12.09.08

SHOW PREP DECEMBER 9, 2008

 

HOLLYWOOD 411 . . .

 

While former Felicity costar Keri Russell has been promoting her new flick Bedtime Stories, Amy Jo Johnson has begun telling them. Johnson, 38, who played Julie Emrich on Felicity and is currently starring in CBS’ Flashpoint, and fiancé Olivier Giner welcomed their first child, Francesca Christine, on the evening of Dec. 1, per People. No doubt baby Francesca will be a big fan of the Power Rangers. (Eonline)

 

America’s Next Top Model judge Nigel Barker may have another future catwalker on his hands. He and his wife, model Cristen Chin Barker, have welcomed a baby girl, he tells Usmagazine.com exclusively. Jasmine Barker — who weighed 7 lbs., 11 oz. — was born 5:03 p.m. in New York City on Sunday. “Jasmine and Crissy are doing extremely well!” Barker tells Us. The couple originally thought they’d be having another boy to join their son Jack, 2. “In the first reading, they were told they’re having a boy,” Barker’s agent, George Cominskie, told Us in September. “When they went back for a second reading, they learned it was a girl. “They were thrilled to have a healthy baby boy – but to find out it’s a girl, they’re elated!” Cominskie added. “Now they’ll have a son and a daughter.” So will Tyra Banks be godmother? “I think she will be,” Barker joked, “and Miss J will be a fairy godmother.” (US Weekly)

 

Beyoncé Knowles kept her April wedding ceremony top secret by refusing to hire caterers – she relied on mum Tina and husband-to-be Jay-Z’s grandmother to cook up treats for the guests. The singer feared that the more outsiders that were a part of her big day, the more chance there was that details and photos would be leaked, so she called on family members to help her out. Tina Knowles tells Giant magazine, “We cooked all the food. I cooked all my Creole stuff, and his grandmother cooked her oxtails. “My favorite part was when we put all of this home cooking on that fancy china. It was special.” (Teen Hollywood)

 

Former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham has said she now feels more comfortable being photographed. Victoria Beckham has told Harper’s Bazaar magazine she now feels so comfortable being photographed she’s even able to muster a smile. “I used to get so nervous, and when I got on the red carpet I’d freeze up. I have started smiling. I’ve mastered this smirk. It’s a smile that isn’t a smile,” she explained. “The older you get, the more comfortable you become with yourself, and you accept what you have physically. Also, the fact that my [fashion] business is doing very well makes me feel a little more confident, too.” (Handbag)

 

Playing R+B legend Etta James in new movie Cadillac Records gave Beyoncé the strength to be a “natural woman”. The former Destiny’s Child star admits her portrayal of the troubled singer in the film inspired her new look. She explains, “She gave me a better understanding of who I am. Half of my new album is called I Am and on the cover I wore minimal make-up. It looks very natural, very vulnerable, very stripped down.” And Beyoncé reveals James’ spirit is now surging through everything she does: “Playing Etta James gave me the confidence to be fearless and I felt like I could sing whatever I wanted and sing about things that I really cared about; not just something you could play on the radio or make a nice video, but something that had substance. “Etta James was one of the first African-American women to cross over on the radio and she made it possible for me to succeed.” (Teen Hollywood)

 

Oscar winner Helen Mirren has said she isn’t sure if she can rely on her bottom being a good feature. Helen Mirren has admitted she is unsure whether she can call her bum an attractive feature. “I am not too keen on my nose, I don’t like my knees, I hate my ankles, I am unsure about my behind, I don’t like my legs at all,” the Oscar winner told the Guardian when asked to pick the features she likes least about herself. “I am not too sure about my chin, my forehead is a bit dodgy. But, overall, I can live with it.” Bit like the rest of us then Helen. (Handbag)

 

Lee Majors likes to play Good Samaritan. TV’s “Six Million Dollar Man” was leaving a post office in Beverly Hills recently when he spotted a woman struggling with an armload of dry cleaning at her car. “Lee immediately grabbed the clothes and put them neatly on the back seat, telling her, ‘Don’t hang them from the hooks. They block your vision,’ ” reports Hollywood P.R. man Hal Lifson. “Then, while walking back to his Jaguar, he spotted a homeless man in front of the BeverLiz Cafe, went up to him and said, ‘Breakfast’s on me, pal!’ He ordered the gent a California omelet with turkey bacon and OJ.” (Page Six)

 

He’s tackled everything from angry aliens to rowdy robots with aplomb, but there’s one thing that still makes Will Smith uneasy: Love scenes. “My grandmother was really firm about how men are supposed to treat women,” the actor said Friday at a press junket for his new drama Seven Pounds. “So for me, my worst nightmare is for an actress to … feel like I’m taking this opportunity to get a little quickie feel – you know, some legal cheating going on!” “I just need, specifically women, to feel comfortable around me,” he added. “I just don’t want to feel like I’m that dude.” But when Smith’s shyness threatened to spill into his romantic moments with Seven Pounds costar Rosario Dawson, his wife Jada had to step in. “Jada said, ‘Listen, I know you’re uncomfortable, but you better not embarrass me,’ ” he said with a laugh. “She said, ‘When you do that love scene, you better show ‘em what you’re working with!’ ” Something else Smith is working on: Getting used to all the attention paid to his eleven-year marriage. “I was with [rapper] Redman the other day [and] he said, ‘Man, listen. I’ve got this relationship that I’m trying to make work, but I’m telling you, if you and Jada don’t work, I’m done,’ ” Smith said. “That so terrifies me that there are people’s lives that I can affect like that just with little stuff, not even having to do anything big,” he continued. “So I don’t want to break that … I might mess something up, and that sorta keeps me in a place where I’m really focused and paying attention, and I just don’t want to step wrongly.” (People)

 

Don’t expect one-time party girl Lily Allen to stumble out of a club anytime soon. “I’ve become a character in a comic … and that character is always drunk! I wish my comic character wasn’t that,” she told the U.K.’s Observer Music Monthly. Allen claims she’s been off alcohol “since 22 September,” and doesn’t plan on indulging again – at least for now. “I have no intention of taking drugs again at the moment,” she said. “But I can’t say ‘Never again,’ because I don’t know where I’ll be in 10 years’ time. And I will definitely drink in the future, just not for awhile.” Gearing up for the release of her second studio album It’s Not Me, It’s You, the 23-year-old continues to battle insecurities with her weight and appearance.  “My mum always told me, ‘You’re beautiful, you’re my beautiful little girl,’ and then suddenly I wasn’t,” she said. “I read all the stuff that people were writing about me and I started to get a different view. I mean, I never thought I was supermodel or anything, but I didn’t think I was quite as unattractive as people were saying!” She adds, “I just thought, ‘Maybe if I’m not fat, then people won’t call me ugly.’ ” But what is she most afraid of? “When I’m playing live, I won’t let anyone introduce me. I just appear,” she said. “Because it’s my biggest fear. Someone walking out on stage, saying ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Lily Allen.’ And then, ‘Boooooooo!’ “  Meanwhile in another interview, Allen said her friend Amy Winehouse – who she knows “very well,” is different from how she’s portrayed. “[She’s] a very clever, intelligent, witty, funny person who can hold it together,” she said. “You just don’t see that side. She gets a really hard time.” (People)

 

Four Christmases star Reese Witherspoon has slammed reports she had on-set rows with co-star Vince Vaughn. Reese Witherspoon has insisted she gets on well with current co-star Vince Vaughn. The pair star together in Four Christmases and the gossip is that they frequently fell out over Vaughn’s laid back attitude to making films. “We get along great. We were good friends and we were very much partners in this movie,” Showbiz Spy quote Oscar winner saying. “Vince is the funniest man I’ve ever worked with. Apparently, every man I ever work with, I’m either having an affair with him, having a baby with him or we can’t stand each other!” (Handbag)

 

Singer/actress Beyoncé Knowles has denied claims that she is a diva. Beyoncé has denied claims she is a high maintenance diva and said she is simply misunderstood. “It angers me when I get called a diva. At one point I was misunderstood a lot. But the more I meet people, I think people are beginning to feel a little differently about me,” she told Showbiz Spy before revealing her career plans. “My goal is to become a successful actress in dramas that don’t involve singing. I’ve been comfortable in singing role, but I don’t want to be comfortable. I want non-singing roles that will challenge me. I want to open the door for black female entertainers and show them they can do anything.” (Handbag)

 

Ginnifer Goodwin was just not that into being in a relationship. The He’s Just Not That Into You and Big Love star has mutually and—as tends to be the publicly touted case—amicably separated from her boyfriend of two years, Chris Klein. “They realized they wanted different things,” a friend of Goodwin’s told People. “In the long run, the relationship wasn’t going to work.” The 30-year-old Goodwin and the 29-year-old Klein first began dating back in 2006, not long after Klein split from his fiancée, Katie Holmes (you may have heard of her?). Neither Goodwin nor Klein will have much time to wallow, as both have projects on the horizon. The actress returns for a third season of Big Love in January, and the erstwhile American Pie star next appears in the video game-based action flick Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. (Eonline)

 

Everyone’s still wondering why Janet Jackson bailed on most of her “comeback” tour –- the one guy who would probably know says it’s not because she was PG. Jermaine Dupri tells Usmagazine.com his woman isn’t knocked up, despite the scuttlebutt. Dupri even called out certain members of gossiping classes for spreading false rumors. Nonetheless, Janet hasn’t totally pooh-poohed the idea of bringing more spawn of Jacko into the world: “I’d love to have children. It’s just up to Jermaine, what he wants to do.” Do the right thing Jermaine. (TMZ)

 

Amy Winehouse’s husband Blake Fielder-Civil has demanded £1million for a ‘quickie’ divorce. Blake Fielder-Civil has asked for £1million to divorce wife Amy Winehouse a source has told the News Of The World. Blake, who is apparently to be sent back to prison for parole violation, is reported to have asked for the money to agree to a quick divorce and confidentiality agreement. “Blake has asked Amy’s manager for £1 million to walk away from their marriage and not write a tell-all book about it,” the source claimed. “He’s so two-faced. He just wants a pay-off. Money’s his driving force.” (Handbag)

 

 

THE OTHER STUFF . . .

 

How much does a date with Anne Hathaway cost? Oh, about $12,000, give or take. That’s the price three fans paid for drinks with the Rachel Getting Married actress at the Cracked X-mas Fundraiser in Los Angeles Sunday night. “I’m not usually very forward, but I thought if there was ever a crowd for me to do something like this, this is my crowd so I would like to auction myself off,” Hathaway announced, “for drinks somewhere fabulous and basically get you totally s— faced. Tell me what I’m worth.” The proceeds for the night went to benefit the Trevor Project, a crisis helpline for LGBT youth. Hathaway, 26, was embarrassed when her price kept going up. “I’m blushing,” Hathaway said during the bidding process. “Wow, I feel really good right now.” The actress returned to the stage later to present Sigourney Weaver with an award. “God you’re sexy!” Hathaway said after watching a highlights reel of Weaver’s career. Also in attendance was newly out Wanda Sykes, who performed stand up for the crowd. “Come on, it ain’t like you never seen a black lesbian before!” she said as she walked on stage, then launched into a 12-minute routine about everything from gay marriage to the Obamas. “This is the first time the First Lady can drop it like it’s hot!” (People)

 

Hollywood actress Lindsay Lohan has managed to defy the global economic downturn – her new line of leggings have sold out in boutiques across the world. The Mean Girls star launched the 6126 collection this summer and the products which range in price from $44 to $132 have become bestsellers. Jill Lowe, publicist for high-end Hollywood boutique Intuition, tells the New York Daily News, “They’re blowing off the shelves.” The leggings – which come in 35 different colors and patterns – are also said to have scored record sales in U.S. stores including Henri Bendel, Nordstrom, Intermix and Lisa Kline. (Teen Hollywood)

 

They’re making a list and checking it twice!  Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes did a little holiday shopping on Katie’s day off from the theater – but not for trinkets for little Suri. Shortly after New York City’s famed toy store, FAO Schwarz, closed Sunday, the couple slipped in to go on a little shopping spree for children they don’t even know. They are expected to pile up shopping carts full of dolls, toys, books, and games to donate to Stockings with Care, a not-for-profit organization that gives gifts to children in need.  The organization, founded in 1992, assists homeless and near-homeless families by fulfilling thousands of needy children’s “wish lists” for presents to open on Christmas morning to “create the magic of Christmas.” (People)

