As pop-culturally relevant as it was at the time, Clueless doesn’t top too many people’s list as one of the best movies ever. In fact, most of the actors in the film didn’t do much with their careers afterward, save for one person: Paul Rudd.

Rudd’s role as Josh in the 1995 flick qualifies as his breakthrough performance but over ten years later, his acting palette has altered itself into much more comedic enterprises. Today, we all know and love Rudd for his work in Anchorman, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Role Models and I Love You, Man. His newest flick, Dinner For Schmucks, pairs Rudd with the likes of Steve Carell and Zach Galifianakis.

Despite some great one-liners (who can forget “Jobin” in I Love You, Man?) Rudd’s comedic career has been successful mainly due to his ability to pull off the “straight man” routine; a comic device where one person (in this case, Rudd) portrays a character who isn’t purposefully funny but serves as the object, or is surprised by, the joke. The act in itself makes Rudd funny but not in the obvious way that most comedians use. In a business with plenty of in-your-face, loud comics, Rudd won’t have any problem continuing to find work.

Artist: Maroon 5
Album: Hands All Over
Release Date: 09/21/10

The pop rock rulers of the radio are back. The 3rd studio album from Maroon 5 picks up right where the others left off: the top of the charts. Although still over a month out, fans are already drooling.

Hands All Over is Maroon 5’s 3rd full-length in 9 years. The band isn’t known for pumping out album after album but taking their time has definitely paid off, as they are undoubtedly one of the biggest bands in the world. The 15-track album was recorded in 2009 in Switzerland and after heavy amounts of post-production, is finally ready to see the light of day.

The first single from the album, “Misery,” debuted with a high ranking on the Billboard Hot 100 and the video is currently one of MTV’s most requested. As the release date draws nearer, you can expect to hear more and more singles leading up to the album’s release. Rest assured, this will be a big one.

Artist: AmpLive
Album: Murder At The Discotech
Release Date: Out Now!

For all the hip hop heads out there, AmpLive probably isn’t a new name for you. He’s best known for his work as the production half of hip hop duo, Zion I but his latest, solo effort is more than worthy of a listen or an internet copping.

Murder At The Discotech is entrancing from the very first track allllllllll the way to the last. It sounds like a balanced mix of 80’s instruments with current sensibilities that’s perfect to dance to or blare out of your car window at a busy intersection while old ladies give you dirty looks. Part dance, part ghetto and part electro, AmpLive successfully manages to create something new in a game where everyone else is just biting.

Murder At The Discotech boasts 13 dope tracks and features the likes of: K.Flay, Trackademics, Mr. Micro, Fashawn, Eligh, Grouch, Yak Ballz and Micah 9 among others. Get this.

Ok, let’s be real here. Girls LOVE to accessorize. I would even go so far as to say that they love it even more than putting the main part of the ensemble together. However, awesome accessories aren’t cheap and there comes a time when you have to say “no to the peripheral fashion items.

Case and point: the Ashton Michaels bow tie.

That’s right, a bow tie for the ladies. Let me just say that I get it – I do. It’s sort of a fun, quirky, playful take on a predominantly male item that gives the female wearer both sex appeal and a measure of rambunctiousness. Bow ties definitely scream “Playboy Bunny.”

The only problem with the Ashton Michaels bow tie: it ranges from $140 to $220. No, that isn’t a typo. They actually charge up to $220 for a freaking bow tie.

So, here’s the plan. If you dig the bow tie look for a playful accessory on an evening out with the girls or whatever, then keep Ashton Michaels’ look in mind but by all means don’t pay that much. You can totally pick up a much cheaper bow tie at your local department store or head over to your local thrift store to see if they have any funkier offerings.

Sure, everyone and their brother knows who Adrien Brody is. He’s a huge star and he’s been in a bunch of high profile flicks but what you may not know, is that Brody is no fluke. There was no luck involved in his rendezvous with success; in fact, Brody is as hard working as they come in Hollywood and he’s anything but “new” to the craft of acting.

Brody started studying acting at a young age and like many youngsters, got his start doing plays and trying out for commercials. Brody landed his first film role waaaaaaaay back in 1988 but it would be over a decade before he really received any mainstream attention. Imagine that. Working your butt of for over ten years and still not having anyone recognize you on the street – that’s dedication.

When 2002 rolled around, Brody finally struck the jackpot. His role as Wladyslaw Szpilman in The Pianist not only won him the Oscar for best actor (the youngest to ever do so, at 29) but it was the breakthrough role that took Brody from small potatoes to Hollywood superstardom.

To date, Brody has been in such big name films as: The Village, The Jacket, King Kong, The Darjeeling Limited, Cadillac Records, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Splice. Currently, you can check out Adrien Brody in first real action flick, playing the role of Royce in Predators.

