Jezebel: Friday

The Night Belongs to Paris Hilton's Kinkajou

Anna North — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:40:00 EST

So, tonight is Paris Hilton's 31st birthday. Since she's already been through self-parody and out the other side, though, I'd like to focus on a member of her entourage: the kinkajou. More »

The Night Belongs to Gertrude Stein

Anna North — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:55:00 EST

Literati rejoice — Gertrude Stein was born on this day in 1874. Today is her 138th birthday! More »

The Night Belongs to Patton Oswalt

Anna North — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:40:00 EST

I know some of you are fans of Patton Oswalt, so you'll be glad to know that today is his 43rd birthday. Celebrate his talent by watching this amazing parody of The Room, also starring the lovely Julie Klausner. More »

The Night Belongs to David Lynch

Anna North — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:10:00 EST

Everybody, today is David Lynch's 66th birthday. You know what that means, don't you? It means that a whole bunch of tiny people come out of your faucet, a guy dressed as a firefighter knocks on your door to deliver a death threat, and Laura Dern smokes crack on your couch. Or you could just watch this insane video, in which David Lynch chats with a Barbie head, and then call it a night. Whatever you choose, be safe, have a lovely weekend, and don't let the dumpster monster get you. More »

The Night Belongs to Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Anna North — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:50:00 EST

Everyone, today is Julia Louis-Dreyfus's fifty-first birthday! She starred in The New Adventures of Old Christine and is slated to play the Vice President of the United States in the upcoming show Veep, but her most iconic role is still that of Elaine. And one of Elaine's most memorable scenes is the one above, in which she interviews a gentleman caller to determine whether he's worth using one of her birth control sponges. A milestone in pop-cultural mentions of contraception! More »

The Night Belongs to Joan of Arc

Anna North — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:50:00 EST

Everybody, it's Joan of Arc's 600th birthday! The young French heroine was born (at least according to legend) on this day in 1412; she was burned at the stake at the age of 19, in 1431. Celebrate by making some armor, or if that's too time-consuming, just drink some unpasteurized milk. Some people think this is what gave Joan her famous visions — although since this theory also involves bovine tuberculosis, you might want to abstain. Whatever you drink, have a great weekend and amuse yourselves in the comments! More »

The Night Belongs To Patti Smith

Anna North — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:30:00 EST

Before you ring in the new year, ring in "Godmother of Punk" Patti Smith's 65th birthday! More »

The Night Belongs To Carla Bruni

Anna North — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:15:00 EST

She lost out to Anne Sinclair in Terrafemina's recent "Woman of the Year" competition, so let's raise a glass to the French first lady on the occasion of her 44th birthday. More »

The Night Belongs To Judi Dench

Anna North — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:00:00 EST

The Dame and frequent onscreen Queen turns 77 today. In honor of her birthday, check out this 2007 interview in which she discusses bad reviews of her first stage performances. Even Dames were nervous schoolgirls once! More »

The Night Belongs To Christina Applegate

Anna North — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 19:00:00 EST

Well folks, it's been fun, but now it's time to say good night — and to toast Christina Applegate, who turns 40 today. Some of you may be fans of her work in Married ... With Children, or her more recent film career, but my favorite Applegate role has always been her turn as Sue Ellen Crandell in Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead. More »

Rebecca Black Will Not Stop Releasing New Songs

Whitney Jefferson — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:55:00 EST

Rebecca Black is still recording music. Her latest single, "Person Of Interest," is out today and it pretty much follows the same path as "Friday" — utter inanity. More »

The Night Belongs To Mary Gaitskill

Anna North — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:00:00 EST

The author of Veronica, Bad Behavior, and Because They Wanted To (among other books) turns 57 today. Those unfamiliar with her writing may have seen the movie Secretary, which she called "a little too nice." I think it's pretty good, but the short story — in Bad Behavior — is better. And Veronica, which was nominated for the National Book Award, is wonderful and scary and will give you nightmares. Some of Gaitskill's work explores BDSM, but she's no big fan of the Marquis de Sade — she once said, "I don't think much of Sade as a writer, although I enjoyed beating off to him as a child." Above, Gaitskill reads a letter from prison inmate Beverly Jaynes. More »

The Night Belongs To Ruth Handler

Anna North — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:15:00 EDT

Who was Ruth Handler? Why, the inventor of the Barbie doll, who happened to be born on this day in 1916. More »

Here's That Rebecca Black Documentary You Didn't Ask For

Whitney Jefferson — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:40:00 EDT

Rebecca Black has been a part of the pop culture vernacular for less than a year, yet she — and those involved in the creation of her so-bad-it's-a-sensation video for "Friday" — are already the subject of a short documentary by This American Life's Jon Ronson. In it, we meet Benni, known on the internet as "Awkward Dancing Girl in Pink," who says that on the set of Rebecca's shoot, she was trying hard to get Patrice Wilson, the man behind the video-making machine, to notice her. He didn't. More »

The Night Belongs To The Doctor

Anna North — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:05:00 EDT

That's right folks, today is Doctor Who star Matt Smith's twenty-ninth birthday! Fans of the show will know that he's the youngest actor ever to play the role of the Doctor — I now know that he is a mere four months older than I am, meaning the next Doctor will probably be younger than me, meaning I am old (really old, if you go by the Doctor's stated age of around 900). More »

The Night Belongs To Ursula Le Guin

Anna North — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:58:00 EDT

Fantasy lovers rejoice — today is renowned writer Ursula Le Guin's eighty-third birthday. More »

Rebecca Black's First Film: Sunday Comes Afterwards

Tracie Egan Morrissey — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 14:35:00 EDT

Click to view More »

Rebecca Black Is Not Getting Rich Off Of "Friday"

Dodai Stewart — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:00:00 EDT

Earlier this week, Forbes reported that "Friday" singer Rebecca Black is "laughing to the bank." But today, Slate's Annie Lowrey writes: More »

The Video Guide To Females Farting On Film

Tracie Egan Morrissey — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 14:25:00 EST

The average human farts 14 times a day, yet it's rare for women to be portrayed as gassy in pop culture. To debunk the widely-held (male) myth that "girls don't fart," we present a comprehensive reel of female fart scenes. More »

The Ice Cube Diet, And Other Bad Ideas

Anna North — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 18:46:00 EDT

A supplement company claims its hoodia ice cubes will help you lose weight. Allow us to propose a few alternatives. More »

TGIF

Dodai Stewart — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:10:00 EDT

[Images via Let's Be Friends]

Goodbye, Tim

Megan Carpentier — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:50:14 EDT

Tim Russert passed away this afternoon at the age of 58 after collapsing at his office. He had just returned from a trip to Italy with his wife and son to celebrate the latter's graduation from Boston College (and, out of respect, I'll refrain from quoting BU's obligatory cheer here). If there's someone at NBC who hasn't teared up in the last couple of hours while talking about him, I missed it. [MSNBC]
The rest of the news is after the jump because I figured Tim deserved that.