Podcast recommendations are often the best ones, and we Peckers always have excellent taste. Comfort listens, deep dives on certain topics, or even just background noise: what's in your podcast rotation right now? Photo Credit: David Fisher/Shutterstock

Welcome, music sloots to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today by way of a San Francisco gal with incredible talent and understated class, a combo we don't see much in performers these days of any ilk, if at all. Better still, she's still truckin' at age 86. And though it's wintertime, her music will bring back summer. Just listen and you'll feel the heat, the light humidity, a chill band and her freshly reviving voice. Also, San Francisco must have something in the water, because so many terrific jazz vocalists seem to hail from there. It can't be a coincidence. Case in point, Mary Stallings, born in 1939 in the city, the middle child of 11 siblings. Get this: she's also the niece of saxophonist Orlando Stallings, who introduced her to jazz when she was just a wee one after overhearing her scatting to Dizzy Gillespie's "Oop-Bop-Sh'bam." She performed briefly with Uncle Orlando's band and with her church, and while she was still...

Loud logo overload and aggressive “dupe” flexing, turning people into ambulatory billboards for sweatshop fast fashion that trashes the planet while pretending it’s ironic Endless Y2K necromancy: ultra low-rise jeans, visible thongs, unbuttoned pants, micro shorts — dragged back from the dead despite most bodies, climates, and basic dignity declining the invitation.  TikTok stunt cycles that gamify injury, poisoning, and arrest (NyQuil chicken, aerosol inhaling, car theft) and then act shocked when hospitals get involved “Blackout” and Benadryl challenges, where teens choke or overdose for clout, rebranding actual danger as engagement Cold plunges, IV drips, bone broth bars, and hyper-aesthetic wellness clubs mutating into luxury status symbols that cost more than actual medical care  Colostrum powders and animal-derived “liquid gold” supplements marketed as gut and skin miracles, with a marketing budget vastly outpacing the science Wellness influencers hawking extreme biohack...

Source: Bettmann We've all had moments when our clothing has betrayed us: a skirt tucked into our underwear, a nasty breeze hitting us at the worst possible time. But not all wardrobe mishaps are equal. Have you ever had a particularly embarrassing malfunction? Or seen someone else have one? Expose yours below!

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That was a TRAVESTY! And Jerry Lewis as emcee? He was even worse than Bob Hope usually is . Oh well, no point in crying over spilled half and half.  C'mon, hop inside my parents' new 1956 Mercury (it's painted in "2-Tone" colors!) and we can swing by the drive-thru and get a couple chocolate malts and split an order of onion rings while we watch Ed Sullivan. The Five Satins are going to be on, and we can watch and chat and laugh about whatever's going on in our lives at school or at work, just like an Open Post or something! Photo Credit: AK

Credit: Backgrid Here's Kristen Stewart photographed leaving her hotel in NYC yesterday. It's difficult to guess what the weather was like. Up top suggests cooler temps, while the bottoms suggest a beach trip is nigh. And then there's the hair! Kristen is known for her ~edgy~ style but I find I just don't "get" most of her looks. This definitely falls into that category. What do you think of this look, Peckers?

Greetings music slutinos, and welcome to the first Manor Music post for the new year! It's back to work for many of you today - and I know, blech. Myself, I want at least another week off, but, hey, music can be a vacation, right? No, really, it can. Tonight, at the Manor's exclusive "Bush Diver" after-hours bar and taquitoria, DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing just want you need to hear as you start the work week. Something effortlessly light, something to sweep away the drudgery, something with giggles.  How about "The Girl With A Giggle In Her Voice?" That's what she was dubbed in the early 1950s. Behold the chucklesome Alma Cogan, here in her dressing room just seconds before hitting the stage. She designed all of her fetching costumes, by the way. Never once was she seen in the same outfit twice.  I 'm still trying to wrap my noggin around the fact that she was, for quite a long time, the highest-paid female performer ever in the UK (until th...

