Madonna will use her upcoming performance in Russia to speak out against St. Petersburg's controversial "gay propaganda" law.

"I will come to St. Petersburg to speak up for the gay community and to give strength and inspiration to anyone who is or feels oppressed," the Material Girl, 53, told Bloomberg Businessweek in an email yesterday. "I'm a freedom fighter."

Madonna's announcement came on the heels of the release of her new "Girl Gone Wild" video, which features barely-dressed male dancers in sweaty, homoerotic embraces. The track is the second single off the pop star's forthcoming album "MDNA," which has already been hailed as "a collection of thoroughly pumping pop tunes, some of which are slices of sheer brilliance," by Billboard magazine.

"I don’t run away from adversity," Madonna, who is scheduled to perform in St. Petersburg on Aug. 9, said in the email. "I will speak during my show about this ridiculous atrocity."

Last month, St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko signed the controversial law, which effectively criminalizes reading, writing, speaking or reporting on anything related to lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people. Violators of the law -- which outlaws all LGBT Pride events -- reportedly could face fines anywhere between 5,000 ($171) and 500,000 rubles ($17,000).

The law states that LGBT "propaganda" promotes "the false perception that traditional and nontraditional relationships are socially equal," according to Bloomberg.

Can't wait for Madonna's summer tour? Check out our picks for her best live performances below:

WE tv has two new leading ladies on its radar: Kendra Wilkinson and Cyndi Lauper, who have both signed on for their own reality shows with the network.

Wilkinson will star in "Kendra On Top," a docu-soap chronicling her transformation from sex symbol and Playboy Bunny to mother and wife to former NFL player Hank Baskett III.

"I'm so excited to be joining the WE tv family!" Wilkinson said in a statement. "I'm thrilled to continue showing the world my story and everything that's coming up in my life."

This is hardly Wilkinson's first brush with reality TV. The former Playboy Bunny starred on E!'s "Girls Next Door" from 2005-2009 and then got a spinoff. "Kendra" aired from 2009-2011 and chronicled her life after moving out of the Playboy Mansion.

Meanwhile, WE tv has also given "Cyndi" the green light, which will follow the over-the-top life of singer/songwriter Cyndi Lauper.

"I'm really looking forward to reuniting with Mark Burnett and working with his team and WE tv on my new show," the Grammy winner said. "They make a powerful combination so I am going into this venture with an A Team! I love TV and this is something I've wanted to do for a long time."

Lauper's most recent TV appearance was her role on the ninth season of "The Celebrity Apprentice," alongside Sharon Osbourne and Bret Michaels in 2010.

"Kendra On Top" and "Cyndi" are both slated for summer premieres on WE tv.

NEW YORK -- Hollywood ex-wives surely have stories to tell, and now five of them will have their own TV series.

VH1 said Wednesday that it is making "Hollywood Exes," a one-hour series that will air this summer. Featured players are the ex-wives of Eddie Murphy, Prince, R. Kelly, Will Smith and Jose Canseco.

The network said that Nicole Murphy, Jessica Canseco, Andrea Kelly, Sheree Fletcher (Smith's ex) and Mayte Garcia (Prince's ex) "want to show the world that they are more than just a trophy wife with a pretty face."

The 10-episode series will follow the women as they establish their own lives apart from their famous exes.

Madonna has finally released the video for her single "Girl Gone Wild," and it might just be singer's most provocative video in recent years.

The monochromatic video pretty much combines all of the most iconic imagery from her previous videos; It's part "Vogue," part "Express Yourself" and part "Sex" -- Madonna's controversial 1992 coffee table book.

Surrounded by half-naked men, Madonna claims that she's "like a girl gone wild." But is the singer really just up to her old tricks?

"Girl Gone Wild" is chock-full of erotic images and religious symbolism. It begins with Madonna reciting the Catholic Act of Contrition, a prayer of repentance, and quickly displays a provocative group of nearly-naked male dancers grinding up on the singer. Later, one man even dons a crown of thorns.

Songs from Madonna's highly-anticipated album MDNA have been leaking online all month. One track, Superstar," a sweet follow-up to 1998's ode to new motherhood "Little Star," features her daughter Lourdes Leon, 15, singing backup on the track.

Meanwhile, "I'm Addicted," Madge's techno love song, was leaked in early March, and blogger Perez Hilton has reportedly nabbed the entire album (and will be leaking the tracks up until the album's release on March 26).

Not to mention the singer created quite a buzz with the release of her new track "I F****D Up."

Check out photos from Madge's glitzy Super Bowl Halftime Show:

Fifty years ago tonight, a unusual-looking, unknown kid rolled out onto a Broadway stage on the casters of her secretary's chair and sailed straight into pop-culture immortality. The show was I Can Get It for You Wholesale, and the kid was Barbra Streisand. Most in the audience that night assumed her name to be misspelled in their Playbills. That her name was there at all was only because director Arthur Laurents was taking a chance that the largely inexperienced 19-year-old, in a showy supporting part, might make up for a flawed book with her big voice and even bigger stage presence.

Two years earlier, Streisand had arrived in Manhattan penniless and without connections. But she'd known exactly how to get what she wanted. The Legend, as it's come down to us over the past half a century, has always insisted that Streisand's triumphs were fated and unrehearsed. But from the moment he first saw her at auditions, Laurents pegged what he called Streisand's "calculated spontaneity." She knew exactly what she was doing. She threw off a glamorous old fur coat to reveal a plain wool dress underneath, hardly the high couture most aspiring actresses chose for auditions. Her hair wasn't coiffed either, but instead knotted in an old-maidish bun. "Spinster Incarnate," Laurents thought, which was precisely what he needed for the role of the harried secretary, Miss Marmelstein.