 

Barbra Streisand got an awkward kiss on the cheek from the president, and yes, she gave him a smooch back. Streisand, a vocal critic of President George W. Bush, was a guest Sunday at the White House just before one of Washington’s few A-list events: the Kennedy Center Honors. “Art transcends politics this weekend,” the longtime Democrat said beforehand. Still, she said it would have been “lovely” if she could have received the award while President-elect Barack Obama was in office. The singer and actress was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors, along with actor Morgan Freeman, country singer George Jones, dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp and musicians Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who. The honors recognize individuals who helped define American culture through the performing arts, part of the living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. The hug and kiss between Bush and Babs – who has previously said Bush’s election wins in 2000 and 2004 were stolen – was replayed later on video at a Kennedy Center gala. The crowd couldn’t help but laugh. Queen Latifah opened the tribute to Streisand, saying she “threw out the rule book” to chart her own career. “She took to the stage like butter on a bagel,” Latifah added in a video tribute. Idina Menzel from Broadway’s “Rent” and “Wicked” sang “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from Streisand’s 1964 musical “Funny Girl.” She mixed in some new lyrics – “Hey there, Ms. Streisand, I am your biggest fan.” Beyoncé Knowles rose from the stage floor to sing “The Way We Were.” And the young musical star Ne-Yo grooved to Streisand’s 1965 hit “Lover, Come Back to Me,” with four male dancers. “Barbra Streisand is the epitome of emotion in music,” Ne-Yo said. “You feel every word, that’s something that artists in my day and age don’t really pay attention to.” Earlier, another set of stars paid tribute to The Who in front of a neon-lit backdrop of the Union Jack, in honor of the British band. “The full impact of it is still sinking in,” Townshend said of the honor. “It feels a bit iconic.” Rock singer Rob Thomas sang “Baba O’Riley,” and the British flag pulled away to reveal a choir of 150 New York policemen and firefighters singing the “teenage wasteland” chorus with Thomas under an American flag. They were thanking The Who for being the first musical group to sign on for an emotional Radio City Music Hall benefit concert after 9/11. Jones, who earned the nickname “No Show Jones” for performances he missed during his wild drinking days, promised to show up this time. The 77-year-old said “I’m in a daze” about being an honoree. First lady Laura Bush took the stage to salute Jones, saying “there’s no getting tired of a singer like him.” Jones is a favorite on the president’s iPod, said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Garth Brooks, Randy Travis and Alan Jackson gave Jones a tip of the hat with performances of the country legend’s work. And fellow country singer Shelby Lynne sang “Amazing Grace.” Tickets to the gala sell for as much as $4,000. Last year, the event raised $5 million to support Kennedy Center programs. The show will air Dec. 30 on CBS. The awards were presented Saturday night at a State Department dinner. Rice addressed each honoree, beginning with Freeman, who once played the president in the movie “Deep Impact.” “I know that when you played the African-American president of the United States, most people thought that would happen when a comet hit,” Rice said, drawing laughs and cheers. “But wonder of wonders, fiction has become true.” Freeman, 71, who starred this year in “The Dark Knight,” also made headlines after suffering broken bones in a Mississippi car crash in August. The Oscar-winning actor said he was still recovering from nerve damage in his left hand and wore a glove to control the swelling. Denzel Washington and Clint Eastwood testified to their success working with Freeman. “You’re a great good luck charm,” said Eastwood, a 2000 honoree. “Everything you touch is fine by me.” For Tharp’s presentation, actress Lily Tomlin said Tharp sees dance everywhere she looks: “This is a woman who saw the Beach Boys and made a ballet.” Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser, who worked with Tharp at the American Ballet Theater, said Tharp taught him “the difference between making a ballet and making art.” (Daily Record)

 

An original handwritten outline for Martin Luther King Jr.’s first speech condemning the Vietnam War owned by his friend Harry Belafonte is going on the auction block this week. Sotheby’s will offer the document for sale Thursday along with two others: the scribbled notes for a speech King planned to deliver in Memphis, Tenn., three days after he was assassinated and a letter of condolence from President Lyndon B. Johnson to King’s widow. The auction house put the overall pre-sale estimate for the three documents at $750,000 to $1.13 million, with the Vietnam speech valued at $500,000 to $800,000. Belafonte, a singer and actor, was an early disciple of King and his host on King’s visits to New York dating from the mid-1950s. In a telephone interview, Belafonte said he was putting his documents up for sale because “I am at the end of my life – I will be 82 shortly – and there are a lot of causes I believe in for which resources are not available, and there is a need to redistribute those resources.” Selby Kiffer, a senior manuscripts curator at Sotheby’s, said the anti-war speech possibly ranks in importance with King’s most famous papers: his “I Have a Dream” speech, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and a draft of his Nobel Prize acceptance address. Kiffer and Elizabeth Muller, a Sotheby’s expert on manuscripts who in 2006 discovered a printed version of the jail letter, said the Belafonte papers were previously unknown to King archivists. Some 10,000 King documents that his family had planned to auction at Sotheby’s in 2006 were bought for $32 million by the city of Atlanta and are housed at King’s alma mater, Morehouse College. Another King collection is at Boston University. King wrote the first draft of his Vietnam speech in ink on three sheets from a yellow legal pad and left it behind at Belafonte’s apartment when he went to Los Angeles to deliver the finished remarks on Feb. 25, 1967, before a hotel crowd of Hollywood celebrities and four U.S. senators who also had denounced the war. The speech, titled “The Casualties of the War in Vietnam,” cited, along with military and civilian victims, a loss of moral principle, resources diverted from the fight for civil rights and the war’s effect in alienating other nations from the United States. The Memphis notes, found in King’s pocket after he was gunned down April 4, 1968, on the balcony of a Memphis motel, were given by Coretta Scott King to the late Stan Levison, a close friend who then gave them to Belafonte. In the notes, King praises the city’s sanitation workers for striking against “starvation wages” – the cause that had brought him to Memphis. “What does it profit to be able to eat in an integrated restaurant and not make enough money to take the wife out?” he asks. Johnson’s letter of condolence tells Mrs. King that the “full powers of local and federal authority” had been committed to finding her husband’s killer, and “we will overcome this calamity and continue the work of justice and love that is Martin Luther King’s legacy.”

She gave the letter to Belafonte after the funeral service, where he stood at her side. Belafonte said his personal relationship with King began in early 1956 when the preacher was invited to speak at Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church, then led by the Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, and Belafonte went to hear him. King hoped to gain Belafonte’s support in spreading the civil rights gospel in the entertainment industry. After the sermon, Belafonte and King met in the church basement, sitting at a table for what Belafonte had expected would be 20 minutes. “Four hours later we emerged, and I knew then I would be part of his mission,” he said. Belafonte said he later opened his apartment to King, providing a private suite and entrance for King’s use on his visits to New York. Officials, journalists and civil rights activists met King at what was an all-but-undisclosed location. Belafonte said “confidentiality was required” to keep his own celebrity as an entertainer from obscuring the message and the cause that King was pursuing. “It was not my mission,” he said. “I didn’t need to be seen. I needed to be felt.” (Daily Record)

 

With deadline time on college applications approaching, actress Emma Roberts has honed in on two schools in New York. “I really loved Sarah Lawrence and NYU,” the onetime star of Nickelodeon’s Unfabulous, now 17, told PEOPLE at a Hotel for Dogs event held at New York’s FAO Schwarz Friday. “When I got to Sarah Lawrence or NYU,” she says of her campus visits, “I could really see myself walking around here making friends.” Roberts – whose dad is actor Eric Roberts and whose aunt is Julia Roberts – also explained what a busy time this has been for her and her friends. “Nobody has left the house for the past few weeks, because everyone’s just trying to get their college applications done,” she said. With her interests in photography, writing and literature, there’s one thing Roberts isn’t keen on studying at school: acting. “Definitely not,” she said with a laugh, despite her bloodline and her own accomplishments – including two movies, The Winning Season and Lymelife, due to be shown at Sundance in January. “I’d be too nervous,” Roberts said about any potential acting class. “Because I’d already worked, I’d feel like everyone would be like judging me. I would be too embarrassed to do a play.” (People)

 

It’s official – Food Network star Sandra Lee and divorced New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo are an item. At Cuomo’s 51st-birthday party the other day at Bridgewaters at the South Street Seaport, Lee joined Matt Dillon, Mayor Bloomberg, Tony Bennett and 400 other guests in toasting Cuomo. Lee’s rep confirmed, “Yes, Sandra did attend with her sweetie.” Andrew’s younger brother, “Good Morning America” host Chris Cuomo, mentioned Sandra during his scathingly funny slide-show presentation. “Chris got out all kinds of resentment that had been simmering for years,” said our source. The digs may have been payback for Andrew’s recent appearance on “GMA,” where he got Chris to raise his right hand and swear “to give the truth, the whole truth, so help me God.” (Page Six)

 

Jennifer Aniston says she doesn’t get why people care about her life so much. “I think it’s ridiculous. There’s just this insatiable need,” she tells USA Today.  She hopes her new film Marley & Me (out Dec. 25) “is going to create something else to talk about and realize that I have a job, and I’m an actress. “I am honestly getting sick of it, and I feel like telling people, ‘You know what? It’s none of your (expletive) business.’ Seriously, it’s enough,” adds Aniston, who openly talked about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in December’s Vogue. “It’s like we’re appealing to the lowest… “And this is at a time when we should be so inspired and excited with what’s happening with the president,” she says. “It’s a time to be positive and join together. We’re just trying to entertain you, man. Don’t shoot the messenger.” She tells the paper that dogs “do help” get through “the stupid stuff.” Aniston — who has a corgi-terrier mix named Norman — says when it comes to animals “there is no relationship ever — parents, a friendship, partners or lover — there’s no connection like that ever.” Though her next two movies explore human relationships — including the romantic comedy He’s Just Not That Into You (out in February) — she also says she’d “like to” star in a Western film down the road. “There’s something else out there that I’m going to be possibly doing called Bounty Hunter. It’s good,” she says. “It’s not definite yet.” As for her holiday plans? “I haven’t even quite put that much thought into it yet,” says the actress. “I have an annual tree-trimming party. But I usually rearrange the ornaments the next day!” (US Weekly)

 

Has Aubrey O’Day  switched teams? The press-hungry “Hairspray” star showed up the other day at SKY Group’s launch of the BlackBerry Pearl Flip at Highbar and later at NASCAR’s party at Marquee with a woman she introduced as “my girlfriend.” O’Day said she was making a statement against California’s Prop 8, which made gay marriage illegal. Not that she wants to marry her “girlfriend” if Prop 8 is ever overturned. “We don’t need a piece of paper to validate our relationship,” O’Day joked, adding that her dog, Ginger, was “also a lesbian.” (Page Six)

 

Although separated for months, David Duchovny and Téa Leoni put differences aside to spend some quality time together with their kids at a Knicks game in NYC on Sunday. Perhaps David’s sex addiction isn’t the only thing that has been rehabilitated. (TMZ)

 

Tiny twin Mary-Kate Olsen is drowning the recent rumor that she is with child. The other night, Olsen and boyfriend Nate Lowman hit the Art Basel scene at the opening of The Station, an art exhibition in Miami that he helped curate. A spy told us Mary-Kate was smooching with her beau and smoking and drinking vodka cocktails all night, supporting her spokesperson’s recent announcement to Page Six that “there is absolutely no truth” to the rumor. (Page Six)

 

Follow his team or his fashion choices, but David Beckham apparently doesn’t want you following his car. After being pursued by paparazzi today in Beverly Hills, the soccer stud confronted a photographer, with a fight breaking out moments later between one of the soccer star’s bodyguards and the shutterbug. According to an eyewitness, Beckham went up to the car and tried to get the driver to come out. When the driver declined, Beckham’s bodyguard went to the passenger’s side and punches began flying. The scuffle did not go unnoticed by the authorities. “They started fighting right in the street in front of the police station,” an eyewitness tells E! News. “Once the bodyguards and the paparazzi started fighting, David ran back to the car and he and Victoria drove off…The cops finally came and broke it up.” Two of the bodyguards were later questioned by police. One of the bodyguards, who had been scratched in the fight, declined to comment. A rep for Beckham tells E! News, “Yes, an incident did occur. However, there will be no comment as this is now in the hands of the lawyers.” Photographers on the scene showed police a video of the fight, which police then confiscated as evidence. “We took a report at the scene, but no one was taken into custody or cited,” said Beverly Hills Police Department Sgt. Gregg Mader. “We’ll review what we have to see if further action needs to be taken.” “They just can’t do this,” said the photog involved in the fight. “They put me on the floor, they got my camera and they threw it in the trash can. They can’t do this to us. ” An ambulance was called to the scene, but all of those involved in the fracas refused treatment. (Eonline)

