Congress to Michael Jackson: No 'King of Pop' honors

Congress manages to waste more time arguing about ridiculously featherweight issues than any other deliberative body known to man. So it's somehow reassuring that the House of Representatives, which normally prefers speechifying over legislative action, especially when it comes to important matters like climate change or healthcare, has pulled the plug on a misbegotten resolution that would have honored Michael Jackson as an American legend and world-class humanitarian.

  As the Associated Press reports, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) quashed an effort by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) to honor Jackson with a House resolution. At a news conference today, Pelosi said that "a resolution, I think, would open up to contrary views to--that are not necessary at this time to be expressed in association with a resolution whose purpose is quite different." By the way, if you read, well try to read that sentence again, with its exquisite mangling of the English language, you would have to wonder whether Pelosi and Sarah Palin were schooled by the same public speaking instructor--or just taught how to speak English by Yogi Berra.

At any rate, Lee's resolution now looks like the longest of long shots to ever come up to a vote, especially with the House being full of Jackson critics like Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who has pledged to block any vote, having blasted Jackson as a "pervert and a pedophile."   

Photo of Nancy Pelosi by Getty Images

I appreciate all the cards and letters, wondering if I had flown the coop for good. I guess my editors were too lazy busy to actually alert everyone that I was taking a little vacation time, but it's amazing when you're away for a few days how much you can miss in the always topsy-turvy world of media, sports and pop culture. So let's see, what sort of nutty stuff happened? A few favorites:

1) Rev. Al Sharpton spoke at Michael Jackson's memorial service, telling Jackson's children that "there was nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what he had to deal with," apparently forgetting all of Jackson's strange behavior, obsession with young boys, costumes, masks and plastic surgery--not to mention, when it comes to all-surpassing strangeness, his naming the aforementioned children Prince Michael, Paris and Prince Michael II. 

2) Sarah Palin, by way of justifying her abrupt decision to quit her job as governor of Alaska, explained: "Only dead fish go with the flow."

3)  Manny Ramirez got kicked out of a Dodgers game, not for tossing his helmet or his bat, but for--gasp!--throwing his elbow pad after getting called out on strikes.

4) Republican Congressman Peter T. King, who usually spends his time praising the IRA or attacking illegal immigrants and Muslims--he once said "there are too many mosques in this country"--lambasted the news media for its fawning Michael Jackson coverage, issuing a statement on Youtube saying, "Let's knock out the psychobabble. He was a pervert, a child molester, he was a pedophile. And to be giving this much coverage to him, day in and day out, what does it say about our country?"

5) Kobe Bryant showed up at Jackson's memorial at Staples Center--did he think the playoffs were still going on?

6) The "Transformers" and "Ice Age" sequels actually ended up in a tie for first place in the Monday morning box-office estimate stories, which of course is the strangest occurrence of all, since what are the odds of two different studios both wildly inflating their weekend box-office and coming up with exactly the same imaginary number? (In the final tally, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" ended up No. 1, with $42.3 million.)

7) Adding to what any Cubs fan will tell you is surely the longest list of bizarre injuries known to man (including the time one of our pitching prospects was hurt after being beaten up by a homeless man at a CIrcle K), starting pitcher Ryan Dempster went on the DL after breaking his toe attempting to vault the dugout railing at Wrigley Field after the team had defeated the Milwaukee Brewers.    

Photo of Usher, Rev. Al Sharpton and Brooke Shields at the Staples Center memorial service for Michael Jackson by Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times

There is an art to writing a great headline, one that has found its apogee at the New York tabloids, which has over the years produced such classics as "Headless Body in Topless Bar," "Kiss Your Asteroid Goodbye" (upon a narrow miss between Earth and a renegade meteor) and "Close But No Cigar" (commemorating Bill Clinton's wriggling out of a Senate impeachment).

But the British papers aren't far behind. The Guardian has a wacky story about the always-wacky Tippi Hedren (who apparently still hasn't recovered from being in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"). In 2005, the veteran actress adopted Michael Jackson's two pet tigers, Thriller and Sabu, after Jackson had closed his private zoo at the Neverland ranch. They now live with Hedren at her Shambala Preserve, along with 60-odd tigers, lions and other big cats.

So, what happened? I'd say the headline says it all:

"TIPPI HEDREN TELLS MICHAEL JACKSON'S FORMER PET TIGERS OF HIS DEATH"

Hedren says she informed the tigers about the singer's death late last week. "I went up and sat with them for a while and let them know that Michael was gone," she explained. "You don't know what mental telepathy exists from the human to the animal. But I hope they understood."

All I can say is that I hope it was someone with equal sensitivity who broke the news to Bubbles. (A tip of the cap to Kris Tapley for spotting this gem).

Photo of Tippi Hedren from Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press

Whether it turns out that he died of heart disease, a cocktail of potent prescription drugs or just years of indulgence and excess, one verdict is inescapable -- what really killed Michael Jackson was an overdose of showbiz values. Like so many child stars before him, from Judy Garland and Sammy Davis Jr. to Tatum O'Neal and River Phoenix and Lindsay Lohan, with about a thousand fifteen-minute one-hit wonders in between, Jackson never found himself a home in the real world.

For Jackson, like so many child stars, show business was his safe haven, the place that shaped his hopes and his dreams, only to drag him into a hellish black hole of unquenchable ego gratification, anxiety, vanity, arrested development, strange obsessions and rampant insecurity. It happens every day -- just look at how oh-so-many Hollywood types measure their self-worth by their weekend grosses, but it's always worst when you find yourself on the cover of Rolling Stone when you're 10. Although his father ruled the family with an iron fist, from the time Michael was 6 he was the acknowledged star of his family's burgeoning music empire, displaying the kind of exhilarating stage persona that helped make the Jackson 5 Motown's last great crossover music act.

It came out only later that Michael bitterly resented being the family meal ticket. Bullied by his father -- he called him his Bad Daddy -- teased by his brothers, who made fun of his big nose, which Michael quickly set about whittling away to practically nothing -- he was, like so many child stars, robbed of any real childhood. He had no friends, only handlers. His only validation was the applause and the acclaim. That's the problem with child stardom -- too often, your only fundamental values are showbiz values, the smell of the greasepaint, the roar of the crowd and the amount of zeroes in the grosses.

When your life is defined by showbiz success, you develop a huge hole in your soul, a hole that often gets filled with drugs, booze or other self-destructive behavior. It happens with depressing regularity, whether to O'Neal (who won an Oscar at 10, then descended into a prolonged battle with drugs), Drew Barrymore (booze at 11, coke at 14), Lohan (a Disney star at 12 before a steep descent into DUI arrests, coke and rehab), Macaulay Culkin (from "Home Alone" stardom to abuse of prescription pills) and Corey Feldman (the young star of "Goonies" who quickly became a poster boy for booze, drugs and excess). Not everyone survives, with Phoenix dying of a speedball overdose at 23 and Brad Renfro succumbing to a heroin OD at 25.

Could anything have saved Jackson from his untimely end? Keep reading:

There's a great old Mose Allison song called "Your Mind Is on Vacation, But Your Mouth Is Working Overtime" that pretty much captures what happens when people in show business, either through sheer pathological cluelessness or plain old blind arrogance, say incredibly, outrageously dumb things, oblivious to just how idiotic they sound to the naked ear. 

I thought it would be fun to collect some of the biggest whoppers of the week, present them for your consideration, and let you weigh in on which remark seems the most preposterous. 

We have so many worthy candidates, but here are a few doozies (with some reaction of my own):

Asked to answer Megan Fox's charge that he didn't present her with any acting opportunities in the new "Transformers" film, director Michael Bay said: "You roll your eyes when you see statements like that. I 100% disagree with her. Nic Cage wasn't a big actor when I cast him, nor was Ben Affleck before I put him in 'Armageddon.' "

Comment: Talk about an eye roller! Nic Cage wasn't a big actor before he met Michael Bay? No, he'd only won a best actor Oscar (for "Leaving Las Vegas") and worked with everyone from Francis Coppola to the Coen Brothers. And Ben Affleck. Oh yeah, he'd already been in "Good Will Hunting," which earned seven Oscar nominations (with Affleck taking home an Oscar for writing the screenplay with Matt Damon). Judging from their post-Bay career trajectory, I'd argue that neither guy ever recovered from working with Mr. Transformers.

Defending his client's mega flop "Imagine That" this week, Eddie Murphy's publicist Arnold Robinson told the New York Times that the movie was not a failure at all, saying, "Paramount Pictures will make money on 'Imagine That' when all is said and done, because it was not an expensive film to make."

Comment: It's one thing to stick up for your client. It's another thing to take a flying leap off an 80-story building without a parachute. As the Times pointed out, Wall Street analysts have already said the movie was such a disaster that the studio may forced to take a write-off because of its dismal performance. If you're a good publicist, when forced to choose between credibility and loyalty, pick credibility every time.

Although she was supposedly a good friend of Michael Jackson, Liza Minnelli told CBS' "The Early Show" that Jackson's autopsy results won't be pretty, saying, "All of us who knew him well really know what he was like. And I'm sure that now the accolades are going, and I'm sure when the autopsy comes, all hell's going to break loose."

Comment: With friends like that, who needs enemies? It almost sounds like Liza is relishing the notion of Jackson being dragged through the dirt. Divorced four times, in and out of the tabloids for years for all sorts of erratic, truly strange behavior, Minnelli is the last person who should be tastelessly talking trash about Jackson's messy private life and drug-related problems. Liza, all I can say is: It takes one to know one. 

So you decide: Who wins the whopper of the week?  

Photo of Megan Fox by Noel Vasquez / Getty Images

   

My father loves to brag to his friends that while his son is a big-shot Hollywood reporter, it was his father who actually met Michael Jackson. Until he retired a few years ago, my dad had a store called the 24 Collection on the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach that specialized in fashion, jewelry, art and one-of-a-kind oddities (I still have a clock set into a Cuban cigar box with a portrait of Fidel Castro on the clock face). One day Brett Ratner, who grew up in Miami and whose mother was a regular customer at the store, called my dad and asked if he could bring his pal Michael Jackson by to look around. As he often did as a courtesy for celebrities who might be annoyed or hounded, my father closed the store that afternoon and put the staff at Jackson's disposal.

"Michael walked around every inch of the store, feeling things, smelling things," my father remembers. "He'd ask questions about what this was or that was, where it was from, how we found it. I made sure the staff didn't intrude on him, although one person did ask for an autograph, which made them an ex-employee right away. But Michael was just off in his own world, curious about everything he saw."

I think my dad got his hopes up when he saw that Jackson was also accompanied by an aide who had a zippered envelope full of cash. But the King of Pop never bought anything. After spending an hour in the store, he just thanked everyone for letting him look around and left.

I called Ratner this morning to ask him how he became such fast friends with Jackson. It turns out that they met in 1998 when Ratner was finishing his first "Rush Hour" picture. One day, Chris Tucker was doing a scene and broke into a wild, Michael Jackson-style dance. The sequence was so funny that when Ratner had test screenings of the film, it got one of the biggest laughs in the picture. But because it was an obvious Jackson impression, Ratner knew he had to clear it with the pop star before he could put it in the movie.

