From today’s b, the paper

One result is already in: The weirdest image of the election night was Jessica Yellin and will.i.am appearing via hologram on CNN.

If you watched the cable-news channel Tuesday, you may have seen correspondent Yellin (above) chatting with Wolf Blitzer — well, a version of her.

Yellin was in Chicago for the Obama rally, but she was talking to Blitzer as a holographic projection (an idea that’s very “Star Trek,” by the way). On screen, it looked as though she was standing 10 feet away from Blitzer, but she was not. A flickering, life-size version of Yellin is standing near Blitzer.

She tried to explain the technology behind the hologram to Blitzer (it involves 35 HD cameras). But let me break it down for you in terms we can all understand: IT’S TOTALLY WEIRD.

She looked like that hologram of Princess Leia that Luke Skywalker finds in “Star Wars.” I keep thinking that the grainy hologram of Yellin should be wearing the Leia-style white bedsheet and cinnamon-bun headgear. “Wolf Blitzer, you’re my only hope!”

Also, will.i.am of the Black Eyes Peas was interviwed by Anderson Cooper via hol.o.gram. Even “The Daily Show” could not make up something that surreal.

There is one advantage to the freaky hologram though. When Yellin used it, she was within a specially constructed tent, so people at the rally couldn’t see her and thus didn’t shouting over her, as they did to CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux at one point Tuesday night. (Side note: News organizations are shedding staffers all over the place, but CNN has enough dough to build Yellin a special hologram tent? I’m just sayin’).

CNN does love its fancy technology, doesn’t it? “It looked like she was right here!” Wolf Blitzer enthused.

Not really, Wolf. It looked like she was about to fend off some stormtroopers.

A representative for CNN said, “I imagine that we probably will try to use this technology [again] in future, but I’m not sure when.” {CHICAGO TRIBUNE}

Author Crichton dies of cancer at 66
Michael Crichton, the million-selling author who made scientific research terrifying and irresistible in such thrillers as “Jurassic Park” and “The Andromeda Strain,” has died of cancer, his family said. Crichton died Tuesday in Los Angeles at age 66 after privately battling cancer.

He was an experimenter and popularizer known for his stories of disaster and systematic breakdown.

In 1994, he created the award-winning TV hospital series “ER.” “Michael’s talent out-scaled even his own dinosaurs of `Jurassic Park,’” said “Jurassic Park” director Steven Spielberg, a friend of Crichton’s for 40 years. {AP}

Celeb supporters applaud Obama
Celebrity supporters of Obama were moved in different ways on Tuesday
Oprah Winfrey told the TV show “The Insider, “I was so, so, so excited and then just sort of a calm came over me.”
Actress Scarlett Johansson, who stumped for Obama throughout his campaign, said the “overwhelming hope that Obama inspires is infectious.”
Kanye West, whose mother Donda died last November, posted a portrait of the president elect on his blog with the message: “HI MOM, OBAMA WON!” {AP}

The ever-shrinking album price
Are the days of deep-discounting new music releases coming back?
It wasn’t that long ago that music fans could count on low, low prices — sometimes as low as $6.99 — for hot new albums. Those sale prices have virtually vanished.
But maybe that’s about to change. Last week, Snow Patrol’s new album, A Hundred Million Suns, became amazon.com’s Daily Deal, making the British rockers’ latest release available for $3.99. The move worked, pushing the album into Amazon’s Top 10. Offering music fans legal bargains could be the industry’s way to help boost sales. {NEWSDAY}

leo and q-tip: bromance for the ages
You can add a new pair to the ongoing list of the bromantically inclined. In a profile by the Los Angeles Times, Q-Tip said he befriended Leonardo DiCaprio, right, and Tobey Maguire in 1994. “Leo — that’s one of my best friends and I’m on of his,” Q-Tip said in the interview. “That’s just my boy.”

madonna and a-rod’s secret rendezvous
According to the New York Post, Madonna and Alex Rodriguez has a top-secret Hamptons hookup last week at Jerry Seinfeld’s 12-acre estate. Each took off in separate private helicopters for the four-hour get-together.

ac/dc still on top
AC/DC’s Black Ice held onto the top spot of Billboard’s album chart, selling another 270,000 copies to move past the platinum mark, according to rollingstone.com.

‘dancing’ going on tour
The stars of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” is picking up shop and heading out on the road, eonline.com reports. “Dancing With the Stars — The Tour” kicks off in San Diego on Dec. 17 and hits up Washington’s Verizon Center on Jan. 29. Dance contenders touring include Lance Bass, Toni Braxton, Maurice Greene and Marlee Matlin. Sadly, Cloris Leachman is not involved.

fey passes palin torch
Tina Fey says she’s retiring her Sarah Palin impersonation, according to Entertainment Weekly. “I think [Kristen] Wiig would do a really good job,” Fey said, giving a shout out to the “SNL” star.

new west singles released
“Heartless,” the second single from Kanye West’s upcoming 808s & Heartbreak, was released to iTunes Tuesday, rollingstone.com reports. Another track, “Anyway,” West’s collaboration with rapper Kid Cudi, had an unauthorized leak on the same day.
{compiled by Jordan Bartel, b}

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