the buzz log
Clean Trailer-Park Living
As the record-holder for most Playboy covers ever (12), Pamela Anderson has plenty of practice reeling off her likes and dislikes. The latest, according to a hard-hitting Elle UK interview: The "Baywatch" alum abstains from sunblock, used to be a tomboy-nympho in school, likes morning walks with her minister, and enjoys trailer-park living.
A trailer park? Uncurl that sneer. Anderson isn't one of those sad, Hollywood foreclosure tales (no matter what Courtney Love said). The 42-year-old mum moved into a one-bedroom trailer in nearby Paradise Cove while she was getting her Malibu home renovated. Now, she doesn't want to budge from her love nest with electrician boyfriend Jamie Padgett (by one account a "totally moral, nice, normal guy").
Besides, a Malibu trailer park isn't exactly your average hurricane magnet. A few years back, the "woodsy neighborhood" of Paradise Cove and its ocean views qualified for a spot on a Travel Channel special about millionaire mobile home parks, and got coverage in the LA Times and NYT for being a "new playground for the rich."
The real-estate free-fall hasn't changed its charms nor curbed rising prices: Radar Online recently dubbed the place "the most expensive trailer park in America." Anderson may know something about real estate after all: She and Padgett popped into Montenegro as the latest possible site for her investments in ecologically green hotels.
So what does Paradise in trailer form look like? Radar Online posted a photo gallery of one pricey specimen. What can we say—you're paying for the views. Of the beach, not the neighbors.
Filed under: Celebrities, Real Estate, Housing, Home and Garden, Pamela Anderson
Tracy Pollan, Anniversaries, Haiku: What's the Buzz
Our top picks from the day's hottest searches.
1. Tracy Pollan (Searches increased 60,017%). The missus to Michael J. Fox played the mother on "Natalee Holloway," the Lifetime channel's take on what happened to the missing Alabama girl.
2. Oklahoma City Bombing (+752%). In a grim anniversary week that includes Tiananmen Square protests and the Columbine High shootings, people observed the April 19, 1995 domestic attack on the downtown federal building.
3 Tony Mandarich (+748%). As NFL draft buzz builds, the 1989 offensive line prospect captured the dubious number one spot in a list of picks that didn't quite hold up to their promise.
4. Kitchen Countertops (+667%). Ah, spring, when thoughts turn to ripping the house apart. Better have the BBQ handy.
5. Haiku Poems (+134%).
tugs at Web's rhythms.
This is what you get.
Filed under: Sports, TV, Recaps, Poetry, Home and Garden, Anniversaries
And Then There Was Another Place to Visit: An Agatha Christie Home
Hankering to craft a murder? Now you can rent the perfect environs to plot your misdeeds.
The holiday home of Agatha Christie, the First Marm of British Mystery, just opened to the public. Restored by the National Trust, the newest tourist stop in Greenway, England, scored some Search traction for the creator of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. The 1,933% spike boosted "agatha christie" into the top 2,000 terms in the past 7 days. Mysteriously, while Christie's thought to have a huge female following, males 13-64 were guilty of conducting 83% of searches.
Like many outlets, the Independent took the occasion to re-evaluate her enduring appeal, despite "cardboard" characters and "implausible" settings. (One explanation for the "Abba syndrome:" She's the "ultimate narrative technician.") The AP listed 15 mysteries set in Devon, the area in which Greenway is located, while Daily Telegraph unfolds a detailed scene of this retreat more accessible by boat than by auto, plus hosts a video of the surroundings.
While the Georgian mansion gives insight into her archaeological collections, Christie actually never penned a murderous word here, although she did host private readings.
No reason to stop you from renting part of this home for nefarious literary purposes. The only limitation (besides the logistics in getting there): The holiday apartment is limited to 10 people ... the same number of the doomed party in the biggest mystery bestseller ever, "And Then There Were None," set in a remote Devon retreat.
Filed under: Travel, Authors, Home and Garden, England, Mysteries
Home Is Where the Haunt Is
When you welcome the undead, don't forget the Martha Stewart cupcakes.
