‘Fireflies In The Garden’: Julia Roberts As Ryan Reynolds’ Mom In Finally Released Film:

Both on screen and off, the shifting of time is essential in the telling the tale of “Fireflies In The Garden.”

The film, written and directed by Dennis Lee, saw its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in 2008. While it later hit theaters in most parts of the world, financial difficulties shelved its US distribution for nearly three years, until it was announced last week that it will finally hit theaters in select cities on October 14th.

And so, American theatergoers will at last get to see the story in which Julia Roberts, in mostly flashback footage, plays mother to a boy that will become Ryan Reynolds, who appears in the film’s present-day shots. A sweet woman and caring mom, she’s plagued by her abusive husband, played by Willem Dafoe, who leaves the boy on the side of the road one rainy day.

Seventeen years later, now fully grown and portrayed by Reynolds, he is heading home for a family reunion when a car accident kills Roberts, who is aged up with heavy makeup (at 43-years old, to Reynolds’ 34, it’s a necessity). From there, the story is a test of blood and forgiveness, trust and anger, with three generations of one family doing their best to co-exist in the wake of so much damage.

Which VMAs Style Moment Was Most Shocking?:

Baby bumps, Britney tributes and Bruno bashing — oh my! The MTV Video Music Awards were filled with many buzz-worthy moments last night, but the style choices of several stars gave us just as much to talk about.

Lady Gaga started the two-hour show as her male alter ego, Jo Calderone, wearing Brooks Brothers pants, a men’s jacket, little makeup and a short black wig. She convincingly stayed in character (and costume) all night, even hitting on Britney Spears while presenting her with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.

Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj hit the black carpet in a jagged bodysuit accessorized with plush creatures, knee-highs and lots of colorful hair. “Tokyo inspired this outfit,” she told reporters during the show. “Harajuku is something I have been absorbing for a long time.”

Though Justin Bieber one-upped her in the shock-value department — he brought his pet snake, Johnson, along for the ride — his accessories were slightly more demure; namely, his glasses. “I was just going for something fun and youthful and not too put together,” he told reporters. “Something that would go good with the cheetah shoes.”

But Beyoncé‘s accessory was the best of all: she debuted her baby bump in a flowing orange Lanvin gown, later revealing it for the television crowds in a Dolce & Gabbana tux following her performance of “Love on Top.”



It was Katy Perry, though, who became the night’s quick-change artist, starting out in an Atelier Versace geisha-style mini-dress, complete with parasol. To introduce Adele, the big nominee slipped into a long, high-necked purple gown, a departure from her usually revealing wardrobe. She ended the night in Dior Couture, sporting a pink top paired with a black-and-white tulip-shaped skirt and yellow cube-shaped hat, but not before looking like a broken record — literally! — in a sparkly black dress accented with vinyl bearing her name.

“I just felt like being colorful and fun and with me, I am okay with self-deprecation,” Perry told reporters. “I am all right with being laughed at and laughed with and just laughing, so that was the inspiration of tonight: just to have a laugh.”

There was a lot to look at, but we want to know: which VMAs style moment was most shocking?

HTC Droid Incredible Official Android 2.3 Gingerbread Update Leaks:

There is quite a bit of confusion regarding the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update for the Droid Incredible. Originally, when a Gingerbread ROM leaked for the Droid Incredible, it was taken for granted that the handset will get some Gingerbread love. However, as time passed by, some HTC reps started telling Incredible users that the handset won’t be getting the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update, after all.

Things however again took a U-turn when one HTC rep confirmed that the Incredible would be getting the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update. Some documents from Verizon also leaked online, which stated that the Incredible would get the Gingerbread update. Now, a new Gingerbread ROM for the Droid Incredible has leaked online. From the look and feel of the ROM, it seems like this is the final version of the Gingerbread ROM for the Droid Incredible, which would be released to the public.

Visually, there are not many changes, except for a toggle menu and a task manager integrated into the notification bar. The Gingerbread update also brings some performance enhancements, and bug fixes. The usual Gingerbread goodies like an enhanced copy and paste functionality, and a Download Manager app is also on-board.



HTC Droid Incredible users who are interested in flashing this leaked ROM on their handset, should head over to this link for more information.

