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Charlie Chaplin once said, "Life is a tragedy when seen in close up, but a comedy in long shot." This is evident in a variety of plays, that usually have some comedic aspects, but all mirror a tragedy in their actual meaning. In the plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Lysistrata, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, comedy is the main purpose of the play, with the playwrights putting comedic scenes and situations in the plays. However, in all of these plays, the comedy overlaps the true dramatic elements in the play that show tragedy in a lighter way. The way the playwrights construct their plays is evident of the true comedic nature of these plays, and it is this comedy that makes each play as humorous as they are. Comedy is a genre of theater that can be evident among a dramatic play, and in these three plays, the playwrights are able to discuss a truly dramatic situation in a comedic tone, by masking the characters words with comedic characters, events, or verse.

In A Midsummer Night's Dream, written by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare is able to create a comedic environment in a dramatic play. The play consists of a tragic story of life and romance between a group of lovers. Although this topic can be seen as a dramatic love story, Shakespeare is able to make this play comedic by his usage of characters and plot sequencing. He does this by having characters such as Puck and other fairies that provide comic relief throughout the acts. He uses their actions to give the play a comedic aspect and to take away from the drama between the lovers. One instance of this is seen, when one lover, Nick Bottom, has been blessed with the face of an ass. His suitor, Titania, love-stricken by a magic potion, fails to see the disgust of this man, and praises him continuously on his beauty. She goes so far as to say "Thou art as wise as thou art beautiful" (3.1.142), which clearly exemplifies the irony Shakespeare brings out in this scene. He is able to take a dramatic situation, the idea of love between these two heartbroken souls, and create it into a comedic scene. Shakespeare's play, although viewed as a drama by many critics, is known as one of the few comedies of his classic works, and his ability to make it a comedy with his excellent use of satire and prose is evident throughout.

In another play, Lysistrata, written by Aristophanes in 410 B.C., Aristophanes is able to take a dramatic issue of the Peloponnesian war, and make it into a fun loving, comedic play. This play, like many other comedic plays, uses sexual implications to create humor. The entire premise of this play can be seen as a true comedy, but the underlying meaning is that of a true tragedy. Aristophanes uses sexual humor to get past the dramatic events that occur. For example, at one point the ever-persistent Myrrhine continues to delay sex until she is assured that there will be peace and no more war. Aristophanes gets past the talk of war and peace, by the fast-paced banter between Myrrhine and Cinesias, and the especially crude comment by Cinesias after Myrrhine says get up, "I've got this up!" (OL). It is commentary like this that makes this play a humorous one, and diverts the attention from the horrific war to the silliness in the plot of the play. Aristophanes uses commentary in his play to develop a strong comedic environment, and his words bring about shock and quiet laughter that allow the audience to see the humor in this play.

In the play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, written by Edward Albee, Albee is able to use comedy in a darker way than other plays. In this play, Albee uses constant conversation and repeated obscenities to put humor into the tragic situation of the depression of the couples' marriage. Rather than having funny situations occur, Albee employs the use comedic banter to create comedy. For example, the speech between Martha and George, although really signifying the decline of their marriage, is full of witty jokes and sarcasm that when initially heard by the audience, forces them to laugh rather than to mull over the cruelty of their words. At one instance, Martha continues to berate her husband, and she even says, "You see, George didn't have much...In fact he was sort of a, a FLOP!" (84). This shows Martha's lack of passion for her husband, but Albee is able to mask the darkness in their marriage with crude humor to make the audience laugh at the situation rather than to speculate over its obscenity. In this play, the comedy truly overlaps the dark side of the play, and at first glance, audiences may see it as a comedy rather than a tragedy.

Often times, tragedy is the driving force of many plays, and it brings action and adventure to every play. In some plays, however, the authors are able to bring comedy into the play, to lighten the mood and create and more lighthearted atmosphere for their audience. In the play A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare delivers a tragic drama in a comedic fashion, by his use of outrageous characters and ironic situations. In Lysistrata, Aristophanes hides the issue of war in a comedic play wrapped around sex and romance. In Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Albee is able to tell the tale of a marriage falling apart in high society, by his use of comedic speech and banter. All of these playwrights tell a tragic story in their plays, not by the use of heartbreak, but by laughter, and it is this method that makes these plays as ingenious and popular as they are. The right kind of comedy is always popular with audiences, and as they say, laughter is the best medicine.

*The Visible Measures Top 10 Webisodes Chart focuses on digital studio-driven Web series that appear on InternetInternet video-sharing destinations. Each Web series is measured on a True Reachô basis, which includes viewership of both studio-syndicated video clips and viewer-driven social video placements. The data are compiled using the Visible Measures Viral Reach Database, a constantly growing repository of analytic data on more than 100 million Internet videos across more than 150 video-sharing destinations.

Note: This chart does not include vloggers, interviews, how-to series, news shows, or product review shows. View-count results are incremental by month.

