The highlight of my week has been seeing Kellan Lutz on the Ellen Degeneres Show. Kellan talks about the movie premiere and how he almost didn’t get into the after party and his spa story about being naked and getting recognized by a male fan. He also tells the story about how he got his dog, Kola. And it’s priceless when Kellan says Kola came out of the cage and buried her head between his legs and he knew for sure he had to get the dog. (It was so adorable.)

And then Ellen challenges Kellan to take off his shirt for a $5000 check to the Humane Society. And you all want to know if he went through with that!

Special Thanks to Kellan Lutz Online for posting the video. I loved every second of it!

OneRepublic’s highly anticipated new album Waking Up hits stores Tuesday, November 17th, but fans can hear the tracks a few days early by visiting the band’s MySpace. Waking Up includes the single “All the Right Moves,” as well as the tracks “Secrets” and “Good Life“.

In celebration of the release, OneRepublic will perform a live, online concert on Monday November 16th, at 5pm PST / 8pm EST.  The concert will take place at the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, and will be powered by Ustream.  Fans will then be able to chat with the band via Ustream’s Social Stream that integrates Twitter, Facebook, AIM, and MySpace.  Visit Ustream.tv for details and to watch OneRepublic on Monday.

I will also have my review of the whole album on Monday.

Taylor Lautner knows how to work the camera in these shots from his photo shoot with Rolling Stone. He is for sure and upcoming sex symbol. When is February going to get here?

Taylor recently said that a fan asked him to growl for her. Taylor almost obliged but said instead…

“I did [growl once], but it was extremely embarrassing so I never did it again! It came out so badly so I was like, ‘You know what, I’m sorry but you are just going to have to wait for the film.’”

I am sure there is no way that his growling would be bad!

[Images by Splash News]

The Used first formed their band back in 2001 and now in 2009 the members are Bert McCracken (lead vocals and keyboard), Quinn Allman (Guitar and back up vocals), Jeph Howard (Bass and back up vocals), and Dan Whitesides (Drums and Percussion).  They just released their seventh album called, Artwork, that has made them head in a new direction. In an interview with AP magazine Bert said, “In the past, we’ve always kind of brought pop sensibility into heavy rock, but this is going to be all that much more tantalizing and brutal. Our songs are 10 times messier and noisier than they’ve ever been.” This will also be the first album to feature Dan, on the drums, since he first joined the band in 2006.

I had a chance to interview the band before they left on their tour for the album. The nationwide tour kicked off on September 21st and it reaches Europe for August and September, and then the  U.S., with two Canadian dates for October and November.

Taylor Blue: Since you have been on tour a lot what has been your favorite venue to perform at?
Dan Whitesides: Well I like to play anywhere at anytime but I guess one of my favorite places is the Starland in New Jersey. The fans are crazy and the security guards are the baddest m—— f—— around.

Taylor: Being a fan of many people I always get a kick out of hearing about other people’s fan stories. What is your favorite fan story of how that fan made you feel extra special?
Dan: At almost every show there’s one or two people that can’t get in or they don’t have any money so I’ll get them in. I think just talking with fans and getting to know them a bit before or after a show is really special for me and them.

Taylor: Who are your main musical influences that come out in the music you play?
Dan: There are so many but a few are Refused, Nirvana, At The Drive In, Motley Crüe, Led Zeppelin, Kerosene 54, Burning Airlines, Ink and Dagger, Earth Crisis, Tony Williams and so on.

Taylor: Do you have a certain muse, and or inspirational ritual, for lack of a better word that helps the creative juice to flow so you can write your lyrics?
Dan: Anything and everything is inspirational the best thing for us is to not force anything.

Taylor: Of all the albums you have released which one is your favorite one?
Dan: ARTWORK it’s probably the most honest record since the self titled.

Taylor: Now onto your new album, Artwork. I love how raw the album cover is by the way. I listened to the first track you released from it, Blood On My Hands, and noticed it has a different sound from the other songs on your previously released albums. What brought on this change?
Dan: That song just came out of nowhere. Quinn had a loop and we just started jammin and about an hour later the song was finished. That was one of those days that the creative juices were flowing for everyone.

Taylor: In all things there is always the bumps in the road. What was your biggest obstacle in getting your new album released?
Dan: Well the label kept pushing the release date back but that was probably for the best. Other then that there were no obstacles, we had all the time in the world.

Taylor: What was the main concept you were going for in the sounds and lyrics in the album?
Dan: Dirty, raw, poppy, heavy and to be able to do whatever we wanted when ever we wanted so that’s what we did. This album is exactly what we wanted it to be.

