Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” mystery resurfaces, almost four decades later…and pegged to her new album coming out. Nice work, publicists, nice work.

[Two music posts in one day?! Wow, I must really love you guys.]

image source: the new york times

When it comes to watching the Olympics, there are two groups of people. Group 1: those who are glued to their television/computer/smartphone for minute-to-minute coverage and probably own some kind of past/present Olympics’ memorabilia. Group 2: those who passively pay attention; wait for someone from Group 1 to fill them in, or just happen to catch a headline as they scroll for other news.

So, Group 2, I inform you that the Olympics are a little more than half over; here are some headlines from the past week:

• Team USA took the gold in men’s figure skating, and it totally pissed off the Russians.

• Lindsey Vonn took home the gold, and made history as the first American woman to do so in downhill skiing.

• Shaun White and his coach said “blankety-blank-blank-blank” on live TV after he won his gold medal.

• Team USA is ahead in the medal count.

• There is a lot of sex going on in the Olympic Village…like maybe 100,000 times worth (according to the amount of condoms available). The Olympic games lasts 16 days, which means (if my math is correct) that sex will occur 6,250 times each day, with 24 hours in a day that brings us to 260 times an hour, which means every 4 minutes, an Olympic athlete is totally getting lucky. So medal or not, everybody wins!

• What Olympics wouldn’t be complete without some photo scandal??

• Some sad news–there have been two deaths at the Olympics this year. [USA TODAY] [LA TIMES]

• Oh-yes! Apolo Anton Ohno wins his seventh Winter Olympic Games’ medal, a new U.S. record.

• How about this one…the ladies don’t actually get to compete in the Ski Jumping event, HOWEVER, they are allowed to test the hill…um…?

• UPDATE: USA upset the Canadians in hockey last night.

*Reports of sex scandals are becoming so common that I’m not so sure the word scandal can be attached anymore. I think we are going to have to start saying sex incidents or sex moments or something like that.

Thanks to reality TV and dysfunctional families desperate for fame, quasi-celebs are everywhere and most of them are ridiculous and do idiotic things. Here is a list of the most annoying ones (in random order) from this year. PLEASE feel free to comment with additional honorable mentions.

• Jon Gosselin–lover of Ed Hardy t-shirts, this very recently divorced dad from TLC’s hit series, Jon & Kate Plus 8 acts like he doesn’t want press attention, yet I can’t turn around without seeing his face somewhere…Kate’s over him, TLC’s over him, now we just need the tabloids to be over him.

• The Kardashians–ugh, this family is beyond annoying. They only have a reality show on E! because their dad was a lawyer and someone is married to Bruce Jenner, and they like to shop and date football players. Hey, E!, thank you for Joel McHale and Chelsea Handler, but all your other “shows” can go, thanks.

• Michael Lohan–also known as Lindsay Lohan’s dad.  This guy has proven to be a real a-hole time and time again, but this year, he topped even himself when he released very private taped conversations he had with his daughter and his ex-wife.

• The Balloon Family–remember a few months back when there was breaking news that a little boy was believed to have been in a helium balloon somewhere over Colorado? And it turned out to be a hoax, all because of a scumbag father wanting to create drama and get a TV show out of it. Thanks reality TV, this is your legacy.

• OctoMom–see the above, but swap out kid in helium balloon over Colorado hoax/scumbag father with deranged California woman who gave birth to eight babies.

• Everyone on MTV’s The Jersey Shore–I’ll admit, I checked out this show just to see what all the buzz was about, and by the second episode I began to get dizzy and light-headed by all the hair and tanning-product fumes seeping from my TV set. Or maybe it was because my brain was slowly turning to mush. I’m not sure.

• Spencer & Heidi Pratt–lucky for us, these two idiots have been laying low recently…maybe we should be worried, are they plotting some huge publicity event/photo op?

image source: entertainment weekly

I sat on this post for a day, as details were still coming out yesterday and this morning …anyway, most of you have probably heard by now that actress Brittany Murphy passed away Sunday morning. Reports range from that she went into cardiac arrest while in the shower, appears to have died of natural causes, and the latest is that she had flu-like symptoms just days before she died.

There is speculation out there that she had a drug problem or a possible eating-disorder, who knows if the rumors will ever be confirmed. Nonetheless, she was an incredibly gifted actress, who could be enchanting, comedic and hauntingly dramatic. I didn’t see every movie Ms. Murphy appeared in, but I was always rooting for her given her charming performance in Clueless and her unforgettable role in Girl, Interrupted.

