Apple unveils 'spaceship' campus

Apple CEO Steve Jobs made an unannounced visit to the June 7 City Council meeting in Cupertino, home of the computer giant, to reveal plans for a new, state-of-the-art Apple headquarters, reports the Cupertino Courier.

The stunning design resembles a "spaceship;" it will be four stories and house 12,000.

"I think we do have a shot at building the best office building in the world," says Jobs, who also made a rare appearance earlier in the week at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

The current Apple campus has some 2,800 employees, with the rest disbursed in rented buildings throughout the city.

The new base will sit on 150 acres near Pruneridge Avenue and Wolfe Road currently home to Hewlett-Packard, which will be relocating next year. The circular building will be an architectural feat and will tout a large inner courtyard.

"There is not a single straight piece of glass in this building," says Jobs.

The grounds will be transformed from primarily asphalt to green. Parking will go underground and the CEO says Apple plans to almost double the 3,700 trees on the property. He wants to add apricot orchards like the ones he recalls growing up with nearby.

The structure will also be fueled primarily by natural gas.

Councilman Orrin Mahoney said of the proposal, "The word spectacular would be an understatement." He added that the Council looks forward to working with Jobs to move it through the process.

Leader's gift to Clinton gets big laughs

Clinton, who possesses them in virtually every color of the rainbow, has made suits her fashion uniform of choice during her time in the public eye. And so prior to yesterday's state dinner, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is herself a pantsuit fan, poked some gentle fun at the Secretary of State's wardrobe, via an unusual gift--taking care to tell Clinton that "you may take it in a playful mode."

When they met on Tuesday, Merkel presented Clinton with a framed copy of the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper featuring an Associated Press photo of the two leaders during the Secretary of State's visit to Germany this past April.

The photo was of Clinton and Merkel, in their signature pantsuits, captured from the waist down and featured the caption, "Which one is Merkel and which one is Clinton?" The following page of the paper revealed the full photo--which Merkel included on the back of the framed gift she presented to Clinton Tuesday.

Disastrous sales figures for Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga's Born This Way set another record this week, but not one that Gaga's team will be happy about. Sales of the album dropped off by 84% from its sizzling (but discount-inflated) opening week. That's the the steepest drop-off in sales, expressed in a percentage basis, of any of the 17 albums that sold 1 million units in a week in Nielsen SoundScan history.

Gaga's album sold 174,000 copies this week, down from 1,108,000 last week, when sales were goosed by a two-day, 99-cent sale at Amazon.

The old record for the steepest drop-off following a million-unit week was held by *NSYNC's 2001 album Celebrity. Sales dropped by 76% in the week following its 1,880,000 debut. Two recent albums were tied for second place in the steepest drop-off column. Sales of Lil Wayne's 2008 hit Tha Carter III and Taylor Swift's 2010 smash Speak Now both dropped off by 69% in the week following their debuts of 1,006,000 and 1,047,000, respectively.

A big drop-off was to be expected. But the fact that Gaga's drop-off was steeper than any of the other follow-ups to albums that had a million-unit week is troublesome. It seems obvious that the opening week tally for Born This Way was generated not only by hard-core fans, but also by casual fans who just didn't want to pass up such a deal. Last week's near giveaway worked in the short term (by giving Gaga the biggest one-week sales total since 2005), but it may have also served to devalue albums in general and Gaga's brand in particular.

Born This Way may not even log a third week at #1. Adele's 21, which is currently 53K copies behind Born This Way, could easily return to the top spot next week.

You may be wondering why *NSYNC's album experienced such a sharp drop-off in its second week. Celebrity was released 16 months after the boy band reached its peak with No Strings Attached. In the world of boy bands, 16 months is a lifetime.

If you want to know which three albums experienced the mildest drop-offs in the weeks following their million-plus weeks, here you go. Sales of 50 Cent's 2005 album The Massacre slipped by just 32% in the week following its 1,141,000 debut. Sales of Eminem's 2002 album The Eminem Show dropped by 39% in the week following its 1,322,000 debut. Sales of Garth Brooks' 1998 double-disk set Double Live slipped by 40% in the week following its 1,085,000 debut.

Born This Way fell off even more sharply in the digital realm. The album sold 38K digital copies this week, a 94% drop from its record-setting opening week total of 662K. Born This Way isn't even #1 on this week's Digital Albums chart. That honor goes instead to Death Cab for Cutie's Codes And Keys, which sold 59K digital copies (57% of its total).

Born This Way holds at #1 in the U.K. for the second week, but it drops from #1 to #7 in Japan. Gaga's previous full-length, The Fame, logged seven weeks at #1 in the U.K., but didn't reach #1 in Japan.

