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Partner Buzz

How to Fake Like You Know About Sports

By Tom Hawking on

New episodes of USA Network’s White Collar — our favorite series that follows the exploits of a con man’s (Matt Bomer) adjunct assignment with an FBI Special Agent (Tim DeKay) — are right around the corner, and to celebrate, we’ve been amusing ourselves of late composing guides to conning your way through various conversational topics. This time around, it’s sports, a topic that can be downright intimidating if you find yourself stuck by the fridge at a party with a couple of avowed sports fanatics. But never fear, because we’re here to help — so if you don’t know your first down from your first base or your offside from your backside, then read on! … Read More

Partner Buzz

How to Fake Like You Know About Art

By Alison Nastasi on

New episodes of USA Network’s White Collar — our favorite series that follows the exploits of a con man’s (Matt Bomer) adjunct assignment with an FBI Special Agent (Tim DeKay) — are right around the corner. To get in the mood for more forgeries and billion-dollar heists, we devised our own cheat sheet to help you fake it with the best of them. If you can’t tell your Post-Impressionist painters from classical Greek sculpture, you can master the art of deception with our guide to the classics. Fake your way through the world’s greatest museums, meet the first Renaissance men, and find out the difference between Monet and Manet after the jump. … Read More

Partner Buzz

How to Fake Like You Know About Wine

By Sarah Bray on

Ever wonder what you’re supposed to look for when a server pours wine into your glass? Or had a mild panic attack when a clerk in a wine shop asks you what you’re looking for? Even if you know next to zero about wine, you still need to be able to order a glass. In honor of the man behind one of television’s most impressive wine collections — White Collar‘s delightfully highbrow con artist Neal Caffrey — check out our guide to faking your way through your next dinner date, from a few wine words to know to connoisseur-worthy deals. And if you’re talking to a wine snob at your next cocktail party, you may even be able to teach ‘em a thing or two. … Read More

Television

TV’s Top 10 Sexiest Crime-Fighting Duos

By Michelle Rafferty on

Crockett and Tubbs had style. David and Maddie were explosive. And it was all about subtext when it came to Mulder and Scully. TV has seen a number of crime-fighting duos in its years, and the ones we remember most always had that certain “It” factor. On-screen chemistry — and we’re not speaking strictly in the romantic sense — is hard to come by, and lucky for us, there’s no shortage of it at the moment in the buddy cop/taking down evil rich people and terrorists field. In anticipation of Sunday’s Revenge and Homeland season premieres, we’ve decided to rank our favorite crime-fighting duos on TV, from “hotter than Bon Temps on a mild summer day” to “sexier than Inigo Montoya.” Is there a special couple we missed? Let us know! … Read More

Celebrity

2012 Moth Ball Interviews: Celebrity Guests on Storytelling and Scorsese

By Michelle Rafferty on

Since George Dawes Green started The Moth in his living room 15 years ago, the organization has had one clear mantra: great storytelling. So it’s no surprise that the honoree of their annual ball, held Tuesday night at Capitale in New York City, was one Martin Scorsese. It’s a difficult task to sum up the essence of his ever-evolving oeuvre, but perhaps award-presenter Adam Gopnik did it best when he discerned that at the heart of every Scorsese film is “an act of verbal aggression.” In a broader sense, this pronouncement encapsulated the theme of the night: a Moth story is like Scorsese — you can peel back the layers and get even more (which is why, if you’re looking for a challenge, we recommend listening to their podcast on an erratic, crowded subway train, where hitting an iPhone’s microscopic rewind button while standing is perilous).

For exclusive interviews from the evening, click through our celebrity slideshow featuring: Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, the stars of White Collar (Tiffani Thiessen-Smith, Matt Bomer, and Tim Dekay), comedian Mike Birbiglia and Jen Stein, Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi, Kyp Malone of TV On The Radio, Joan Firestone (Executive Director of The Moth), and Royal Pains stars Reshma Shetty and Paulo Costanzo. … Read More

Television

10 Great Don Draper Wannabes on TV

By Michelle Rafferty on

Since these Mad Men trailers are giving us nothing to discuss (We get it! You’re back! Now let’s see some new footage, please!), we’ve decided to play a different game. The last season premiere opened with the question: “Who is Don Draper?” Now, what if we were to take this question literally (who is a Don Draper?) and apply it to our favorite TV shows? We’re looking for men who wouldn’t think of leaving the house in pajamas (ahem Max Blum, you lovable man-child), men who consider emotion and failure to be the greatest of character flaws and stood as beacons of hope during the “great mancession” (now officially over). We’re looking for men like Dick Whitman who bury their crises and secrets far beneath the fabric of their perfectly tailored suits and must carry the dead albatross of great sexual prowess around their necks every day. Click through to see who we came up with and, as always, we invite you to make additions in the comments, because what else do you have to do until Sunday night? … Read More