Cancel one thing that you have decided never needs to happen. Eat something warm and delicious at least once a day. Use lamps all week. Overhead lighting is aggressive. Don’t make any major life decisions before noon, and it doesn't even have to be in your time zone.  Wear the softest clothes, even if no one sees you. Let emails sit. Nothing important happens this week. Drink water like it’s part of the new you. May as well start off hydrated. Rewatch something comforting instead of watching something new and laborious.  Clean in 10-minute segments at a time, and then decide whether to continue. Go to bed early at least once without announcing it. Ignore productivity advice entirely. Take a walk without tracking it, even 5 minutes counts. Let the week be awkward. It always is. January is a suggestion, not a mandate. Choose simple food over impressive food. Avoid conversations that start with “So this year I’m going to…” Buy nothing except food, comfort, and things that make yo...

One thing Elizabeth Hurley's gonna do is wear a bikini. The 60-year old actress rang in the new year with her boyfriend, Billy Ray Cyrus, at a 007-themed party wearing a bikini reminiscent of Honey Ryder's famous look in Dr. No .  Billy Ray went for an all-black look and I'll let you share your thoughts on his hair. Source: Elizabeth Hurley on instagram

Would, no shame. Then again, I'd "would" a lot of things. Would you? And have any of you seen or heard about any crazy vending machines out there in the wild?

 

Full disclosure: I have no idea if I got the year or even the vehicle right but it was so beautiful I had to take a pic, and as far as I'm concerned it's a '72 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, so I'm going with it. Lots of big, important stuff happened in 1972 , and the biggest song of the year was this masterpiece: Whether it's the first time you've ever seen someone's face, or even if they're killing you softly with their song, killing you softly...with their song, happy Open Post and a very, very Happy New Year in a few hours, darlings!

Vintage magazine ad, 1934 As the year winds down, some of us naturally slip into a period of reflection: thinking about what worked, what didn't, and what we might like to change for the impending new year. For others, January 1st feels like just another day on the calendar.  I would love to hear where you land. Do you have any special rituals around NYE? Are you making any resolutions for 2026? Please share below!

Welcome, music sloots, to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with a swingin' sister to kick you into the New Year with a big smile on your face - and these days, we need something to smile about, don't we? Please make sure and join DJ Li'l Scratch tonight at the Manor's exclusive after hours joint, "Liquor in the Front!" There, he'll be spinning tunes from a performer who started out as part of the "Cool School" sound on the West Coast in the 1940s and 50s, which was yet another movement that acted as a counterpart to bebop. If bebop was "hot-hot-hot" - being loud and fast (and competitive) - Cool Jazz was its "cool" counterpart, or chill, understated and sometimes intellectually detached. You know them when you hear them: Chet Baker with his fragile, whispered delivery; Peggy Lee with her minimalist singing, doing as much as possible with the teensiest amount of volume; and Chris Connor, famed for her vibrato-less v...

  Having trouble keeping your sleep paralysis demon at bay? Then I have the solution for you - this Adam Levine pillowcase! Just don't look at it yourself before you drift off into a slumber. Vomiting in your sleep can be dangerous!

  Like many "celebrities," Jamie Lynn Spears shared photos of her family's holiday celebrations this year. But many were left baffled by one gift that she gave her 17-year old daughter, Maddie: an ATV. If you recall, Maddie was nearly killed back in 2017 when she was in an ATV accident. The then-8-year old was riding an ATV on her family's property when she tipped over and fell into a pond. The girl was trapped under the vehicle and her family had to act quickly to retrieve her. She was in a coma for two days, but luckily recovered from the horrific incident. Now, eight years later, her family chose to gift her an ATV. Spears didn't offer any explanation for the seemingly odd gift, and comments on her instagram are limited. Perhaps Maddie requested it? It is weird to see her and her 7-year old sister on the very same vehicle that nearly cost her her life, but to each their own! Source: Jamie Lynn Spears on instagram, People Magazine

Hola, hors! This guy, like some lucky people, has ALL the talent. While I can't draw a straight line to save my life, my man is out here on the street whipping up masterpieces - USING A PUPPET! Oy, save some talent for the rest of us, will ya 😭

  Have a safe and happy holiday!