SHOW PREP DECEMBER 5, 2008
HOLLYWOOD 411 . . .
Former Baywatch star Gena Lee Nolin and her husband, NHL hockey player Cale Hulse, have welcomed a girl, her rep tells PEOPLE exclusively. Stella Monroe Hulse was born Wednesday in Scottsdale, Ariz., and weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. “Mom and baby are both healthy and doing very well,” says Nolin’s rep, Jerry Shandrew. “The whole family is very excited to welcome baby Stella home”. This is the second child for the couple, who welcomed son Hudson in April 2006. Nolin also has an 11-year-old son, Spencer, from her first marriage to video producer Greg Fahlman, and Hulse has a daughter, Caia, 7, from a previous relationship. Nolin, 37, starred as Neely Capshaw on Baywatch and appeared on the TV series Sheena. She married Hulse in September, 2004, after they met on a blind date. “My children teach me to slow down and enjoy life,” Nolin told PEOPLE in 2006. “My children are the reason I laugh, smile and want to get up every morning.” (People)
Anne Heche may not have Men in Trees but she has babies coming out of the woodwork. The 39-year-old actress, fresh from a rather nasty custody battle, is expecting her first child with boyfriend James Tupper, 43, according to Heche’s rep, who told Us Weekly the couple “are thrilled.” Each was still married when they met in 2006 on the Vancouver set of ABC’s Men in Trees, which lasted two seasons. They debuted as a couple shortly after Heche filed for divorce from her hubby of more than five years, Coley Laffoon, in February 2007. Before finally settling their differences in June, the estranged exes traded barbs galore as they fought over custody of their now 6-year-old son, Homer, with Laffoon objecting to the boy spending too much time in Vancouver with mom and her new beau.
When asked last year whether she was open to having more children, Heche told Extra, “Gotta leave it open, ya know what I’m saying?” (Eonline)
What could be better than winning an Olympic gold medal? Becoming a mom, of course! Two-time beach volleyball champ Kerri Walsh is pregnant with her first child, she confirmed on The Billy Bush Show. “I’m chubby and I’m pregnant and it’s awesome!” the 30-year-old, who is 16 weeks along, said Wednesday morning. “We believe we conceived our last days in Beijing – so I think a day or two after we won gold medal.” Walsh married fellow beach volleyball player Casey Jennings in 2005, and the couple are waiting to find out the gender of their baby. “We have a feeling it’s a boy, but we’re going to find out the traditional way,” Walsh said. She’ll also be waiting a while to hit the beach again, she told Bush. “I’m used to living my life in a bikini and I’m definitely not bikini-ready. I think the chubbiness is all relative, but it’s for the very best cause in the whole world, and I’m proud of it.” (People)
Jamie Lynn Spears has undergone a secret fat-reducing cosmetic procedure, according to U.S. tabloid reports. Both Star magazine and the National Enquirer allege 17-year-old Spears has had her tummy trimmed by soy-based injections that dissolve fat. The Enquirer claims the former star of Zooey 101 underwent the procedure recently, at a clinic in Nevada; but Star claims Spears was actually treated in October 2007, shortly before she discovered she was pregnant with her daughter Maddie. A source tells Star, “Her mom, Lynne, approved the injections and went through tons of red tape to get the clinic to administer them to an underage patient. She had no idea she was pregnant.” Surgery experts claim the teenager put her unborn daughter’s health at risk, if the rumors are true. Dr. Gary Burton tells Star, “Any form of liposuction is dangerous and should not be performed on a pregnant woman. It poses serious health risks to the foetus.”
A representative for Spears has refused to comment on the reports. (Teen Hollywood)
It’s hard to be a working mom, even for Christina Aguilera. The 27-year-old pop star said she’s navigating the “balancing act” she expected when she took on parenthood with her husband, Jordan Bratman. “I wasn’t going to give up who I was before I had the baby,” Aguilera said on the red carpet outside the Nokia Theatre, where she performed Wednesday during the “Grammy Nominations Concert Live!” “It’s important to stay true to that as an example – also for my son to find out what his goals are, what he’s passionate about doing, so it’s sort of leading by example in that sense,” she said. “It’s a tough thing. I had a moment leaving him today to get ready for tonight of missing him, but every working mom goes through it. They know what it feels like.” Aguilera performed “I Loves You Porgy” from George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.” (Daily Record)
With so much of her life spent on stage, Céline Dion says she plans to mark next year’s finish to her lengthy concert tour by expanding her family – which currently is comprised of husband René Angélil and their 7-year-old son, René-Charles. “We’d love to extend the family,” the singer – who herself is the youngest of 14 children – told CBS Early Show host Julie Chen. Asked if she has a frozen embryo, Dion, whose son was conceived by in vitro fertilization after six years of trying, replied, “Yes, we do have a frozen embryo.” Only, one may not be enough. “I started to talk to René-Charles about it. He said ‘Can we have four and five?’ ” said Dion. “So if we’re blessed again, I will be very happy to come back and do another interview with you and talk about it. I will be the first one to be extremely happy.” (People)
On the same day Jennifer Aniston told EW she’s longing for motherhood, John Mayer’s biological clock seemed to be on his brain at an exclusive Grammy nomination concert. Before breaking into “Stop This Train,” John reflected on Thanksgiving with his family and how his dad is shorter every time he sees him. “You realize time doesn’t like you more than anyone else,” the 31-year-old said of the aging process. “Now we’re holding up people who used to hold us up when we were little babies.” After receiving a standing ovation, the formerly media-friendly rocker skipped the pressroom and party following his concert. Was he running off to meet Jen? The Jonas Brothers, on the other hand, stuck around to celebrate their very first nomination… The squeaky-clean band of brothers had a VIP table at the afterparty, where Nick and Kevin were texting up a storm as Joe ate pizza and fries. What keeps the boys grounded after their amazingly successful year? “I think our fans,” Kevin said backstage. “We remember where we were and where we are today. We still can’t believe we’re standing on this stage tonight.” The brothers have an unlikely fan in Kathy Griffin, whose comedy album was nominated for a Grammy as well. “I love the Jonas Brothers!” she said. “I am not ready to lose my virginity. I am looking for the right girl, just like them.” (Eonline)
Let’s get this out of the way: Jennifer Aniston is not pregnant. In fact, the constant baby buzz is “hysterical,” John Mayer’s leading lady tells Entertainment Weekly. “It’s almost going to take away the fun from actually being able to say one day, ‘I’m pregnant!’ ” the Marley & Me star continues. “Everyone will be like, ‘Yeah, right.’ It’s the boy who cried wolf. Stop stealing my thunder, motherf—ers!” (That’s some strong language from America’s Sweetheart!) And while she doesn’t have any announcements to make just yet, Aniston, 39, says she embraced playing a mother in the movie. ”I feel like that’s in my future and I’m on the verge of it in some way – or it’s something I long for,” she explains. “So it was great to sort of dip your toe in it.” Bringing Up Brad Aniston, the interviewer notes, is careful not to mention the men in her life – not Mayer, or Vince Vaughn, and definitely not ex-husband Brad Pitt. But some references are unavoidable. When asked about supporters wearing “Team Aniston” shirts, for example, Aniston admits, “”I can see how that would be flattering. But that divide-and-conquer thing is stupid. It’s just catty. I’m not catty.” And there’s the fact that Marley & Me (costarring Owen Wilson and a cuddly yellow Lab) opens on Chirstmas day, the same day as Pitt’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. “‘Oh, you had to go there!” she says, pretending to chastise the reporter. ”I want [Button] to do great. I’ve seen about an hour of it. It’s amazing. Amazing.” (People)
Supermodel Heidi Klum has said being naked in front of her family is “no big deal”. Heidi Klum has said she has no problems being naked in front in front of her family. “People are pretty open with their bodies in Germany and the children see you naked or in lingerie all the time so it’s not a big deal for us. We don’t hide inside a room somewhere and change – it’s all very out in the open,” the mother-of-three, and wife of Seal explained to Digital Spy before revealing how she keeps famous body trim. “You have to work out to be sexy. People always ask me how I stay in shape and how do I do it and what really makes me do it is because I have a hot man waiting at home for me. So I don’t want to be a slouch bag, I have to keep up appearances.” (Handbag)
Taylor Momsen may be heading on a new path. The “Gossip Girl” star, 15, who’s looking more like a rocker chick, was talking about her dreams of a music career at the opening party at the new Manhattan Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex on Mercer Street. Our spy said, “She looked just like a rocker and kept talking about her band” while Debbie Harry performed. Semi Precious Weapons frontman Justin Tranter, Olivia Palermo and Molly Sims were rocking out, as was guitar legend Les Paul, who gave the middle finger to photographers on the red carpet. (Page Six)
