Ultra-processed food is super addictive and largely unhealthy. We all know that at this point. But the good folks at CNN thought we ought to know that its addictive quality stems in part from it being predigested. Someone’s been eating our porridge! Only instead of Goldilocks it’s the food industrial complex, and they’re breaking down staples like potatoes at the cellular level and then rebuilding the remaining slurry — that’s the manufacturing word, I’m not making this up — into the Lays chips we love. The process of destroying and remaking molecular structures, though, combined with the additives thrown in post-slurry stage, removes most of the nutritional value of the food, and disrupts the human body’s natural digestion. So why do they process food this way? Duh, because it’s cheaper! Oh, and about 73% of the US food supply is ultra-processed now. Chew on that while digesting CNN’s reporting:

The process of predigestion: To manufacture cheap, delicious food that is packaged for convenience, basic food crops such as corn, wheat and potatoes are dissembled into their molecular parts — starchy flours, protein isolates, fats and oils — or what manufacturers call ‘slurries.’ “The bulk of what is extracted is starch slurry, a milky mixture of starch and water, but we also have extracted proteins and fibers,” according to a video explanation of the process from Starch Europe, part of the European Starch Industry Association.

‘An illusion of food’: Next, with the help of artificial colorings, flavorings and glue-like emulsifiers, those slurries are then heated, pounded, shaped or extruded into any food a manufacturer can dream up. Add in just the right ratio of sugar, salt and fat designed to tickle our taste buds, and an ultra-processed food that’s nearly irresistible is born, said infectious disease specialist Dr. Chris van Tulleken, an associate professor at University College London. … “It’s an illusion of food,” he added. “But it’s really expensive and difficult for a food company to make food that is real and whole, and much cheaper for food companies to destroy real foods, turn them into molecules, and then reassemble those to make anything they want.”

Humans aren’t built like birds: Much like the regurgitated food mother birds feed their babies in the nest, ultra-processed food is quick and easy to digest, according to experts. But that’s not how the human digestive system was meant to work. Starting with teeth designed to tear food apart, the human gastrointestinal system evolved to break down whole foods into their various nutritional components, absorb those vitamins, minerals and micronutrients and then eliminate the indigestible leftovers and fiber as stool.

Skipping over stretch receptors: When food moves through the digestive system in ways Mother Nature didn’t intend, however, the body loses the ability to send a signal of fullness to the brain, said Dr. David Katz, a specialist in preventative and lifestyle medicine who founded the nonprofit True Health Initiative. “In effect you are bypassing the stretch receptor effect in the stomach,” Katz said. “Before the stretch receptors can even tell you, ‘Hey, we’ve had enough,’ you’ve put down twice as many calories as you need.”

What the frack: Breaking down the chemical and physical structure of the cells in a food, or a food’s matrix, can damage or even eliminate many of the nutrients in that food, said Anthony Fardet, a senior research scientist at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research in Paris. “By fracking food much like we frack oil, we have fully deconstructed the food matrix, and this is associated with many times higher risk of chronic disease and early mortality and a degradation of global health. … Before the Second World War, before we began using these new manufacturing processes, we never observed such a high level of chronic disease worldwide,” Fardet said.

Fighting the system: But we are paying a price, said Marion Nestle, the Paulette Goddard professor emerita of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, who has written books on food industry politics. “The food industry has created an eat more environment — that’s what it’s supposed to do,” Nestle said. “And it’s fun — the foods do nice things for your brain’s pleasure centers and your hormones and the like, so it’s very difficult for people to stop eating them. The other way I put it is that individuals who are trying to control their weight in today’s food environment are fighting an entire food system on their own. That’s hard to do.”

