Oh The Drama! So I’ve been holding up putting up this picture of Lindsay Lohan smoking and lifting her dress to show her panty hosed crotch to the world. This was from the same night when she came to our party at The Plumm to “DJ”. (see my previous post and more pics from that night)

So Gen and Rachel took this picture, and in really high resolution. I talked to the people at US Weekly and they were interested in getting the picture… EXCEPT some freak stole a low res copy of it (from facebook) and totally sent it to the big celeb blogger Perez Hilton and Perez totally put it on his site as his own with his watermark and everything!!!

So being professional and everything, I sent over a nice email letter:

“Dear Perez and staff,

I was just informed that your website is posting a picture of Lindsay Lohan that was copyrighted and belong to our company. The picture can be seen here:

(link here)

This picture was taken on the night of March 15th at the club Plumm in New York, by two of our staff photographers. They are employed by our company… and we hold the copyright to the picture in question.

Someone must have taken the picture from our website and submitted it to you after cropping the picture and our watermark. Attached is a thumbnail version of the full picture, to show you that we are the owner of the original.

We respectfully request that you remove the picture from your website. We respect your work, and this has been an unfortunate incident I’m sure you didn’t intend to occur.

Please contact me if you have further questions at my office… or my cell…

Thank you,
…”

So what happened? Nothing!! Totally ignored my request. I sent the same email 3 times and nothing has been done! I mean I hear about Perez getting sued by paparazzi sites like X17 all the time cuz he just steals everyone’s photos with no regards to copyrights whatsoever. But this we are not a big corporation, this could meant a little bit of money for two girls that took the picture for me.

Total B.S. Of course now my lawyer has to send him a Cease and Desist letter, and I’m just posting the full picture on here now, cuz I have THE ORIGINAL and it’s bigger and in higher resolution than the one Perez has on his site. (click on the image above to enlarge). And my editor Carolyn just saw him this week in LA, he has blue hair now and he’s getting fatter…

Just make sure Perez don’t run into me at a club (or alley) in New York, lol. I might have to practice some moves from John Woo‘s Hong Kong gansta films.

Viacom (parent company of BET, CMT, Comedy Central, DreamWorks, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, VH1 and more) filed a $1 billion lawsuit earlier today in federal court seeking damages from YouTube and its new parent company Google, claiming “massive intentional copyright infringement.”  Apparently there are more than 160,000 clips that’s produced by one or more of Viacom’s subsidiaries that have been made available on YouTube and viewed 1.5 billion times without Viacom’s authorization.

Viacom claims Google/YouTube are stealing “value from artists” and that they are taking the “fruit of our efforts without permission and destroying enormous value in the process.”

It seems to me that it’s counter-productive for Viacom to sue a website that’s giving free exposure and generate buzz for its already aired shows and programs.  I mean it’s not like Viacom is selling any of these clips and programs, they ALREADY aired and Viacom ALREADY got paid from sponsors for them.  Having 2 minute clips from shows only make people want to go out and buy the full DVDs when they come out!

So there has to be other agendas.  Viacom has been holding negotiations with Google/YouTube recently, presumebly to cut a licensing deal, and it seems that GooTube doesn’t want to pay what Viacom wants so this must be part of the strong arm tactic to get GooTube to go along with the deal…  Interesting…

It’s NOT Hot, and it barely drove Google’s stock down like 1% lol!

The holiday is approaching and I know you are all pulling your hair out trying to figure out what to get me, lol. Here’s a list of my recommendations for you to give me or that special person that has made your year a little bit brighter this year…

10. Talladega Nights DVD

What more do I need to say? Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is an instant classic! Will Ferrell is the man! This is his best work yet, playing NASCAR stock car racing sensation Ricky Bobby, along with his loyal racing partner, childhood friend Cal Naughton Jr. (played by John C. Reilly). They are a fearless duo known as Shake ‘N Bake. (this has inspired many real life drunken-secret-handshakes amongst my friends and I at many clubs in New York lol)

Anyway, the DVD comes out on Dec 12, and you can buy it online at Amazon.com for $16.98

9. Canon PowerShot SD 40 (or SD 30) Digital Camera

Canon makes some of the best optics in consumer market pocket digital cameras. We switched to all Canon-based photo operations for our nightclub and events production company ClimaxVIP. I’ve been carrying around the super compact fashion model SD 20 for the last year and it’s amazing! The newest model in that line is the SD 40, with 7.1 Megapixel screen and a 2.4 Optical Zoom. A slightly older model is the SD 30, with pretty much the same specs except it’s a 5 Megapixel camera.

