Written By Alyssa Morris

Occasionally, stores emerge with items that seem incongruous to one another- items that are strange bedfellows in a way. However, with these odd pairings, you can find a larger niche audience. Doing this exclusively at the brick and mortar level can prove to be a bit of a risk. In contrast, including an online angle with this strange mass appeal can prove mutually beneficial to both consumer and merchandiser. Shop-Suey Boutique offers that fashion sweet and sour- something for everyone.

When the main criterion for someone’s fashion search is celebrity connoisseurship, items of interest may vary indefinitely. In new arrivals section of their website at this moment, Shop-Suey offers everything from bejeweled trucker hats to patent leather oversized tote bags- something for Rock of Love 2 fans and Posh Beckham zealots alike.

A look at a variety of popular fashion searches offers proof of the sort of mass appeal that Shop-Suey yields. Here are just a few of the common search phrases associated with women’s fashions and accessories (according to Word Tracker):

• Designer look alike rings (6 searches/day)
• Four leaf clover jewelry (12 searches/day)
• Designer inspired jewelry (118 searches/day)
• Replica designer sunglasses (22 searches/day)
• Fashion headbands (93 searches/day)
• Designer replica handbags (78 searches/day)

These items searches range from faux vintage to holiday party statements, but they share two important attributes: popular demand and availability at Shop-Suey Boutique.

Due to the nature of the industry, Shop-Suey Boutique goes one step further in offering unique merchandise that appeals on a large scale- their site offers instant gratification. When shoppers find an exact replica of celebrity fashion iconography or the perfect finishing touch for their New Year’s Eve outfit, they are likely to stop searching as soon as they locate an item of quality and value that meets their demands. Essentially, Shop-Suey Boutique has the attention of the buyer because they create a product of fun to support flings with in the moment style.

If you were on the internet, or just were awake AT ALL during 2007, you got to see the trainwrecks that are celebrities unfold before your eyes. Well there was a whole slew of trainwrecks that didn’t get covered in gossip columns and news websites and Yahoo! Tech has exposed them to us all. They released their list of the “Top 10 Tech Train Wrecks of 2007″ and we get to breath a sigh of relief because “train wreck” and “Britney” were not in the same headline, and we also get some useful information.

Here is my stripped down version of their list:

Xbox 360: The 360 hardware was glitchy, prone to overheating, and susceptible to critical hardware failure.

BlackBerry: The service got so overloaded in April that it ground to a hault and caused users to be frantic and peeved at email delay.

Skype: The VoIP provider became an instant messenger as well and struck down the service in August for two days when they ran into a “software issue.”

AppleTV: Didn’t hear about it? No big surprise. Read the rest of this entry »

It seems HBO’s The Sopranos turned out a large number of fans for its finale.
Fox estimates The Sopranos final episode captured the attention of an estimated 12 million viewers, despite this year’s viewership numbers being near an all-time low.

With this closing of one chapter, many assumed there would be the opening of another. There has been much talk and rumors of a Sopranos movie in the works. Much to the chargrin of the fans, the Sopranos movie rumors were quashed today.

All this Italian mafia obsession and hubbub inspired me to pick up a book about famous criminals this weekend while at Barnes & Noble. I read about how
Al Capone would have literally gotten away with murder if he would not have been caught for income tax evasion. If only he would have had a good federal criminal defense lawyer.

Why does America have this obsession with ruthless killers and the Mob? I have no idea. I wasn’t a huge Sopranos fan, but bring on Scarface and The Godfather’s trilogy.

Unless you’ve been living in a morgue, you know Grindhouse is coming. It’s a sloppy stew of zombies, psycho stuntmen, short shorts, amputations, crazy babysitters, Nazi werewolves, killer pilgrims, and tiny motorcycles.

Grindhouse is essentially a double feature. The first half, directed by Robert Rodriguez, is a zombie-filled splatter fest called Planet Terror. Quentin Tarantino directs the second half, Death Proof. It’s a thriller about a deranged killer who goes by the name of Stuntman Mike. The real treat happens between the two films when a series of fake movie trailers unspools: Werewolf Women of the S.S., Machete, and a slasher film set during Thanksgiving Day 1985.

The trailer trumpets Grindhouse as “an adrenaline-fueled rollercoaster” with “uncensored sexuality and hardcore thrills.” I’m so there. Probably twice. Early word is they’re having a hard time getting the MPAA to sign off on an R rating. Even better.

If you just can’t wait for the April 6th release date, you’re in luck. Head over to the Grindhouse website where you can create your very own poster for the film. It’s totally customizable and the possibilities are endless.

You can see my masterpiece below. Don’t forget to check out the trailer.

The Darjeeling Limited is the forthcoming film by Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou). It stars Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, and Owen Wilson and was written by Anderson, Schwartzman, and Roman Coppola. Not much is known about the project, but Wikipedia has a brief plot description:

The story is about three brothers (played by Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman) taking a train (The Darjeeling Ltd) ride through India in search of a rare albino tiger that was believed to be the reincarnation of their recently deceased father.

Angelica Huston plays their mother who lives in a convent in India. The brothers intend the trip as a spiritual journey, a search for themselves, and a chance to bond with each other. But things go wrong - they get kicked off the train, at which point they begin to learn much more about themselves and the country than they ever expected to.

