Blog Posts by Piper Weiss, Shine Staff

It's that time of the month for Glenn Danzig: kitty litter stock-up. (Bauer-Griffin)Even the toughest guys have to clean up after their kitten. This was proven by legendary heavy metal frontman, Glenn Danzig, whose ninth album, Deth Red Sabaoth, dropped this past summer. He's a Fresh Step man, like there was any question. While not every tough guy is a cat whisperer, all of them have their soft spots--be it ice cream or Robert Duvall.

Read More »from Cute overload: Tough guys, tender moments

Every proposal video on the Internet promises to be the best ever. Very few keep their vows. It's far easier to find videos of surprise engagements that went awry than it is to find clips of truly romantic moments. Blame the Internet. With YouTube celebrities born every day, the best intentions can quickly turn into a chance to show off.

With all of the elaborate planning and production value, the original intention gets lost in the mix. It takes an extra ingredient to make total strangers tear up at a clever proposal. For Chad, the ingredient came through an iPhone. "I proposed to my girlfriend, Vy, by writing a song and making a music video for her," he explains beneath the video that's been viewed today by almost 100,000. "We went out to see a film at our favorite movie theater and she was completely surprised once she figured out what was playing on the screen wasn't actually an iPhone commercial."

The four-month effort and flawless execution are impressive. But the part

Read More »from 8 truly romantic engagement proposals

Just your standard decorative throw pillow with romanticized images of someone else's kid at age 12. What?The selling of teenage pop star Justin Bieber is getting weirder by the minute. This week alone, he was re-packaged as an action figure, a pair of headphones, and now, get this, bedding! In fact Bieber's inspiring a whole line of sheets, pillow-cases and towels plastered with the singer's face. I'm going to take a wild guess that this has less to do with his nesting impulses and more to do with fans' insatiable need to get close to the singer. Does anyone else feel weird about vendors selling a night in bed with a teenage boy--even if it's just his grinning face?

And speaking of his face, does anyone else find his pudgy, Play-Doh face, closer in age to Suri Cruise than we're comfortable to admit? He's the first celebrity that has made me feel like Andy Rooney's contemporary. He also acts the way Andy Rooney likely imagines teenagers: Having fights on 'the Twitter', launching a career with the word "Baby" and gorging on Swedish Fish.

If he weren't real he'd be a parody. But he's

Read More »from 15 creepy Justin Bieber products for sale

(Photo: The Smoking Gun)I dare you. What is it about those three words that will get people to do just about anything. When a radio deejay dared listeners to tattoo the station's logo their forehead, David Jonathan Winkelman and his stepson didn't blink. Even as their skulls were getting inked with a decimal point. The 48-year-old sued the station claiming he was out a six-figure payout promised by on air. The station's response was something along the lines of, 'we didn't think anyone would actually do it.' The judge agreed: who does that? People who can't say not to a dare.

• The sleepy town of Portsmouth, was jolted awake when local woman streaked through the streets at 3:30 in the morning after a rousing game of strip poker. Locals called the police and tracked down the nudist hiding behind a fence with a make companion--also in the buff. They explained they'd accepted a dare after losing a game of poker. They got off with a warning but they had to wait behind a fence while cops went to the poker house to

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Gordon Ramsay and Joe Cerniglia in Earlier this month, Nadia Almada was found lying unconscious in her bathroom after an overdose of prescription pills. It was only a week since she'd been kicked off the British version of "Big Brother," a gargantuan hit in the UK.

"I just feel my life isn't worth living any more," Alameda, a Portuguese transsexual, had told the Daily Star two days after her eviction. After her failed suicide attempt days later, producers of the series released a statement saying: "We have been in constant touch with Nadia and like all housemates, she has access to all of our aftercare facilities."

With a spate of reality contestant fatalities in recent years, producers are stepping up damage control.

Last week saw the second suicide of a chef featured on a reality show helmed by the brutally honest, and sometimes just brutal, Gordon Ramsay. After public backlash (including chastising tweets from fellow reality chef Eric Ripert) Ramsey released a statement: "Joe [Cerniglia] was a

Read More »from Reality rehab: suicide and survival when filming stops

They already wear thongs, strap on bras and carry purses. But heels? Eh, why not.

In the last century, women fought for equal opportunities in the workplace. In this century it's men fighting for equal rights in style. It's true that women have long had the physical benefits of make-up, heels and spanx while men have had to face the reality. If they had a zit, there was no covering it up. A gut? Blame it on beer. And if they were on the short side? Forget it. Their best bet was to seek out friends under 6 feet. Or go into acting.

But in 2010, men--both short and tall--are trying on platforms and stilettos for size. Lenny Kravitz wore platform wedge boots to Fashion Week in New York. Johnny Weir has made it his mission to pose in stilettos when he's not on the ice rink. And darn it, if they don't look fabulous. Russell Brand and Jude Law sneak their heels into boots, as if the extra lift is just a part of the style. Yeah, right.

And then there's Tom Cruise. Rumors of his lifts,

Read More »from Stiletto studs: the rise of men in heels

Even if you've never purchased Mifeprex, the abortion pill that turns 10 years old this week, you've seen the logo. At a yoga studio, in the supermarket's natural foods aisle, or even at a charity event, the silhouette of a dancing woman has become the marker of a product designed for women.

In logo-speak, it's got another name. "It's called a figurative logo, and alas it's been done to death," says designer Sagi Haviv, a partner at Chermayeff & Geismar. His firm has designed some of the most influential logos for everyone from Armani Exchange to the Library of Congress. Working with various female-branded organizations, he's noticed the dancing woman crop up time and again.

"That goes against the whole principle of branding, which is to stand out and be memorable," says Haviv. "At this point not using a dancing woman would be a bigger statement."

The statement was first proliferated at the end of the last century, as demand for wellness products--from yoga mats to

Read More »from Lady logos: why are they all alike?

Andrew Dice Clay needs some new material. Ay-oh! (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)Mother-in-laws aren't funny. So says a British council that warned staffers against employing the naggy female stereotype joke. A sensitivity training packet given to Barnet Council staff members says: "British mother-in-law jokes, as well as offensively sexist in their own right, can also be seen as offensive on the grounds that they disrespect elders or parents."

In fact, a lot of those over-involved mother-in-laws are being asked to get more involved. A new survey shows grandmothers are becoming one-woman nurseries for their daughters and son-in-laws as childcare costs rise. In other words: can it, guy.

While we're at it, can we ban the "women drivers" joke, the "dumb blonde" and "Take my wife" one-liners and the "that's what she said" comebacks that still tickle some guys to the core?

Comedy's golden rule: the best jokes are true. Since we're actually pretty good drivers, even blondes, and since we can't be "taken" because we're financially supporting men as they pursue their

Read More »from What bad jokes about women should be banned?