4B - Thursday, December 1, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com GOSSIP COLUMN ART OF THE SEASON Celebrating lb-mo celebni-moms, eck the halls with lapsed" when she sat down to pregnant celebrities! be interviewed. Did Jay-Z hire With the holiday season a surrogate to carry their baby? approaching, it's time to take a Is Beyonc pretending to be look at the little bundles of joy more pregnant than she truly is? that will be Beyonce's publicist denied the filling the claims of a fake baby bump, but nation's gos- that doesn't stop gossip sources sip maga- from scrutinizing the size of B's zines in nine belly every time she makes an months or appearance. less. Hilary While you may think the baby Duff, Jessica bump coverage is absurd, you Simpson and HALEY should realize that once this baby Kourtney GOLDBERG is born, her every move will be Kardashian tweeted and photographed by are some of gossip sources for the world to the celebrity moms with buns in watch. From trips to school to the oven who have Twitter and play dates at the park, why would gossip sources buzzing. As the celebrities need babysitters when mommies-to-be strut the red they have the paparazzi to watch carpets with their baby bumps, their children 24/7? these celeb babies gain their star Jay-Z and Beyonc's baby will status even before they are born. be born in the spotlight and, like Now, a celebrity pregnancy all celebrity children, in the spot- typically follows a process. It light is where she will remain. usually begins with gossip sourc- The process has been tried and es speculating that a celebrity is true for famous celebrities - expecting. But most of the time, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's these claims are wrong and end flock of children, Will Smith's up spotlightingstars who actu- karate kid son and the daughter ally just enjoy eating, like Katy who whips her hair. But this all Perry, who said the rumors of her raises one simple question: Why being pregnant are attributed are we so fascinated with celeb- to her love of In-N-Out Burger rity pregnancies? and Taco Bell. Typically, the announcement comes from the celebrity herself - and what Baby bumpsor pregnancy announcement has bump been more fabulous this year fast food? than that of Beyonc6 Knowles? In a flowing red gown on the red carpet of the MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 28, Maybe it's because the soccer Beyonce clutched her bulging mom with four children in line at belly. Before the performance the grocery store can relate to the of her new song "Love on Top," pregnant celeb on the cover of Us Beyonc told the crowd and 12.4 Weekly. Or maybe it's because we million people watching at home feel close to celebrities, so we fol- that she wanted them to "... feel low the growth of their families the love that's growing inside as if they were our own friends. me," confirming that the singer And maybe we just think babies and rapper hubby Jay-Z were are cute - I know I can't wait expecting their first child. The to see if baby Beyonc6 has her due date was later revealed to be mother's Covergirl looks or Jay- in February. Z's classic scowl. Beyonc6 then entered the sec- Regardless of the reason, celeb ond stage of a celebrity pregnan- babies are present in the media cy: revealing the baby's gender. from the time the announcement While Beyoncd and Jay-Z kept is made until ... forever. We will the gender of the future ruler of watch the babies from diapers to the free hip-hop world a secret, dating, and watch the celeb moms we luckily had Kelly Rowland, shed the pounds and endorse Beyonce's friend and former Des- the newest weight loss company tiny's Child bandmate, to spillthe mere weeks after giving birth. As beans. At an award show ceremo- today's celebrities fade out, these ny early in November, Rowland newest tots keep the gossip mag- repeatedly referred to Beyoncd's azines full and usher in the new baby as a "her," letting us know era of people TMZ will stalk and the baby on the way willibe the Perez Hilton will blog about. next diva to run the world. This holiday season, the gift of Now the gossip world waits a new gossip generation remains patiently for the February due wrapped in the designer preg- date, when we can pick up People nancy clothing of Hilary Duff, or another gossip mag with a gor- Jessica Simpson, Kourtney Kar- geous photo spread of the baby dashian and Beyonne. As the baby and the hip-hop heroes who will bumps take to the red carpet, we guide her to stardom. can only anticipate the youngest Until then, we sit in the third celebs who will be the talk of the stage of a celebrity pregnancy: New Year. So happy holidays, and the rumor stage. Most notably, congratulations celebrity mom- gossip sources are contend- mies - thanks for keeping the ing that Beyoncd really isn't gift of gossip alive. pregnant. After appearing on an Australian talk show in Goldberg is delivering early October, critics claimed Beyoncd's baby. To assist, Beyonce's pregnantbelly "col- e-mail hsgold@umich.edu. 'TIS THE SEASON TO FOLLOW DAILY ARTS ON TWITTER @michdailyarts John Copley is responsible for designing the winter holiday-themed decorations on store and restuarant windows throughout downtown. Decking the ct streets Behind the scenes of Ann Arbor's holiday cheer By VERONICA MENALDI Daily Arts Writer The weather changes and bare trees aren't the only signs that the holiday season is approaching. All around Ann Arbor, twinkling lights hang on trees and dachs- hunds with Santa hats and snow- men listening to' iPods painted on store windows can be found for the viewing pleasure of those walking by. But not everyone knows who is responsible for the creation of this holiday cheer. Window painter and 'U' alum John Copley has been braving the temperamental Michigan weather every holiday season for the past eight years to paint as many windows as possible. No matter the weather, he's always out there. "This is just something that's kind of fun to do," he said. "Despite it being cold." Copley has been working as an artist since graduating from the University's Art School in 1969. Eight years ago, he was hired by the Ann