The first image from the set of The Darjeeling Limited has hit the internet and it raises more questions than it answers. Mainly: What’s that gadget? What happened to his face? What’s in the box? Look for these and other important questions to be answered later this year.

Meanwhile, if you’re feeling nostalgic and want to go back to where the whole Wes Anderson thing started, click here.It’s a crappy version of the original Bottle Rocket short film that launched Anderson, Luke Wilson, and Owen Wilson.

Ex-Playboy Bunny, recent E! reality TV star actress, Anna Nicole Smith collapsed at the Seminole Hard Rock Cafe & Casino in Hollywood, Florida today (Thursday) around 2pm ET. She was transferred to Memorial Regional Hospital after being found unresponsive in her hotel room.

Her lawyer and husband Howard K. Stern has confirmed to MSNBC that Anna Nicole Smith died.

There has been no confirmation on exact time of death.

She has had a traumatic/tragic year with the sudden loss of her 21-year old son. No doubt this may have lead to more drug and alcohol abuse that usual over this last year. Nonetheless this is quite sad for her family and fans.

My brother once served her future husband and current attorney at the time, at the hunting lodge/resort restaurant he works at in Glen Rose, Texas. She wasn’t with him that particular night.

Topping the headlines this week, Lance Bass from late 90s boy band Nsync announces he is gay citing not “coming out of the closet” earlier for fear of the band losing popularity. After hearing this news announcement on the radio during my lunch break, I came back to see what resources Google had to fill me in on the details.

CNN Keeps Headlines Nsync

I found something peculiar, which I hadn’t seen before. Because Google provides news snipets from Google News in the normal search engine results pages (similar to Froogle product search teases), news sources are now fighting for attention at the top of the results using other means. CNN bought a pay-per-click ad for this story, which is quiet amusing. Because AdWords forces concise titles or headlines (25 chracters max), CNN was reduced to four words to capture the attention of curious celebrity news seekers– “Lance Bass: I’m Gay.” I highlighted the ad in pink.

Actual screenshot taken today.

As if we didn’t have enough frivolous lawsuits flying around in this country, one Allen Heckard has decided to step up and become the most pathetic panhandler in history. He is suing Michael Jordan and Phil Knight of Nike for $832 million on the grounds that he is constantly mistaken for the basketball superstar and that it’s ruined the last 15 years and consequently the rest of his life. As if this weren’t fundamentally stupid and asinine, he’s decided that his case is so strong that he’s representing himself, typos and all. You can read the suit as it was filed (115KB PDF).

In the Fox link, you can see comparison photos, and jokes aside, they’re two bald black guys and that’s about it…I sure hope this doesn’t turn into a class action lawsuit!! Oh and if you’re wondering where in the hell he got this dollar amount he cleared that right up:

“Well, you figure with my age and you multiply that times seven and then I turn around and I figure that’s what it all boils down to.”

Regardless of his lack of english or math education, he definitely deserves this money, if not for defamation then simply because he is the oldest human alive, weighing in at 59 million years. Hopefully Jordan has a sense of humor about this. If I were him I’d sign a basketball and send it to Mr. Heckard: “Dear Allen, You are the most pathetic fan I’ve ever had. Michael Jordan.”

According to MSN, Connie Chung’s serenade to Maury Povich (her husband and ex-co host) is the most popular video clip being downloaded on the web. In the last 24 hours, the phrase “Chung Sings” has received approximately 1600 searches on Google. After the Saturday show finale aired, by the following Tuesday more than 413,000 people had viewed the clip on YouTube. This is twice the number of viewers of the original show

Chung sang to her husband on Saturday’s finale of MSNBC’s Weekends with Maury & Connie. Chung sang a version of Bob Hope’s old theme song Thanks for the Memories.

The clip features Connie Chung singing in a lounge style complete with candles and a grand piano in a Marilyn Monroe-like dress.

I guess Chung is “standing by her man” even after the $100 sexual harassment suit filed on Povich back in April.

Jossip Blog sarcastically uses Chung’s singing performance as an opportunity to justify MSNBC’s managerial decisions.

“It’s programming like this that confuses us even more on how former MSNBC president Rick Kaplan was let go.”

AlterNet Blog gives Connie some credit

“When a person is able to make a complete a** of themselves I can’t help but have a little respect.”

Now I see why they call videos like this viral. Cough..cough.

Resources

http://www.andpop.com/article/6224

Britney Spears’ new nanny’s name is now public knowledge. Spears hired 28-year-old Perry Taylor, a former lacrosse coach, to look after her and K-Fed’s infant son Sean Preston. Spears fired her former nanny after Sean Preston fell from his high chair and hit his head earlier this year.

The new nanny choice has regained popular interest and search volume in the male form of a paid chidcare taker, a manny.
According to TheManny.com’s faq section, a manny, simply put, is “a man who works as a nanny.”

Another interesting manny-related question, when did people start using the expression “manny?”

“Use of this portmanteau word by domestic employment agencies – and consequently the press – dates back to at least 1986. It’s unclear who coined the term, which can now be read and heard internationally. “

The Yarn & Garden blog mentioned that their was a poll on CNN’s website asking people if they would hire a manny. She was pro-manny.

“I voted yes, but was surprised to see I was in the minority (only 43% said they would.) I’m not sure why, but people don’t trust men around their kids I guess.”

What do you think?

Resources
www.TheManny.com
www.SfGate.com