You can find the Canon SD 40 at PCNation.com for $312, and you can find the Canon SD 30 at PCNation.com for $249.90

8. Esteban Master Guitar Class with Black Cutaway Guitar

You all know I’m a sucker for late nigth informercials. I was gonna put The Magic Bullet food processor on my list orginally, lol but then I saw this…

Esteban is master of the guitar, considered a guitar “virtuoso” by some. And just like how George Foreman started selling his grills, Esteban started selling a series of DVDs that teaches you how to play a guitar. Included in this package is an Amp and a Steel String Accoustic/Electic All Wood Cutaway Guitar (it comes in Black or Tan, of course the Black looks hotter! Besides I already have a tan one autographed by Fallout Boy. I can’t really play on that one since I’d be smudging the signatures lol.)

The whole package is available online for $199.80 plus shipping, or 4 easy payments of $49.95 by calling 800-337-1445.

7. TUMI Signature Messenger in Caviar

TUMI is a world famous brand when it comes to luggage and travel bags for men and women. The Signature line is especially distinctive for it’s logo prints and attention to detail. This messenger bag comes in Caviar (black logo on black canvas), Eclipse (grey logo on black canvas), or Pantina (gold logo on tan canvas). The black on black looks the hottest, don’t you think? Some might say it’s too Metro-Sexual, I say a HOT bag is a HOT bag!

You can find the TUMI Signature Messenger on TUMI’s official website for $325

6. Nokia E70 Smart Phone

When shopping for a cellphone, I often find myself frustrate with having to choose between size/design and functionality. There are just so many hot looking phones out there, but they really don’t do everything I want it to do. And I’m not talking about surfing the web or watching movies on my phone, all I really want is to be able to text and email efficiently, which means I NEED A KEYBOARD!!

Nokia E70 is built with the business consumer in mind. It functions as a regular candy bar style phone, but it has an innovative keyboard that folds out. Over all it’s bulkier than most candy bar or folding phones out there, but Nokia really packed in A LOT of features, including some I might actually use like playing music, and running it as a VoIP phone over WiFi…

The phone is available online at Mobilebee for $374.99 by itself, or $234.99 with a 1 year contract with T-Mobile.

5. Marc by Marc Jacobs Textured Cotton Blazer

Marc by Marc Jacobs is a hot line! I’ve always been a fan of Marc Jacobs. We sat two seats over from him at fourth row at Mariah Carey’s concert at Madison Square Garden a few months ago. His menswear is classy, clean, yet edgy. He has a full line of Blazers, Hoodies, and Jackets out right now, and they are all so perfect for guys to wear on a night out on the town.

You can find the full line of Marc by Marc Jacobs jackets on Saks Fifth Avenue’s official website, with the Textured Cotton Blazer going for $358

4. Nintendo Wii (or Xbox 360 Platinum as backup)

You’ve all heard me raving about the Wii a few weeks earlier. It is simply the most innovative gaming console that came out this year. Actually it is probably the most innovative gaming system ever!! Although the awesome folks at Nintendo have sent me a unit already, my Games/Music Editor Josh and me have been fighting over it ever since lol. Since it technically belongs to my company Kiwibox, it kinda had to stay at at the office. I’ve been trying to buy one for myself for the last two weeks, but out of over 1 million units already sold, none has seem to reached any store I shop at! The only place in New York that has daily stock is the Nintendo World store at Rockefeller Center, and they only get very limited shipment each day so I’d had to wait in line like at 6 in the morning… lol and you ALL know that I don’t do lines… haha

So the backup plan is if I can’t get a Wii, I’d really want to have a Xbox 360 Platinum edition (with the hard drive and wireless controller). At least that you can get at pretty much every store.

The Nintendo Wii retails for $249 at most stores (if you are lucky enough to find one). The Xbox 360 Platinum edition retails for $399 at most stores.

3. Nabaztag WiFi Smart Rabbit

Now that the countdown for my holidday gift guide is down to the top 3, things are getting really exciting!! You are probably looking at this picture and saying “what the F is this thing?!” Nabaztag is Armenian for “Rabbit” (don’t feel bad, I don’t really know where Armenia is either…) This little thing sits on your desk and hooks into your Wi-Fi network and dishes up your info with entertaining lights, sounds, and the ears swivel!! It can performing tai chi, read your news, e-mail, RSS feeds, giving traffic and weather updates, playing music and Nabcasts, delivering an opinion on how your week has gone, even give you advice on what to do with your stock portfolio based on market data!!

The 2nd generation Nabaztag is nicknamed Tag, and it will be available on Dec 8th. In addition, it will have a built-in microphone so it can Listen and even Smell (I have no idea how it does that, but I want it!!) It will respond to your commands and send messages to your friends.

You can get preorder information on the 2nd generation Nabaztag rabbit on the official site, or order the original version on ThinkGeek for $149 now.

