CASTING EDITION
GOOD WEEK/BAD WEEK
Bette Midler
Accepted an onstage offer from Ryan Murphy to guest-star on Glee
Amanda Bynes
Reportedly fumed over missing out on Lindsay Lohan's roles before having a Lohanesque meltdown
BRANDING
Haute Coffee
Want to spend even more money on your overpriced latte? Starbucks has heard your cries and teamed with design duo Rodarte for specially created tote bags, coffee mugs and reusable cup sleeves. Luckily, they're not that pricey: items retail for $4.95 to $12.95.
NOT-SO-ROUGH DRAFTS
More than a dozen of Gian Lorenzo Bernini's sculptures adorn the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica, both inside and out. But before the 17th century artist crafted such grand figures, he fashioned miniatures out of clay. These bozzetti ("sketches" in Italian), more than 50 of which are on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City through January, offer an intimate, fascinating glimpse into Bernini's thought process as he conceptualized his masterworks.
LOL
Knowledge Is Power (and Also Hilarious)
Leave it to the Onion, the self-styled "finest news source" in the U.S. to create the snappiest reference book this side of Jon Stewart's America. The 244-page tome sends up everything from adoption to ZZ Top. Here are three choice entries:
"Bride: a variety of delusional person. (See: Groom, College Graduate, New Parent, Freelancer.)"
"Gold: soft yellowish metal best suited for augmenting fat, hairy chests."
"World's Fair: international exhibition series filled with lies about the future."
QUICK TALK
Taylor Swift
At 22, she has the kind of career most artists chase for decades: six Grammys, countless chart-topping singles and more than 22 million albums sold. But Swift still unwinds like the rest of us. "I'll lie in bed with my cat and watch Law & Order," she says. "Then I'll order food and eat it." Here the Nashville dweller--whose new album, Red, drops Oct. 22--lets loose with TIME.
--DAN MACSAI
You experiment with pop, rock and even dubstep on this album. But you're known as a country artist. Are you worried how fans will respond?
Almost every time I put something out, there's the word too put in front of it--too pop, too country, too rock. So I've kinda stopped worrying about it. I'd rather be too something than not enough something.
People love to guess which boys you're singing about. [Swift has been linked to John Mayer and Jake Gyllenhaal, among others.] Does part of you enjoy that?
Well, I don't really read any of it. Really? The only way I hear gossip is if it's big enough and loud enough for my friends to bring it up to me. Or if it's, like, a big untrue ordeal from my publicist. It makes my life a lot more livable.
It's almost Election Day. Are you following the race? I try to keep myself educated and informed. But I don't talk politics, because it might influence other people. And I don't think I know enough yet in life to be telling people who to vote for.