 

Stephanie Tanner should ask Mr. Bear for some advice! Ex-meth-head Jodie Sweetin leaked details of her court papers so people would pay attention to her. Okay, maybe not, but we wouldn’t put it past her! It looks like her 16 month marriage to Cody Herpin had fallen into major disrepair, because in her court files, Sweetin says, “Our house is in foreclosure, our water has been shut off twice. Currently, all of our other utilities are overdue” and that soon-to-be-ex Herpin quit working after their marriage because “[He] kept finding one excuse after another for his failure to even attempt to find employment.” In her latest ploy for attention, poor Stephanie Tanner is requesting a court order to return to the house (She’s living with her parents) to retrieve her belongings, and clothes and toys for daughter Zoie because Herpin might “prevent [her] from peacefully taking these items.” How rude! Herpin says otherwise, and that all his attempts to reach Sweetin have gone unanswered. The deadbeat dad is claiming that he was actually a stay-at-home dad to accommodate Sweetin’s “busy schedule.” If that doesn’t sound like a total lie, we don’t know what does! Herpin is seeking full custody of Zoei and spousal support. Spousal support? From Stephanie Tanner?  Ha! Attention-seeking Sweetin says that even though she’s asking for joint custody, she “believes he [Herpin] is going to try to prevent me from seeing [Zoie]” citing an incident that occurred the day she told her husband she was getting a divorce wherein “He told me I could not take Zoie with me. He said he would call the police and report that she was abducted by me and seek sole custody. He grabbed Zoie from the floor where she was playing … but put Zoie down and later went for a walk.” Herpin says he doesn’t know what the crazy bitch is talking about. We mean, doesn’t she know that Britney already did this? And did it better? (Perez Hilton)

 

Madonna, always in fighting shape, has won a round against the British press. The pop star won a judgment Monday against a British tabloid that she accused of breaching her privacy and copyright by publishing pictures of her 2000 wedding. Madonna, who says the pictures were stolen by an interior decorator from her home in Beverly Hills, California, is seeking damages in excess of 5 million pounds ($7.5 million) from the publishers of the Mail on Sunday newspaper. Judge David Eady entered a judgment in her favor but deferred a decision on compensation until the new year. Madonna and film director Guy Ritchie, who recently gained a preliminary divorce decree, were married at a Scottish castle on Dec. 22, 2000. No pictures of the event had been published until they appeared Oct. 19 in the Mail on Sunday, said Matthew Nicklin, a lawyer representing Madonna. The newspaper published 11 photographs over the front page and a double-page inside spread. “She was ambushed, for the simple reason that if the Mail on Sunday had told her what they intended to do, the claimant would have sought and obtained an injunction,” Nicklin said. Nicklin said the newspaper paid 5,000 pounds ($7,500) for the pictures. Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Mail on Sunday, had no immediate comment on the court’s decision. Nicklin said the only photographs of the wedding were taken by photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino and presented to Madonna as a gift. He said Madonna put the photographs in an album that she kept in her home. He said an interior designer, Robert Joseph Wilber, “surreptitiously gained access to the photograph album and copied at least 26 photographs.” Those images, which he said had “essentially been stolen by Mr. Wilber” were sold Oct. 15 to the Mail on Sunday by a woman identified as Bonnie Robinson of Los Angeles, Nicklin said. Despite admissions made by the newspaper, Madonna has not received an apology, Nicklin added. Madonna and Ritchie were granted a preliminary decree of divorce on Nov. 21. The split is expected to become final early next month. (Daily Record)

 

Critics’ reaction to the gala premiere at La Scala can be summed up in one word: Boring. The last-minute decision to substitute the lead “Don Carlo” tenor with his understudy created tension that spurred many in the audience to open rebellion against conductor Daniele Gatti, emitting whistles and catcalls at his every entrance. A critic for Corriere della Sera called the level of hostility “almost scary.” But for all of the backstage drama that seemed to poison the audience’s reception, American tenor Stuart Neill, received sympathetic, if lukewarm, reviews for the performance he gave after Giuseppe Filianoti was unexpectedly removed. Neill, a 43-year-old Atlanta, Georgia-native, got the word only on Saturday that he would be singing the lead, and told reporters backstage after the performance that he had just three and a half hours to practice with the opening-night cast. La Scala explained the switch by saying Neill appeared to be “in better shape” than Filianoti, who had made mistakes during a dress rehearsal. “Neill doesn’t boast the timbre or the phrasing of Filianoti, but he certainly has a more confident voice,” La Repubblica’s Michelangelo Zurletti wrote in Monday’s editions. Some self-proclaimed critics among the audience weren’t so kind – with some booing heard over the applause as flowers showered on Neill when he came out to take his bows. “Stuart Neill’s Carlo wasn’t helped by the whistles, but he had a strong timbre and a secure voice,” La Stampa critic Giorgio Pestelli wrote. Alfredo Gasponi of il Messagero agreed that Neill demonstrated “confidence,” but noted that the last-minute switch had taken its toll with the orchestra overwhelming the singers in some places “because the new tonal relationships were not yet defined.” The result was an unemotional duet when Neill’s Carlo swears eternal friendship with Rodrigo, sung by baritone Dalibor Jenis, Gasponi wrote. Despite the difficult circumstances, Neill told reporters afterward that he felt comfortable in the role. “I received very warm greetings from the orchestra, from the chorus, from my colleagues. I felt the support of the entire theater with me,” Neill said. As for Filianoti, “I wish him the best,” adding the two plan to have dinner when Filianoti is in New York to sing “Rigoletto.” Neill said he has been asked to sing the remaining five December performances as well as Jan. 4. Then he must be in London for a commitment to sing “Requiem.” La Scala has not announced who will sing the remaining three performances. Neill wasn’t singled out for criticism by Corriere’s long-time critic, Paolo Isotto, who said he found the whole execution “boring.” Most of the cast – with the full exception Dolora Zajick as the princess of Eboli and partial exception of bass Ferruccio Furlanetto as Philip – “sang their roles as though they were reading the phone book,” Isotto wrote. Isotto expressed disapproval for the catcalls mid-performance, the likes of which he said he hadn’t seen in nearly 30 years covering opera. “It is tantamount to tampering with a sporting event,” Isotto wrote. While Gatti was “courageous and resisted with apparent serenity,” the tension came through “in a dry sound that in some parts seemed like the orchestra drowning out the singers like an illegal streetband.” In the end, “Don Carlo” received just eight minutes of applause – a modest showing for a La Scala premiere. (Daily Record)

 

Vegas sports agent Perry Rogers, who repped Steffi’s husband Andre for years and was childhood pals with him as well, has taken Steffi to court — the kind without white lines. According to the suit, Rogers also repped Steffi, helping her pull in $20 mil. In return, he says he got stiffed. Now he’s asking for more than $50,000 in commissions. A delusional Agassi said, “I remain hopeful that we will be able to resolve our business issues with minimal damage to our families and mutual friends.” Funny how lawsuits can ruin a relationship. (TMZ)

 

In less than a week, officials have a locked down a warrant for the person they believe shot Mark Ruffalo’s brother in the head — and the suspect is a woman. Shaha Mishaal Adham, one of the two “persons of interest” first linked to the case, is now the prime suspect in the attempted murder investigation. Sources close to the investigation tell us Adham is related to members of Saudi Arabian royalty. Adham is already gearing up for a serious fight — signing on Manny Pacquiao’s high profile attorney Keith Davidson. Ruffalo’s brother, Scott, is still clinging to life after he was suspiciously shot in the head in his Beverly Hills apartment last Monday night. (TMZ)

 

 

MUSIC . . .

 

Forget the economic recession: Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve is going for the gold with host Ryan Seacrest when ringing in 2009 from Times Square. The Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift and Lionel Richie will perform live on the ABC broadcast, says the network, which also announced Monday that Kellie Pickler will handle live reports from the scene in the middle of New York City. Meanwhile, during segments of the show emanating from Hollywood, hostess Fergie will officiate over performances by Natasha Bedingfield, Fall Out Boy, Jesse McCartney, Ne-Yo, Pussycat Dolls, Solange and Robin Thicke.  The annual tradition kicks off Wednesday, Dec. 31, at 10 p.m. ET. (People)

 

Diana Krall describes her first record in three years as intimate, sensual – and erotic. “I’m not coy single girl singing ‘Peel Me A Grape.’ I love that song but I don’t love it for me any more,” Krall, 43, said from her Vancouver, British Columbia home in an interview last week. “I feel more womanly, I guess, and I think this record is a love letter but very sensual, more on the erotic side. It’s definitely late night.” “Quiet Nights,” to be released on March 31, is Krall’s CD of new material in three years. The sultry jazz vocalist and pianist known for her crossover appeal had twin sons with husband Elvis Costello in 2006; they turned 2 Dec. 6. Krall said she’s never been happier, and the record reflects that. The 10 songs include ballads, three recordings of songs by bossa nova legend Antonio Carlos Jobim, and standards such as “Walk On By” by Burt Bacharach. “It was just the greatest recording experience I’ve had to date,” said Krall, who was inspired to make the record following a trip to Brazil last year. A two-time Grammy winner, Krall is surrounded by familiar faces on “Quiet Nights.” In addition to her longtime quartet and producer Tommy LiPuma, who worked with her on nine previous recordings, arranger Claus Ogerman returns. He last worked with Krall on her 2001 record “The Look of Love.” Ogerman was the arranger on many of bossa nova’s first wave of recordings in the 1960s, working with Jobim, Frank Sinatra, Stan Getz and Bill Evans. Ogerman came out of semiretirement to once again work with Krall. LiPuma, who first worked with Krall in 1994, said the record shows how she has matured as a singer. “She approaches her vocal phrasing much more like an instrumentalist than a straight singer,” LiPuma said. “It’s in her reading of the lyrics, and the timbre of her voice, much more misty like Peggy Lee in her mature period.” In addition to finishing “Quiet Nights,” Krall is producing a new Barbra Streisand record that is slated to be completed in January and released sometime in 2009. Krall intends to tour North America in April following the release of “Quiet Nights.” “I think I’ve reached the best time in my life,” Krall said. “I really went through some rough spots with the death of my mother (in 2002). … But now that I have my own family, I’m working as hard as I ever worked, but I feel like I have it all.” (Daily Record)

 

Prince brought Beyoncé Knowles’ sassy alter-ego Sasha Fierce to the forefront when the pop diva performed with him at the 2004 Grammy Awards. The Survivor singer’s family and friends insist Beyoncé has always taken on a totally different persona when she gets on stage, but it took Prince to make her realize she ‘trances out’ and becomes Fierce during big shows. Beyoncé has since given the character a name and now uses her aggressive alter-ego to help her combat nerves and counter difficult interviews and photoshoots. She even pays tribute to Fierce on her hit new album, I Am… Sasha Fierce. She tells Giant magazine, “That night with Prince, I was just in a trance. I don’t remember anything after I walked through the smoke onstage. “I was definitely Sasha Fierce that night, completely free.” But the singer’s parents first spotted Fierce when Beyoncé was just six and performing at a school talent show. Mum Tina Knowles explains, “She got on that stage and became a different person. My husband and I looked at each other like, ‘Who is that?’” (Teen Hollywood)

 