Katt Williams’ Anti-Mexican Rant In Phoenix: Comedian Takes On Latino Heckler:

Standup comedy is perhaps the most raw form of entertainment available on a mass scale, with just a small stage separating an audience — often inebriated — from the performer. By nature, comedians are often edgy and push boundaries, sometimes rubbing up against the sensibilities of certain viewers — and occasionally bursting way past even the more liberally drawn line of moral decency.

At a standup performance in Phoenix on Saturday, comedian Katt Williams arguably crossed that line when he got into an argument with a heckler. Once he found out that the offending audience member was of Mexican descent, he went off on a wild tangent, most of which is transcribed here.

In June, Williams was arrested for a stand off with a tractor driver, and later that month, had a meltdown on stage that included “incoherent babbling,” ripping off his shirt and doing pushups, Laughspin.com reports.

Watch the video below, and underneath that, find the rough transcription.

“Since y’all like it over here a lot. and I’m saying, if I’m speaking out of line, let me know. But I’m saying it appears to me, y’all like it over here a lot. And let me tell you why I’m making that assumption, because I have no right to make that assumption. But understand this, this what gives me the right, and don’t you get it twisted… If y’all had California and you loved it, then you shouldn’t have given that mothaf*cka up. You should have fought for California, goddamnit, since you love it..

Because you think I’m dissing Mexico and I’m defending America. Are you Mexican? Do you know where Mexico is? No this ain’t Mexico, it used to be Mexico, motherf*cker, and now it’s Phoenix, goddammit. USA! USA!



F*ck you back, n*gga. i bet you dont even go to mexico, motha f*cka… no n*gga, do you know where you at? USA! USA! I dont give a f*ck. no n*gga, this is my hood… [security comes] F*ck him! Mothaf*ckas think they can live in this country and pledge allegience to another country… do you remember when white people used to say go back to Africa? And we’d have to tell them we dont want to? So if you love Mexico, bitch, get the f*ck over there! [breaks into the National Anthem]..

We were slaves bitch, you just all work like that at the landscapers… It’s not even racial — you’re a bitch! I don’t give a f*ck what race that is, that’s a p*ssy.”

LG Optimus One Android 2.3 Gingerbread Update Rolling Out Now:

LG has finally started rolling out the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update for one of their most successful Android handsets – the Optimus One (P500). Even though the Korean company missed its promised deadline, it still is better than nothing.

The Android 2.3 Gingerbread for the Optimus One brings an improved copy-and-paste mechanism, a Download manager and an overall improvement in performance and stability of the phone. Sadly, not all is rosy with the update. Most Optimus One owners over at XDA forums are reporting major problems with the update. Majority of the owners complained that the phone felt sluggish after the update. They also encountered lots of bugs with the Gingerbread firmware.

The list of bugs is also pretty long, and contains some serious issues like the microphone of the phone not working for the first 2-3 seconds of a call or Apps2SD not working properly. The growing list of bugs can be found on this thread on XDA forums.



LG would soon start rolling out the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update for the world’s first dual-core powered phone, the Optimus 2X and the Optimus Black. Hopefully, unlike the Optimus One Gingerbread update, the quality of the final firmware of the Gingerbread build of these two handsets would be much better and less buggy.

Maria Sharapova Rallies To Beat Heather Watson At U.S. Open:
Trailing big in the first round of the U.S. Open, Maria Sharapova thought – well, no, she was certain – that she’d pull through if she could push her inexperienced opponent to a third set.
And Sharapova was right.
Shrieking as loudly as ever, Sharapova came back from a set and a break down against 19-year-old Heather Watson of Britain to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Monday, improving to 12-0 this year in matches that went the distance.
“It’s just a matter of belief within myself, that no matter how well or bad or good I’m playing, or my opponent is playing, I know I can tough it out,” the No. 3-seeded Sharapova said after her 2 1/2-hour victory. “No matter what the situation is, I have the belief.”
That self-confidence comes not merely from her success in three-setters this season, but also from three Grand Slam titles, including the 2006 U.S. Open. It’s the sort of track record the 102nd-ranked Watson hopes to have one day; Monday’s match was only her fifth at a major tournament.
Sharapova won six Grand Slam matches at Wimbledon alone this summer, reaching the final there before losing to Petra Kvitova. Fresh off that triumph, Kvitova – a 21-year-old from the Czech Republic seeded No. 5 in Flushing Meadows – failed to follow it up, flopping at the U.S. Open with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 loss to 48th-ranked Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania.



