Remember Edison Pena, one of the Chilean miners who had been trapped in a collapsed mine for 69 days last year? He ran three to six miles a day underground during the ordeal and was invited to run in last year's NYC Marathon. Pena even appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, singing "Suspicious Minds." Well, now he's in a psychiatric clinic.
Chilean Miners A Year Later: Depressed, Angry And Poorer Than Before
TriBeCa Film Fest "Drive-In" Flicks To Feature Fame, Muppets
With less than a month until it starts its tenth go-round, the TriBeCa Film Festival media machine has started to rumble. And though single tickets won't be available to non-AmEX holding, non-Downtown living, New Yorkers until April 18 the lineup for the Festival's popular (and free) Drive-In series have been announced. Putting aside the fact that you can't actually drive in to the World Financial Plaza, where the movies are screened, anyone up for some Fame and Muppets Take Manhattan under the stars?
Fame Costume Contest Brings out Underachievers
Did any of these people ever even see Fame? You wouldn't know it by looking at the outfits they chose for the costume contest that was held last night in conjunction with a screening of the classic 1980 film. This all went down in McCarren Park, where one would wager the audience had way more interesting 80s vintage incorporated into their daily attire than they did for the event. Cut-off tees? Jean shorts? Yawn. Check out the contestants, the winners and the disaffected hipsters, above.
Fame Cast Fills Up, Begins Production
The Fame remake will be hitting big screens in the Fall of 2009, and the cast has just been finalized. Reports are coming in that Megan Mullally, Kelsey Grammer, Charles S. Dutton, Bebe Neuwirth and Debbie Allen have all been enlisted "to fill out the administrative and teaching roles" at New York City High School of Performing Arts. MGM says "This picture is a celebration, a testament to people pursuing their dreams, so we set out to find talented actors who could both convincingly instruct onscreen and also inspire audiences." The student cast members are mostly unknowns, and can be checked out on IMDB. Incidentally, Debbie Allen played dance teach Lydia Grant in the 1980 film, and will be coming back as Principal Simms. Check out the original "Hot Lunch Jam" below.
Everyone Wants a Piece of Spitzer Call Girl "Kristen"
Likely many a person coming to New York City with a dream, Ashley Alexandra Dupre, also known as Governor Spitzer's February 13 call girl "Kristen," wanted to be famous. But did she want to be infamous enough to be on the cover of the NY Post as a "BAD GIRL"? And how bad can she be, if she has a tattoo of a cross on her right hand? In addition to the photo on the cover of The Post, they have several more photos of the girl who brought Spitzer down.
Stoop Girls Turn their 15 Blocks of Fame into Minutes!
In Warhol's days everyone was famous for 15 minutes, now everyone is famous for 15 blocks. Two twentysomethings have recently risen the bar, however, by getting a NYMag piece profiling their neighborhood "fame."
Stalking Your Neighborhood Celeb 101
The New York Press is getting their Gawker Stalker on with their latest cover story about stalking Claire Danes...and how you, yes you, can also follow her home! All you need is the internet, a lot of free time and an obsession in which to fuel your fanboy/girl fire. The payoff? Well, for the author of the article, Becca Tucker, it was a cover story complete with creepy photo, headline and font. Just close your...