[From CNN]

Ok, but… can I still buy the prepared meals from Trader Joe’s? I’ll confess, in my first five read-throughs of this article I was convinced that CNN was just trying to frighten us from ever eating again. And then I shifted to despondency when Professor Nestle (no relation to the food corporation, still hilarious) talked about fighting the entire system. But then I had a scathingly brilliant idea (and if you know that reference, hello you are my people). We need a reality series where contestants are given the slurry remnants of corn, wheat, and potatoes and have to turn them into real-looking food. Take the premise and earnestness of Great British Bake Off and use it to expose the industry! If Gen Z actually gets to see the slurry origins of the food they eat daily, then I have a sliver of hope they will demand change. I’ll start writing my pitch to the networks, just as soon as I finish my mint Milanos.

photos credit: Pavel Danilyuk, Esma Atak and Norma Mortenson on Pexels, Acton Crawford on Unsplash

As soon as Buckingham Palace announced King Charles’s cancer diagnosis, royal reporters fired up their laptops and wrote a series of columns and thinkpieces suggesting that Prince William isn’t up to the job and that he desperately needs to make peace with Prince Harry. Even funnier, the royalists put it all on Harry, like Harry was supposed to beg William for… something. That’s because any royalist with half a brain knows that Prince Petulant is still seething with rage about all things Harry. Speaking of, William read all of those thinkpieces and his response was to insist (via sources) that he will never, ever meet his brother and Harry WISHES!

Prince William has no plans to meet Prince Harry after he flew to the UK today to be by the ailing King’s side following his cancer diagnosis.

The Prince of Wales remains focussed on looking after his wife Kate, who is recovering from abdominal surgery and is taking extended leave from public duties until after Easter, sources have said. William, 41, is due to return to public work tomorrow, carrying out an investiture at Windsor Castle in the morning and later attending a gala for the London Air Ambulance in the evening.

The Duke of Sussex, 39, has cleared his diary to fly to London to be with his father despite their troubled relationship, raising concerns about the seriousness of the King’s health. He was pictured arriving at Clarence House to visit his father this afternoon.

Sources close to the Duke, who now lives in Montecito, California, have suggested he would have welcomed an opportunity to meet with William “if the opportunity were to arise”. A source said: “The Duke’s primary reason to travel to the UK is to visit his father. If the opportunity were to arise to see the Prince of Wales then the Duke would have gladly accepted it.”

A source close to William said: “The prince’s main focus is for his wife, who is recovering from surgery, his three children and now his father. There are no plans for Harry’s visit to act as some kind of vehicle for reconciliation.”

[From The Daily Mirror]

Other outlets must have gotten the same briefing, but they made it sound much more mutual, as in neither Harry or William were prioritizing some kind of brotherly meeting. I wonder who dropped “If the opportunity were to arise to see the Prince of Wales then the Duke would have gladly accepted it” into the Mirror’s story. While it does make Harry seem like he’s “begging” for reconciliation, it also makes Harry look mature. While William looks like Harry’s sudden visit caught him flat-footed and mid-tantrum. Speaking of, that mysterious Friend of Bill once again chatted with the Daily Beast about the nonexistent plans for reconciliation between the brothers:

One old school friend of both William and Harry, who has remained loyal to William and not spoken to Harry since he emigrated to the US, told The Daily Beast: “The news about their father is absolutely shocking, but I don’t think it means William wants to meet up with Harry and shake hands for the cameras. If the papers want to write that they are going to be having pints together and a heart to heart, they will, but in reality, the idea that William and Kate are ever, ever going to let Harry back into their lives, or trust him with any personal information ever again is a total fantasy. It’s simply not possible to exaggerate how bad and how damaged the relationship is, and how angry William is at Harry for betraying him for money.”

Asked if his father’s illness would not concentrate the mind on the importance of family bonds, the friend said: “This isn’t just two guys falling out. The point is, Harry betrayed the monarchy. He can’t be trusted, he is out.”

A former staffer who worked with Harry and William told The Daily Beast: “I gather it is considered highly unlikely they would meet. The relationship is non-existent because of the allegations made against his wife.”

