Judy Blooms  This April marks the 50th Anniversary of Judy Garland’s legendary concert at Carnegie Hall at which she suggested she would “sing ‘em all and stay all night.” In celebration of it, the New York Pops will be filling Carnegie Hall with her music again this March 11, along with special guests Ashley Brown, Heather Headley and Karen Olivio. You can learn more about the concert at the New York Pops’ website, order the remastered recording of Judy’s original extravaganza or get Rufus Wainwright’s valiant attempt to recreate it.

Blonde’s Ambition  Outspoken Aussie Tabatha Coffee was undoubtedly the breakout star of the first season of Bravo’s hair-stylist competition Shear Genius. She may not have won the season, but her fabulous taste and outspoken personality earned something even better—her very own show on Bravo. Tabatha’s Salon Takeover just finished airing its third season of making over the most dysfunctional salons in the country, but you can catch up with it on Bravo’s website. She’s also just released her very surprising and very entertaining memoir It’s Not Really about the Hair, which I highly recommend.

Theory of Relativity  Wade Rouse is the author of four hilarious memoirs about his lovely gay life; his most recent—hitting shelves in February—is called It’s All Relative: Two Families, Three Dogs, 34 Holidays and 50 Boxes of Wine. It may be a big title, but the book more than lives up to it. Each of its essays is based around a holiday—including the big ones (particularly insane Halloween costumes, wonderfully bizarre Eater traditions ), the seldom-celebrated (uncover the gay Mecca that is Home Depot on Arbor Day) and the not-quite-holidays (Oscar Night predictions never seemed more desperately important). For more information, visit Wade’s web site at WadeRouse.com, and to read some of Wade’s beautiful columns for Metrosource, head to Metrosource.com and click “columnists.”

Unorthodox Love  Powerful isn’t a strong enough word to describe Eyes Wide Open—the story of a an Orthodox Jewish man named Aaron in Jerusalem—a butcher and father of four—who welcomes a stranger, Ezri, in from the rain only to find in their relationship a passion like none he’d previously experienced. The tug-of-war between their desire for one another and the expectations of their religion and community. It may be in Hebrew (with English subtitles) but the human passion on display transcends language.

Franklin, My Dear  If Heaven is in the details, then the Franklin + Gower boutique better get some pearly gates. Their custom pants, shorts and jackets come in beautiful fabrics with classic fitted cuts, but then they’re accented with delicious contrasting details—choose a vibrant print or piping to run down the side seam of a pant or add some flair underneath a jacket lapel. Their name comes from the location of their store—at the corner of Franklin and Gower streets in Los Angeles, but you can go to franklinandgower.com and start choosing your custom design right now.

Wanna Get Dirty?  Frank Fontana is adorable. Now that we’ve got out of the way, he’s also the host of HGTV’s “Design on a Dime”—so one figures he has a wealth of knowledge about making your living space look luxe for less. Well, in addition to the great tips and tricks you can get from tuning into him on TV; you can now get the benefit of his expertise in his book Frank Fontana’s Dirty Little Secrets of Design. It’s got plenty of great design inspirations and instructions for implementing them. and—as an added bonus—more pictures of Frank with his completed projects. You can read our story, including quotes from him and from the book, at Metrosource.com.

French Toast  We fell in love with The Triplets of Belleville—that magical, musical, almost-wordless animated French film—when it was nominated for multiple Oscars in 2004. So we’re eagerly anticipating The Illusionist. Much of the creative team that brough us Belleville, including director Sylvain Chomet, reunites to breathe life into this project—originally conceived by late French film legend Jacques Tati. It’s about a not-particularly-successful magician, modeled after Tati, who goes in search of places to perform until he meets a girl who changes his life.

Carol Call  The holidays always bring a crop of album’s celebrating the season, and this year’s was a bounty. We took a listen to Merry Christmas II You, Mariah Carey’s follow-up to her first blockbuster Christmas album; Holly Happy Days, the Indigo Girls country-inflected salute to all aspects of the season; A Christmas Cornucopia, Annie Lennox’s blend of traditional holiday music with her distinct international flavor; and Christmas with the Puppini Sisters, who bring their fabulous 1940s flair to carols old and new.

Taintor Love Anne Taintor repurposes vintage advertisements from the Mad Men era and gives them a deliciously naughty edge by juxtaposing them with semi-scandalous sayings (i.e. “Guess where I’m tattooed” and “Why yes, I am that kind of girl”). The deliciously post-modern results combine the rosy glow of Madison Avenue’s vision of stereotypical American womanhood with a post-feminist bite that will make you laugh over and over again. From flasks that say “Why do dishes when you can do daquiries?” to tote bags that declare “The key word is ‘alleged’!”—we just can’t help lovin’ that Anne! Check out all the Taintor wares—from magnets to lip balm.

