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  • Lady Gaga Begins The Soon-To-Close Roseland Ballroom's Final Shows

    Lady Gaga celebrated her 28th birthday with an energetic but short concert at the Roseland Ballroom in her first of seven concerts at the closing venue.

    Gaga performed for an hour Friday night in front of a feverish crowd. She started with a slow version of "Born This Way" on piano, with the audience joining in. She followed that with the jams "Monster" and "Bad Romance." She danced and sang on the side of the stage in a red tight leotard.

    "Thank you so much for spending my birthday with me," she yelled to the audience, which included her actor-boyfriend Taylor Kinney and Nate Ruess, lead singer for the band Fun.

    Gaga was in top form as she sang nearly a dozen of her songs, including "Just Dance," an acoustic version of "Poker Face," and the recent hit "Applause." The concert's main surprise: It was too short. After she ended, fans waited for the pop star to hit the stage again. She never did.

    She performed some tracks from her recent album, "ARTPOP," which has struggled to match the success of her other releases. But onstage, she showed no signs of slowing down.
    Gaga closed with the new single, "G.U.Y.," now wearing an all-white ensemble (her sixth costume change for the night).

    "Thanks for making this the best birthday ever," she said.

    The New York-born singer will perform six more shows at the Roseland Ballroom, helping close the famed venue that opened eight decades ago. Performers in the past have included The Rolling Stones, Madonna and Beyonce, who famously performed four shows in 2011 when she was pregnant.

    "How many New Yorkers are in here tonight?" Gaga asked early in the show. "Do you believe in love? Do you?"

    The Grammy winner kept the concert tame compared to her showcase at the South by Southwest festival this month, which featured a performance artist vomiting paint on her. She thanked her fans a number of times in between songs.

    "When I woke up this morning I was so happy," she said. "I couldn't wait to get here tonight. I have so many friends here ... so many fans I've grown up with for six whole years, seven whole years."

    Rescued Dog Shows Gratitude After It's Pulled From Icy Canal

    When a dog became stranded in a canal in Romania, some passersby jumped in to pull the soaking wet pup from the icy water. But it's what happens after the dog was freed that makes the recorded rescue so remarkable.

    In a video, posted on YouTube this week, several men pull the dog to safety by the scruff of its neck -- something canine mothers often do to their pups to carry them. After the dog is freed, it appears to act as most humans would and shows its gratitude to the rescuers by showering them with nuzzles and licks.
    Whether dogs are capable of showing emotions like humans has been a recurrent topic in scientific studies (though most pet owners would probably agree that dogs are capable of showing a wide range of emotions.)

    In October, a professor of neuroeconomics published an editorial following two years of research on the human-canine connection with the conclusion: "Dogs are people, too." More recently, another study indicated that, within the brain, dogs process voices and emotions just like humans.

    So while this rescued dog may just be excited to be back on dry land, we're inclined to believe it's grateful for the assist.

    Jimmy Kimmel Tries To Top Ellen With Three Clintons In One Selfie

    Jimmy Kimmel seems to think so. He tweeted this selfie — featuring Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton — to his 3.76 million followers on Saturday night:

    Kimmel took the photo at the Clinton Global Initiative University in Tempe, Ariz., where he interviewed the former first family in front of more than 1,000 students. Though impressive, it’s going to have a hard time besting Ellen DeGeneres’ star-studded, record-breaking selfie tweeted during the Academy Awards. That post, which Kimmel’s tweet references, was shared over 3.4 million times.
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    Meanwhile, Kimmel didn’t get too far trying to break news about Hillary’s plans for a potential presidential run in 2016, either. When a student asked about the race, the former United States Secretary of State responded that she is “very much concerned about the direction of our country” and is “obviously thinking about all kinds of decisions” regarding her future, according to The Associated Press.