[From The Daily Beast]

I wonder if this is the same friend who told the Daily Beast that the next time William would speak to Harry is at their father’s funeral? It sounds like it. This Friend-of-Bill certainly is well-versed in all of William’s childish and hypocritical talking points. Maybe if William’s friends keep screaming this version of events, someone will believe them.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

People Magazine regularly features members of the British royal family on their covers, but I’ve gotten so used to People’s Photoshop elves working their magic on the royal photos, I actually did a double-take when I saw this cover. I get it, they wanted a photo where King Charles looked old, but yikes. This is very harsh. As you can see, People Magazine has devoted this week’s cover to King Charles’s health crisis, his cancer and treatment. Much like the Princess of Wales’s mysterious abdominal surgery, palace sources were “shocked” when the palace made the announcement on Monday. Here’s an excerpt from the cover story:

Although the statement offered few details, the palace did reveal that when Charles underwent his prostate procedure, a separate issue of concern was detected, and “subsequent diagnostic tests have revealed the presence of a form of cancer.” (The type of cancer has not been disclosed in keeping with the palace’s tight-lipped approach to medical conditions, but it is not prostate cancer, a spokesman confirmed.)

“In time we might know,” Robert Hardman, author of The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy, tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s issue. “but for now, there is a feeling that they have been pretty open.”

The King has begun “regular treatments” and will postpone public duties, the palace statement added, noting that Charles “remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible.”

Those close to the family were taken aback by the announcement. “I was really shocked when I heard it,” says a palace insider.

Adds a source who knows him, “He has not looked himself. I put it down to grief—he’d had two deaths close together [his mother, Queen Elizabeth, in Sept. 2022 and his father, Prince Philip in April 2021]—but maybe he wasn’t well, without realizing so. It would take it out of him.”

The news comes just nine months into Charles’s reign and only 17 months after the death of Queen Elizabeth at age 96.

The potential for increased responsibilities for the king’s son and heir, William, 41, once again highlighted the royal family’s thinned ranks since the departure of Charles’s younger son Prince Harry, 39, and the removal of Charles’s scandal-plagued brother Prince Andrew, 63.

Says a palace insider: “He will want to get on with the job. But that will depend on what treatment he is having. It may be utterly draining on him. He will need a lot of support.”

[From People]

I’m surprised that People Mag included this quote: “He has not looked himself. I put it down to grief.” If I’m being honest, I think Charles has aged a lot in the past two years, even if he had some big moments where he appeared to be having the time of his life (especially since he became king). But absolutely, his color has been off for a while and his fingers always look so swollen and uncomfortable. I’ve been thinking about the Princess of Wales too, and wondering how long she’s been dealing with her health issues, because you could make the argument that, like Charles, her appearance changed somewhat dramatically over the past year. Kate and Charles’s health crises seemed to take a lot of palace insiders by surprise too. Hm.

Last October, Charles and Camilla were the guests of honor at a dinner at Mansion House. I remember looking at the photos (below) and thinking that Charles did not look well.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red, cover courtesy of People.

There’s one small part of me which wonders if Prince Harry’s visit to the UK this week was used as some kind of “smoke William out of his hole” maneuver by Buckingham Palace. Prince William has been almost entirely out of sight for the past month, his staff and communications office have seemingly been operating without any guidance. It genuinely felt like William was MIA for several weeks. William only popped up as soon as BP announced the king’s cancer diagnosis and, in the same breath, Prince Harry’s plans to visit. Suddenly the Kensington Palace comms office had something to do, yet another incandescent briefing spree about how much William hates his brother. William will also do two events today, his first in more than a month. But, according to Becky English at the Mail, this will be the last time we see William for “a bit.”

Prince William will continue to put his wife and children’s welfare to the fore as he steps up to help his ailing father. While the heir to the throne will return to public duties today – after having decided to ‘clear his diary’ in order to support the Princess of Wales during and after her operation last month – he is not expected to pick up full-time royal duties quite yet.

He will undertake two public engagements, holding an investiture at Windsor Castle on behalf of the King in the morning followed by a gala dinner in central London in the evening in his role as patron of the London Air Ambulance. After that, however, he has no further duties scheduled this week and will be with Kate and the children again next week during their half-term holiday.