Even more shtick was to come: Streisand's sheet music, taped together and held comically to her waist, suddenly accordioned after her as she bolted onto stage. "A good trick," Laurents admitted, especially since it was punctuated by a "trilling giggle of feigned surprise." But he felt she was "trying too hard." Indeed, when it came time for her to sing, Streisand conspicuously plucked the chewing gum out of her mouth and, using a bit of business she'd perfected in her nightclub act, impudently stuck it under the chair. Laurents rolled his eyes. "She'd better have a voice," he thought to himself.

She did.

The great classical pianist Glenn Gould would call Streisand's voice "one of the natural wonders of the age." Certainly her voice convinced Laurents that he needed her in his show. Yet while Streisand's talent was, and is, formidable, her breakout was due to even more than that. There had been spectacular voices before, but it was what came with the voice that mattered. Streisand had a spark, a presence, a belief in herself that made her stand out even when she wasn't singing. Even at that first audition, there was a sense that she was the future, that this skinny Jewish kid in the thrift-shop clothes heralded more egalitarian days to come, when girls who didn't look like Doris Day -- and boys who didn't live up to the whitebread, all-American ideal -- might still have a chance to become stars. Supporting roles would only satisfy Streisand for so long; not for her a career playing the heroine's less attractive, wisecracking best friend. "Is it crazy for me to want to play the love scenes?" she'd ask. "Is love only for blue-eyed blondes?"

Her casting in Wholesale had been a long time in coming. Since the age of 7, Streisand had had "an uncontrollable itch" to get out of her hometown of Brooklyn and into the big, wide world. Yet her vaunted ambition was never simply an engine to accumulate fans. Streisand didn't desire to be famous as much as she wanted to be accomplished, brilliant, and beautiful -- words that hardly described her life growing up on the corner of Nostrand and Newkirk. What pushed her forward was a desire to prove that she had talent and appeal to a father who had never known her, a mother who didn't seem to care, and a world that felt she was too different to succeed. Unlike so many celebrities today, it wasn't the spotlight Streisand sought. It was the affirmation that she deserved the spotlight.

Proving herself didn't take long. As Laurents expected, when the ungainly novice took the stage of the Shubert Theatre on March 22, 1962, belting out Miss Marmelstein's lament to secretaries everywhere, she stopped the show cold. "The evening's find," The New York Times' Howard Taubman declared. But Streisand did more than simply fuel Wholesale for 300 performances. She challenged the handbook on such things as style, glamour, beauty, and success. Later that year, she signed a contract with Columbia Records, by which time she was already on her way to landing the lead in Funny Girl, the first of many leads to come. The newness and difference of Barbra Streisand -- and just how new and different she was in 1962 is sometimes forgotten today -- rewrote all the rules.

Fifty years -- and some 140 million albums, a Tony, two Oscars, five Emmys, and eight Grammys -- later, Streisand has a new film coming out in November, and if the showbiz gods are kind, she'll headline a revival of Gypsy, a last wish of her late mentor, Laurents. Her childhood dreams have been fulfilled, and on her terms.

Yet it wasn't just her own dreams that she chased down and won. Whether she fully realizes it or not, Streisand has given life to the dreams of so many others who weren't the pretty ones or the privileged ones, the ones who, until she came along, had had to settle for the supporting roles in life. If Judy Garland was the goddess of self-destruction and vulnerability, Barbra Streisand has been the diva of self-confidence and strength -- as well as of a certain kind of magic, one that can elevate the everyday and transform even an ordinary kid into a star.

William J. Mann is the author of the forthcoming Hello Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).

I wrote this a few years ago, but I felt so many thing still hold true. I feel like when we share our pain, we may help others alleviate their own. So here is a little story about a drag queen named Pandora Boxx.

I sit here in front of my mirror, staring at myself. I don't look vainly; I look contemplating, reflecting. I think about who I am, who I was, how I got where I am. I look at someone I barely recognize at times. I gaze at the image before me: long, golden-blond hair that flows just past the shoulders; deep-blood-red lips; long, dark eyelashes; touches of color around my eyes and on my cheeks. Sometimes it makes me laugh a little that only an hour ago I was a boy.

Looking in my eyes I see such emptiness tonight. My stone-gray eyes seem to reflect nothing but the bright lights of my dressing room. Could it be that I have reached the point where I can go no further? Is this circle of my life complete? Or is it just that ever-constant feeling of "why am I here?"

I look around my little dressing room, all decorated in pink and white, fabric draping all over the ceiling and the walls, pictures of Madonna, my muse, placed here and there. When I am in here, I almost forget the fact that I am in a dank, dirty basement of a nightclub. My only constant reminder is the loud, pounding music from upstairs, vibrating the ceilings and walls. I can feel the vibrations of the bass throughout my body. The old floorboards creak and groan with every step the dancing patrons make above me, dancing wildly with abandonment, not realizing that below them, this shy little boy is undergoing a complete transformation.

I jump slightly when I hear a loud knocking at my door.

"Ten minutes, Pandora," the muffled voice shouts.

Ten minutes. Another show, another crowd, just another night.

Pandora. Who is she? In a way she is me, and in another she is my creation, and in another she is what I wanted to be.

According to Greek Mythology, Pandora was the first woman created. She opened the forbidden box and unleashed all the evils into the world, leaving only man's hope inside. My choice in names would ironically prove to be very fitting. I never realized the Pandora's box I was opening when I created this character, or how many sides the box had. Although it was not evil I unleashed when I opened the box, it definitely came with its twists and turns.

I was born in Jamestown, N.Y. My earliest memories are very happy, normal childhood ones. I was well liked in school. I got good grades, although my teachers did say I was a little chatty. The turning point came in second grade, when my father's job transferred him to Olean, N.Y. This was the beginning of a change in me. It began my introversion into myself, and the self-hatred that has plagued much of my life.

Olean was very different. I no longer felt very comfortable. This was also when the teasing began, something that would haunt me for most of my life.