Arbor Main Street Area Association to dress up storefront windows during the holiday sea- son and has been happily doingso ever since. This year, roughly 30 venues possible to incorporate the spirit have requested his services. In of the venue he's painting for. order to accommodate all the When he chooses to do holiday- requests, Copley started working themed paintings, they tend to on them one-by-one every day be more on the funny side with since Nov. 2. To avoid any conflict animated characters - like the when it rains, he saves the few smiling Christmas tree covered venues with awnings or covers in beer labels at Connor O'Neill's for rainy days and works on the or grape vines at Vinology with others when the weather is more ornaments hanging with phrases bearable. and symbols relating to the venue Copley has worked on a diverse inside. set of window displays this year. Copley also adds poetic phras- Blue Tractor, the Bank of Ann es to windows when applicable, Arbor, Cherry Republic, Arcade like the few lines from a Robert Barbers and Conor O'Neill's are Frost poem he painted on the just a few of the venues. Jolly Pumpkin's window. Some companies already have But Copley is not the only one an idea for what design they would responsible for Ann Arbor's holi- like on their windows, while oth- day spirit. The Ann Arbor Down- ers are more open to his ideas. town Development Authority "I have a lot of experience in works to make the glittering trees design, so I can come in and make shine throughout the cold winter suggestions to people," Copely nights by providing the funds to said. "I'm perfectly willing to maintain the twinkling lights. do whatever they want, though, Questions have arisen as to within reason." whether the city is responsible This allows Copley artistic for promoting a primarily Chris- freedom - excluding any reli- tian holiday to its residents. gious symbols, as he prefers to Rohen Shah, co-president of emphasize the general spirit of the Michigan Atheists Student the holidays over religion. - Society, said he thinks everyone Additionally, the window should be allowed the freedom paintings are meant to last to use whatever decorations through the winter, so the they desire as long as they aren't designs tend to be winter-based harmful to others. as opposed to holiday-themed. Shah said he believes many This means a passerby will see Christians-turned-atheists still more snowmen and snowflakes have a soft spot for all things than Santa hats and reindeer. Christmas and the universal feel- Copley tries to be as creative as ing of kindness and giving. "Even if you don't believe in Jesus, you can still like Christmas stuff," he said. In Shah's eyes, Christmas time and its associated decora- tions serve are symbols for joy,@ but he does draw a line: He said he would be bothered if someone came up to him and asked him to join them in celebratingthe birth of Jesus through prayer. Howev- er, Christmas music and decora- tions don't faze him in this way. Copley has been the recipi- ent of many good wishes from students as he proceeds with his work. The biggest complaint Copley receives is for starting too early in November. "I get a lot of really nice com- pliments like, 'It always feels like Christmas when I see you paint- ing the windows,' "he said. Maggie Ladd, director of the South University Area Associa- tion, said she feels that walking around the Ann Arbor streets during this time of year - namely the South University, State Street and Main Street areas - is a "magical" experience. "Wouldn't you feel that (magic) when it's a cold winter's night and the entire downtown is all lit up with twinkling lights?" she said. Whether students are heading to a study session or simplytaking a stroll around town, they should take a moment to let the view sink in and experience the magic first- hand. ANNA SCHULTE/Daily Christmas lights stay in the trees year-round but are only lit in the winter. PAUL 5t.RMAN/Daily Dogs with santa hats and iPod-toting snowmen grace windows of Nickels Arcade. LITTLE the musical a Department of Musical Theatre studio production Music by Jason Howland " Lyrics by Mindi Dickstein Book by Allan Knee " Based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott Dec. 8 at 7:30PM " Dec. 9 & 10 at 8 PM." Dec. 10& 11 at 2 PM e"Arthur Miller Theatre Uyf General Admission $17 " Students $10 w/lD MusicIlaeatre&Eance League Ticket Office * 734-764-2538 " tickets.music.umich.edu SO-CALLED LIFE From Page 3B specific episodes and garner big ratings. "Very special episodes" usually dealt with controver- sial issues like adultery, sexual assault, eating disorders or drunk driving. But the problems that arose from these social issues were usually resolved neatly at episode's end. No single episode of "My So-Called Life" was a "very special episode" because all of them were "very special." Classmate Rickie's (Wilson Cruz, "Party of Five") sexuality and Rayanne's drug abuse were continual themes, and the show dealt with less-covered issues, like pretty-boy Jordan Catalano's (Jared Leto, "Fight Club") dys- lexia. Obviously, there could never be a show today exactly like "My So-Called Life." So many things about it are inherently '90s-esque - the two-sizes- too-big clothing, lip liner, refer- ences to Hillary Clinton's new haircut. But are there any shows these days about high school- ers just being high schoolers? "Gossip Girl" is fabricated, the characters of "90210" barely attend school and the "Pretty Little Liars" are so beautiful and privileged they could never be as accessible as Angela and Rayanne. MTV's "Awkward" is the closest match, but despite its strong characters, it still doesn't ring with the candor of "My So- Called Life." In just 19 episodes, "My So- Called Life" made me fall in love with its characters to the point where I'm still holding a grudge against ABC for its premature cancellation. Its early demise is a shame not only because we don't get to see these characters con- tinue to grow, but also because it's a reminder of the television no longer around - a simple coming-of-age story devoid of supernatural elements, self- indulgence or picture-perfect hairstyles.