...for your right, to flash people!

As a Ventura County public defender, Liana Johnsson has handled many life-changing cases, but her biggest public crusade these days has been going topless.

For months, Johnsson has been fighting to allow topless women at California beaches and parks, and now the issue has made its way to the Capitol.

A group of lawyers, at Johnsson's request, has asked the Legislature to make topless sunbathing legal, saying the ban is the last criminal sanction that treats women differently than men.

The new movement has urgency: Because of a December court ruling, Johnsson and other attorneys contend, women convicted of indecent exposure could find themselves listed as sex offenders under Megan's Law, alongside rapists and child molesters.

"At some point, men's breasts became liberated and women's didn't," Johnsson said Friday.

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A craze in which thugs slap strangers across the face and record it on video phone is sweeping Britain.

The so-called "happy slappers" attack while an accomplice captures it to post on the internet or send to another mobile.

--I'm sure there is something wrong with me, but I think this is funny.

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TV legend Johnny Carson died this morning.

He was a legend. He was a class act. He was a comedic genius.

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90's Boom:

New York is opening its first '90s-themed nightclub, complete with Monica cocktails, a "Basic Instinct" room and a VIP booth set inside a white Bronco - an homage to O.J.'s famous car chase.

"We're seeing so much of the '90s get regurgitated now," says owner Robert Wattman, who named his new space Nerveana, partly after grunge behemoth Nirvana.

That crowd might be difficult to cultivate, given such down-market cocktails as the John Wayne Bobbitt ("A Cut Above the Rest"), the Titanic ("It Will Take You Down") and, of course, the O.J. ("It's to Die for") - as well as his patrons' propensity for "singing in unison."

There is also small room at the club devoted to hip-hop, decorated with murals of Tupac, Eazy-E, P. Diddy and the Notorious B.I.G., needs to be stocked with 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor.

Also this week, VH1 is premiering "I Love the '90s, Part Deux" - a follow-up to its highly rated "I Love the '90s" specials. There are '90s nights at clubs from New York (the Cellar's "OK Cola" party) to D.C. (The Black Cat's "My So-Called '90s"), as well as best-selling '90s compilation CDs.

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1 As much as I enjoyed both "I Love the 90s" series, I still think it's way too early to have a retrospective. C'mon - we're not even halfway through the Willenium.

Posted by: Micah at January 21, 2005 08:37 AM (v/oTo)

2 Basic Instinct room? Is that where rich people can do coke and have care-free sex in a cathedral-like club? Or would that be too 70s? :-p

Posted by: Kevin the Interloper at January 21, 2005 08:48 AM (qb+8W)

3 You KNOW I'm headed there . . .

Posted by: Iceman at January 21, 2005 09:14 AM (Kohcy)

4 Iceman, I am jealous you are in NY to witness such debauchery firsthand. Were the 90's even that great of a decade? Yes they were, and I only wish I could remember more of them.

Posted by: ren at January 21, 2005 10:01 AM (2qlER)

5 We'll have to pay him a visit, Ren

Posted by: Lawren at January 21, 2005 10:09 AM (sql83)

6 sounds fun

Posted by: Uptown Girl at January 21, 2005 12:35 PM (dUIpl)

7 Ahhh...that takes me back to those Way Bitchin' 80s nights at clubs ten years ago.

Posted by: Stacy at January 21, 2005 12:39 PM (nM8Hz)

8 I'm awaiting your arrival. Can't wait to sit in the Bronco. I think I was the only person I knew who thought OJ was innocent at the time. I've since changed my views, don't worry. On another note, is the Vogue now incluing '90s songs in its Retro Rewind on Wednesday nights? Haven't been there in awhile . . . a long while.

Posted by: Iceman at January 23, 2005 03:53 PM (Q/u1b)

9 You can also take a look at the pages on gambling gambling http://www.agribrokerindia.com/gambling.html http://www.agribrokerindia.com/gambling.html
> roulette roulette http://www.agribrokerindia.com/roulette.html http://www.agribrokerindia.com/roulette.html
>... <
h1>

Posted by: gambling at August 17, 2005 02:49 AM (9t0qU)

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--Nothing shows motherly respect like a trucker cap:

--I mean, seriously people. If you have to purchase this, you have serious issues.

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1 Is it just me, or is Lindsay Lohan starting to lean more and more towards the anorexic heroin chic style of the 90's?

Posted by: Christina at January 21, 2005 10:24 AM (CXiWh)

2 I so could have used one of those unimittens when my husband and I walked to the store a couple of days ago.

Posted by: Stacy at January 21, 2005 12:40 PM (nM8Hz)

3 the smitten might be the funniest thing i have ever seen-- how on earth did you find it?

