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David Batka

Virgin mobile iPhone to hit the market

Prepaid phone company takes on Apple

The Virgin mobile iPhone has been causing quite a stir lately. The prepaid phone company plans on offering Apple’s hottest product for much less than AT&T and Verizon.

Virgin mobile is a prepaid phone service owned by Sprint. And, the company announced last Thursday that they will start offering the iPhone on June 29.

The Virgin mobile iPhone plans come in much cheaper any other carrier, but the price of the iPhone isn’t being dropped. Virgin mobile is selling the phone at its full price of $549 for the 8GB iPhone 4 and the 16GB iPhone 4S at $649.

Plans for the Virgin mobile iPhone start at $35 per month for 300 minutes with unlimited data and texting. However, once you’ve reached 2.5GB in a billing cycle, your speed will be drastically throttled. If users register for automatic monthly payments, they will receive a $5 monthly discount.

Virgin mobile isn’t the only company taking on the iPhone. Cricket recently announced that it will be offering the iPhone too, and the price for the phone is $150 less than Virgin mobile. But, their monthly plan is more than Virgin mobile’s, sitting at $55 per month.

The Virgin mobile iPhone will be available at Best Buys and Radio Shacks throughout the country. The Cricket iPhone is only available at Cricket stores and MyCricket.com.

9,000-year-old mask up for auction

Oldest art object at Christie’s

A 9,000-year-old mask is set to be auctioned off at Christie’s June 8. The 9,000-year-old limestone mask will be the oldest art piece to ever grace the famed auction house, reports Yahoo.

It’s estimated that the 9,000-year-old mask could fetch upwards of $600,000. The mask is Neolithic and is meant to represent a human skull. It was found in the Judean dessert.

Molly Morse Limmer, head of Christie’s Antiquities department in New York stated, “Only very few of these masks are known. All were found in the Judean desert, all were carved of limestone, and all represent the human skull.

Limmer speculates that the 9,000-year-old mask was an attempt at connecting with the spiritual realm is connected with some type of religious ritual.

The mask is oddly reminiscent of the mask worn by the slasher Jason Voorhees.

Christie’s described the mask as:

“Fashioned to resemble a human skull, oval in form with thick walls, the reverse concave, the cut-out eyes with narrow ridges extending up from their outer corners over the temples, raised cheekbones below with a ridge extending back, the slender triangular nose with two grooves for the nostrils, the lipless oval mouth open, revealing teeth, with five biconical drill holes along the perimeter.”

While the 9,000-year-old mask may be one of the oldest art piece sold by Christie’s, it certainly isn’t the most expensive. In May 2007, Andy Warhol’s Green Car Crash painting sold for a record breaking $71,720,000. Raffaelllo Sanzio’s portrait of Lorenzo de’Medici sold for a staggering $37,

Will Smith pimp slaps reporter

The Fresh Prince holds his own

Will Smith slapped a reporter Friday, during a Men in Black 3 premiere in Moscow.

The Ukrainian reporter that Will Smith slapped, gave Smith two kisses on both cheeks and came just a little too close to the actors mouth. The moment clearly caught Big Willie off-guard.

Smith immediately pushed the reporter back, asked “What the hell is your problem buddy?” and gave him a quick backhanded slap across the right-side of his face.

Will Smith was on camera during the entire incident and joked, “ He tried to kiss me on my moth. This joker, he’s lucky I ain’t sucker punched him.”

OntheRedCarpet.com reports that the reporter may have been Vitalli Sediuk, who has made a name for himself with his outlandish and off-color antics.

The Will Smith Slaps Reporter incident has set the Internet a buzz with people searching for the video. Smith isn’t the type of celebrity that has bad PR buzzing around him, but in the video, its clear that the reporter wanted more than just a quick interview.

Men in Black III is set to premier May 25 in the U.S. The third installment of the MIB series forces Agent J, Will Smith, to travel back to the 60s to save Agent K, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin, from being assassinated by aliens and changing the course of history. In the past, he discovers things about the universe that he never knew. Celebs ranging from Lady Gaga to Justin Bieber and Sir Richard Branson all make appearances in the film.

College News recently sat down with the film’s director Barry Sonnenfeld to find out his thoughts of MIB becoming a trilogy and his inspiration for the film. Look for the interview in our next issue.

Check out the Will Smith slaps reporter video below.

Clint Eastwood takes a shot at reality TV

Clint Eastwood and his family have made a deal with the E! Network to star in their own reality TV show. Mrs. Eastwood & Co. will debut May 20.