After the costume, sprucing up—or down—the domicile is a must for celebrating All Hallows' Eve. The buzz for "halloween decorations" of all sorts have risen 163% in the past 30 days. In a testimony to the celebration's growing power of darkness, searches are a quarter higher compared to last year.
It's not too late to learn the dark arts of interior decorating. Check out these top 13 ways to make your home an unholy terror.
- Halloween pumpkin. Would-be gourd carvers have been taking their duties seriously, as they look up designs and stencil patterns to make true art.
- Martha Stewart Halloween. The domestic diva provides genteel inspiration for every petrifying occasion.
- Halloween Critters. "Bats," "black cats," and "spiders," oh my... Every haunted hearth should have a hallowed pet, and bats lead in the Buzz pecking order.
- Halloween props. Doing up the homestead proper means special effects. Skeleton chandelier, anyone?
- Halloween Sounds. Decorators know good design must stimulate all the senses, and nothing screams the holiday better than a blood-curdling shriek... over and over and over...
- Halloween Lights. Lighting sets the mood, whether for romance or fear.
- Halloween Skeleton. The formalwear for spirits, who don this familiar garb when they visit the living.
- Halloween Tombstones. Make guests relax by providing them a final resting place—personalized, of course.
- Halloween Table Decorations. A good spread of "halloween cakes," "treats," and "cookies" deserve a good setting.
- Halloween Hangman. Nothing like having the middleman between life and death as a house guest.
- Halloween Inflatables. Get elaborate with pumped-up hearses, giant spiders, even an instant graveyard.
- Halloween Glow-in-the-Dark. Nightfall is the whole point of Halloween, so find decorations that stand out during these darkest hours.
- Halloween Hanging Decorations. Don't look behind you… look up. Hangmen, bats, ghosts, skeleton brides… frightful decoration truly comes from all directions.
Filed under: How-To, Home and Garden, Halloween, Decorating
Beware! Spring-Cleaning Persists
Forget California girls. Now, everyone's ogling "california closets." At least, that's how things looked last week, when searches on the customized closet peddlers suddenly glided upwards in Buzz. "Closet organizers," "home improvement," and "home depot center" also crept into the light. We started to get suspicious.
On Thursday, The New York Times slipped in a story about "America's obsession with putting its house in order." When more than one of us confessed to wrestling with new hanging racks over the Memorial Day weekend, we sensed a disturbing climate change. Could it be that spring-cleaning, rather than gracefully giving way to summer fun, has instead dug in its heels?
From the evidence Search presents, the answer is yes. On Monday, buzz on "carpet cleaning" shot off the chart. On Tuesday, searchers got less specific (and more desperate), sending "cleaning" flying. Queries on "do it yourself," "diy network," and "hgtv" rose. "Kitchen design" and "interior design" drew increased interest.
Finally, as further proof of this disturbing trend, "public storage" and "storage sheds" both took up space in Buzz. Here we seized our opening. Just shove the stuff junking up your closet into an airtight, waterproof container and be done with it. Now we can get on to some seasonally appropriate searches—like "barbecue" and "game show marathon."
Filed under: Home and Garden, Cleaning
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Worst Airports For Delays 2009 | Breakout! |
| 2 | How To Survive A Recession | Breakout! |
| 3 | Ice Cream Calorie Counter | Breakout! |
| 4 | Jayson Williams | Breakout! |
| 5 | Alexandra Kerry | Breakout! |
| 6 | Chaz Bono | 10707% |
| 7 | Kelly Osbourne | 3298% |
| 8 | Jennifer Hudson | 3218% |
| 9 | Nicole Richie | 2075% |
| 10 | Thierry Henry | 1125% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Friday | +413 | 1016 |
| 2 | Elizabeth Lambert | -677 | 263 |
| 3 | NFL | +66 | 235 |
| 4 | New Moon | +74 | 213 |
| 5 | Bing | +83 | 209 |
| 6 | Kelly Osbourne | +193 | 199 |
| 7 | Hulu | +7 | 139 |
| 8 | Nicole Richie | +124 | 130 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.