A source said: ‘The Prince has always made clear that his priority is to support his wife and family for the time being – and he did not put a timescale on that. He will make a return to duties on Wednesday but you should not expect to see him again for a bit after that.’

It is understood that his team at Kensington Palace are speaking to their opposite numbers at Buckingham Palace about which public engagements William could potentially attend in his father’s place. They are likely to be along the lines of further investitures and, perhaps, leading the family at events such as the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey early next month.

But with His Majesty insisting on keeping his hand firmly on the tiller of State business during his treatment, it is highly unlikely that the future king will be required to take over any constitutional matters.

It is understood that William, 41, has his father’s ‘100 per cent’ backing in returning at his own pace. A source said: ‘The King adores Catherine and thinks she is doing a wonderful job. He understands that family comes first.’

The King has been spending an increasing amount of time at Windsor Castle since his accession, often staying over on Sunday evenings, affording him more time with his son and young grandchildren to whom he is growing ever closer. William, who now lives in Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor Estate, a short walk from the castle, also often uses rooms in the historic royal residence for meetings.

William has always made clear that, at this stage in his life, his duty to his family comes ahead of his public role. However, it is unheard of to have three senior members of the Royal Family out of action at one time, particularly now the King is likely to be away for longer than planned, meaning working royals will be thin on the ground. And this means there will, inevitably, be more pressure on the future king to step up.

[From The Daily Mail]

Imagine a national press openly begging the 41-year-old heir to “step up” and help his 75-year-old father suffering from cancer. As I said in the intro, we simply were not getting these kinds of briefings from Kensington Palace in the past month. It’s only after Harry came to the UK that William’s comms office actually gave Becky English some solid information. That info? LMAO, that, no, William won’t be coming back to work in any meaningful way. Today is all they’ll get for another month. Also: British schools’ vacation schedules are completely bonkers to me, how is it that the kids already have a “half-term holiday” coming up? They just went back to school like three weeks ago?? Don’t they have another month off around Easter?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Embed from Getty Images

Celine Dion made a surprise appearance at the very end of Sunday night’s Grammys. She got a standing ovation from the audience as she stepped out to present Album of the Year. It all went sideways soon after, but not for Celine. Celine presented Taylor Swift with the AOTY Grammy and Taylor was too busy dragging Lana del Rey on stage and making faces at her producers to even notice Celine. Taylor snatched the Grammy from Celine’s hands without even acknowledging her. Backstage minutes later, Taylor made sure to pose for photos with Celine, and Taylor’s people put out stories about how there was no drama, etc. Meanwhile, an internet full of Celine-lovers lost their sh-t on Taylor for being so disrespectful to a queen. So what did Celine think of all of that?

Céline Dion made her sensational Grammys appearance to show that her illness is “not a death sentence” — and was unfazed by Taylor Swift’s alleged snub, sources told Page Six. The superstar, 55, has been battling Stiff-Person syndrome, a rare — and incurable — neurological disorder that makes walking difficult and has prevented her from singing the way she’s “used to.”

Dion was greeted with a standing ovation at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles Sunday night as she stepped onstage to hand out the final award of the night, Album of the Year. And despite an alleged snub by the winner, Swift, one music insider said that Dion achieved what she wanted — to show everyone that she’s back.

Swift has been dragged online for not properly acknowledging Dion as she accepted the award, but an insider who knows the latter said Dion brushed it off.

“I don’t think Céline cared and they talked backstage afterwards. But Céline was just gracious and happy to be there,” the insider said. “Of course, the right thing would have been for Taylor to acknowledge her, like Adele did years ago.” When Dion presented Adele the Grammy for Song of the Year in 2017, the two warmly embraced and Adele made an “I’m not worthy” hand motion to Dion.

Backstage on Sunday, other luminaries paid respect to Dion and flocked to her dressing room. Page Six is told she sang with Steve Wonder — “they were just riffing,” said the insider — and caught up with Oprah Winfrey.

“She wanted to show everyone that she’s doing alright,” the insider said of Dion’s surprise appearance. “She has good days and bad days … it’s a painful disease, but it’s not a death sentence. She’s clearly capable of doing things and she wanted to show everyone that she’s back. She looked fantastic. The hope is that she will be able to perform.”