They Might Be Pirates Here’s a belated Halloween treat for you. Appearing on shelves this Tuesday is a classic adventure that made so many children of the ’80s have dreams of discovering hidden pirate treasure (and possibly nightmares of being held captive by mutant criminals)—The Goonies: 25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition. Join a cast of stars-in-their-youth as they follow a mysterious treasure map into a frankly implausible underground maze where booby-traps lurk around every corner. This special edition includes cast commentary with the director and seven original stars, the Cyndi Lauper music video for “The Goonies ‘R Good Enough” and a Goonies-themed board game.

‘Stache And Carry There’s an international movement that’s spreading—both hair to upper lips everywhere and important addition to information about men’s health issues like prostate and testicular cancer. Here’s how it works: during the month of November a.k.a. “Movember,” participants stop shaving and start growing a mustache in the style of their choice. When people ask why said ‘stache is being sported, it’s an ideal opportunity to share important info about cancer and solicit donations to the Movember movement, which has raised over $47 million to fight these pervasive cancers. So this year, Paul Hagen—who has never before worn facial hair in his life—is giving it a try. You can keep up with Paul’s progress and donate to Movember by visiting his personalized page.

Shake It Up You’ve seen the infomercials (and if you haven’t, you can see them online) and the Saturday Night Live parody; now—see it in the mirror! Paul has been test driving the Shake Weight for Men and is loving the results; so now John and Tim are getting in on the act. Keep tuning in to “The Focus Group” for updates on our progress in The Focus Group’s Shake Weight Challenge!

Beat It “Howl,” one of the most significant poems of the Beat Generation, is at the center of a spectacular new film (also entitled Howl) premiering in September. Part courtroom drama about the trial of City Lights co-founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who was charged with the publication of obscenity for publishing “Howl”; part biopic—in which James Franco is doing phenomenal work in the role of “Howl” author Allen Ginsberg; and part extraordinary animated interpretation of the poem itself—this film is not-to-be-missed!

Knock Your Socks Off Whether or not you’re a fan of feet, taking care of them is essential; so—as we head from sandal weather back into socks and shoes, I have two great tips for your tootsies—one for when you’re in sandals and one for when you’re in shoes:

Get a Sandal On It One of my favorite new discoveries are Herban Essentials Towelettes. They’re like handi-wipes but infused with essential oils which means they are a) more natural and b) smell fantastic! We’ve been grooving on the Orange, but they’re also available in Eucalyptus, Lavender, Lemon and Peppermint. What does this have to do with feet? We make sure to keep them handy to wipe down sandals after wearing to keep them smelling and feeling fresh.

Male Order Between the gremlins in the washer and dryer that seem to eat socks and the fact that regular wear can leave them stretched out or riddled with holes, we go through socks like water. The solution? A sockscription from www.blacksocks.com, which will have orders of fresh, quality socks arriving at your home regularly. They also make a fantastic gift (who couldn’t use more socks?), or — for an even sexier option—try their underwear subscription!

Last-Chance Beach Reads Have you been making headway on your summer reading list? Paul has and he’s thrilled to recommend the adorable coming-of-age memoir by Mad Men’s Bryan Batt: “She Ain’t Heavy, She’s My Mother,” Bill Clegg’s chilling story of his own $40,000 crack binge: “Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man,” and “The Bucolic Plague”—Josh Kilmer-Purcell’s story of how he and his partner Brent (pardon me, Dr. Brent of Martha Stewart fame) went from city boys to gentleman farmers (and ultimately ended up with their own reality show—“The Fabulous Beekman Boys” airing on the Planet Green network).

Crimes Of The Art Interested in celebrating Gay Pride Month by experiencing the work of out and proud artist Olan Montgomery? You can see examples of work—including selections from his book “POP” and his “Atrocities” series chronicling anti-gay hate crimes—on his website www.olanart.com.

A Different Kind With all this talk about the delicious and nutritious fruit-and-nut concoctions of the folks at KIND Healthy Snacks, you can see the full line of their products and get discounts on ordering in bulk by visiting them at www.kindsnacks.com.

Michael Thomas Ford has authored or co-authored ten books. Paul’s favorite? The epic journey of two next door neighbors—Full Circle, but he also encourages you to check out Ford’s latest, The Road Home—out this month from Kensington Books. Learn more about his work at janebitesback.com.

The New Jazz Divas You can get the fabulous compilation CD “The New Jazz Divas” at shop.npr.org, or check out some of the jazzy ladies individually: Head to madeleinepeyroux.com to hear Madeleine Peyroux, whom Paul calls a “modern Billie Holiday.” Jane Monheit, who sings the amazing cover of “Some Other Time” that the gentlemen discussed, can be found at janemonheitonline.com. And Catherine Russel—of “Kitchen Man” fame—is at catherinerussell.net.