Paris Hilton wants to play Tinkerbell – not her pet Chihuahua, but the famed fairy from “Peter Pan.” A source tells us the celebutard is lobbying for the title role in Disney’s live-action version of “Tinkerbell,” in which the pixie finally gets a chance at life as a real girl. “Paris has worked on her acting chops lately and showed some comedy prowess in her YouTube spoof of running for president,” our insider said. “Disney suits saw it and think she may be developing some comedic-actress potential.” (Page Six)
Finally, Brad Pitt admits it isn’t easy being a father of six. “It wears you out. Are you kidding?” the 44-year-old actor said in an interview on Larry King Live on Wednesday. “I’m aging fast.” Still, he added, “It’s worth every second of it.” When King told him there’s nothing better than being a father, Pitt replied, “Not for me there’s not. No, not for me. I would agree with that.” Does Pitt want more kids? “I don’t know” he said. “I can’t find a reason why not — just yet.” (Incidentally, he said his children are “healthy, so we’re all happy. They are getting heavy.”) This year, he said they’re hoping to keep things multicultural with regards to the holidays. “We’re working on it. We’re still working on it,” he told King. “You know, we tried a little something last year, but the kids are so young, it just didn’t mean much, really. But we’re getting there. “You know, as they get older, they’ll start to understand more,” Pitt added. “Right now, it’s still presents, you know.” Asked why the public seems fascinated by the Jolie-Pitt clan, the actor said, “I’ve stopped thinking about it, really. I mean, I don’t know. “There are certainly people I’m interested in. It’s quite complimentary,” he said. “But, you know — and I think it is an interesting family. It’s not your usual family.” The star also opened up about his buzzed-about new drama The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which is already generating Oscar buzz. The film’s theme about aging “certainly makes me conscious of how much time do I have left,” Pitt told King. “Do I — you know, is this my day? Do I have 40 years left? What do I want to do in that time? How do I want to use it? And who do I want to spend it with? “And I don’t know,” he continued. “Me, man, it makes me — this film just makes me want to hug my kids and call my folks. And it’s really special. And I’m not a salesman. I find this one quite authentic and something really special.” (US Weekly)
Balthazar Getty says he stood of stood up for girlfriend Sienna Miller and his wife, Rosetta, when the media furore broke out over the summer. The Brothers and Sisters actor believes that both women were treated unfairly and regrets that he didn’t do something to stop it. “There comes a time when it just gets a little bit too hurtful. It takes two to tango, man. You can’t just point your finger at one person. Historically, women always get the short end of the stick,” he said. “People went too far, whether it was invading Rosetta and the kids’ privacy or saying really awful things about Sienna…Sometimes I wish I’d just stepped forward and said, ‘Enough!'” The actor refused to confirm that he has reunited with girlfriend Sienna Miller, saying only that the actress and his wife are “both special people in my life”.(British Glamour)
A preview of Louis Vuitton’s latest advertisement campaign has been revealed and its star is none other than Madonna. And she’s looking ferosh!!!!!!! We reported earlier in November about the rumor that LV had tapped the Material Mom to be photographed by fashion shoot dream team Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. Vuitton designer and creative director Marc Jacobs says they went with Her Madgesty after he “just blurted out, ‘I think we should do Madonna'” at a meeting. He had been inspired by her concert the night before and “was totally just blown away by it, and moved by her performance, by what she had to say, and her energy.” Madonna has that effect over the gays! Jacobs says he asked her via text message, and that she responded within 5 minutes with “I’d love to.” Text messaging is the new language of business! The six photo series was shot by Steven Meisel instead of Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, which marks an amicable departure from Vuitton’s collaboration with the photographers and a reunion for Meisel and Madonna, who collaborated on her infamous Sex book. The photos expand on the classic Parisian aesthetic of Jacobs’ spring Vuitton collection, and the designer says that the photos, which “feel more like portraits,” are very contemporary despite their sepia tones and almost cliché French references. He says, “It looks like beautiful, gorgeous Madonna.” True dat! (Perez Hilton)
Jason Alexander didn’t see dead people — so he saw a jail cell instead. TMZ has learned the real reason Brit’s 55 hour first hubby is behind bars in L.A. is because he blew off two court ordered appointments at the county morgue. After Alexander was busted for DUI back in 2006, the judge ordered the 27-year-old to go to an alcohol education program, which required him to visit the local morgue. When the judge learned Alexander had ditched his first 2 appointments, he refused to give him a third chance and promptly chucked him in the slammer. Jason is scheduled to be released on December 9th — and after he serves his stint behind bars, Jason’s obligation to check out the dead bodies will officially be dead. (TMZ)
Kim Kardashian wants Playboy boss Hugh Hefner to ignore reports she’ll never pose nude in his magazine again – because she’d love to strip for him again someday. The party girl-turned-reality TV star peeled off for a special 12-page pictorial in December 2007, but has since been quoted stating the photoshoot was a one off. However, 28 year old is desperate not to burn bridges between herself and Hefner – and wants him to keep her phone number on speed-dial for another spread in the future. In a message on her website, Kardashian writes, “There are a bunch of reports about me on the web claiming that I said I would never do Playboy again. They’re quoting me as saying, ‘It was a one-off. I don’t think I’ll do Playboy or anything like that again.’ “This is totally false. While I’m not planning to pose for the men’s magazine in the immediate future, I definitely don’t want to close the door to the opportunity. Never say never.” (Teen Hollywood)
Heather Locklear talked about her DUI bust on “The Tonight Show” Wednesday night without ever mentioning the term “DUI” — but that wasn’t what made her start crying. (TMZ)
Sources tell TMZ Jamie Lynn Spears is swelling up with anger over one gossip mag’s claims she had lipo while pregnant — so much so that she may take legal action. We’re told the story is “100% NOT true” — that Jamie Lynn has never had lipo and would “never in her life” do anything like it. Calls to Jamie Lynn’s publicist have not been returned. (TMZ)
With a real fortune in the bank, Morgan Freeman’s divorce from Myrna Colley-Lee could get expensive for him. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Myrna stands to make more than $100 mil from the breakup: Morgan apparently has pretty wide real estate holdings and he’s been “frugal” over the years. Translation: He’s got coin, and she’s due. The split spilled out when Freeman was involved in a car crash with a female friend. The couple have been separated for a year. (TMZ)
In his new interview with Details magazine, Pete Wentz talks about becoming a father (“a happy accident,” he said) but also about putting his prescription drug habit to rest. Wentz tells the magazine that he took Xanax, Ativan and Klonopin but, “after Heath Ledger,” he says, “I was just like, ‘Man, this is not going to end up good.” Wentz also credits wife Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and new baby Bronx Mowgli for helping him stay away from the pills. “I’d realized I’d found my soulmate, and it made me want to be a better person,” he told Details. “Now, with the baby, I want to be the best dad I can be,” he said. (Scoop)
Benji Madden might have dropped Paris Hilton from his life, but the Good Charlotte singer reportedly dropped quite a few pounds during the course of their relationship, too. Life & Style reports that the 5-foot-7 Madden lost 35 pounds. “Benji seemed self-conscious about his weight when he started seeing Paris in February,” an insider close to him told the magazine. “He was also launching his DCMA Collective fashion line and was focused on how he looked, so he started dieting and working out.” There’s reportedly some concern that he’s gone a little overboard, however. The magazine source says, “he looks scary skinny,” says the insider, “especially since the break-up. He’s already lost enough weight, but he’s still going.” (Scoop)
Brothers and Sisters star Balthazar Getty has finally spoken out to defend girlfriend Sienna Miller. Balthazar Getty has finally spoken out about his relationship with Sienna Miller and insisted she isn’t to blame for his marriage split. The actress was widely accused of stealing Getty away from his wife Rosetta Millington and three children this summer however the actor has told the Mirror the accusations are unfair. “I don’t know that I have been treated unfairly. I think Sienna might have been,” he explained. “There comes a time when it just gets a little bit too hurtful. It takes two to tango, man. You can’t just point your finger at one person. Historically, women always get the short end of the stick.” (Handbag)
Paul Benedict, the actor who played the English neighbor Harry Bentley on the sitcom “The Jeffersons,” has died. He was 70. Benedict was found dead Monday on Martha’s Vineyard and his brother, Charles, said authorities were still investigating the cause of death. Benedict began his acting career in the 1960s in the Theatre Company of Boston, alongside such future stars as Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino. Benedict went on to appear in a number of movies, including a role as the oddball director in “The Goodbye Girl” with Richard Dreyfuss. But he was mainly known for his role as Bentley in “The Jeffersons,” which ran on CBS from 1975 to ’85. (Daily Record)
THE OTHER STUFF . . .