Dion was forced to cancel a world tour after she announced her illness last year, and has made rare public appearances since then. On Sunday night, she flew from her home in Las Vegas to Los Angeles — accompanied by a small entourage including her stylist Jay Roach — landing at 7 p.m. PST. She was escorted onstage by her son René-Charles Angélil, 23, presented the final award of the night to Swift and was on her way home by 9:30 p.m., we’re told.

[From Page Six]

“Of course, the right thing would have been for Taylor to acknowledge her, like Adele did years ago.” Sounds like Celine did notice that Taylor totally blanked her and it might have even bothered her. The thing is, Celine really is a lovely and gracious person (by all accounts) so I’m sure this story is more about Celine’s team being mad on her behalf and trying to refocus the story back on Celine.

Meanwhile, The Town podcast with Matthew Ringer had the inside story on what happened when Taylor and Celine left the Grammys stage, with Taylor’s team “scrambling” to fix Taylor’s mistake. Here’s the thing – if Taylor and her people had just come out and said “Taylor was caught up in the moment and she’s so sorry she didn’t acknowledge Celine properly, Taylor loves Celine and apologizes completely,” that would have been it, story over. But Taylor has an almost Trumpian attitude towards apologizing or acknowledging her mistakes.

not The Town casually confirming that “the Taylor camp knew immediately” her Celine snub was a “misstep” and that this photo was scrambled together as instant damage control https://t.co/OXb7OBhB9Z pic.twitter.com/2MvdY1XRhc

— Who? Weekly (@whoweekly) February 6, 2024

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty.

Super Bowl LVIII is happening this Sunday and we all know that there are three big components that make up America’s biggest night for sports: the game, the half-time show, and the commercials. When it comes to Super Bowl commercials, it’s like there’s a whole other competition going on to determine which crazy over-priced ad is the best one of the night. Over the years, Super Bowl commercials have gotten more outrageous, nostalgic, and celebrity-friendly. Not even beloved mascots are safe anymore! In fact, a 30-second commercial slot is a whopping $7 million this year!

One of the most-hyped commercials this year involves former Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer, David and Victoria Beckham, this year’s half-time performer Usher, and rapper Jelly Roll. The minute-long commercial, which you can check out below, is for Uber Eats. The premise is that in order to remember all of the great services Uber Eats provides, you have to forget something else in order to create room in your brain.

Uber Eats’ 2024 Super Bowl commercial is a star-studded 60 second event!

The big game spot features Jennifer Aniston reuniting with Friends co-star David Schwimmer, David and Victoria Beckham, Jelly Roll, and Usher.

The commercial is all about being forgetful, and these stars all seem to be forgetting quite a bit. Jennifer totally forgets who David is, Victoria can’t remember the name of the Spice Girls, Jelly Roll thinks his face tattoos are fake, and Usher can’t remember he is performing in the halftime show.

“Jen! Hey!” David says in the commercial while going in for a hug. Jennifer stops him from hugging her and says, “Have we met?”

David responds, “Well, we worked together for ten years.”

“Ten years? You were great,” Jennifer says, before David responds, “You still don’t know, do you?”

Jennifer walks away and says, “Like I’d forget ten years of my life,” clearly still not really remembering. David then says, “I hate this town.”

[From JustJared]

Honestly, I thought this was pretty cute! I think it’s fun when celebrities commit to a silly joke and poke fun at themselves. Watching the silly Aniston/Schwimmer interaction put a smile on my face. I also laughed at the Beckham scene where they’re trying to remember the name of the Spice Girls. It reminded me that I really need to get on watching their Netflix documentary. I go through phases of interest in Super Bowl commercials, but I do enjoy the nostalgic ones, like the Google Assist commercial with Joe Pesci from a few years ago that spoofed the Home Alone one that Macaulay Culkin did for the 2018 holiday season. The Betty White Snickers one also holds a special place in my heart. This year, there will be commercials starring Ben Affleck, Chris Pratt, Jenna Ortega, Christopher Walken, Quinta Brunson, Aubrey Plaza, Lionel Messi, and more. You can watch the ones that have already been released here.

