The cicadas are now comin' out with a vengeance. They're gross, and they're loud. You can probably hear their "serenade" both day and night. And when they're making noice in droves, it can be an almost deafening sound quite similar to the knife-wielding music from the movie "Psycho." OK, so maybe they're not that loud. Hearing experts actually say that the sound levels are harmless to the human ear... So yeah.But they're so gross... can you believe that they come up from the ground every 17 years to basically DO IT?!?! Ummm, gross. I hope that you're not too bothered by their presence. I wasn't, at first. But it's slowly creepin' up on me. *eh*
BOO, KATE BECKINSALE! 11-May-2004
The couple recited wedding vows Sunday, in what publicist Troy Nankin described as an intimate ceremony. "Beckinsale wore a Vera Wang gown," Nankin said Monday. No other details were released.
It is the first marriage for both.
Beckinsale is probably best known for her role in the current hit, Van Helsing. She was also seen in last year's Underworld. Other films include Broke Down Palace opposite Claire Danes, Serendipity alongside John Cusak, and Pearl Harbor with an all-star cast including Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett.
Wiseman is best known as a music video director for acts such as En Vogue and Megadeth. He made his feature-film debut with last fall's Underworld. He is now working on an untitled sequel to Underworld with Beckinsale again in the starring role.
PRADA GOES PUBLIC IN 2004?! NOT!! 7-May-2004
It's been said that Prada planned to publicize the company later this year, according to an article in the most recent issue of Il Mondo, an Italian weekly. However, Prada's financial spokesman re-iterated to FWD that the group was sticking by "its time window of a public listing sometime in the first half of 2004."
"The market conditions are not right to do so in 2004," he added.
Plans by the CEO of Patrizio Bertelli to eventually bring Prada public have been the subject of intense interest and speculation for many years.
Prada accumulated more than one billion dollars in debt in an acquisition spree in the late nineties that saw Bertelli snap up Helmut Lang, Jil Sander and Church's shoes. But the most recent financial news from Prada has been healthy: 2003 net profit galloped ahead 33 percent to 36 million Euros (or $44 million), albeit on a 13 percent decline in sales to 1.36 billion Euros (or $1.65 billion).
The latest flap about Prada's future plans emerged while its designer Miuccia Prada was opening the label's new 10,000 square-foot store in Hong Kong. Prada plans to open 13 more boutiques in China by the end of 2005, investing some 35 million Euros in the process. "Hong Kong is no longer just the international platform for the Far East; it increasingly represents a launch pad into the Chinese market. It creates the trends and acts as a showcase for this market," Miuccia said in a statement.
Hmmm... not to mention all the FAKE items that are made in Hong Kong and shipped to Chinatowns all over the world... OOOPS. Thinking out loud again... Yikes!
Actress Kate Beckinsale and Underworld director, Len Wiseman, were married during a small weekend ceremony at the lush Bel-Air Hotel.
According to news from Fashion Wire Daily, Prada has issued a public statement denying a report, from the Italian press, that the fashion-forward entity will be looking for "a public quotation" later this year. According FWD, the luxe specialist shared, "With regard to the news, in the Italian press, the Prada Group would like to clarify through its spokesman that while it can confirm the strong improvement in its financial figures, there are no plans for a public listing in 2004."
Even though the third American Idol won't be chosen for another three weeks, the top 10 finalists have made plans for a summer North American tour together. According to a report by Reuters & Billboard, the top contestants from the FOX series will take their voices on the road soon after the show's conclusion at the end of May.