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The Top 5: Reigning Champions

The top five in this month’s chart are exactly the same as they were in March: The Annoying Orange, Key of Awesome, Happy Tree Friends and Smosh. The ranking hasn’t changed, and the numbers are very close to what they were before, though Key of Awesome did grow by about 10%. In the world of web series, April was mostly a month for the status quo.

We’ll note that The Annoying Orange and Key of Awesome are both relative newcomers to the chart, but have made a real splash in recent months. Happy Tree Friends‘ formula of childish cartoon veneer and grown-up, violent content is continuing to work.

Fred used to be the consistent champion, but his video releases have become less frequent, presumably because he’s working on a career in cable TV now. His decline was significant over the past few months, but he seems to have stabilized somewhat in April.

The Station Grows 76%

The Station is a regular on the charts, but it saw this month’s biggest gains when its view count increased by 76% over last month. The series hung around 4.3 million views in January and February, but dipped down to 3.6 million in March. It leaped back up to the #5 spot with 6.3 million views in April thanks to an increased number of new releases, including the male fantasy-gone wrong sketch segment “WET NIGHTMARES,” which amassed a bit more than 500,000 views on YouTubeYouTube.

Male and Female

Visible Measures pulled some demographic data to determine which shows appeal more to men and which appeal more to women. The results shouldn’t surprise you at all. Both ladies and gents are watching web TV, and they’re sometimes watching the same shows. But as groups, they do have different preferences.

Harry Potterharry potter-themed Potter Puppet Pals is the most popular series with female viewers in terms of percentage of total viewership, while action-oriented video game series Red vs. Blue has the largest percentage of male viewers.

image courtesy of iStockphotoiStockphoto, 3D Stock

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As had been expected, Comedy Central’s The Sarah Silverman Program has been canceled after three seasons, Deadline is reporting, in spite of a Twitter campaign launched to save the show. The future of the series looked to be in jeopardy when the network moved the series from 10:30 p.m. to midnight midway through the third season, which ended last month. Hopefully Silverman — who scored a lead actress Emmy nomination for the show last year — will be able to find solace in the buzz from her just-released book, her upcoming movie role, and, of course, Matt Damon.

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JULIAN ROUAS PARIS

Warning to hecklers: Practice your infantile insults and trashy comedian bashing at a Joe DeRosa comedy show strictly at your own risk. The comedian has little patience for those unappealing, noisy folk whose mission is to upstage comics, as they practice their craft. This was one of many fun subjects we tackled during our SKYPE chat. Most importantly of all, DeRosa wants to get the word out about his engaging new comedy show, "indigNATION" at Comix Comedy Club in NYC. The event debuted on July 14th, with a second show next month on August 11th.

DeRosa's entertainment resume is an extensive one. He's appeared on Last Call With Carson Daly, Red Eye on Fox News, Showbiz Tonight on HLN, and in his own wonderfully hilarious Comedy Central Special. Last month, Joe appeared on my Blog Talk Radio show Deep Space to talk about Star Trek, and he was generous enough to set aside more time for me to chat once again.

How did the first (indigNATION) show go?

It went very well. It was the first time out, so we'll slowly build more of an audience, but we had a very nice sized audience. We were very excited about it, the audience was great, the comics were tremendous, everybody killed. The club was amazingly supportive and excited and enthused to develop this idea into the biggest thing we can develop it into. A lot of fellow comics came out to the show to support me. I was touched, it was a very nice experience.

Your earliest comic influences or memories? Who made a big comedic impact on you at an early age?

Earliest I can remember is Bill Cosby himself. That's the earliest memory of watching stand-up that I have. I remember sitting in my living room on the floor watching with my parents and I remember all of us laughing equally hard. When I became a comedian, I looked back on that and started to learn about how effective is your comedy, how accessible is it, you know - blah blah blah - then when you get into those factors, you think, well I want it to be accessible, but I don't want it to be broad, those are two different things.

When I look back, I think, How could this guy write such brilliant material that has such a wide span? That's so hard to do. For it to be so quality and so accessible at the same time. You usually don't see that. It's usually either very smart and it caters to a very particular audience, or it's really dumb and everyone seems to like it... To be smart and to have a wide reach, that's amazing, and it's of course why Bill Cosby is Bill Cosby.

The most crucial one was George Carlin's "Doing It Again" - when I saw that, it was a really profound moment for me in comedy fandom. That was when I started to get really curious to do it and most importantly it wasn't about the jokes for me. I was so blown away that this guy could get on stage and voice his opinions. That was when I first really started to entertain the idea of doing it, and if I did do it, how I would want to do it.

Who do you admire most working in comedy today?