Britney beats Barack on Yahoo search. US President-elect Barack Obama, the global financial meltdown and natural disasters were of less interest than Britney Spears to people using Yahoo’s mighty search engine. Yahoo has not revealed the exact number of searches conducted but BBC reports that out of the literally “billions” of web searches undertaken in 2008, Britney was the number one most sought after search term on yahoo.com. And she’s topped the list for the last seven years. Britney also topped Australian searches on Yahoo7.com.au. “She was number one last year for all the wrong reasons and this year for all the right reasons,” says Vera Chan, Senior Editor over at Yahoo Buzz. “People like redemption tales. You can’t have a public meltdown that big and not have people follow you. “This was the kind of life it would have taken someone 50 years to live and she did it in 27. Welcome to the 21st century.”
Here’s Yahoo.com’s Top 10:
1. Britney Spears
2. World Wrestling Entertainment
3. Barack Obama
4. Miley Cyrus
5. RuneScape
6. Jessica Alba
7. Naruto
8. Lindsay Lohan
9. Angelina Jolie
10. American Idol
And here’s Yahoo7.com.au’s Top 10:
1. Britney Spears
2. Heath Ledger
3. Olympics 2008
4. Angelina Jolie and Jessica Alba (tie)
5. Stephanie Rice
6. Global economic downturn
7. US election
8. Chinese earthquake
9. Burma Cyclone
10. Large Hadron Collider
“There is an evolution going on in how people use the Internet and search on it,” the Yahoo Buzz editor told the BBC. “Every year it changes slightly and broadens slightly. We still have our guilty pleasures like following celebrities, and our homework like looking at how much is in our bank account, researching holiday sales and shopping online. “The Internet is becoming this nice gateway that reaches into so many aspects of our lives.” (themusicnetwork)
“The Tales of Beedle the Bard” (Children’s High Level Group, $12.99, 111 pages), by J.K. Rowling: Just in time for the holidays, J.K. Rowling has given Harry Potter fans a little gift. No, not a new book about the young wizard – THAT would be like a birthday combined with Christmas! Instead, she’s written a charming confection of a book from the world of Harry Potter with the sparkle and wit that remind us why she became a publishing sensation in the first place. The title of the book, “The Tales of Beedle the Bard,” should be instantly familiar to all Potter fans. That was the book Harry’s friend Hermione Granger was bequeathed following the death of Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster at their school. One tale in the collection of childrens’ stories played a part in Harry figuring out how to destroy his enemy, the evil Lord Voldemort. Following the publication of the last of the Potter books last year, Rowling created seven copies of the Beedle book, writing and illustrating the five stories. She gave six of the copies to friends and the last one to the Children’s High Level Group, a charity she helped create. The charity auctioned the book, which Amazon bought for $4 million, and has released an edition for the general public to raise more money. In this edition, Rowling tells us, the tales were translated from the Ancient Runes by none other than Hermione. And adding a special flair, the stories are accompanied by notes from Dumbledore, expounding on their larger meaning. In her introduction, Rowling says the notes date to about 18 months before Dumbledore’s death. If anything, the new book shows us Rowling hasn’t lost her touch since finishing her series. It’s all here – cleverly written stories, little details that add to the enjoyment of readers who spot them, deeper points about the choices people make and their consequences. The yarns are ostensibly meant to be read by wizard children, so they’re short, but they don’t lack for action, or in some cases, rather gruesome imagery and some violence. Apparently wizard children are a hardy bunch. This isn’t a full-length book, though, so it doesn’t have the depth and emotional heft that were the hallmark of the series. But it really is a gift to fans. It rewards them for their dedication to the world of Harry Potter by giving them more glimpses into that place. Dumbledore’s commentary is a particular pleasure, especially when he recounts details that make certain aspects of the series a little clearer. Fans saddened that the series had to end will now have a reason to smile a little. (Daily record)
A family of Hurricane Katrina survivors whose new house was partly built with lumber from last year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas tree were among tens of thousands who attended this year’s lighting ceremony. The eight-ton, 72-foot Norway spruce was illuminated Wednesday night in the Manhattan plaza after performances by entertainers including Tony Bennett, Harry Connick Jr., Jamie Foxx and Beyoncé. “It’s been an awesome experience,” said Tracey Davison, 40, a teacher’s assistant from Pascagoula, Miss. “I have a famous living room because of the tree from last year, and my girls and I have had a spectacular trip to New York for the first time.” This year’s tree was decorated with 30,000 energy-efficient LED lights on five miles of wire, topped with a 750-pound star made of 25,000 Swarovski crystals. It was donated by the Varanyak family in Hamilton Township, N.J. Among the thousands of onlookers who gathered to watch the annual tradition were Davison and her four daughters: Ashunti, 10; Nylah, 9; Majsa, 8; and Karly, 4. The family, who fled Katrina with just a few suitcases, recently moved into a new three-bedroom house built by Habitat for Humanity. Parts of the walls and floors in their living room were made with lumber from last year’s tree. “It’s kinda like Christmas before Christmas,” said Davison. “It was a dream come true. We’re very, very excited to be in the house.” Others who lined the streets to watch the celebrity performers and the ceremony were Anita McLean, 71, her son and her two grandchildren, ages 14 and 11. “It’s my fourth year, and I’m not cold,” she said, adding that she stood for more than three hours to secure a viewing spot for the lights. “Just being together, the excitement of the day, it’s keeping with the spirit of Christmas.” In past years, the Rockefeller Center tree has been recycled after the holiday season, being made into toys for animals at the Bronx Zoo and mulched for hiking trails. The tree lighting ceremony started in 1933, but workers building the Art Deco complex began putting up Christmas trees in 1931 during the Great Depression. (Daily Record)
Natalie Portman is a sole sister no more. Proving that not even celebrities are immune to the country’s economic crisis, the actress’ vegan shoe line of less than a year, the Natalie Portman Collection for Té Casan, has closed up shop, making it even more of a limited-edition than expected. The critter-free line of footwear, announced by the longtime vegetarian back in January, was launched in February of this year to the delight of animal-loving fashionistas but not so much to the credit-crunched masses—each pair retailed on average for $200. However, Portman’s line didn’t fail on its own merits, instead was a casualty of the folding of its parent company, Té Casan, which closed up shop for good last month. The company’s website, too, has wasted no time in closing down. It’s unclear whether Portman will seek to continue her vegan venture with another partnership. (Eonline0
Britney Spears’ cousin Alli Sims has spoken for the first time about her ousting as the pop star’s assistant, insisting her former boss isn’t ready for a comeback. Sims was one of the people dismissed by Spears’ father Jamie when he took control of the singer’s personal and professional affairs in February, and she’s still sore about being cast aside. Speaking for the first time since she was replaced, Sims tells American magazine In Touch she was used as “a scapegoat” as Spears’ family took control of the troubled star’s life, following a double mental health scare. And Sims, who worked for Spears throughout 2007 and into 2008 – as the singer struggled with personal problems, including a divorce and child custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline, is convinced her cousin isn’t ready to be back on world stages, performing live. She says, “This isn’t any old job. How can they say Britney is sick and then shove her out on the road, with all that pressure?? Sore Sims feels for her relative, but she’s even more concerned about rebuilding her own reputation after it was ruined by the Spears family. She adds, “I have been accused of so many things I didn’t do. My reputation has been dragged through the mud.? (Teen Hollywood)
