2 Minute Date with Michael C. Hall

August 14, 2008 3:21 PM by Yael Kohen |  COMMENTS

Michael C. Hall isn't as creepy as he seems

Dexter Morgan feels no guilt when sneaking up behind his victims, stabbing them with a hypodermic needle, and using a power saw to take them apart, limb from bloody limb. So what is it about Dexter, Showtime's acclaimed series now premiering its third season, that makes the gruesome murderer so damn endearing?

For one thing, there's Michael C. Hall, whose grin, strong jaw, and easygoing demeanor--in all those scenes where he isn't dismembering someone--make it possible to see beyond the violence. Funny, we hadn't fully appreciated his good looks when he played type-A mortician David Fisher on HBO's Six Feet Under.

It's strange how the psychopathic murderer role raises fewer eyebrows than did the one on Six Feet Under, in which he played a repressed homosexual. "I do get a sense that many family members of mine are more comfortable watching me simulate murder than simulate a same-sex relationship with a black man," says Hall, a Raleigh, NC, native. "I got a lot more questions then about, 'Is it weird playing a gay character?' than I now get about, 'Is it weird playing a serial killer?'"

Not that spending so much time surrounded by corpses isn't creepy. Says Hall, "It's an occupational hazard that you take your work home with you"--exacerbated by the fact that he's currently dating Jennifer Carpenter, the actress who plays his foster sister on Dexter. "I totally have dreams that I might not have had otherwise. But I like the idea that on some unconscious level, there's an intersection between my dream life and the life simulated through work, you know? That's the fun of it." Sure, sounds killer.

COMMENTS | PERMALINK

Print Email Share [+]

Kaboodle Pop Sugar Digg Del.icio.us Facebook What is Share?

The Scourge of the Ladies Room

May 28, 2008 12:00 AM by Yael Kohen |  COMMENTS

I hate to bring up something so disgustingly unladylike as bathroom etiquette—well, specifically toilet manners—but since I came across a recent item on CNN.com about a mysterious office mate at O, the Oprah magazine, who colleagues dubbed the Tinkler, I felt it was appropriate to add my thoughts about the Ms. Piggies in my own office. Or shall I say the Ms. Piggies who occupy restrooms in offices across the country. Because I don’t doubt for one second that the lack of proper toilette manners is reaching epidemic proportions and, unfortunately, those poor manners extend beyond an inconsiderate, sloppy coworker who pees on the seat. Oh no, because we’re women, it can get a lot more disgusting than that. What’s a little pee on the seat compared with….You know what I mean.

Though I don’t have much personal experience exploring men’s rooms, I believe ladies rooms rival them in terms of sheer disgustingness. We expect it from men— those macho, potty-mouthed hooligans who can’t even wash a dish, let alone flawlessly aim into a urinal. We don’t, however, expect it from women, the fairer sex, the clean future-moms who supposedly possess the innate ability to smell nice, look pretty and never, ever betray even a whiff of—you know.

READ MORE

COMMENTS | PERMALINK

Print Email Share [+]

Kaboodle Pop Sugar Digg Del.icio.us Facebook What is Share?

Atmospheric Disturbances

May 23, 2008 12:00 AM by Yael Kohen |  COMMENTS

By Rivka Galchen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

You trust your shrink. You love your shrink. Which is why you start this fabulously bizarre mystery believing psychiatrist Leo Liebenstein isn’t crazy when he says his wife has vanished and has been replaced by an exact replica. Or at least he thinks it’s a replica - he also thinks an organization called the Royal Academy of Meteorology might be involved. No matter. Galchen’s dark and comical mystery is a clever take on the ways love, longing, and overanalysis can drive you absolutely nuts.

COMMENTS | PERMALINK

Print Email Share [+]

Kaboodle Pop Sugar Digg Del.icio.us Facebook What is Share?

News Flash: Injecting Toxins in Your Forehead May Be Bad For Your Health

April 3, 2008 2:30 PM by Yael Kohen |  COMMENTS

So now they tell us that Botox may spread to the brain. No kidding. As if some of us didn’t always wonder whether injecting botulism into our faces to take away wrinkles was really safe medicine. Not that I’m a doctor, but this little piece of information would certainly give me pause.

On April 2, the Journal of Neuroscience reported that scientists injected rats’ whiskers muscles—hard to imagine a rat with a saggy face, but bear with me—with Botulism toxin and found that the toxin which causes a “muscle-weakening illness” had spread to their brains. Of course, the results aren’t conclusive. The researchers didn’t use the FDA approved Botox specifically and previous studies have shown Botox to be safe. An Allergan spokeswoman—they make Botox—said, “The authors used a laboratory preparation of botulinum toxin and did not use Botox, and data suggest that different preparations of botulinum toxin react differently in both the laboratory and in clinical practice.”

Regardless, I think this latest study should make us all think twice about the potential price we’re willing to pay just to make our faces look younger, if not expressionless.

READ MORE

COMMENTS | PERMALINK

Print Email Share [+]

Kaboodle Pop Sugar Digg Del.icio.us Facebook What is Share?

Book Club: The Mistress’s Daughter

March 10, 2008 3:08 AM by Yael Kohen |  COMMENTS

MC Editors explore the mind of an adopted woman in the memoir, The Mistress’s Daughter, just out in paperback. Worth a trip to Barnes & Noble? See for yourself…

The Plot: While we’ve heard a lot about adopted children searching out their birth children, novelist AM Homes was 31-years-old when her biological mother came looking for her. Except mom wasn’t the dolled-up fantasy parent she always imagined — just a lonely, eccentric old woman craving connection. Equal parts curiosity and skepticism, Homes sets out to understand her family’s past, and what it means about her future.

LAUREN (Articles Editor): I know Homes is a great novelist but to me, this memoir felt like she was cashing in.

YAEL (Associate Editor): It’s a great argument for not telling your kid that they’re adopted. Maybe there are some things that are better left unknown.

JOANNA (Editor in Chief): Really? You can’t be serious. Nothing’s more important that knowing where you come from.

EILEEN (Editorial Assistant): I might be biased because I’m a really big fan of her other books. Which are pretty dark. “In a Country of Mothers,” the main character goes to a psychiatrist and talks about being adopted, and the psychiatrist realizes the patient is really her biological daughter and begins to stalk her. It’s interesting to see parallels in her own life.

ABIGAIL (Deputy Editor): I don’t think I’d call this book dark though. Just cynical. READ MORE

COMMENTS | PERMALINK

Print Email Share [+]

Kaboodle Pop Sugar Digg Del.icio.us Facebook What is Share?