2nd\NE Quadrant The Approval Matrix
By Black Voices\Karu F. Daniels
To take on the role of late civil rights activist Thurgood Marshall, Laurence Fishburne goes back to his roots and digs up some of America's ugliest ones.
Surprisingly enough, for his return on The Great White Way -- in the Leonard Foglia directed play, 'Thurgood,' -- the seasoned Tony Award winning thespian has received rave reviews.
'USA Today' heralded it with a three and a half star (out of four) review, calling the 90-minute bioplay "excellent." 'New York Post' gossip guru Cindy Adams showered the Academy Award nominated actor with praise, saying he was "magical." The 'Associated Press' noted that "Fishburne has the theatrical, larger-than-life demeanor of an old-fashioned preacher, including the necessary pizzazz to keep an audience's attention for an intermissionless [show]." 'New York Daily News' critic Joe Dziemianowicz said that Fishburne was "magnetic" and the show as "a worthwhile story rich in history, humanity and humor."
As can be expected, Fishburne is, indeed, magnificent in the role which involves a narrative where an elderly Marshall addresses students at Howard University 50 years after he graduated from the storied college in 1933.
The audience is taken through Marshall's thrilling walk down memory lane of life-changing and history-making events. Though mostly known to new generations as the legendary Supreme Court Justice, Marshall was also renowned as legal counsel for the NAACP; he also argued the historic Brown vs. Board of Education case before the Supreme Court in 1954.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Laurence Fishburne as Thurgood Marshall
Longracre Theatre's Renovation
2nd\NE Quadrant The Approval Matrix
- Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
By The New York Times
The play’s [“Boeing-Boeing”] Broadway home, the Longacre Theater at 220 West 48th Street, has had “a gut renovation,” in the words of Keith Marston, the facilities director for the Shubert Organization, the building’s owner. “This is our opening night too,” he said of the 400 restorers, carpenters, electricians, painters, plumbers and other workers who have toiled over the last two years to complete the $12 million reconstruction.
The project has been one of the more extensive and grimy renovations that Shubert has ever done, said Mr. Marston’s boss, John P. Darby, the company’s vice president of facilities.
The Longacre, which opened in 1913, is the latest of the 17 Broadway theaters owned and operated by Shubert to be completely redone, following the $9 million renovation of the Ethel Barrymore Theater on 47th Street in 2004 and the more than $12 million refurbishment of the Winter Garden Theater on 50th Street and Broadway in 2001.
The Longacre is described in its New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designation as “one of the historic theater interiors that symbolize American theater for both New York and the nation,” and both its exterior and interior are recognized as landmarks.
"Godard's 60s" at Film Forum May 2 - June 5
2nd\NE Quadrant The Approval Matrix
“MOVIES SHOULD HAVE A BEGINNING, A MIDDLE, AND AN END,BUT NOT NECESSARILY IN THAT ORDER.”
"No filmmaker working during the decade so successfully and radically rewrote the rules.
Consider this whole series an essential piece of your education—and enjoyment."
– Time Out New York
Candidates Support Gas Tax Holiday
1st\NW Quadrant The Approval Matrix
Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain are pushing for a gas-tax holiday, but Sen. Barack Obama says the plan is a quick fix that would do more harm than good.
His [McCain's] plan would lift the 18.4 cents per gallon tax during peak summer travel months. It also would suspend the 24.4 cent diesel tax.
Clinton ... said her plan is different from McCain's. She said the Republican's proposal would cost the government up to $10 billion -- money that is used to improve roads.
The senator from New York said she'd make up for the lost revenue with a "windfall profits tax" on oil companies, meaning their profits over a certain amount would be subject to a 50 percent tax. Her plan also would close $7.5 billion in oil and gas loopholes as well as monitor prices for manipulation.
Obama does not support a suspension of the gas tax, which he described as a political scheme that would save the average driver $25 to $28. -- CNN
Euthanasia in Sports Section
1st\NW Quadrant The Approval Matrix
A filly based at Delaware Park, Eight Belles had just finished second, 43/4 lengths behind the favorite, Big Brown, in this country's biggest horse race. Galloping out a good quarter-mile after it was over - part of the normal throttling-down after every horse race - Eight Belles went down because she had suffered fractures in both front legs. A bone had broken through the skin on her left leg.
