Philip Seymour Hoffman: Dead at 46 - Details here

In sad news just in, Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has been found dead of an apparent drug overdose - in the bathroom with a hypodermic needle still in his arm - inside a Manhattan home, police say.

A personal assistant found Hoffman’s body in an apartment in the West Village neighbourhood of New York about 11.30am local time (3.30am time in Australia, AEDT), sources told the New York Post.

Heroin was found in the apartment, and Philip was fully clothed when found, police say.

"It’s pretty apparent that it was an overdose," an official told The New York Times. “The syringe was in his arm.”

Cops are at the scene and are investigating, sources said.

For more, click here.

Very, very sad.

A VERY talented man. I just re-watched 'Along Came Polly' yesterday - and laughed the whole way through at his ability to turn a his role into an absolute scene stealer. 'Boogie Nights' is another of my absolute faves with Philip. Just too talented.

Hoffman had been shooting 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2', and was in post-production for the Showtime series 'Happyish.'

Just over a week ago, he was spotted in the audience at the Broadway revival of “Waiting for Godot.”

The “Mission: Impossible III” star won the Oscar for best actor for his 2005 film “Capote,” and received three Academy Award nominations as best supporting actor.

TMZ has reported that Hoffman struggled with substance abuse in the past but kicked the habit for 23 years. His relapse started with prescription pills and moved on to snorting heroin. Hoffman told TMZ the heroin use lasted only about one week before he sought help at a detox facility.

Hoffman was in a longstanding relationship with costume designer Mimi O'Donnell. They met while working on the 1999 play 'In Arabia We'd All Be Kings', which Hoffman directed. They had a son Cooper Alexander born in 2003, and two daughters, one named Tallulah born in 2006, and the other, Willa, born in 2008 (aged 10, 7, and 5).

SO very sad.

Sugarless Gummy Bears, 5-Pound Bag: Amazon Reviews

The reviews for sugarless Gummy Bears has gone viral, and they are very, VERY funny... and definitely a bit ewww.

In particular, the mammoth five pound bag (2.25kg) of Haribo brand Gummy Bears. These:

Read these and weep for the poor souls who went hard on the Haribos... and be grateful you did not ingest a, er, crapload of these:

Customer Reviews

Haribo Gummy Candy, Sugarless Gummy Bears, 5-Pound Bag

33,883 of 34,367 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Just don't. Unless it's a gift for someone you hate., October 3, 2012

By 

Christine E. Torok (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Haribo Gummy Candy, Sugarless Gummy Bears, 5-Pound Bag (Grocery)

Oh man...words cannot express what happened to me after eating these. The Gummi Bear "Cleanse". If you are someone that can tolerate the sugar substitute, enjoy. If you are like the dozens of people that tried my order, RUN!

First of all, for taste I would rate these a 5. So good. Soft, true-to-taste fruit flavors like the sugar variety...I was a happy camper.

BUT (or should I say BUTT), not long after eating about 20 of these all hell broke loose. I had a gastrointestinal experience like nothing I've ever imagined. Cramps, sweating, bloating beyond my worst nightmare. I've had food poisoning from some bad shellfish and that was almost like a skip in the park compared to what was going on inside me.

Then came the, uh, flatulence. Heavens to Murgatroyd, the sounds, like trumpets calling the demons back to Hell...the stench, like 1,000 rotten corpses vomited. I couldn't stand to stay in one room for fear of succumbing to my own odors.

But wait; there's more. What came out of me felt like someone tried to funnel Niagara Falls through a coffee straw. I swear my sphincters were screaming. It felt like my delicate starfish was a gaping maw projectile vomiting a torrential flood of toxic waste. 100% liquid. Flammable liquid. NAPALM. It was actually a bit humorous (for a nanosecond)as it was just beyond anything I could imagine possible.

AND IT WENT ON FOR HOURS.

I felt violated when it was over, which I think might have been sometime in the early morning of the next day. There was stuff coming out of me that I ate at my wedding in 2005.

I had FIVE POUNDS of these innocent-looking delicious-tasting HELLBEARS so I told a friend about what happened to me, thinking it HAD to be some type of sensitivity I had to the sugar substitute, and in spite of my warnings and graphic descriptions, she decided to take her chances and take them off my hands.