Taylor: You are heading off for a tour soon and there has to be a favorite and least favorite part of the whole experience, people like us can only imagine what it’s like. What is your favorite and least favorite part of being on the road?
Dan: I love playing every night, meeting as many people as possible that come to the show and seeing the world doesn’t suck either. I probably drink too much on tour so being hungover everyday kinda sucks. We have the best job in the world and there’s not too much to complain about.

You can catch them on their website, Myspace or Twitter.

Honor Society’s first album, Fashionably Late, is being released today. The group comprises of four guys, Michael Bruno, Alexander Noyes, Jason Rosen and Andrew Lee. Their new album is being described as “a funky, cool pop music album with a rock band vibe.” They have been featured in the movie  Bandslam and also will in and have a song on the upcoming movie, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel. They started their tour on September 13 and it continues until December.

I had a chance to interview the band about their favorite ice cream flavor, their album and how much they appreciate their fans. (The interview was done with Michael.)

On their favorite ice cream flavor: All four of us are classic chocolate ice cream lovers!

On coming up with the name Honor Society: The name Honor Society really just fit our vibe and our brotherhood as friends and bandmates. Plus it’s our way of saying to our fans that they are in the ‘honor society’ with us. We’re one big crew!

On how they all got together as a band: Michael, Jason and Alexander all grew up in the same hometown and we met Andrew though a friend. Michael and Jason started the band and it’s been about two years since all four of us have been Honor Society.

On presenting at the Teen Choice Awards: It was an amazing experience. That was a major moment for us, since we all grew up watching the Teen Choice Awards so to present on it was an honor and it was so much fun, awesome awards show!

On finding out their song would be in Bandslam: The whole Bandslam experience was terrific, having the song in the movie and on the soundtrack was awesome. The movie studio was really cool and set up for us acoustic performances in movie theaters across the country this past summer for people who had an advanced screening of the movie!

On if they got a chance to work with the Jonas Brothers one on one: Absolutely, Nick, Kevin and Joe all came by the studio frequently and we did some co-writing for the album as well.

On the experience of working with the Jonas Brothers: It was awesome. We learned so much from having them there. They taught us a lot about making an album and they’re such good friends so we had a blast when they would come by the studio.

On being excited about their album coming out: It’s a dream come true literally. We’ve dreamed of giving our fans the best possible Honor Society record and they are gonna get it on September 15th. We’re so grateful to be able to release an album and we hope the fans love it.

On opening for the Jonas Brothers and touring simultaneously: Being on one tour is a lot of work, being on two at the same time is slightly crazy, but we love what we do so none of it feels like work. We’re so grateful to get to do both!

On the favorite part of touring: It’s seems so simple but our favorite part is playing music. That’s why we tour and it’s the reason touring is so awesome.

On the least favorite part of touring: Doing laundry is so hard to do on tour! It’s always a struggle to figure out.

I also asked a couple of questions that I received from asking on Twitter. Here they are!

On if they get annoyed if people always comment to them on Twitter, Myspace and Facebook: Not at all, we love it, we love how passionate our fans are and we’d never ask them to change.

On the craziest fan encounter they have ever had: We had a fan tattoo our autographs on her foot this summer. That was pretty crazy!

On their first performance at the Staples Center: I’m (Michael) a huge Lakers fan so it was a big moment for me to play Staples. I’ve watched Kobe win 4 Championships on TV there so to play there was incredible, plus our California fans are AWESOME! no duh.

Catch them on their YouTube page and their Facebook page here.

And I mean that quite literally. Sad that I should feel the need to say it, but WOW. Taylor Lautner is hot, but if you are 40 years old, then you should minimize, or preferably make the effect he has on your panties non-existent in the first place. At that age you’re old enough to be his momma and it’s just gross.
Read what poor Tay Tay had to say about it:

“I had this 40-year-old woman trying to find a way to take her panties off for me to sign them. They had my name imprinted on them,” a somewhat amused yet kind of freaked out Lautner told Tarts last weekend. “So that was kind of strange … but you can’t expect anything from these ‘Twilight’ fans.”