Note by Celebitchy: Due to the amount of time it takes and the lack of interest I’m not doing a comprehensive Super Bowl commercials post this year! Thanks for understanding!

Lily Gladstone has been nominated across the board for all of the Best Actress awards for her performance in Killers of the Flower Moon. The film came out during the SAG strike, so Lily didn’t really get a chance to do a big promotional tour. As such, it feels like we’re still finding out big chunks of her personal biography, information which usually would have been front-and-center in her first KOTFM interviews. For example, Lily uses both “she” and “they” pronouns. Her rationale is really interesting, and it relates to Native American culture and language.

Lily Gladstone is opening up about pronoun preferences. In an interview with PEOPLE, the Killers of the Flower Moon star, 37, explains why she feels comfortable being referred to as both she and they.

“I remember being 9 years old and just being a little disheartened, seeing how often a lot of my boy cousins were misgendered because they wore their hair long,” explains Gladstone, who has Blackfeet and Nez Perce heritage. She was raised on the Blackfeet reservation in Montana for the first decade of her life.

“It happens to a lot of kids, I think, especially Native boys leaving a community where long hair is celebrated [and then] just kind of getting teased for it,” continues Gladstone, whose profile on X also mentions she/they pronouns. “So I remember back then being like, everybody should just be they. And in most Native languages, most Indigenous languages, Blackfeet included, there are no gendered pronouns. There is no he/she, there’s only they,” Gladstone adds.

“It doesn’t happen as much anymore, but there’ve been several times in my life where I’ve been speaking to a northern Cheyenne-first language speaker [or another] Indigenous-first language speaker where they’ll accidentally misgender you when they’re talking to you,” says Gladstone. “And then they’ll get embarrassed about it, but it’s because they’ve learned English later.”

“So Blackfeet, we don’t have gendered pronouns, but our gender is implied in our name. But even that’s not binary,” says Gladstone, adding that her grandfather’s Blackfeet name meant “Iron Woman.” “He had a name that had a woman’s name in it. I’d never met my grandfather. I wouldn’t say that he was nonbinary in gender, but he was given a woman’s name because he kind of carried himself, I guess, the way that women who have that name do. And there were lots of women historically and still now who are given men’s names. They fulfill more of a man’s role in society as far as being provider, warrior, those sort of things,” she says.

“So, yeah, my pronoun use is partly a way of decolonizing gender for myself.”

Gladstone adds that her pronoun use is a way of “embracing that when I’m in a group of ladies, I know that I’m a little bit different. When I’m in a group of men, I don’t feel like a man. I don’t feel [masculine] at all. I feel probably more feminine when I’m around other men.”

As far as gendered awards categories that separate actor and actress, Gladstone, who is nominated for best actress at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards, has nuanced feelings. “I think it’s really cool that we’re seeing ‘performer’ and we’re seeing everybody brought in together. I do feel that historically having gendered categories has helped from keeping women actors from a lot of erasure because I think historically people just tend to honor male performances more. I know a lot of actresses who are very proud of the word ‘actress’ or are very proud of being an actress. I don’t know, maybe it’s just an overly semantic thing where I’m like, if there’s not a ‘director-ess,’ then there shouldn’t be actresses. There’s no ‘producer-ess,’ there’s no ‘cinematographer-ess.’ ”

[From People]

There have been several conversations recently about gendered awards categories, with Emma Corrin saying that they don’t feel like they should be relegated to “actress” categories. I appreciate that Lily is pointing out the obvious – that the second any awards show makes their categories genderless, only men will be nominated. Which is why 99% of the director, cinematographer and producer nominations DO go to men, because those categories are already genderless. So, just at a representation level, I do think the actor categories should be gendered. But I also think the conversations are interesting, and Lily makes some interesting points about language and decolonizing gender.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