The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, better have all hands on deck when Barbra Streisand comes to town for its 31st Annual Honors gala on Sunday. Back in March of 2001, Streisand appeared at an “Innovators & Navigators” conference at the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara sponsored by now-defunct Talk magazine. According to an event organizer, Babs drove hotel staff up the wall by making a number of outlandish requests in her contract rider. “It was totally insane,” says the source. “She requested that there be no oysters in her room at any time; that every square inch of her hotel room and bathroom be carpeted; and that the head of her bed be elevated a specific number of degrees off the ground. And she said the bed couldn’t be propped up – she wanted an engineer to come in and do it himself.” The source also reports: “She also requested that she not have to use the lobby during her arrival or departure – which was comical when she arrived with her husband and proceeded to plow right through the front door.” Streisand, who is being honored at the Kennedy Center along with Morgan Freeman, country star George Jones, The Who’s Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey and choreographer Twyla Tharp, could be especially ornery, since her avowed nemesis, President George W. Bush, will be seated with the honorees during the gala. Streisand has been a relentless critic of Bush, having called for his impeachment and even canceling a performance in Jerusalem this year to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Israel after learning that Bush would attend. A flack for Streisand tells Page Six, “I don’t want to be in the position of challenging the veracity of her prior contract, but it’s not true. There were no demands this time.” A Kennedy Center rep says, “Typically, the honorees go to the White House and see the president, and that’s something that’s been happening for years regardless of personal politics. It’s all pretty standard.” (Page Six)
Disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer has a new gig: columnist for Slate.com, opining every other week about government regulation and finance – not sex. Yawn. “He’s going to be doing a regular thing,” Slate Group editor-in-chief Jacob Weisberg tells the Observer. “He was very receptive . . . I don’t portray this as something we had to coax him into. He’s got a lot to say and he was very receptive to writing on the subject.” It’s not as if he’s had a lot of other offers. (Page Six)
Regis Philbin doesn’t accept freebies, even from friends. After flying in from Florida the other day on Donald Trump’s plane, the “Live with Regis and Kelly” host and his wife, Joy, visited billionaire drugstore wholesaler Stewart Rahr at his Kinray warehouse in Queens. During a tour of the huge facility, Philbin loaded up on shaving cream, cosmetics and cologne. Rahr refused payment, but when he returned to his office, he found Philbin had left $400 under his computer keyboard. (Page Six)
Julianne Hough says isn’t waltzing to the altar anytime soon. In response to a recent story claiming that she and boyfriend Chuck Wicks talk marriage, she writes on her Web site, “I know there are a lot of rumors out there right now … and I just wanted to clear things up.” First of all, sorry to disappoint, but we are not engaged,” she continues. “We are dating and enjoying this stage in our relationship. We’re not in any rush. They, of course, twisted my words in that article, and it’s gotten to be a much bigger deal than it should be.” Before signing off, she writes, “You can always get the most up to date and ACCURATE info here on my site. Thank you for all of your support and well wishes!” Hough recently admitted that she won’t be on Dancing With the Stars’ spring season (which debuts March 9) and may sit out next fall as well. “I’m definitely going to focus on the music,” she said. “My first album was a learning . (US Weekly)
The self-confessed skank behind the Gordon Ramsay affair allegations got fired from her job as an infidelity spokesperson for — get this — allegedly opening her mouth too damn much! A website that specializes in hooking up married people behind their spouses backs called The Ashley Madison Agency allegedly fired Sarah Symonds as their UK spokescheater because she wasn’t “discreet enough” for their liking. Symonds wrote a book about being a mistress and has been named the “other woman” in several high-profile affairs. The “Hells Kitchen” star had steadfastly has denied any affair. We’ve been attempting to contact Sarah — no luck yet. (TMZ)
Talk about a blindside hit: Antonio Pierce is going to sing to a grand jury about teammate Plaxico Burress’ gun and could seal the deal against Burress. His lawyer says he’ll cooperate if the DA asks him to talk to a grand jury, and Pierce will meet with investigators in the DA’s office “in the next few days.” In exchange for his testimony, according to the New York Post, he will most likely get a pass on any concealment or conspiracy charges. Pierce’s first call after the shooting, apparently, was to a Giants trainer. Meanwhile, the Giants are taking heat for waiting almost eight hours after the incident, according to their own timeline, before they called cops. (TMZ)
Bratz fans everywhere, brace yourselves. We have some bad news for you. Really really bad! After a four year legal battle between Bratz maker MGA Entertainment and Barbie makers Mattel, the Bratz have lost. That we’ve know. But…. Yesterday a federal judge banned MGA from making and selling it’s highly successful Bratz dolls!!!! As we mentioned previously, Mattel sued MGA because the Bratz dolls creator, Carter Bryant, was working at Mattel when he came up with the concept for the dolls. In August, a California jury awarded Mattel $40 million. Mattel was originally asking for over $2 billion. The jury also later awarded Mattel $10 million for copyright infringement and $90 million for breach of contract. After yesterday’s ruling to ban Bratz dolls, Mattel attorney Michael Zeller said “It’s a pretty sweeping victory. They have no right to use Bratz for any goods or services at all.” Luckily for MGA and Bratz fans everywhere, the judge did allow MGA to wait until the holiday season ends to remove the toys from their store shelves. MGA should be filing their appeal, like, RIGHT NOW! (Perez Hilton)
Wanna take home Katy Perry’s breasts? Now’s your chance! A cast of her top shelf—painted and accessorized by the “I Kissed a Girl” hitmaker’s boyfriend, Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes—is up for auction. Sale of the multicolored piece, which even incorporates one of McCoy’s sneakers, benefits the Keep a Breast Foundation’s youth outreach program. But ya gotta act fast! The auction closes this Saturday. Also on the block are decorated Vans sneakers and more than 45 images taken by photographer Erin Caruso during the Vans Warped Tour music festival, including pics of Perry, Paramore and Shwayze. (Daily Record)
Blake Fielder-Civil took a page from his missus and apparently said no, no, no to rehab. Amy Winehouse’s hubby has vacated a drug-treatment facility and was ordered back to prison for violating the terms of his release. According to Britain’s Sun newspaper, Fielder-Civil wound up back behind bars after flubbing a drug test. That means he must serve out the rest of his 27-month sentence for assaulting a barkeep, leaving him locked up until 2010. Unlike his last trip to jail, however, Winehouse wasn’t around to give him a teary sendoff—the Grammy-winning diva remains holed up in a London hospital recovering from an allergic reaction to her medication. Winehouse has been hospitalized since Nov. 23, her latest stint in sick bay in a malady-filled year. Upon learning of his failed drug test and return trip to the clink, Fielder-Civil reportedly left his rehab clinic Tuesday night and paid a visit to his estranged wife. In recent days, as word of their marital woes played out in the British tabs, Fielder-Civil blamed himself for her drug problems. He blabbed to News of the World that he was responsible for introducing her to heroin, crack cocaine and self-mutiliation. He also vowed to let her go so he could save her from doing further harm to herself. Despite reports that Winehouse has consulted with divorce attorneys, her rep has denied the 25-year-old singer is seeking to end the two-and-half-year union. (Daily Record)
Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines is the target of a defamation lawsuit by the stepfather of one of three 8-year-old boys slain in 1993. Maines spoke out for three people convicted of the slayings and alleged the stepfather was instead involved in the killings. Terry Hobbs, stepfather of Steve Branch, who was killed in 1993 with Christopher Byers and Michael Moore, filed suit in Pulaski County Circuit Court on Nov. 25. The suit names all three members of the Dixie Chicks, but focuses on Maines. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages. Hobbs claims he suffered loss of income, injury to his reputation and emotional distress. Maines attended a Dec. 19 rally in Little Rock, where she claimed Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley – known to sympathizers as the “West Memphis Three” – were innocent and that supposed new evidence pointed to Hobbs. Her comments echoed a Nov. 26, 2007, letter that was still on the Dixie Chicks’ Web site on Thursday, in which she claimed that new DNA testing of hair from the crime scene linked Hobbs to the killings and that his behavior after the slayings indicated his guilt. The lawsuit says the claim is false. Hobbs told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a Feb. 1 interview that his reputation was in tatters and he wanted to clear his name.