Take That’s “The Circus” (Polydor/Universal) gave the latter-day boy band another U.K. No. 1 album yesterday with a massive opening sales total of 432,000. Leona Lewis’ cover of Snow Patrol’s “Run” (Syco Music/Sony BMG) went straight to the top of the singles chart, becoming the fastest-selling download in British chart history, with 133,000 copies. The Take That album hit the top a week after its flagship single “Greatest Day” became a No. 1 single. The quartet now has five U.K. chart-topping albums, starting with “Everything Changes” in 1993 and “Nobody Else” in 1995, in their first incarnation, which also brought them a No. 1 “Greatest Hits” set in ‘96. The reunited lineup hit the top with 2006’s “Beautiful World,” which is now certified eight-times platinum. “The Circus” nudged the Killers’ “Day & Age” album (Vertigo/Universal) down 1-2, as Lewis’ revamped “Spirit” moved back 4-3. Britney Spears’ “Circus” (Jive) debuted at No. 4 as her “Womanizer” single jumped 7-3 and the album’s title track debuted on download sales at No. 32. Kings Of Leon’s “Only by the Night” album (Hand Me Down/Sony BMG) improved 7-5, while the band’s current single “Use Somebody” climbed 15-10 and its predecessor, the former chart-topper “Sex on Fire,” rose 17-14.  Guns N’ Roses’ “Chinese Democracy” album (Black Frog/Geffen), which arrived last week at No. 2, fell sharply to No. 11. Lewis’ cover of “Run” is one of the new songs added to the re-promoted “Spirit” and, although it wasn’t originally planned as a single, was promoted as such after huge public reaction to the singer’s performance of the song on BBC Radio 1. After recording it in the studio in September, Lewis performed it on ITV’s “The X Factor” Nov. 15 and the “Divas II” special eight days later. Snow Patrol’s long-running original version climbed to No. 28 two weeks ago, but this week fell 31-42. Oasis’ “I’m Outta Time” (Big Brother) opened at No. 12, while “Cash In My Pocket” (Asylum/Warner Music) by Wiley featuring Daniel Merriweather came in at No. 18 and Miley Cyrus’ “7 Things” (Hollywood/EMI) 56-25. In a repeat of last year’s digital boost for holiday singles, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” (Columbia) raced 37-17 and “Fairytale of New York” (Warner Bros.) by the Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl rose 44-19. Carey’s song, a No. 2 hit in 1994, hit No. 6 last year, while the Pogues’ track continued its extraordinary popularity, hitting the top 40 for a fourth year running and sixth overall. Another festive perennial, Wham!’s “Last Christmas” (Epic), returned to the top 40 with a 67-36 climb, and the top 75 welcomed back further Christmas chestnuts by Shakin’ Stevens, Wizzard, Slade, Perry Como, Band Aid and Chris Rea. The Guns N’ Roses set rose 36-1 on Billboard’s European Top 100 Albums survey, as Beyonce’s “If I Were a Boy” (Columbia) secured a second week at No. 1 on Eurochart Hot 100 Singles. (Billboard)

 

U.K. rock act Keane was joined by producer Jon Brion on stage last night (Dec. 7) for several songs during its 14-song set at the Largo Theater in West Hollywood. The group, whose current album, “Perfect Symmetry,” was produced by Brion, completed a trio of promotional dates last week with the stripped-down Largo performance. The evening began with singer Tom Chaplin playing two songs unaccompanied on acoustic guitar. The industry-heavy crowd responded well to new songs “The Lovers Are Losing” and “Spiralling,” alongside previous U.K. hits like “Everybody’s Changing” and “Somewhere Only We Know”, the latter of which was enhanced by a two-piece string section. Keane now returns to its native England for a string of holiday performances and is expected to come back to North America in the spring for a full tour. (Billboard)

 

U.K. rapper Lady Sovereign has inked a global deal with EMI for her own Midget Records imprint, and will release her new album, “Jigsaw,” on April 9. A new track, “I Got You Dancing,” is available for free on the artist’s MySpace site. “The album is the next chapter. It’s a massive leap forward for mankind,” Lady Sovereign says. The rapper made a splash in 2005 with the EP “Vertically Challenged,” released in North America by Chocolate Industries. She then jumped to Def Jam for the following year’s “Public Warning,” which has sold 125,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That album’s single, “Love Me or Hate Me,” has sold more than 427,000 digital downloads. (Billboard)

 

 

MOVIE . . .

 

Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie have been voted the actors that fans would most like to see play Batman villains. Fans voted for who they would most like to see play The Riddler and Harley Quinn in the follow-up to The Dark Knight and Depp and Jolie emerged as frontrunners. Other stars that made the list included Natalie Portman, Edward Norton, Clive Owen and – most bizarrely – Keira Knightley. (British Glamour)

 

Rachel Weisz has been lined up to play Blanche Dubois in a West End adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire. Just a week after Gwyneth Paltrow admitted that this was the part she wanted to play on Broadway, it was announced that the Constant Gardener actress would take on the role at the Donmar Warehouse from July. No other cast details have been announced but the production will be directed by Rob Ashford. (British Glamour)

 

Director Catherine Hardwicke won’t be coming back to do the Twilight sequel, New Moon, according to Variety. It was a timing issue, says the report. The studio wants to rush the movie out in 2009 and wasn’t willing to give Hardwicke the time that she wanted to develop the sequel script. In a statement, Hardwicke said, “I am sorry that due to timing I will not have the opportunity to direct ‘New Moon’. Directing ‘Twilight’ has been one of the great experiences of my life, and I am grateful to the fans for their passionate support of the film. I wish everyone at Summit the best with the sequel — it is a great story.” And the studio issued this statement, “Catherine did an incredible job in helping us to launch the ‘Twilight’ franchise, and we thank her for all of her efforts and we very much hope to work with her on future Summit projects. We as a studio have a mandate to bring the next installment in the franchise to the big screen in a timely fashion so that fans can get more of Edward, Bella and all of the characters that Stephenie Meyer has created. We are able to pursue an aggressive time frame as we have the luxury of only adapting the novels into screenplays as opposed to having to create a storyline from scratch.” No one’s getting in the way of pumping money out (as quickly as possible!) of the Twilight machine! But, Miz Hardwick walks away with this amazing feat — she delivered the biggest opening weekend ever for a woman with Twilight. Congrats!  (Perez Hilton)

 

Lauren Holly and Luke Perry are starring in Uwe Boll’s latest filmmaker endeavor, “The Storm.”  In the apocalyptic thriller, Holly plays a dedicated wife and mother who must deal with the end of days scenario — all heightened by the arrival of a mysterious stranger named Silas (Perry) who holds the key to the approaching doom. The movie, budgeted in the $5 million range, is shooting in Vancouver. Boll is directing and producing. Brightlight Pictures’ Stephen Hegyes and Shawn Williamson also are producing. Holly, repped by Fortitude and Gilbertson Management, is best known for her work on CBS’ “NCIS.” Her feature credits range from “Dumb and Dumber” to “The Chumscrubber.” Perry recently appeared as a series regular in David Milch’s HBO series “John From Cincinnati.” he is repped by Fortitude and Himber Entertainment. (Hollywood Reporter)

 

Fifteenth century Thai martial arts action film “Ong Bak 2″ by actor-director Tony Jaa summited the local boxoffice in its long holiday opening weekend by grossing 70 million baht. ($2.06 million), distributor Sahamongkolfilm International said. The opening of the much anticipated film on Dec. 5, the 81st birthday of Thailand’s revered king, put Jaa’s fist film as a director ahead in 2008 weekend gross figures of “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” which earned 61 Million baht. Sahamongkol executive VP Gilbert Lim projected that “Ong Bak 2,” a story about an orphaned boy warrior avenging his father’s death, would earn more than 100 million baht by the end of the week and end up the No. 1 movie at Thailand’s boxoffice. The film was presold to Sony in the U.K., to Splendid in Germany, to Showbox in South Korea, to Edko in Hong Kong, and to Madman in Australia and New Zealand. (Hollywood Reporter)

 

Studio cost-cutting is affecting the producer ranks. In its ongoing effort to trim overhead, Paramount has declined to renew a number of production deals. Included in the group are Kevin Misher and his Misher Films banner, Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg and their Double Feature Films and Scott Aversano. And Universal isn’t renewing its production deal with the producing team of Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall. The Kennedy/Marshall Co. has had a long association with the studio, where it has been involved in such movies as “Seabiscuit” and the Bourne trilogy. But while Kennedy/Marshall has been based at Universal, which began its own round of about 70 layoffs last week, the company also has been active at other studios around town and is represented by “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” a Paramount/Warner Bros. co-production. At Universal, the two producers will continue their involvement in planned sequels “Jurassic Park IV” and the untitled fourth Bourne film. Paramount has been navigating a highly transitional year. January was filled with exec movements, and the summer saw the company merge several Paramount Vantage departments into the studio proper. Layoffs followed even as the studio enjoyed a successful summer boxoffice. On Thursday, Paramount laid off another large group of employees as part of corporate parent Viacom’s cutting of 7% of its work force. Then Vantage was downsized further with the departure of label president Nick Meyer on Thursday. The studio will have continuing relationships with all three departing production entities. Aversano was president of Paramount divisions Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films before he was handed an outside producer deal. He is prepping the “Untitled Kidrobot Project” for the studio’s Nick stamp. Misher’s contract runs through the end of 2009, and he has several high-profile projects incubating, including a “Dune” revamp, “The Last Duel” with Martin Scorsese directing and “Case 39,” set for release in April. Sher and Shamberg delivered “World Trade Center” to the studio and have “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” and “The Devil in the White City” in development there. (Hollywood Reporter)

 

‘Tis not the season to be jolly at the movies – there are no fewer than six heart-wrenching, Holocaust-theme flicks coming to a theater near you. In the days ahead, moviegoers will have their choice of “The Reader,” with Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes, and “Adam Resurrected,” with Jeff Goldblum (both opening Friday), “Valkyrie,” with Tom Cruise (Dec. 25), “Defiance,” with Daniel Craig, and “Good,” with Viggo Mortensen (both Dec. 31). Already out is “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” with Vera Farmiga. The pile-up of movies about the slaughter of Jews by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany might reflect the tastes of Academy Award voters, who gave seven Oscars to “Schindler’s List” (1993), four to “Life Is Beautiful” (1997) and three to “The Pianist” (2002). Anti-Defamation League chairman Abe Foxman has seen three of this year’s Holocaust films and praised all of them in a statement he gave to Page Six. Of “The Reader,” Foxman said, “I was extremely moved by this wonderful film. Extraordinarily acted, directed and filmed. The viewer shares the knowledge, shame and poignancy of the characters, based on Bernhard Schlink’s brilliant book.” Of “Defiance,” Foxman opined: “An important contribution to understanding what some Jews faced during the Holocaust and how they fought back.” And of “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” he said, “Throughout, it provokes strong and complicated emotions.” Harvey Weinstein, whose studio is behind “The Reader,” believes no number of Holocaust movies is too many. “What a wonderful subject to explore in as many ways as possible,” he told us. “I hope our children get educated about the Holocaust, so it will be ‘Never again.’ ” The most unusual title of the group may be the Paul Schrader-directed “Adam Resurrected,” which is being touted as Goldblum’s role of a lifetime. He plays a mental patient in 1960s Israel who survived the Holocaust by serving as a Nazi commander’s “dog.” (Page Six)

 

Catherine Hardwicke delivered the biggest opening weekend ever for a female film director—not to mention Robert Pattinson to the screaming fans—but it doesn’t look like she’ll be getting the chance to top that record with the next Twilight film. The helmer has parted ways with the series. The story broke today on the blog Deadline Hollywood Daily, and by Sunday night Variety had a statement from the director. “I am sorry that due to timing I will not have the opportunity to direct New Moon,” said Hardwicke. “Directing Twilight has been one of the great experiences of my life, and I am grateful to the fans for their passionate support of the film. I wish everyone at Summit the best with the sequel—it is a great story.” So it is. Considering all the elements that went into the film—a successful series of novels, an attractive cast and, of course, teen vampirism—does this seem like a decision that might put the series in jeopardy, or is it just par for the course in Hollywood (Eonline)

 

The comeback continues. Now being touted for an Oscar for his performance in “The Wrestler,” an almost unrecognizable Mickey Rourke – covered in scars, facial hair, tattoos and cowboy gear – was shooting last week inside a cramped jail cell on Long Island. The tough-guy actor is in good company for his new film “13.” Jason Statham, Ray Winstone, 50 Cent and Michael Shannon (also getting Oscar buzz for “Revolutionary Road”) all join the comeback kid in a new thriller about a high-stakes game of Russian roulette. (Page Six)

 

Emma Watson says that she would consider stripping off on film – but only for the right role. “Yes. For Bernardo Bertolucci [director]. It … depends,” said the 18-year-old. “I’m not getting my kit off any time soon, but it is part of my job.” The actress, who is famous for playing Hermione Granger in Harry Potter, said: “I’m at a strange age. I’m not a woman yet, but I’m not a girl any more… They [film companies] say: “Oh, in a couple of years you’ll be perfect for this. I’ll be like, yeah, but I want to be studying English then, so it’s going to be quite tough to choose between the two,” the actress added. (British Glamour)

 

 

TV . . .