That presented a problem, since Jackson was so reclusive that even Ratner, one of the great celebrity schmoozers of our time, couldn't get to him. He even called Jackson's Neverland ranch but never got anywhere. Then he got lucky. "My editor was talking to the projectionist who ran the final screening and it turned out that he was Michael's personal projectionist," Ratner told me today. "So I gave him the print and asked him to play the beginning of the second reel for Michael, which had Chris' dance in it."

Two days later Ratner picked up the phone and heard the soft, feathery voice of Michael Jackson. So what did Michael say? Keep reading.

From our friends in the Pop Music department comes Steve Appleford's report on the new album from Spinal Tap, "subject" of the 1984 Rob Reiner-directed mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap." During the interview for the story, actors Harry Shearer, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest stayed in character as Derek Smalls, David St. Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel, respectively.

The new album, "Back From the Dead," was recorded in January at the Village Studios in Los Angeles. It was released last week on the band's Label Industry Records, with 19 tracks, a DVD interview disc and an elaborate foldout diorama of the musicians as action figures.

Among the newer songs is "Warmer Than Hell," a climate change anthem written for the band's performance at the Live Earth concert in 2007, where St. Hubbins introduced the lyrics: "Satan sat in Surrey / sweating like a pig. / He said, 'Is this just a fluke / Or maybe something big?' "

Fans will recognize many songs ("Big Bottom," "Stonehenge," "(Funky) Sex Farm") from the film, recorded in a studio for the first time, sometimes with such guest players as John Mayer and Steve Vai.

"We said, 'Why don't we make these tracks sound as best they can be?' " says Tufnel, "with us controlling it, with loudness, sonic integrity."

"It's just an ability to have these songs enjoyed the way they were meant to be enjoyed," says Smalls, "with royalties flowing to us."

Read the full story here.

Photo: Harry Shearer, left, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest as the members of Spinal Tap. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

From our friends at the Culture Monster blog:

Now here's some real starchitecture to think about: The imaginary worlds of Tatooine, Endor, Cloud City and the Death Star may not exist in our own mundane reality, but like it or not, these instantly recognizable forms and structures are seared on our collective consciousness thanks to the undying ubiquity of George Lucas' "Star Wars."

Of course, production design for the movies doesn't qualify as architecture in the strictest sense of the word — we're talking about sets, not true blue buildings. But from a design perspective, they can be as intricate and awe-inspiring as anything conjured by Frank Gehry.

Lest you think that we at Culture Monster are committing heresy by conflating "Star Wars" and the sacrosanct architectural discipline, allow us to refer your attention to the Architect's Journal, a British publication that is certainly no frivolous cultural rag. The AJ recently published on its website a top 10 list of the best architecture from the six "Star Wars" movies. It even draws some intriguing real-world parallels.

Notice, for instance, how the saucer-shaped structures from Cloud City ("The Empire Strikes Back") resemble John Lautner's Chemosphere residence. Or how the Senate Building in Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith") seems to have inspired Jean Nouvel's designs for the Louvre Abu Dhabi. And note how the Ewoks' Endor dwellings ("The Return of the Jedi") are carbon-neutral and make use of locally sourced material.

Keep reading for AJ's honor roll of the best architecture from "Star Wars," plus some of our own additions to the list...

10. Cloud City, Bespin. "The Empire Strikes Back."

9. Senate Building, Coruscant. "Revenge of the Sith."

8. Sandcrawler, Tatooine. "Star Wars."

7. Bright Tree Village, Endor. "The Return of the Jedi."

6. Echo Base, Hoth. "The Empire Strikes Back."

5. Artisinal Dwellings, Tatooine. "The Phantom Menace."

4. Coruscant (the entire city). "The Phantom Menace."

3. Jedi Temple, Coruscant. "Attack of the Clones."

2. Jabba's Palace, Tatooine. "The Return of the Jedi."

1. The Second Death Star. "The Return of the Jedi."

And some of Culture Monster's own additions to the list: Yoda's hut, Dagobah ("The Empire Strikes Back"); Opera House, Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith"); planet Utapau, where General Grievous fights Obi-Wan ("Revenge of the Sith").

What are some of your favorite architectural wonders from the "Star Wars" universe?

— David Ng

Photo: Jedi Council members interview young Anakin Skywalker in their temple above the urban-sprawl planet of Coruscant. Credit: Associated Press/Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd.

I'm taking a little time off for a vacation -- or as the Kinks' Ray Davies so memorably put it: "I'm so glad they sent me away to have a little holiday..." But don't worry, the Big Picture won't be going dark. In fact, the lights will be still burn bright. Our crack crew of in-house bloggers will be on the case, following the showbiz merry-go-round, faithfully keeping track of every hit and miss and each trial and tribulation as it unfolds. So keep looking for the latest news right here. And, of course, listen to Mr. Davies himself, crooning his own personal ode to the glories of a lovely vacation ("The sea's an open sewer, but I don't care...").

   

As much as we'd like to understand everything about our world, sometimes things happen that simply can't be fully, rationally explained. This is why art exists. It's by nature full of mysterious power, hard to contain and even harder to explain. Hence this video, which has making the rounds in the past week among my music-lover pals. It shows one geeky guy, shirtless, shimmying to the hypnotic beat of Santigold's "Unstoppable" at the recent Sasquatch! music festival.

He's lost in his own world, all by himself, when suddenly it's mayhem, as he is surrounded by a huge throng of fellow celebrants, joyfully following his lead, losing themselves in the music. This is what happens when people hear a great new song or flock to a hit movie -- it's the true wisdom of crowds, when everyone wants to get in on a collective experience. But it's fascinating to see it unfold in real time, on video, as the wave builds and gathers momentum.

Bob Lefsetz, the pop music gadfly, offers a far more in-depth commentary on what's going on, viewing the dancing guy in the clip as a metaphor for making it in the music business ("You create something different that's good and hang in there until you hit critical mass. And this mass will be decided by the audience!"). But I wonder if this is all about something more spontaneous -- simply the joy of being in the moment. Or is it perhaps mass hypnosis? Any ideas out there?

I'm back: What showbiz craziness did I miss?

I appreciate all the cards and letters, wondering if I had flown the coop for good. I guess my editors were too lazy busy to actually alert everyone that I was taking a little vacation time, but it's amazing when you're away for a few days how much you can miss in the always topsy-turvy world of media, sports and pop culture. So let's see, what sort of nutty stuff happened? A few favorites:

1) Rev. Al Sharpton spoke at Michael Jackson's memorial service, telling Jackson's children that "there was nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what he had to deal with," apparently forgetting all of Jackson's strange behavior, obsession with young boys, costumes, masks and plastic surgery--not to mention, when it comes to all-surpassing strangeness, his naming the aforementioned children Prince Michael, Paris and Prince Michael II. 

2) Sarah Palin, by way of justifying her abrupt decision to quit her job as governor of Alaska, explained: "Only dead fish go with the flow."

3)  Manny Ramirez got kicked out of a Dodgers game, not for tossing his helmet or his bat, but for--gasp!--throwing his elbow pad after getting called out on strikes.

4) Republican Congressman Peter T. King, who usually spends his time praising the IRA or attacking illegal immigrants and Muslims--he once said "there are too many mosques in this country"--lambasted the news media for its fawning Michael Jackson coverage, issuing a statement on Youtube saying, "Let's knock out the psychobabble. He was a pervert, a child molester, he was a pedophile. And to be giving this much coverage to him, day in and day out, what does it say about our country?"

5) Kobe Bryant showed up at Jackson's memorial at Staples Center--did he think the playoffs were still going on?

6) The "Transformers" and "Ice Age" sequels actually ended up in a tie for first place in the Monday morning box-office estimate stories, which of course is the strangest occurrence of all, since what are the odds of two different studios both wildly inflating their weekend box-office and coming up with exactly the same imaginary number? (In the final tally, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" ended up No. 1, with $42.3 million.)

7) Adding to what any Cubs fan will tell you is surely the longest list of bizarre injuries known to man (including the time one of our pitching prospects was hurt after being beaten up by a homeless man at a CIrcle K), starting pitcher Ryan Dempster went on the DL after breaking his toe attempting to vault the dugout railing at Wrigley Field after the team had defeated the Milwaukee Brewers.    

Photo of Usher, Rev. Al Sharpton and Brooke Shields at the Staples Center memorial service for Michael Jackson by Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times

There is an art to writing a great headline, one that has found its apogee at the New York tabloids, which has over the years produced such classics as "Headless Body in Topless Bar," "Kiss Your Asteroid Goodbye" (upon a narrow miss between Earth and a renegade meteor) and "Close But No Cigar" (commemorating Bill Clinton's wriggling out of a Senate impeachment).

But the British papers aren't far behind. The Guardian has a wacky story about the always-wacky Tippi Hedren (who apparently still hasn't recovered from being in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"). In 2005, the veteran actress adopted Michael Jackson's two pet tigers, Thriller and Sabu, after Jackson had closed his private zoo at the Neverland ranch. They now live with Hedren at her Shambala Preserve, along with 60-odd tigers, lions and other big cats.

So, what happened? I'd say the headline says it all:

"TIPPI HEDREN TELLS MICHAEL JACKSON'S FORMER PET TIGERS OF HIS DEATH"

Hedren says she informed the tigers about the singer's death late last week. "I went up and sat with them for a while and let them know that Michael was gone," she explained. "You don't know what mental telepathy exists from the human to the animal. But I hope they understood."

All I can say is that I hope it was someone with equal sensitivity who broke the news to Bubbles. (A tip of the cap to Kris Tapley for spotting this gem).

Photo of Tippi Hedren from Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press

Whether it turns out that he died of heart disease, a cocktail of potent prescription drugs or just years of indulgence and excess, one verdict is inescapable -- what really killed Michael Jackson was an overdose of showbiz values. Like so many child stars before him, from Judy Garland and Sammy Davis Jr. to Tatum O'Neal and River Phoenix and Lindsay Lohan, with about a thousand fifteen-minute one-hit wonders in between, Jackson never found himself a home in the real world.

For Jackson, like so many child stars, show business was his safe haven, the place that shaped his hopes and his dreams, only to drag him into a hellish black hole of unquenchable ego gratification, anxiety, vanity, arrested development, strange obsessions and rampant insecurity. It happens every day -- just look at how oh-so-many Hollywood types measure their self-worth by their weekend grosses, but it's always worst when you find yourself on the cover of Rolling Stone when you're 10. Although his father ruled the family with an iron fist, from the time Michael was 6 he was the acknowledged star of his family's burgeoning music empire, displaying the kind of exhilarating stage persona that helped make the Jackson 5 Motown's last great crossover music act.

It came out only later that Michael bitterly resented being the family meal ticket. Bullied by his father -- he called him his Bad Daddy -- teased by his brothers, who made fun of his big nose, which Michael quickly set about whittling away to practically nothing -- he was, like so many child stars, robbed of any real childhood. He had no friends, only handlers. His only validation was the applause and the acclaim. That's the problem with child stardom -- too often, your only fundamental values are showbiz values, the smell of the greasepaint, the roar of the crowd and the amount of zeroes in the grosses.