Silly woman. All of the same for her, and a phone call from her while on the toilet (because you kinda end up living in the bathroom for a spell) telling me she really wished she would have listened. I think she was crying.

Her sister was skeptical and suspected that we were exaggerating. She took them to work, since there was still 99% of a 5 pound bag left. She works for a construction company, where there are builders, roofers, house painters, landscapers, etc. Lots of people who generally have limited access to toilets on a given day. I can't imagine where all of those poor men (and women) pooped that day. I keep envisioning men on roofs, crossing their legs and trying to decide if they can make it down the ladder, or if they should just jump.

If you order these, best of luck to you. And please, don't post a video review during the aftershocks.

PS: When I ordered these, the warnings and disclaimers and legalese were NOT posted. I'm not a moron. Also, not sure why so many people assume I'm a man. I am a woman. We poop too. Of course, our poop sparkles and smells like a walk in a meadow of wildflowers. Thanks for all the great comments. I've been enjoying reading them and so glad that the horror show I experienced from snacking on these has at least made some people smile.

You can read more reviews here.

Elsewhere on this product site, you will find the following helpful insights (warnings?):

• One 5-pound bag containing approximately 1080 pieces
• Fat-free and sugar-free; sweetened with Lycasin
• Five real fruit flavors
• Jewel-like sparkling clear colors
• An international favorite
• This product is a sugarless/sugarfree item with ingredients that can cause intestinal distress if eaten in excess

Would you go there? 

RSPCA 'Set A Sister Free': Laura Csortan, Katrina Warren, Michelle Bridges, Magdalena Roze

RSPCA has just launched a campaign called 'Set A Sister Free', which aims to get hens out of cages across Australia.

The RSPCA's new 'Set a Sister Free' campaign is aimed at raising awareness of the plight of hens caged for egg production. There are approximately 11 million hens around the country crammed into tiny chicken pens.

RSPCA Australia says on their Facebook page:

"Is 2014 the year you help to Set a Sister Free? By joining our hen heroes and ensuring all the eggs and products you buy are cage free, you can help make a difference to the lives of over 11 million hens. Check out what Michelle Bridges, Laura Csortan, Magdalena Roze and Dr Katrina Warren are doing to help at www.SetASisterFree.com"

Model and TV presenter Laura Csortan, Michelle Bridges from 'The Biggest Loser, Channel 10 weather presenter Magdalena Roze and TV vet Katrina Warren have all leant their faces to the campaign, featured below.

Here are short clips from the campaign photo shoots:

The video description says:

"Will you join Dr Katrina Warren and help Set a Sister Free? You might think that because cage-free eggs are available on supermarket shelves, the problem is fixed, but there are still 11 million hens living in cages in Australia. With at least 40% of eggs produced going into food manufacturing, restaurants, cafes and catering, most Australians are consuming cage eggs without even realising. 

By checking your labels, checking your menus and ensuring all the eggs you eat are cage free, you can help make a big difference."

Vagina weight lifting - Kim Anami: VIDEO

Vagina weight lifting.

Yep. This.



Says the video description:

"10 reasons to try vaginal weight lifting with sex and relationship coach Kim Anami."

Learn more at: kungfuvagina.com

An Open Letter From Dylan Farrow + Nicholas Kristof's Op-Ed, 'The New York Times'

This is an excerpt from the article written by Dylan Farrow, 28, Hollywood director Woody Allen's adopted daughter.

But first, a note (called on Op-Ed piece, which means 'Opposite the Editorial Page') from the writer of the piece, Nicholas Kristof from 'The New York Times'.

(A note from Nicholas Kristof: In 1993, accusations that Woody Allen had abused his adoptive daughter, Dylan Farrow, filled the headlines, part of a sensational story about the celebrity split between Allen and his girlfriend, Mia Farrow. This is a case that has been written about endlessly, but this is the first time that Dylan Farrow herself has written about it in public. It’s important to note that Woody Allen was never prosecuted in this case and has consistently denied wrongdoing; he deserves the presumption of innocence. So why publish an account of an old case on my blog? Partly because the Golden Globe lifetime achievement award to Allen ignited a debate about the propriety of the award. Partly because the root issue here isn’t celebrity but sex abuse. And partly because countless people on all sides have written passionately about these events, but we haven’t fully heard from the young woman who was at the heart of them. I’ve written a column about this, but it’s time for the world to hear Dylan’s story in her own words.)