“I want people to know I haven’t done nothing wrong,” Hobbs said. “I want them to hear it from me.” No lawyer for Maines was listed in court filings and a publicist didn’t immediately return a call for comment. Hobbs’ attorney, J. Cody Hiland, didn’t immediately return a call for comment Thursday. The lawsuit says Maines’ statements were “so extreme in degree as to be beyond the pale of decency and to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in civilized society.” Assertions similar to those made by Maines were also made by lawyers seeking new trials for the three convicts. The boys’ bodies were found by police a day after they vanished from their quiet, tree-lined neighborhood May 5, 1993. Police arrested the three after a confession by Misskelley in which he described how he watched Baldwin and Echols sexually assault and beat two of the boys as he ran down another trying to escape. A jury gave Misskelley a life-plus-40-year sentence for the killings. A later jury gave Baldwin a life sentence without parole. Echols, then 19, the oldest of the three, received the death penalty. The Arkansas Supreme Court later upheld the convictions, but a later documentary sparked interest across the Internet, as well as among celebrities, including Maines, who felt the teens were railroaded by police for their interest in heavy metal music and the occult. Supporters say they raised more than $1 million for a legal defense fund for the three, enough to pay for lawyers, new DNA testing and a second federal appeal on behalf of Echols. A judge has since denied defense motions for a new trial. (Daily Record)
Since Proposition 8 passed in California, much of Hollywood has been up in arms. Now, they are singing and dancing, too, in a new Web video called “Prop 8: The Musical.” The video was posted Wednesday on FunnyOrDie.com, the video site co-founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. The site has found a niche in getting professional talent to quickly create topical comedy videos. “Prop 8: The Musical” may be a 3-minute Internet video, but it has a blockbuster cast – including Jack Black (who plays Jesus), Neil Patrick Harris, John C. Reilly, Andy Richter, Maya Rudolph, Margaret Cho, Rashida Jones and others. Though Jesus doesn’t bring the two sides together, Harris has better luck. He argues gay marriage could save the economy: “Every time a gay or lesbian finds love at the parade, there’s money to be made.” The video was conceived and written by Marc Shaiman, the Tony-winning composer of “Hairspray” and “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.” McKay, who had previously collaborated with Shaiman on the song-and-dance routine Ferrell, Black and Reilly did at the Oscars earlier this year, sent him an e-mail floating the idea of a video. As of Thursday, the clip had clearly ascended to viral status, with more than 1.1 million views on FunnyOrDie.com. Given the sensitivity of the issue, comments also have been flying, with well over a thousand posted. Shaiman had been involved in a more serious debate over Proposition 8. After voters approved Proposition 8, which changed the state’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage, it was revealed that Scott Eckern, artistic director of the California Musical Theater in Sacramento (the state’s largest nonprofit musical theater company) had donated $1,000 to the “Yes on 8” campaign. Shaiman’s “Hairspray” had played at the theater and he said he would never allow anything he wrote to play there because of Eckern’s donation. Others protested and Eckern resigned in November. In an interview Wednesday, Shaiman regretted that it came to Eckern losing his job and said: “It’s a tragedy for everyone involved. You’ll certainly see that no one called for him to resign.” The video for Funny or Die was a lighter-hearted protest. Shaiman wrote the piece in a day, recorded it the next and shot it in a single day last week.
“It was like, `Eureka! That’s right, that’s what I do!” said Shaiman of the mini-musical. “If I’m going to stand on the soap box, at least let me sing and dance.” (Daily Record)
MUSIC . . .
Lil Wayne is having a big year. Not only did the rapper’s album Tha Carter III go five times platinum, selling over five million copies, but on Wednesday, he was nominated for eight Grammy Awards, including the prestigious album of the year honors. And the rapper will face off against British rockers Coldplay in that category, who followed closely behind, earning seven nominations. For the first time ever, the Grammy nominations were announced on primetime television as part of a special concert featuring performances by Christina Aguilera, John Mayer and Mariah Carey, who opened the telecast with a seasonal run through “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” The show, which was broadcast from the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live also celebrated the official opening of the Grammy Museum, which will open to the public in Los Angeles on Dec. 6. The event was cohosted by Taylor Swift – a nominee for best new artist last year – and LL Cool J. Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West were other top Grammy nominees – each with six nods. Radiohead was nominated for five awards, as were Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, who released the collaborative album Raising Sand. Album of the year contenders included Coldplay (Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends); rapper Lil Wayne (Tha Carter III); Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (Raising Sand); R&B singer Ne-Yo (Year of the Gentleman); and British alt-rock heroes Radiohead (In Rainbows). Pop-rock trio the Jonas Brothers led the list of best new artist nominees, along with British soul singers Adele and Duffy. They will compete against country group Lady Antebellum and R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan. “We’re happy to be here,” Joe Jonas told LL Cool J on the live CBS telecast after receiving their good news. CBS will broadcast the 51st Grammy Awards live from Los Angeles’s Staples Center on Feb. 8. Here’s a rundown of the top categories: (People)1
Album of the Year
• Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, Coldplay
• Tha Carter III, Lil Wayne
• Year of the Gentleman, Ne-Yo
• Raising Sand, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
• In Rainbows, Radiohead
Record of the Year
• “Chasing Pavements,” Adele
• “Viva la Vida,” Coldplay
• “Bleeding Love,” Leona Lewis
• “Paper Planes,” M.I.A.
• “Please Read the Letter,” Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Song of the Year
• “American Boy,” William Adams, Keith Harris, Josh Lopez, Caleb Speir, John Stephens, Estelle Swaray & Kanye West, songwriters (Estelle featuring Kanye West)
• “Chasing Pavements,” Adele Adkins & Eg White, songwriters (Adele)
• “I’m Yours,” Jason Mraz, songwriter (Jason Mraz)
• “Love Song,” Sara Bareilles, songwriter (Sara Bareilles)
• “Viva La Vida,” Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion & Chris Martin, songwriters (Coldplay)
Best New Artist
• Adele
• Duffy
• Jonas Brothers
• Lady Antebellum
• Jazmine Sullivan
Pop Vocal Album
• Detours, Sheryl Crow
• Rockferry, Duffy
• Long Road Out of Eden, Eagles
• Spirit, Leona Lewis
• Covers, James Taylor
Rap Album
• American Gangster, Jay-Z
• Tha Carter III, Lil Wayne
• The Cool, Lupe Fiasco
• Nas, Nas
• Paper Trail, T.I.
Rock Album
• Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, Coldplay
• Rock N Roll Jesus, Kid Rock
• Only By the Night, Kings of Leon
• Death Magnetic, Metallica
• Consolers of the Lonely, The Raconteurs
Country Album
• That Lonesome Song, Jamey Johnson
• Sleepless Nights, Patty Loveless
• Troubadour, George Strait
• Around the Bend, Randy Travis
• Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love, Trisha Yearwood
Remember when Britney Spears just showed up at Madonna’s L.A. tour stop and sorta comatose-jiggled through a halfassed duet of “Human Nature”? Well, it’s payback time! We’re hearing from inside musical spies that Madonna’s planning on paying back her crazy little showbiz sis, Brit-Brit, and showing up at one of her upcoming concerts—too fierce and fab! What could the duet possibly be they’d choose from Britney’s eclectic song catalog? Their already existing job together, “Me Against the Music,” would just be too insanely appropriate, and since both babes are far more into the shock factor than actually making beautiful music together, scratch that notion. Instead, we’re told a far more likely choice would be something along the lines of… …”Womanizer,” Britney’s current brilliant and subversive comeback number; love it. “Although it’s Britney’s trademark song right now, don’t for sure count on her sharing it with Madonna,” we’re advised by Spears insiders. Also, don’t get too used to the notion of anything being totally duet-official right now; it’s all in the early stages, and Madonna’s camp is certainly being cautious at this point. “I don’t see this happening,” Madonna’s lioness gatekeeper, Liz Rosenberg, exclusively tells us. “Madonna is still on tour, but I’ll let you know.” Hmmm, how interesting. First off, Liz likes to say things aren’t true, emphatically so, when they are, e.g., Madonna was never going to get divorced. Second, the sort of brush-off entirely means Madonna just might do it; trust me on this. That is, if Ms. M. can steal herself away from that dude she’s so busying trying to have another kid with, A-Rod. Oh, and did L.R. just accidentally confirm the rumor that Madonna might extend her current tour, which is scheduled to stop as of Dec. 21 in São Paulo, Brazil? The talk that Queen Madge is extending into Asia after that would surely seem all the more likely since Liz said Madonna’s going to be busy touring during Brit’s own tour, which doesn’t even start till March 3, right? Right. (Daily Record)
Industry insiders now predict that Britney Spears’ Circus is on track to sell 450,000+ copies AND will be next week’s #1 album. Experts had previously though that Brit would only sell about 350,000 in the first week. Way to prove them wrong, Miz Spears! This is a HUGE victory for Britney, especially considering the fact that her last album, Blackout, only sold 290,000 copies its debut week. A true, heartfelt congratulations to Spears and her team!! (Perez Hilton)
Kathie Lee Gifford is under fire for allegedly not being able to come up with an original thought — and stealing an idea for a horrible musical segment on “The Today Show.” It’s all over a segment called “Everyone Has a Story,” in which people send their life stories to Kathie Lee and then she writes a show-tune about them — yes, it’s as painful as it sounds. But it gets worse. Kathie Lee and NBC have been accused of taking the idea from a musician who claims he pitched a show based around the idea last year — and after some Hollywood bigwigs passed on the idea, they allegedly funneled it to “Today.” In the lawsuit, filed in L.A. Superior Court, the musician — Harold Johns — claims NBC and Kathie Lee were well aware the ideas came from Johns but they screwed him anyway. Now Johns wants over a million bucks for his troubles, but we’re thinkin’ dude should pen his sob story and send it over to Kathie Lee — maybe it’ll get on the show. (TMZ)
Beyoncé notches her fifth solo No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” one more than she scored while a member of Destiny’s Child. The cut rises 2-1 after selling 228,000 downloads in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. T.I.’s “Live You Life” thus drops 1-2, while another Beyoncé song, “If I Were a Girl,” holds at No. 3 and T.I.’s former chart-topper “Whatever You Like” stays at No. 4. Newcomer Lady GaGa’s “Just Dance” featuring Colby O’Donis rises 7-5, as Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold” slides 5-6. Ne-Yo’s “Miss Independent” jumps 9-7, Pink’s “So What” sticks at No. 8, Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” inches up 12-9 and Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” rises 13-10 to round out the top tier. The Fray’s “You Found Me” is the top digital gainer thanks to second-week download sales of 145,000, and rises 28-15 on the Hot 100. The chart’s top debut comes from Kanye West’s “See You in My Nightmares” featuring Lil Wayne, which starts at No. 21. On Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, “Single Ladies” begins a third week at No. 1. Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried” starts a second week atop Hot Country Songs with “Chicken Fried.” AC/DC’s “Rock’N’Roll Train” is in a third week atop the Mainstream Rock chart, while the Offspring’s “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” is No. 1 on Modern Rock for an eleventh. (Billboard)
Its highly anticipated album “Merriweather Post Pavilion” won’t hit stores until early next year, but experimental rock act Animal Collective is already planning a return to the studio. Founding member Dave Portner describes the project as “visual record. The lines were really blurry when we started,” he tells Billboard.com. “It was going to be a film, like a feature film, but by no means a narrative. It’s more collaborative, between us and our friend Danny Perez, who did one of our music videos.” Portner says Perez has been working on the visuals for the as-yet-untitled project for more than two years, and that the band will be providing the accompanying music. “This year, we got to a place where we can start doing demos and nailing all the sounds down, while we’re at home,” Portner explains. “It’s something new for all of us. It’s been a work-as-we-go process.” Animal Collective will take to the road in January around the launch of “Merriweather Post Pavilion,” due Jan. 20 via Domino. After seven European dates, the band will play New York, Chicago and Los Angeles on Jan. 20, 22 and 23, respectively. (Billboard)
MOVIE . . .