I remember walking down the halls of school or being outside during recess and praying, "Please don't let anybody say anything. Please don't let them hurt me today."

It rarely helped. The taunts and torment were daily occurrences. I don't even remember if there was a day that went by without me getting picked on. The names and phrases whispered and shouted: "Fag." "Is that a boy or a girl?" "Hey, faggot!" "Homo." "Queer."

Everything I was called and every hurtful phrase just forced me further into myself. I always wished that I could be one of the kids everyone liked, someone who was very popular. I wanted to be a part of a world I felt so distant from.

I remember walking into the boy's restroom of my elementary school only to find my nemesis and his friends. I wanted to leave without trying to make it look like I was running, but it was too late. He came up to me, backing me into a wall, pretending like he was going to kiss me. I turned my face away, not knowing what to do. He was bigger, and I was definitely not a fighter. He just laughed at me.

"What are you, some kind of faggot?" he said. "If some guy tried to do that to me, I'd punch him in the gut. You must be a faggot!"

"Yeah, look at the homo," his cohort said.

The funny thing is that at the time, I didn't even know what a "faggot" was. They were just words to me, words that were bad to me because that was the reason I was not like everyone else: I was a faggot.

The overture for the show begins to play. I can hear the clicks and patters of the shoes upstairs walking to their seats. The crowd starts to cheer and scream. I fumble through my rack of clothes, looking for the outfit I want to wear. I push through the different plush fabrics, the shades of black, pink, and blue. I think about how each outfit is like a different skin, a different mood, a different character.

Characters. That was my only escape when I was young. I discovered acting at a very young age. I could become someone else, if only for a brief moment. I could be anyone; I could escape my fears and my shyness. Most importantly, I could be somebody else besides me. When I discovered "drag," it was as if someone shined a floodlight on a dark room: the way the audience would scream and cheer for the performers, the way they loved them and accepted them. Everyone knew who they were.

Thus Pandora was born -- born out of need and desperation, born out of a longing and desire, the key to being free of the desolate world of shyness. I could be the one everyone wanted to know. I could be in the place I always wanted to be: the center of attention.

As Pandora I have been loved, adored, hated, revered, envied, and accepted. I became what I wanted, but with prices to pay. Pandora gave me the extroverted side I needed. She gave me the opportunity to break down walls and learn more about myself than I ever thought possible. She also created a sense of duality inside me, a feeling that I was only liked or accepted when I wore that mask. I began to feel lost in Pandora, that she was taking over my life. I felt I was leading two very separate lives.

Only recently do I feel the beginning of a true balance in what I do and who I am. I have a true yin and yang. I have the equality I have been searching for, to love what I do without letting it consume me.

As I walk up the small staircase to the stage, I glance at myself one last time. I don't see Pandora; I see me. I see the actor, the performer, the character. I see through all the makeup and the costumes to see just me. I see where I have been and what I have been through. I see heartache and tears. I see laughter and joy. I see triumph and pain. I see hope. What I thought was emptiness in my eyes was not emptiness but an ending. It was an ending to hatred and to the prison I kept myself within. This moment in time is one I will remember forever. This was an ending but also a beginning. It is the beginning of a new road to my life, because for the first time, when I look into that mirror, I like what I see.

When fan favorite Mondo Guerra finished in second place behind fellow contestant Gretchen Jones on season 8 of Project Runway, fans of the hit reality show posted hundreds of angry comments on Twitter – many of them threatening to boycott the show forever. Tonight, the Mexican-American designer is getting a second chance at the title, as one of the three remaining finalists on “Project Runway All Stars” (9/8c on Lifetime). Guerra spoke exclusively to The Huffington Post about the outcome of tonight’s highly anticipated season finale!

You’re in the finals on ‘Project Runway’ for a second time! How does it feel to have another shot at winning?
I think people are very used to me being very calm and collected, but this second time around – especially in last week’s episode – I showed another side to me where I can be a little prickly. I’ve gotten a lot of criticism this season about being whiny and having a 'pity party' and all of this stuff, but people don’t realize that we’re there day after day, working and working and working. After six weeks, I’m sure anybody might hit a breaking point and unfortunately – or maybe fortunately – it was caught on film and people saw how I reacted. I will say it wasn’t about me being ungrateful for the opportunity or me being disrespectful to the show or the contestants – it was just me really having to take my own space to get through the challenge.

Do you read what the show’s fans say about you online?
I really do pay attention to what people are saying because these are viewers and they’re also our potential customers as designers, so in some ways we’re already branding ourselves. People’s opinions hurt. It’s really hard to be vulnerable and be an artist and go on a show like ‘Project Runway All Stars’ and expose not only who you are – because I’m such an introvert – but also expose your process. People having these negative opinions about what you’re doing and how you react to certain situations – it really hurts my feelings. And I’m not whining and I don’t have pity for myself – I chose to go on the show and I know that.

How do you think people will react tonight when the ‘Project Runway All Stars’ winner is revealed?
I think it will be unexpected. Last year there was definitely controversy and uproar and I think tonight will be unexpected and everybody will definitely visit their Facebook and Twitter pages and speak their opinion. It’s exhilarating!

Would you say that this season of ‘Project Runway All Stars’ was more dramatic than season 8?
There were definitely some stressful points in the show for everybody – not just me. Everybody came back with their A-game and they were willing to do what they had to do to win that prize. There was some tension in the work room, there were some egos. But these challenges were the most difficult that I’ve ever seen and it was really good to see how strong each designer could be. Every runway that I saw on 'Project Runway All Stars' was like – you didn’t ever know who was going to win or who was going to be in the top or the bottom. It was amazing!

Do you regret returning to ‘Project Runway?’
No, I don’t regret anything. If I lived with regret, I wouldn’t be able to do all of the work that I do in my life – whether it’s art or the advocacy work I do for HIV.

