Live Blogging Top Chef, Week 8

MisterHippity · 12/21/11 09:00PM

Happy Winter Solstice Eve! It's the longest, darkest night of the year—the perfect time to grab a cup of mulled cider, cozy up to a glowing television screen and live-blog Top Chef in the comments. That's what we're all about to do—with or without the mulled cider—so join us!

Steve Jobs Gets a Grammy

Ryan Tate · 12/21/11 07:36PM

The Recording Academy announced Steve Jobs will receive a Trustees Award. Jobs's Apple won a technical Grammy in 2002, but this posthumous honor puts him in pantheon with The Beatles - who Jobs promised he'd never sell music (oops!).

Comment of the Day: May Rick Perry's Odds Never Be In Our Favor

Leah Beckmann · 12/21/11 07:01PM

Today we saw a different, more agile, more feline side of Rick Perry. That silent way in which he stalks his prey is just one among an impressive, um, skill set? One commenter thinks this strange collection of talents Perry has exhibited can be boiled down to a simple numbers game.

Game Change: Sarah Palin Is Filmdom's Greatest Villain

Jim Newell · 12/21/11 05:35PM

Here's HBO's teaser for its upcoming adaptation of Mark Halperin and John Heilemann's book Game Change, the definitive account of gossipy things that people told Mark Halperin and John Heilemann during the 2008 presidential campaign. This clip suggests that, well, Sarah Palin may not be portrayed very nicely?

The Porny Pastimes of the World's Most Famous Sperm Donor

Adrian Chen · 12/21/11 05:21PM

The FDA is cracking down on a San Francisco man who gives away his spooj on the internet to people he meets through his website. So far, Trent Arsenault has helped 14 couples get pregnant. But not all of them are aware that Arsenault is turning his "donations" into a torrent of amateur porn.

Science Confirms: Santa Real

Hamilton Nolan · 12/21/11 04:50PM

Carp Christmas! Nanophotonic Christmas! Fire Christmas! Pepper Christmas! Vitamin Christmas! Gene Christmas! Campus Christmas! Computer Christmas! And the all important Christmas Christmas! It's your Christmas Science Watch, where we watch science—it's almost Christmas!

Chinese Hackers Beat U.S. Chamber of Commerce Into Total Submission

Ryan Tate · 12/21/11 04:40PM

Hackers in China have reportedly gained total access to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's computer systems, including six weeks of emails relating to the lobbying group's Asia policy. After the FBI alerted the Chamber to the breach, the pro-business group hired private computer investigators to fix the problem. But the free market has been utterly helpless to stop this communist menace.

Professional Troll Flees Iowa In Fear

Hamilton Nolan · 12/21/11 02:41PM

University of Iowa professor and pretentious troll-journalist Stephen Bloom recently wrote an article in The Atlantic mocking Iowa as a backward, hick-filled state full of people smoking meth out of corncobs (paraphrasing). Which it is, probably! (Never been there personally, thank god.) But now Stephen Bloom has literally fled the state in terror to "an undisclosed location" after Iowans got mad at him. You're doing this all wrong, Stephen Bloom.

Behold Rick Perry's Cat-Like Pounce on His Wife

Jim Newell · 12/21/11 02:15PM

Rick Perry's latest ad, "American Story," starts off with a good concept: It eliminates "Rick Perry" from the ad altogether, instead leaving things to his wife, Anita. She tells us about their early years, like when Rick Perry joined the Air Force and "flew planes all over the world." Okay, fine. But then, around, :24, her husband makes his entrance. Nay — he makes the campaign ad entrance of the year, hopping onto a ledge. Oh my God. [Standing ovation.]

Use 'Romance Scams' To Score Free Therapy This Holiday Season

Ryan Tate · 12/21/11 02:02PM

There was a 30 percent increase in complaints about "romance scams" last month, according to Western Union. A "romance scam" is where someone spends months and months having in-depth email conversations with you, and then gets you to send them money. Except for the lack of a proper couch, formal credentials, and some honesty, these scams sound a lot like psychological counseling. So why not reverse the scam?

Court Docs Confirm O'Reilly's Crusade Against Cuckolding Cop

John Cook · 12/21/11 01:50PM

The Nassau County Police Department has acknowledged in a court filing that Bill O'Reilly played a role in an internal affairs investigation into an NCPD detective, confirming a key element of Gawker's exclusive story last August detailing how the Fox News blowhard tried to have the cop who was dating his wife investigated by his own police department.

Gary Johnson Will Run for Top Republican Screwer-Overer

Jim Newell · 12/21/11 12:55PM

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson has dropped out of the Republican presidential race. He rarely ever polled above 8 — people, not percentage points. He made a popular Rush Limbaugh joke about doggie poop during one of the two debates in which he appeared. He took his shirt off for the papers and rode a bike. He courted pagans, online gamblers, and other knaves. And now he will run for the Libertarian party nomination, and maybe decide the presidential election.

The Kardashians Might Use Child Labor to Make Their Clothes

Brian Moylan · 12/21/11 12:35PM

First there was Kim's whole wedding debacle, now there's the PR bombshell that some of the clothes the Kardashians sell on QVC and other products they endorse are made in China using what is akin to slave labor. Uh-oh!

Gameloft VP Talks True HD and Motion Blur in the First Installment of On Display

Studio@Gawker · 12/21/11 11:59AM

Hand-held devices are revolutionizing the gaming industry, and pioneers like Gameloft, the gaming powerhouse behind cross-platform social and media games such as Modern Combat and Spider-Man: Toxic City, have taken cues from the technological advancements of the LG Nitro HD. The True HD IPS Display with 16:9 widescreen capabilities are innovations that beget innovations by the developers at Gameloft, and their HD game store is just a button-push away from the LG Nitro HD home screen.