When your life is defined by showbiz success, you develop a huge hole in your soul, a hole that often gets filled with drugs, booze or other self-destructive behavior. It happens with depressing regularity, whether to O'Neal (who won an Oscar at 10, then descended into a prolonged battle with drugs), Drew Barrymore (booze at 11, coke at 14), Lohan (a Disney star at 12 before a steep descent into DUI arrests, coke and rehab), Macaulay Culkin (from "Home Alone" stardom to abuse of prescription pills) and Corey Feldman (the young star of "Goonies" who quickly became a poster boy for booze, drugs and excess). Not everyone survives, with Phoenix dying of a speedball overdose at 23 and Brad Renfro succumbing to a heroin OD at 25.

Could anything have saved Jackson from his untimely end? Keep reading:

There's a great old Mose Allison song called "Your Mind Is on Vacation, But Your Mouth Is Working Overtime" that pretty much captures what happens when people in show business, either through sheer pathological cluelessness or plain old blind arrogance, say incredibly, outrageously dumb things, oblivious to just how idiotic they sound to the naked ear. 

I thought it would be fun to collect some of the biggest whoppers of the week, present them for your consideration, and let you weigh in on which remark seems the most preposterous. 

We have so many worthy candidates, but here are a few doozies (with some reaction of my own):

Asked to answer Megan Fox's charge that he didn't present her with any acting opportunities in the new "Transformers" film, director Michael Bay said: "You roll your eyes when you see statements like that. I 100% disagree with her. Nic Cage wasn't a big actor when I cast him, nor was Ben Affleck before I put him in 'Armageddon.' "

Comment: Talk about an eye roller! Nic Cage wasn't a big actor before he met Michael Bay? No, he'd only won a best actor Oscar (for "Leaving Las Vegas") and worked with everyone from Francis Coppola to the Coen Brothers. And Ben Affleck. Oh yeah, he'd already been in "Good Will Hunting," which earned seven Oscar nominations (with Affleck taking home an Oscar for writing the screenplay with Matt Damon). Judging from their post-Bay career trajectory, I'd argue that neither guy ever recovered from working with Mr. Transformers.

Defending his client's mega flop "Imagine That" this week, Eddie Murphy's publicist Arnold Robinson told the New York Times that the movie was not a failure at all, saying, "Paramount Pictures will make money on 'Imagine That' when all is said and done, because it was not an expensive film to make."

Comment: It's one thing to stick up for your client. It's another thing to take a flying leap off an 80-story building without a parachute. As the Times pointed out, Wall Street analysts have already said the movie was such a disaster that the studio may forced to take a write-off because of its dismal performance. If you're a good publicist, when forced to choose between credibility and loyalty, pick credibility every time.

Although she was supposedly a good friend of Michael Jackson, Liza Minnelli told CBS' "The Early Show" that Jackson's autopsy results won't be pretty, saying, "All of us who knew him well really know what he was like. And I'm sure that now the accolades are going, and I'm sure when the autopsy comes, all hell's going to break loose."

Comment: With friends like that, who needs enemies? It almost sounds like Liza is relishing the notion of Jackson being dragged through the dirt. Divorced four times, in and out of the tabloids for years for all sorts of erratic, truly strange behavior, Minnelli is the last person who should be tastelessly talking trash about Jackson's messy private life and drug-related problems. Liza, all I can say is: It takes one to know one. 

So you decide: Who wins the whopper of the week?  

Photo of Megan Fox by Noel Vasquez / Getty Images

   

My father loves to brag to his friends that while his son is a big-shot Hollywood reporter, it was his father who actually met Michael Jackson. Until he retired a few years ago, my dad had a store called the 24 Collection on the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach that specialized in fashion, jewelry, art and one-of-a-kind oddities (I still have a clock set into a Cuban cigar box with a portrait of Fidel Castro on the clock face). One day Brett Ratner, who grew up in Miami and whose mother was a regular customer at the store, called my dad and asked if he could bring his pal Michael Jackson by to look around. As he often did as a courtesy for celebrities who might be annoyed or hounded, my father closed the store that afternoon and put the staff at Jackson's disposal.

"Michael walked around every inch of the store, feeling things, smelling things," my father remembers. "He'd ask questions about what this was or that was, where it was from, how we found it. I made sure the staff didn't intrude on him, although one person did ask for an autograph, which made them an ex-employee right away. But Michael was just off in his own world, curious about everything he saw."

I think my dad got his hopes up when he saw that Jackson was also accompanied by an aide who had a zippered envelope full of cash. But the King of Pop never bought anything. After spending an hour in the store, he just thanked everyone for letting him look around and left.

I called Ratner this morning to ask him how he became such fast friends with Jackson. It turns out that they met in 1998 when Ratner was finishing his first "Rush Hour" picture. One day, Chris Tucker was doing a scene and broke into a wild, Michael Jackson-style dance. The sequence was so funny that when Ratner had test screenings of the film, it got one of the biggest laughs in the picture. But because it was an obvious Jackson impression, Ratner knew he had to clear it with the pop star before he could put it in the movie.

That presented a problem, since Jackson was so reclusive that even Ratner, one of the great celebrity schmoozers of our time, couldn't get to him. He even called Jackson's Neverland ranch but never got anywhere. Then he got lucky. "My editor was talking to the projectionist who ran the final screening and it turned out that he was Michael's personal projectionist," Ratner told me today. "So I gave him the print and asked him to play the beginning of the second reel for Michael, which had Chris' dance in it."

Two days later Ratner picked up the phone and heard the soft, feathery voice of Michael Jackson. So what did Michael say? Keep reading.

From our friends in the Pop Music department comes Steve Appleford's report on the new album from Spinal Tap, "subject" of the 1984 Rob Reiner-directed mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap." During the interview for the story, actors Harry Shearer, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest stayed in character as Derek Smalls, David St. Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel, respectively.

The new album, "Back From the Dead," was recorded in January at the Village Studios in Los Angeles. It was released last week on the band's Label Industry Records, with 19 tracks, a DVD interview disc and an elaborate foldout diorama of the musicians as action figures.

Among the newer songs is "Warmer Than Hell," a climate change anthem written for the band's performance at the Live Earth concert in 2007, where St. Hubbins introduced the lyrics: "Satan sat in Surrey / sweating like a pig. / He said, 'Is this just a fluke / Or maybe something big?' "

Fans will recognize many songs ("Big Bottom," "Stonehenge," "(Funky) Sex Farm") from the film, recorded in a studio for the first time, sometimes with such guest players as John Mayer and Steve Vai.

"We said, 'Why don't we make these tracks sound as best they can be?' " says Tufnel, "with us controlling it, with loudness, sonic integrity."

"It's just an ability to have these songs enjoyed the way they were meant to be enjoyed," says Smalls, "with royalties flowing to us."

Read the full story here.

Photo: Harry Shearer, left, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest as the members of Spinal Tap. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

From our friends at the Culture Monster blog:

Now here's some real starchitecture to think about: The imaginary worlds of Tatooine, Endor, Cloud City and the Death Star may not exist in our own mundane reality, but like it or not, these instantly recognizable forms and structures are seared on our collective consciousness thanks to the undying ubiquity of George Lucas' "Star Wars."

Of course, production design for the movies doesn't qualify as architecture in the strictest sense of the word — we're talking about sets, not true blue buildings. But from a design perspective, they can be as intricate and awe-inspiring as anything conjured by Frank Gehry.

Lest you think that we at Culture Monster are committing heresy by conflating "Star Wars" and the sacrosanct architectural discipline, allow us to refer your attention to the Architect's Journal, a British publication that is certainly no frivolous cultural rag. The AJ recently published on its website a top 10 list of the best architecture from the six "Star Wars" movies. It even draws some intriguing real-world parallels.

Notice, for instance, how the saucer-shaped structures from Cloud City ("The Empire Strikes Back") resemble John Lautner's Chemosphere residence. Or how the Senate Building in Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith") seems to have inspired Jean Nouvel's designs for the Louvre Abu Dhabi. And note how the Ewoks' Endor dwellings ("The Return of the Jedi") are carbon-neutral and make use of locally sourced material.

Keep reading for AJ's honor roll of the best architecture from "Star Wars," plus some of our own additions to the list...

10. Cloud City, Bespin. "The Empire Strikes Back."

9. Senate Building, Coruscant. "Revenge of the Sith."

8. Sandcrawler, Tatooine. "Star Wars."

7. Bright Tree Village, Endor. "The Return of the Jedi."

6. Echo Base, Hoth. "The Empire Strikes Back."

5. Artisinal Dwellings, Tatooine. "The Phantom Menace."

4. Coruscant (the entire city). "The Phantom Menace."

3. Jedi Temple, Coruscant. "Attack of the Clones."

2. Jabba's Palace, Tatooine. "The Return of the Jedi."

1. The Second Death Star. "The Return of the Jedi."

And some of Culture Monster's own additions to the list: Yoda's hut, Dagobah ("The Empire Strikes Back"); Opera House, Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith"); planet Utapau, where General Grievous fights Obi-Wan ("Revenge of the Sith").

What are some of your favorite architectural wonders from the "Star Wars" universe?

— David Ng

Photo: Jedi Council members interview young Anakin Skywalker in their temple above the urban-sprawl planet of Coruscant. Credit: Associated Press/Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd.

I'm taking a little time off for a vacation -- or as the Kinks' Ray Davies so memorably put it: "I'm so glad they sent me away to have a little holiday..." But don't worry, the Big Picture won't be going dark. In fact, the lights will be still burn bright. Our crack crew of in-house bloggers will be on the case, following the showbiz merry-go-round, faithfully keeping track of every hit and miss and each trial and tribulation as it unfolds. So keep looking for the latest news right here. And, of course, listen to Mr. Davies himself, crooning his own personal ode to the glories of a lovely vacation ("The sea's an open sewer, but I don't care...").

   

As much as we'd like to understand everything about our world, sometimes things happen that simply can't be fully, rationally explained. This is why art exists. It's by nature full of mysterious power, hard to contain and even harder to explain. Hence this video, which has making the rounds in the past week among my music-lover pals. It shows one geeky guy, shirtless, shimmying to the hypnotic beat of Santigold's "Unstoppable" at the recent Sasquatch! music festival.

He's lost in his own world, all by himself, when suddenly it's mayhem, as he is surrounded by a huge throng of fellow celebrants, joyfully following his lead, losing themselves in the music. This is what happens when people hear a great new song or flock to a hit movie -- it's the true wisdom of crowds, when everyone wants to get in on a collective experience. But it's fascinating to see it unfold in real time, on video, as the wave builds and gathers momentum.

Bob Lefsetz, the pop music gadfly, offers a far more in-depth commentary on what's going on, viewing the dancing guy in the clip as a metaphor for making it in the music business ("You create something different that's good and hang in there until you hit critical mass. And this mass will be decided by the audience!"). But I wonder if this is all about something more spontaneous -- simply the joy of being in the moment. Or is it perhaps mass hypnosis? Any ideas out there?

Tiger Beat: The Michael Jackson edition

There is an art to writing a great headline, one that has found its apogee at the New York tabloids, which has over the years produced such classics as "Headless Body in Topless Bar," "Kiss Your Asteroid Goodbye" (upon a narrow miss between Earth and a renegade meteor) and "Close But No Cigar" (commemorating Bill Clinton's wriggling out of a Senate impeachment).

But the British papers aren't far behind. The Guardian has a wacky story about the always-wacky Tippi Hedren (who apparently still hasn't recovered from being in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"). In 2005, the veteran actress adopted Michael Jackson's two pet tigers, Thriller and Sabu, after Jackson had closed his private zoo at the Neverland ranch. They now live with Hedren at her Shambala Preserve, along with 60-odd tigers, lions and other big cats.