Kvitova is the first reigning Wimbledon women’s champion to lose her first match at the U.S. Open in the same season. Only three times had the Wimbledon winner bowed out as early as the third round in New York: Sharapova in 2004, Conchita Martinez in 1994, and Billie Jean King in 1973.
“This is something new for me,” Kvitova said about her new status as Grand Slam champion. “I’ve felt a little pressure.”
She was the only seeded woman to exit on Day 1 of the year’s last major tournament, joined on the way out by No. 15 Viktor Troicki of Serbia, a 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 loser against Alejandro Falla of Colombia.














At night, 2000-01 U.S. Open champion Venus Williams played her first match in two months and beat 91st-ranked Vesna Dolonts of Russia 6-4, 6-3. Williams hit six aces and 28 total winners against the weary Dolonts, who left Moscow at 4 a.m. EDT and arrived at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at 4 p.m., after having flights canceled Saturday and Sunday because of Tropical Storm Irene.
“My game is built on my serve, and of course, I like to follow it up with a lot of aggressive play,” said Williams, who pulled out of recent tuneup tournaments because of a virus. “And it’s great to see a lot of those balls land in.”
In the day’s last match in Arthur Ashe Stadium, 16-time major winner Roger Federer was to face 54th-ranked Santiago Giraldo of Colombia.
Early winners included No. 8 Mardy Fish, who played his first U.S. Open match as the top-seeded American and beat Tobias Kamke 6-2, 6-2, 6-1; No. 9 Tomas Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up; No. 13 Richard Gasquet; No. 22 Alexandr Dolgopolov; and No. 27 Marin Cilic, who eliminated 19-year-old American Ryan Harrison 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (6).

Adam Levine Interview: Maroon 5 Frontman Talks New NBC Show, ‘The Voice’ & Tea:

If you’re wondering whether or not Adam Levine feels intimidated by Simon Cowell’s emerging fall juggernaut “The X Factor,” the answer is “absolutely not.”

The Huffington Post recently sat down with the Maroon 5 frontman to talk “The Voice,” the new NBC show that he’s producing and his newest endeavor–professional tea-taster.

The 32-year-old Maroon 5 frontman, along with his bandmates Jesse Carmichael, James Valentine, Michael Madden, and Matt Flynn, created a Snapple drink, Tea Will Be Loved (conveniently named after their famous song “She Will Be Loved”), to benefit Feeding America. As part of the partnership, Snapple and Maroon 5 will donate $250,000 to the Feeding America, an organization close to the frontman’s heart.

“It’s so great to be in a position where you can help,” says Levine, “It seems like to not help out would be strange.”

And Levine and his bandmates were involved in every step of the tediously tasty process.

“We worked on the flavor, extensively, for hours in the lab–we really did,” says Levine. “We got really into it. We were so drunk off Snapple by the end of the day. I remember when Snapple got popular back in high school. It was huge. And then there was Fruitopia–R.I.P. Fruitopia.” Recently, in a cover story for Out Magazine, the winning “Voice” coach Levine ripped the reigning champ of reality television, “American Idol,” calling them out for their alleged policy on gay contestants.

“I’m not a fan of singing competitions,” admits Levine. “I never have been. But there was something that rang true with ‘The Voice.’ It’s just a very sincere, honest show where we were allowed to speak our minds and be ourselves and help people along–in a real way. No one is being teased; no one is being mocked. It’s all about positive reinforcement. We’re dealing with a bunch of people who are all really talented to begin with.”

And when it comes to those rumors regarding the cast’s off-screen relationships, Levine assures fans that there’s absolutely no drama between him and co-star Christina Aguilera.

“I love everyone I work with, and I think that really shows,” says Levine. “All the drama is kind of beneath us. We’re not trying to create stupid tension on the show. Any tension that we produced was all fabricated. We all liked each other. The media just played it up. Christina [Aguilera] kicks ass. She’s super talented.”

And no one knows that better than Levine, who recently collaborated with Aguilera on Maroon 5′s new single, “Moves Like Jagger.”

“We have our own path,” says Levine, referring to “The Voice’s” fall competition–Cowell’s “The X Factor”–”We’re fine.”

Yet, even though Levine isn’t a big fan of reality singing competitions, it turns out that the frontman has a soft spot for television musicals. Who knew Levine was such a Gleek? He’s going to take a step out of the big red chair and into the executive producing chair for a single-camera comedy project, with Jake Kasdan attached to executive produce and direct, that can only be described as “Cheers” meets “Glee.”