It looks like "Law And Order: Special Victims Unit" is getting a Martha makeover. According to TV Guide, Martha Stewart will guest star as a private school headmaster in an episode of the popular police procedural titled "Learning Curve," set to air in April.

This is hardly Stewart's first guest starring role. She has also appeared on "Ugly Betty," "All My Children," "The Simpsons," and more.

In other casting news...

Jere Burns and Kristanna Loken are returning to "Burn Notice." Both actors will be back for Season 6 of the USA drama, with Burns as the evil Anson who burned Jeffery Donovan's character, Michael, while Loken will appear as the double agent Rebecca. [EW]

"October Road" vet Jay Paulson is heading to "Bones." Paulson is set to guest star on the Fox medical drama as an artist who helps Angela (Michaela Conlin) tap into her inner free spirit. [TVLine]

Ed Helms and Bill Hader sign on to Mindy Kaling's comedy pilot. Kaling's "Office" costar Helms will appear in her Fox pilot as her potential love interest, while "Saturday Night Live" actor Bill Hader will play her ex, Tom. [EW]

NBC's Dane Cook pilot adds Ryan Devlin to its cast. The "Brothers & Sisters" alum has been added to the cast of "Next Caller Please." The pilot, starring Cook as the sexist host of a radio station, will feature Devlin as Mason, Cook's competition at the station. [TVLine]

"Lost'" actress Maggie Grace has signed on to Kevin Williamson's Fox drama pilot. Grace will have a recurring key role in the still-untitled serial killer drama as the sole surviving victim of murderer Joe Carroll, played by James Purefoy. [EW]

"Drop Dead Diva" picks up three new guest stars. Megyn Price, Patty Duke, and Emily Rutherford will all guest star as clients on Lifetime's legal dramedy, while Valerie Harper will return as Judge Leslie Singer on the show's fourth season. [TV Guide]

"Secret Life" star Austin Stowell has a guest-starring role in Fox's "Ned Fox Is My Manny" pilot. Stowell has reportedly been cast as Ryan, a guy the main character Kate had feelings for 10 years earlier. Ryan and Kate reunite for a date, only to have it turn into a disaster. [THR]

Doris Roberts is set to appear on a final episode of "Desperate Housewives." "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Roberts is headed to Wisteria Lane to shake up the lives of the housewives. As for who Roberts will play, ABC is staying mum on the details. [TV Guide]

Michael Lohan wants to talk -- and it's going to cost you.

Dial-a-Star, a phone service that connects common folk with D-list celebrities, features Lohan on its hotline for $18 per minute -- a whole two dollars cheaper than his ex-wife Dina charges!

Breaking News: Nicole Richie has curves!

By Vetstreet.com

Ashley Judd Brings Her "Psychological Support" Dog On Set
Shug, a registered "psychological support" dog, joined actress Ashley Judd for an interview on ABC's "Nightline." Judd says that the pup has helped her to cope with depression, and Shug stays on the set with her during the filming of her new show, "Missing". According to Judd, it "just adds to quality of life." -- Read it at ABC News and watch the interview

Plus: Sharing the set with animals doesn't feel quite as natural for actress Sofia Vergara. The "Modern Family" star admits to People that she's unnerved by the French Bulldog who plays Stella on the sitcom -- but Ed O'Neill, who plays her on-screen husband, is in love with the dog. -- Read it at People Pets

More from Vetstreet.com:
A Day in the Life of Gracie the School Comfort Dog
The Special Relationship Between a Sick 4-Year-Old Boy and His Dog
14 Common Dog Behavior Myths Decoded

Bird Recordings Scare Pigeons From NYC Subway Station
After trying plenty of other tactics, New York's transit authority has a novel way of clearing its Roosevelt Island subway station of pigeons: A birdcall system emits predatory sounds every two to 10 minutes. A spokesman says that it seems to be working. -- Read it at The New York Times

Military Dog Will Be Reunited With Former Handler
There's a happy ending to the story we brought you last week: Sergeant Rex -- a 10-year-old, bomb-sniffing German Shepherd -- has been found suitable for adoption, and will be reunited with former Marine Cpl. Megan Leavey. "We wish Rex all the best in his coming years of relaxation with Megan," said Capt. Barry Edwards. -- Read it at ABC News

Capybara Babies Debut at British Zoo
Three adorable capybaras, who were born earlier this month, were out and about exploring their new habitat at Twycross Zoo in England this week. Capybaras, which are native to South America, weigh just two pounds at birth. -- See the photos at Zooborns

For more on pet health, click here.

NEW YORK -- Mikhail Baryshnikov, Cate Blanchett and Alan Cumming will be among the stars in this summer's Lincoln Center Festival.

The festival announced Wednesday that the offerings will include Baryshnikov in the new play "In Paris" and Blanchett in the Sydney Theatre Company's production of "Uncle Vanya." Cumming will star in the National Theatre of Scotland's one-person "Macbeth."

There will be a total of 72 performances by artists and ensembles from seven countries, running from July 5 through Aug. 5. The shows will be held in seven venues on and off the Lincoln Center campus.

Kaija Saariaho's "Emile," an 80-minute opera starring soprano Elizabeth Futral, will be given three performances in July. The monodrama, which premiered at the Opera de Lyon in France two years ago, is based on Emilie du Chatelet, Voltaire's mistress.

A one-night-only event on July 20 will pay tribute to Curtis Mayfield, who would have been 70 this year. Tao Ye, China's rising modern dance choreographer, brings his TAO Dance Theater with two new works, and there will also be a cycle of plays by Tom Murphy, one of Ireland's most influential playwrights.

The Paris Opera Ballet, the oldest national ballet company in the world, will give its first New York performances in 16 years and The Juilliard Orchestra and London's Royal Academy Orchestra will join forces in a concert led by John Adams.

Tickets go on sale April 2.