Things are looking good for Adrien Brody and he still has a long, long career ahead of him.

Artist: Blu
Album: Her Favorite Colo(u)r
Release Date: August 10th, 2010

Her Favorite Colo(u)r is technically NOT a new album. Blu made it years back but as the case normally is with new artists an their first albums, it wasn’t commercially available (save for at Blu’s earliest shows or if you are/were one of his buddies).

Blu made his big splash on the scene back in ‘07 when his collaborative album with Exile, Below The Heavens, dropped to uproarious reviews from independent critics. The album was solid and Blu had a lot of hip hop heads searching for more. Since then he has become involved in several projects both as an MC and a producer but Her Favorite Colo(u)r takes fans back to when Blu was hungry, green and totally unknown.

On August 10th, Her Favorite Colo(u)r, will be repressed and available to the masses (for the first time) from Nature Sounds. If the album is even half as good as Below The Heavens, then we’re all in for quite a treat.

Lynda Mitchell is 52 and she is dying from smoking. She lives in the U.K. and grew up in a household where smoking was the norm; her parents routinely smoked 60 cigarettes per day. It’s not overly surprising that Lynda would be a prime candidate to contract Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) but what is surprising, is that Lynda has never smoked a cigarette in her life.

Lynda grew up in a home where her parents smoked day in and day out. She was so exposed to smoke that she grew up hating it and made the conscious decision to never become a smoker herself. In a tragically ironic turn of events, Lynda will ultimately die from a smokers’ disease despite never having been one. Her illness is a direct result of secondhand smoke. She is living proof the effects of secondhand smoke are VERY real.

Lynda’s parents, or parent rather, are no strangers to smokers’ diseases themselves. Her stepfather, Ray Evans, died of lung cancer (at age 60) twenty years ago. Her mother, June Evans, suffers from emphysema. An entire family suffering from the negative effects of smoking is experiencing said effects at different intervals.

For anyone who doubts, or denies, the negative effects of smoking, take a good long look at Lynda Mitchell . Not only will her parents become yet another number on the list of smoking casualties but Lynda herself will also pay the ultimate price…for something she didn’t even do.

There are a couple things we know for sure about Chris Brown. Dude can dance, sing and put on a heck of a show. Brown also seems to have an issue with hitting, choking and biting women while driving rented sports cars. The newest addition to the list: no amount of domestic abuse can toughen Brown up when it comes to singing Michael Jackson tunes.

Everyone saw, or at least heard about, Brown’s emotional breakdown at the BET awards . It was his first major appearance since his brush with the law (and Rihanna’s face) and it was somewhat suspect that he ended up showing off a sensitive side. Let’s face it, Brown is going to need all the positive publicity he can get in order to salvage his career and this little instance may be just the sort of thing to help…but not everyone is buying it.

For most viewers, Brown’s breakdown couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. While his performance was amazing (it really was) many people were left feeling as though his emotional outburst was fake. The truth is, only Chris Brown knows for sure whether or not his tears were sincere. One thing we all know for certain, though, is that it takes more than a few tears for everyone to forget that you bit someone in the face.

Artist: Miike Snow

Album: Miike Snow

Release Date: Out Now!

Let’s just go ahead and get one thing out of the way here: Miike Snow is not a real person. Miike Snow is a band and there is nobody in the band named Miike. Now that we’ve covered that, let’s take a look a what all the buzz surrounding this band is about.

Miike Snow is a Swedish band that formed back in 2007. The 3 members of the band are Andrew Wyatt (vocals) and Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg (production). The band has that cool, trendy Euro-electro-pop sort of thing going on. It’s part rock, part pop and you can totally dance to it – not to mention that there’s most likely a plethora of European discotech remixes of Miike Snow songs all over the net.

The debut, self-titled album dropped back in October of -09 but until recently, hasn’t had a whole lot of success in the U.S. Thanks to the single, “Animal,” Miike Snow is becoming a household name in the states, and has even become one of the most requested acts on MTV (not bad for a debut).

Check out Miike Snow and see for yourself what all the hubbub is.

80’s purple is straight up awesome. If you’ve never been to their site before then, by all means, check it out. They offer a wide variety of clothes accessories and whatnot for both guys and girls at reasonable prices.

The website features some prominent and lesser known designers, which makes for a nice range of clothing genres but the part that (in this blogger’s opinion) outshines everything else, is their own label: Purple Label.

Purple Label makes mostly accessories, with the bulk of their products falling under the jewelry and sunglass categories. Just in time to spice up your summer wradrobe, Purple Label just released a bunch of new 2-finger rings (which are all the rage right now) for the ladies. It has high end appeal with bargain bin pricing.

Head over to 80’s Purple and check out Purple Label.