Adele's 21 rebounds from #3 to #2 on The Billboard 200. The album has ranked in the top three for each of its first 15 weeks. This is the best showing by any album since Alicia Keys' As I Am ranked in the top three for each of its first 15 weeks in 2007-2008. Both albums were powered by songs that had long runs at #1 on the Hot 100. Keys' "No One" logged five weeks on top. I expect Adele's "Rolling In The Deep" to hold the top spot for a fifth week when the chart is released later today.

21 tops the 2 million mark in sales this week. It's the first album to sell 2 million copies in 2011. This is later in the year than we saw the first 2 million-seller of 2010 (Lady Antebellum's Need You Now hit the 2 million mark in the week ending May 9), but it's ahead of the pace for 2009 (Michael Jackson's Number Ones reached the 2 million mark in the week ending Oct. 25.)

Eddie Vedder's Ukulele Songs debuts at #4. It's Vedder's first solo studio album. He reached #11 with the 2007 soundtrack to Into The Wild. All nine of Vedder's studio albums with Pearl Jam have made the top 10. The band's best-seller is its first album, Ten, which has sold 9,869,000 copies.

Vedder enters Top Music Videos at #1 with Water On The Road: Eddie Vedder Live. The video sold 11K copies, which allowed it to unseat AC/DC's Live At River Plate, which had topped the chart the last three weeks. Pearl Jam reached #1 on Top Music Videos with Touring Band 2000 (for five weeks in 2001) and Immagine In Cornice/Picture 1 (for one week in 2007).

Lil Wayne's "How To Love" vaults from #52 to #5 in its second week (its first full week) on Hot Digital Songs. The song entered the Hot 100 last week at #69. How high will it climb this week? Check back later today when we post Chart Watch: Songs.

Here's the low-down on this week's top 10 albums.

1. Lady Gaga, Born This Way, 174,000. The album logs its second week at #1. Four songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "The Edge Of Glory," which holds at #4 for the second week.

2. Adele, 21, 121,000. The former #1 album rebounds from #3 to #2 in its 15th week. Four songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Rolling In The Deep," which hold at #1 for the fifth straight week.

3. Death Cab for Cutie, Codes And Keys, 102,000. This new entry is the group's third straight top five album. It follows Plans (#4 in 2005) and Narrow Stairs (#1 in 2008). "You Are A Tourist" enters Hot Digital Songs at #153.

4. Eddie Vedder, Ukulele Songs, 71,000. This new entry is Vedder's first solo studio album. He debuted and peaked at #11 with the 2007 soundtrack to Sean Penn's Into The Wild.

5. My Morning Jacket, Circuital, 55,000. This new entry is the group's second top 10 (and first top five) album. Evil Urges hit #9 in 2008. "Circuital" enters Hot Digital Songs at #86.

6. Brad Paisley, This Is Country Music, 53,000. The album drops from #2 to #6 in its second week. It holds at #1 on the Country Albums chart. "Old Alabama" (featuring Alabama) holds at #68 for the second week on Hot Digital Songs.

7. Various Artists, Now 38, 39,000. The album dips from #6 to #7 in its fifth week. It has been listed in the top 10 the entire time. The album has sold 327K copies.

8. Jason Aldean, My Kinda Party, 33,000. The album inches up from #9 to #8 in its 31st week. This is its ninth week in the top 10. Three songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Dirt Road Anthem," which jumps from #23 to #16.

9. Flogging Molly, Speed Of Darkness, 25,000. This new entry is the group's second top 10 album. Float debuted and peaked at #4 in 2008. "Don't Shut ‘Em Down" enters Hot Digital Songs at #112.

10. Soundtrack, Glee, The Music: Season Two Volume 6, 25,000. The album drops from #4 to #10 in its second week. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "Light Up The World" drops from #17 to #97. "Pretending" drops from #21 to #120.

Four albums drop out of the top 10 this week. Maybach Music Groups Presents: Self Made, Vol. I drops from #5 to #12, NKOTBSB's NKOTBSB drops from #7 to #22, Foster The People's Torches drops from #8 to #25 and Mumford & Sons' Sigh No More dips from #10 to #11.

Adele's 2008 album 19 jumps from #21 to #15. It's #1 on Top Catalog Albums for the 14th time in the past 16 weeks. Among all albums, it's #33 for the year-to-date. (By comparison, last year's top catalog album, Michael Jackson's Number Ones, ranked #78 among all albums for the year.)