Ten episodes of Clint Eastwood, his wife Dina and two daughter, Francesca and Morgan have been ordered by E!. The show will follow the Eastwood family in both Los Angeles and Carmel, California, Clint Eastwood served as mayor in the later for two years.

E! promises to have the occasional glimpse of Clint Eastwood  -or else why would anyone care to watch- but the primary focus to the series will be around Dina Eastwood and the promotion of the South African vocal group, Overtone, that she discovered.

“People might be surprised by how we live our lives and our unconventional approach. I also believe that it’s hard not to fall in love with my band, Overtone,” Dina Eastwood said in a statement.

One has to ask if a reality TV show will lessen Clint Eastwood and his take-no-prisoners attitude. Shows like former Black Sabbath front-man Ozzy Osbourne’s The Osbournes and Kiss’s Gene Simmons’ Simmons Family Jewels were mediocre at best. And, in the case of The Osbournes, their reality show simply aired their private problems publicly. Though, other shows family-based reality shows like Keeping up with the Kardashians helped launch careers and have led to spin-offs. However, it’s hard to imagine “The Duke” lounging around the house. Maybe he asks his daughters, “Do you feel lucky,” when he is about to open their school report cards.

“I’m really proud of my family,” Clint Eastwood also said. “They are a constant source of inspiration and entertainment.”

Clint Eastwood to hit the small screen

Clint Eastwood and family feel lucky with reality TV

In a long line Hollywood greats to have their lives recorded and dissected for reality TV, Clint Eastwood has agreed to have a show of his own, recording his home life. The show titled Mrs. Eastwood &Co. debuts May 20 on the E! Network.

The channel has ordered 10 episodes, which will follow Clint Eastwood’s wife Dina and two daughters, 18-year-old Francesca and 15-year-old Morgan in both Los Angeles and Carmel California. Clint Eastwood had previously served as mayor of Carmel for two years, where he was paid $200 a month.

The show will have the occasional glimpse of Clint Eastwood, but Yahoo.com reports that the primary focus will be around the promotion of the South African vocal group Overtone, a band that Dina discovered.

“People might be surprised by how we live our lives and our unconventional approach. I also believe that it’s hard not to fall in love with my band, Overtone,” Dina Eastwood said in a statement.

Though one has to ask what a reality TV show will do to Clint Eastwood and his tough-as-nails persona.  Similar shows like The Osbournes and Gene’s Family Simmon’s Family Jewels rather demystified the vibrato around the two energetic front men.  Though, other shows like Keeping up with the Kardashians helped turn the sister duo into tabloid starts, launching clothing, perfume and jewelry lines. It’s hard to imagine Dirty Harry lounging around the house though and paying bills.

“I’m really proud of my family,” Clint Eastwood stated. “They are a constant source of inspiration and entertainment.”

National Enquirer says Whitney Houston casket photo is ‘Beautiful’

Controversy erupts over LAST PHOTO! of the diva

The publisher of the “National Enquire” reportedly told Fox News that she felt the cover of their latest issue, featuring Whitney Houston’s corpse in her casket, was beautiful.

The move by the tabloid to publish Whitney Houston’s casket photo on the cover of the most recent issue has been referred to as ‘distasteful’ and ‘too soon,’ and their media peers are vocally rising up against the “National Enquirer’s” actions.

The cover of the tabloid, which reads “Whitney: THE LAST PHOTO!,” features the singer in a gold casket with her nickname “Nippy” embroidered on the silk cover behind her. The cover also highlights that Whitney Houston was buried in her favorite purple dress with over $500,000 worth of jewelry.

“The Enquirer struck again with its latest cover featuring Whitney Houston in a casket. It’s just another disgusting display of how low celebrity obsession can stoop. Regardless of how they obtained the picture — and the likely exorbitant price they paid for it, the Enquirer should have thought twice about this post-mortem portrait,” Denise Warner, the Executive Editor of HollywoodLife.com told Fox. “No one needs to remember Whitney preserved in formaldehyde. And it’s certainly not an image that is necessary in the discussion of her life and death.”

Sadly, Houston’s family went to great lengths to ensure that the funeral held in Newark, New Jersey, Whitney’s hometown, was kept private and media-free. Though, the picture appears to be taken during a private showing of the body. Which raises the question, who snapped the photo?

This isn’t the first time that the “National Enquirer” pulled this type of cadaver stunt. In 1977, they published a photo of Elvis Presley in his casket, and they did the same with John Lennon in 1988.

Whitney Houston died at the age of 48 in her Beverly Hills Hotel on Feb 11. The cause of her death is still unknown and is still under investigation.