 

The Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift and Lionel Richie will ring in 2009 from Times Square on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.” They will perform live during the ABC broadcast, joining Clark in New York along with his co-host Ryan Seacrest, the network announced. Kellie Pickler also will be on hand in Times Square with live reports on the festivities. As previously announced, Natasha Bedingfield, Fall Out Boy, Jesse McCartney, Ne-Yo, Pussycat Dolls, Solange and Robin Thicke will perform during the Hollywood Party segments, which will be hosted by Fergie. A New Year’s Eve tradition, the show will begin Dec. 31 at 10 p.m. EST. (Daily Record)

 

They might not go home with a recording contract, but Paula Abdul doesn’t let any “American Idol” contestant leave empty-handed. Each season she designs and distributes jewelry for the aspiring singers as a keepsake of their experience. Beginning this month, Abdul’s fans will be able to buy similar items on HSN. “I pretty much wear my jewelry all the time now, but I end up giving it away,” she says. “I’ll take it off my wrist or neck and give it to someone who likes it.” Abdul has made jewelry since the first season of “Idol” in 2002. Once she saw what the contestants had to endure from critic Simon Cowell, she wanted to do something nice for them, she says. “I wanted something the kids could touch and feel to remind themselves that their talent got them here.” She previously sold a limited jewelry collection on QVC. The new HSN Forever Your Girl line, which debuts Saturday, also includes handbags and other accessories, with a price range of $29-$200. Among her newest pieces is a beaded leather cuff bracelet that will go to the female participants in the new season inscribed with a message to “reach for the stars.” Abdul says she’s looking forward to welcoming her old friend and new judge Kara DioGuardi when the top-rated Fox show returns Jan. 13. “Hopefully she’ll give Simon hell,” Abdul says. The singer-dancer-choreographer’s other plans for 2009 include her first album of new material in over a decade and a new reality TV special for MTV called “Rah! Paula Abdul’s Cheerleading Bowl.” (Daily Record)

 

Soon, Wolf Blitzer can sleep in Sunday mornings. CNN’s “Late Edition” is about to get a makeover, with John King taking over from Blitzer, the Sunday newscast’s anchor for 10 years. The first hour of the four-hour block will focus on politics, followed by national and world affairs, the network says. It also will include “Reliable Sources,” the media-oriented discussion program hosted by Howard Kurtz. With the broadcast’s January debut, King will retain his title as chief national correspondent. Blitzer, CNN’s lead anchor for political coverage, will continue anchoring the three-hour “Situation Room” each weekday. Both he and King have extended their contracts through 2012. These Sunday changes follow NBC’s announcement of David Gregory as the new moderator of “Meet the Press.” (Daily Record)

 

There’s still no official start date for “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” but fans will be able to begin to get a taste of what’s to come when daily video blogs start hitting NBC.com at 12:35 a.m. on Dec. 9. A rep for Fallon confirms that the Webisodes will not be bite-size episodes of what you’ll see when Fallon officially takes over the Conan spot — they’ll just be behind-the-scenes blogs of Fallon being, well, Fallon. Details of what to expect when “Late Night” goes live this spring have been hard to come by, but more and more often, Fallon has been spotted at 30 Rock. Also, The Roots are rumored to be Fallon’s house band, although NBC hasn’t confirmed that yet. (Scoop)

 

Fall was a lousy trade for broadcast networks: Four firmly viable freshman shows in exchange for about a dozen failed series, with several other new and returning titles standing on shaky legs going into next year. But there’s also plenty of reason to expect most networks can have a better second half of the season than their first. Take ABC. The implosion of its Wednesday-night lineup, coupled with the ratings erosion of such reliable hits as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Dancing With the Stars,” has resulted in the network taking a dive this fall. By maintaining an active development pipeline, though, ABC has a flurry of new shows ready to go. After premiering only two new hours so far, ABC will unveil more than four hours in the spring, reversing the usual rollout process. With its dramas all short orders of 10 episodes or less, though, ABC risks being in a position next year that somewhat mimics its problem this fall: airing sophomore dramas that haven’t had a lot of viewer exposure. CBS also is in position to improve. The network already has defied ratings gravity with “How I Met Your Mother,” “Big Bang Theory” and “NCIS” recently hitting series highs, plus it launched the fall’s biggest hit, “The Mentalist.” Just as “Mentalist” reimagined Sherlock Holmes, CBS’ midseason show “Harper’s Island” reworks Agatha Christie. Although insiders are skeptical that its odd horror-tinged format will draw enough viewers, the idea is a clever effort to bring back a faded genre. But CBS is concerned about “Island’s” once-indestructible lead-in. With “CSI” swapping lead actors in January as Laurence Fishburne takes over for the departing William Petersen, the show’s ratings might weaken. Otherwise, CBS, the least-eroded network this fall, can likely watch the rest of its season on auto-pilot. Fox, of course, will improve dramatically. The network expects the return of “American Idol” to be down another 10% and would be thrilled if that’s all it’s down. With “Fringe” and “Lie to Me” having “Idol” lead-ins, both could hit the roof. Plus, Fox is expected to have more shows for midseason, such as hot prospects “Glee” and “Boldly Going Nowhere,” though the once-promising sci-fi drama “Dollhouse” has been banished to Friday nights. Fox’s growth could effectively hamstring ABC and CBS, but there’s no systematic reason why more than one show cannot pull large numbers in a time period (9 p.m. Thursday, for example, houses three hit shows). As for NBC, after the triumph of the Summer Olympics, the network has lived in crisis. Most of its new shows misfired and sparked derision from viewers and critics, and ratings for “Heroes” have dropped alarmingly. With NBC airing the Super Bowl, the network has a significant platform to reboot, if only it had more promising new content. NBC’s only likely bet is the new drama “Kings,” but that’s only one hour. The network will follow the Super Bowl with “The Office,” which should draw a large number but won’t rescue its trouble spots. The CW is in a similar situation, with only returning series “Reaper” and horror-reality show “13: Fear Is Real” scheduled to drop in midseason and neither expected to improve their time periods significantly. Still, with Fox set to improve dramatically, CBS steady and growing some hours and ABC replacing strike-hampered series with fresh content, on balance broadcast has potential to have better headlines next year. And all certainly will improve on this past spring. Unless, of course, there’s another strike. (Hollywood Reporter)

 

Time Warner Cable president and CEO Glenn Britt on Monday cited retransmission deals with broadcasters as a key factor of cost pressures for cable operators beyond sports content and said his company may suggest the new Congress review regulation on the issue. Already-pressured broadcast TV groups are now also facing a weak economy, which has dragged down local advertising spending, he told a UBS investor conference here. “They don’t have anywhere to go, so they make pretty big demands,” Britt said. He added that TWC may take up the issue with lawmakers as the current retrans regulations may not make sense anymore. Asked about net neutrality, Britt said he is increasingly confused about its meaning giving use of the phrase by many different groups for different Web-related issues. “There will be some (Web) regulation,” he predicted about the newly elected Washington power brokers. But he warned that regulation beyond ensuring First Amendment rights could mess up the economics of the Internet. Britt on Monday also downplayed current cable consolidation opportunities and said the housing and economic problems affect TWC’s growth rate, even though the business is holding up better than most others. “People who may be sellers are all smart enough to know that this is not the time to sell,” he said when asked if the separation of TWC from Time Warner next year will lead to acquisitions, pointing to depressed stock prices. “I don’t think people will sell while things are cheap.” Industry observers have mentioned Cablevision Systems and at least parts of Charter Communications as possible targets for TWC after the separation. Britt said Monday that he had no precise guidance on when it will go through given that the FCC hasn’t put it on its agenda yet. Overall, he argued that the cable business is performing “better than most businesses” in a recession, but he acknowledged that user gains has continued to run well behind 2007 levels since October. “History would say that people watch more TV during bad times,” he said. And broadband users seem reluctant to disconnect given the Internet has become a key part of their lives. “It may be even more important than TV,” he said. But Britt admitted that telephone subscription growth looks slower in the current environment, and fewer housing starts and foreclosures drag down growth. So does the advertising business, which for TWC was flat for the first three quarters of 2008. “It is big enough that it affects our growth rate as an overall company,” he said. And DVR user growth has been running about 40% behind the year-ago period. “People still watch TV and cable,” Britt said. “But they are thinking: How can I cut around the edges?” Trimming staff and labor costs amid slowing user growth is one cost lever TWC is looking at using, he said. (Hollywood Reporter)

 

Endemol CEO Ynon Kreiz will deliver the keynote address at this year’s MIPTV market, pronouncing the forthcoming year to be “the most challenging year our sector has faced in over a decade.” Kreiz, who took over as head of the private equity-backed producer of such shows as “Big Brother” and “Deal or No Deal” in June this year, will tell execs at the global content market that runs March 30 through April 3 that content creators will need to take “bold and innovative” steps in order to ride the downturn. “MIPTV is a pivotal event in the TV industry calendar and 2009 is set to be the most challenging year our sector has faced in over a decade,” said Kreiz. His senior team — including incoming chief operating officer and former head of Disney’s European distribution and channels business Tom Toumazis — gets its feet under the table from Jan. 1 next year. Reed Midem’s director of television Paul Johnson said the keynote would be one of the market’s highlights. “Ynon is steering Endemol on a new path,” said Johnson. “Undoubtedly, Endemol’s keynote will be one of the highlights of our MIPTV conference program next year,” he said. (Hollywood Reporter)

 

 

TODAY’S IMPOSSIBLE QUESTION . . . (Mike Butts Creative)

 

Q.  32% of people have lied to get out of THIS. Get out of what?

            A.  Going to a wedding

 

 

TODAY’S QUOTE (By Johann Wolfgang Von Geothe)

 

“DREAM NO SMALL DREAMS FOR THEY HAVE NO POWER TO MOVE THE HEARTS OF MEN.”

 

 

MIND BOGGLERS . . .  (QuickTrivia)

 

Q.  Born September 5, 1940, she starred in this movie: The Four Musketeers – 1075?

            A.  Dorothy Arzner

            B.  Mona Barrie

            C.  Raquel Welch  ****

            D.  Julie Andrews

 

Q.  What electrical appliance was featured on the Sgt. Pepper album cover?

            A.  An electric fan

            B.  A portable television  ****

            C.  A toaster oven

            D.  An old time radio

 

Q.  Which of the following is generally largest?

            A.  Ice cap

            B.  Ice sheet  ****

            C.  Cirque

            D.  Ice field

 

Q.  Jazz was born when slaves mixed Irish jigs and African dance. Later, Creole musicians added brass instruments to the mix. Where did this happen?

            A.  Chicago

            B.  St. Louis

            C.  Kansas City

            D.  New Orleans  ****

 

Q.  USA states:  What is the capital of Iowa?

            A.  Ames

            B.  Dubuque

            C.  Council Bluffs

            D.  Des Moines  ****

 

Q.  In which country might you sail the Rhone?

            A.  Germany

            B.  Poland

            C.  Austria

            D.  France  ****

 

 

TRAVEL TIPS . . . (Peter Greenberg Worldwide)

 

EXTREME SPECTATOR SPORTS:

 

If the thought of bungee jumping, skydiving, or running with the bulls makes you queasy, don’t worry. I’ll tell you where you can WATCH adrenaline junkies in action, which is sure to get your heart racing. Bloukrans Bungee near Cape Town, South Africa is the highest commercial bungee jumping spot in the world. You can enter for free and watch daredevils plummet from the observation deck. The running of the bulls in Pamplona is an extremely dangerous sport for participants, but you can watch this activity along railings, a safe distance from the bulls. And, a little closer to home, many skydiving facilities offer free viewing zones for those who want to watch safely from the ground. You can find skydiving spectator areas at Jumptown in Massachusetts, in Pennsylvania’s Above the Poconos Skydivers, and at Skydive Lake Elsinore in Southern California.