As long as we’re shamefully still in a moment of rampant, draconian book bans from the far right, I feel it’s a good time to remind those conservatives of Maurice Sendak: the beloved children’s author/illustrator and beacon of marriage values, having been with the same partner for 50 years. The fact that said partner was Eugene Glynn, a psychiatrist of the male variety… well they can read up on that detail for themselves. (Because you have to read in order to learn things.) Although Sendak passed away in 2012, the executive director and curator of his estate have just retrieved a count-along picture book from the 1960s vaults and released it posthumously. I can’t wait to see how conservatives object to this story of a boy pulling rabbits out of a hat:

Counting rabbits: In Ten Little Rabbits, a new posthumous picture book by Maurice Sendak, Mino the Magician waves his wand and, poof, a rabbit appears. Another wave and out springs a second and then a third. By the fourth rabbit, Mino yawns. By the sixth, he’s annoyed. Ninth, he’s exasperated, as the rabbits crawl all over him. So back they go, one rabbit at a time, giving readers the chance to count up and back again by the time Mino is done. … Once again, Sendak’s knack for capturing just about every kind of emotion is on full display, 12 years after his death, in this book being brought to the public for the first time.

Portrait of an artist as a young boy: Sendak fans will immediately recognize Mino. While their names and adventures might be different, the boys in Chicken Soup With Rice, Where The Wild Things Are, Once Was Johnny — Mino, Max, Pierre, Johnny — and other Sendak stories look very similar. “Well, he’s Maurice,” says Lynn Caponera, executive director of The Maurice Sendak Foundation. “He” also didn’t look like most of the other boys in children’s books in the 1950s, says curator Jonathan Weinberg. … “The characters of my earlier books are really only sort of cockamamie self-portraits,” Sendak told Terry Gross, host of WHYY’s Fresh Air in 2003. “Unfortunately, I look like Max and the Wild Things, as children tell you in their brazen way. ‘Oh, Mommy, he looks like the Moishe, the big, wild thing.’ And you just want to crack them.”

An industrious night owl: When Caponera was 18, she moved into an apartment on the property and helped take care of the house and the dogs. She quickly learned that Sendak was a night owl. Her apartment was right underneath his studio. “So I would hear him all night whistling and playing music,” she recalls, “And you could hear when things were going right. He would be whistling like crazy. So like actually whistling while he worked.” She adds it was “a really wonderful way to come up in the morning and see what he did.” Weinberg adds that Sendak, “could whistle entire operas from beginning to end” — a claim that is difficult to fact-check. But some of his fantasy sketches actually note on the back what song he was whistling when he was working on them.

His studio has been preserved: Slippers on the floor, sweater draped over the chair, art supplies on his desk. “Cheap…cake paints” like the kind you’d “use in kindergarten,” [Caponera] notes. Among the many photographs by Sendak’s desk is one of Alice Liddell, the girl who inspired the main character in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures Under Ground. She doesn’t look too happy; Sendak loved it. “Maurice used to say that he really identified with that photo because, you know, being an illustrator is a very lonely job,” Caponera says. “You’re usually hours and hours doing tedious work at a drawing table by yourself. So he liked to think that Alice was sort of looking over him and that she looked so dejected because she’s so tired.”

The origins of Ten Little Rabbits: He initially thought the count-along picture book would be part of Nutshell Library, his 1962 collection of pocket-size books Alligators All Around, Chicken Soup With Rice, One Was Johnny, and Pierre. But “he decided to go in a different direction because the other books in Nutshell Library are much more elaborate,” Weinberg says. Eventually, in 1970, Sendak turned Ten Little Rabbits into a 3.5 x 2.5-inch pamphlet for a fundraiser for Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Museum.

[From NPR]

Between his being a night owl and loving a photo that captures someone in misery, Maurice Sendak is a man after my own heart. What a fabulous situation Caponera fell into as an 18-year-old! I smell a film script in there, the young woman coming of age set against the curmudgeonly misfit. Meanwhile, I beseech the irascible, creative, slightly mad artists out there: I am available and willing to be adopted into your home’s mother-in-law suite. I’ll be honest, my housekeeping is abysmal. But I’m great with dogs and am a proficient watercolorist with training in oils as well, so I would be helpful in art studio maintenance. I can also look dejected and tired on command. Easily.