I really look up to Dave Attell. To me Dave Attell is the funniest person who's ever lived. Literally, nobody has ever made me laugh so hard. It's been cool getting to know Dave. He was on the show (indigNATION) the other night. Patton Oswalt is another guy who I really really admire, and who I also have had the privilege of getting to know and to work with, who has been very kind and generous to me and supportive. These were guys I looked up to before I did comedy. To come to a point where you finally work with and meet them and become friendly with them, and when they help you out, that's an amazing thing. I'm not mentioning them because I've worked with them, I just really admire them. Bill Burr, I say without any bias, he's one of the best comedians in the world. He's an amazing comedian. Finally Dave Chappelle. Every time I see him, Jesus Christ, this guy really knows what he's doing. Those are guys that I watch and get - to a degree - legitimately depressed. I so admire what they do, and I'm such a fan of their work. I think they're so good, that I get a little sad when I watch them, cause this is a level I can't comprehend. It's inspiring and makes you want to work harder.

Do you feel there are any subjects that are off limits - that you can't joke about?

No, I don't think so. I think anything you can make funny, you should make funny. Look... It's all in the delivery, all in the presentation. Some people will go, 'You can never make a pedophile joke ever!' I don't agree with that. I've heard a lot of funny pedophile jokes. I've also heard a lot of pedophile jokes that are crass and offensive to an audience. I don't really find anything offensive, somebody's words... unless it's directed at me personally or about my family. It's pretty hard for me to watch somebody and say, "That's offensive." Offensive to me should be reserved for like "Hey, I heard your mother died in a car crash and I think that's hilarious." It's all presentation.

In the same vein - Sacha Baron Cohen. Many say his new movie 'Bruno' is homophobic. What do you think?

Well they said things about Borat, that it was offensive to people from foreign countries, making immigrants look stupid. It's a group of people who need to complain because if they don't they don't get funding or they don't have a job anymore. What are you supposed to do? This is what kills me. Anytime you make a character, and that you are mocking that type of character, all people see is that you're mocking that. You're not mocking that, you're doing a funny character that comes from that walk of life.

What are you supposed to do, only make fun of people who are atheist, middle American straight white males? I talked about this the other night at the show. For example: The Sopranos. I'm Italian and I was never once offended by The Sopranos. For years, Italian groups, or anti-defamation leagues said it made Italians look bad. They (The Sopranos) portrayed one part of Italian culture people care about. Nobody wants to see seven people sitting around the table on a Sunday saying grace and eating lasagna. The joke being, this is why they don't make movies about Polish people, because they don't kill each other. You see movies about Italian gangs, Irish gangs, Black gangs, this is what people find interesting. It's what people want to see. That said, I don't think there should be a free for all on any culture or race, with people making step and fetch it type shows which demean ethnic groups. Am I going to get mad that Woody Allen continually portrays Jewish people to be... as mildly neurotic, New York City socialites? No. It's an interesting part of his culture that he exposes us to that I enjoy watching. I don't think anything is off limits. I think it's all in presentation. Criticism should come in a constructive way. I have no tolerance for hecklers at all.

Really? Interesting. Would you want them thrown out? Want would you do with them?

Yes. I have no tolerance for it. You came to my show. Or you came to a show that a bunch of us are a part of. And we will do the show. You sit there and you watch it, and if you don't like it, then walk out. And tough shit. I have never seen the audacity... the audacity that I have seen in the clientèle, in certain clientèle, most of the people who come to comedy clubs are truly great and it's fun, but I've never seen the audacity in certain people who come to comedy clubs. You could never in a million years go to a Broadway show and heckle--

You read my mind, absolutely, read my mind...

Yeah, like talk on a cell phone during the show, be completely shit faced where you can't stand up. You would never do any of those things period. Don't do it at my show. I don't like it. I have no tolerance for it.

Howard Stern left terrestrial radio for Sirius satellite radio where he has no limits on his speech. Some say it makes him less relevant. Your feelings?

It's your own guidelines, it's very personal. I can't speak to whether he has lost his edge or not, I don't listen to radio, but I know tons of guys who still listen to Stern and love him every bit as much as they ever did.

I'll say this, I go on Opie & Anthony all the time, and they can do and say whatever they want, and I've never once been on the show and said to myself, "Man! They're really mailing it in right now. They're being lazy." It's nice to have the liberty to speak freely like you would in a club. It's the same challenge you face in a comedy club. Anybody can say anything they want in a club. There are guys who go on stage and do total shock humor, and basically try to shock and be completely disgusting and you will react from the mere shock of it all, and they won't try to write any harder than that, but most guys don't. Most guys still try to push themselves to be good comics.

I feel disgusting... if I go up and do too much sex humor, or whatever. I feel bad about myself after. I feel like I've cheated myself, you know?

That's quite honest of you to reveal, like it was too easy?

Yeah and sometimes I'll be a little at a loss of how to end my show. I will say, "Is there anything anybody wants to talk about?' And almost without fail, sex is the first thing to be suggested. At the same time, when I first started doing comedy, I thought sex was the funniest thing, because everyone could relate to it.