Defamer.com has an interesting post on her, if you want to read it click here.

image source: access hollywood

…Sorry…I know, it’s been a few days…weeks…but now I’m back, and as a holiday gift to you, I’ve decided I’m going to spend the remainder of 2009 posting about the best and worst of this year. Get ready to reminisce with I eat Pop Culture’s  “Year in Review”—all the fun/madness/entertaining/WTF moments during the last 12 months…okay, okay, I’ll confess, I live for best of/worst of lists, especially when I’m in charge of them. So keep checking back, and Happy New Year!

image source: nationallampoon.com

Hey there, thanks for stopping by! Just taking a few days off…relaxing and resting at my favorite amusement park, with America’s beloved moose. I’ll be back next week with all the latest pop culture tidbits and movie/TV commentary you could ever want.

image source: eonline

Sheesh! It’s only Thursday, and already this week we’ve heard about three new celebrity feuds and a flare up of one already in progress…

• Martha Stewart v. Rachael Ray… both are known to be decent cooks and they each have a syndicated talk show. But apparently Martha thinks she’s better. My take=since neither of them have offered to cook for me, I’m going to go with the “annoying” factor, and Martha is definitely less annoying. — Eonline

• Charlie Gibson v. Diane Sawyer...Charlie is retiring from ABC World News and he’s totally PO’ed that Diane will be replacing him. He’s been known to give her “the stink-eye” and “he bad-mouths her openly and often.” My take=I’ve met Diane Sawyer, and trust me, there is nothing about her that warrants stink-eye treatment. –NY Post

• Kirstie Alley v. Conan O’Brien…according to reports, Conan made some fat jokes about Kirstie on his show. She twittered to her pal Star Jones over it, and cluttered twitter feeds everywhere with, “that guy acts like I bit his d*** off.” My take=Kirstie has a new show in production for A&E, she knows how the publicity thing works. — US Weekly

• Levi v. Sarah v. Levi v. Sarah…this one’s been going on for awhile now, but with Sarah’s new book and her appearance on Oprah this week, we were reminded of the tension between the former VP candidate and her daughter’s baby daddy. My take=the two of them are famewhores and have worked out an agreement, I bring you up when my book comes out and you bring me up when your naked pictures come out. — People

She’s been in a few funny movies, comes from a famous Hollywood family and  was endearing as a rock band groupie in Almost Famous…and now? Well,  Kate Hudson is  no longer an almost famous groupie, but rather a very famous groupie and in my humble opinion, the biggest winner in this year’s baseball season. Why you ask? No, it’s not because she’s dating a hot baseball player, it’s because of all the damn publicity!! Every time the Yankees play, there she is cheering, and smiling and giving A-Rod all sorts of  “oh yeah, baby” looks, and the photogs are right there to capture  all her adoration/posing.  She’s even got the NY Daily News giving her credit for A-Rod’s great performance *on the field* these last few months. Never mind that this man is paid a zillion-dillion  dollars to DO HIS JOB, so uh, yeah.  And she gets really great seats, for free I’m sure, which must be nice.

So, Kate, what’s gonna happen when baseball goes away for awhile and you aren’t in the papers every damn day? Moving onto football perhaps? Or, isn’t basketball around the corner? And if you really are some kind of lucky charm (ahem…right), can you at least be charitable and go for a player on a team that sucks, you know, just to make things interesting.

“When you go to a party there will be a person dressed as Michael Jackson, no doubt,” said Jalem Getz, president and CEO of Buyseasons Inc., the parent company of BuyCostumes.com.

Searches for the costume, which generally includes tight black pants, a leather jacket and, of course, a glittering glove, have gone up more than a 1000%, according to Getz.

Other popular dead celebrity costumes include Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon and infomercial pitchman Billy Mays.

…by the way, is it just me, or does the phrase “other popular dead celebrity costumes” creep you out?  Anyways…

Meanwhile, die hard Twilight and True Blood fans have breathed new life into classic vampire attire, and reality celebs John and Kate Gosselin will likely be well represented on the trick or treat circuit.

“People like to be current,” Getz said of the current top choices. And no matter how grim, “we don’t judge our customers,” he added.

Oh, and the other thing about this year’s Halloween? Here come some more stats…

According to the National Retail Federation’s 2009 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, total Halloween spending is estimated to fall 18% to $4.75 billion, down from $5.77 billion last year.

“The economy has caught up to Halloween this year,” Tracy Mullin, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, said in a statement. “Since retailers know that Americans will be looking to celebrate on a budget, there’s no doubt we will see creative costume and decorating ideas in every price point imaginable.”

The report found that the average consumer plans to spend $56.31 on Halloween merchandise this year, down from $66.54 in 2008.