Military Spending Waste: Up To $60B In Iraq, Afghanistan War Funds Lost To Poor Planning, Oversight, Fraud:

As much as $60 billion in U.S. funds has been lost to waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade through lax oversight of contractors, poor planning and payoffs to warlords and insurgents, an independent panel investigating U.S. wartime spending estimates.

In its final report to Congress, the Commission on Wartime Contracting said the figure could grow as U.S. support for reconstruction projects and programs wanes, leaving both countries to bear the long-term costs of sustaining the schools, medical clinics, barracks, roads and power plants already built with American tax dollars.

Much of the waste and fraud could have been avoided with better planning and more aggressive oversight, the commission said. To avoid repeating the mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan, government agencies should overhaul the way they award and manage contracts in war zones, the commission recommended.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the commission’s 240-page report in advance of its scheduled public release on Wednesday.

Created by Congress in 2008, the eight-member commission held more than two dozen hearings, interviewed hundreds of military and civilian officials and traveled multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan. The panel’s final report is the most comprehensive examination so far of the U.S. dependence on contractors and the government’s ability to manage them in combat areas.

The commission said calculating the exact amount lost through waste and fraud is difficult because there is no commonly accepted methodology for doing so. But using information it has gathered over the past three years, the commission said at least $31 billion has been lost and the total could be as high as $60 billion. The commission called the estimate “conservative.”

Overall, the commission said spending on contracts and grants to support U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to exceed $206 billion by the end of the 2011 budget year. Based on its investigation, the commission said contracting waste in Afghanistan ranged from 10 percent to 20 percent of the $206 billion total. Fraud during the same period ran between 5 percent and 9 percent of the total, the report said.

Styled after the Truman Committee, which examined World War II spending six decades ago, the commission was vested with broad authority to examine military support contracts, reconstruction projects and private security companies. But the law creating the commission also dictated that it would cease operating at the end of September 2011, even as the U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to be heavily supported by contractors.

The commission cited numerous examples of waste, including a $360 million U.S.-financed agricultural development program in Afghanistan. The effort began as a $60 million project in 2009 to distribute vouchers for wheat seed and fertilizer in drought-stricken areas of northern Afghanistan. The program expanded into the south and east. Soon the U.S. was spending a $1 million a day on the program, creating an environment ripe for waste and abuse, the commission said.

Justin Bieber: ‘I Definitely Want To Be Married By 25′:

He many only be 17, but Justin Bieber is already talking marriage — and kids!

During an interview with Women’s Wear Daily, the teenage hearthrob revealed some surprising plans for his future.

“Well, by 25 or 26, I want to see myself, like, married or start looking for a family,” he said when asked where he sees himself in five years. “I want to be a young dad. I want to be able to have done what I wanted to do — to be successful, to do a movie or whatever. But if the time is right, I definitely want to be married by 25.”

But before all of his young fans start proposing, Bieber added a key statement.

“One thing — I’m not looking to get married now,” he said.

However, it looks like Bieber is already getting some hands-on training when it comes to taking care of kids. The singer and his entourage were spotted in Atlanta this week walking with a small child, and Bieber even carried the tyke into a local restaurant.

Even though he’s only 17, perhaps Bieber’s comments about wanting to be a young dad stem from his own experience growing up with teen parents. Bieber’s mom was just 18 when she had him.

His family plans may still be a few years off, but we can’t help wondering what Bieber’s girlfriend, Selena Gomez, has to say about all of this.

Chaz Bono, Jennifer Elia Step Out At Creative Arts Emmys Awards:

Chaz Bono may be spending most of his time brushing up on his ballroom dancing skills, but he took time out to walk the red carpet with his longtime partner, Jennifer Elia, at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards Saturday night.

Bono is currently rehearsing for the upcoming season of “Dancing With The Stars,” where he will partner with pro Lacey Schwimmer when the show premieres Sept. 19.

“At first Chaz said yes to doing the show to have some fun but now he’s in it to win it. Not just for himself but for anyone else who has felt like they didn’t fit in,” a friend of Bono told The Huffington Post last week.

Bono himself talked about why he decided to join the show with ABC News.

“You know, it just kind of shows why for me it’s important to be on the show, because so little still is known about what it means to be transgender,” Bono said. “And there’s so many just completely inaccurate stereotypes and thoughts that people have.”