Talk about indigNATION. Why is it important to you? Is it something you brainstormed around for awhile?

It's an idea I had for awhile. It was actually based on what Patton Oswalt said to me after a show. He said, "You should have a show where people just give you things like products and you tell them why they suck!" So I developed it into a thing about different aspects of the culture. I wanted to do a radio show at first. So I called Patton and asked him if I could use it, and he was thrilled he could light the fuse of inspiration. So I broadened it up a bit and presented it to Bill Burr as an idea for our first radio show. At first, he said it's too much, he said, "I don't want to be known as the two angry guys." Comix Comedy Club then asked me to produce a show, and I went back to the basic premise, and I toyed with it, and I felt it didn't 't have to be hate, but just has to be something strong about pop culture. So why does pop culture get such a reaction from an audience? Why do they get such a reaction about someone like Michael Jackson? I see people boo and cheer Michael Jackson. OK, so I thought pop culture is so much more relevant in our culture, all these levels come up, so basically it turned into a show where the audience writes topics on pieces of paper. And then the comics come out and give their honest and raw opinion on these topics, like ranting. I've always loved ranting.

Then in the end, audience members come up to gauge how well the comedians did. Also it becomes way more of an open discussion and it discourages hecklers because now the audience is part of the discussion. Pop culture really influences us as a culture and I do believe television can be harmful, but not in the traditional way. What bothers me is when I turn on these reality TV shows or these magazine clips shows, 15 minutes of fame grabbers, glorifying a complete lack of ethics and morals. I'm an atheist, but I do have morals. It's people with blood lust for the prize. But getting back to indigNATION, it's not all such important stuff, it's like "Do you like poking on Facebook?" It can be that light.

Do you still ever get nervous before going on stage to perform?

Sometimes I do feel a bit nervous. I'm hosting a comedy show called The Candy Janes Show at Comix. It's a burlesque show, and I sing at some points during it, and there are sketches we do. And I also have to keep an audience entertained who's rabidly hungry for half naked women. There are elements there that make me very nervous. Sometimes I get a little anxious, if I can't quite figure out how I want to start. I definitely still get nervous on TV sometimes.

Any news topic or news reporting in general you'd like to comment on?

As much of a Michael Jackson fan as I was, I don't think I can take the coverage anymore. I don't understand why this is still on television.

Larry King has essentially transformed himself into the Michael Jackson network!

What the fuck is going on man? This is why I don't get into the political arguments. I don't care. I am not a political guy. But it really kills me. I constantly hear people say "Fox News is evil." And then you go, "So is CNN!" and they go "It's not the same!" But it is. I go on both networks. I go on CNN to do ShowBiz Tonight and on Fox to do Red Eye and I love both shows, but I just wish that serious news shows on those channels would just stop shooting arrows at each other and just report the damn news.

Like the classic Honeymooner's sketch - Chef Of The Future - what's in store for DeRosa of the future?

I'm now in the process of pitching TV show ideas. I want to get this indigNATION show going with as much steam as I can, because I've always wanted to have a unique NY live show, with a unique forum for performers and the audience. I'll be recording my music CD in early fall, so I'm excited about that. My comedy album I'll be recording in the fall as well. My primary focus is trying to take what I do on stage and take that to the next level. I'd like to do movies as well.

By Brent Lang, The Wrap

Does this mean it's curtains for "FlashForward"?

The ABC supernatural drama logged its worst ratings yet on Thursday, but the network's other heavy hitters, "Greys' Anatomy" and "Private Practice," recorded strong numbers against stiff competition from CBS' "Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains" and "The Mentalist."

FLASHFORWARD TO CANCELLATION: ABC dramas performed reasonably well despite being weighed down by "FlashForward." "Grey's Anatomy" was No. 1 in the 9 p.m. timeslot with 10.7 million total viewers and a 3.7/11 in the key 18 to 49 demographic. "Private Practice" drew 8.3 million viewers and a 2.8/8 demo score. "FlashForward," though, was down 19 percent from last week, attracting 4.7 million viewers. Among adults 18 to 49, the series drew a 1.3/4.

SORTA MUST SEE TV: Though it beat Fox's "Bones" (2.5/8 demo, 8.88 million viewers) and "Fringe (2.2/6 demo, 5.85 million viewers), NBC's comedy block was dwarfed by ABC's dramas and "Survivor." Holding steady were "Parks & Recreation," with a 1.9/ 6 and 4.1 million viewers overall, and "30 Rock," with a 2.7/7 and 5.6 million total viewers. "Community" (2.0/7) saw a modest 5 percent bump in the key demo and 4.5 million viewers overall. "The Office" (3.5/10, 6.8m) slipped slightly, but managed to tie "Grey's Anatomy" for first place in the demo. At 10 p.m., "The Marriage Ref" (2.2/6) had its highest score in the key demo since April 1 and drew 5 million viewers overall.