She was euthanized immediately on the track, before her trainer even knew she had been injured. His voice cracking, trainer Larry Jones later described how a shook-up [jockey] Saez had told him afterward, "Larry, they put her down." Jones said he didn't comprehend what the jockey was saying, thinking Saez had misunderstood the situation.
"I said, 'How do you put a horse like this down?' Jones said. "Man, usually, they try to save them."
But Jones said he quickly got to his horse in the equine ambulance and saw the severity of the injuries.
"I checked her for myself," Jones said. "There was no decision to be made. She did not need to suffer - and she didn't suffer." -- Philly
Monday, May 12, 2008
Nubrella Hands-Free Umbrella
1st\NW Quadrant The Approval Matrix
Introducing nubrella; "The Ultimate Weather Protector". Nubrella is no ordinary umbrella. It protects you against rain, wind, sleet, snow and extreme cold. It is an umbrella for all inclement weather conditions not just rain. Price $59.95
- New aerodynamic oval design - Tested up to 50mph
- State of the art clear Thermoplastic Polyurethane
- Lightweight and strong aluminum alloy ribs
- Extremely durable rip-stop waterproof nylon.
- Easy "pop" spring loaded opening and closing mechanism
- Weighs just 2.6 lbs
- Lightweight over the shoulder carrying case
- Adjustable shoulder straps
British Authorities Appeal Snoop Dogg Ban
1st\NW Quadrant The Approval Matrix
A British court has ruled against the government's decision to deny Snoop Dogg a visa after he was involved in an airport lounge brawl in 2006.
The Guardian newspaper says a panel of immigration judges has rejected an attempt by Britain's Home Office to keep the 36-year-old U.S. rapper out of the country.
A lower court ruled in January that Snoop hadn't started or been responsible for any public disorder.
Police arrested Snoop and five members of his entourage after a brawl at British Airways' VIP lounge at London's Heathrow airport in 2006. The rapper, whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus, was given a warning.
The government has a week to appeal. --Xinhua Net
France Honors Kylie Minogue
1st\NW Quadrant The Approval Matrix
France honored Kylie Minogue on Monday [May 5, 2008], making her Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters for her contribution to French culture.
The 39-year-old Australian singer received the prestigious title the day before kicking off a world tour for her album "X." Past recipients include Ella Fitzgerald and Bob Dylan.
Culture Minister Christine Albanel called Minogue the "princess of pop, the uncontested queen of the dance floor."
Albanel also praised Minogue for her personal courage in her battle against breast cancer.
"The heart, in French, also (refers to) courage, and I want to salute the courage you have shown in publicly revealing, three years ago, that you had been stricken with breast cancer," Albanel said.
"This is an exceptional moment for me," Minogue said in French. -- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Mayor of Rome Bans American Actors
1st\NW Quadrant The Approval Matrix
By The TimesOnline
The new mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, a former fascist, has launched a campaign to promote Italian films at the expense of those featuring Hollywood stars such as Nicole Kidman and Leonardo DiCaprio, who are to be blacklisted.
American actors who flocked to Rome for its film festival will no longer be invited, on the orders of Alemanno, 50, of the National Alliance party, who last week became the first rightwinger to win the mayor’s job in 15 years.
Alemanno, a former minister of agriculture, has a colourful past. He was arrested in 1981 with four other neo-fascists for allegedly beating up a student with baseball bats, but no charges were pressed.
“I believe we need to promote Italian films rather than Hollywood stars,” he declared last week. One of his campaign slogans was: “Alemanno – for less cinema and more security.”
Friday, May 9, 2008
Charges Dropped Against Reality-Show Director
4th\SW Quadrant The Approval Matrix
Prosecutors say they've dropped the charge against a director accused of holding women against their will in a central Florida house while filming a reality show.
Marc Brilleman was arrested last month on a false imprisonment charge while filming "Pauper to Princess" in Apopka (ah-POP'-kuh).
A spokeswoman for the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office says there isn't enough evidence to support the charge. The charge was dropped Wednesday.
The show was to build the women's self-esteem and help them grow physically, mentally and spiritually. -- AP
Madonna's New Face
4th\SW Quadrant The Approval Matrix
There's been some speculation about whether or not Madonna's had some plastic surgery done to her face, and... something's going on! Her face looks so (botoxed) smooth and she's almost 50 years old.
