Shauna Swartz's blog

Toronto-based queer band The Cliks is coming to a town near you this summer (catch them on their own tour or as part of the True Colors tour). When we talked with them earlier this month, lead singer Lucas Silveira had more inside scoop that wouldn't fit in the story, so here are some outtakes from that interview. Lucas tells us the truth behind his folksy background, how much the band loves their fans, and why the Cliks is called the Cliks.

AfterEllen.com: Did you really used to be a folkie?
Lucas Silveira: [in a sing-song voice] I used to be a folkie.

AE: I find that so hard to believe, because you're such a rocker now.
LS: It's true. It's so true. I had two solo albums under my previous name [Lilia]. I don't want to say they're super folkie. The first one is more than the second one. But the performances I used to do were a lot of really mellow music that I used to write. I was never as folk as some people would like to think, but it was pretty folksy, bluesy kinds of stuff. And in most of my performances I never picked up an electric guitar. I was always on acoustic.

Shocking. Turns out alcohol isn't Miss USA's only vice. Tara Conner has now copped to using coke, telling the Today show's Matt Lauer in an interview that will air on Saturday.

But the kicker is that after her month in rehab, not only did Tara have to move out of her luxurious Trump Tower pad and into a small apartm

Beyoncé is this year's "most desirable woman" -- according to 8.5 million voters, mostly men aged 18 to 34, who voted in AskMen.com's annual reader survey. (I wonder how many of the voters were actually women.)

She made a giant leap from the number 50 spot last year.

The runne

Apparently that's what Terry McMillan has been doing — from the time she found out that her (now ex-)husband is gay, until this month, as her essay "100 Questions I Meant to Ask Him" is published in the book The Honeymoon's Over: True Stories of Love, Marriage, and Divorce. (I love that the cover features a piece of burnt toast!)

The Publisher's Weekly review reads, "Anot

Laila Ali, the 29-year-old daughter of Muhammad Ali, is about to become the first woman to headline a boxing card in South Africa. In Johannesburg for her bout against Guyana's Gwendolyn O'Neil on Saturday, Laila got some public support from Nelson Mandela, who was a boxer in his younger days. Laila said Mandela reminds her of her father, right down to the cane he uses to walk.

Laila has a 22-0 record with 19 knockouts. She's the IBA, WBC, WIBA and IWBF Super Middlew

This Valentine's Day you can send that lovely lass a free e-card that celebrates lezzie love.

There are four designs to choose from, including this one, which is less lusty and more friendly:

The cards are designed by author/cartoonist Paige

Oh, drat. It's just another celebrity impersonator from Texas-based Tapley Entertainment.

Impersonator? More like imposter! Scribegrrrl pegged it: She looks more like Bianca from All My Children.

But you could always spice up your next party with a double billing featuring Penelope and one of the several "Selma Hayek"s available for hire. Are you too wondering what's going on with that fi

Sundance 2007 has ended, but there are so many new films to look forward to and so many stars to look amorously at. Here's a peek at some of them promoting their work at the festival, courtesy of photographer Justin Stephens (and Entertainment Weekly):

Queen Latifah and Tracee Ellis Ross (Life Support):

Gina Gershon (

She plays the banjo!

Zooey Deschanel played and sang at an opening for a photography exhibit this past weekend in L.A. She and her sister Emily appear in many of the photographs in the series, called "Victims and Avengers." You can scroll through the haunting images here.

I knew Zooey had once issued an

Attention Mary Lynn Rajskub fans, whether deliberate or unwitting: You can catch her on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno this very evening.

She's best known as Chloe on 24, but her comic career stretches back about 10 years, and the woman is hee-larious.

Amidst her oodles of talent, doesn't Mary Lynn do the best surly scowl you've ever seen?

Beyoncé Knowles and Scarlett Johansson will soon be appearing in print ads shot by Annie Leibovitz for Disney's theme parks.

Knowles is decked out as Alice from Alice in Wonderland, whirling around in a giant tea cup with Lyle Lovett as the March Hare and Oliver Platt as the Mad Hatter.

Johansson plays Cinderella and sports a a diamond tiara worth $325,000 as well as a designer ball gown and glass slipper.

Do you like Bjork? Do you have/know any babies?

Rockabye Baby produces lullaby versions of popular rock music -- what they like to call "cherub rock for a new generation" but I like to call hipster muzak -- arranged for the gentle sounds of glockenspiel, vibraphone, mellotron, harp and bells.

Their upcoming releases include "oh so quiet" lullaby renditions of Bjork hits. The tunes are, well, lulling, and the marketing copy is, um, loving:

Love. No one can q

Well, this is news to me, at least: Claire Danes is a dancer. She's currently performing in New York in "Edith & Jenny" with childhood friend Ariel Rogoff Flavin. (Talk about a one-of-a-kind name: Go rog off with your snide remarks; Ariel's flavin'! More fun with names: dancing Danes is said to have recently hooked up with bisexual British act

The last woman standing on Bravo's Top Chef was knocked down Wednesday night. Elia's curls may have grown back over the two-month hiatus -- which for viewers thankfully flew by between two episodes -- but on the first day back she was cut from the competition.

At the show's start I really wanted to like resident lesbian Josie, but her South Park voice really grated on me.

The Little House on the Prairie novel series turns 75 this month and is getting a facelift. Fearing that the classic Garth Williams illustrations (he also did Charlotte's Web) are too old-fashioned to entice young readers, HarperCollins is replacing them with photos of half-pint models instead.

They have yet to update the look of their "Come Home to Little House" Web site, where you can "enter

Happy news for L&O addicts: Detective Olivia Benson will remain on the force for at least two more years.

Mariska Hargitay just got a sweet new two-year contract with NBC's Law & Order: SVU, Variety reports. Insiders estimate that she and co-star Christopher Meloni now have annual salaries upwards of $6.5 million each. That makes Marisk

BFFs Katie Holmes and Posh Spice are at it again -- on holiday together in Paris sans hubbies and kids. PopSugar reports that the two attended an opening party for an Armani store last night.

Posh and Katie enjoyed another girls' week in Paris last October.

Does anyo

Remember the days when everyone was glued to their TVs for the Miss America pageant? Well, those days are long gone, which is why we have to be lured into caring.

You can follow the 50 contestants through makeup lessons, catwalk coaching and even a line-dancing competition in Pageant School: Becoming Miss America, a two-hour special airing this Friday at 9 on CMT (and on VH1 and MTV all weekend). According to the