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Photos are from Maurice Sendak at a 2004 appearance in NYC and at the 2009 premiere of Where The Wild Things Are. He is also shown in 1982. Credit: Kristin Callahan/Avalon and Getty

Country singer Toby Keith has passed away at the age of 62. [Hollywood Life]
Zendaya & Timothee Chalamet looked amazing for their Dune 2 promo. [JustJared]
Jacob Elordi is under investigation for assault in Australia. [Pajiba]
Joe Alwyn & Paul Mescal have a group text called the Tortured Man Club, so… you know, is Taylor Swift’s new album a reference to that? [LaineyGossip]
Which artists have called out the Grammys? [Buzzfeed]
Behind-the-scenes photos from the Grammys. [GFY]
Usher looks good in these SKIMS ads. [Socialite Life]
Simon Cowell explains why he wears sunglasses on television. [Seriously OMG]
This Alberta Ferretti suit on Florence Pugh is fire. [RCFA]
Wendy Williams is back! [OMG Blog]

I’m a broken record about this, but it bears repeating: this was never the Windsors’ plan, to see the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stay married and to see them thrive in America. The Windsors had many plans, but the current reality was never an option they considered. They wanted to drive Meghan out of the UK; they wanted a Sussex divorce; they wanted Meghan to disappear or die; they wanted Harry to crawl back to them, penitent and divorced; they wanted H&M to return, broke and desolate. Those were the plans at various points throughout 2018-2022. They cannot comprehend the fact that they can’t figure out a way to get Harry to capitulate or leave his wife or come running back to them. It’s broken their brains. I bring all of this up because of the latest clownery from the Daily Mail: “Is Prince Harry’s return to duty the only way to boost the roster of working royals? He and Meghan have their critics, but they’re the only younger family members cancer-stricken King Charles can call on with experience of public service.” I sh-t you not.

The dwindling number of royals who can carry out engagements has been thrown into sharp relief again as King Charles steps back from public duties while being treated for cancer. While the Firm once boasted a bulging roster of royals to carry out engagements on behalf of the King, the numbers have shrunk in line with Charles’ vision for a ‘slimmed down the monarchy’ – on top of Prince Andrew being forced to step down and Harry and Meghan leaving for America.

With Prince and Princess of Wales also out of action while Kate recovers from surgery, the brunt of the work will be undertaken by Queen Camilla, Princess Anne, Prince Edward and the Duchess of Edinburgh. It begs the question of who can step in, and despite Harry and Meghan quitting as senior royals, they are the only available members of the family with any real experience of public duty.

The late Queen’s cousins, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra also do work on behalf of the King, but are all in their late seventies or eighties, meaning their workload is understandably reduced. With the three most senior royals out of action, the remaining working royals have an average age of 75, royal watchers are questioning who could be brought into the fold to step up – with various younger members looked upon.

Perhaps the most obvious choice is Prince Harry, 39, who has jetted back to the UK to see his father following his diagnosis. While Harry and his wife Meghan are not working royals, after stepping down in 2020, Harry remains a counsellor of the state – meaning he can work on behalf of the King – and is fifth-in-line to the throne. But the pair are seemingly very settled in California, where live in a £15million Montecito mansion with their two children. Nonetheless, Harry and Meghan undoubtedly have the most experience in public facing roles, with Harry undertaking royal duties from the age of 21.

[From The Daily Mail]

If Harry was so vital to the institution, they should have treated him as such from the beginning. I’m a broken record about that too. Harry and Meghan understood that they could still do good, important work on behalf of the crown as well, which is why THEY OFFERED a half-in solution. They were denied that compromise and the Windsors sneered at them for offering it. They sneered because they never considered that Harry and Meghan would thrive. Oh well! I hope Harry has a nice visit with his father and then he heads right back to Heathrow.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.