    Holly Madison Might Have an Obsession with Dying Her Hair

    Five and a half years after leaving Hugh Hefner and Playboy behind, Holly Madison finally ditched her bleach blonde hair for something a bit more appropriate for her newfound motherhood.
    Trouble is, the former reality star can't seem to pick a color she likes and we aren't too thrilled with the newest results.

    The former The Girls Next Door centerpiece debuted her ginger locks on March 13th on a red carpet in Las Vegas.
    Unfortunately, she must have wanted something a bit more vibrant and darkened the color just before her most recent appearance celebrating a brand new cupcake ATM yesterday.
    I'm not sure about you, but I much prefer the lighter version to the darker. It seems a lot more natural and is just prettier.

    And from one ginger to another, Holly better make sure to have those hair appointments scheduled in advance. Red may be stunning, but it is a bitch to keep up with once you start washing it.

    The Rise And Fall Of Lady Gaga photo

    About five years ago, Lady Gaga burst into mega fame with the force of a shooting star (that insisted on wearing raw meat to red carpet events). But with her latest performance largely spotlighting vomit as performance art, it's all too easy to forget the moment when Gaga first rose into public consciousness, accessorized by Muppets and often compared to Madonna.

    So, what happened? In just about five years, Gaga reached an unprecedented echelon of pop stardom, only to lose her mystery to such an extent that puke-for-attention seems almost standard. (She was puked on, it should be noted, by vomit painter Millie Brown.) In hopes of mapping the trajectory from fledgling stardom to bile desperation, we've tracked the rise and fall of Gaga's monstrous brand of celebrity.

    Feb. 20, 2007 - Appearing in public for perhaps the last time as the human who once resembled Stefani Germanotta, Gaga attends the "Who's Next? Writers on the Rise" event in New York City.

    May 19, 2008 - Gaga introduces her eclectic sartorial choices to the world at the NewNowNext Award, walking the carpet as a pirate from a future in which there is no cure for glaucoma.
    Aug. 19, 2008 - Gaga releases "The Fame" and it eventually goes platinum, selling over 10 million digital singles and quickly making her what Rolling Stone would later call "the defining pop star of 2009." The Top-40 quickly becomes 20 percent just Gaga.

    Jan. 20, 2009 - In an interview with The Guardian, Lady Gaga tells Laura Barton that she has "felt famous [her] whole life." Her confidence in place of feigned surprise over her success is refreshing.

    May 11, 2009 - During a spot on "Ellen," Gaga begins her foray into absurd hats with "The Orbit," succeeds in confounding both Ellen and America.

    Sept. 13, 2009 - One of Gaga's five generally outrageous outfits at the VMAs includes a red lace bridal headdress that is basically what would have happened if Carrie ever got married.

    'Insurgent' Has Officially Been Given The Green Light For 2015, Not That You Had Any Doubts

    It's not like "Divergent" fans had any real reason to worry about their franchise getting a sequel, seeing as Veronica Roth's books are a trilogy and Lionsgate had a follow-up planned all along. But just in case anyone was uncertain, Lionsgate subsidiary Summit Entertainment has officially given "Insurgent" the green light.

    Really, though, we had nothing to fret over. The Shailene Woodley-fronted dystopian flick opened to an impressive $4.9 million following Thursday night's screenings. While the movie is no longer poised to be more lucrative than the first "Twilight" installment, it's still generated an endless cycle of buzz in recent months and could accrue between $50 and $60 million this weekend.
    “We're off to a great start with strong numbers from all regions of the country, urban, suburban and rural alike,” Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said in a statement. ”We're confident that ‘Divergent' is on its way to becoming another important franchise for us, and we have just greenlit the second film, ‘Insurgent.'”

    As previously announced, "Divergent" director Neil Burger won't return for the sequel, having turned down the offer for "practical reasons" concerning his shooting schedule. Instead, Robert Schwentke ("The Time Traveler's Wife," "R.I.P.D.") will take over. "Insurgent" is eyeing a March 2015 release, and Woodley and co-star Theo James are already on board to return.

