Did we mention that Natalie Portman gets *tastefully* naked? Grab the free short here. [Hat tip, the Vulture]

On his dinner in Harlem with Al Sharpton: [via Gothamist]

I couldn’t get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia’s restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it’s run by blacks, primarily black patronship.
…There wasn’t one person in Sylvia’s who was screaming, ‘M-Fer, I want more iced tea.’ …You know, I mean, everybody was — it was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun. And there wasn’t any kind of craziness at all.

Maybe he’d have felt more at home if they’d served falafel. It probably goes without saying, but what a fucking idiot. [Thanks Noah]

Our pal Kevin, formerly of catch.com fame, has finally traded in his suit (finely tailored by TJ Maxx) for a fresh pair of Dora the Explorer PJs and returned to blogging. Be sure to add rumproast.com to your blogroll. After all, if it weren’t for Kevin, we’d have never heard of Let’s Eppelin:

Rumproast also has a link to a great Bo Diddly record from his “funky period.” As Kevin says “I didn’t even know Bo went through a funk period, which I guess means I don’t know diddley about him.”

Our friends at Cakehead have the story.

Consistently one of the best blogs on the intertube highway, WFMU wins our love again with an ode to September, in the form of 38 downloads of Kurt Weill’s “September Song.”

September Song was written by Weill (with lyrics by Maxwell Anderson) for the 1938 musical Knickerbocker Holiday. Walter Huston (father of John, Granddad of Angelica) introduced the song when he played Pieter Stuyvesant in the original production, and scored a hit with the 78 version of it while the show was still in its first run. In the play, the peg-legged Stuyvesant sings the song to Tina, the lovely Town Councilor’s daughter, in the hope of rushing her into marriage against her better judgment. Peg-leg Pete uses the shortening days of September and the onset of winter to convince Tina to give herself to him and not to his rival, Brom Broeck. (Tina marries Broek in the end.)
Another irony of the song that’s been lost in it’s many years as an American pop standard is that it’s sung by a villain. In Knickerbocker Holiday, Stuyvesant is a stand-in for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who the pacifist/anarchist Maxwell Anderson saw as an exponent of American fascism.

Artists include James Brown, Django Reinhardt, Chet Baker, and countless others. Grab ‘em all here.

We’re just kinda speechless. Hopefully this isn’t what’s been causing her anxiety (if it’s even Meg at all).

From The Vulture

Mocked mercilessly at Cannes over a year ago, re-cut, and finally picked up for distribution this year, Richard Kelly’s follow-up to Donnie Darko boasts one of the all-time great WTF casts in the history of cinema. Sarah Michelle Gellar, The Rock, and Sean William Scott claim pride of place in this totally whacked-out trailer, but we also get glimpses of Miranda Richardson, Amy Poehler, Mandy Moore, a heavily made-up Wallace Freaking Shawn, the Fug Girls’ patron saint Bai Ling, and Justin Timberlake with a gross scar on his face.

This disturbing footage shows a University of Florida student being tasered by cops at a John Kerry forum. Meanwhile, Kerry reminds us why America thinks he’s a pussy as he stands by and does nothing.

All the info is here.

Anybody been?
From Gothamist [Thanks Jeff]

The first bowling alley to open in Brooklyn in (we can’t even believe this) nearly 50 years is about to open up! The Gutter is new… but the feeling old. Brought to you by two of the same people who brought you Barcade, expect a similar vibe. There’s a Schlitz globe spinning over the shoe counter, vintage bowling items adorning the bar, old lamps throughout, and even some TVs with rabbit ear antennas.
You won’t find flashy flatscreens displaying your scores and advertisements hanging above the lanes. The scoring machines are straight out of the past, and the only advertisements are on the pin clearing machine. Those ads are likely for establishments in a town far far away, however — as the equipment was all purchased from an old bowling alley in the midwest.
Some more fine details: the bar overlooks the lanes, there are no league nights, the bathrooms are unisex, and the bar is stocked with good beer (you can get pitchers too) and spirits. Located at 200 North 14th Street just west of Berry in Greenpoint, it’s near Automotive High School — but you can rest assured this is a 21+ establishment.
Regular Hours: Monday-Thursday 4pm to 4am; Friday-Sunday 12 noon to 4am.
How much money you’ll need: $4 shoes, $6 games Monday-Thursday, $7 Friday-Sunday
For groups of 4 or more: $48 per hour during the week and $56 per hour on weekends
Cash only for bowling, but credit cards accepted at the bar for alcohol