So, what happened? I'd say the headline says it all:

"TIPPI HEDREN TELLS MICHAEL JACKSON'S FORMER PET TIGERS OF HIS DEATH"

Hedren says she informed the tigers about the singer's death late last week. "I went up and sat with them for a while and let them know that Michael was gone," she explained. "You don't know what mental telepathy exists from the human to the animal. But I hope they understood."

All I can say is that I hope it was someone with equal sensitivity who broke the news to Bubbles. (A tip of the cap to Kris Tapley for spotting this gem).

Photo of Tippi Hedren from Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press

Whether it turns out that he died of heart disease, a cocktail of potent prescription drugs or just years of indulgence and excess, one verdict is inescapable -- what really killed Michael Jackson was an overdose of showbiz values. Like so many child stars before him, from Judy Garland and Sammy Davis Jr. to Tatum O'Neal and River Phoenix and Lindsay Lohan, with about a thousand fifteen-minute one-hit wonders in between, Jackson never found himself a home in the real world.

For Jackson, like so many child stars, show business was his safe haven, the place that shaped his hopes and his dreams, only to drag him into a hellish black hole of unquenchable ego gratification, anxiety, vanity, arrested development, strange obsessions and rampant insecurity. It happens every day -- just look at how oh-so-many Hollywood types measure their self-worth by their weekend grosses, but it's always worst when you find yourself on the cover of Rolling Stone when you're 10. Although his father ruled the family with an iron fist, from the time Michael was 6 he was the acknowledged star of his family's burgeoning music empire, displaying the kind of exhilarating stage persona that helped make the Jackson 5 Motown's last great crossover music act.

It came out only later that Michael bitterly resented being the family meal ticket. Bullied by his father -- he called him his Bad Daddy -- teased by his brothers, who made fun of his big nose, which Michael quickly set about whittling away to practically nothing -- he was, like so many child stars, robbed of any real childhood. He had no friends, only handlers. His only validation was the applause and the acclaim. That's the problem with child stardom -- too often, your only fundamental values are showbiz values, the smell of the greasepaint, the roar of the crowd and the amount of zeroes in the grosses.

When your life is defined by showbiz success, you develop a huge hole in your soul, a hole that often gets filled with drugs, booze or other self-destructive behavior. It happens with depressing regularity, whether to O'Neal (who won an Oscar at 10, then descended into a prolonged battle with drugs), Drew Barrymore (booze at 11, coke at 14), Lohan (a Disney star at 12 before a steep descent into DUI arrests, coke and rehab), Macaulay Culkin (from "Home Alone" stardom to abuse of prescription pills) and Corey Feldman (the young star of "Goonies" who quickly became a poster boy for booze, drugs and excess). Not everyone survives, with Phoenix dying of a speedball overdose at 23 and Brad Renfro succumbing to a heroin OD at 25.

Could anything have saved Jackson from his untimely end? Keep reading:

There's a great old Mose Allison song called "Your Mind Is on Vacation, But Your Mouth Is Working Overtime" that pretty much captures what happens when people in show business, either through sheer pathological cluelessness or plain old blind arrogance, say incredibly, outrageously dumb things, oblivious to just how idiotic they sound to the naked ear. 

I thought it would be fun to collect some of the biggest whoppers of the week, present them for your consideration, and let you weigh in on which remark seems the most preposterous. 

We have so many worthy candidates, but here are a few doozies (with some reaction of my own):

Asked to answer Megan Fox's charge that he didn't present her with any acting opportunities in the new "Transformers" film, director Michael Bay said: "You roll your eyes when you see statements like that. I 100% disagree with her. Nic Cage wasn't a big actor when I cast him, nor was Ben Affleck before I put him in 'Armageddon.' "

Comment: Talk about an eye roller! Nic Cage wasn't a big actor before he met Michael Bay? No, he'd only won a best actor Oscar (for "Leaving Las Vegas") and worked with everyone from Francis Coppola to the Coen Brothers. And Ben Affleck. Oh yeah, he'd already been in "Good Will Hunting," which earned seven Oscar nominations (with Affleck taking home an Oscar for writing the screenplay with Matt Damon). Judging from their post-Bay career trajectory, I'd argue that neither guy ever recovered from working with Mr. Transformers.

Defending his client's mega flop "Imagine That" this week, Eddie Murphy's publicist Arnold Robinson told the New York Times that the movie was not a failure at all, saying, "Paramount Pictures will make money on 'Imagine That' when all is said and done, because it was not an expensive film to make."

Comment: It's one thing to stick up for your client. It's another thing to take a flying leap off an 80-story building without a parachute. As the Times pointed out, Wall Street analysts have already said the movie was such a disaster that the studio may forced to take a write-off because of its dismal performance. If you're a good publicist, when forced to choose between credibility and loyalty, pick credibility every time.

Although she was supposedly a good friend of Michael Jackson, Liza Minnelli told CBS' "The Early Show" that Jackson's autopsy results won't be pretty, saying, "All of us who knew him well really know what he was like. And I'm sure that now the accolades are going, and I'm sure when the autopsy comes, all hell's going to break loose."

Comment: With friends like that, who needs enemies? It almost sounds like Liza is relishing the notion of Jackson being dragged through the dirt. Divorced four times, in and out of the tabloids for years for all sorts of erratic, truly strange behavior, Minnelli is the last person who should be tastelessly talking trash about Jackson's messy private life and drug-related problems. Liza, all I can say is: It takes one to know one. 

So you decide: Who wins the whopper of the week?  

Photo of Megan Fox by Noel Vasquez / Getty Images

   

My father loves to brag to his friends that while his son is a big-shot Hollywood reporter, it was his father who actually met Michael Jackson. Until he retired a few years ago, my dad had a store called the 24 Collection on the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach that specialized in fashion, jewelry, art and one-of-a-kind oddities (I still have a clock set into a Cuban cigar box with a portrait of Fidel Castro on the clock face). One day Brett Ratner, who grew up in Miami and whose mother was a regular customer at the store, called my dad and asked if he could bring his pal Michael Jackson by to look around. As he often did as a courtesy for celebrities who might be annoyed or hounded, my father closed the store that afternoon and put the staff at Jackson's disposal.

"Michael walked around every inch of the store, feeling things, smelling things," my father remembers. "He'd ask questions about what this was or that was, where it was from, how we found it. I made sure the staff didn't intrude on him, although one person did ask for an autograph, which made them an ex-employee right away. But Michael was just off in his own world, curious about everything he saw."

I think my dad got his hopes up when he saw that Jackson was also accompanied by an aide who had a zippered envelope full of cash. But the King of Pop never bought anything. After spending an hour in the store, he just thanked everyone for letting him look around and left.

I called Ratner this morning to ask him how he became such fast friends with Jackson. It turns out that they met in 1998 when Ratner was finishing his first "Rush Hour" picture. One day, Chris Tucker was doing a scene and broke into a wild, Michael Jackson-style dance. The sequence was so funny that when Ratner had test screenings of the film, it got one of the biggest laughs in the picture. But because it was an obvious Jackson impression, Ratner knew he had to clear it with the pop star before he could put it in the movie.

That presented a problem, since Jackson was so reclusive that even Ratner, one of the great celebrity schmoozers of our time, couldn't get to him. He even called Jackson's Neverland ranch but never got anywhere. Then he got lucky. "My editor was talking to the projectionist who ran the final screening and it turned out that he was Michael's personal projectionist," Ratner told me today. "So I gave him the print and asked him to play the beginning of the second reel for Michael, which had Chris' dance in it."

Two days later Ratner picked up the phone and heard the soft, feathery voice of Michael Jackson. So what did Michael say? Keep reading.

From our friends in the Pop Music department comes Steve Appleford's report on the new album from Spinal Tap, "subject" of the 1984 Rob Reiner-directed mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap." During the interview for the story, actors Harry Shearer, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest stayed in character as Derek Smalls, David St. Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel, respectively.

The new album, "Back From the Dead," was recorded in January at the Village Studios in Los Angeles. It was released last week on the band's Label Industry Records, with 19 tracks, a DVD interview disc and an elaborate foldout diorama of the musicians as action figures.

Among the newer songs is "Warmer Than Hell," a climate change anthem written for the band's performance at the Live Earth concert in 2007, where St. Hubbins introduced the lyrics: "Satan sat in Surrey / sweating like a pig. / He said, 'Is this just a fluke / Or maybe something big?' "

Fans will recognize many songs ("Big Bottom," "Stonehenge," "(Funky) Sex Farm") from the film, recorded in a studio for the first time, sometimes with such guest players as John Mayer and Steve Vai.

"We said, 'Why don't we make these tracks sound as best they can be?' " says Tufnel, "with us controlling it, with loudness, sonic integrity."

"It's just an ability to have these songs enjoyed the way they were meant to be enjoyed," says Smalls, "with royalties flowing to us."

Read the full story here.

Photo: Harry Shearer, left, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest as the members of Spinal Tap. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

From our friends at the Culture Monster blog:

Now here's some real starchitecture to think about: The imaginary worlds of Tatooine, Endor, Cloud City and the Death Star may not exist in our own mundane reality, but like it or not, these instantly recognizable forms and structures are seared on our collective consciousness thanks to the undying ubiquity of George Lucas' "Star Wars."

Of course, production design for the movies doesn't qualify as architecture in the strictest sense of the word — we're talking about sets, not true blue buildings. But from a design perspective, they can be as intricate and awe-inspiring as anything conjured by Frank Gehry.

Lest you think that we at Culture Monster are committing heresy by conflating "Star Wars" and the sacrosanct architectural discipline, allow us to refer your attention to the Architect's Journal, a British publication that is certainly no frivolous cultural rag. The AJ recently published on its website a top 10 list of the best architecture from the six "Star Wars" movies. It even draws some intriguing real-world parallels.

Notice, for instance, how the saucer-shaped structures from Cloud City ("The Empire Strikes Back") resemble John Lautner's Chemosphere residence. Or how the Senate Building in Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith") seems to have inspired Jean Nouvel's designs for the Louvre Abu Dhabi. And note how the Ewoks' Endor dwellings ("The Return of the Jedi") are carbon-neutral and make use of locally sourced material.

Keep reading for AJ's honor roll of the best architecture from "Star Wars," plus some of our own additions to the list...

10. Cloud City, Bespin. "The Empire Strikes Back."

9. Senate Building, Coruscant. "Revenge of the Sith."

8. Sandcrawler, Tatooine. "Star Wars."

7. Bright Tree Village, Endor. "The Return of the Jedi."

6. Echo Base, Hoth. "The Empire Strikes Back."

5. Artisinal Dwellings, Tatooine. "The Phantom Menace."

4. Coruscant (the entire city). "The Phantom Menace."

3. Jedi Temple, Coruscant. "Attack of the Clones."

2. Jabba's Palace, Tatooine. "The Return of the Jedi."

1. The Second Death Star. "The Return of the Jedi."

And some of Culture Monster's own additions to the list: Yoda's hut, Dagobah ("The Empire Strikes Back"); Opera House, Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith"); planet Utapau, where General Grievous fights Obi-Wan ("Revenge of the Sith").