Trin-I-Tee 5:7's Angel & Chanelle bows at #20. It's the highest-charting album to date for the female contemporary gospel trio, which first charted in 1998...Black Stone Cherry's Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea debuts at #29. It's the Southern rock band's second top 30 album...Jordan Knight's Unfinished debuts at #48. With New Kids on The Block, Knight amassed five top 10 albums between 1989 and last week, when NKOTBSB reached #7.

Dave Matthews Band's Live At Wrigley Field debuts at #49. Jimmy Buffett had a hit video with the same title in 2006. The Police, Rascal Flatts and the high-powered duo of Elton John and Billy Joel have also performed at the fabled Chicago baseball stadium...Country Strong holds at #71. It's the top-ranking soundtrack to a theatrically-released movie for the 14th week.

X-Men: First Class, the fifth installment in the X-Men franchise, was #1 at the box-office over the weekend. It bumps off the sequel to The Hangover, which in turn bumped off the fourth installment in the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise. Sequels didn't used to be much of a factor in movie-making. This started to change with the success of The Godfather Part II in 1974. (The soundtrack to X-Men: First Class sold 1K copies this week, too few to make The Billboard 200.)

Guns N' Roses' 2004 compilation Greatest Hits tops the 5 million mark in sales this week. It's the band's second album to reach this plateau. Its 1987 debut, Appetite For Destruction, has sold 5,082,000 copies since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991. (It sold millions more copies in its first four years of release.)

Two weeks ago, Carrie Underwood became the first former American Idol contestant to top the 2 million mark in U.S. sales with three different albums. She achieved the feat as Play On topped the 2 million mark. It follows Some Hearts, which is up to 7,110,000, and Carnival Ride, which is up to 3,198,000. Three former Idol contestants (Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken and Daughtry) have each amassed two million-selling albums. Four more (Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Jordin Sparks and David Cook) have each notched one.

I hope you're going to watch the Tony Awards on Sunday night. The Book Of Mormon is heavily favored to win Best Musical. It's vying with The Scottsboro Boys and musical adaptations of the movies Catch Me If You Can and Sister Act. Anything Goes and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying are competing for Best Musical Revival. (Anything Goes originally opened on Broadway in November 1934. How To Succeed... originally opened in October 1961.) The cast album to The Book Of Mormon has sold 20K digital copies in three weeks. The CD was released yesterday. Expect it to return to the chart next week.

Coming Attractions: Tech N9ne's All 6's And 7's and All Time Low's Dirty Work are expected to be next week's top new entries, each with sales in the range of 50K. Ronnie Dunn's solo debut, Ronnie Dunn, is expected to start with sales of about 45K. Dunn notched nine top 10 albums as one-half of Brooks & Dunn. Also due: Arctic Monkeys' Suck It And See, Def Leppard's Walmart exclusive Mirrorball: Live And More, Iron Maiden's From Fear To Eternity: The Best Of 1990-2010 and Randy Travis' Anniversary Celebration.

Five worst beach-body foods

Celebrity photographers love nothing more than to catch a pop phenomenon emerging from the surf in St. Barts looking a little flabby, so they can sell their "Shocking Weight Gain!" headlines at the drugstore checkout. Is it unfair? You bet. Are you and I going to stare at the pictures anyways? Oh, yeah.

We like seeing celebs look less than perfect because, come swimsuit season, we all feel like we're being gawked at; and whether those photos wind up in the tabloids or on our mom's Facebook page, we all want to look our best. So what can you do when the cover-ups are about to come off and the cameras about to turn on?

It's simple: Avoid self-sabotage by letting Eat This, Not That! 2011 guide you through the foods and drinks that can cause bloating, water retention, and short-term weight gain—snacks that can make you look flabbier than you really are.

Below, I've listed the very worst beach-body foods and beverages, and some smart alternatives that will help you make this summer your leanest, fittest, healthiest ever! (Note to Lady Gaga: These are foods that you eat. Not foods that you wear. Just FYI.)

#5: WORST DRINK
Diet Coke (12 fl. oz. bottle) and other diet sodas
0 calories
0 g fat
0 g sugar

No calories, no fat, and no sugar—so what's the harm? For starters, the carbon dioxide that supplies soda's fizz will continue to burble and expand in your stomach, priming you for serious bloat. That's the short-term effect. The long-term could be even worse: The artificial sweeteners in diet soda might actually inhibit weight loss. Studies have shown that rats consuming artificial sweeteners consume more calories at subsequent meals. It's as if the promise of calories, without the payoff, causes the body to crave food. Below is a better beach-day beverage: Hint Water. By drinking water, you keep your body flushed out and your skin looking healthy, and since Hint uses natural flavors, you earn all the boons of hydration without suffering the downsides of sugar and artificial sweeteners.