    If the movies stick to that schedule, the third installment, “Allegiant,” will arrive in March 2016

    Movie review by Anupama Chopra: Don't miss Ankhon Dekhi

    Ankhon Dekhi is a delicate and delightful film about invisible people — those ordinary folk you pass on the street but rarely pay attention to. Writer-director Rajat Kapoor finds beauty and richness in their lives.

    He constructs a keenly observed portrait of a lower-middle class family in Delhi, how the centre slowly frays and falls apart. But the film ends on a note that is beguiling and entirely apt for a director whose gurus are Kumar Shahani and Mani Kaul.
    Ankhon Dekhi centres around Raje Bauji, played by Sanjay Mishra who, after a dramatic incident, decides that he will only believe what he sees with his eyes.This leads to a series of bewildering situations, including Raje Bauji at the zoo, goading a tiger to roar so he can confirm that tigers roar.


    The performances by Sanjay and Seema Pahwa, who plays his harassed wife, are wonderful. Rajat, who also plays a pivotal role in the film, tells their story with tenderness and affection. Sadly, the narrative meanders in the second half — the plot becomes increasingly random and farfetched. But eventually, the strands come together with such a heave of emotion that I found myself wiping away tears. 

    China spots new possible plane debris in southern Indian Ocean

    China said on Saturday it had a new satellite image of what could be wreckage from a missing Malaysian airliner, as more planes and ships headed to join an international search operation scouring some of the remotest seas on Earth.
    The latest possible lead came as the search for Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 entered its third week, with still no confirmed trace found of the Boeing 777 or the 239 people on board.

    The new potential sighting was dramatically announced by Malaysia's acting transport minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, after he was handed a note with details during a news conference in Kuala Lumpur, scooping the official announcement from China.

    "Chinese ships have been dispatched to the area," Hishammuddin told reporters. China said the object was 74 feet long and 43 feet wide, and spotted around 75 miles "south by west" of potential debris reported by Australia off its west coast in the forbidding waters of the southern Indian Ocean.

    The image was captured by the high-definition Earth observation satellite "Gaofen-1" early on March 18, two days after the Australian satellite picture was taken, China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) said on its website.

    It could not easily be determined from the blurred images whether the objects were the same, but the Chinese photograph could depict a cluster of smaller objects, a senior military officer from one of the 26 nations involved in the search for the plane said.
    The wing of a Boeing 777-200ER is approximately 27 metres long and 14 metres wide at its base, according to estimates derived from publicly available scale drawings. Its fuselage is 63.7 meters long by 6.2 meters wide.

    Flight MH370 vanished from civilian radar screens early on March 8, less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur on a scheduled flight to Beijing.

    Investigators believe someone on board shut off the plane's communications systems, and partial military radar tracking showed it turning west and re-crossing the Malay Peninsula, apparently under the control of a skilled pilot.

    That has led them to focus on hijacking or sabotage, but they have not ruled out technical problems.

    Since Australia announced the first image of what could be parts of the aircraft on Thursday, the international search for the plane has focused on an expanse of ocean more than 2,000 km (1,200 miles) southwest of Perth.

    The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said one of its aircraft reported sighting a number of "small objects" with the naked eye, including a wooden pallet, within a radius of 5 km.

    A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3 Orion aircraft took a closer look but only reported seeing clumps of seaweed. It dropped a marker buoy to track the movement.

    "A merchant ship in the area has been tasked to relocate and seek to identify the material," AMSA said in a statement.

    The search area experienced good weather conditions on Saturday with visibility of around 10 km and moderate seas.

    Australia, which is coordinating the rescue, has cautioned the objects in the satellite image might be a lost shipping container or other debris, and may have sunk since the picture was taken.

    "Even though this is not a definite lead, it is probably more solid than any other lead around the world and that is why so much effort and interest is being put into this search," Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss told reporters, before latest Chinese image was reported.