What are some of your favorite architectural wonders from the "Star Wars" universe?

— David Ng

Photo: Jedi Council members interview young Anakin Skywalker in their temple above the urban-sprawl planet of Coruscant. Credit: Associated Press/Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd.

I'm taking a little time off for a vacation -- or as the Kinks' Ray Davies so memorably put it: "I'm so glad they sent me away to have a little holiday..." But don't worry, the Big Picture won't be going dark. In fact, the lights will be still burn bright. Our crack crew of in-house bloggers will be on the case, following the showbiz merry-go-round, faithfully keeping track of every hit and miss and each trial and tribulation as it unfolds. So keep looking for the latest news right here. And, of course, listen to Mr. Davies himself, crooning his own personal ode to the glories of a lovely vacation ("The sea's an open sewer, but I don't care...").

   

As much as we'd like to understand everything about our world, sometimes things happen that simply can't be fully, rationally explained. This is why art exists. It's by nature full of mysterious power, hard to contain and even harder to explain. Hence this video, which has making the rounds in the past week among my music-lover pals. It shows one geeky guy, shirtless, shimmying to the hypnotic beat of Santigold's "Unstoppable" at the recent Sasquatch! music festival.

He's lost in his own world, all by himself, when suddenly it's mayhem, as he is surrounded by a huge throng of fellow celebrants, joyfully following his lead, losing themselves in the music. This is what happens when people hear a great new song or flock to a hit movie -- it's the true wisdom of crowds, when everyone wants to get in on a collective experience. But it's fascinating to see it unfold in real time, on video, as the wave builds and gathers momentum.

Bob Lefsetz, the pop music gadfly, offers a far more in-depth commentary on what's going on, viewing the dancing guy in the clip as a metaphor for making it in the music business ("You create something different that's good and hang in there until you hit critical mass. And this mass will be decided by the audience!"). But I wonder if this is all about something more spontaneous -- simply the joy of being in the moment. Or is it perhaps mass hypnosis? Any ideas out there?

Michael Jackson: Dead by an overdose of showbiz?

Whether it turns out that he died of heart disease, a cocktail of potent prescription drugs or just years of indulgence and excess, one verdict is inescapable -- what really killed Michael Jackson was an overdose of showbiz values. Like so many child stars before him, from Judy Garland and Sammy Davis Jr. to Tatum O'Neal and River Phoenix and Lindsay Lohan, with about a thousand fifteen-minute one-hit wonders in between, Jackson never found himself a home in the real world.

For Jackson, like so many child stars, show business was his safe haven, the place that shaped his hopes and his dreams, only to drag him into a hellish black hole of unquenchable ego gratification, anxiety, vanity, arrested development, strange obsessions and rampant insecurity. It happens every day -- just look at how oh-so-many Hollywood types measure their self-worth by their weekend grosses, but it's always worst when you find yourself on the cover of Rolling Stone when you're 10. Although his father ruled the family with an iron fist, from the time Michael was 6 he was the acknowledged star of his family's burgeoning music empire, displaying the kind of exhilarating stage persona that helped make the Jackson 5 Motown's last great crossover music act.

It came out only later that Michael bitterly resented being the family meal ticket. Bullied by his father -- he called him his Bad Daddy -- teased by his brothers, who made fun of his big nose, which Michael quickly set about whittling away to practically nothing -- he was, like so many child stars, robbed of any real childhood. He had no friends, only handlers. His only validation was the applause and the acclaim. That's the problem with child stardom -- too often, your only fundamental values are showbiz values, the smell of the greasepaint, the roar of the crowd and the amount of zeroes in the grosses.

When your life is defined by showbiz success, you develop a huge hole in your soul, a hole that often gets filled with drugs, booze or other self-destructive behavior. It happens with depressing regularity, whether to O'Neal (who won an Oscar at 10, then descended into a prolonged battle with drugs), Drew Barrymore (booze at 11, coke at 14), Lohan (a Disney star at 12 before a steep descent into DUI arrests, coke and rehab), Macaulay Culkin (from "Home Alone" stardom to abuse of prescription pills) and Corey Feldman (the young star of "Goonies" who quickly became a poster boy for booze, drugs and excess). Not everyone survives, with Phoenix dying of a speedball overdose at 23 and Brad Renfro succumbing to a heroin OD at 25.

Could anything have saved Jackson from his untimely end? Keep reading:

There's a great old Mose Allison song called "Your Mind Is on Vacation, But Your Mouth Is Working Overtime" that pretty much captures what happens when people in show business, either through sheer pathological cluelessness or plain old blind arrogance, say incredibly, outrageously dumb things, oblivious to just how idiotic they sound to the naked ear. 

I thought it would be fun to collect some of the biggest whoppers of the week, present them for your consideration, and let you weigh in on which remark seems the most preposterous. 

We have so many worthy candidates, but here are a few doozies (with some reaction of my own):

Asked to answer Megan Fox's charge that he didn't present her with any acting opportunities in the new "Transformers" film, director Michael Bay said: "You roll your eyes when you see statements like that. I 100% disagree with her. Nic Cage wasn't a big actor when I cast him, nor was Ben Affleck before I put him in 'Armageddon.' "

Comment: Talk about an eye roller! Nic Cage wasn't a big actor before he met Michael Bay? No, he'd only won a best actor Oscar (for "Leaving Las Vegas") and worked with everyone from Francis Coppola to the Coen Brothers. And Ben Affleck. Oh yeah, he'd already been in "Good Will Hunting," which earned seven Oscar nominations (with Affleck taking home an Oscar for writing the screenplay with Matt Damon). Judging from their post-Bay career trajectory, I'd argue that neither guy ever recovered from working with Mr. Transformers.

Defending his client's mega flop "Imagine That" this week, Eddie Murphy's publicist Arnold Robinson told the New York Times that the movie was not a failure at all, saying, "Paramount Pictures will make money on 'Imagine That' when all is said and done, because it was not an expensive film to make."

Comment: It's one thing to stick up for your client. It's another thing to take a flying leap off an 80-story building without a parachute. As the Times pointed out, Wall Street analysts have already said the movie was such a disaster that the studio may forced to take a write-off because of its dismal performance. If you're a good publicist, when forced to choose between credibility and loyalty, pick credibility every time.

Although she was supposedly a good friend of Michael Jackson, Liza Minnelli told CBS' "The Early Show" that Jackson's autopsy results won't be pretty, saying, "All of us who knew him well really know what he was like. And I'm sure that now the accolades are going, and I'm sure when the autopsy comes, all hell's going to break loose."

Comment: With friends like that, who needs enemies? It almost sounds like Liza is relishing the notion of Jackson being dragged through the dirt. Divorced four times, in and out of the tabloids for years for all sorts of erratic, truly strange behavior, Minnelli is the last person who should be tastelessly talking trash about Jackson's messy private life and drug-related problems. Liza, all I can say is: It takes one to know one. 

So you decide: Who wins the whopper of the week?  

Photo of Megan Fox by Noel Vasquez / Getty Images

   

My father loves to brag to his friends that while his son is a big-shot Hollywood reporter, it was his father who actually met Michael Jackson. Until he retired a few years ago, my dad had a store called the 24 Collection on the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach that specialized in fashion, jewelry, art and one-of-a-kind oddities (I still have a clock set into a Cuban cigar box with a portrait of Fidel Castro on the clock face). One day Brett Ratner, who grew up in Miami and whose mother was a regular customer at the store, called my dad and asked if he could bring his pal Michael Jackson by to look around. As he often did as a courtesy for celebrities who might be annoyed or hounded, my father closed the store that afternoon and put the staff at Jackson's disposal.

"Michael walked around every inch of the store, feeling things, smelling things," my father remembers. "He'd ask questions about what this was or that was, where it was from, how we found it. I made sure the staff didn't intrude on him, although one person did ask for an autograph, which made them an ex-employee right away. But Michael was just off in his own world, curious about everything he saw."

I think my dad got his hopes up when he saw that Jackson was also accompanied by an aide who had a zippered envelope full of cash. But the King of Pop never bought anything. After spending an hour in the store, he just thanked everyone for letting him look around and left.

I called Ratner this morning to ask him how he became such fast friends with Jackson. It turns out that they met in 1998 when Ratner was finishing his first "Rush Hour" picture. One day, Chris Tucker was doing a scene and broke into a wild, Michael Jackson-style dance. The sequence was so funny that when Ratner had test screenings of the film, it got one of the biggest laughs in the picture. But because it was an obvious Jackson impression, Ratner knew he had to clear it with the pop star before he could put it in the movie.

That presented a problem, since Jackson was so reclusive that even Ratner, one of the great celebrity schmoozers of our time, couldn't get to him. He even called Jackson's Neverland ranch but never got anywhere. Then he got lucky. "My editor was talking to the projectionist who ran the final screening and it turned out that he was Michael's personal projectionist," Ratner told me today. "So I gave him the print and asked him to play the beginning of the second reel for Michael, which had Chris' dance in it."

Two days later Ratner picked up the phone and heard the soft, feathery voice of Michael Jackson. So what did Michael say? Keep reading.

From our friends in the Pop Music department comes Steve Appleford's report on the new album from Spinal Tap, "subject" of the 1984 Rob Reiner-directed mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap." During the interview for the story, actors Harry Shearer, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest stayed in character as Derek Smalls, David St. Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel, respectively.

The new album, "Back From the Dead," was recorded in January at the Village Studios in Los Angeles. It was released last week on the band's Label Industry Records, with 19 tracks, a DVD interview disc and an elaborate foldout diorama of the musicians as action figures.

Among the newer songs is "Warmer Than Hell," a climate change anthem written for the band's performance at the Live Earth concert in 2007, where St. Hubbins introduced the lyrics: "Satan sat in Surrey / sweating like a pig. / He said, 'Is this just a fluke / Or maybe something big?' "

Fans will recognize many songs ("Big Bottom," "Stonehenge," "(Funky) Sex Farm") from the film, recorded in a studio for the first time, sometimes with such guest players as John Mayer and Steve Vai.

"We said, 'Why don't we make these tracks sound as best they can be?' " says Tufnel, "with us controlling it, with loudness, sonic integrity."

"It's just an ability to have these songs enjoyed the way they were meant to be enjoyed," says Smalls, "with royalties flowing to us."

Read the full story here.

Photo: Harry Shearer, left, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest as the members of Spinal Tap. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

From our friends at the Culture Monster blog:

Now here's some real starchitecture to think about: The imaginary worlds of Tatooine, Endor, Cloud City and the Death Star may not exist in our own mundane reality, but like it or not, these instantly recognizable forms and structures are seared on our collective consciousness thanks to the undying ubiquity of George Lucas' "Star Wars."

Of course, production design for the movies doesn't qualify as architecture in the strictest sense of the word — we're talking about sets, not true blue buildings. But from a design perspective, they can be as intricate and awe-inspiring as anything conjured by Frank Gehry.

Lest you think that we at Culture Monster are committing heresy by conflating "Star Wars" and the sacrosanct architectural discipline, allow us to refer your attention to the Architect's Journal, a British publication that is certainly no frivolous cultural rag. The AJ recently published on its website a top 10 list of the best architecture from the six "Star Wars" movies. It even draws some intriguing real-world parallels.