Drink This Instead!
Hint Cucumber Water (16 fl. oz.)
0 calories
0 g fat
0 g sugar

DROP 15 POUNDS FOR SUMMER: You can lose a couple of inches fast--and without dieting. Follow me on Twitter right here for daily weight-loss secrets. And win a chance to show off your new body and tell your success story in Men's Health or Women’s Health by joining our Fit For Life Summer Challenge!

#4: WORST SNACK
Broccoli with ranch dressing (1 cup broccoli and 2 Tbsp dressing)
170 calories
14.5 g fat (2 g saturated)
370 mg sodium

Broccoli, like cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage, falls into a class of produce known as cruciferous vegetables. These vegetables are among the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet, and as such, they should be consumed as often as possible. That said, you might want to hold off your day's broccoli until you're off the beach. Cruciferous vegetables contain a sugar called raffinose—the same sugar that gives beans their heavy-winded reputation. In your gut, raffinose is fermented by gas-producing bacteria, which can make you feel bloated and gassy. That's not necessarily unhealthy, but it might lead to some awkward beach photos. Instead, if you're picking beach-bound snacks, pair high-fiber tortilla chips with low-calorie salsa. And be sure to avoid the dietary disasters on this list: The Worst Chips and Dips in America.

Eat This Instead!
Food Should Taste Good Jalepeno chips with salsa (1 oz. chips/2 T. salsa)
150 calories
6 g fat (0.5 g saturated)
340 mg sodium

#3: WORST DESSERT
Russell Stover’s Sugar Free Toffee Squares (1.6 oz.)
210 calories
16 g fat (9 g saturated)
0 g sugar

Don't be duped into thinking that these candies are "healthy" just because they're sugar free. First, each serving has nearly half your day's saturated fat, and second, it contains 23 grams of sugar alcohol, a sweet carbohydrate that provides fewer calories per gram than actual sugar. These sweeteners aren't fully absorbed in the body, and as result, they simply ferment and emit gas. For some people, this causes severe discomfort and bloating. Stick with fruit and you'll avoid the problem entirely.

Eat This Instead!
Fruit Salad of Banana, Mango, and Papaya (1 cup)
78 calories
0 g fat
14 g sugar

Bonus tip: A day in the sun will probably leave you craving something sweet at night. Check out this indispensable Eat This, Not That! list of the 15 Best & Worst Desserts in America.

#2: WORST DINNER
Stouffer’s Skillets Easy Express Broccoli & Beef (1/2 package)
350 calories
6 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
1,660 mg sodium

Looking beyond the raffinose-riddled broccoli, this meal is stuck with an absurd amount of sodium. If you're hungry enough to work through an entire bag, you've just exceeded your day's allotment by nearly 50 percent. Why is that a problem? Because sodium is an electrolyte that tells your body to withhold water. That's not the same as being properly hydrated. See, sodium-induced water retention causes you to carry water weight, which makes you appear swollen and puffy. Unless you're going for a beached-whale look, seek low-sodium foods before hitting the waves.

Eat This Instead!
Birds Eye Viola! Shrimp Scampi (1.75 cups)
190 calories
2.5 g fat (1 g saturated)
540 mg sodium

HEALTH SHOCKER: Beware—Mr. Salty is running loose at your local supermarket and in your favorite restaurants! Click here to check out our shocking list of the 30 Saltiest Foods in America.

#1: WORST SMOOTHIE
Smoothie King The Hulk Strawberry (20 oz.)
1,035 calories
32 g fat (13 g saturated)
125 g sugar

Few foods are as disarming as smoothies. The liquid meals have a reputation for being healthy and low in calories, which seems like a perfect combination right before you bear all on the beach. But let this be your warning: Not all smoothies are created equal. This one from Smoothie King packs as much sugar as 91 Nilla Wafers and more fat than a McDonald's Big Mac. If you drink something like this with any regularity, you might unknowingly be sabotaging your beach body all summer long. Make the swap to Smoothie King's Strawberry Shredder just three times a week and you'll drop more than two pounds every month.

Eat This Instead!
Smoothie King Strawbery Shredder (20 oz.)
356 calories
1 g fat (0 g saturated)
41 g sugar

DID YOU KNOW? The average American consumes 450 liquid calories every day—that's a quarter of your daily allowance! And sugar-laden summer drinks are some of the worst offenders. See which summertime beverage is the worst offender in our must-see list of The 20 Worst Drinks in America!

How Target stumbled with customers

A series of recent stumbles at Target Corp. has some retail experts questioning whether the cheap-chic discounter is losing its cachet.

