Last year Rue McClanahan died in New York at the age of 76, leaving Betty White as the last remaining Golden Girl, and now items from her estate are being sold off at auction. Life is depressing. more ›

Beloved actress Bea Arthur has died of complications brought on by cancer in her Los Angeles home at the age of 86. She is remembered most for her Emmy award-winning roles as Dorothy on the 1980s sitcom and Maude on the Norman Lear sitcom of the same name set in Tuckahoe a decade before. Arthur, born Bernice Frankel in NYC in 1922, had a long stage career on and off-Broadway (including a Tony in 1966) before her late success on the small screen. Arthur will also fondly be remembered as a regular at Friars Club Roasts throughout the last decade—first serving as the punchline of a series of jokes and then delivering some of her own dirty zingers at Pamela Anderson's send-up in 2005. Just last year Arthur was inducted into the TV Hall of Fame. She is survived by two sons and two granddaughters. more ›

Estelle Getty, born Estelle Scher on the Lower East Side of New York City in 1923, and perhaps best known for her role as Sophia on the Golden Girls, has died. Getty was 84 (she would have been 85 on the 25th) and living in Los Angeles; Bloomberg.com reports that "she had been ill for several years with what doctors eventually diagnosed as Lewy body dementia, a brain disorder that causes cognitive problems as well as the tremors associated with Parkinson's disease." During her early years in New York she attended Seward Park High School, and was a secretary prior to taking the Broadway stage. Reportedly she was "thrilled and content to work in the New York theater and never aspired to television or film until a five-year stint on Broadway in Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy raised her profile." more ›

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt, who has completely covered her house in mosaic tiles. more ›

ART: As a "happy anniversary" to The Velvet Underground and Nico (40 years!), John McWhinnie honors the rock legends (and the release of that album) with a collection of rare memorabilia and art(rock)ifacts. Come by to check out film stills by Warhol, "never before published or publicly shown photographs of the band by Adam Ritchie, Paul Morrisey and Doug Yule," and original lyrics by Lou Reed. More info here. more ›

Just in time for restless New Yorkers to cut loose (men to dress in drag, women to dress as sluts - hey, we're not judging, just observing), it's a surprisingly mild Halloween today. While there were a fair share of parties over the weekend (we took the subway with naughty nurses, ballplayers, witches, and angry New Yorkers!), tonight is the real deal, with the Village Halloween Parade getting started at 7PM, as revelers walk along Sixth Avenue from Spring Street until 23rd Street. This year's parade is New Orleans-themed, with 15 year old Glen Hall III, a third generation musician from New Orleans, acting as the grand marshal, which is amusing as many of the costumes are definitely R-rated. We do, though, suspect some people will try to look like conservative Golden Girls - you know, Harriet Miers - as well as dress up as Angelina Jolie and Brad PItt (Wellingtons and men's shirts), Paris HIlton (no underwear), Tara Reid (no breast coverage) and Dick Cheney (on a gurney). Let us know what you're dressing up as tonight. more ›

http://www.concertartist.info/IMCA/scandia.html">Scandia Orchestra! That's a sorta dooce, isn't it? Matson suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome, which is apparently blamed on a strained relationship with school administrators, and while she's been on unpaid leave since earlier this year (at her request), Matson has conducted twice. Matson's argument is that since she's away from the environment causing her CFS, then she is able to conduct! This is definitely a classier second job that former social studies teacher Matthew Kaye's wrestling gig, but the fact that Kaye had his mom or sister call the school saying he was sick while he was really on the road takes the cake. The Board of Education is investigating whether or not Matson should repay the school for the fake sick days and they are "seeking her termination." more ›

Jill Singer, Mediabistro Deputy Editor more ›

No, not really. The AP promptly covers the finale's details. The best quote comes from Ellen DeGeneres: ".'" more ›

After tackling behavior modification schools for teenagers yesterday, the Times turns its attention to nude summer camps for teens. American Association for Nude Recreation runs a variety of teen nudist camps and according to the article, "The nudist association, the larger of two nationwide, sees this as a place to train 'youth ambassadors' to what nudists call the 'textile' world." Reporter Kate Zernike and the AANR go to great lengths to tamp down suspicions that it's a love-in (it's a way to feel empowered about your imperfect body) or that it's dangerous (people keep an eye on out on "newcomers" and camps have a fair amount of security) but when one 18 year-old says, "At school, if you see a person, you just see their clothes. Here you have to actually get to know the people," Gothamist can't help but wonder if it means know in the biblical sense as teens are all about the hormones from 13-18.
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