 

(Peter Greenberg is North America’s preeminent expert on Travel. An Emmy Award-Winning writer and producer, Peter is the Travel Editor for NBC’S “TODAY SHOW,” MSNBC and CNBC. A Best-Selling author of the “Travel Detective” series and host of the nationally syndicated “Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio Show.” Visit WWW.PETERGREENBERGWORLDWIDE.COM to learn more about Peter Greenberg and his adventures.)

 

 

MIKE BUTTS CREATIVE . . .

 

MY DOG HATES ROSCOE: JL

 

THERE IS A FRENCH POODLE ON MY STREET NAMED ROSCOE—SWEET DOG—OWNER IS A NICE LADY. MY “BOY-BUDDY, A LAB, LOVES HIM”! THE DOG WE ADOPTED RECENTLY, NIKKI ABSOLUTELY HATES HIM AND ACTS LIKE SHE WANTS TO GET AT HIM IF

I’D LET HER. IT’S A SHAME BECAUSE HE IS SUCH A NICE DOG—HE DOESN’T DESERVE HER CARRYING ON. ALTHOUGH—IT COULD JUST MEAN THAT SHE’S AN AMERICAN DOG~~ WHO JUST DOESN’T LIKE THE “FRENCH”..YA GOTTA RESPECT THAT!!

 

 

2,700 YEAR OLD “STASH”: J

 

SOME RESEARCHERS SAY THAT THE OLDEST MARIJUANA STASH IN THE WORLD WAS RECENTLY DISCOVERED IN CHINA. GET

THIS THEY SAY IT’S 2,700 YEARS OLD!  WHY DO I THINK THIS WOULD BE A GOOD STORY FOR ANOTHER “CHEECH AND CHONG

MOVIE”?  Hey man—lets see if we can go hang out with the little chi-coms mannn!

 

 

MY THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: J

 

THEY ALL LAUGHED AT NOAH—UNTIL IT STARTED TO RAIN!! J

 

 

BIRTHDAYS . . .

 

—1848  American author Joel Chandler Harris (creator of “Uncle Remus” stories) (d. 7-3-1908)

—1886  Industrialist Clarence Birdseye (d. 10-7-1956)

—1898  Actor Emmett Kelly (d. 3-28-1979)

—1909  Actor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (The Prisoner of Zenda) (d. 5-7-00)

—1912  Former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill (d. 1-5-1994)

—1916  Actor Kirk Douglas (Tough Guys)

—1922  Actor Redd Foxx (Sanford & Son) (d. 10-11-1991)

—1925  Actress Dina Merrill (Operation Petticoat)

—1928  Actor Dick Van Patten (Eight is Enough)

—1932  Blues Musician Junior Wells (d. 1-15-1998)

—1933  Talk Host Morton Downey

¾1934  Actress Judy Dench (Shakespeare In Love)

—1941  Actor Beau Bridges (Fabulous Baker Boys)

—1942  Actor/Football’s Dick Butkus (Rich Man, Poor Man)

—1943  Musician Rick Danko (The Band) (d. 12-10-1999)

¾1944 – Shirley Brickley – vocalist for The Orlons (“Don’t Hang Up”)

—1945  Actor Michael Nouri (Flashdance)

—1948  Bassist Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper)

—1950  Musician Joan Armatrading

—1953  Actor John Malkovich (Dangerous Liaisons)

—1955  Basketball’s Otis Birdsong

—1957  Entertainer/Singer Donny Osmond (“Puppy Love”)

¾1961  Actor Joe Lando (Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman)

¾1962  Actress Felicity Huffman (“Lynette” Desperate Housewives)

¾1968  Guitarist Brian Bell (Weezer)

—1969  Actress Alison Smith (Kate & Allie)

¾1969  Singer Jakob Dylan

¾1978  Actor Jesse Metcalfe (Desperate Housewives)

 

 

THIS DAY IN HISTORY . . .

 

¾1775  The first post office in Canada opened, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

¾1792  The first formal cremation took place in Charleston, SC.

—1793  The American Minerva, first daily newspaper in NYC, began publication.

—1842  The first known Christmas card was made in England by John Horsley. It depicted three generations of a family sitting around the dinner table enjoying a feast, with their glasses raised as  a toast to the recipient of the card

—1884  Levant Richardson of Chicago was granted a patent for his invention -roller skates.

—1950  “Frosty the Snowman” by Gene Autry peaked at #7.

—1967  Police mace the Doors’ Jim Morrison after he verbally abuses one of New Haven’s finest. Onstage that night, Morrison berates the cops, who drag him away and arrest him for disturbing the peace and resisting arrest.

—1969  Charles Manson is arrested for the murder of actress Sharon Tate.

—1972  “I Am Woman” by Helen Reddy reaches #1.

—1978  The Blues Brothers release their version of the Sam & Dave classic “Soul Man.”

—1984  The Jacksons’ much troubled “Victory” tour comes to a rainy end at Dodger Stadium. Michael Jackson announces it’s his last tour with his brothers.

—1986  Elton John collapses onstage in Sydney, Australia, but returns a few minutes later to finish his show with the symphony orchestra. Excerpts from this show are released as a live album.

—1986  Luther Vandross enters a no contest plea to charges of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter during his trial in Los Angeles.

—1992  The separation of Prince Charles and Princess Diana of England was officially announced.

—1995  The Beatles’ “Anthology, Vol 1″ debut at #1.

 

 

RADIO ONLINE® DAILY SHOW PREP™ . . .

 

ON THIS DAY

The French government established the very first pawn shop on this date in 1777. As soon as they opened their doors, a customer walked in with a pig, marking the first “ham hock.”

In 1792, the very first formal cremation of a human being took place in the U.S. I don’t know: I just can’t see going through life, then winding it up by making a big ash out of myself.

On this date in 1884, roller skates with ball bearings were patented. They were much smoother than roller skates with rocks in them.

In 1979, the heaviest turkey on record weighed in at 77.25 pounds. His nickname was “Leftovers.”

TODAY IS

Donny Osmond turns 51 today… I believe that’s a year for every cousin.

Reiko Aylesworth turns 36 today. She was best known as Michelle on “24″ before starting up her car. Then it was her all over. It’s a day for “Desperate” birthdays: Felicity Huffman turns 46 and Jesse Metcalfe (the former gardener Gabrielle was sleeping with) turns the big 3-0.

Golfer Tom Kite is shooting a 59 today.

Homemade Gift Day — We all know that gift giving and receiving can be extremely stressful. And most importantly, many people have forgotten what Christmas is all about. That’s why we are exchanging gifts that are homemade. None of us know how to make anything! Do normal people actually make Christmas presents? Phoner: would you rather have a gift that someone made for you instead of something that you really really want?

National Pastry Day — Send stunt boy out to a high traffic area and have him hold in his hand a pastry (Danish you pick it). Then you pay $XX for every person that he gets to take a bit of that pastry within 30 seconds.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

·         ‘Tis the season: Brad and Angelina have made a $100,000 donation to a children’s charity.

·         Britney Spears’ first husband, Jason Alexander, has been sent to jail for violating his probation. That was her 55-hour Las Vegas marriage.

·         Madonna won a judgment Monday against a British tabloid that she accused of breaching her privacy and copyright by publishing pictures of her 2000 wedding.

·         Eli Stone’s Jonny Lee Miller and his wife, actress Michele Hicks, have brought their first child into the world, a son: Buster Timothy Miller.

·         Forrest Ackerman has died at age 92. An actor, agent and magazine editor, he was credited with discovering Ray Bradbury and coining the phrase, “sci-fi.”

·         The Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift and Lionel Richie will ring in 2009 from Times Square on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.”

·         To fan the Oscar hype, “The Dark Knight” will return to theaters on January 23rd. Yes, it comes out on video today.

·         John Malkovich and Hugh Laurie are both going to host “Saturday Night Live” this season. By the way, Amy Poehler returned to SNL over the weekend, for a quick appearance as Hillary.

·         In Oregon last Saturday, Scott Napper took his girlfriend out to a local spot on the beach, “Engagement Rock”… but before he could pop the question, a wave crashed on shore and swept her way. She hasn’t been seen since.

·         John Rich of Big & Rich fame, married his girlfriend Joan Bush on Saturday.

·         An original hand-written outline for Martin Luther King Jr.’s first speech condemning the Vietnam War, owned by his friend Harry Belafonte, is going on the auction block on Thursday.

·         Shania Twain arrived in New York to do some Christmas shopping, along with several friends from Switzerland… including the ex-husband of the woman who broke up her marriage to Mutt Lange.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Cosmopolitan says look for these clues the next time you think your guy may be trying to pull a fast one:

·         Shrugging his shoulders is a sign of uncertainty. So if he does so while talking definitively, be suspicious.

·         If he nods his head yes while verbally denying or vice versa, believe his body, not his words.

·         Placing a barrier between you and his mouth means he may not want you to listen too closely.

Men who want their wives to be more amorous in the bedroom at night should learn how to do the dishes and run the vacuum cleaner. That’s the word from the Council on Contemporary Families, which concludes that American men still don’t do their full, equal share of housework and child care, even though their contributions to housework have doubled in the past 40 years.

Meanwhile, plump women are getting more nooky than skinnier gals, reveals eye opening new research. The study seems to contradict widely held stereotypes that overweight and obese women are not as sexually active as other women. The researchers from Oregon and Hawaii concluded that the opposite seems to be true. “I was glad to see the stereotype that you have to be slender to have sex is just that, a stereotype,” says Oregon State University professor Marie Harvrey. 92% of overweight women reported having a history of sex with a man, as opposed to 87% of women with a normal body mass index. (National Examiner)

McGill University reports new research has exploded the myth that women have a higher pain threshold than men. In fact, gals are less tolerant of pain than guys. The finding is important because doctors have traditionally not paid sufficient attention to women patients who complain of pain, and often don’t give them adequate doses of medication to deal with the problem. Redheaded women are more pain sensitive than blondes or brunettes because a mutation in a pain receptor gene also produces red hair and fair skin. If you’re a woman facing surgery especially if you’re a redhead, make sure all the doctors involved in your case are aware of this new data and take it into account when determining the amount of anesthetic and post operative pain medication you’re given. (Sun)

PHONE TOPICS

·         What’s your favorite Christmas cookie?

·         Which Christmas song do you know ALL the words to?

·         What do you leave for Santa Claus? Cookies? Something else?

·         Which Christmas special can you not stand?

·         What’s the longest it’s taken you to get home from work after a storm hit?

·         How many shoes does a person really need?

·         What lie has caused you the most trouble?

·         Which is worse, arguing with your mate or arguing with your boss?

·         If you could put one driving tip on those written drivers tests what would it be?

·         What’s the hardest thing that you had to get used to about your in-laws? Anyone have their in-laws living in their home?!

·         What is the weirdest excuse you used when late for work?

·         Honestly (and anonymously), did you get married for true love or for some other reason? Money? Just wanted to be married to someone?

·         Weird smells that you enjoy?

·         Have you ever had dieting success… long-term?

·         Annual Christmas letters: good idea or annoying?

Do you have the patience to put together Christmas toys? Being a guy, I’d say no. I think us men are more impatient than most women. And from what I hear, there’s new info to prove it. Woman are more skilled than men at assembling Ikea’s flatpack furniture, according to Ikea. Why? They say that woman usually sort the parts in an orderly way first. Men throw them in a pile and then something goes missing.

What’s the dumbest joke you’ve ever heard? Ron Mlodzik won a Reader’s Digest joke telling contest, earning him $3,000. The joke: “A guy is walking down a dark street, when he hears something behind him. He looks behind him and sees a casket, and it’s going, dum … dum … dum … dum … ‘ and it’s followin’ him. So he gets frightened and goes faster, and the casket goes faster ” ‘dum, dum, dum, dum, dum … ‘ So he starts to trot and runs into his apartment building and the casket crashes through the door and comes at him faster, up the stairs… ‘dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum!’ He slams the door, and it crashes through his apartment door, so he runs into his bathroom and he slams the door and he hears, ‘dum … dum … dum … dum … ‘ and he knows it’s going to crash through the door … then it crashes through the door, and he grabs the only thing he can. He grabs a bottle of cough syrup and he throws it at the casket … and it stops the coffin!”