Notice, for instance, how the saucer-shaped structures from Cloud City ("The Empire Strikes Back") resemble John Lautner's Chemosphere residence. Or how the Senate Building in Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith") seems to have inspired Jean Nouvel's designs for the Louvre Abu Dhabi. And note how the Ewoks' Endor dwellings ("The Return of the Jedi") are carbon-neutral and make use of locally sourced material.

Keep reading for AJ's honor roll of the best architecture from "Star Wars," plus some of our own additions to the list...

10. Cloud City, Bespin. "The Empire Strikes Back."

9. Senate Building, Coruscant. "Revenge of the Sith."

8. Sandcrawler, Tatooine. "Star Wars."

7. Bright Tree Village, Endor. "The Return of the Jedi."

6. Echo Base, Hoth. "The Empire Strikes Back."

5. Artisinal Dwellings, Tatooine. "The Phantom Menace."

4. Coruscant (the entire city). "The Phantom Menace."

3. Jedi Temple, Coruscant. "Attack of the Clones."

2. Jabba's Palace, Tatooine. "The Return of the Jedi."

1. The Second Death Star. "The Return of the Jedi."

And some of Culture Monster's own additions to the list: Yoda's hut, Dagobah ("The Empire Strikes Back"); Opera House, Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith"); planet Utapau, where General Grievous fights Obi-Wan ("Revenge of the Sith").

What are some of your favorite architectural wonders from the "Star Wars" universe?

— David Ng

Photo: Jedi Council members interview young Anakin Skywalker in their temple above the urban-sprawl planet of Coruscant. Credit: Associated Press/Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd.

I'm taking a little time off for a vacation -- or as the Kinks' Ray Davies so memorably put it: "I'm so glad they sent me away to have a little holiday..." But don't worry, the Big Picture won't be going dark. In fact, the lights will be still burn bright. Our crack crew of in-house bloggers will be on the case, following the showbiz merry-go-round, faithfully keeping track of every hit and miss and each trial and tribulation as it unfolds. So keep looking for the latest news right here. And, of course, listen to Mr. Davies himself, crooning his own personal ode to the glories of a lovely vacation ("The sea's an open sewer, but I don't care...").

   

As much as we'd like to understand everything about our world, sometimes things happen that simply can't be fully, rationally explained. This is why art exists. It's by nature full of mysterious power, hard to contain and even harder to explain. Hence this video, which has making the rounds in the past week among my music-lover pals. It shows one geeky guy, shirtless, shimmying to the hypnotic beat of Santigold's "Unstoppable" at the recent Sasquatch! music festival.

He's lost in his own world, all by himself, when suddenly it's mayhem, as he is surrounded by a huge throng of fellow celebrants, joyfully following his lead, losing themselves in the music. This is what happens when people hear a great new song or flock to a hit movie -- it's the true wisdom of crowds, when everyone wants to get in on a collective experience. But it's fascinating to see it unfold in real time, on video, as the wave builds and gathers momentum.

Bob Lefsetz, the pop music gadfly, offers a far more in-depth commentary on what's going on, viewing the dancing guy in the clip as a metaphor for making it in the music business ("You create something different that's good and hang in there until you hit critical mass. And this mass will be decided by the audience!"). But I wonder if this is all about something more spontaneous -- simply the joy of being in the moment. Or is it perhaps mass hypnosis? Any ideas out there?

Hollywood crazy talk: The week's biggest whoppers!

There's a great old Mose Allison song called "Your Mind Is on Vacation, But Your Mouth Is Working Overtime" that pretty much captures what happens when people in show business, either through sheer pathological cluelessness or plain old blind arrogance, say incredibly, outrageously dumb things, oblivious to just how idiotic they sound to the naked ear. 

I thought it would be fun to collect some of the biggest whoppers of the week, present them for your consideration, and let you weigh in on which remark seems the most preposterous. 

We have so many worthy candidates, but here are a few doozies (with some reaction of my own):

Asked to answer Megan Fox's charge that he didn't present her with any acting opportunities in the new "Transformers" film, director Michael Bay said: "You roll your eyes when you see statements like that. I 100% disagree with her. Nic Cage wasn't a big actor when I cast him, nor was Ben Affleck before I put him in 'Armageddon.' "

Comment: Talk about an eye roller! Nic Cage wasn't a big actor before he met Michael Bay? No, he'd only won a best actor Oscar (for "Leaving Las Vegas") and worked with everyone from Francis Coppola to the Coen Brothers. And Ben Affleck. Oh yeah, he'd already been in "Good Will Hunting," which earned seven Oscar nominations (with Affleck taking home an Oscar for writing the screenplay with Matt Damon). Judging from their post-Bay career trajectory, I'd argue that neither guy ever recovered from working with Mr. Transformers.

Defending his client's mega flop "Imagine That" this week, Eddie Murphy's publicist Arnold Robinson told the New York Times that the movie was not a failure at all, saying, "Paramount Pictures will make money on 'Imagine That' when all is said and done, because it was not an expensive film to make."

Comment: It's one thing to stick up for your client. It's another thing to take a flying leap off an 80-story building without a parachute. As the Times pointed out, Wall Street analysts have already said the movie was such a disaster that the studio may forced to take a write-off because of its dismal performance. If you're a good publicist, when forced to choose between credibility and loyalty, pick credibility every time.

Although she was supposedly a good friend of Michael Jackson, Liza Minnelli told CBS' "The Early Show" that Jackson's autopsy results won't be pretty, saying, "All of us who knew him well really know what he was like. And I'm sure that now the accolades are going, and I'm sure when the autopsy comes, all hell's going to break loose."

Comment: With friends like that, who needs enemies? It almost sounds like Liza is relishing the notion of Jackson being dragged through the dirt. Divorced four times, in and out of the tabloids for years for all sorts of erratic, truly strange behavior, Minnelli is the last person who should be tastelessly talking trash about Jackson's messy private life and drug-related problems. Liza, all I can say is: It takes one to know one. 

So you decide: Who wins the whopper of the week?  

Photo of Megan Fox by Noel Vasquez / Getty Images

   

My father loves to brag to his friends that while his son is a big-shot Hollywood reporter, it was his father who actually met Michael Jackson. Until he retired a few years ago, my dad had a store called the 24 Collection on the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach that specialized in fashion, jewelry, art and one-of-a-kind oddities (I still have a clock set into a Cuban cigar box with a portrait of Fidel Castro on the clock face). One day Brett Ratner, who grew up in Miami and whose mother was a regular customer at the store, called my dad and asked if he could bring his pal Michael Jackson by to look around. As he often did as a courtesy for celebrities who might be annoyed or hounded, my father closed the store that afternoon and put the staff at Jackson's disposal.

"Michael walked around every inch of the store, feeling things, smelling things," my father remembers. "He'd ask questions about what this was or that was, where it was from, how we found it. I made sure the staff didn't intrude on him, although one person did ask for an autograph, which made them an ex-employee right away. But Michael was just off in his own world, curious about everything he saw."

I think my dad got his hopes up when he saw that Jackson was also accompanied by an aide who had a zippered envelope full of cash. But the King of Pop never bought anything. After spending an hour in the store, he just thanked everyone for letting him look around and left.

I called Ratner this morning to ask him how he became such fast friends with Jackson. It turns out that they met in 1998 when Ratner was finishing his first "Rush Hour" picture. One day, Chris Tucker was doing a scene and broke into a wild, Michael Jackson-style dance. The sequence was so funny that when Ratner had test screenings of the film, it got one of the biggest laughs in the picture. But because it was an obvious Jackson impression, Ratner knew he had to clear it with the pop star before he could put it in the movie.

That presented a problem, since Jackson was so reclusive that even Ratner, one of the great celebrity schmoozers of our time, couldn't get to him. He even called Jackson's Neverland ranch but never got anywhere. Then he got lucky. "My editor was talking to the projectionist who ran the final screening and it turned out that he was Michael's personal projectionist," Ratner told me today. "So I gave him the print and asked him to play the beginning of the second reel for Michael, which had Chris' dance in it."

Two days later Ratner picked up the phone and heard the soft, feathery voice of Michael Jackson. So what did Michael say? Keep reading.

From our friends in the Pop Music department comes Steve Appleford's report on the new album from Spinal Tap, "subject" of the 1984 Rob Reiner-directed mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap." During the interview for the story, actors Harry Shearer, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest stayed in character as Derek Smalls, David St. Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel, respectively.

The new album, "Back From the Dead," was recorded in January at the Village Studios in Los Angeles. It was released last week on the band's Label Industry Records, with 19 tracks, a DVD interview disc and an elaborate foldout diorama of the musicians as action figures.

Among the newer songs is "Warmer Than Hell," a climate change anthem written for the band's performance at the Live Earth concert in 2007, where St. Hubbins introduced the lyrics: "Satan sat in Surrey / sweating like a pig. / He said, 'Is this just a fluke / Or maybe something big?' "

Fans will recognize many songs ("Big Bottom," "Stonehenge," "(Funky) Sex Farm") from the film, recorded in a studio for the first time, sometimes with such guest players as John Mayer and Steve Vai.

"We said, 'Why don't we make these tracks sound as best they can be?' " says Tufnel, "with us controlling it, with loudness, sonic integrity."

"It's just an ability to have these songs enjoyed the way they were meant to be enjoyed," says Smalls, "with royalties flowing to us."

Read the full story here.

Photo: Harry Shearer, left, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest as the members of Spinal Tap. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

From our friends at the Culture Monster blog:

Now here's some real starchitecture to think about: The imaginary worlds of Tatooine, Endor, Cloud City and the Death Star may not exist in our own mundane reality, but like it or not, these instantly recognizable forms and structures are seared on our collective consciousness thanks to the undying ubiquity of George Lucas' "Star Wars."

Of course, production design for the movies doesn't qualify as architecture in the strictest sense of the word — we're talking about sets, not true blue buildings. But from a design perspective, they can be as intricate and awe-inspiring as anything conjured by Frank Gehry.

Lest you think that we at Culture Monster are committing heresy by conflating "Star Wars" and the sacrosanct architectural discipline, allow us to refer your attention to the Architect's Journal, a British publication that is certainly no frivolous cultural rag. The AJ recently published on its website a top 10 list of the best architecture from the six "Star Wars" movies. It even draws some intriguing real-world parallels.

Notice, for instance, how the saucer-shaped structures from Cloud City ("The Empire Strikes Back") resemble John Lautner's Chemosphere residence. Or how the Senate Building in Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith") seems to have inspired Jean Nouvel's designs for the Louvre Abu Dhabi. And note how the Ewoks' Endor dwellings ("The Return of the Jedi") are carbon-neutral and make use of locally sourced material.

Keep reading for AJ's honor roll of the best architecture from "Star Wars," plus some of our own additions to the list...

10. Cloud City, Bespin. "The Empire Strikes Back."

9. Senate Building, Coruscant. "Revenge of the Sith."

8. Sandcrawler, Tatooine. "Star Wars."

7. Bright Tree Village, Endor. "The Return of the Jedi."

6. Echo Base, Hoth. "The Empire Strikes Back."

5. Artisinal Dwellings, Tatooine. "The Phantom Menace."

4. Coruscant (the entire city). "The Phantom Menace."

3. Jedi Temple, Coruscant. "Attack of the Clones."

2. Jabba's Palace, Tatooine. "The Return of the Jedi."

1. The Second Death Star. "The Return of the Jedi."

And some of Culture Monster's own additions to the list: Yoda's hut, Dagobah ("The Empire Strikes Back"); Opera House, Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith"); planet Utapau, where General Grievous fights Obi-Wan ("Revenge of the Sith").

