Tarcher Books

The celebrity of tatted-up rockstar-style cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy, who hosts Animal Planet's My Cat from Hell (with new episodes premièring June 30), has helped make it possible to be perceived as a hipster and a crazy cat person, and for that, the rest of us crazy cat people are oh, so grateful. (The Valley's Kate Benjamin of ModernCat.net is a big help on the accessories side, as well.)

Galaxy is touring with his lovely new book, Cat Daddy: What the World's Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me About Life, Love, and Coming Clean, and he visited Changing Hands Bookstore last night for a jam-packed chat, mini-reading, Q&A, and signing.

I'm pretty sure most people would have needed a Benadryl just to walk through the room, which was cat-free but not cat-hair-free, if you get my drift.

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www.marthastewart.com

Sometimes Etsy gets us down. After all, it only takes a few clicks to fall into a bottomless pit of hopeless handmade ugliness. But every once in a while, Etsy browsing results in an unearthed gem.

Such serendipity was responsible for local fashion designer Katie Walker's label kt jean (interchangeably called Katie Jean Designs) getting some major love from home and garden diva/deity Martha Stewart this week.

On Wednesday, The Martha Stewart Show aired an Etsy-centric episode and, during its fashion segment, featured kt jean's high-waist Alisier skirt ($68) in a red and blue geometric diamond pattern over a sandy neutral background.

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© NBC Universal, Inc.

Without working ourselves into too much of a premature lather let's note: 30 Rock is a few episodes away from its season six finale, which airs May 17, and NBC has yet to renew the Thursday night standby for another season.

And it sure seems possible that the premise of this week's live episode (in which the network decides to stop funding the show-within-the-show TGS as a live program) is creator Tina Fey's way of dropping yet another hint that we're rapidly nearing the end.

Combine that with Alec Baldwin's near constant talk that the show's end is nigh, Fey recently dishing on The View that "the end of the show is on the horizon," and superfans are thisclose to a Jenna Maroney-style meltdown.

If they're to linger without word of renewal for much longer, it's only natural to consider the possibility that soon Liz Lemon, Jack Donaghy, and their gaggle of weirdo coworkers and love interests won't be around anymore. (Syndication and Netflix Instant Watch will not compensate.)

But the good times in studio 6H have been plenty and it seems like a good time to look back. Here are nine favorite 30 Rock moments in no particular order:

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When mob heiress Karen Gravano was in her late teens, her father Salvatore "Sammy The Bull" Gravano, who was second in command in the Gambino crime family, became an FBI informant and fed juicy bits of mafia info to hungry agents that eventually took down boss John Gotti.

And apart from Gravano's own brushes with the law (including involvement in her dad's Arizona ecstasy ring, for which he's now serving time in Colorado and Karen was put on probation), that scandal is what has defined her. And much like her father gave up mob secrets, Gravano gives up her own in her new memoir Mob Daughter.

Not that Gravano is a stranger to putting the spotlight on her family and its history.

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Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC

Joan Harris (Christina Hendricks), Roger Sterling (John Slattery), Lane Pryce (Jared Harris), Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser), Don Draper (Jon Hamm), Bertram Cooper (Robert Morse), Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss)

​ After what seems like an eternity, AMC's sytlized drama Mad Men will return for its fifth season with a two-hour premiere this Sunday at 9 p.m. after nearly a year and a half off the air.

And for mega fans (which we will absolutely cop to being) that means going all out. From parties and outfits to drinks and duds, here are five ways to celebrate the return of Don Draper and company.

5. Party Like It's 1967
Delve into the dapper new season with a stylish evening out at Mabel's on Main. The bar's Sunday night season premiere viewing party will be more than worthy of that super cute vintage dress, which you spent way too much money on and haven't yet had reason to wear. Dust it off, along with your best attempt at a beehive, for an evening of top-notch TV, featuring Jim Beam cocktails and discounts for industry employees.

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Welcome to the Morning Buzz, a catch-up on interesting happenings around the city and country and a quick guide to what (and who) to keep your eyes on. We'll be here, first thing every weekday, to get you going. Here's what's buzzing this morning:

loveromancepassion.com

This week in supposedly popular television shows using Craigslist as a casting room comes the announcement of "Secretly Pregnant."

And, you guessed it, producers are looking for potential stars who are keeping the bun in the oven behind lock and key. (Fair warning: You're only going to be able to keep the secret for so long ... especially if you're on a "popular" television show.)

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via arduansergio on flickr

​By this time next week, a large group of Phoenicians will remember the city's semi-Irish heritage, and with any luck, a few will be given the chance to fly to the Emerald Isle for a week to check out their roots.More >>

​To the glee of graff fans and pop-culture fiends, creators of The Simpsons announced this morning that an upcoming episode will guest star the kings of street art: Shepard Fairey, Ron English, Kenny Scharf and Robbie Conal.More >>

Courtesy of Vh1

Left to right: Tanya Grace, Brooke Villone, Anna Benson, Chantel Kendall, Jordana Lenz

​Just in time for Cactus League Spring Training, here's your guide to places where you can party, scheme, trash talk, make out, and dance like one of Vh1's Baseball Wives -- Erika Monroe Williams, Brooke Villone, Anna Benson, Chantel Kendall, Tanya Grace, and Jordana Lenz.

The ladies made the Valley's nightlife rounds, mostly spending time in Scottsdale, and here are six spots they hung out while filming. Be sure to bring along your favorite quotable quips from the reality show's first season, including Tanya's handy pick-up lines like, "I wanna taste your gum," and Anna Benson's life mantras such as, "I'm a bomb ass bitch. I ain't June Cleaver."

10. The Mint
When the wives take to this Scottsdale bank-turned-club in the first episode, things get wild. Tanya swapped spit with a stranger (under the guise of gum tasting), Chantel told her "gusband" (translation: gay husband) that post-divorce she wants to "celebrate me," and Jordana awkwardly danced on a table -- and noted in her commentary on the night that she loves attention. Huh. We never would've guessed.

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www.vh1.com

Chantel Kendall of Vh1's Baseball Wives

Vh1's latest reality endeavor, Baseball Wives, is based in (where else?) spring training hotspot Scottsdale. The catty crew includes Anna Benson, Erika Monroe Williams,
Tanya Grace, Brooke Villone, Jordana Lenz, and this week's final femme Chantel Kendall.

The six women have (or have had) romances with MLB players, and, as it's "reality" telly, they pick fights, make and break alliances, take extravagant trips, and are socially bound together by little more than the shared profession of their hubbies, boyfriends, and exes.

Each woman has a story, and we're dishing the juicy deets...

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