-- Babble
She’s been photographed around London with big sunglasses and bruised eyes, fueling speculation that she’s gone under the knife. Whatever Madonna’s done to her face, we think it’s working. She’s looking “fresher”...
-- Hollywood Life
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Jimmy Fallon "Late Night's" New Host ?
3rd\SE Quadrant The Approval Matrix
(Fallon: Everett Collection; O'Brien: Dana Edelson; Leno: Dave Bjerke)NBC is set to announce on May 12 that Saturday Night Live vet Jimmy Fallon will take over next year for Conan O'Brien (who'll assume the Tonight Show throne currently occupied by Jay Leno, in a move made public way back in 2004). Peacock execs first approached Fallon about the gig in 2003, the year that he guest-hosted on Letterman. While he left SNL in 2004 to pursue a film career that has yet to take off (Taxi, Fever Pitch), he's recently been honing his stand-up chops across the country. In Fallon's favor: SNL/Late Night With Conan O'Brien exec producer Lorne Michaels will oversee the new show. ''Jimmy's a smart pick,'' notes one network exec. ''He's a young, cute guy that will draw women in — and I don't bet against Lorne Michaels.''-- EW
Ghostface Killah Edited Out of "Iron Man"
3rd\SE Quadrant The Approval Matrix 
... despite early reports that Wu-Tang rapper, Ghostface Killah, would make a cameo appearance in the flick, SOHH has learned that he's nowhere to be found in the final version.
"Marvel and Paramount eliminated the story line that led to Ghostface's scene in Dubai," a spokesperson for Ghostface told SOHH. "Robert Downey Jr. [who plays Iron Man] was having a party in Dubai where he runs into Ghostface and they have some dialogue, an exchange about lending each other yachts and Bentleys."
To make up for the disappointment of landing on the cutting room floor, Iron Man director Jon Favreau put in a call to Ghost himself to apologize, smoothing things over by making sure to keep a touch of Ghostface in the film by adding some musical elements. "
After the change John Favreau called apologizing and made a quick fix by licensing the 'Celebrate' video," Ghost's rep said. "Then Def Jam allowed us to replace the music with an original song for the movie, which all happened within 3 days and 5 days before [the] final edit."
Ghost's affinity for Iron Man has been hugely evident throughout his career, thanks to the Staten Island MC's adoption of Tony Stark - the super hero's real identity - as an alter ego as well as his decision to title his solo debut Ironman. -- SOHH
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Amy Poehler in "Baby Mama"
3rd\SE Quadrant The Approval Matrix
Successful and single businesswoman Kate Holbrook has long put her career ahead of a personal life. Now 37, she's finally determined to have a kid on her own. But her plan is thrown a curve ball after she discovers she has only a million-to-one chance of getting pregnant. Undaunted, the driven Kate allows South Philly working girl Angie Ostrowiski to become her unlikely surrogate. Simple enough ... After learning from the steely head of their surrogacy center that Angie is pregnant, Kate goes into precision nesting mode: reading childcare books, baby-proofing the apartment and researching top pre-schools. But the executive's well-organized strategy is turned upside down when her Baby Mama shows up at her doorstep with no place to live. An unstoppable force meets an immovable object as structured Kate tries to turn vibrant Angie into the perfect expectant mom. In a battle of wills, they will struggle their way through preparation for the baby's arrival. And in the middle of this tug-of-war, they'll discover two kinds of family: the one you're born to and the one you make.
-- IMDb\Written by Universal Pictures
TRAILER
Pixies "Doolittle" for Rock Bank
3rd\SE Quadrant The Approval Matrix
This June The Pixies' Doolittle is coming to Rock Band.
The game already has a taste of the album with “Wave of Mutilation,” but that's only a little over two minutes of the Pixies; not nearly enough to satisfy any fan's appetite. In June the game will include guaranteed crowd pleasers like “Monkey Gone to Heaven,” “Here Comes Your Man” and “Debaser.”
Doolittle will actually be the third full length album in the game after Harmonix releases Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance this month, then The Cars' self-titled album in May in what will become a consistent stream of full albums. Screaming for Vengeance will cost $14.99, giving players a discount over buying each song individually, similar to way current song packs are priced. Of course the price per album depends on the number of songs on the album.