PARTY LIKE A CASTAWAY: CBS won Thursday for the eighth consecutive week. "Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains" (4.0/13, 12.8m) was the night's top program in 18-49, while "The Mentalist" was tops in total viewers (3.3/10,14.7m). "CSI" (3.0/9, 14.7m) also won its 9 p.m. hour

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I’ve watched South Park for years, and have watched other Comedy Central programming more occasionally, believing until recently that it provided a cutting-edge environment for satire.  Unfortunately, the network has now caved twice to radical Islamist terrorism, once in 2006 and again last month, in two episodes of South Park that skewered major religious figures while censoring the satire of Trey Parker and Matt Stone on Mohammed.    Instead of staying out of religious satire altogether, the brave souls at Viacom have apparently green-lit a new series that will poke fun at Jesus … again:

Comedy Central might censor every image of the Prophet Muhammad on “South Park,” yet the network is developing a whole animated series around Jesus Christ.

As part of the network’s upfront presentation to advertisers (full slate here), the network is set to announce “JC,” a half-hour show about Christ wanting to escape the shadow of his “powerful but apathetic father” and live a regular life in New York City.

In the show, God is preoccupied with playing video games while Christ, “the ultimate fish out of water,” tries to adjust to life in the big city.

“In general, comedy in purist form always makes some people uncomfortable,” said Comedy Central’s head of original programming Kent Alterman.

Yes, Kent Alterman, you’re quite the brave individual for making “some” people uncomfortable.  Those would be the “some” people who won’t issue threats of violence for your satires.  Comedy Central and Viacom have no appetite for making some other people uncomfortable — the very people who would not waste a moment in shutting down Comedy Central if given the opportunity.

South Park takes an honest approach to satire by skewering everyone equally.  They lost a major cast member when they satirized Scientology, and no doubt have had complaints from many groups about their portrayal of Jesus, Buddha, Joseph Smith, Lao Tze, and other religious figures.  But one never got the sense that Parker and Stone had it out for any one group because their satires ran the entire gamut, at least until Comedy Central began censoring them.

And even that would have been understandable — had CC made the decision to avoid religious satire altogether.  Instead, they’re launching a new effort to parody Christianity while imposing the rule of radical Islamists on satires of Islam.  There’s a word for the kind of people who only pick fights with no risk whatsoever: pussies.

Update: I agree with The Anchoress on this one:

As a Christian, I am unoffended by this move. The Triune God has awfully big shoulders; he can take it.

It is Comedy Central that betrays the tiny fragility that lies behind its strut.

I am embarrassed for them.

Offended?  Not really.  It’s more like utter contempt for their blustery cowardice.

Update II: The Verum Serum headline sums it up: “Comedy Central: Unlike Mohammed, Jesus a Constant Source of Amusement.”

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JULIAN ROUAS PARIS

There have been several very funny romance movies released in 2008, but I have narrowed it down to my personal pick of 5 that I really enjoyed and think are the best romantic comedies of 2008.

27 Dresses

Released 1/13/08 DVD Released 4/29/08 Rated PG-13 Time 107 minutes

Cast: Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Malin Ackerman, Judy Greer, Edward Burns, Brian Kerwin

The movie revolves around Jane and her "always the bridesmaid never the bride" story. She has been a bridesmaid 27 times and has all the themed dresses to prove it. She is secretly in love with none other than her boss of all men, when in steps her much flashier sister to steal him away. Now she is being asked to be the bridesmaid once again for her sister who is marring the man she is in love with. This movie has lots of cute little turns and funny moments, like Jane bouncing back and forth between two weddings on the same night. There are some teary moments but as we all know, in romantic comedies love always wins.

Definitely, Maybe

Released 2/14/08 DVD Released 6/24/08 Rated PG-13

Cast: Elizabeth Banks, Abigail Breslin, Isla Fisher, Kevin Kline, Kevin Corrigan, Derek Luke, Ryan Reynolds, Rachel Weisz

Will, a Manhattan dad, finds himself on the verge of a divorce and a very questioning 10 year old daughter Maya. She wants to know how her parents met and fell in love. So as a kind of bedtime story Will begins to recount his past and relationships with three different women. He changes their names so Maya has to guess which one is her mother in the story. Maya begins to put all the pieces of the puzzle together to get her answer and also discovers that love is never simple or easy. As Will tells the story to Maya she helps him realize that it's never too late to go back or for a happy ending. This was a sweet story and it keeps you guessing throughout as to who really is Maya's mother.

Then She Found Me

Released 4/25/08 DVD Released 9/02/08 Rated R Time 100 minutes

Cast: Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick, Ben Shenkman

This is a story of a school teacher, April Epner and her path to find personal fulfillment. After a separation from her husband, and the death of her adopted mother, April gets contacted by her apparent birth mother. She is a local talk show host. She tries to be the mother to April she was never able to be. April finds comfort in the arms of one of her student's parent, only to find that life's questions can't be solved by a simple relationship. This is a good movie Bette Midler is great, as always and Helen Hunt does a good job in this one as well.

