do her own thing guilt free  It wasn't easy but it was very instructive.  Losing her friend was life changing.  Her thoughts were as a woman we take care of everyone else and it was time to take a step back and look at the bigger scheme. 

Cooper and Emily started a blog called Been There.  They were some of the first women bloggers.  It was 2004.  Funny enough Emily remembers reading my blog and finding me because I was one of the only women blogging too.  They were loving Been There and then in 2005 their platform became something else because of Katrina.  They were both so upset about what was happening in New Orleans they reached out to their readers and asked them to help people by sending packages to temporary addresses, speaking to other women on the ground who needed certain things.  Their site became viral.  Mothers connecting to Mothers around an epic tragedy.  A group in Chicago contacted them and had so many items show up in their front lawn to bring down to Louisiana that they had to hire an 18-wheeler to bring the goods down and FEMA actually gave them a special compensation for their costs.  Beauty salons that were destroyed were sent old equipment from beauty salons that had just renovated, hundreds of Macs were sent and more.  Bush got on air and said that efforts were stalled but they weren't in Emily's world. 

What they were seeing is that the Internet was changing the way that people connect to each other.  The web creates a one on one connection with individuals around niche events or even large events.  Originally Emily and Cooper wanted to write an interactive book to be the platform launching a chapter a month and they still might but it was the Motherhood where they then channeled their energies.  The Motherhood is where community comes first and this particular community is around women. 

Emily has a serious amount of energy and bravado.  She has found a place where she can seriously make a difference.

Emily has shown us that one of the beautiful things about being an entrepreneur, a mother and woman is that life is ever evolving and keep your eyes open to that evolution. She took lemons and made lemonade.

The Motherhood is a place where life chats happen around serious conversations that women want to dive into and share with others from kids with allergies to recipes to jobs to ideas.  Look for the Motherhood to be bigger and bolder in the months go come. 

This is an article by Joanne Wilson, a The NextWomen contributor.  Joanne's blog can be found here.

Source: http://www.thenextwomen.com/2011/06/22/joanne-wilson-meets-emily-mckhann-founder-motherhood

Leila Arcieri Shannyn Sossamon Julie Benz Talisa Soto Estella Warren

Alexander Skarsgard Talks "True Blood" Character

He attended the Los Angeles premiere of his hit HBO show on Tuesday night (June 21), and Alexander Skarsgard revealed some juicy details about the upcoming season of ?True Blood.?

Of his vampire sheriff character on the show, the Swedish actor dished, ?It?s a completely different side of Eric. He doesn?t know who he is so all that baggage is gone ? 1,000 years of resentment and bitterness, the whole loathing humanity kind of stuff is gone.?

?But there has to be an element of danger there still. I didn?t want him to become too much of a little puppy?. I don?t think it would be fun to watch him for very long if he was completely emasculated.?

In other career news for Skarsgard, he is set to star in Peter Berg?s ?Battleship and Meloncholia? alongside Kirsten Dunst.

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/alexander-skarsgard/alexander-skarsgard-talks-true-blood-character-517189

Diora Baird Dania Ramirez Ivanka Trump Emmy Rossum Bianca Kajlich

Georges Tron Rape Case: French Ex-Minister Investigated For Alleged Sexual Assault

PARIS -- French prosecutors have opened a judicial inquiry into alleged rape and sexual assault by a former minister and asked that he be charged.

Georges Tron, in custody for two days this week, resigned as junior minister for civil service after the allegations surfaced last month.

A judicial official said Wednesday the prosecutor in Evry, outside Paris, opened an inquiry targeting Tron and his assistant. The official wasn't authorized to be publicly named.

The 53-year-old Tron has denied allegations by two former female colleagues that foot massages he administered evolved into sexual assaults.

The women said assault charges in New York against prominent French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn inspired them to speak out.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/22/georges-tron-rape-inquiry_n_882609.html

Jules Asner Rachel Weisz Laura Prepon Simone Mütherthies Mila Kunis

Spotlight on Tech Entrepreneurs: Avid Larizadeh, Co-founder Boticca

This month's Inspire Conference brought together some of the most brilliant minds in Technology, Creativity and Entrepreneurship from across the world.