And yet again we have another “list”! This time, the New York Post has compiled the Top 10 Worst Movies of 2008. And in the top this year is the obvious What Happens In Vegas with Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. Also on the list is Mad Money featuring Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes and Queen Latifah.n But, the number 1 worst movie of 2008 goes to Mike Myers’ The Love Guru. We bet it was because of Jessica Alba. Check out the entire top 10 list….after the jump!
10. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”
We thought the whole talking dogs fad was over, but apparently, it’s not. George Lopez and Drew Barrymore provide voices for this 2008 flop about zany California dogs.
9. “Witless Protection”Larry the Cable Guy followed up 2006’s “Larry The Cable Guy: Health Inspector” and 2007’s “Delta Farce” with this “Witless” effort. Larry’s 0-for-3. So bad, we didn’t bother reviewing it.8. “Rambo”
Did we need another “Rambo”? No, but Sly Stallone gave us one – an ultra-gorefest, even by Stallone standards.
7. “You Don’t Mess With The Zohan”
Adam Sandler makes the list with his tale of an Israeli special forces soldier who dreams of being a hairstylist. Childish humor from a familiar source.
6. “Babylon A.D.”
Starring master thespian Vin Diesel, “Babylon A.D.” went way over budget and there were reports of ego clashes between Diesel and director Mathieu Kassovitz. Released six months after its original release date, the film wasn’t even screened for New York critics.
5. “10,000 B.C.”
“10,000 B.C” could be called the movie the Museum of Natural History doesn’t want you to see. Full of special effects but lacking a shred of authenticity, the film was widely panned.
4. “What Happens In Vegas”
“What Happens In Vegas” stars Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz as two people who get married after a booze-fueled night in Sin City, and the wacky adventures that transpire after they also win a large sum of money. The easy joke is that this bomb should have stayed in Vegas. We took the easy way out.
3. “Mad Money”
With a trio of actresses like Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes and Queen Latifah, what could have possibly gone wrong with “Mad Money”? Everything, apparently. But mostly the fact that this comedy had no laughs.
2. “The Hottie & The Nottie”
Is it worth describing the plot to this Paris Hilton-starred stinker? We won’t bother, because you shouldn’t bother watching it. According to Box Office Mojo, the film grossed less than $1.6 million as of Nov. 26, which sounds generous.
1. “The Love Guru”
Our number one worst movie is “The Love Guru,” co-written and starring “SNL” alum Mike Myers as Guru Pitka, a man on a quest to become the #1 guru. Films like “Guru” and 2003’s “The Cat in the Hat” are destroying all the comedy credibilty Myers built through the “Wayne’s World” and “Austin Powers” films. Thank goodness for “Shrek.” “Guru” also stars acting legends Jessica Alba and Justin Timberlake. (Perez Hilton)
Fox is bringing “Romancing the Stone” to the big screen again, swinging into development a remake of the 1984 adventure movie and tapping Daniel McDermott to write it. The original movie helped launch Robert Zemeckis as a director, turned Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito — then best known for their TV work — into film stars and established Kathleen Turner as a romantic lead. Written by Diane Thomas, “Romancing” told the story of a repressed romance novelist who travels to Colombia to find her missing sister only to meet up with an American soldier of fortune. The two embark on a cross-country adventure involving a map, a jewel and a private police force. Thomas wrote the script while working as a waitress in Malibu. It turned out to be her only produced screenplay; she died in a car crash the year after the film’s release. No producers are attached to the remake. McDermott, a former head of DreamWorks Television who segued to screenwriting, most recently co-wrote the DreamWorks thriller “Eagle Eye.” He is developing a contemporary adventure movie for Tom Cruise at UA titled “Adventurer’s Club” and working on a remake of “Soylent Green” for Warner Bros. McDermott, repped by UTA and Media Talent Group, also created and executive produced the Lifetime drama “Angela’s Eyes.” (Hollywood Reporter)
Documentaries chronicling the fight against hardship across Asia and the Middle East will be in abundance at the Sundance Film Festival in January, while only three dramas from either region made the cut. Organizers of the annual event in Park City, Utah, on Wednesday unveiled the names of nonfiction films competing for the best World Cinema Documentary award. They include the North American premiere of “Afghan Star,” a documentary made in the U.K. and Afghanistan by director Havana Marking about post-Taliban Afghanis risking their lives to sing competitively on TV. From neighboring Iran, director Hamid Rahmanian’s documentary “The Glass House,” also a North American premiere, follows teenage girls trying to overcome drug addiction, abandonment and abuse in a Tehran rehab center. The world premiere of “The Queen and I” sees Iranian exile turned Swedish filmmaker Nahid Persson Sarvestani confront her role in the 1979 overthrow of the Shah of Iran by engaging the deposed leader’s widow. From Kurdistan and the U.S., the world premiere of “Quest for Honor” is director Mary Ann Bruni’s documentary about an activist’s attempts to stop honor killings in the Middle Eastern tribal plateau of Kurdistan. Moving to East Asia, the world premiere of the Franco-U.S. documentary “Kimjongilia” by director N.C. Heikin aims to capture the terrifying reality of defectors from North Korea. In a similar vein, “Tibet in Song” recounts director Ngawang Choephel serving six years of an 18-year prison sentence for trying to film the story of Tibetan music to capture his people’s efforts at cultural preservation . The U.S.-made film will have its world premiere at Sundance. From the factories of India to financial markets in Singapore to housing developments in Spain and offshore banks in Jersey, director Erwin Wagenhofer’s “Let’s Make Money” tries to reveal the complex workings of global money flow. The film, which has some backing from China, will have its world premiere in Park City. One film in the world cinema documentary competition is simply set in Asia: “Thriller in Manila,” U.K. director John Dower’s chronicling of the 1975 final boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Another, “Old Partner,” from South Korean director Chung-ryoul Lee, has little apparent thematic similarity to the rest of the bunch. In North American premiere at Sundance, the documentary tells the tale of a farmer living out his final days with his wife and ox in Korea’s countryside. Two Asian dramas in a field of 16 titles were chosen from around the world for the Sundance world cinema drama competition. “The Clone Returns” is Japanese writer and director Kanji Nakajima’s tale of the resurrection of an astronaut who dies during a mission. In North American premiere, the film stars Mitsuhiro Oikawa, Eri Ishida and Hiromi Nagasaku. From China, “Dada’s Dance,” by director Zhang Yuan and screenwriter Li Xiaofeng, tells the story of a young woman’s search for her birth mother. Starring Li Xinyun, Li Xiaofeng, Gai Ge and Chen Jun, the film’s Sundance screening will be its North American Premiere. The lone Sundance competition drama from the Middle East, the world premiere of “Zion and His Brother,” is writer and director Eran Merav’s Franco-Israeli film about the disappearance of a young boy dividing two teenage brothers in a working class Tel Aviv single-parent family. The film stars Reuven Badalov, Ronit Elkabetz and Tzahi Grad. (Hollywood Reporter)