2. iPod Nano Red 8GB (or iPod Shuffle 1 GB just as Hot)

Apple’s 2nd Generation iPod Nano‘s are the bomb! They now have picture capability, and they are made with scratch-resistant aluminum cases, which alleviates one of the biggest complaints of the original Nano – how easy they get scratched up, espeically the black ones (and guess which one I have? lol)

Like the Mini, the new Nano’s come in a variety of bright colors from green to pink. Most versions are 4 GB, and the black one has an 8 GB option. And the latest is Apple’s (PRODUCT)RED version, which donates $10 from the proceeds to Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. Amazing product and even more amazing cause!

Also the new 2nd generation iPod Shuffle is HOT!! It’s 1 GB and it is TINY!! It comes with a built in clip and is perfect for use when you are in the gym.

The iPod Nano Red 8GB can be found at Apple’s online store for $249 with free shipping, and the iPod Shuffle can be found at Apple’s online store for $79 with free shipping.

1. Elini Jumbo Full Diamond Watch (or Elini Dove White Top Diamond Watch)

Oh come on! You know I have to list this!! lol.. So Mom?? How about it? hahaI was going to list a Landrover as my #1 pick this year, but I thought I’ll go for something more practical… lol Elini is really a very under-appreicated brand. I mean sure if you are a wannabe rapper, you might as well spend a few thousand more to get a basic model Jacobs & Co. watch, or if you really really know about watches, you’d drop $10G on a Breitling or Rolex.But if you have only say $2,000 – $5,000 to spend, and you need it to match your bling’ed out grillz, then this is probably one of the best Diamond encrusted watch makers out there. I’ve had a couple other brand diamond watches and the quality of the diamond and the timepiece of Elini is simply the best for this price range.

You can find authorized dealers for Elini on its official website (meeting face to face with an old guy in 3 piece suits is the right way to buy an expensice watch), or you can check out the online listing from one of its dealers About Time. The Jumbo Full Diamond goes for $5999.00, and the Dove White Top Diamond goes for $3999.00. Of course, never pay full retail price on a luxury watch, you can probably talk the dealer down at least $1000 – $2000 on these watches.

And I will love you forever, whoever gives me this for Christmas… lol

Playstation 3 is probably the most hyped new game console, promising next generation graphics, internet and wireless capabilities, Blue Ray technology, blah blah. Since the Playstation 2 sold over 200 million units worldwide, you can imagine the demand all the hype has generated. But Sony has had a really rough year, and all the production and technical problems all lead to an EXTREMELY limited supply of available PS3 systems. Sony promised 400,000 units in the US by today for the launch, and 1 million units by year end, but most analyst are estimating only 200,000 units are available today. The Sony flagship store in New York had only 500 units available at midnight as they opened to thousands of nerds who have been camping outside for as long as since Sunday!! Imagine thousands of un-bathed nerds stinking up Madison Avenue huddling under make-shift canopies to stay out of the rain and playing Dungeons and Dragons card games to pass the time for the last 5 days! Oh my!

Around the country and around the world it’s even worse. In Conneticut armed robber shot a man waiting outside a store in line to get a PS3 when he refused to hand over the money. In California police shut down a store after a man ran into a pole knocking himself out while racing against 50 other guys to be the first to get in the store. In Japan most of the early purchasers turned out to be poor homeless Chinese men hired by Japanese businessmen to wait in line and purchase the unit so they can resale them online later for a profit. In Europe the PS3 never even hit the shelves, the entire launch was pulled and delayed until at least March 2007!

As wonderful as the PS3 system may be (I would not know for sure since Sony apparently forgot to send me a preview unit – Listen Sony, take some ques from Nintendo in that department lol), at a hefty $500 price tag for the basic version and as much as $600 for the premium version, it is just a hard sell against Xbox 360′s slashed down $300 price, and Nintend Wii’s $250 price tag with 2-3 million launch units availble and anticipated to be sold out when it hits store shelves tomorrow. As much as I love the Playstation platform and probably will get one soon anyway, the launch was a disaster, and totally NOT HOT!

Nintendo’s next generation console named “Wii” has been the hottest mpst anticipated game system this year. It’s unique controller design basically blows all competitors away. You almost can’t really compare it to Xbox 360 or PS3, they are not really on the same level, this is innovation, leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else. The controllers are motion sensitive and you can use it as anything from a virtual tennis racquet/baseball bat/golf club, to a magic wand, to a gun, to a sword, or even a symphony conductor’s stick! It’s amazing, totally freeing you from the traditional arrow keys and button layout.

