Scuttlebutt Pipeline

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TrustedPlaces.com is an easy to use, and easy on the eyes, website whose aim is to provide feedback and ratings on different spots to hang out, eat and drink in cities from around the world. Users leave feedback on places they’ve been, telling others what the service was like and the overall experiance. From this you can better decide which places warrant a visit and which should be avoided at all costs.

Just because London restaurants and clubs happen to be the most popular sections of the site doesn’t mean that the website is geared exclusively to the European crowd.

Well guess who is already back in the news. Although it might not be the result of yet another escapade in stupidity, wait scratch that, it is another escapde in stupidity, albeit of a different sort:

Paris Hilton is suing over the use of her picture and catchphrase “That’s hot” on a greeting card. Hilton sued Hallmark Cards Inc. in U.S. District Court seeking an injunction and unspecified damages to be determined at trial.

According to the lawsuit filed Thursday, the card is titled “Paris’s First Day as a Waitress” and shows a photo of Hilton’s face on a cartoon of a waitress serving a plate of food to a patron. In a dialogue bubble she says, “Don’t touch that, it’s hot.” The customer cartoon asks, “What’s hot?” She answers, “That’s hot.”

The suit says Hilton owns the trademark “That’s hot,” which was registered on Feb. 13, 2007.

The lawsuit claims commercial appropriation of identity, invasion of privacy, misappropriation of publicity, false representation that Hilton endorses the product, and infringement of a federally registered trademark. The damages would be based on profits from the $2.49 cards, said Hilton attorney Brent Blakely.

Hallmark defended the card as parody, which is normally protected under fair-use law.

“Some of Hallmark’s new humor greeting cards are parodies of today’s most popular celebrities and politicians,” said Hallmark spokeswoman Julie O’Dell in an e-mailed statement.

“These cards take a satirical look at news and gossip surrounding these public figures, including Paris Hilton, and we do not believe Hallmark has violated any of Ms. Hilton’s rights,” she said.

(source)

Believe me when I say I have about a million and one zingers floating around in my head right now and it is taking an amazing amount of control not to launch into them. Miss Paris Hilton, you wanted to throw your daddy’s money around and become a well known celebrity. You did everything you could to get splashed across the front pages of dozens of magazines, newspapers, and trash rags. Here’s a news flash, one of the prices you have to pay for being in the spotlight is the loss of privacy and the fact that you will be parodied and made fun of on a large scale when you do something stupid. And since you are the epitome of stupidity…well what did you honestly expact?

NEW YORK, Sept 5 (Reuters) - The American media turned on Serena Williams on Wednesday, labelling the former world number one as “classless” and “graceless” after her sullen reaction to her U.S. Open exit at the hands of Justine Henin.

Top seed Henin beat the American 7-6 6-1 in the quarter-finals for the third consecutive grand-slam event on Tuesday but a despondent Williams gave the Belgian scant praise.

“I just think she made a lot of lucky shots and I made a lot of errors,” Williams said at her news conference.

“I really don’t feel like talking about it. It’s like I don’t want to get fined. That’s the only reason I came. I can’t afford to pay the fines because I keep losing.”

Players who fail to appear for post-match news conferences face fines from tennis officials.

Williams’s words and manner were greeted with widespread disdain.

“(Williams) met the media afterward like a rattlesnake meets a ground squirrel,” wrote Bill Dwyer, in the Los Angeles Times.

“If anybody was expecting perspective afterward, or maybe a gracious nod to a better effort by an opponent, forget it. We had sullen Serena. Snippy Serena. Snarly Serena.”

(Full Article)

You want to know what I think about this? Well you’re reading my blog so I assume you do. I think this is something that is being blown out of proportion. I mean really, she lost. How do expect a person to give you “tremendous” insight to the match? Weren’t you there watching? Can’t you figure out the gist of what happened without having to harass the athlete?

That’s basically what this boils down to, expecting a little too much from athletes. You have to remember that the majority of these athletes (no matter the sport) are there for the love of the game and or the money. Having a mandatory press conference afterwards even for the loser is just rubbing salt into an open wound. For those who love the game or playing for money, the loss has to be humiliating or at least painful and here you [the press] are expecting them to be graceful and pliant to your every question that must feel like a stab through the heart. Guess what, they’re only human and if they would rather not talk about their loss and say so then leave it be.

Ok, so I know that you’re probably already familiar with Wilmer Valderrama’s show on MTV, “Yo Momma,” but what you might not know is that MTV just recently started an online part to the show - it’s basically an enormous online bank of yo momma jokes and slams. Check it out at yomomma.tv and you can start battling other users around the world, or come check out their yomomma myspace page to meet other people that are just as interested in Yo Momma as you are.

Have you watched Yo Momma yet? If yes, what did you think of it? If you haven’t, why not?

Superbad, starring Jonah Hill and Michael Cera, from the hit television series Arrested Development, is a teen based comedy that revolves around the not so bright but always hysterical antics of two high school seniors Evan (Michael Cera) and Seth (Jonah Hill) who stage one hell of a kegger, that unfortunately for them, goes very wrong very fast. The results…, well, you’ll just have to see the trailers and movie for yourself.

The movie, which carries an R rating due to language, drug usage, and sexual content, is set to open up in theaters on August 17th but truth be told, the “Superbad” fun has already begun.

On August 1st, and only on August 1st, you will be able to see all five of the Superbad videos on the YouTube.com homepage. I checked a few moments ago and it looks like they’ve already begun to get some stuff up. There is currently a link to watch the restricted clips on the official Superbad website up as well. This movie looks promising and hopefully will deliver the promises of entertainment and comedy that its trailers and clips offer up.

You can further join in on the hilarity and show your interest in the movie by downloading some Superbad ringtones, wallpapers, and other downloadables at their official site.