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Call Girl Conglomerate

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In today’s job market, many of us are probably rethinking our career goals. Prostitution may or may not have occurred to you as an option, but we’d be lying if we said it hadn’t occurred to us. These days, you can see a highly debated version of the high class prostitute lifestyle, one very different from Julia Roberts’ fairy tale, on Showtime’s series Secret Diary of a Call Girl, starring Billy Piper, which is based on the true-life confessions of Belle de Jour, a call girl-turned-writer in London. Although Belle’s actual identity is kept secret, London’s most (in)famous call girl agreed to chat with The Sun about prostitution, her university days and how she would have made Twilight differently.

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Break Out Your TiVo!

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Around this time last year, I was unbelievably sad. No, not because the semester was starting back up again, but because my usual favorite thing about late January, new and returning mid-season shows, would not come to pass because of that horrible period you might recall as The Writer’s Strike (though I prefer the name “Oh Hello, Boredom! Yes, please, come, hang out with us for three months, seven days and some-odd hours.”)
Thankfully, that’s long gone, and therefore I can happily guide you in all the good and bad returning and new shows of mid-season 2009, (or what I’d rather call, “Tata, Boredom! It’s been swell — NOT. Don’t let the door hit you on your monotonous behind on the way out.” Am I being silly? Yes, I am, but that’s the-return-of-TV joy for you.

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Bring in the new week? ABC, the old one was better

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TV , I got some bones to pick with you. Since it is break, I am lazy and you don’t deserve full paragraphs, I will deliver them in bullet point form.

The Golden Globes
I’m sorry, but what the hell were you thinking?! How could you overlook Battlestar Galactica and Pushing Daisies? And why did How I Met Your Mother not get a Best Comedy? What is wrong with you?!

Scrubs on ABC

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Student Artist Spotlight: Jeffrey Connor and Bruce Hyde

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At first glance, Jeff and Bruce’s camaraderie (their senses of humor complement each other and they finish each others sentences in a way that makes them seem like they’ve known each other much longer than a few months) belies how passionately they play when on stage. Jeff is out of town a lot and is apparently homeless; Bruce, in a complementary way, came to Cornell to run track, and has since stayed, taking on the persona of a talented Van Wilder (at 25, he’s been at Cornell since 2005 and claims his date of graduation is 2012) who also happens to be a pretty talented poker player, and is using his winnings to pay tuition.

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Even the Sex Is Better in London

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I’m gonna go out on a limb here and just say this: I am not against prostitution. In fact, I think it should be legalized.
There, I said it. Some of you may have gasped, because the idea of anyone selling sex for money sounds preposterous. Some of you probably rolled your eyes, hopefully because you don’t find it all that shocking but think I’m being melodramatic. Some of you probably aren’t really paying attention. Still, there you go. I have put it out there, in print and on the internet. It’s permanent, and it can’t be erased. Luckily, I don’t want to go into politics or be a nun.

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Livin' the California Dream, Boobs and All

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Showtime really messed up the other day, for which I am ecstatically grateful: when my roommates and I went to watch our On Demand, ready-for-viewing copy of the Californication premiere, there was not one but two episodes of Californication in my On Demand box. Two. As in: the premiere and next week’s, not aired yet episode. Showtime, I love you, and I promise to not say anything bad about you for at least another 3 to 6 months.
I was so excited about this that I called my mom to tell her (my life is not very exciting these days).
“Mom, guess what!”
“One of your stories got picked up by The New York Times?” (She likes to dream big.)
“Noooo … Showtime screwed up and gave us the second episode of Californication.”

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The Cornell Connection: Gaye Hirsch '84, CW Executive

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Ever dream of working in showbiz? Then talk to Gaye Hirsch ’84, Senior Vice President of Current Programming at the C.W. television network. She helped make movies for Tom Cruise’s production company, Cruise/Wagner and held a gig with HBO, before settling down to oversee shows like Gossip Girl and Smallville at the C.W. The Sun had the opportunity to sit down with Hirsch in Los Angeles this summer to talk about her path to show-business:
The Sun: So you’re a pretty big deal. Would you mind explaining what exactly your job entails?

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All the Sad, Young, Literary Men

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I love summers because I can read for fun; this summer, most of what I read sucked. All sucked, that is, but one: Keith Gessen’s jewel of a debut, All the Sad, Young, Literary Men.
The title implies an obvious ennui, a weight, and perhaps, a certain self-importance. The title, yes catching, seems to say: I am Chekhov with a twist of Dave Eggers; I am Russian lit-er-a-ture with a hint of American modern sparseness.
And yet Keith Gessen’s first novel opens with the rhythm of The Things They Carried and the authorial insight of one sadly aware of all those sad (young) writers who came before him … yet in a voice that is utterly new.

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Al Gore May Not Be My Biggest Fan

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I am not the eco-friendliest person. I don’t know if me and the environment are friends; I’d say we’re more acquaintances who drunkenly bump into each other at the bars and make plans for lunch — “Like, not this week, because I’m really busy, but maybe next week?” — and then we both forget about it.
But if the biological system I just anthropomorphized as a literary device didn’t like me then, it sure isn’t going to like me after this one. But that’s OK, because while I like the eco-friendly movement — I really do — I just like people more.
Before every socially conscious person gets up in arms, I’m actually only talking about one aspect of our “Go Green!” society: reusable bags.

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'Yo, You Got Cornelled!'

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[img_assist|nid=31849|title=Mr. Gorilla Man and Senor Banana|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]On October 31, 2006, a gorilla woke up, got dressed and decided to spend his day chasing a banana around campus.
Or more accurately, two dudes decided to pull an ingenious prank on Halloween — a guy in a gorilla suit chasing a guy in a banana suit throughout campus — classrooms, up and down lecture halls, skipping through Ho plaza, even meandering through Trillium and Libe Café, picking up some much needed coffee and potassium.