While sharing her "old family recipe" for holiday cookies on the Today Show, Hoda Kotb demonstrated her culinary expertise, burning her hand and swearing on live television in the family tradition.

Jersey doesn't have self-service gas stations. So people from New Jersey don't pump their gas, they pump their fists. This video makes that fact abundantly clear.

Music videos don't get much more 80's this. Watch the Egyptian Lover sing about his vices in this video featuring mummies, tombs, and hot egyptian babes.

You should probably read the incredible summaries posted by those who witnessed this bizarre celebration of one man's incredibly dysfunctional self-regard. The basic story: Glenn Beck is "Eddie," and he is poor, and his mom makes him a sweater, and then he kills his mom with ingratitude, and then he cries on the floor while a black woman sings at him, and then he runs through a cornfield during a storm, and his mom comes back to life. And then Glenn Beck, who is no longer Eddie, explains that the capitalists at Simon and Schuster forced him to write that terrible dream ending, and in reality, he did kill his real-life mom with ingratitude.

An appeals court ruled that Columbia University can't use eminent domain to grab property it wants for its expansion just by calling its neighborhood "blighted." The judges pointed out: Columbia is so freaking shady.

[Drew Barrymore cackles with laughter after a screening of their movie Everything's Fine at Tavern on the Green last night when Kate Beckinsale tells her that there is such a thing as too many sequins. Image via Getty]

Watch this kitty hang upside-down on the stairs.

Drew Barrymore going to lunch at La Esquina with a friend ... Kate Beckinsale arriving at JFK with her daughter and later sitting on a swing in Central Park ... Naomi Watts leaving lunch at Smile ... Sienna Miller running from photographers outside Jude Law's apartment and later shopping downtown ... Howie Mandel walking in Midtown ... Hugh Jackman playing with daughter Ava ... Wayne Gretzky and wife Janet Jones walking in Midtown ... Meg Ryan leaving ABC after an appearance on Regis & Kelly ... Jessica Simpson getting out of an SUV ... Robin Williams leaving his hotel ... Elijah Wood walking around on Long Island ... and Tito Jackson signing autographs outside his hotel.

Earlier this year, the US government banned "flavored" cigarettes, saving kids the shame of having to admit decades later that they used to smoke "Kauai Kolada Camels." In the meantime, more kids than ever started smoking menthols. Health policy success!

The carwash hose—underappreciated, taken for granted. Well not anymore. Today is the day the hose stands up and fights for respect, equal rights—freedom. And hilariously drenches two guys in the process.

Three out-of-work bankers are in for a treat! Steven Land Clothing is looking for a few new faces to represent the brand, and it's decided to turn to the city's pool of unemployed Wall Streeters to fill the positions. There isn't any money involved, unfortunately; the three men will get $500 worth of Steven Land clothing, which means whatever chance they have of landing a new job in finance will probably be shot if they show up in what may be the tackiest clothing you've ever seen (see above). But there's always a dollar or two to be made on eBay! The press release is below.

It's one thing to patronize one of the world's oldest professionals, but they are not the guys you marry—especially if you're closeted. Other rules: don't cheat on your wife, don't tattoo anyone's name on your body. Class dismissed.

In real life, car crashes are expensive and/or deadly. In movieland, car crashes are awesome and/or outstanding. We've compiled a list of the twenty four best car crashes in movie history, these range from explosive to crazy to silly to realistic to absurd and beyond.

It's really hard to tell what product Quentin Tarantino is even advertising here. And the language barrier doesn't make it any easier. It just involves the director, a talking dog, and a samurai suit.

You are frustrating us a lot, Ashley Dupre. We tried and tried and tried (and tried!) to tell you that the New York Post is not your friend. But here you are, exchanging text messages with them. They print those!

Because when it comes to massive sex scandals, there is no greater authority on managing your 15 minutes of fame and profiting off your notoriety (or not!), the Post asked Ashley Dupre what she thought of the Tiger Woods saga. "Here you have all these girls accepting gifts, money, trips from Tiger in exchange for sex—all the while knowing he is married," she responded to the paper via text message. "And now they all can't wait to tell their stories in exchange for even more money from the tabloids? And I was the hooker? At least I kept my mouth shut." [NYP]

December 4th 2006 a giant squid is caught on video for the first time off the shore of the Ogasawara Islands south of Tokyo.

• Billionaire publishing heir Robert Ziff has gone into contract to sell his condo at the Trump International. The three-bedroom pad on the 41st-floor, which Ziff bought for $5 million in 2001 and first listed for $13 million in July 2008, had been on the market most recently for $11.5 million. [Cityfile, Sotheby's]
• It's been a busy week for John Legend. Not only did he close on the purchase of a one-bedroom condo at 52 East 4th Street for $1.9 million, he also went into contract to sell his former apartment at 72 East 3rd Street. The two-bedroom condo had been listed for $1.195 million. [WSJ, PDE]
• The West Village duplex that Jude Law is currently renting is up for sale—and at a discounted price, too. The 3,498-square-foot apartment at 135 West 4th Street, which comes with 20' vaulted ceilings and a "floating staircase wrapped in chrome," can now be yours for $6.9 million. [Real Estalker, BHS]
• Late fashion designer Abbijane Schifrin's former townhouse on East 19th St. has been chopped in price. The five-story manse, which went on the market for $8.75 million in October, is now $7.995 million. [Curbed, Sotheby's]

Can you guess what movie this image comes from? Check back for the answer at 4pm today.

The American economy only shed 11,000 jobs during the month of November, making it the strongest employment report since the start of a recession well over a year ago. [NYT, WSJ]