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Pilates does a body good, as is evident when looking at super trim Miley Cyrus.

The 19-year-old starlet was snapped stepping out of the Windsor Pilates studio in Hollywood, Calif. on Wednesday wearing a black spandex ensemble.

NEW YORK -- If you didn't know much about Esperanza Spalding – and many people didn't before her surprise Grammy win last year – you might be inclined to think that her latest album, "Radio Music Society," is the jazz artist's attempt to crossover into the mainstream music world.

There certainly are several elements of the record that could lead to such a conclusion. It's her most accessible album, with R&B friendly grooves and production credits from rapper Q-Tip. It even features a cover of a Michael Jackson groove from "Off the Wall."

But if you know Esperanza like renowned jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette, a frequent collaborator and a guest on "Radio Music Society," you will know that the bassist, songwriter, singer and producer never strays far from her jazz roots, and is not one to alter her sound so it fits neatly into any format – and certainly doesn't do it for her most high-profile album to date.

"It has jazz in it, but it's beyond that. I think it sends the message, not only in jazz but in pop, that you can do more with it in terms of the level of music and the artistry and what they might call `taking risks,'" said DeJohnette. "Hopefully this `Radio Music Society' CD will inspire musicians, not only in jazz but in other genres, to open up and expand. ... I think we all have that same sensibility, that jazz music can go a lot of places and cover a lot of bases and still hold that."

It's what Spalding had in mind when she crafted the album.

"I actually think the music is served – not just my music but even the music that I consider myself a member of, a community member of jazz music – (it) can actually be served by all of the – what would you call it? Spotlight," she said in a recent interview.

"Radio Music Society" is Spalding's fourth album and represents another highlight in a career that has reached apex after apex. The Portland, Ore., multi-instrumentalist became the youngest instructor at the celebrated Berklee College when she was just 20 years old; she released her first album in 2006. Soon, she would be singing for the likes of President Barack Obama and playing with artists like Prince.

So she was certainly no stranger to success when she was nominated along with artists such as Justin Bieber and Drake for best new artist at the 2011 Grammys. But her win in the category, a first for a jazz act, sent shock waves through the music industry and catapulted Spalding into the pop sphere.

Soon, she wasn't just sought by publications like Jazziz, but also by People and Vogue. Earlier this year, the Academy Awards tapped her to sing "What a Wonderful World" for a tribute to departed film greats, giving the petite Spalding (and her massive signature Afro) yet another major platform and career pinnacle.

"When she had the Oscar shot this year as well, again it just showed her in a different light where she kind of embraced a standard tune and made it her own," said Mark Wexler, head of her record label, Heads Up International. "That certainly was just another shot in the arm for us but also for her and letting people know who she is."

Yet the 27-year-old insists that little has changed since her Grammy upset made her the music industry's It girl.

"Sorry it's not exciting," said Spalding a bit sheepishly when asked about her life these days.

"In the public arena, I suppose more people know about me. That's a big change, which means, you know, publications, or shows or radio shows, they're interested now in talking with me, which is great, because hopefully that means we'll get more gigs," she said of her band.

There's also a chance she might get airplay on stations outside of the jazz genre. BET took the unusual step of premiering the video for her first single, "Black Gold," about instilling black boys with pride in their African roots. That put her amid a rotation that usually includes acts like Rihanna and J. Cole.

While Spalding's excited about the possibilities of new audiences embracing her music, the bassist said the album wasn't a calculated ploy for airplay or fans. Instead, it grew out of her work on "Chamber Music Society," which fused jazz sensibilities with classical. As she was coming up with themes for that album, she was working on other music that she knew wouldn't fit and would work better as a companion project.

"I thought, `Now that would be a fun way and a very interesting way to sort of divvy up the music, if it was two halves of a piece,'" she said.

Among the jazz artists included on "Radio" are DeJohnette, saxophonist Joe Lovano, guitarist Lionel Loueke and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, the recent Grammy winner with whom Spalding recently performed as part of a group. The album was already in the works before Spalding's Grammy win, but really developed over the past year.

"Radio" was produced and arranged by Spalding, with a production assist from Q-Tip, and she wrote every track but the album's two cover songs. It also comes accompanied by 11 videos that flow seamlessly like a film, including images of her falling in love with another woman, a gay man and referencing the horrors of war.

"Esperanza is the one who dictates what she wants to do, and because we believe in her so much, that's exactly how it goes down. It's one of those things where here, creativity trumps everything else," said Wexler. "There's no doubt that we're looking at this album, `Radio Music Society,' as an opportunity to make as many people aware of this creative being as possible ... (but) that doesn't change her approach at all, and that's the thing that you have to admire."

It also means there's little chance of Spalding becoming yet another act whose artistry is diluted in the pursuit of pop stardom, because that's not what she's after.

"My name, my face – I am the representative of this work, this art that I am pursuing. So when I'm invited into these realms that typically aren't made available to jazz musicians, I'm there as just that, a representative of my work, and nothing more, and nothing less really," she said.

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Anti: against or preventing

Anti. There are many things I am against. Anti-discrimination. Anti-drug. Anti-oppression. Anti-poverty and sickness. And there are many I am Pro. I am pro-antiperspirant and I am pro-antibiotics and then there are many things I am just pro... pro-biotics (especially yogurt), pro-choice, pro-tein.

Why then are we obsessed in this culture by Anti-Aging? This very website, this morning, has something promoting it.

I am all for being against things. My favorite Steinbeck quote from East of Eden is:

And now the forces marshaled around the concept of the group have declared a war of extermination on the preciousness, the mind of man. By disparagement, by starvation, by repressions, forced direction, and the stunning hammerblows of conditioning, the free, roving mind is being pursued, roped, blunted, drugged. It is a sad suicidal course our species seems to have taken.