Russell Brand might soon be caught between the moon and New York City. The British comedian is developing a remake of “Arthur,” the 1981 comedy that starred Dudley Moore, for Warner Bros. as a potential starring vehicle. Brand is meeting with scribes to write the screenplay, which will be produced by MBST’s Larry Brezner, whose credits range from “Good Morning, Vietnam” to HBO’s recent “Little Britain USA.” The original movie followed a boozy playboy rascal who is set to inherit a fortune if he marries an heiress his family thinks will make something out of him. However, he falls in love with a working-class woman and turns to his valet for help when his family makes him choose between money and love. Moore was nominated for an Oscar as was Steve Gordon, the film’s writer-director. John Gielgud, who played the valet, won the best supporting actor Oscar, and the movie’s theme song, “The Best That You Can Do,” won for original song. Sarah Schechter is overseeing for Warners. Brand already has a rascally reputation, not only for his past sex-, drugs- and alcohol-infused lifestyle but also for on-air radio pranks that recently led him to being suspended by the BBC. He subsequently resigned. American audiences got their first taste of Brand in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” in which he played a rock star lothario. He next appears with Adam Sandler in “Bedtime Stories,” which opens on Christmas Day. The Endeavor-repped actor is filming Julie Taymor’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and will reunite his “Marshall” co-horts for “Get Him to the Greek.” (Hollywood Reporter)
Review: `Frost/Nixon’ depicts tense TV showdown. “No holds barred,” Richard Nixon urges to David Frost as the two prepare to sit down for a series of interviews in 1977. As “Frost/Nixon” powerfully reveals, that statement contains equal parts promise and threat from both the disgraced figure on screen and the actor playing him. Frank Langella is positively formidable as the former president, a skilled manipulator under optimal circumstances whose desperate desire for rehabilitation makes him extra dangerous. Langella isn’t doing a dead-on impression, which is preferable; Nixon’s quirks have been imitated so frequently and poorly, such an approach risks lapsing into caricature. Rather, he has internalized a volatile combination of inferiority, awkwardness, quick wit and a hunger for power. He loses himself in the role with rumbles and growls, with a hunched carriage and the slightest lift of the eyebrows. Langella and Michael Sheen, also excellent as the breezy British TV personality Frost, reprise the parts they originated in Peter Morgan’s Tony Award-winning stage production. But you never feel like you’re watching a play on film: The way Morgan has opened up the proceedings in his screenplay feels organic under the direction of Ron Howard, who’s crafted his finest film yet, and one of the year’s best. “Frost/Nixon” is talky and weighty as it digs into the details of Vietnam and Watergate, but it moves along with a fluidity that keeps it constantly engaging. Morgan’s script also contains a healthy amount of dark humor, mostly the result of something crass or inappropriate Nixon has said. Good thing, too, because the tension starts percolating early and only grows. Upon seeing the image of Nixon smiling eerily as he boards a helicopter after resigning the presidency, Frost stands in front of a television transfixed. Hoping to lose the perception that he’s a lightweight and gain some credibility – or rather, achieve fame in America – he approaches Nixon for an interview and promises money he doesn’t have. Sheen is doing something so subtle here, and as in his insightful work as Tony Blair in Morgan’s “The Queen,” he’s likely to get upstaged, unfortunately. All his Frost wants is to be liked, but he strives for that with the slightest obsequiousness. Critics may mistake his playboy demeanor for arrogance, but it truly seems to spring from longing. The former president, meanwhile, hopes to use the opportunity to return to public life among the East Coast elite: He’s bored with retirement and feels humiliated droning on for banquet crowds for cash. He wants an interviewer with heft, but he’ll take the $600,000 his agent, Swifty Lazar (Toby Jones), has secured by saying yes to Frost. And so they face each other for four extended interviews, which comprise the film’s second hour. Frost has gotten help cramming for this exam from British TV producer John Birt (Matthew Macfadyen), veteran journalist Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt) and author and Nixon critic James Reston Jr. (Sam Rockwell). Rebecca Hall provides moral support as the sultry socialite Frost picked up in first class while flying to the United States. In Nixon’s corner are loyalists including the fierce strategist Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon) and, amusingly, a young Diane Sawyer. Performances from the chief supporting players are uniformly excellent, especially from Platt and Rockwell, whose characters rib each other and share a disdain of Frost’s celebrity. But Zelnick puts it best when he calls Frost “the most unlikely white knight … but a man who had one big advantage over all of us. He understood television.” And television exposed both Frost and Nixon for their true natures – for better and for worse. “Frost/Nixon,” a Universal Pictures release, is rated R for some language. Running time: 122 minutes. Four stars out of four. (Daily Record)
TV . . .
Dear Santa: It’s beginning to look a lot like – well, you know like what. So I’ve got a yule log crackling on my flat-screen TV. The stockings are hung with carelessness. And I’m putting a few TV wishes out there in the hope you’ll notice and make them come true.
– There have been some good shows, but I think you’d agree that, overall, 2008 came up short.
Now what? TV is more important than usual, since no one can afford to leave the house, and people getting laid off have a lot of extra time on their hands.
The moment is ripe for the networks to address our economic plight with relatable new comedies and dramas. (Hello, we’re in a recession!) So I’d like the gift of some new shows that face the audience’s harsh shared reality with a little humor and even reassurance.
This fall a comedy-drama about a family of loan sharks, “Easy Money,” arrived perfectly in synch with the economic meltdown. But buried on the CW network Sunday nights, it was overlooked and swiftly canceled.
Hey, anybody remember past hits like “Roseanne”? It was entertaining, and at the same time in tune with the working-class concerns of its viewers. Santa, could you whisper in the ears of TV programmers: Enough with the lawyers, cops and the jabbing of corpses in mood-lit laboratories! How about something with which we can identify?
– And while you’re at it, Santa, would you please step in before it’s too late and ward off a strike by the Screen Actors Guild? Networks, studios and viewers are still reeling from the writers strike. How much worse will the TV scene be if actors and producers don’t find some common ground and their shows grind to a halt?
Santa, please pass along this question to the SAG leadership: Are you crazy?! And here’s a question you can ask the other side: Are you crazy?!
– One of many likely results from an actors strike (just as with the writers strike) would be an upsurge of reality programming to fill the gap. And this would happen, ironically, when the audience may at last be kicking its reality addiction.
In a recent report, industry analyst Brad Adgate found viewership down for every unscripted show except NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.” With the stripmalling of reality/competition shows, each as indistinguishable from another, has the genre reached its saturation point?
That’s not to say there isn’t hunger for fresh ideas. And I happen to have one. Santa, please pitch this concept to a network (I’ll give you a nice percentage): I’m calling my show “The Big Bailout.” It’s a high-stakes game show where the contestant who competes most ineptly, with the least scruples, wins the big cash jackpot.
– One more thing, Santa: As we near the five-year anniversary of Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl flash dance, would you deliver a commemorative plaque inscribed with “GET A LIFE” to everyone who has stayed in a lather over that morals-threatening display, as well as assaults on decency like the occasional inadvertent on-the-air F-bomb?