Posted by: camille at January 21, 2005 12:44 PM (c4eno)

4 Vomit-bag not included. LOL

Posted by: Kevin the Interloper at January 21, 2005 04:18 PM (qb+8W)

5 Trucker caps don't even look good on truckers, why would anyone else want to wear them??

Posted by: Laura at February 17, 2005 03:14 PM (t+dlM)

6 the smitten was featured in fashion's most well-known internet listserve, "Daily Candy". you can visit dailycandy.com and research the smitten & other cool stuff!!

Posted by: Mary Hannah at February 20, 2005 09:17 AM (qdDnw)

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Jennifer Lopez will launch a fall clothing line next month, and she's taking MTV along for the ride. Lopez is letting camera crews trail her during the design process and as she runs her company for "Jennifer Lopez: Beyond the Runway," set to air Feb. 24 at 10 p.m.

Along the way, viewers will see her choosing styles and fashion models. The series will culminate with a fashion show on the final night of New York Fashion Week.

Lopez turned up on MTV's "TRL" yesterday to talk about the show, her new music and a potential concert tour.

"We're launching a whole brand-new line," Lopez said of the new clothes. "Its a little higher-end, it's going to be during fashion week, it's my first fashon show."

--She just can't handle being out of the spotlight for 5 seconds.

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I found this to be quite disturbing. View at your own risk.

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The ladies at "The View" are getting pretty desperate.

During the week of Feb. 7, the five stars of "Desperate Housewives" will co-host ABC's "The View" while the show broadcasts from Los Angeles. Teri Hatcher, Eva Longoria, Nicollette Sheridan, Felicity Huffman and Marcia Cross will each join the daytime talk show for a day.

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Pop star Beyonce Knowles is being given the chance to expand her acting resume, and star in a new movie version of Broadway musical Dreamgirls.

After starring in Austin Powers sequel Goldmember and the upcoming Pink Panther remake, producers are convinced Knowles has what it takes to make a full-time film career - and want her to headline the movie, about a singing trio from Chicago, loosely based on real life stars The Supremes.

Beyonce is being tipped to play frontwoman Effie, the role made famous on Broadway by actress Jennifer Holliday. Chicago screenwriter/director Bill Condon is currently heading up the project and is rumored to want Ray star Jamie Foxx to take a role.

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1 Wow. That can either be great to see or painful to watch.

Posted by: chuck at January 21, 2005 12:53 PM (FsFl4)

2 On a side note, if you're trying to improve your site's rating and get more traffic, you simply have to get this Web Counter. Before you ask - no, it's not JUST a web counter, of course. It actually lets you track hits and page views and visits and everything you could possibly need to know about your visitors so you can optimize the site better. With the right knowledge, you can get more traffic to your site and Google will like you better. Trust me, I tried this on my own site and it worked wonders.

Posted by: Jim Keli at January 23, 2005 09:52 AM (fSjME)

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Obscene Green for the Luxury Goods Industry:

French luxury goods powerhouse LVMH does, having just announced record 2004 sales of $16.39 billion.

Organic growth was up 11% over 2003. The estimated growth in operating income, pending the release of audited results in March, stands at 10%.

While reported sales in the Watches & Jewelry and Perfumes & Cosmetics sectors were down 1% each, sales at Wines & Sprits and at Fashion & Leather Goods were up 8% and 5% respectively in real terms. In the latter category, Louis Vuitton was the acknowledged cash cow, according to an LVMH release recording its best-ever weekly sales during the Christmas week as part of an “exceptional performance” in 2003, raising Fashion & Leather Goods sales to €4.367 billion ($5.68 billion).

The report went on to note, “2004 was highlighted by a host of new leather goods products, created by Marc Jacobs, for which demand is so strong that it still cannot be fully satisfied, and by the launch of Louis Vuitton’s first jewelry line, which met with instant success. Louis Vuitton also opened several stores during 2004 on every continent. In addition, the year saw the emergence of several high-growth potential brands such as Marc Jacobs and Pucci.”

The Selective Retailing sector registered particularly high growth of 11%. “In the United States, for the fourth year in a row, sales growth on a comparable store basis was in double digits” for Sephora.

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Where's the dumbest city in America according to Men's Health magazine?

In my own state of Indiana. Ugh.

Thanks for the tip, Iceman.

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1 NIIIIIIICE. Glad to hear that the place I will be calling home in six months is getting this kind of press....can't wait!

Posted by: Kelly P. at January 21, 2005 07:35 AM (4adEQ)

2 I have lived Fort Wayne, IN my entire life. I grew up here, went to school here, and even married and started my career here. This isn't the smartest town- I will give you that. But it is filled with alot of heart and caring people. I wouldn't pick anywhere else to raise a family.

Posted by: mrs. cherry at January 21, 2005 10:05 AM (jNC27)

3 Thank you, mrs. cherry...I will see you in August! YAY for good lawyer gigs in Ft. Wayne!

Posted by: Kelly P. at January 21, 2005 12:01 PM (4adEQ)

4 I see how you are Iceman. Sending it to me to rub it in wasn't bad enough--you had to broadcast it!!! Well, I'm from Ft. Wayne and while I wouldn't say it's the brightest city in the world, I just cannot believe that it is the dumbest either!