Made Of Honor

Released 5/2/08 DVD Released 9/16/08 Rated PG-13

Cast: Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Sydney Pollack, Kadeem Hardison, Beau Garrett, Kevin McKidd, Kelly Carlson, Busy Philipps, Kathleen Quinlan, James Sikking

Tom and Hannah have been platonic friends for ten years. She wants to be married but just hasn't met Mr. Right, Tom is happy being single. Just when Tom starts to think of himself as real relationship material, Hannah gets engaged. She asks him to be her maid of honor and he agrees, only to do everything he can to stop the wedding and woo her himself. There are lots of funny moments in this one. The whole idea of a guy being a maid of honor is funny.

What Happens In Vegas

Released 5/3/08 DVD Released 8/26/08 Rated PG-13

Cast: Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Dennis Farina, Rob Corddry, Treat Williams, Queen Latifah, Lake Bell

After a breakup and being fired from a job, where else would two people go to celebrate? Vegas. After a mix up at the hotel Joy and Jack get to know each other a little too well one night out partying. They wake the next morning only to find that they have somehow become married to each other. After one hits the jackpot of a slot machine with the others quarter, they both discover that because they are married they would have to split the money. They spend the better part of the movie pulling schemes to undermine each other to get their hands on the loot. They soon find themselves falling in love somewhere in between all the backstabbing. This is a very funny movie. Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher work great opposite each other. I laughter until I cried. It was that funny.

Out of all the movies I have listed here I would have to say that What Happens In Vegas is my personal pick for the year. There are so many funny moments and of course love always prevails.

NEW YORK — Having already caused a fuss this spring with the depiction of the prophet Muhammad on "South Park," Comedy Central said it has a cartoon series about Jesus Christ in the works.

"JC" is one of 23 potential series the network said it has in development. It depicts Christ as a "regular guy" who moves to New York to "escape his father's enormous shadow."

His father is presented as an apathetic man who would rather play video games than listen to his son talk about his new life, according to Comedy Central's thumbnail sketch of the idea. Reveille, the production company behind "The Office," "Ugly Betty" and "The Biggest Loser," is making "JC."

It wouldn't be the first time Jesus Christ has been on a Comedy Central cartoon; he's a recurring character on the long-running "South Park."

Comedy Central was the target last month of an Internet threat for a "South Park" episode that supposedly showed Islam's prophet in a bear costume.

Whenever "South Park" features Muhammad in an episode, Comedy Central obscures the character with a black box; Muslims consider any physical representation of their prophet to be blasphemous. Following the Internet threat, Comedy Central angered "South Park" producers by editing out a character's speech about intimidation in a subsequent episode.

"It's not certain what is more despicable: the nonstop Christian bashing featured on the network, or Comedy Central's decision to censor all depictions of Muhammad," said William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, on Thursday.

Comedy Central wouldn't comment on Donohue's statement, said network spokesman Tony Fox, who declined to give further details about "JC."

A development deal is a couple of steps ahead of a series making it to air and, in fact, most such deals don't result in series. The network would have to like the scripts enough to produce a test episode, then like that enough to put it on the air.

This weekend, the Times dissected the "morning-news-romcom-verite" that is MSNBC's Morning Joe, thanks to the banter-filled dynamic between hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Proving just how convincing a romantic comedy the program really is, reigning rom-com auteur Nora Ephron is a fan. “For me it’s not so much about the politics," she told the Times. "I tend to watch almost anything like this in terms of: is this romantic comedy? And it is … I’m very busy thinking about them as a temporary couple on the air … The conversation is like some kind of dream sequence at a bar, only you can have a part in it, and it’s in the morning.” Excellent tip for anyone who would like to watch Broadcast News all day, every day, but feels guilty not staying on top of current events. [NYT via NYO]

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Relaxing Without Falling Asleeping

JULIAN ROUAS

Calvin Klein is a famous designer who has launched many clothing lines for men and women as well as fragrant lines including Calvin Klein Eternity perfume for women. The Calvin Klein Eternity perfume was launched in 1989 and remains an ever popular Calvin Klein perfume. With so many other options on the market for a buy is the Calvin Klein Eternity perfume a versatile fragrance for all women? Time to find out!

This Calvin Klein perfume comes in a plain off white box with Calvin Klein and Eternity in normal black text. The box of the Calvin Klein Eternity perfume is nothing really special compared to all the other scents on the market. The bottle of the Eternity perfume is square with a silver push down scent dispenser. Each dispense from the Calvin Klein perfume is perfect for those scent points on a lady. The bottle of the Eternity perfume is actually quite elegant. The glass of the Calvin Klein Eternity scent is very smooth and crystal like. The scent is a light gold-like color can be seen through the Eternity perfume bottle.