    Nokia gets Rs 2,400-crore tax demand notice from Tamil Nadu govt

    In yet another setback to Finnish handset maker Nokia , the Tamil Nadu government has slapped on it a Rs. 2,400 crore tax demand notice related to the devices sold from its Chennai factory.
       
    Nokia, which as part of its deal with the US-based software giant Microsoft has to transfer its Indian assets including the Chennai factory by March-end, on Friday approached the Madras High Court challenging claims made by the Tamil Nadu government.
       
    The development comes within a week of the Supreme Court refusing to lift restraint on sale of its Indian assets in a separate case related to payment of tax dues.
       
    Tamil Nadu government's Commercial Taxes Department (VAT) have assessed sales tax on the devices sold from the firm's Chennai manufacturing facility.
       
    According to sources, the government has claimed that the company is selling mobile phones in the domestic market instead of exporting them.
       They said the state government has sent a tax demand notice of about Rs. 2,400 crore to the company in relation to this issue.
       
    "Nokia has today filed a writ to the Madras High Court to contest a claim from the Tamil Nadu tax department, which has moved to assess sales tax on the export of devices from the company's Chennai facility," the company said in a statement.
       
    Nokia considers the claim to be completely without merit and counter to domestic tax laws, it added.
       
    "Nokia will defend itself vigorously in this matter. It is absurd that the Tamil Nadu tax authority is now claiming that devices made in Chennai were not exported and were instead sold domestically in India.
       
    "We contend that this allegation has no basis in reality whatsoever; it could easily be rebuffed by a check of documentation provided to various governmental departments including Customs," the company said.
       
    In India, exports are by law exempt from tax and Nokia has proved consistently that devices produced at Chennai are exported abroad, it added.
       
    Nokia further said, "Indeed, the company has been regularly assessed and audited by the tax authorities since 2006 without incident, and it has also won numerous export awards from governmental organisations."

    I Watched Duke Porn Star Belle Knox Strip At A Gentlemen's Club

    Mind you, I've never actually been to a strip club. But I had imagined a dark, dingy place where men slink in and out with their eyes averted, afraid they might run into their wives' Pilates instructor (or something like that). Armed with two female friends and more than a few whiskey gingers, I walked into Headquarters Gentlemen's Club to watch Belle Knox's debut stripping performance on Tuesday night with a tote bag full of gym clothes and a grandpa sweater on. Let's just say the bouncers seemed more than a bit perplexed.

    When Belle Knox, sex worker and all-around badass feminist, came out as the Duke porn star last month, I immediately went into full-support mode. Knox is refreshingly articulate and steadfast about her beliefs -- especially impressive given that she's only 18. As a sex-positive feminist, I support Belle's choice to work in porn and completely respect her ambition to succeed in her career. So when I got the chance to attend her stripping debut at a New York City gentlemen's club I decided to take it, because frankly, I was curious.
    After bee-lining to the bar, my coworkers and I found prime viewing spots directly in front of the stage. There was a swarm of journalists in the club and some poor, unsuspecting (non-journalist) men huddled away from the flashing camera lights. And while we may not have been getting the truest strip club experience, given the bizarre media circus, there was no ignoring the naked and gyrating women strutting around the room.

    Our small entourage slowly acclimated to our surroundings as we gossiped and watched Knox's many opening acts come and go from the stage. During the three-hour show (I swear, this was for work), our conversation slowly evolved. We started out nervously giggling, quickly realized this was disrespectful, and attempted to pay attention to the dancers onstage.

    Staring at these women exposing themselves for the pleasure of the audience, me and my two heterosexual female companions began to pick apart each performer's body: "Oh my gosh, she is absolutely gorgeous!" "Her boobs are totally fake." "C'mon, I could do a better job than her."

    After two hours of standing next to flashing lenses, eager reporters and a dude who actually asked if I worked there, Belle took the stage. With a small army of cameras trailing her, the 18-year-old star made her entrance to none other than Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation."

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