1. Did you know that Shaquille O’Neal wants to be a film director? According to TMZ, he’s nearly done with his classes at the Filmmaking Conservatory at the New York Film Academy’s branch at Universal Studios Hollywood, and the school reports that he has been “incredibly humble, funny, and likable” as a student.

2. Some hardcore fans of T.S. Eliot are upset by plans to build a development with nearly 4,000 houses and an industrial estate on the edge of East Coker, the farming village where the famed writer’s ashes are buried. [via ArtsBeat]

3. Prince Harry has officially dumped his girlfriend, lingerie model Florence Brudenell Bruce, who he has been dating since June. The completely awesome reason that he gave? Harry wants more time to focus on his helicopter training. [via The Daily Beast]

4. Saturday Night Live writer/guest star Paula Pell has signed on to play Ron Swanson’s mom — aka the original Tammy Swanson in his life — on the upcoming season of Parks and Recreation. [via TVLine]

5. Tyler, the Creator and Lil Wayne have teamed up with the Game on a lovely little track called “Martians Vs. Goblins,” which will feature on the latter’s forthcoming The R.E.D. Album, which is due out later this month. Listen to it here.

Bonus Buzz: The 5 Best Moments Of Warren Buffett’s Epic New York Times Op-ed

1.The Council of Conservative Citizens want you to boycott the new Thor movie because it considers it an “insulting multi-cultural make-over” that a black actor (Idris Elba from The Wire) has been cast as a Norse god. [via Gawker]

2. Last night Shaquille O’Neal filled in as guest conductor of the Boston Pops for a few songs (“Sleigh Ride,” “Can You Feel It” and “We Are The Champions”). His take on the experience: “Actually you know I have a whole new respect for conductors. Went through a little rehearsal today and my arms are shot right now.” [via The Early Lead]

3. There was yet another aerial accident during last night’s performance of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. According to tweets from one audience member: “Spider-Man on Broadway. Stopped short near end. Someone took nasty fall. Screaming. 911 called. No idea what happened, kicked audience out… No joke. No explanation. MJ and Spidey took what seemed to be a planned fall into the stage pit. Then we heard MJ screaming.” [via Vulture]

4. Meet 22-year-old fashion-obsessed community college student Ross Ulrich, a blogger who illegally downloaded more than 1100 files (mostly hi-res images) from the Condé Nast system, and is now facing charges from the FBI. [via Jezebel]

5. Now streaming: “Shell Games,” a track off of The People’s Key, the long-waited new album from Bright Eyes, which is due out on February 15th. [via P4K]

Bonus link: Watch the cast of Beverly Hills, 90210 say Christmas 200 times

1. The Austen Fiction Manuscripts Project is scanning Jane Austen’s original scrawled out manuscripts and putting them online for your enjoyment. [via Kottke]
2. Fiona Apple has a new record scheduled to be released in the spring of 2011. Her last LP, Extraordinary Machine, came out in 2005. [via 24 Bit]
3. Steve Martin has established a new prize that “will give $50,000 annually to ‘an individual or group for outstanding accomplishment in the field of five-string banjo or bluegrass music’.” [via NYO]
4. This one is kind of impossible to believe: Shaquille O’Neal, evil computer hacker. [via Radar Online]
5. Hootie and the Blowfish will be honored with their own 20-foot long monument — “a large steel and black granite piece of art” — in South Carolina next month. [via Celebrity Blend]

Bonus link: Does Fashion Make Good Theater?

1. Colum McCann‘s Let the Great World Spin won the fiction prize last night at the 60th annual National Book Awards; T.J. Stiles’ biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt, The First Tycoon, was the nonfiction winner. [via AP]
2. Shaquille O’Neal will curate an art show about scale called Size DOES Matter for New York’s nonprofit Flag Art Foundation come February. [via Bloomberg]
3. FOX News displayed doctored footage for the second time in a week. Is it time for heads to roll? [via The Daily Beast]
4. Andrew Lloyd Webber is back in the hospital after developing an infection following surgery for prostate cancer. [via Guardian]
5. Take a look at Vampire Weekend’s funny new video for “Cousins,” which is directed by Garth Jennings. [via Pitchfork]

Bonus link: Hollywood’s most overpaid stars

Today at Flavorpill, this Chinese artist made us think of a certain SNL skit. We were excited to hear that Chairlift will be touring with Phoenix this fall. We hoped that this cartoon was wrong and we’ll never have to see Harry Potter pass a stone. We gawked at some amazing old photos of Freddie Mercury. We found this soon-to-be married couple who already had the same name incredibly creepy. We refused to believe that kids are drinking gasoline to be more like Transformers. We anxiously awaited Shaq’s new ABC reality show — assuming that it’s as good as his Twitter feed. We were sad our alma mater, NYU, failed to make the list of 5 colleges whose architecture echoes Hogwarts. And finally, we couldn’t believe that Chris Brown finally apologized publicly for the Rihanna drama. The incident happened back in February.

Books: On one side of the island, one of the world’s bloodiest civil wars; on the other, Sri Lanka’s Galle Literary Fest. [Guardian]
Dance/Opera: Shaquille O’Neal coulda been a dancer. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Design: Shepard Fairey: pop masquerading as art? [New Yorker]
Film: Does anyone else find it really scary that Friday the 13th raked in $42.2 million this weekend, yet the Oscar nominated flicks can’t pay anyone to see ‘em? [Bloomberg]
Music: The cover (we like!)/tracklist for the new Grizzly Bear album. Now hype amongst yourselves. [Pitchfork]
Television: The Simpsons — now in HD — gets a new opening title sequence. Does anyone still watch? [TV Week]
Theatre: A new play about a guy trying to act out the first Rambo flick in his tiny apartment. And they said all the good stories had already been told… [Arts Beat]
Visual Arts: For the first time in sixty years, China agrees to share art with Taiwan. Their mothers must be so proud! [NYT]
Web: The art of the status update. [NYT Mag]

“ABOUT TO EAT DINNER, I PASSED UP 20 MCDONALDS TODAY. I COULDNT DO IT I’M ON A DIET, BUT MCDONALDS FRIES R THE BEST UM UM UM.”
- When Shaquille O’Neal discovers the thrill of Twitter, we’re all lovin’ it. Thank you Kathleen Hessert, wherever you are. [The Real Shaq]