What are some of your favorite architectural wonders from the "Star Wars" universe?

— David Ng

Photo: Jedi Council members interview young Anakin Skywalker in their temple above the urban-sprawl planet of Coruscant. Credit: Associated Press/Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd.

I'm taking a little time off for a vacation -- or as the Kinks' Ray Davies so memorably put it: "I'm so glad they sent me away to have a little holiday..." But don't worry, the Big Picture won't be going dark. In fact, the lights will be still burn bright. Our crack crew of in-house bloggers will be on the case, following the showbiz merry-go-round, faithfully keeping track of every hit and miss and each trial and tribulation as it unfolds. So keep looking for the latest news right here. And, of course, listen to Mr. Davies himself, crooning his own personal ode to the glories of a lovely vacation ("The sea's an open sewer, but I don't care...").

   

As much as we'd like to understand everything about our world, sometimes things happen that simply can't be fully, rationally explained. This is why art exists. It's by nature full of mysterious power, hard to contain and even harder to explain. Hence this video, which has making the rounds in the past week among my music-lover pals. It shows one geeky guy, shirtless, shimmying to the hypnotic beat of Santigold's "Unstoppable" at the recent Sasquatch! music festival.

He's lost in his own world, all by himself, when suddenly it's mayhem, as he is surrounded by a huge throng of fellow celebrants, joyfully following his lead, losing themselves in the music. This is what happens when people hear a great new song or flock to a hit movie -- it's the true wisdom of crowds, when everyone wants to get in on a collective experience. But it's fascinating to see it unfold in real time, on video, as the wave builds and gathers momentum.

Bob Lefsetz, the pop music gadfly, offers a far more in-depth commentary on what's going on, viewing the dancing guy in the clip as a metaphor for making it in the music business ("You create something different that's good and hang in there until you hit critical mass. And this mass will be decided by the audience!"). But I wonder if this is all about something more spontaneous -- simply the joy of being in the moment. Or is it perhaps mass hypnosis? Any ideas out there?

Brett Ratner on Michael Jackson: 'You felt like God was within him'

My father loves to brag to his friends that while his son is a big-shot Hollywood reporter, it was his father who actually met Michael Jackson. Until he retired a few years ago, my dad had a store called the 24 Collection on the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach that specialized in fashion, jewelry, art and one-of-a-kind oddities (I still have a clock set into a Cuban cigar box with a portrait of Fidel Castro on the clock face). One day Brett Ratner, who grew up in Miami and whose mother was a regular customer at the store, called my dad and asked if he could bring his pal Michael Jackson by to look around. As he often did as a courtesy for celebrities who might be annoyed or hounded, my father closed the store that afternoon and put the staff at Jackson's disposal.

"Michael walked around every inch of the store, feeling things, smelling things," my father remembers. "He'd ask questions about what this was or that was, where it was from, how we found it. I made sure the staff didn't intrude on him, although one person did ask for an autograph, which made them an ex-employee right away. But Michael was just off in his own world, curious about everything he saw."

I think my dad got his hopes up when he saw that Jackson was also accompanied by an aide who had a zippered envelope full of cash. But the King of Pop never bought anything. After spending an hour in the store, he just thanked everyone for letting him look around and left.

I called Ratner this morning to ask him how he became such fast friends with Jackson. It turns out that they met in 1998 when Ratner was finishing his first "Rush Hour" picture. One day, Chris Tucker was doing a scene and broke into a wild, Michael Jackson-style dance. The sequence was so funny that when Ratner had test screenings of the film, it got one of the biggest laughs in the picture. But because it was an obvious Jackson impression, Ratner knew he had to clear it with the pop star before he could put it in the movie.

That presented a problem, since Jackson was so reclusive that even Ratner, one of the great celebrity schmoozers of our time, couldn't get to him. He even called Jackson's Neverland ranch but never got anywhere. Then he got lucky. "My editor was talking to the projectionist who ran the final screening and it turned out that he was Michael's personal projectionist," Ratner told me today. "So I gave him the print and asked him to play the beginning of the second reel for Michael, which had Chris' dance in it."

Two days later Ratner picked up the phone and heard the soft, feathery voice of Michael Jackson. So what did Michael say? Keep reading.

From our friends in the Pop Music department comes Steve Appleford's report on the new album from Spinal Tap, "subject" of the 1984 Rob Reiner-directed mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap." During the interview for the story, actors Harry Shearer, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest stayed in character as Derek Smalls, David St. Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel, respectively.

The new album, "Back From the Dead," was recorded in January at the Village Studios in Los Angeles. It was released last week on the band's Label Industry Records, with 19 tracks, a DVD interview disc and an elaborate foldout diorama of the musicians as action figures.

Among the newer songs is "Warmer Than Hell," a climate change anthem written for the band's performance at the Live Earth concert in 2007, where St. Hubbins introduced the lyrics: "Satan sat in Surrey / sweating like a pig. / He said, 'Is this just a fluke / Or maybe something big?' "

Fans will recognize many songs ("Big Bottom," "Stonehenge," "(Funky) Sex Farm") from the film, recorded in a studio for the first time, sometimes with such guest players as John Mayer and Steve Vai.

"We said, 'Why don't we make these tracks sound as best they can be?' " says Tufnel, "with us controlling it, with loudness, sonic integrity."

"It's just an ability to have these songs enjoyed the way they were meant to be enjoyed," says Smalls, "with royalties flowing to us."

Read the full story here.

Photo: Harry Shearer, left, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest as the members of Spinal Tap. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

From our friends at the Culture Monster blog:

Now here's some real starchitecture to think about: The imaginary worlds of Tatooine, Endor, Cloud City and the Death Star may not exist in our own mundane reality, but like it or not, these instantly recognizable forms and structures are seared on our collective consciousness thanks to the undying ubiquity of George Lucas' "Star Wars."

Of course, production design for the movies doesn't qualify as architecture in the strictest sense of the word — we're talking about sets, not true blue buildings. But from a design perspective, they can be as intricate and awe-inspiring as anything conjured by Frank Gehry.

Lest you think that we at Culture Monster are committing heresy by conflating "Star Wars" and the sacrosanct architectural discipline, allow us to refer your attention to the Architect's Journal, a British publication that is certainly no frivolous cultural rag. The AJ recently published on its website a top 10 list of the best architecture from the six "Star Wars" movies. It even draws some intriguing real-world parallels.

Notice, for instance, how the saucer-shaped structures from Cloud City ("The Empire Strikes Back") resemble John Lautner's Chemosphere residence. Or how the Senate Building in Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith") seems to have inspired Jean Nouvel's designs for the Louvre Abu Dhabi. And note how the Ewoks' Endor dwellings ("The Return of the Jedi") are carbon-neutral and make use of locally sourced material.

Keep reading for AJ's honor roll of the best architecture from "Star Wars," plus some of our own additions to the list...

10. Cloud City, Bespin. "The Empire Strikes Back."

9. Senate Building, Coruscant. "Revenge of the Sith."

8. Sandcrawler, Tatooine. "Star Wars."

7. Bright Tree Village, Endor. "The Return of the Jedi."

6. Echo Base, Hoth. "The Empire Strikes Back."

5. Artisinal Dwellings, Tatooine. "The Phantom Menace."

4. Coruscant (the entire city). "The Phantom Menace."

3. Jedi Temple, Coruscant. "Attack of the Clones."

2. Jabba's Palace, Tatooine. "The Return of the Jedi."

1. The Second Death Star. "The Return of the Jedi."

And some of Culture Monster's own additions to the list: Yoda's hut, Dagobah ("The Empire Strikes Back"); Opera House, Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith"); planet Utapau, where General Grievous fights Obi-Wan ("Revenge of the Sith").

What are some of your favorite architectural wonders from the "Star Wars" universe?

— David Ng

Photo: Jedi Council members interview young Anakin Skywalker in their temple above the urban-sprawl planet of Coruscant. Credit: Associated Press/Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd.

I'm taking a little time off for a vacation -- or as the Kinks' Ray Davies so memorably put it: "I'm so glad they sent me away to have a little holiday..." But don't worry, the Big Picture won't be going dark. In fact, the lights will be still burn bright. Our crack crew of in-house bloggers will be on the case, following the showbiz merry-go-round, faithfully keeping track of every hit and miss and each trial and tribulation as it unfolds. So keep looking for the latest news right here. And, of course, listen to Mr. Davies himself, crooning his own personal ode to the glories of a lovely vacation ("The sea's an open sewer, but I don't care...").

   

As much as we'd like to understand everything about our world, sometimes things happen that simply can't be fully, rationally explained. This is why art exists. It's by nature full of mysterious power, hard to contain and even harder to explain. Hence this video, which has making the rounds in the past week among my music-lover pals. It shows one geeky guy, shirtless, shimmying to the hypnotic beat of Santigold's "Unstoppable" at the recent Sasquatch! music festival.

He's lost in his own world, all by himself, when suddenly it's mayhem, as he is surrounded by a huge throng of fellow celebrants, joyfully following his lead, losing themselves in the music. This is what happens when people hear a great new song or flock to a hit movie -- it's the true wisdom of crowds, when everyone wants to get in on a collective experience. But it's fascinating to see it unfold in real time, on video, as the wave builds and gathers momentum.

Bob Lefsetz, the pop music gadfly, offers a far more in-depth commentary on what's going on, viewing the dancing guy in the clip as a metaphor for making it in the music business ("You create something different that's good and hang in there until you hit critical mass. And this mass will be decided by the audience!"). But I wonder if this is all about something more spontaneous -- simply the joy of being in the moment. Or is it perhaps mass hypnosis? Any ideas out there?

This is still Spinal Tap

From our friends in the Pop Music department comes Steve Appleford's report on the new album from Spinal Tap, "subject" of the 1984 Rob Reiner-directed mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap." During the interview for the story, actors Harry Shearer, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest stayed in character as Derek Smalls, David St. Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel, respectively.

The new album, "Back From the Dead," was recorded in January at the Village Studios in Los Angeles. It was released last week on the band's Label Industry Records, with 19 tracks, a DVD interview disc and an elaborate foldout diorama of the musicians as action figures.

Among the newer songs is "Warmer Than Hell," a climate change anthem written for the band's performance at the Live Earth concert in 2007, where St. Hubbins introduced the lyrics: "Satan sat in Surrey / sweating like a pig. / He said, 'Is this just a fluke / Or maybe something big?' "

Fans will recognize many songs ("Big Bottom," "Stonehenge," "(Funky) Sex Farm") from the film, recorded in a studio for the first time, sometimes with such guest players as John Mayer and Steve Vai.

"We said, 'Why don't we make these tracks sound as best they can be?' " says Tufnel, "with us controlling it, with loudness, sonic integrity."

"It's just an ability to have these songs enjoyed the way they were meant to be enjoyed," says Smalls, "with royalties flowing to us."

Read the full story here.

Photo: Harry Shearer, left, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest as the members of Spinal Tap. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

From our friends at the Culture Monster blog:

Now here's some real starchitecture to think about: The imaginary worlds of Tatooine, Endor, Cloud City and the Death Star may not exist in our own mundane reality, but like it or not, these instantly recognizable forms and structures are seared on our collective consciousness thanks to the undying ubiquity of George Lucas' "Star Wars."