Just in case you don't know Doolittle, here's some advice: if you don't tear your throat apart after singing “Dead” and “Tame” you're not doing it right. -- Game Culture
Jason Batemen to Star in Mike Judge Movie
3rd\SE Quadrant The Approval Matrix
Jason Batemen is teaming with Mike Judge for the Miramax comedy Extract, which Judge will direct from his own script. The story is about a flower extract plant owner (Bateman) who runs into a string of bad luck, including his wife's affair with a gigolo.
Judge is the creator of Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill...
Bateman next will be seen in Hancock alongside Will Smith and in the Kevin MacDonald-directed State of Play. -- EW
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
James Frey Thanks "Approval Matrix"
2nd\NE Quadrant The Approval Matrix
Post-Oprah, Frey was a pariah — constantly attacked in the media, scorned by the publishing world, the recipient of angry e-mails from fans, the target of a handful of lawsuits. How did he get his groove back? Well, in part from a visit to Norman Mailer, who broke out the boxing metaphors to tell Frey, "You should prepare to take huge shots every time out because they’ll never stop."
But Frey also found courage from … New York's Approval Matrix! In January 2007, Frey was with [artist Richard] Prince at his house in upstate New York when Prince began flipping through a recent issue of New York magazine.
“I had been named the most highbrow despicable person of 2006 on the Approval Matrix,” Frey recalls. “And Richard looked, and he was like, ‘Dude! Check this out!’ And I sort of went, ‘Oh, dude.’ He was like, ‘What do you mean? That’s great! I wish they would call me that.’”
-- NYMag
Philip Guston at Morgan Library
2nd\NE Quadrant The Approval Matrix
The Morgan's show of 100 works is the first major survey of Guston's drawings in 20 years. It begins oddly and tidily in 1946 (when Guston was 33), which is a rather late start for a retrospective. It includes none of his student work, sketchbooks, mural studies, or drawings from Renaissance masters. We are given no sense of early or formative Guston. Instead, the exhibition throws us deep into midstream, just as the artist is warming up to a crescendo. The show flowers early and briefly (the second wall is the most elegant), then trails off in numerous directions. Still, it presents the full spectrum of Guston's drawings between the late '40s and the late '70s; and, because the works on paper were extremely important and pivotal to his movements as a painter (for two years beginning in 1966, for instance, Guston stopped painting and produced only drawings), the show provides an intimate framework of the inner workings of the artist.
-- The New York Sun
Philip Guston (June 27, 1913 – June 7, 1980) was a notable painter and printmaker in the New York School, which included many of the Abstract Expressionists, such as Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning. In the late 1960s Guston helped to lead a transition from Abstract expressionism to Neo-expressionism in painting, abandoning the so-called "pure abstraction" of abstract expressionism in favor of more cartoonish renderings of various personal symbols and objects. -- Wikipedia
Verizon Cable in Mahattan
2nd\NE Quadrant The Approval Matrix
There's a new game coming to town for cable subscribers who have been yoked to Time-Warner Cable or Cablevision out of necessity. New York City has finally struck a deal with Verizon to provide competing cable services throughout the five boroughs. Deputy Mayor for Economic
Development Robert Lieber announced at a press conference, "This is a historic agreement that when approved for the first time will bring true cable television service competition in each in every home in all five boroughs of New York."
The City will be collecting 5% off the top of all newly generated cable fees from Verizon. Customers will begin to receive service from the company's new fiber optic FiOS network by the end of the year, when it will be available to 30% of New Yorkers. The goal is to have cable competition available to 50% of potential customers by 2010 and 100% of New Yorkers by 2014. -- Gothamist\Dave Hogarty
"Redbelt"
2nd\NE Quadrant The Approval Matrix
Plot: A fateful event leads to a job in the film business for top mixed-martial arts instructor Mike Terry. Though his refuses to participate in prize bouts, circumstances conspire to force him to consider entering such a competition. -- IMDb
TRAILER
Jonathan Franzen vs. Michiko Kakutani
2nd\NE Quadrant The Approval Matrix
(Getty Images)Speaking at Harvard yesterday [April 28, 2008] during a discussion with literary critic James Wood, Jonathan Franzen said that "the stupidest person in New York City is currently the lead reviewer of fiction for the New York Times.”