It has caused such a stir at the E3 convention earlier this year, there was a 9 hour line of journalists and industry people to just get a glimpse of it! (lol of course we get to cut the line, velvet ropes up, VIP style, haha thanks Nintendo!) And since it’s such a hot item, I for once didn’t even bother bringing it up to our contacts at Nintendo to send us a review unit. Since it’s already sold out in pre-orders at pretty much every store across the country. Its MSRP is $249, but expected to fetch $500 even $1000 on ebay close to Christmas for the poor souls that couldn’t get their hands on one in time.

But as I walk into my office this afternoon (lol long night last night), there it was, a big box from Nintendo!! Suprise!! It’s a Wii with the Sports game pack, plus the new Zelda: Twilight Princess game and the Exite Truck game!! Oh my! My girl at Nintendo loves me more than my own mother!! lol.

My music/games editor of Kiwibox.com Josh gets to take it home this week and play with it and review it, and I’ll get it next week. The hottest part is it’s not even available in stores until Nov 19th!! We have it 5 days before it goes public!! How sweet is that!! haha I’m a dork, but I’m gonna be the coolest kid on the block this Xmas!

I’m a bit of an Informercial Junkie… I come home from the clubs, I turn on TV, and daze and marvel at all the crazy inventions they have on all the informercials late night. My favorite is the Rotissarie – you SET IT AND FORGET IT!! haha you know what I’m talking about, don’t pretend! I’ve bought everything from the Foreman Grill to the 5 Star Knife set. The latest is the GT Express 101 (very odd name, sounds like some freshmen required course at college lol), it’s basically like a Foreman Grill, but has two half-moon shaped cooking/baking wells instead of the grill surface – Oh the possibilities!! haha First they dropped the price to $19.95 per payment, then they knock out one full payment, so it’s only 2 Easy Payments of $19.95, then they offered a 2nd one for FREE if I call within the next 15 minutes!! hahaha, I know all the sales pitch gimmicks. At that point, I couldn’t AFFORD NOT TO GET IT!! LoL! So I gave one to my best friend Amy, and the first thing we made on it is this receipe called “Stuffed Soup”!! You take a can of chicken corn chowder and pour it over stuffing and basically baked it in the GT Express 101 for like 5 minutes. Let me tell you, it’s AMAZING!! Mmmm… It’s on my hot list! Now I just have to try out the 100 other receipes that came with it… Looks I’ll be having a lot of carbs, watch out!!

So T-mobile has a new promotion called “My Faves”, basically you pick the Top 5 people you call the most, FROM ANY NETWORK, even if they are not on T-mobile, and all calls to them are FREE! They even made a really funny commercial for it! Click Here to Watch this video on YouTube! I posted it here so check it out! It’s hilarious, a guy finds his girlfriend’s phone number in his buddy’s “My 5″, and then the phone rings and the ringtone is “Secret Lover”. lol, maybe it’s just me, I find it really funny, cuz our of the top 5 people I talked to the most, there’s DEFINITELY a couple other guys’ girlfriends, haha (btw other guys’ girlfriends should make the hot list one day lol)

This is nothing new, it’s been out for years, but I just got these new iPod Nano covers. It’s the iSkin Duo for iPod Nano in Phantom Rave theme, basically it’s a set of 2 skins layering on top of each other, for added protection, anti-static and color cordination. You can use just the inner skin if you want, or use both so you can attach the belt clip to the outer skin. It’s practically rated the best iPod skin out there. I got it for like $29 at some Apple accessory store in Chelsea, but you can probably get them for like $20 online. It’s the best, and the Phantom Rave color scheme basically is black on Red, kinda a rip-off of the U2 limited addition iPod from back in the day, but who cares! It’s Hot and I’m carrying it! Actually Amy decided to be a copy cat and got the same exact one so we have matching iPod cover now, lol.

The new Nokia 8801, hands down the hottest phone out right now. Amy and I stopped by my friend Vic’s store S Wireless on 23rd bt 7/8 ave on Saturday afternoon, and I asked Vic if he has any hot new phone that I can waste my money on, and he nodded, went to the back room, and came out with a huge black box about the size of my Yale Shakespeare complilation, sealed with a Chrome bracket. It’s sick, and that’s just the box. He opened it up and there it is, the hottest chrome slider phone I’ve ever seen. It’s heavy too, feels solid in your hands, cuz it’s made out of steel and chrome, not your everyday plastic bullshit. Vic tells me that he just sold one last week for over a thousand dollars, and the guy came back, wanting to buy an extra chrome charger (see top picture) for $150!! It’s nuts I thought! But when we plug in the charger and see the base lit up in a neon blue glow, all we can say is “wooah”… Of course, both Amy and I wanted one, but Vic only has one since it’s on limited release! In the end Amy won and got it, I’m waiting on the back order, and the Nokia 8801 makes my Hot-Ness list.