Blog Posts by Piper Weiss, Shine Staff

Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman on set their upcoming movie New rule: celebrities should only be interviewed by other celebrities. In this month's issue of Harper's Bazaar, Jennifer Aniston interviews Nicole Kidman, and boy, is it a good read. Stars are always trying to sound down-to-earth in interviews, but if they're talking to one of their own kind they tend to slip up. And that's a good thing. Superstar sensibilities are hiiiii-larious and after filming their upcoming comedy "Just Go With It" in Hawaii, Jen and Nicole were kind enough to share their own. What follows are the best moments from their interview:


10. Aniston's introduction on how celebs meet and win each other over: "I remember the first time I met Nicole Kidman. We were at a Golden Globes party in 2005 and-typical Hollywood story-we share an agent. Nicole had just seen one of my rom-coms, as they call them, and was instantly kind and complimentary. I loved her immediately."

9. The actresses proudly acknowledge places that are not LA or NY : JA: "I was just down South in

Read More »from Jennifer Aniston interviews Nicole Kidman. Then things got weird.

Writer Valerie Frankel (Photo via Facebook)
She's Jersey-born, opinionated and not afraid to piss people off. But unlike Snooki, Valerie Frankel has read more than two books. She's also written almost a dozen, which is why she was hired to turn patented Jersey Shore-isms into a work of fiction. "A Shore Thing," released this week, follows a girl named Gia who spends the summer picking up Jucie-heads on the beaches of Jersey. Together, Frankel and Snickers have born lines like: "Yum. Johnny Hulk tasted like fresh gorilla" and "She could pour a shot of tequila down his belly and slurp it out of his navel without getting splashed in the face."

For Frankel, a middle-aged woman with two kids and a side career writing about parenting and Sarah Palin, absorbing the essence of the poof seems a stretch. But according to an interview with Slate, Frankel was enthralled by her collaborator: "In our talks she just amazed me again and again with how enthusiastic she was for the project and the face-valueness of her," she says. "My experience

Read More »from Snooki's better half: the ghostwriter behind "A Shore Thing"

Hey cowgirls! I love getting together for a girls' night to watch one commercial. It's a great way to open up a conversation on hot topics like birth control risk factors for women over 35 and whether women lawyers are as tough as men. Isn't it always so amazing how one out of three of us have tried the item being advertised, with positive results? Love my girls!
Here are few real talk nights where we really broke it down.

At Cathy's house when we watched that legal commercial. Who knew we'd both been involved in hit-and-run accidents?

At that hot city bar, when Megan showed up after being locked up in a mental institution. Crazy that it was all because of a severe form of PMS. Good thing our doctor friend was there with the risk factors.

At brunch, when we dished about how we were all getting hot and heavy with Carmel Taxi service. Wait you guys, how great is going to the theater?

Just another night where we pause the Nuva Ring commercial while we discuss the benefits so as

Read More »from Oh Gurl: How women really talk... in commercials

Volkswagen has long held the reputation for innovative advertising. I know this because of Mad Men, and also the Pink Moon commercial. But one forgotten vintage ad brings new meaning to their "think small" tagline. Pointing out the various ways it's appallingly sexist would ruin the fun. So you can just read the text transcribed below and draw your own outrage.

"Women are soft and gentle, but they hit things. If your wife hits something in a Volkswagen, it doesn't hurt you very much. VW parts are easy to replace. And cheap. A fender comes off without dismantling half the car. A new one goes on with just ten bolds. For $24.95, plus labor. And a VW dealer always had the kind of fender you need. Because that's the one kind her has. Most other VW parts are interchangeable, too. Inside and out. Which means your wife isn't limited to fender smashing. She can jab the hood. Graze the door. Or bump off the bumper. It may make you furious, but it won't make you poor. So when your wife goes

Read More »from Vintage ad of the day: Volkswagen tackles problem of 'women drivers'

When it comes to creating controversy, books can't compete with TV or video games-unless that book is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It's been well over 100 years since Mark Twain published his story about a boy who rafts down the Mississippi river with his friend, a slave, and it's still at the center of debate. This time, the controversy is over a new edition of the book set for publication that replaces racist slang with less offensive terminology.

A snapshot of a shameful era in American history through the eyes of young boy, Twain's story has confused critics and stumped educators for years now. It was first banned from libraries in 1885 for being too "crude." A hundred years later, the American Library Association named it one of the most challenged books when it comes to school curriculum. Both hailed for attacking racism and derided for fostering it; both banned in schools and martyred by critics of censorship, Huck Finn may be the single most polarizing book in American

Read More »from Should 'Huck Finn' be cleaned up for kids?

The ultimate sex machine is a station wagon. Make that a luxury station wagon. A British website named the Merecedes-Benz e-class wagon the best car for parking and riding. Just look at all that leg room, especially when you put the seats down. The new Volkswagon Beetle came in second, even though it seems a little cramped. Maybe it's the red and blue dashboard mood lighting.

But if you can afford a new car, you can probably afford a bed too, so why not just have sex the old-fashioned way? Ask the baby boomers. In a recent survey, the group who enjoyed car sex the most were over 55.


Related on Shine
3 sneaky spots to have sex
Fake eyelashes for your car
Get your car ready for spring
13 things your car mechanic won't tell you

Read More »from It's official: the best car for having sex is...

What do all you people really do for a living? Like really? (PhotO: abc/The Bachelor)Watching any season of "The Bachelor" requires some suspension of disbelief. First, you have to believe most women are "there for the right reasons." In other words: for love, not money. Then there's the endless parade of prom dresses, the helicopter rides, the skyscraper rappelling. This season, we're also asked to believe the bachelor in question, Brad Womack, has been encouraged by a licensed mental health professional to give love another chance on national television. Sure. And that he's a successful business owner. What? He owns a bar called the Chuggin' Monkey, but okay, fine. And finally, that there's three limo-loads of women with thriving careers in various and non-specific fields of business - which they're willing to give up on behalf of a complete stranger. Record scratch. B.S. meter overheating.

Certainly beautiful, camera-ready women can hold high-powered jobs, but can so many also just walk away from them? And why do all their job titles sound like resume padding?

Read More »from "Bachelor" B.S. Tracker: contestants with fake job titles

The poster for

While the rest of the film industry gears up for a year of 3D graphics and animation, romantic comedies haven't budged since the '60s. The slate to be released in 2011 is more of the same. But that's why we love the genre. Rom-Coms are a lot like dating: they feel repetitive but there's a comfort in monotony. Sometimes you watch a rom-com because it's there, not because you really like it. Sometimes, it's just better then not watching one at all. And just when you've lowered your standards too far, a surprisingly good one sneaks up on you and you remember it pays to keep watching. (Last year, my welcome surprise was "Going the Distance.") Looking down the barrel of another year of pratfalls, overreactions and relationships built on exasperation, it's hard to know which one, if any, will be "the one" and which one will just take our money and let us ogle at it for a coupe of hours. Oh wait, all of them will. Hooray!

No Strings Attached
Starring: Natalie Portman and Ashton

Read More »from Rom-Coms of 2011: The good, the bad and the ugly