Okay. Ew. Firstly, if you’re 40 and you have someone’s name on your panties, that is a huge issue in my mind.
Secondly, and more importantly, WHO wants to sign your worn underwear? And why on Earth would you want to carry your stinky butt panties home WITH his signature, had he actually been gracious enough to sign them? Would you be like “Hey check this out,” *Tossing your unwashed panties across the room to your friend* “Taylor signed my panties!”
Yeah..ew. Not so well thought out,eh lady? Yes, you are now being talked about, but not in a GOOD way. He’s cringing on the inside, sucking air in through his teeth and thinking “Yeah, she’s a whack job”. The boy will have no problem acquiring plenty of beautiful, YOUNG, girls panties if he wants them, but seriously woman, (and all of the other weirdo nuts) STOP MAKING ALL TWILIGHT FANS SEEM RIDICULOUSLY OBSESSED AND TOUCHED IN THE HEAD.
You can love the Saga, hell MOST of us do, you can love the cast (and even lust after them, who doesn’t) but the way to impress them is not to behave so out there that they remember you by your name on the restraining order. Just sayin’.

I was one of those girls that was shattered when Moonlight was canceled and it took me along time to stop writing about how much I wanted that show back. There was no way I wanted to ever give up on Mick St. John. I even wrote Alex O’Loughlin about how much I cared. (Alex did write me back, and I love him for it.) I lost myself in those shows,  and I was sad when the fight had to be over. I never gave up on Alex though, and on October 4th we get to see him in a new show, Three Rivers,  as a doctor. Now to me doctors are just as sexy as vampires (take for instance Dr. Carlisle Cullen) so this should be a great show.

TV Guide caught up with Alex and asked him what his show would be like and how it feels to be back. Here are the highlights (especially pay attention to the whole scrubs thing, I died when I read it):

On if Three Rivers will be a hit with Moonlight fans: Yeah, I hope so. This one is a very important show. I really hope that my fans come with me on this because Andy means as much to me as Mick St. John does. And if everybody comes with me and has a look and gives this a chance, they’ll see why.

On wearing tight scrubs: [Laughs] We have tight scrubs. We have wet skin when we scrub in. We make eyes at each other over the operation table. There’s going to be lots of love affairs and stuff like that would happen in a real hospital. It’s going to be really exciting.

On being a big fan of vampires and not following Twilight but following True Blood: I haven’t been following Twilight. I watch True Blood when I can, but I’ve been very busy. So I’d like to get a box set and watch it that way. I actually went to network for that show.

On auditioning for True Blood: Yeah, at the same time I got Moonlight. I tried out to play Bill, the main vampire, and also Sam the dog.

On if Moonlight would have done better if it aired now: Maybe. But maybe it wouldn’t have got picked up at all because there’s too much vampires. What can you do? Moonlight will always be the best.

On the prep work he did for the show: Triple bypasses. [Laughs] No. I started with what I had in the script. I started researching all of these diseases of the heart and conditions of the heart and operations that needed to take place and branched off from there. The world of medicine is immense, but also the doctor-patient relationship was very important to me. I worked with a surgeon, and he’s a pure, benevolent person. So that sort of study, the study of him, was as interesting as the study of medicine.

On if he’s a good cook: I’m okay. I barbeque. I grill chicken and fish, and I can make good salads and veggies and make some nice dressings.

On if he cooks for his girlfriends: Yeah, for sure! I don’t always cook because I’m busy but I’ve worked in a lot of restaurants and a lot of kitchens so I can conjure stuff up pretty well. I’ve been a waiter. I’ve been a barman. I’ve been a kitchen man. I’ve worked on construction sites. I’ve flipped burgers. I’ve fried chicken.

On being crazy for motorcycles: Yeah. I’m crazy for motorcycles. I just finished building my first Harley. My last four bikes have been Ducatis and I’ve got a Triumph now.

On his other vices: That’s my most dangerous vice. I really enjoy the finer things in life. So the idea of a great holiday for me is to go to Europe, go to Paris, eat some great cheese, smoke some great cigars, go to the theater then go on a yacht and sail somewhere else. That’s just heaven for me. In 2016, I think I’ll be able to do that. You don’t get to go away while you’re working. It’s great to be working, but that’s what I’d do. I’d go away, get a bit of sun, sleep

We all can’t wait to see you Alex. I can’t wait until October.

Look what came to my mailbox the other day…my two autographed pictures of Peter Facinelli! One of them is to Taylor and the other one is in my real name.  I am so happy to see them! They are courtesy @vampirefreak101 who went to see him and Alex Meraz at the London Film and Comic Con on July 19, 2009.

In the spirit of TEN Gossip I asked her to answer ten questions for me. Katie is quite active at going places to meet the cast. Yes, I’m quite jealous of her. Here are her answers to my questions.

1. How many cast members have you met? 9 in total, so far! I’m now determined to meet or at least see, all of them, at conventions, on set, premieres or gigs. I’m keeping a diary of my progress. It’s become a mission.