Do you think that parents should pay for their kids crimes? Do you think a mom should do time for her kid being a no-show? A Gainesville, Florida mother has been arrested after her daughter missed too many days of school. Allegedly her ninth-grade daughter had 59 unexcused absences. Florida requires attendance after 15 unexcused absences.

Our producer is worried about losing his job with the bad economy so we tried to come up with a dream job for him, just in case. We took calls on which profession would be your ultimate dream job. One of our listeners called in to say that Oscar Meyer is accepting resumes til the end of January. Yes, I guess it’s a real job. Apparently, the gig comes with a “competitive” salary, expenses, benefits, and clothing. They send you to Hot Dog High in lovely Madison, Wis., for training on Oscar Meyer’s products, how to run your own PR operation, and, most importantly, how to drive the Wienermobile.

Guy car or chick car? Okay, so it was a slow day! But an easy phoner none the less. Good calls from the big SUV lovers and haters. We decided that the Jetta, Miata and the old Gremlin were all chick cars. Callers chose the Hummer as the ultimate guy car (for obvious reasons). Guess size does matter.

Want a healthier home? Here are five tricks to a happier home:

·         Color your way to happiness – Adding color to any room is a drastic mood lifter, and it can be done pretty quickly! Consider painting just one wall a lively color. A bright red, a soothing green or even a vibrant yellow completely changes the feel, and will really affect the vibe of a room.

·         Celebrate life – First of all, think Flower Power! Fresh flowers are very easy to get at your local grocery market, and they make any room seem more alive. Plants have the same positive effect.

·         Let there be light – The more points of light in any room, the better. Especially as the days are getting shorter, having warm lighting will help you feel more energized and alive through the winter months. Overhead lighting can be augmented by lamps in several places throughout a room.

·         Get comfortable – You begin and end almost every day in your bedroom, so make the room an oasis! Have proper bedding and pillows. You will feel well rested, and it will be easier to get up in the morning.

·         Take control – It’s this simple: Clear space = A clear mind. Keep desktops, countertops and tabletops open. Put the papers, files and knickknacks away. Not only will your home feel cleaner, it will feel a whole lot bigger!

Phoner: What other ways do you create a happier and healthier home?

Typed in funny business names on the web and up popped a good phoner. Best was Dyno-Mite Hooker Towing Service. And another caller let us in on a place called the Soak & Poke (a spa and massage parlor). It’s a good way to find out about quirky local places.

A good man/woman topic is asking which one ladies would pick if they had to choose between the following: a guy who hovered over her always underfoot and afraid of ever doing something that might displease her, or a free spirit kind of guy who loves you but never calls, parties too much, etc. The surprising part for us was that since they had to choose one or the other, most women actually admitted the free spirit guy would drive them less crazy than the doting guy.

What guys do that annoy the women in their lives. The ladies really wanted to weigh in on this one. They got pretty worked up, too. Of course, there are the standard things like leaving clothes on the floor and not putting a new roll of toilet paper on, but the best calls are the ones from left field. When you get those, throw some gas on the fire, baby! We had a woman whose man always leaves the wash cloth on the bar of soap in the shower. Apparently this has been driving her buggy for 7 years now because it makes the soap “gushy.” You could suggest, perhaps, switching to liquid soap but it’s a lot more entertaining to get her all worked up and perhaps divorced over “gushy” soap bars. Of course, the obligatory follow-up topic is the annoying stuff women do.

Here’s a good topic. We started talking about who has it better “couples” or “single” people. Start this by suggesting your own observations by using people on your show. Especially, if you have a combo of married and single people on the show.

Out: Scales. In: Online calculators. Dieters search the Web are getting the skinny on the state of their size and health. Phoner: Have you ever tried to use an online dieters support group? Can you recommend one?

A warm coat is the most-utilized piece in a woman’s winter wardrobe, and with cold weather quickly approaching, there’s little time to sugarcoat the need for every woman to find a cover-up that is both figure-flattering and fashionable. This guide to picking the right winter coat for your body type will help you bundle up beautifully, regardless of your size or shape.

·         If You’re Bottom Heavy: When you have an ample rear, the wrong fit can make your coat appear to be too small, even if it’s the right size for your body. Also, trenches, and coats that are double-breasted work well with wider hips.

·         If You’re An Apple: A woman’s stomach can easily appear larger and wider in an inappropriate coat style. Luckily, swing coats, are not only stylish this season but are also very flattering to the apple-shaped figure. Coat Styles to Shun: Belted coats are not flattering (or comfortable) on apple-shaped women, nor are extremely fitted coats.

·         If You’re Extremely Busty: Well-endowed women often struggle to find stylish coats that fit across the bust line without adding inches elsewhere. To keep your chest under wraps without sacrificing style, opt for single-breasted coats with a tailored look.

·         If You’re Extremely Thin: Being too skinny often creates chaos when looking for a well-fitting coat that doesn’t swamp its wearer. Never fear, a well placed belt on a coat or jacket can create curves.

·         If You’re Short: Being petite can leave you swimming inside of the wrong coat style, so it is very important that you invest in a fitted winter coat so the cut of your coat does not overwhelm your small frame.

·         If You’re Plus-Sized: Larger women need to make sure their coats accentuate (not add to!) their curves. Less bulky (but still warm) fabrics in solid colors are a huge plus for fuller figures. Also, try drawing attention to your face with a v-neck coat in a classic pattern.

This was an interesting study result. One third of women who meet someone online have sex on the first date. In general, women were “holding out more” and that the “12 date rule” was becoming popular, but when talking to someone online over a period of time, it was easy to be lulled into a false sense of security. Phoner: What’s your rule about “romance” while dating? Is it different meeting someone online vs. in public?

A local guy celebrated his 100th birthday today so we also took calls on “Who is (or was) your oldest relative?” People love to brag about that, but it gets old pretty quick (excuse the pun) unless you get them to share stories about that person. It’s great fun to hear what a wild woman someone’s great grandmother was in her younger years.

What’s the worst look you’ve ever had? My female co-host was talking about her bad 80’s hair, and led me to talk about my 70’s leisure suit? Get the audience involved with their worst looks.

Phoner: Ever confront someone because of their lack of “Gym Etiquette”? Could have been grunting, not wiping down machines, staying on the treadmill way after their scheduled time was up?

Phoner: Anyone listening, and this is a test of trust – you can remain anonymous, that couldn’t agree to ALL of these terms with their ex… or in their current relationship with their kids in their custody?

THIS OR THAT

Two choices: you gotta pick one and tell us why!

·         Mistletoe or Holly

·         Real tree or Artificial tree

·         Write something in each Christmas card or Just sign ‘em

·         Eggnog or Roasted Chestnuts

·         Christmas Wreath or Poinsettia

·         Reindeer or Turtle Doves

·         The Grinch or Scrooge

·         “I’ll be home for Christmas” or “White Christmas”

·         Going out to the woods to cut your tree or A Christmas tree lot

·         “Christmas Vacation” or “Scrooged”

FRONT ROW GARAGE DOOR CONTEST

Here’s a good bit for giving away front row tickets. Ask listeners to paint their garage doors. The painting must include the recording artist and your logo. One guy actually tried to fool us with a computer generated entry.

STUNT BOY DAY TRIP

This sounds really corny, but it is an awesome bit. Figure out how far $20 will get you on a bus. Then make it a road trip with listeners. Guaranteed it will be some little hole-in-the-wall town that you will converge on. Makes for a very fun day with the listeners.

THE TOP FIVE COMPLAINTS OF MRS. CLAUS

1.      You think YOU always have toys left laying around

2.      “Red is really just not my color”

3.      He only leaves the house once a year

4.      He shakes like a bowl full of jelly during everything… am I clear?

5.      Keeps tripping over elves

HUNTER’S HUMOR by Tim Hunter

The price of gas is at its lowest level in five years. The first person who says the phrase, ‘those poor oil companies’ will be asked to leave.

President-elect Barack Obama says that “it’s going to get worse before it gets better.” He was either talking about the U.S. economy or the crowds at the mall, one of the two…

Bill Clinton says he is open to a role in the Obama administration. I heard he was interested in any position, which is pretty much the common wisdom.

Christmas is just two weeks from Thursday. I’m not hitting the panic button yet… I’m just making sure all the papers are out of the way so that I can get to it when I’m ready.

Tough times at NBC. They laid off 500 folks last week. You can notice a more edgier feel around the network these days. For example, the new slogan for one show is “Screw the cheerleader, it’s every hero for themselves!”

Around the network, everyone’s saying NBC stands for “No Bonus Coming.”

FILL IN THE BLANK

·         A Nobel Prize winner says that if we had ____________ back in the days of Adolph Hitler, he could have been stopped. (The Internet)

·         Disneyland has fired the four actors who played _____________ because of concerns that females would flash them at night” (Jack Sparrow)

·         A British Cookbook author is suggesting that due to economic times, you might consider having ____________ instead of turkey for Christmas.

CONVENIENCE STORE TOUR

Send your street person on a convenience store across (your town). They must go to every convenience store in town no matter how long it takes. Give them something to leave at each store that promotes the show.

LOVE STORY

(This is a long bit, but got good response.) Ever sink deep into your seat in a darkened movie theater as you realize the love story projected on the big screen is your own? It’s not uncommon, according to Marcia Millman, author of the book, “The Seven Stories of Love: And How To Choose Your Own Happy Ending.” By recognizing these seven basic love stories that are reenacted over and over in films, fiction and life, Millman says, we can connect with the motives and early experiences that unconsciously drive our choices and behavior in relationships.

·         First Love — “Titanic” and “Dirty Dancing.” This is a powerful plotline for youth when finding romance has much to do with “breaking away from our parents and finding our own identity,” says Millman. Later in life, as in “The Way We Were,” some people long for their first love to recapture their youth or when something’s missing in their current relationship.

·         Pygmalion — “My Fair Lady,” “Educating Rita” and “Working Girl.” The mentor-and-protégé plot revolves around the older partner’s need for admiration and control and the younger one’s desire to grow. This story line often triggers emotions in women who lost their fathers at an early age.

·         The Downstairs Woman and the Upstairs Man — “Pretty Woman” and “You’ve Got Mail.” One of the most popular stories usually involves a bright, ambitious woman from a poor and unconnected background who falls in love with a powerful and wealthy man out of her reach. “Her aim is to win the love of a powerful man to make up for the father who never paid attention to her or rejected her,” says Millman.

·         Sacrifice — “Casablanca,” “The Bridges of Madison County” and “The End of the Affair.” This is when people sacrifice once-in-a-lifetime happiness for a higher moral purpose or principle – not hurting someone else, a higher calling. “What these people are often most afraid of is passion,” says Millman.

·         Rescue — “Beauty and the Beast,” “Run Lola Run” and “What Dreams May Come.” Common for both men and women, it’s the tale of falling in love with someone who’s been wounded in the past, and unconsciously seeking to rescue oneself by saving the lover.

·         Postponement and Avoidance — “An Affair To Remember,” “Sleepless in Seattle” and “Forever Young.” Perhaps the all-time favorite, it’s about having the faith that love will survive every obstacle. Such stories are about “someone who has been inhibited or afraid and finally takes a chance on love and it works out well,” Millman says.

NEWS CLUES

Had some concert tickets to give away, so we added a new contest that we used to hold people through the new that might otherwise button push. We called it “News Clues.” All we did was ask the caller a question about a story our news anchor did during the newscast. Get it right, win the tickets. Used a cheesy news bed (not our regular sounder), and had some fun with it.

BIG NAME GAME

We asked listeners to get a celebrity to call the show for a cash prize. We’ll also match the cash and donate it to the biggest celeb’s charity. We did this last year, and it was a huge success.

YOU KEEP ME HANGIN’ ON

Women who want to hang on to their guys had better forget about keeping the house tidy or whipping up yummy dinners. The key to keeping a man coming back for more is to keep yourself looking good, says a top European fashion model. No man wants to come home to a gal if they look like the maid. Here are some tips to keep a man from straying:

·         Flattery is the best policy. Make a fuss over your guy picking out his good points and praising them. Even if your man’s a fat blimp, he has to have some attractive feature. “It might be his hair, his smile or his eyes. Tell him he looks great.”