He was referring, of course, to Michiko Kakutani, who presumably got on Mr. Franzen's bad side with her brutal review of his recent memoir, The Discomfort Zone. In that review, Ms. Kakutani wrote: "there is something oddly preening about [Franzen's] self-inventory of sins, as though he actually reveled in being so disagreeable." Also: "Just why anyone would be interested in pages and pages about [Franzen's unhappy marriage] or the self-important and self-promoting contents of Mr. Franzen’s mind remains something of a mystery."
During the talk with Mr. Wood ... is also quoted as saying" “The reviews tend to be repetitive and tend to be so filled with error that they’re kind of unbearable to read, even the nice ones .... The most upsetting thing nowadays is the feeling that there’s no one out there responding intelligently to the text .... So few people are actually doing serious criticism. It’s so snarky, it’s so ad hominum [sic], it’s so black and white.”
-- The New York Observer\by Leon Neyfakh
Crackpot Ruins Everything
1st\NW Quadrant The Approval Matrix
The Illinois senator said he was "outraged and saddened" by the Rev Jeremiah Wright's latest "divisive and destructive" remarks on race.
Mr Wright made a series of speeches earlier this week in which he said the US government was responsible for terrorist attacks on America and that it invented Aids to kill black people.
He said: "What became clear to me is that he was presenting a world view that contradicts who I am and what I stand for." -- Scotsman
Monday, May 5, 2008
Chicago Gets New York's Congestion Pricing Money
1st\NW Quadrant The Approval Matrix
By The New York Times\Jennifer 8. Lee
Did you wonder what happened to that $354.5 million in federal financing that New York City left on the table when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan collapsed in Albany?
The Department of Transportation announced that it will give $153 million of the money to Chicago for a plan that includes the creation of a new rapid Bus Rapid Transit network and a variable rate parking meter system downtown.
The bus system will have dedicated lanes and use technologically advanced buses which will have priority at busy intersections so that green lights can be extended for buses that are really late. The new parking meters will charger higher rates during the morning and evening rush periods so commuters will be encouraged to take mass transit instead of driving.
Mexican Aide Lifts BlackBerrys
1st\NW Quadrant The Approval Matrix
A press aide to Mexican president Felipe Calderon has been given his marching orders for making off with BlackBerrys belonging to US officials participating in a summit in New Orleans, AP reports.
Rafael Quintero Curiel admitted removing the devices from the get-together between the heads of Canada, Mexico and the US last week. He said he "thought they had been left behind and planned to return them".
Officials are apparently asked to leave mobile phones and other devices outside meeting rooms lest they interrupt vital matters of state, and Curiel is said to have lifted a few before making his way to the airport - an act caught on CCTV, according to local media reports.
Curiel later explained in a statement to Mexican media that "as he rushed to the airport, he had given them to a driver to take back to the hotel to hand them over to management". He was, however, confronted by US U.S. Secret Service agents at the airport, who asked him to return the kit, and then "thanked him for his help when he explained the incident".
Catholic Church Denys Giuliani's Communion
1st\NW Quadrant The Approval Matrix
By Yahoo! News
Tue Apr 29
Rudy Giuliani should not have received Holy Communion during the pope's visit because the former presidential candidate supports abortion rights, New York Cardinal Edward Egan said Monday.
Egan says he had "an understanding" with Giuliani that he is not to receive the Eucharist. The Catholic Church teaches "that abortion is a grave offense against the will of God," Egan said.
The cardinal said Monday that Giuliani broke that understanding when he received the Eucharist during Pope Benedict XVI's visit earlier this month.
Egan says he will be seeking a meeting with Giuliani "to insist that he abide by our understanding."
Giuliani's spokeswoman, Sunny Mindel, said Monday that he is willing to meet with the cardinal but added that his faith "is a deeply personal matter and should remain confidential."
Egan's statement does not address the fact that Giuliani is on his third marriage. Catholics who divorce and remarry without getting an annulment from the church cannot receive Communion.
Linda Farrow Jeremy Scott Sunglasses
1st\NW Quadrant The Approval Matrix
Linda Farrow Vintage is a sunglass brand known for its unprecedented range of vintage sunglasses and exciting designer collaborations [Jeremy Scott ] ...