And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about. I can understand why a system built on a pattern must try to destroy the free mind, for that is one thing which can by inspection destroy such a system. Surely I can understand this, and I hate it and I will fight against it to preserve the one thing that separates us from the uncreative beasts. If the glory can be killed, we are lost.

I am appalled that the term we use to talk about aging is "anti". Aging is as natural as a babies softness and scent. Aging is human evolution in it's pure form. Death, taxes and aging.

Genetics are the key to aging, I now resemble both my grandmothers where when I was younger I didn't see them at all, and if I am now looking at myself with the eye of one who can look back at photos and movies and commercials and miss the good old days, that would be a wasted life. We are ALL going to age and soften and mellow and transition. All of us, if we are lucky enough to make it through this hard life into older adulthood.

This life, my only one, is not to be squandered by listening fakirs who are touting the newest and most scientific ways to stop or slow the aging process. I am not talking about being mindful and changing habits that are not healthy. Smoking, overeating, too much sun, not enough sleep or water, but the actual process of aging is inherent in our humanness and despite the billions of dollars that are spent from every end of the ideological and financial spectrum, ethnicity, environment, climate... it all ends up the same.

We are in the chain of our ancestors, like it or not. These are truths to be celebrated and in other countries they are. The term older and wiser is actually in play everywhere but here.

In America, we celebrate youth and all youth's indiscretions and follies. We cling to the shiny new thing, we stare at altered photographs and wonder why we don't measure up. If you stripped away all the airbrushing and injectables and stylists and talented make-up and hair teams and the thousands and thousands of dollars spent on any one image and you look at them in the mirror -- the deep dark truthful mirror -- you might just see yourself.

The drumbeat is getting louder as their hearing is getting weaker. Campaigns like Dove and Eileen Fisher are speaking to this.

Join the beat. Try to discourage your loved ones from falling prey to this system of dissatisfaction. Men, honor your women and girls. Tell them that they are beautiful and show them that you mean it. Pattern your behavior so that young men can learn about what are and are not appropriate ways to talk about women. There are plenty of things to be anti about as a family. Let's try to stop aging as being one of them.

Days before the opening of The Hunger Games, ticket pre-sales were so massive that more than 2,000 showings were sold out.

We seem to be looking at something more than a film -- a phenomenon.

We are definitely looking at the launch of a major actress -- Jennifer Lawrence.

If you've seen Winter's Bone, you know exactly who I mean: the actress who was 17-year-old Ree Dolly in what I have loudly argued was the best movie of 2010. Other reviewers agreed. As did Hollywood: Winter's Bone scored four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Audiences? Most of you had no chance to see it in theaters; this was a low-budget film, playing mostly in art houses in major cities.

Now Winter's Bone is a DVD, and, however it comes into your home, I'm hopeful that many more of you will be able to experience it. To buy the DVD from Amazon costs $10.23 -- less than a movie ticket in New York. Or you could buy a digital version from Amazon for a few dollars more and watch it now.

If I had a kid who was off to see Hunger Games -- and I do -- I'd suggest a viewing of Winter's Bone afterward. This is not to disparage Hunger Games -- the child and I have been reading the book together, and I'll be the custodial adult who escorts her to the movie. Really, it's to supplement Hunger Games.

As I understand it, Hunger Games imagines what life would be like if "reality" shows were played for higher stakes -- kids, in an arena, fighting to the death. (Yes, really, that's the set-up. And although I'm confident Jennifer Lawrence, as Katniss, doesn't die in the first reel, I'm quite sure my heart will be in my throat for the last hour.)

In a way, Hunger Games is a bookend to Winter's Bone -- the stakes feel as urgent to Rae Dolly as they do to Katniss. Here, she's a poor, rural girl whose family lives on the edge of financial disaster; her family is losing its home. Ree ought to be going to school and getting on with her life, but her father is gone and her mother is not competent and it's fallen to her to take care of the younger kids and, well, pretty much everything.

"Winter's Bone" is set in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, and that's not a pretty place in winter: cramped trailers, plastic stretched over the windows, old trucks in the yard. In American movies, we don't often see how badly some of us really live, but you will in Winter's Bone, and you feel the grittiness of these lives. All in the service of authenticity -- the director, Debra Granik, set a lot of scenes in the homes of the locals. Shot digitally, it's raw and unvarnished, like Hollywood never is.

The story is simple -- good thrillers usually are. Ree's father, Jessup Dolly, was busted a while back for cooking methamphetamine. To make bond, he put up his family's house and 300 acres of virgin timber. Now his court date is a week away -- and he's nowhere to be found. The local lawman comes out to warn Ree that the Dollys are in danger of losing their home.

Ree's mother has suffered a breakdown and so, as in the best movies, the main character is on a mission. Ree must walk a knife edge; she can't turn in her father, all she can do is ask for help in finding him. And the only people who can help her? His relatives. Some of them make the most addictive drug on the planet. All of them don't understand why she can't remember she's a Dolly -- "bred and buttered," as she says -- and just stop. As they say, "Talking just causes witnesses."

In its dramatic revelations, its dark surprises, and its no-nonsense portrayal of The Way We Are, the film feels almost like a Greek tragedy -- or an American Western. The trailer gives you a sense of the stakes and the seriousness:

There's a good reason this film won the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Films and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance -- every detail is right. Jennifer Lawrence, who plays Ree, comes from Kentucky. John Hawkes, last seen in Deadwood, is Jessup's brother; he's also from the region and looks so much like a member of The Band that it's eerie. Much of the cast is local and non-professional -- and, no offense, but they look like people who might make crank, who could scare the shit out of you at traffic lights with a sidelong glance, who would quiet you once with "I already told you to shut up with my mouth" and let their hands do the talking after that.

I've never seen a movie that's both painful to watch and impossible to turn away from. The scene in which the kids must deal with the fact that the meat for dinner is going to be squirrel. Ree's desperate attempt to convince an Army recruiter -- who's played by an Army recruiter -- to let her enlist for five years so she can collect the government's $40,000 bonus. And a climax so remarkable, so distant from anything you know as reality, that you'll never forget it.