·         Never chew your nails. Guys may not mention your nails, but they notice them. And the one thing no man likes is a hand with chewed-up fingernails.

·         Be careful how you talk. Guys like sweethearts who look like ladies and act like ladies. You might think you’re cool letting out a curse word or two, but your man will think you’ve got no class.

·         Makeup is fine, but the late Tammy Faye Bakker look is a no-no. Men want to see the real you.

·         If you’re single, don’t start giving your guy “baby talk.” Telling him how much you like kids and how you’d love to have a family of your own is likely to give your man roaming feet. Trapping a man into marriage or a fulltime relationship is fine, but making him feel trapped by talking about kids and family is bound to make him start looking around for a less demanding lover.

·         Never tell your man about your past conquests. No guy wants to be part of a long list, especially when it concerns his sweetie. He wants you to look good to other guys, but he doesn’t want to know that he’s the last in a long line to hold your hand.

·         Be sexy, but don’t be a tramp. Showing him all the goodies all the time leaves nothing to the imagination — and a definite no.

·         Keep him laughing. A good sense of humor is more attractive than a thigh-high slit in a skirt or really tight pants.

·         Being funny will relax him, and make him want to be around you. And don’t forget to laugh at his jokes, too.

·         Don’t be obvious — even with your special guy. No man likes a woman who over-flirts in public. It makes you look cheap and desperate. You can make your guy know you’re interested by giving him quick, meaningful looks and standing or sitting close enough to him that your arms or knees touch. But throwing your arms around your guy and hanging on or pinching his behind are out.

WHAT’S IN THEIR DESK?

Play “Guess What’s In (Co-host)’s Desk.” Have your stunt boy/girl go through your sidekick/partner’s desk and make a list of all things good and evil. Next morning go big with it on the air. We home-brewed our own jingle for the game and contestants had to guess different products and categories. Bonus points are given if the player can correctly identify the name brand of the said product.

HAIR OF THE DOG

How about getting a dog groomer and some guys with long hair in public. The bit is that the groomer makes each look as much like a poodle as he can. Listeners drive by and vote on best poodle. Guy wins concert tickets or something but must go to event with poodle deal.

BATTLE OF THE SEXES

For Men:

·         What was the address of Big Bird’s nest on Sesame Street? 123, 124, or 123 and a half ***.

·         Which of the TV’s Golden Girls was the oldest? Beatrice Arthur (Dorothy), Betty White (Rose) ***, Rue McClanahan (Blanche), or Estelle Getty (Sophia).

·         How wide is the balance beam used in the Olympics gymnastic competition? 1 inch, 4 inches *** , or 6 inches.

·         On the TV show, “Three’s Company” what was the full name of Chrissy played by Suzanne Somers? Christmas Snow *** , Christine Somers, or Christmas Show.

For Women:

·         Athlete Plaxico Burress, was suspended and faces a possible end to his career for a gun incident at New York City nightclub. What sport does he play? Football ***, Baseball or Hockey.

·         The “Superman Seat Grab,” is used in what sport? Nascar, Freestyle Motocross ***, or Bowling.

·         What ex-football player is now being featured on TV ads pitching Nutrisystem? Reggie White, Dan Marino ***, or Dan Akroyd.

·         Who makes the Escalade? Dodge, Cadillac ***, or Volvo.

GORSEFEATHERS by Patrick Gorse

According to the November issue of Behavioral Brain Research, a short, afternoon nap at work is better than a cup of strong coffee for making you more alert. Of course, if you take a nap at work, you’ll probably end up being doused by your boss with a strong cup of coffee.

A cruise ship carrying 122 people was stranded Thursday after hitting ice off the coast of Antarctica. At first the passengers were amused by a group of precocious penguins who rushed towards the vessel—Turned out to be pirates dressed in tuxedos.

President Bush says that history will judge him to be a very good president. Apparently, in the future, history will be judged by juries from Southern California.

Former socialite Sunny von Bulow has died after being in a coma for 28 years. Ms. Von Bulow was nicknamed Choo-Choo as a child, because she was born in a Pullman car, then later called Sunny, because of her disposition. What will they call her now? Six-Feet von Below?

The news shows are still talking about that Wal-Mart worker who was hired just for the holidays and ended up being trampled to death. Isn’t that unbelievable? Not that he got trampled–that anybody is hiring for the holidays.

Asked by Ellen DeGeneres how to get George Clooney on her show, Brad Pitt suggested she should hire some strippers from Chippendales. After realizing what he said, Brad corrected himself, saying, “I thought you said Boy George Clooney.”

Just after the terrorist bombings in Mumbai, the Government of Pakistan received a hoax telephone call on a secured line from a party claiming to be the foreign minister of India that threatened a harsh, even nuclear military response. It turned out they’d been Punk’d by the infamous Calcutta Morning-After-Zoo radio team of Hindude and Ali-Baba-Booey.

Two hundred St. Louis and Kansas City-area residents found themselves $100 richer this weekend when Secret Santa’s passed out 20,000 in crisp 100 dollar bills. Asked what it felt like to get free money as a Christmas present, the residents said, “Oh, it’s a Christmas present? We thought it was just because the Democrats are back in power.”

Barack Obama said on “Meet the Press” Sunday morning, that developing the nation’s infrastructure was a key to stimulating the economy, and that America’s governors have worthy projects that are “shovel ready.” Usually the term “shovel ready,” only apples to programs in the NBC prime-time line-up.

Reports say that the New York Giants are working privately to unload troubled wide receiver Plaxico Burress. Sad — if they’d only ‘unloaded’ him a week ago… they wouldn’t have to trade him now.

Some NFL analysts believe Tampa Bay may get Plaxico Burress at a bargain-rate-discount. Talk about getting a lot of bang for your “Buc.”

Doctors say that Plaxico Burress was lucky in that dance club because the bullet that lodged in Plaxico’s thigh narrowly missed his crotch. Coincidentally, you know what was playing when the gun fired? The Sex Pistols.

Urging swift and sweeping action to fix the nation’s economy, on “Meet the Press” Sunday, President-elect Barack Obama compared the subprime mortgage crisis to a fire in your neighbor’s house. Obama said that whether the fire was caused by “smoking in the bedroom, or leaving the stove on” in the kitchen, you’re incentive is to put out the fire before it spreads to your house. Of course, Amy Winehouse said, “But what if the fire was caused by meth you cooked in the kitchen and smoked in the bedroom?”

So Barack Obama says you have to put out your neighbor’s house fire whether it was caused by “smoking in the bedroom, or leaving the stove on” in the kitchen. Well — with one exception. If it was caused by a burning cross that went off prematurely — you’re on your own.

Tom Brokaw reminded Barack Obama Sunday morning that “the White House is a no smoking zone,” and Obama replied that “you will not see any violations of these rules.” That rules out the kitchen, but not the bedroom or the bathroom.

Before picking Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State designate, Barack Obama had a difficult choice between Hillary and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. Senator Clinton won out because she advocated Obama’s “carrots and sticks” style diplomacy, while Richardson wanted hot carrots with a side of churros.

On Sunday morning, Tom Brokaw retired as the “Meet the Press” host, and introduced David Gregory as the new permanent moderator. Tom was extremely graceful, telling David, “I hand this assignment off to you.” Up in Heaven, Tim Russert said, “Lord, I now understand why you took me so soon. You can’t trust a Buffalo Bill to make a decent handoff.”

So David Gregory will now host “Meet the Press.” The world’s number one Buffalo Bills fan, Tim Russert, would be proud to see that his old job went to a guy with Jack Kemp’s haircut.

Adam Goldstein, who’s better known as DJ AM, survived a fiery plane crash in September and is now back spinning records in hip-hop clubs. With guns going off in nightclubs, that’s not too safe either. He might as well have Ted Kennedy drive him home from the club.

YOUR FAVORITE DESSERT REVEALS YOUR PERSONALITY

Whether it’s dark chocolate mousse or melt in your mouth cheesecake, your favorite dessert speaks volumes about your personality. “Pleasant tastes release feel good chemicals in the brain,” says psychologist Truman Shorts. “These pleasurable sensations, in turn, attract distinctively different personalities.”

·         Ice cream — You’re a creative genius who’s always full of new ideas, and you can handle several projects simultaneously. You’re also outgoing, infinitely curious, and your genuine interest in others draws people to you in swarms. But for all your grownup abilities, just like your enthusiasm for yummy ice cream, you embrace life with the infectious enthusiasm of a child, seeing only the good in everyone.

·         Fruit — You’re a positive thinker who sees the silver lining in the gray cloud, while using all your talents to ambitiously forge ahead in your career. Nibbling fruit perfectly fits your temperament, since natural sugars don’t produce dramatic highs or lows that alter brain chemistry. Your consistency of mood makes you a dependable person who rarely stays down for long and can be counted on to stand firm in a crisis.

·         Chocolate — Your natural courage is boosted by eating chocolate, which triggers the urge to take risks. You’re always at the center of the action, going for the solution that requires passionate commitment. People find your ebullient disposition and clever wit so charming that they easily fall under your spell and allow you to take the lead in most situations. You make an excellent boss.

·         Pecan pie or carrot cake — You always tell the truth, but with a diplomatic flair that rarely ruffles any feathers. You’re also intensely loyal to family and friends, and, like your favorite dessert, you are deeply connected to traditional values. Smart as a whip and flexible enough to resolve conflicts without losing your cool, you impress people with a mixture of idealism and sophistication that makes you a standout.

·         Cheesecake — Your intuitive nature makes you aware of brewing conflicts before anyone else notices the danger signs. Just as cheesecake requires sensitive taste buds to appreciate its subtle flavor, your emotional savvy is a welcome ability in tense situations. You also possess an unerring sense of fairness, bringing harmony to any situation. Your calming influence is indispensable to your family.

COSMO’S LAME GUY EXCUSES YOU SHOULD NEVER FALL FOR

·         “I swear that wasn’t a fart. It’s just the way this damn leather chair sounds whenever I sit down.”

·         “I was looking at her because I was thinking how much prettier you are.”

·         “It was terrible. The aliens, they… they said they wanted to observe human males at leisure and made me stay out until four a.m. drinking with the guys.”

·         “I’d love to help out, but I can’t… I once killed a man in a laundry accident.”

·         “But don’t you see? My underpants and sweaty socks are protecting the floor from scratches.”

·         “About tonight… I was going to take you someplace nice, but I thought you’d dig the low-key vibe of Dunkin’ Donuts.”

·         “I know this sounds crazy, but I’m allergic to your third cousin. I guess I have to skip her co-ed wedding shower.”

·         “Oh, but that was just my ex calling to say how glad she is that I’ve found someone who makes me so happy.”

TICKET TO RIDE

Mel Leiding, an attorney from Anaheim, CA, and author of “How to Fight Your Traffic Ticket and Win,” says he would rather be mugged than get a traffic ticket. Why? Getting mugged is faster, cheaper and has no long-term repercussions, such as increased insurance premiums, loss of a license or being forced to attend traffic school. Here are the only two legitimate ways you might be able to wiggle out of it:

Ask for a warning. When you’re pulled over by a police officer for speeding, remain in your car. Never get out. When the officer comes to your car window, look contrite. Be very polite. Do apologize* profusely. And ask very nicely for a warning instead of a ticket. Never answer such questions as: “Do you know why I stopped you?” or “Do you know how fast you were going?” Say “I’m not sure,” instead of saying something that admits your guilt.

No matter what the facts are, plead “not guilty” and ask for a court date. Never pay the ticket by mail since that is the same as admitting guilt. Even if you think the evidence is solidly against you * after all, there is that radar gun the cop was using * don’t give up. There are many ways the police can make mistakes that will result in your ticket being dismissed.

How to avoid getting a speeding ticket in the first place:

1.      Know the speed limit. While you want to keep up with traffic around you, try to not exceed the speed limit by more than nine mph.

2.      Don’t drive in the left lane. Use it only for passing. More tickets are given to drivers who are in the left lane than other lanes.

3.      Realize that police officers with radar guns position themselves so you can’t see them until it’s too late, such as in parking lots or around a bend in the road.

4.      If you see a police officer giving someone else a ticket or driving on the opposite side of the highway, don’t assume you’re safe. The police could still be tracking you.

5.      Don’t call attention to yourself. Keep the bumper stickers and vehicle modifications to a minimum. Make sure your car isn’t loud.

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