(Peter Facinelli (Carlisle Cullen) twice, Kellan Lutz (Emmett Cullen), Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen), Kristen Stewart (Bella Swan), Charlie Bewley (Demetri Volturi), Jamie Campbell-Bower (Caius Volturi), Alex Meraz (werewolf Paul), Justin Chon (Eric Yorkie) twice, Christian Serratos (Angela Webber).)

I have also met New Moon director Chris Weitz, in Italy. and although I wasn’t lucky enough to meet them, i have seen Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen), Dakota Fanning (Jane Volturi) and Daniel Cudmore, (Felix Volturi) from 5 metres away.

My next convention is Eternal Twilight 2, in October, when I will meet Edi Gathegi (Laurent), Billy Burke (Charlie Swan) and Gil Birmingham(Billy Black), and I will be going to the New Moon premiere in London in November where I hope to see most of the cast.

2. How many Twi-conventions have you been to? Only one, Eternal Twilight, in February. London Film and Comic Con is a general Film convention, not a Twi convention, but i think we Twilighters pretty much took over ha ha.

3. What is the furthest you’ve traveled to meet one of them? So far, Italy, for the filming of New Moon but I’m planning to go to Vancouver, for the filming of Eclipse, in September.

4. Your favorite experience and with whom? My ‘guest encounter’ with Peter Facinelli at the Eternal Twilight
convention in Northampton, England, in February. Basically, there’s an auction, and the top 10 bidders get to spend 1 hour in a room chatting with Peter. The best hour of my life!

5. If you could meet any cast member again who would it be? Peter of course, I want to meet him as many times as possible. Also Kristen, as I only got to speak to her for a few seconds, I would love to be able to chat to her for longer.

6. Where is the location you would love to go to meet them? This is probably going to sound strange, but I would love to meet Peter s family, so at their house? or somewhere in Los Angeles, where they hang out together as a family. His wife Jennie Garth and his children seem so nice. Peter and Jennie are so much in love, it’s so cute.

7. What was the experience that went along with the picture you got for me. The crew write names on sticky notes on each item(So she had two pictures for me and two sticky notes). And I then walk up to the table where Peter is, his assistant takes the items from me, whilst he finishes talking and signing with the person before me. I just stand there and stare at him. His assistant passes a photo to him (for Taylor) and he says ‘good name’ and signs it. (You can see the picture of him signing my picture in the first thumbnail, I think that’s awesome that Katie took a picture of it for me!)

8. What is your favorite part of a Twi Convention. Surprising its not meeting the cast, its being able to chat about Twilight with other fans, and not being told to change the subject!

9. How overwhelming was it to be in the midst of all the twilight fever? very. it’s crazy most of the time, but it’s great that it has such a loyal fanbase that brings people together, and I’ve made some life long friends because of it.

10. If you could be cast as a character who would you like to be? The obvious answer is Bella or Esme right? Actually, I’d love to be Alice, because to see the future and therefore possibly being able to change it, would be the greatest ability I wish I could have.

Below are the pictures from Katie’s personal photo album from the event. Please don’t steal the pictures. The link to her album is here. The last thumbnail is of Katie and Peter in the picture they had taken together, yes, again I am jealous. Thanks again Katie for these pictures, I will cherish them forever!

New promo pictures of Alex O’Loughlin in Three Rivers have come out today. I couldn’t be happier. The picture above is so beautiful. And speaking of Alex, I added him to my background on Twitter the other day. (You can check it out at @taylor_blue)

Alex also wrote a blog on his MySpace today. I haven’t been able to stop reading it since it arrived in my inbox. Alex is amazing to his fans and this post he wrote today really proves it. He talks about how he hasn’t stopped working since his last update and a bit about how it was working with Jennifer Lopez. But the last paragraph of the blog is was impressed me the most.

Thank you all so much for the constant support. It can be difficult to reach you all personally and individually, but none of your love and hard work ever goes unnoticed or unappreciated. It is something in my life that helps me find the energy I don’t always think I have, to get through another long work day and stay inspired. Without you all it would be kind of pointless so, again, thank you.

All my love
Alex O’Loughlin x

That’s Alex always thinking of other people. That’s why I love him as an actor. That’s why I’ll always support him.

photos

After the day Robert Pattinson had today, I had to post a picture of him wearing a hoodie and not getting bugged by fans. We love you Robert, but not in the maul and stalk you type of way either. I promise.

P.S.  Peter Facinelli (@peterfacinelli ) revealed today on Twitter that Robert’s middle name was Oxford. I have to say he has quite the name. Robert Oxford Pattinson.

UPDATE: I guess Peter was joking because of the many emails I received saying his middle name was Thomas. That was funny Peter!

[Image by ANDERSON/VILA/bauergriffinonline.com]