It Digital

IT Online Sports guy BILL SIMMONS

AGE 31 WHY HIM? Since his "Digital City: Boston" column was picked up by ESPN.com last year, the Beverly Hills, 90210-obsessed Simmons has become destination reading for anyone who worships at the twin altars of pop culture and sports. CAREER HE'D MOST LIKE TO HAVE Larry David's. "You cocreate the most successful comedy of all time [Seinfeld] and even when you have no reason whatsoever to keep working, you go back and create another show? That's awesome." HIS GREATEST CONTRIBUTION TO POP CULTURE His Unintentional Comedy Scale. "It's when somebody or something is funny even though it wasn't meant to be. Ozzy Osbourne is 100 out of 100 on the [UCS]." ALSO RATING 100/100 "The guy singing Skee dap o dee dap o bee on The Real World: New Orleans. The Mariah Carey Cribs episode. MTV really is the industry leader in Unintentional Comedy." NEXT Waiting for the call from the networks. "Being a TV executive is my ultimate job." THE FIRST SHOW HE'D PROGRAM "Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, their own talk show, open bar! Put it on HBO, don't give them any limitations, and have them try and be coherent for an hour."

IT agitators BUDDYHEAD.COM

WHY THEM? Pick a record label, any label, and chances are this Los Angeles-based collective--headed by Aaron "Icarus" North, 21 (top) and Travis Keller, 21--have p---ed them off, either via their gossipy website or with anti-rock star pranks (like stealing Fred Durst's trademark cap and auctioning it on eBay for a rape victims' charity). Meanwhile, their namesake label could make them mini-music moguls, thanks to cult-fave punkers like the Icarus Line. COURTNEY LOVE'S SCHIZO SEAL OF APPROVAL After first berating the site for its anti-Love rants, Courtney wound up making a donation. "[She] always tries to bribe us to hang out with her," says Keller. CAREER HIGH "Any time I hear about some major label or management company holding a meeting to specifically discuss how to handle a 'Buddyhead situation,'" says North. ROLE MODEL Keller: Iggy Pop. "He's pure class. We try to follow his [attitude of] not really giving a f--- what people think." CREATIVE CRUTCH North: "Pictures of Aaron's mom." CAREER HE'D MOST LIKE TO HAVE Keller: Carrot Top's. "Dude, he's got a deal with the devil. I don't know anyone who likes him, and I see him every day on TV!" NEXT A CD from Your Enemies Friends.

IT crossover JOHN RIDLEY

AGE 35 WHY HIM? The hard-boiled novelist, Three Kings scriptwriter, and former supervising producer for NBC's Third Watch created the first (and so far only) Web cartoon to migrate to the big screen: Undercover Brother. WHY HE OWES JIM KELLY Of all the blaxploitation heroes, it was Kelly (Black Belt Jones, Three the Hard Way, Enter the Dragon) who most inspired Ridley's spoof. CLOSEST BRUSH WITH CAREER IMMOLATION Writing Beverly Hills Cop IV. WORST ADVICE Use the money from writing Beverly Hills Cop IV to make your own little movie. BEST ADVICE If you say yes to nothing, you're worth nothing. "Of all the cliches in Hollywood, that's the biggest truth." BOOK THAT CHANGED HIS LIFE Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. CREATIVE CRUTCH "Almost any vice gets me going." But mostly gambling: "I spend all my free time in Vegas." CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS Oliver Stone directed the movie U Turn, which Ridley adapted from his book Stray Dogs (and Stone still sends Christmas cards); Sofia Coppola cowrote one of Ridley's TV pilots. NEXT His novel The Drift will be published in September; he hopes to stage his play about Japanese dive bombers.