The chain that made it trendy to shop for low-priced designer clothing and mod lamps while picking up detergent and toothpaste has been struggling to gain back its pre-recession sales strength.

Target shoppers are stocking up on toilet paper and foodstuffs, but the stores are having a hard time enticing customers to spend money on stylish clothing and home goods—which are more profitable and make up more than 40% of annual sales. It was these apparel and decorating items—mixing mass with class—that set Target apart and allowed it to be one of the few discount chains to thrive against Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s relentlessly low prices.

For the fiscal first quarter, the Minneapolis-based retailer notched just a 2% gain in same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, falling short of analysts' expectations for a gain of 3% to 4%. Last Thursday it reported its May sales rose 2.8%, at the low end of its guidance.

Target shares are trading near a 52-week low, having fallen 22% from a year ago. On Tuesday, the stock closed at $47.06 at 4 p.m. on the New York Stock Exchange.

When Target holds its annual meeting Wednesday in Pittsburgh, executives will likely blame a year of lackluster results on the fragile economic recovery. "Our guests continue to shop cautiously," Target Chief Executive Gregg Steinhafel said last week, echoing his earlier sentiments. "We believe these households need to see further improvements in housing and income growth before they'll meaningfully increase their discretionary spending."

But some retail analysts and experts think Target may be suffering from other problems beyond the uneven economic recovery. Adrianne Shapira, retail analyst at Goldman Sachs, said Target has confused its shoppers by emphasizing food and low prices at the expense of its cool image. In 2009, in the depths of the recession, Target began adding fresh and expanded refrigerated foods to most of its 1,750 stores. To boost loyalty, last year it began rolling out a 5% across-the-board discount for customers using its Target-branded credit and debit cards.

These were good moves during the recession, but the pendulum may have swung too far, attracting more medium- and low-income shoppers at the expense of the higher-end shopper. While food can drive shopping trips, profit margins are slim.

Expressing concern that Target has become too much of a moving target for consumers, Ms. Shapira said, "It is as if they have fallen off people's shopping list for discretionary products."

Tommy Yanez, a Corpus Christi, Texas, hairdresser, said he paid off his Target credit card three months ago and hasn't been back since. "The home stuff is good looking but you can find it other places now, too," said Mr. Yanez. "Target's 5% discount is nice, but it is not as good as Kohl's 20% off coupons."

Target counters that it remains committed to its "Expect More, Pay Less" slogan and that it "continues to generate excitement" with its in-house brands such as Merona and its designer partnerships, such as the Missoni for Target collection coming in September.

Even now Target has a higher income base than Wal-Mart, with the median Target household earning $60,000 a year. In its high-flying days, analysts considered Target's retail peers to be the department stores and off-mall retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. When the recession hit, Wal-Mart and the dollar stores sales grew while Target and most of its peers were hammered.

In the past year, middle and upper-end retailers bounced back while Target lagged behind. "Macy's is winning in apparel and Bed Bath & Beyond has picked up a lot of market share," said Ms. Shapira. Home furnishings are "doing very poorly at Target. In a world that no longer has Linens 'N Things, you would think Target would have picked up some market share." (Linens 'N Things closed its stores in 2008 but exists online.)

Some of Target's struggles may also owe to the changing competitive landscape. Kohl's Corp. and J.C. Penney Co. in recent years have taken a page from the Target playbook, adding low-price designer clothes from Vera Wang, Ralph Lauren and others.

"Remember, when Target had the most success in apparel, the department stores were still figuring things out and were in disarray," said Brian Sozzi, retail analyst at Wall Street Strategies.

Star unleashes anti-Kardashian rant

"Who the hell is Kim Kardashian?" Edie answered when asked if she watches reality television, during an interview with New York Magazine's Vulture blog posted on Tuesday. "Who are these people and why are they famous and why are they advertising things and being asked their opinions about things? I just don't understand what these people did to be in a position of having everyone ask their opinions about stuff.

"If there's something about her personality or something that she's accomplished or her philosophy on something -- but beyond that I don't understand what's happening," she added. "It's actually frightening."

Edie -- a four-time Emmy Award winner -- who rose to small screen fame as mob matriarch Carmela Soprano on HBO's mafia drama, "The Sopranos," recently received her first Tony Award nomination for her role in the Broadway revival of "House of Blue Leaves."

However, the 47-year-old actress said appreciation from her fans means far more to her than industry recognition.

"I have an ambivalent relationship with awards shows," she told the blog. "What it means to me is that I am considered a legitimate member of this community... But as far as personal meaningfulness, the meaningful thing is when someone recognizes me on the street and just starts blathering things about how much they love a show that I'm in or something."

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