Posted by: Eli at January 21, 2005 02:14 PM (MTqwP)

5 if your a lawyer and want easy pickings, come to ft wayne...not much competition and a real need of some talent....thnx, "just recently divorced and living under the state street bridge--will work for food...!!!!!."......

Posted by: graham richards at February 06, 2005 09:54 PM (YhQIc)

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2 stories showing you can be hip at ANY age:

--They're housewives, workaholics, PTA members and ... rock stars? Women fighting to shatter the stay-at-home-mom stereotype and rediscover their youthful voice are forming bands, such as Housewives on Prozac in suburban New York, Frump in Dallas and Placenta in Oakland, Calif.

These moms are rocking the house and the cradle, singing about breast-feeding, exhaustion and making kids do their chores.

"I feel like what we do is remind people about their passion and that sense of importance and that sense of vitality," said Joy Rose, a 47-year-old mother of four who founded Housewives on Prozac in 1997. "Life is really short and it's important to live colorfully."

--Here's an article discussing how the presence of sexy and sophisticated ladies in Hollywood has served to send television viewers a message: that actresses of a certain age need not be covered from neck to toe.

Thanks for the tip, Brian.

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Usher is ticked at J.Lo:

R&B star Usher is none too happy about Jennifer Lopez's new record "Get Right" — as readers of this column will remember from last week.

That's because Usher already recorded "Get Right" as a single called "Ride" that wasn't included on his most recent album, "Confessions," but was available as a 12-inch club record and on the Internet last year.

When someone asked him about the contretemps last week, he responded by saying, "I hate it. And I'd better get some of the publishing [rights]."

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Ok, we all know that Brit is so excited about her latest video, which she co-directed. Here's what you have to look forward to:

Her latest video features the singer playing air guitar in her underwear, singing in a faux girl band, and flying a pink Hummer through the clouds. In it, Spears wears a pink midriff T-shirt reading "Love Boat" and a pink capelet, making her way to a club called Hole in the Wall with her four blond bandmates via the flying pink Hummer and singing, "Somebody give me my truck/ So I can ride on the clouds/ ... Somebody pass my guitar/ So I can look like a star." En route, they whip their hair in sync to the beat as Spears puts the car on autopilot.

--Sure sounds like a masterpiece to me.

And in other Britney news...

Britney Spears has been out shopping in a baby store - and reportedly told staff she is nine weeks pregnant. The sexy singer recently revealed she is keen to start a family with Kevin Federline, who she married last year, and it seems her wish may have come true.

Spears was snapped browsing in Babystyle in Santa Monica, California with minders, before spending $34 on a two piece swimsuit. Fellow shopper Jenny Dyke says, "She spent 20 minutes in the changing rooms. I don't know why anyone would try on clothes for pregnant women unless they are expecting themselves."

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Looks like jellies are back in. (Although I can't for the life of me figure out why).

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Opinions from Simon Cowell:

On Beyonce: "I find the whole Beyonce thing really mystifying," Cowell says in Esquire magazine, on newsstands Friday. "She's not sexy, she hasn't got a great body and she's not a great singer."

On Ashlee Simpson: "Why should you have to do something substandard just for the sake of being real? If it sounds better with the vocal you recorded, why shouldn't people listen to that? There's almost a witch-hunt mentality about people miming," he said.

On President Bush: "He could almost be a robot."

On marriage: "At the end of the day, it's an incredibly unfair contract."

On France: "We [the British] have hated the French for years. Now you [the United States] have just joined the club. It makes you much more likable."

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Gwen on having kids:

When singer Gwen Stefani has kids, they can look forward to an interesting childhood. She says she wants to dress up as famous fantasy characters to keep things fun at home.

Gwen reveals: "I was thinking that when I have children, I should always dress as a character for them, so they think their mom is Alice in Wonderland or Cinderella."

Talking about her future, Gwen, who's married to Bush rocker Gavin Rossdale, said: "I've always wanted to do the family thing. "I'm a woman and I'm 35. I don't have that much time left to do this kind of pop record. Let's be real about it."

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Vanity Fair has a new website. Check it out!

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You just never know what you're going to find on Ebay.

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There are, it seems, subscribers who dislike Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue.

And occasionally, there have been demonstrations outside the magazine's office building in Manhattan. But now the magazine is inviting subscribers to say "no thanks" to Veronica Varekova, Carolyn Murphy and other models, including the one who will be the winner of a new reality show, NBC's "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search."

The headline on a small box in two recent issues read "If You Don't Want the Swimsuit Issue." The notice provided a phone number (1-866-228-1175) for subscribers to request that the issue not be mailed to them. Those who make the request will have their subscriptions extended by one issue.

--I'm sorry, but I know no guys who would call this number.

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