It won't hurt a smart teenager -- and is there another kind? -- to see Winter's Bone. It won't hurt you either.

[Cross-posted from HeadButler.com]

When I used to think about downtown Los Angeles, visions of boarded up buildings, dilapidated cars parked on the sidewalk, quiet nights and empty streets filled my head.

Within my circle of friends -- those of us who live on the west side -- downtown was not a place one should ever find themselves during the day and definitely not at night. These negative visions soon changed -- and much to my pleasure and now my lifestyle.

One phone call in February turned this Brentwood gal around.

Sitting in my office at W Los Angeles-Westwood (just a block from the Geffen Theater), the caller ID read "Magical Elves." I glanced at my calendar and it was still February, not April 1. I guessed it a prank, so answered with some guarded attitude, "Chef's office. This is Dakota speaking."

"Hello Dakota, my name is Mrs. X, and I'm calling you about a TV show by Bravo called Top Chef."

"Oh, yeah? Cool!" I exclaimed while my eyes rolled.

"Are you free anytime soon to come to our office to do an on-camera interview?"

"Oh sure! That sounds like a great opportunity. Where is your office?" I asked, still waiting for someone to let me in on the prank.

"Are you available this Thursday? Our office is downtown on Spring Street," she continued.

At this point my heart pounded as I digested this conversation: TV. Bravo. Top Chef. Interview.

Reality set in, and I made an appointment. But wait! Did she just say downtown? A vision rolled like a camera as I saw myself getting robbed, mugged and lost on all those one-way streets. Yuck.

Well, since that appointment in February when I was lured to a creepy, yet somehow amazingly beautiful building downtown, my whole perspective has turned upside down and I have fallen in love with this incredible neighborhood, which I now call home.

Now I am happy to share my journey along the historic avenues of downtown Los Angeles, exploring the old eateries and the swank cutting edge restaurants lurking within these once-upon-a-time skyscrapers, all of 12 stories tall.

Cole's, located on East 6th Street downtown, is one of two L.A. eateries claiming to be the originator of the French Dip sandwich. They opened their doors in 1908 at the bottom of the Pacific Electric Building. This was once the railway that carried over 100,000 Angelinos daily into the downtown district.

From my Spring Street loft, I recently walked down to Cole's with my family. It looks old and smells old, but in a good and historic way. The host guided us along the chipped-tiled floors, and we wedged ourselves into oversized, soft red vinyl booths. Old black and white photos cover the walls, adding an extra bit of charm and history.

"I bet my great grandparents, that would be your great-great grandparents, might be found in one of these photos," my mom began. "Maybe even MY mother ate here," Mom continued her reminiscing moment. Yes, my L.A. roots run five generations back when my great-great grandfather was one of the early developers of Angelino Heights.

The photos are wonderful, and I truly felt like I had taken a step back into time with the wood and red tapestry walls -- not to mention the smell of freshly roasted beef wafting through the room. It comforted me.

The menu is short and sweet: five dips -- lamb, turkey, pastrami, pork and the popular USDA prime beef -- as well as some classic side dishes like cole slaw, garlic fries, bacon potato salad and the must have mac and two-cheese. I ordered the OG prime beef dip, adding Swiss cheese. I was not disappointed in the least.

The beef was flavorful and tender to the bite. The au jus was perfectly seasoned without tasting like a beef bouillon cube and was so clear I could have read the menu through it. Trust me when I say you are going to want to order another one to take home for tomorrow's lunch or dinner.

You must save room for dessert because the famous bourbon pecan pie is worth every definition of the word famous, and you cannot pass up the dark chocolate cream pie either. It was like the best Oreo cookie pumped up on some serious steroids. Rich, velvety, chocolate goodness with a salted cookie crumb crust, I scraped off every little bit from the plate. Oh, and I must mention that this feast is not going to break the bank... dips range from $6.83-10.85 and desserts are at $5.01. Affordable and worth every calorie.

While Cole's is a relevant relic of America's gastronomic past, The Spice Table, on the venerable Central Avenue in the Little Tokyo area of downtown, represents the new and cutting edge Los Angeles eateries. The Spice Table was opened in January 2011 by chef/owner Bryant Ng.

With my boyfriend and a few friends we recently shared a post birthday dinner at The Spice Table. It was a Saturday night so I had to book a late reservation to be certain that I could exit my own restaurant through the busy 7:30 rush. Like most chefs I try not to be the last reservation, because this is when the chef is tired, the cooks are ready to clean up and go home, and the servers grow crankier by the second.

So I was a little worried that we would be the only table of six and be on the bad end of service and food. When we walked in five minutes before our 10 p.m. reservation the place was packed. Not only did we have to wait a little longer than five minutes for our table there was still a waiting list of about 15-20 more tables with energized famished mouths to feed behind us. As the hostess guided us to our table, the restaurant had this marvelous energy and the smell of the live pit (behind the bar open to the public) where a cook grilled every kind of satay imaginable. It was sensory overload! The smell of sauces dripping onto the flames created a sweet caramelized scent that I would like to bottle up and sell. We were seated in the center of the main dining room. I checked out the other tables filled with hipsters and fashion-conscious dinners.

We started with a bottle of Albarino to kick-start a night of feasting. The server was knowledgeable about everything on the menu and everyone at the table pointed to me to do the ordering. I started with the Kaya toast, coconut jam on buttered toast with a sunny up egg and wonderfully spicy soy dipping sauce. This struck the right places -- sweet, salty, sour and the texture is spot on.