Sizes for the Calvin Klein Eternity perfume vary. The most popular size for the Eternity perfume is 3.4 fluid ounces. The Calvin Klein Eternity perfume also comes in 1.7 and 1.0 fluid ounces. Gift sets are also available for this Calvin Klein perfume and usually include the Eternity perfume, shower gel, and body lotion for women.

The scent of The Calvin Klein Eternity perfume is a fresh like scent. The Eternity perfume consists of refreshing spices, lavender, and amber. This Calvin Klein perfume also is infused with a blend of greens, crisp jasmine, basil, sage, and rosewood. Calvin Klein Eternity is a practical perfume for any women. The Eternity perfume is pretty versatile that it can be worn for day and night use. This Calvin Klein perfume is very mystique and not overbearing. The Eternity perfume does seem to be strong at first when putting it on; however, after an hour or so it wears off quickly with just a linger.

Calvin Klein Eternity can be found at most department stores such as: Wal-Mart, Macy's, The Bon-Ton, and numerous others. This Calvin Klein perfume is widely distributed. The Eternity perfume can also be found online at various vendors and on EBay. The cost of a 3.4 fluid ounce bottle of this Calvin Klein perfume varies amongst stores but runs roughly around $50.00.

I would recommend this Calvin Klein Eternity Perfume for those who shy away from floral scents. The scent of this Calvin Klein perfume aims more toward a shower fresh aroma then a girly-girl fragrance. The Eternity perfume is practical for everyday use for all women in all age groups.


Julian Rouas Paris Inc

JULIAN ROUAS PARIS WESTFIELD

My mom and I are thrift store junkies. We go in looking for deals that you cannot find anywhere else. Sometimes we get extremely lucky, and other times we come out empty handed.

We hit this one local thrift store up weekly because they seem to have new inventory every Friday. Hitting the thrift store up on a Saturday can sometimes result in winning the mini designer lottery. At times we find two dollar designer clothes, bags, and sometimes; perfume.

I was not able to hit up the local spot this week, but my mom did.

She rushed inside with a paper bag filled with what appeared to be designer perfumes. I could hear them clanging against one another and I could not wait to see what she had gotten hold of. I looked inside of the bag, and she huddled around it, as if she had to protect her findings from me.

She hit the designer perfume gold mine, and she bought all she could find, no wonder she didn't want me looking in. She wanted them ALL for herself.

Inside I noted all types of brands that I knew I would like. From Chanel, to Donna Karan. Some of the bottles were half empty, and others still had their seals on them. Some we already had, and some we had never heard of.

Amarige by Givenchy was one perfume in particular that I had never heard of. I have heard of Givenchy in the past, but I was never familiar with the brand, or this particular scent.

Appearance:

Amarige came in its original red box, with gold lettering. A bit of dust had collected on the box, but inside the perfume was barely touched.

The bottle itself is shaped like a human heart (at least that s what it looks like to me). The bottles top looks like a soft serve ice cream swirl, which is actually sort of pretty, and unique.

My Use:

I sprayed some of the rusty water colored perfume on to my wrists, and immediately got hit with the overpowering scent of grandmothers. It was like a granny festival on my wrist. This crap stunk, and it stunk bad.

It has that first kick of granny, then a high impact punch of rotting dried up roses, and...rust.

Good find mom!

Pricing and Availability:

After sniffing this horrendous granny spray I of course had to look the brand up before writing this review. I wanted to bring to you the price of this gunk, and where to find (eh-hem...avoid) this perfume.

Amarige by Givenchy can be found at any local perfume store, ranging from $10 to a jaw dropping $70.00 (for the granny gift set).

Overall:

Amarige by Givency smells like your grandma. It stinks to the high heavens, and it lasts a really, really long time. If you want to test the scent, make sure you DO NOT spray it on your clothing, as it will stay...till you wash the clothing.

-I guess if you find it at a thrift store; barely used, something must be wrong.

Recommendation:

Negative.

Amarige by Givenchy is definitely not a perfume I would recommend. (Maybe for Granny, seeing how that's about the only person who would like this one).


Braddicat

JULIAN ROUAS PARIS

Lush is a bath and cosmetic company that prides itself on making environmentally sound products. Their line of solid perfumes is a great go anywhere product for the person who is always running around.

I got this solid perfume for free. On first sniff I thought "Oh my god, this is cat pee perfume!" I put it away and a few days later bit the bullet and put some on. After a few minutes, I was in love. Some of Lush's products need to sit out and cure before you use them or they smell very different on you than in the package. This was totally the case with this one.

The smell is described on Lush's website as unisex. Organic olive oil and the fresh juice of mandarin oranges are the scents that make up Olive Branch. I definitely smell the oranges but I'm not so sure about the olive oil. It smells like a warm, clean scent to my nose. The scent is very calming to me. Most of the time the scent lasts for 6-8 hours. This is longer than any of my spray perfumes and I keep it in my purse for easy application anywhere.