And now, the opening paragraphs of Dylan Farrow's piece:

What’s your favorite Woody Allen movie? Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me. He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we’d go to Paris and I’d be a star in his movies. I remember staring at that toy train, focusing on it as it traveled in its circle around the attic. To this day, I find it difficult to look at toy trains.

For as long as I could remember, my father had been doing things to me that I didn’t like. I didn’t like how often he would take me away from my mom, siblings and friends to be alone with him. I didn’t like it when he would stick his thumb in my mouth. I didn’t like it when I had to get in bed with him under the sheets when he was in his underwear. I didn’t like it when he would place his head in my naked lap and breathe in and breathe out. I would hide under beds or lock myself in the bathroom to avoid these encounters, but he always found me. These things happened so often, so routinely, so skillfully hidden from a mother that would have protected me had she known, that I thought it was normal. I thought this was how fathers doted on their daughters. But what he did to me in the attic felt different. I couldn’t keep the secret anymore.

Dylan continues:

Today, I consider myself lucky. I am happily married. I have the support of my amazing brothers and sisters. I have a mother who found within herself a well of fortitude that saved us from the chaos a predator brought into our home.

But others are still scared, vulnerable, and struggling for the courage to tell the truth. The message that Hollywood sends matters for them.

What if it had been your child, Cate Blanchett? Louis CK? Alec Baldwin? What if it had been you, Emma Stone? Or you, Scarlett Johansson? You knew me when I was a little girl, Diane Keaton. Have you forgotten me?

Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse.

So imagine your seven-year-old daughter being led into an attic by Woody Allen. Imagine she spends a lifetime stricken with nausea at the mention of his name. Imagine a world that celebrates her tormenter.

Are you imagining that? Now, what’s your favorite Woody Allen movie?

Read the rest here.

An intense, powerful piece. Your thoughts?

Shakira - 'Can't Remember to Forget You' ft. Rihanna: VIDEO

Just in, and already at 9 million plus hits.

The video for the new Shakira song 'Can't Remember To Forget You', featuring Rihanna:

Video stills from the song's clip, above and below



And the single's cover art:

You can download 'Can't Remember to Forget You ft Rihanna on iTunes from Shakira's forthcoming album "Shakira.", available March 25 right here.

'The Voice Kids' Australia: Coaches Revealed - Delta Goodrem, Joel Madden and Benji Madden and Mel B

The Nine Network has commissioned 'The Voice Kids' for 2014, a new series to showcase the vocal talent of Aussie kids aged 8-14.

And now... the coaches. We already know Delta Goodrem is one. And Joel Madden is another.

And now, the 'Today' show has exclusively revealed the third coach.

It is: Benji Madden. Joel's twin brother!

AND: Mel B.

After the extraordinary success of the first two seasons of 'The Voice Kids', the spin-off program opened auditions for the next gen of singers, which is set to reveal - all over again, but in pint-size version - the same talent and beautiful TV moments as the grown-ups' version on 'The Voice'.

'The Voice Kids' is already a global ratings smash hit in more than 15 countries!

The show will feature the same spectacular set with electrifying blind auditions and thrilling battles that culminate in a grand finale where only the best of the best young singers will get their chance to perform.

Michael Healy, Nine Network’s Director of Television, said: “The Voice has been an incredible success for Nine and we look forward to The Voice Kids shining a light on the enormous pool of undiscovered young talent this country has to offer.”

Julie Ward, Director of Entertainment for Shine Australia, said: “We are excited to open The Voice stage up to the next generation of great Australian talent. We are confident that there are amazing young singers who will benefit from the unique experience of being part of The Voice and we want to see them register to audition.”

While applications for 'The Voice Kids' Auditions have now closed, stay tuned about the show's screen date.