The NextWomen's Project Manager Elizabeth Ging was there and met with several leading female tech founders and executives, including Avid Larizadeh, Co-founder of Boticca, an online boutique for unique jewelry and fashion accessories by top emerging designers from around the world. 

Here's what Avid had to say.

Q: What were some of the problems you faced in the company?

A: There are always problems, but I would have to say that the single most difficult problem to face is creating your team and making sure you have all the right people. This was the part we spent the most time on, as well as acquiring customers and getting the right investors. We wanted to make sure that the people we hired were independent and that we were bringing people in who would help build the company with us.

Q: What was an effective way of finding and keeping customers?

A: We spent around $2000 a month and started with Facebook and Twitter. We also used retargeting advertising.

Q: How do you deal with competitors?

A: We definitely look at them and the things they do which work, because we feel that it is important to know what is going on in the industry, what is working and what?s not.

Q: What do you see for the future of the company?

A: We hope to build a global brand for jewelry and accessories, but we don?t intend on expanding vertically.

Source: http://www.thenextwomen.com/2011/06/22/spotlight-tech-entrepreneurs-avid-larizadeh-co-founder-boticca

Lisa Snowdon Ananda Lewis Asia Argento Mary Elizabeth Winstead Lily Allen

Jennifer Aniston Is Still Being Called A Homewrecker

After Jennifer Aniston?s new beau, Justin Theroux, left his long term girlfriend Heidi Bivens, many were blaming his relationship with Aniston for coming between them.

Theroux, who wrote 2008?s Tropic Thunder, had been dating costume designer Bivens and sharing a home with her. But as Theroux and Aniston got closer after meeting on the set of Wanderlust last year, the relationship between Theroux and Bivens began to fall apart.

PHOTOS: Jennifer Aniston And Justin Theroux, A Lot More Than Friends

Is Aniston, who was spotted out and about in New York City yesterday (June 21) wearing a sheer white skirt, to blame for the break up or were things between Theroux and Bivens already coming to an end?

Last week, we quoted a friend of Theroux who told the New York Post that ?things were already over between him and Heidi before he got close to Jen.?

But now, Us Weekly is reporting that a source told them ?Jen went after him? and that the Wanderlust co-stars had ?secret trysts.?

According to Us Weekly?s sources, ?Jen wanted Justin and it didn?t matter that he was already with someone? and Bivens ?didn?t know Aniston was the catalyst? behind her break up ?until now.?

Regardless, the whole mess still seems unclear.

Although many are comparing Jen?s actions to what Angelina Jolie did to her relationship with Brad Pitt, there are some differences. Theroux and Bivens were in a 14-year relationship, but unlike Aniston and Pitt pre-Jolie, they were not married.

What do you think? Is Aniston a homewrecker who caused the end of Theroux?s former relationship? Who do you believe? Share your thoughts with us by posting below in the comments section!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/celebuzz/kEGh/~3/T6ZdGeobWjc/jennifer-aniston-called-homewrecker-06-2011

Jessica Alba Erica Leerhsen Sarah Wynter Rachel Perry Samaire Armstrong

Liv Tyler & Olivia Palermo: "The Ledge" Ladies

As some of our favorite celebrities walked the black carpet at a screening of ?The Ledge,? Olivia Palermo and Liv Tyler certainly stood out last night (June 21).

The former ?City? chick worked it in a mustard yellow SS11 Victoria Beckham dress while the ?Lord of the Rings? actress opted for a super sexy blue pencil dress with a black side panel.

Held in New York City at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema, the screening was hosted by The Cinema Society & Grey Goose.

?The Ledge? stars Liv, Patrick Wilson and Charlie Hunnam and is a drama/thriller that involves a battle of philosophies between a fundamentalist Christian and an atheist which escalates into a lethal battle of wills.

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/olivia-palermo/liv-tyler-olivia-palermo-ledge-ladies-517092

Lena Headey Liz Phair Julianne Hough Dido Whitney Port