If you live in a warm climate be careful how you store this product. Some of the ingredients make it very soft when heated. I also wouldn't store it in a pocket because of this. The waxes and coco butter do make your skin soft. The butter can make peple prone to acne break out so use caution if applying to your face. Here is the list of ingredients: Japan Wax, Perfume, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter (Theobroma Cacao), Carnauba Wax (Copernicia Cerifera), Hydroxycitronellol, Bergamot Oil (Citrus Aurantium bergamia), *Limonene, Organic Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia chinensis), Lemon Oil (Citrus limonum), Orange Flower Absolute (Citrus Dulcis), Mandarin Oil (Citrus nobilis), *Citral, *Geraniol, *Benzyl Benzoate, *Linalool, Coumarin,.

The directions for the solid perfumes say to just rub it on your pulse points. An easier way to apply it is to take your fingernail and swipe it across the surface (away from you so the perfume isn't trapped under your nail) and rub on. There are many other solid perfume scents. Try them all and pick one depending on your mood!







I have no idea why Jennifer Aniston always feels the need to pose semi-nude? She has a nice figure? fine, but how many times must we see it, in this way? I don't really understand her, in one breath she says, she doesn't like the attention of the press and the next time I see her, she seems to be doing all she can to gain their attetion (posing like this, having her birthday party photographed, looking with cow eyes at Gerard Butler)



I was a fan of Friends, partiularly David Schwimmer and I felt he was over looked in favor of Jennifer for the simple fact, she was married to Brad Pitt, As far as I can see David as well as the rest of the cast (including Lisa Kudrow, were every bit as talented then Aniston.) It just shows, popularity in Hollywood has little to do with talent.



She doesn't want attention? she could leave Hollywood and have a very nice life for herself, as for Brad, he seems happy to me with Angelina, he has never said a bad word about Jennifer, so why all the hate from her fans? I wish Aniston would stop implying about her divorce. it would be nice to see her really work on her acting, come back and do something dramatic, find someone to marry or don't, have children or not, whatever her heart desires but I am tired of hearing about her every five minutes.

WONDERWOOD COMME des GARCONS A Film by The Quay Brothers

by Staff, May 7, 2010

Last night, COMME des GARCONS held a special launch event for its WONDERWOOD perfume at the Prince Charles Cinema in London. The event consisted of a film screening, inspired by the perfume, with assistance from Dianne of A Shaded View, and featured the film’s creative cirector Christian Astuguevieille and The Quay Brothers on hand. The perfume itself looks to soon become available through Dover Street Market as well as select stockists and is made up of various wood scents, including: Oud, Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Cypress wood and Gaiac wood. Woody notes: Patchouli, vetyver and synthetic woods: Javanol, Cashmeran and Pachminol.

Photography: Hypebeast/> id="more-187138">/>

Stress Relief

JULIAN ROUAS PARIS feelings

Today, it seems every celebrity has a perfume scent with their name attached to it. From Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely, to Britney Spears' and Beyonce Knowles' lines of fragrance to the classics of Chanel and Dior, there are hundreds of bottles to choose from. But how do you find the right one?

First answer, of course, is ignore the brand name or label. Just because Jennifer Lopez says you won't end up smelling like a skunk doesn't mean you won't. Choose a smell based on how it smells on your skin, and your personal tastes.

There are several basic themes which perfume manufacturers stick to: Chypre, citrus, floral, and ambers. Chypre scents have a woody, mossy, floral base to them. Citrus scents incorporate orange, lemon, tangerine, and grapefruit, much like Calvin Kline's CK One. Floral smells just as it sounds, like flowers. An example of a floral scent would be Chance by Chanel. Ambers have a delightful mix of musk, vanilla, spice, and animal scents, such as Obsession.

Once you've decided on a category of perfume to try, go to your nearest perfume counter. Try a few scents out on paper before deciding on one to put to the test. Apply to the back of your hand, and then wait an hour. If you do apply the perfume to your wrist, avoid rubbing your wrists together. This can crush the delicate buds of scent and distort the sampling. It isn't how a perfume smells in the bottle or immediately after application, it's how it reacts with your skin chemistry much later that can make or break a scent as one for you.

The reason behind this is perfumes have four layers. The first layer, or top note, is the first scent you get after applying the perfume. It's the most noticeable, but is also the one the fades the quickest. The next layer, or middle note, is the next apparent component to the perfume. It appears several minutes after applying the perfume, and can stay up to an hour before disappearing. The third layer, or base note, appears usually after a half hour and is the layer that stays on your skin throughout the day. And the final layer is one most overlook, the natural scent of your skin. Just like everyone's DNA is different, everyone has a unique skin chemistry that can affect the outcome of a perfume.

Keep this guide in mind next time you are perfume shopping, and you are sure to find a scent that's right for you!