GWAS Playlist

This week's pick of pop culture, magazines & pretty things...

1. Miranda Kerr has made the cover of this week's Page Six Magazine (free inside the Sunday New York Post – just what you'll feel like looking at as you eat your bacon and eggs). There's nothing in the excerpts to suggest the feature will tell us anything we don't already know about the model, but here goes: she spends a lot of time on planes ("in the last 22 days I've been to eight different countries" - being a model is like going on Contiki!); she has nothing more to say on Orlando ("if you want to know about him, why don't you go and ask him?"); she's more than just a pretty face ("I wanted to do something with a bit more substance"); and wants to settle down on a farm ("My ideal situation would be to live on a farm in a solar-powered house with a hammock and a vegetable patch. When this is all over that's where I'll be.")

2. The Photoshop fairies have been hard at work at Shape magazine. But why shouldn't Debra Messing get the same kind treatment as Britney (reportedly a 'bulimorexic', poor thing), et al? Now a card-carrying member of the celebrity weight-loss club, Messing lost her post-baby weight over (a more realistic) three years, as apposed to the usual celebrity standard of five minutes.

Messing tells the magazine that media scrutiny of her post-baby body was unforgiving and drove her to depression: “It was written about in the tabloids a lot. On one page it showed all the actresses who got skinny in six weeks or less, and on the other page was me! I was so depressed and frustrated.” According to the magazine, Messing tried using a personal trainer but said it was was too exhausting being a new mom and constantly working out. So instead she cut back on what she was eating and eased up on the personal trainer. Now after three years (42 pounds - 19 kilos - later), she has her pre-baby figure back. “Ultimately I’m very proud of how I dropped the weight because I think it was the healthy approach. I’ve finally taken ownership of my body.” You go, girl. Perhaps she can give some motherly advice to Brits?

3. Vanity Fair magazine editor Graydon Carter says next year's Oscar Night party will be a tamer affair than usual (to be OTT right now would be tres tacky, no?): “The party will be a much more intimate affair than in years past; we’re going to scale back the guest list considerably. We’ll celebrate Hollywood’s big night the way we did when we first threw the party 15 years ago—it will be a cozier, more understated event. And one with familiar decor—given the current economy, and our dedication to the green movement, we will be recycling many of the elements of years past.”

4. If there's one thing I've learnt through this week's 'Girl in a Bubble' feedback callout, it's that you like your blogs personal. So until I get my act (and self-confidence) together and go all 'This Is My Life' on you (eek!), here are two voyeuristic treats via the WWW: The Hills' Whitney Port's website/blog (watch her talk about her plans for the holidays) and Non Society, a 'lifecasting' site like Sex and the City, but with real girls (Julia, Meghan and Mary) talking about and doing, y'know, girlie stuff (like wearing a bright yellow Betsey Johnson prom dress in the daytime, or stuffing face with cupcakes – both segments feature Julia Allison, the blogger you may have seen featured in Good Weekend). Both could be addictive, so I suggest you bookmark with caution. Mischa Barton also posted a Thanksgiving message on her Celeb Buzz site this week (apparently, CB is the celebrity PR vehicle dujour).

5. Back to Vanity Fair World.... Where How To Lose Friends and Alienate People is a light-hearted entree into the world of VF and celebrity journalism, the documentary film Dominick Dunne will leave you with a fascinating insight into the world and work of one of the world's foremost celebrity journalists. After a career in film production and falling victim to the perils of the Hollywood life, Dunne covered the most intriguing celebrity court cases, including the OJ Simpson trial and Phil Spector's murder trial, as a correspondent for Vanity Fair. Featuring interviews with Graydon Carter, Tina Brown, Joan Didion and Liz Smith, this is essential viewing for anyone interested in the celebrity media game and the life of a quite extraordinary man who fell from grace only to find redemption and purpose. The documentary DVD is available for pre-order online. Also, see tomorrow's edition of Good Weekend for a profile of Dunne.

6. "Someone will probably be fired" at OK!, reports Fashion Week Daily via Page Six, after the magazine misspelled Ashlee Simpson's name on the cover (as 'Ashley'). Whoops. But, seriously, would you sack a staffer before Christmas over this... assuming the editor also gave the cover the final nod of approval?

7. Kate Winslet talks to Parade magazine about body image: "This notion that nobody is perfect -- movie stars included -- is very important to me. It's a very important message to give to young women. For that reason I will never be unhappy to talk about it. Because it IS a big subject in people's minds, and I do think that it will continue to be important, simply because so much of what young women are seeing these days is through the media. It's the exact reason why, even though I'm on the covers of magazines, I don't allow magazines into my home -- because that's where it starts. My daughter is eight. It's only a matter of time before she is going to start picking these magazines up and going, 'Oh, can I have that lip gloss?' or 'I like that thing' or that... She's eight. Come on. I don't want it to start that young -- body awareness seems to be getting younger and younger." What a great mum!

8. New York magazine's venerable food critic, Gael Greene, has been retrenched after 40 years of service (and being served). The New York Times reports on her career. The self-called "brand name of restaurant journalism", aged 74, has been the "lusty narrator of restaurant life in New York for decades." Apparently the magazine could no longer afford to support four food critics (though Greene says "a critic must always pay the bill... I paid from my own salary"). Of her dismissal she says: “It was narcissistic shock: moi? I thought I was a brand at New York magazine. I’m the only editorial person on the staff left from the earliest days.” She works out five days a week to stave off the kilos that come with the foodie beat. A very interesting read, indeed. Also visit her website: InsatiableCritic.com.

9. Lipstick Jungle girl Brooke Shields tells the Dec/Jan edition of parenting magazine Cookie: "I had this trainer once who said to always do two out of the three: eat well, rest, and exercise. These days it’s more like ‘Which one out of the three can I do?’”; “I feel like there’s a reason I had girls. My mom and I were very, very, very close, but we had no separation. My daughters are teaching me that it’s okay to have boundaries, that they want them.”; and "When my girls are on their own, and their little personalities come out, I feel so good.” Another great mum!

10. Check out the new trailer for next year's He's Just Not That Into You, which stars Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson, Drew Barrymore, Ben Affleck, Justin Long, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Connelly and Ginnifer Goodwin. Love the part where Aniston, whose boyfriend won't commit, says, "Would I be Al Pacino in this scenario?". Life imitating art? Gosh, poor Jen – the typecasting's gotta hurt. The girls in the film all look awesome and sweet... strangely, the guys look and sound, um, like a bunch of a-holes.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my call for feedback – my, what an articulate, savvy, passionate bunch you are (like I ever doubted it). I hope to deliver on some of your suggestions ASAP.

The Word for the Weekend: "Rid yourselves of all malice and deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." 1 Peter 2: 1-3

Yours truly,
Girl With a Satchel