Sambal fried potatoes came next. Seriously though... who wouldn't like fried potatoes in any form? They have a hint of heat. Our table fell silent as we busily stuffed our faces with food and wine. We didn't even look up at each other. Prawns, lamb belly, pork and beef tripe satays follow. I cannot tell a lie -- I didn't explain beef tripe to the table to its fullest extent. I was on the edge of my seat watching my non-foodie (but learning) boyfriend take his first bite... He goes in for another... and another. Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! I about jumped out of my seat with pride and joy because he liked it! But how could he not? This delicious tripe was marinated in soy sauce, garlic and palm sugar, grilled with a little char on it and crispy on the edges.

Beef rendang followed -- short rib curried over rice with peanuts. Pow-pow-boom-boom-banging!

Now (drum roll)... braised pig's tail. This is no ordinary little piggy that can't build a house to save his life. This is a PIG and by the size of its tail, I'm guessing a big one! It came to the table coiled, and caramelized with a fantastic glaze. Another server set down a plate with crisp romaine lettuce, whole sprigs of mint, cilantro, basil and purple shiso and an innocent-looking and clearish sauce. Warning. Don't be fooled. This sauce will take you out back, beat the holy hell out of you and send you back to your mama begging for more!

I eagerly grabbed the plate of tail and vigorously started scraping the meat off the bone -- with a fork. It fell off that easy. I made lettuce wraps filled with the meat, and silence, again, filled our table. The only noise I heard was the "snap" my boyfriend makes with his mouth when he is eating something so good.

Dessert? Of course. We ordered the soft served ice cream and the Kaffir lime custard... both amazing, both worth ordering time and time again. Not to mention, they perfectly complimented the dinner as a whole.

So, now having embraced my newfound love of downtown Los Angeles, my foodie adventures continue as I have yet to discover and dine at all the amazing restaurants this gorgeous and historic area has to offer.

March 12 -- The Bachelor Finale Screening Party in New York City.

Who: Current Season 16 Bachelor contestants Jaclyn Swartz, Rachel Truehart, and Jenna Burke, former contestants from Season 15 Jackie Gordon and Ashley Spivey, Bachelorette's Ali Fedotowsky, Ashley Hebert and J.P. Rosenbaum, along with myself and Z100's on-air radio personalities Carolina Bermudez and Greg T.

What: Contestants from Season 16 of The Bachelor hosted a screening party of the show's highly anticipated season finale.

Where: The event took place at the Greenwich Village Country Club, NYC's hot nightlife venue above Bowlmor Lanes, featuring a nine-hole miniature golf course, air hockey, shuffleboard and billiards.

First of all, it was a cash bar! No real publicity event worth going to ever has a cash bar!

And then this...

Guests had to climb up five flights of stairs to gain access to the club! Literally five flights. At 45 I needed to pace myself as I was passing signs in the stairwell landings that read "Don't you wish you quit smoking?," and "Its much easier going down -- you're almost there," etc. Clever (not really), but any attempt at humor was lost as you finally reached the destination.

This climb resulted in some very sweaty ladies posing for pics as they entered and were immediately greeted by photogs on the red carpet. Sweaty, not "glowing." Another myth dispelled (you know, the old adage that 'horses sweat, women glow'?). Former Bachelorette Ali Fedotowski told me she got her invite 15 minutes before arriving. That explains the jeans and heart covered sweatshirt. Though, maybe that was the most appropriate outfit for the cardio workout!

To be fair, the venue is definitely a fun and unique place to hang out in NYC, but I'm guessing guests would like to know about the double secret antique crank operated elevator on the way up, instead of how I did, on the way down.

Once I cooled down a bit, I made my way past a bunch of diehard Bachelor fans where I loaded up my plate at the buffet table filled with veggies, hummus, sliders and chicken fingers for the mostly female crowd, some who won their tickets from the event sponsor, Z100. Fans enjoyed watching the Bachelor girls while they played miniature golf and spent most of the night posing for pics and simply enjoying their 15 minutes of fame. Well, their additional 15 minutes of fame.

I didn't stick around for the actual screening portion of the evening, since a little birdie there already told me that Courtney "won." Instead, I headed off to meet with Rachel Truehart's on-again/off-again post-Bachelor flame, celebrity chef Chris Nirschel, for some complimentary booze at the American Ballet Theatre's Culinary Pas de Deux gala at Pier 61, Chelsea Piers. Finally! Back to the way the booze at a real party should be! Complimentary!

Meanwhile, back at the adult rooftop funplex, fans around the country watched as Ben proposed to Courtney, not once but twice! The burning questions are, was it everything you wanted it to be? Are they still together? Where is it really going? At least Courtney thinks they are, sorta, kinda, re-engaged? It's no surprise these things fall apart in the end. Lots of fantasy dates, (one with reverse doggy style skiing in the Alps), and then back home, where real life kicks in.

To sum it up, Ben desperately needs a haircut, he likes sweaters, vests and just wants to be loved, while Lindzi (Call me if things don't work out) Cox has little or no self-esteem and Courtney's upper lip is pure gold.

Or maybe it's the alcohol talking!

It'd be easy to peg Reese Witherspoon as the kind of quirky actress whose blond good looks and slightly nerdy sense of humor make her a box office win for films like "Election" and "Legally Blonde." Which makes it all the easier to forget that Witherspoon's been at the game for more than two decades, since she got her breakout role as a wily young girl in the coming-of-age film "The Man in the Moon" at age 14, and that persona was hard-won.

An Oscar (for her role as June Carter in "Walk the Line"), a Hollywood Walk of Fame star and two children (with a third on the way!) later, Hollywood's Golden Girl has earned a toast on her 36th birthday.

Check out Reese Witherspoon in 1991's "The Man in the Moon":

Check out photos of Reese over the years:

The Hunger Games is finally in theaters and we're celebrating with a look back at Liam Hemsworth's cutest pics! Liam plays Gale, opposite Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss and Josh Hutcherson's Peeta, in what's already become a huge hit at the box office.