The brand was re-launched in 2003 by Simon Jablon, the son of the 70’s designer Linda, after discovering a generous stash of 70s and 80s sunglasses in the family’s warehouse.
Over 2000 different designs, all in pristine condition and ranging from a single piece to 500 per style were painstakingly catalogued. -- Linda Farrow Vintage
Dartmouth Professor Threatens to Sue Students
1st\NW Quadrant The Approval Matrix
By The Daily News
A Dartmouth College writing teacher angered by students who didn't agree with her in class is threatening to sue them for discrimination.
Priya Venkatesan, who taught freshman writing at the Ivy League school from July 2005 until last month, ignited an uproar on campus Sunday after she sent a bizarre e-mail warning students she planned to sue them.
"I regret to inform you that I am pursuing a lawsuit in which I am accusing some of you (whom shall go unmentioned in this e-mail) of violating Title VII of anti-federal discrimination laws," she wrote in a message that contained several typos.
"I am also writing a book detailing my experiences as your instructor, which will 'name names,' so to speak. I have all of your evaluation and these will be reproduced in the book. Have a nice day."
Realizing that she cannot actually sue her students for employment discrimination, Venkatesan now says she will merely name them in her list of grievances in a suit she plans against Dartmouth.
"I have a whole list of instances that I felt I was subject to unprofessional behavior," she said. "Gosh darn it, it could have been motivated by race and gender."
Her biggest complaint is about the students in her 2008 writing class, who she said asked questions "in a very demeaning way." When another student stepped in to answer for her, she said he "would be received with respect and deference that I was not."
At one point, the class applauded a student who strongly disagreed with her postmodernism views.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Emmy Award for Hosts of Reality TV Program
4th\SW Quadrant The Approval Matrix
(Photo courtesy of Buzzsugar.)The Emmy Awards continue to embrace alternative programming, adding a statuette for the host of a reality or reality-competition program.
The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences voted to approve the additional category in time for September’s Emmy broadcast.
According to the resolution, eligible nominees serve as “the proactive master of ceremony host” on a reality show, but may not be simply reactive participants, panelists or judges.
“Reality television has become such an integral part of television and our culture,” said ATAS Chairman John Shaffner in a statement, “so it only made sense for us to create this new highly competitive category.” -- TV Week
Miley Cyrus "Vanity Fair" Shoot
4th\SE Quadrant The Approval Matrix
An apologetic Annie Leibovitz says the controversy surrounding Vanity Fair photographs, which feature Disney teen sensation Miley Cyrus, is a matter of interpretation.
The 15-year-old actress/singer posed for Leibovitz for the magazine's June issue, on sale in New York and Los Angeles on Wednesday and nationwide May 6. One waist-up shot shows Cyrus looking provocatively over her right shoulder, her back nude and breasts covered by her arms and shimmery fabric. Behind-the-scenes pictures from the shoot are posted at VF.com [or below].
In a caption with the image in the magazine, Disney's Hannah Montana star tells VF: "I think it's really artsy. It wasn't in a skanky way. Annie took, like, a beautiful shot, and I thought that was really cool. That's what she wanted me to do, and you can't say no to Annie. She's so cute. She gets this puppy-dog look and you're like, 'OK.' "
But by Sunday, Cyrus apparently had changed her mind. "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed," she said in a statement issued by her publicist, Jill Fritzo. "I never intended for any of this to happen, and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about."
Disney Channel also took the offensive by issuing a statement. "Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines."
-- USA Today
Ashlee Simpson Pregnant by Pete Wentz
Ashlee Simpson is pregnant, a source confirmed to Usmagazine.com. The singer, 23, is expecting her first child with fiancé Pete Wentz, 28. Simpson and the Fall Out Boy bassist announced their engagement Wednesday.
"We are thrilled to confirm their engagement and congratulate this happy couple," a spokesperson for the couple told Us. "Beyond that there is nothing to say."
Simpson and Wentz began dating in late 2006. "They are ecstatic and can't wait to be man and wife," a source told Us. "They will be getting married before the end of the year."
-- Us Magazine
Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz, with his girlfriend Ashlee Simpson in the background, announced that they plan to make something that cannot be illegally downloaded: a baby. -- LAist