Of course, production design for the movies doesn't qualify as architecture in the strictest sense of the word — we're talking about sets, not true blue buildings. But from a design perspective, they can be as intricate and awe-inspiring as anything conjured by Frank Gehry.

Lest you think that we at Culture Monster are committing heresy by conflating "Star Wars" and the sacrosanct architectural discipline, allow us to refer your attention to the Architect's Journal, a British publication that is certainly no frivolous cultural rag. The AJ recently published on its website a top 10 list of the best architecture from the six "Star Wars" movies. It even draws some intriguing real-world parallels.

Notice, for instance, how the saucer-shaped structures from Cloud City ("The Empire Strikes Back") resemble John Lautner's Chemosphere residence. Or how the Senate Building in Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith") seems to have inspired Jean Nouvel's designs for the Louvre Abu Dhabi. And note how the Ewoks' Endor dwellings ("The Return of the Jedi") are carbon-neutral and make use of locally sourced material.

Keep reading for AJ's honor roll of the best architecture from "Star Wars," plus some of our own additions to the list...

10. Cloud City, Bespin. "The Empire Strikes Back."

9. Senate Building, Coruscant. "Revenge of the Sith."

8. Sandcrawler, Tatooine. "Star Wars."

7. Bright Tree Village, Endor. "The Return of the Jedi."

6. Echo Base, Hoth. "The Empire Strikes Back."

5. Artisinal Dwellings, Tatooine. "The Phantom Menace."

4. Coruscant (the entire city). "The Phantom Menace."

3. Jedi Temple, Coruscant. "Attack of the Clones."

2. Jabba's Palace, Tatooine. "The Return of the Jedi."

1. The Second Death Star. "The Return of the Jedi."

And some of Culture Monster's own additions to the list: Yoda's hut, Dagobah ("The Empire Strikes Back"); Opera House, Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith"); planet Utapau, where General Grievous fights Obi-Wan ("Revenge of the Sith").

What are some of your favorite architectural wonders from the "Star Wars" universe?

— David Ng

Photo: Jedi Council members interview young Anakin Skywalker in their temple above the urban-sprawl planet of Coruscant. Credit: Associated Press/Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd.

I'm taking a little time off for a vacation -- or as the Kinks' Ray Davies so memorably put it: "I'm so glad they sent me away to have a little holiday..." But don't worry, the Big Picture won't be going dark. In fact, the lights will be still burn bright. Our crack crew of in-house bloggers will be on the case, following the showbiz merry-go-round, faithfully keeping track of every hit and miss and each trial and tribulation as it unfolds. So keep looking for the latest news right here. And, of course, listen to Mr. Davies himself, crooning his own personal ode to the glories of a lovely vacation ("The sea's an open sewer, but I don't care...").

   

As much as we'd like to understand everything about our world, sometimes things happen that simply can't be fully, rationally explained. This is why art exists. It's by nature full of mysterious power, hard to contain and even harder to explain. Hence this video, which has making the rounds in the past week among my music-lover pals. It shows one geeky guy, shirtless, shimmying to the hypnotic beat of Santigold's "Unstoppable" at the recent Sasquatch! music festival.

He's lost in his own world, all by himself, when suddenly it's mayhem, as he is surrounded by a huge throng of fellow celebrants, joyfully following his lead, losing themselves in the music. This is what happens when people hear a great new song or flock to a hit movie -- it's the true wisdom of crowds, when everyone wants to get in on a collective experience. But it's fascinating to see it unfold in real time, on video, as the wave builds and gathers momentum.

Bob Lefsetz, the pop music gadfly, offers a far more in-depth commentary on what's going on, viewing the dancing guy in the clip as a metaphor for making it in the music business ("You create something different that's good and hang in there until you hit critical mass. And this mass will be decided by the audience!"). But I wonder if this is all about something more spontaneous -- simply the joy of being in the moment. Or is it perhaps mass hypnosis? Any ideas out there?

Coolest structure in 'Star Wars' saga: Cloud City or Death Star?

From our friends at the Culture Monster blog:

Now here's some real starchitecture to think about: The imaginary worlds of Tatooine, Endor, Cloud City and the Death Star may not exist in our own mundane reality, but like it or not, these instantly recognizable forms and structures are seared on our collective consciousness thanks to the undying ubiquity of George Lucas' "Star Wars."

Of course, production design for the movies doesn't qualify as architecture in the strictest sense of the word — we're talking about sets, not true blue buildings. But from a design perspective, they can be as intricate and awe-inspiring as anything conjured by Frank Gehry.

Lest you think that we at Culture Monster are committing heresy by conflating "Star Wars" and the sacrosanct architectural discipline, allow us to refer your attention to the Architect's Journal, a British publication that is certainly no frivolous cultural rag. The AJ recently published on its website a top 10 list of the best architecture from the six "Star Wars" movies. It even draws some intriguing real-world parallels.

Notice, for instance, how the saucer-shaped structures from Cloud City ("The Empire Strikes Back") resemble John Lautner's Chemosphere residence. Or how the Senate Building in Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith") seems to have inspired Jean Nouvel's designs for the Louvre Abu Dhabi. And note how the Ewoks' Endor dwellings ("The Return of the Jedi") are carbon-neutral and make use of locally sourced material.

Keep reading for AJ's honor roll of the best architecture from "Star Wars," plus some of our own additions to the list...

10. Cloud City, Bespin. "The Empire Strikes Back."

9. Senate Building, Coruscant. "Revenge of the Sith."

8. Sandcrawler, Tatooine. "Star Wars."

7. Bright Tree Village, Endor. "The Return of the Jedi."

6. Echo Base, Hoth. "The Empire Strikes Back."

5. Artisinal Dwellings, Tatooine. "The Phantom Menace."

4. Coruscant (the entire city). "The Phantom Menace."

3. Jedi Temple, Coruscant. "Attack of the Clones."

2. Jabba's Palace, Tatooine. "The Return of the Jedi."

1. The Second Death Star. "The Return of the Jedi."

And some of Culture Monster's own additions to the list: Yoda's hut, Dagobah ("The Empire Strikes Back"); Opera House, Coruscant ("Revenge of the Sith"); planet Utapau, where General Grievous fights Obi-Wan ("Revenge of the Sith").

What are some of your favorite architectural wonders from the "Star Wars" universe?

— David Ng

Photo: Jedi Council members interview young Anakin Skywalker in their temple above the urban-sprawl planet of Coruscant. Credit: Associated Press/Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd.

I'm taking a little time off for a vacation -- or as the Kinks' Ray Davies so memorably put it: "I'm so glad they sent me away to have a little holiday..." But don't worry, the Big Picture won't be going dark. In fact, the lights will be still burn bright. Our crack crew of in-house bloggers will be on the case, following the showbiz merry-go-round, faithfully keeping track of every hit and miss and each trial and tribulation as it unfolds. So keep looking for the latest news right here. And, of course, listen to Mr. Davies himself, crooning his own personal ode to the glories of a lovely vacation ("The sea's an open sewer, but I don't care...").

   

As much as we'd like to understand everything about our world, sometimes things happen that simply can't be fully, rationally explained. This is why art exists. It's by nature full of mysterious power, hard to contain and even harder to explain. Hence this video, which has making the rounds in the past week among my music-lover pals. It shows one geeky guy, shirtless, shimmying to the hypnotic beat of Santigold's "Unstoppable" at the recent Sasquatch! music festival.

He's lost in his own world, all by himself, when suddenly it's mayhem, as he is surrounded by a huge throng of fellow celebrants, joyfully following his lead, losing themselves in the music. This is what happens when people hear a great new song or flock to a hit movie -- it's the true wisdom of crowds, when everyone wants to get in on a collective experience. But it's fascinating to see it unfold in real time, on video, as the wave builds and gathers momentum.

Bob Lefsetz, the pop music gadfly, offers a far more in-depth commentary on what's going on, viewing the dancing guy in the clip as a metaphor for making it in the music business ("You create something different that's good and hang in there until you hit critical mass. And this mass will be decided by the audience!"). But I wonder if this is all about something more spontaneous -- simply the joy of being in the moment. Or is it perhaps mass hypnosis? Any ideas out there?

Big Picture: Taking a page from Ray Davies

I'm taking a little time off for a vacation -- or as the Kinks' Ray Davies so memorably put it: "I'm so glad they sent me away to have a little holiday..." But don't worry, the Big Picture won't be going dark. In fact, the lights will be still burn bright. Our crack crew of in-house bloggers will be on the case, following the showbiz merry-go-round, faithfully keeping track of every hit and miss and each trial and tribulation as it unfolds. So keep looking for the latest news right here. And, of course, listen to Mr. Davies himself, crooning his own personal ode to the glories of a lovely vacation ("The sea's an open sewer, but I don't care...").

   

As much as we'd like to understand everything about our world, sometimes things happen that simply can't be fully, rationally explained. This is why art exists. It's by nature full of mysterious power, hard to contain and even harder to explain. Hence this video, which has making the rounds in the past week among my music-lover pals. It shows one geeky guy, shirtless, shimmying to the hypnotic beat of Santigold's "Unstoppable" at the recent Sasquatch! music festival.

He's lost in his own world, all by himself, when suddenly it's mayhem, as he is surrounded by a huge throng of fellow celebrants, joyfully following his lead, losing themselves in the music. This is what happens when people hear a great new song or flock to a hit movie -- it's the true wisdom of crowds, when everyone wants to get in on a collective experience. But it's fascinating to see it unfold in real time, on video, as the wave builds and gathers momentum.

Bob Lefsetz, the pop music gadfly, offers a far more in-depth commentary on what's going on, viewing the dancing guy in the clip as a metaphor for making it in the music business ("You create something different that's good and hang in there until you hit critical mass. And this mass will be decided by the audience!"). But I wonder if this is all about something more spontaneous -- simply the joy of being in the moment. Or is it perhaps mass hypnosis? Any ideas out there?

Sasquatch! dance fever: The wisdom of crowds -- or mass hypnosis?

As much as we'd like to understand everything about our world, sometimes things happen that simply can't be fully, rationally explained. This is why art exists. It's by nature full of mysterious power, hard to contain and even harder to explain. Hence this video, which has making the rounds in the past week among my music-lover pals. It shows one geeky guy, shirtless, shimmying to the hypnotic beat of Santigold's "Unstoppable" at the recent Sasquatch! music festival.

He's lost in his own world, all by himself, when suddenly it's mayhem, as he is surrounded by a huge throng of fellow celebrants, joyfully following his lead, losing themselves in the music. This is what happens when people hear a great new song or flock to a hit movie -- it's the true wisdom of crowds, when everyone wants to get in on a collective experience. But it's fascinating to see it unfold in real time, on video, as the wave builds and gathers momentum.

Bob Lefsetz, the pop music gadfly, offers a far more in-depth commentary on what's going on, viewing the dancing guy in the clip as a metaphor for making it in the music business ("You create something different that's good and hang in there until you hit critical mass. And this mass will be decided by the audience!"). But I wonder if this is all about something more spontaneous -- simply the joy of being in the moment. Or is it perhaps mass hypnosis? Any ideas out there?