More unbelievable sad news to report today … the New York Times has just reported that legendary soul singer Isaac Hayes (perhaps better known to South Park fans as the voice of Chef) has died today in his Memphis, TN home. He was 65 years old:

Isaac Hayes, the pioneering singer, songwriter and musician whose relentless “Theme From Shaft” won Academy and Grammy awards, has been found dead at home. He was 65. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says a family member found Hayes unresponsive near a treadmill on Sunday. He was pronounced dead about an hour later at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis. The cause of death was not immediately known. In the early 1970s, Hayes laid the groundwork for disco, for what became known as urban-contemporary music and for romantic crooners like Barry White. And he was rapping before there was rap. His career hit another high in 1997 when he became the voice of Chef, the sensible school cook and devoted ladies man on the animated TV show “South Park.”

I am at a total loss. Another death already? Yesterday we lost Bernie Mac, today Isaac Hayes. I’m sure more deets about Isaac’s passing will be available soon but … I just can’t believe that this keeps happening. My thoughts and condolences go out to the entire Hayes family.

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I’ve basically been keeping a low profile over the past few days … only going out to hang out a bit with a few friends but really, trying to do as little as possible. Yesterday I managed to finally finish reading Twilight (which I started before my European vacay) and, in the end, quite liked it:

It’s really an easy read and the story is somewhat compelling but it didn’t blow my mind by any means. There’s charm in its simplicity but it isn’t very challenging. I can deffo see the appeal for the rabid fans, tho. It makes for a great teen romance read. As an origin story, there was a lot of explanation going on with only the meat of the action coming at the very end. I am already well into New Moon (the second book in the series) and I like where it’s going. Again, fun books but nothing too challenging. I do want to read the series to the end (even tho Breaking Dawn, the fourth book that has just been released, is being met with poor reviews from fans I still want to read thru to the end) so I’ll be making my way thru the books as quickly as possible to get on to other books on my pile.

Last night I met up with Mike and Jill for dinner at Bamboo in Sherman Oaks, CA. We decided on Chinese (in honor of the Beijing Olympics) and had a great time. Honestly, I wasn’t in the mood to make a night of it so I bailed on dancing with Darion and Jordan. I gotta say, I’m really enjoying doing all the nothing ;)

Tonight The Gang^TM is getting together for a fun dinner before Kirsten has to jet back to Australia for a few weeks … I am looking forward to seeing everyone all together … it shall be a blast.

• Kylie Minogue is set to do TV again.
• Girls Aloud are droppin’ their next album in November.
• Paris Hilton can’t decide on a name for her new Las Vegas nightclub.
• I bet JoJo is really regretting her decision now.
• Jennifer Aniston doesn’t find John Mayer funny.
• Michael Bivins (Bell Biv Devoe, New Edition) is 40, Antonio Banderas is 48 and Rosanna Arquette is 49 years old today. Click HERE to see who else is celebrating a birthday today.
• Miley Cyrus talks marriage.
• Shia LaBeouf will keep all of his digits.

Wee! It is that time of the week again, time to say hello to the Hot Dude of the Week and marvel at his ability to do nothing whatsoever other than look hot while wearing a little clothing as possible. This week we’ve got ourselves a gent who is wearing more clothes than other Hot Dudes and, yet, still manages to bring the sexy. Say hello to Brendon:

I think I like this pic because it’s not too overly gratuitous, especially since there are other pics of Brendon that are much more risqué (ie. he’s basically fully nekkid). But I think that there is something to be said about subtlety from time to time. It’s a nice pic for this nice Sunday. Mebbe next week we’ll find a dirty boy ;)

[Photo credit: All American Guys]

In the annuls of modern history, rarely (if ever) have we been presented with a competitive reality television show that attempts to award one lucky contestant with a prize so great, so desirous that the mere thought of winning such a prize seems … almost dreamlike. Here is the first cast photo of the young hopefuls that will be vying for the coveted position of Paris Hilton’s New BFF:

A group of 20 women will live together and compete in various challenges, in order to be anointed Paris Hilton’s new best friend.

Uhh, I love how the contestants are labeled as “20 women” when you can see that there is at least one guy in the mix. LOL! Honestly, I think any person who is so willing to endure the travails presented to them in order to be Paris Hilton’s BFF absolutely deserves everything they have coming to them. Good luck!

[Source, Source]

Here are a couple pics of Madonna making her weekly visit to the Kabbalah Centre in NYC this weekend but you will note that her left ankle is securely wrapped in bandages as she hobbled her way inside:

There are reports that Maddy had very noticeable difficulty going up the stairs on her bad ankle and that she had to be ushered into an elevator for her express use. Now, as always, these reports could be grossly exaggerated but still … a wrapped ankle ain’t a good sign, especially with that world tour coming up. HMMM … should we be worried?

[Photo credit: Splash News]