The courts, politicians, pundits, indignant viewer groups and, of course, the Federal Communications Commission – all are painfully ill-equipped to settle an issue people have disputed since the first caveman scrawled an X-rated drawing in a public cave. There must be more important things for all of us to do. My Christmas wish is that we will. (Daily Record)
Jon Hamm is temporarily trading the offices of Sterling Cooper for “30 Rock.” The actor, who plays advertising executive Don Draper on AMC’s “Mad Men,” will portray the love interest of Tina Fey character Liz Lemon – a doctor who lives in her apartment. Could it last? “I just finished a couple of episodes, and I’ll go back in the new year and do another one of those, and then we’ll see what happens,” Hamm said Tuesday at a benefit for the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. (Daily Record)
Howard Donald and Gary Barlow of Take That have taken a swipe at Britney Spears. Take That have slammed Britney Spears’ recent X Factor appearance. “I don’t see the point of Britney anymore, she was rubbish on the show. I think she’s more famous than she deserves to be now,” Gary told the Mirror. “Why come on a show like that and mime? I don’t like her new song either. Her old stuff was great but maybe she should have spent more time on this one. But, I listen to more bands now anyway, like Kings of Leon and Coldplay. I don’t really listen to many pop acts.” Miaow. Band mate Howard Donald also got in on the act, “The truth is all the contestants on X Factor are so talented and were able to sing and dance live, so why couldn’t Britney do it?” He explained. “It’s the whole point of the show and her miming looked stupid.” Take That’s new album, Circus, looks set to top the album charts this week while another album titled Circus, by, oh, Britney Spears, was sitting at number three in the midweek charts. (Handbag)
“Project Runway” producers The Magical Elves, who left the show behind after executive producer Harvey Weinstein moved it to Lifetime, have a new muse: People’s Revolution public relations boss and “The Hills” enforcer Kelly Cutrone. “We’re working on a show together that’s going to showcase the nitty-gritty side of fashion publicity,” Cutrone told us. “Think of it as ‘The Wizard of Oz’ meets Stephen King meets ‘Rhoda.’ I’m really sure we’re gonna be the first p.r. company to be on TV that showcases what really goes down.” (Page Six)
NBC is holding back from anointing David Gregory as the new host of “Meet the Press” because “they’re furious about leaks” that tipped off the media, well-placed sources told Page Six. The infamous in-house squabbling over Tim Russert’s replacement “is at a new peak” said one tipster, with some NBC suits and talent sore over the network’s widely reported choice of Gregory – who had yet to be confirmed as of last night. An other source said the brass blame MSNBC host Chuck Todd for tipping off media blogs on Gregory’s new gig – for which Todd was a top contender – and ruining the announcement that was planned to be made this Sunday by interim “Meet the Press” host Tom Brokaw. (Page Six)
Today is D-day at MTV and its sister companies! The axe has come down and 850 people are being fired within MTV networks (MTV, VH1, CMT, BMT, Nickelodeon, etc). The following is an email that was sent out this morning to all Viacom employees from the CFOs: “Dear Colleagues: With less than a month until the close of 2008, our entire organization continues to do everything possible to anticipate and adapt to the unprecedented changes affecting all our businesses. We know it hasn’t been easy and we couldn’t be more proud or more appreciative of how you have risen to the challenge. Even in these tough economic times, Viacom has a strong hand to play. We have a broad stable of outstanding brands, diverse revenue streams and an impressive global footprint, backed up by exceptional financial strength. Added to that we have talented employees, extremely able leaders and a creative ingenuity that runs deep. Unfortunately, our advantages and best efforts can’t completely protect Viacom from the very serious and broad-based challenges of this economic recession. Viacom’s long-term health will depend on our shared commitment to adapt, to innovate and to make difficult choices. To compete and thrive, we need to create an organization and a cost structure that are in step with the evolving economic environment. Today, we are announcing a company-wide restructuring plan that includes staffing reductions in all divisions. This will result in a reduction of our worldwide workforce of approximately 7 percent, or about 850 positions. We are also suspending salary increases for the Company’s senior level management in 2009. In addition, after a comprehensive review of our operations, we will write down certain programming and other assets. These three actions will bring us significant cost savings and other efficiencies. Top managers at every part of the company worked thoughtfully, carefully and compassionately to create a leaner, more focused organization. It was not an easy task, but it was an essential step that will keep Viacom at the competitive forefront today and tomorrow. Department heads and supervisors will provide you with more information about the changes that will be taking place in your division. Saying goodbye to friends and colleagues is always difficult, particularly when we have shared so much. Those of you who will be leaving should be proud of your contributions, which we will always respect and appreciate. We thank you and we wish you the best. The true measure of an organization is how it deals with change and overcomes challenges. We know that you are up to the task and that together we will push through the difficulties ahead and go on to even greater achievements. We truly appreciate your continued commitment and hard work and we thank you for everything you do each day. Sincerely, Philippe and Tom” (Perez Hilton)
Celebrity couple Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin are ready to expose their lives to the cameras in an unscripted project for TV Land. The network has ordered a pilot presentation of a project that would follow the lives of the husband-and-wife duo along with their two daughters. The project is executive produced by Jason Carbone. “Ever since I started here (in May 2006), I’ve been out in the marketplace looking for a celebrity couple with dynamic stories to tell, and when I met Lisa and Harry, it made sense,” said Keith Cox, TV Land’s executive VP development and original programming. Should TV Land go forward with the project, said to have generated interest from a few cable networks, it will go straight to a half-hour series pickup targeted for a 2009 debut, Cox said. (Hollywood Reporter)
Inside sources confirm that NBC has decided not to order any more episodes of Knight Rider this season and will close production after the cast and crew complete the 17th episode, which is filming this week. So will the show live on to see a season two? Find out… According to sources close to the series, there is no official kill order on Knight Rider, so the future of the show depends almost entirely the ratings for the remaining 10 unaired episodes. The decision on season two will come next year. As you may have heard, NBC has been working under KITT’s hood for a while now, trying to rev up the ratings. Bruce Davison, Yancey Arias and Sydney Tamiia Poitier were let go earlier this year in an effort to tighten and brighten storylines. What do you think of this news? Based on the fan emails we get, many of you are watching and enjoying this series. But you’ll need to help spread the word among your friends if you want this series to stick around. (Eonline)
In broadcasting the world’s first live 3-D football game to theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Boston Thursday evening, the NFL promised an “up close, personal, visceral” experience that could open a new revenue stream for the league. The screenings for team owners, producers and journalists will use technology developed by 3ality Digital, a Burbank, Calif.-based company whose major investor is the family of Art Modell, owners of the Baltimore Ravens from 1996 to 2004. “We are merely doing a test for our friends at the NFL to show them definitively that this digital 3-D technology is now,” said David Modell, 47, former Ravens president and chairman of 3ality. “This is not something we’re hoping will happen. This is now.” Eight 3-D camera crews will sidle up to 2-D counterparts to catch the game between the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers Thursday evening. The 2-D crews will work on behalf of the NFL Network, while the 3-D crews will work for the test broadcast, which will have its own commentators. 3-D viewers must don polarized lenses to see the action. Attendees at the Boston screening are to include New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who leads the NFL Broadcasting Committee and will help shape how the league uses 3-D. The New York screening will host Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf, New York Giants co-owner John Mara, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, another broadcasting committee member. “All this right now is an experiment,” said Howard Katz, the National Football League’s senior vice president of broadcasting and media operations. “It’s a proof of concept. We just want to get an idea of what our game would look like in 3-D. Anything beyond that is just speculation.” A transition to regular broadcasts of 3-D sports events is not expected soon. David Hill, the chief executive of Fox Sports Television Group, said at a 3-D entertainment conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday that equipment makers would have to fund a large-scale rollout of 3-D cameras for sports events because broadcasters are still paying for the conversion to high-definition. “The people who make money off it are going to have to subsidize it,” Hill said. “I can’t see making a move into 3-D until a good fairy comes flapping into my office with a check.” Despite the concern about costs, Fox Sports plans to do a 3-D broadcast itself of college football’s BCS National Championship on Jan. 8 to about 150 digital theaters nationwide. Details have yet to be worked out, said Fox Sports spokesman Lou D’Ermilio. By the end of 2008, an estimated 2 million U.S. TV sets will be capable of handling 3-D signals, about 2 percent of the nation’s estimated 114.5 million TV homes. Katz said the NFL is not exploring making theater broadcasts regularly available in the way that documentary filmmakers and concert promoters have increasingly been offering their material at digital theaters. “It’s not an alternative we’re currently contemplating,” Katz said. “We’re very committed to the free, over-the-air distribution of our games.” An experiment last year with live 3-D broadcasts involved Pace, a company founded by director James Cameron and his partner Vince Pace. They showed VIP guests a live 3-D transmission of the NBA All-Star game in Las Vegas and followed up with a 3-D transmission of Game 2 of the NBA finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban also hosted a 3-D transmission of a game between the Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs at theaters in Dallas in March. (Daily Record)
BEC World, operator of Thailand’s second most popular television channel, said on Thursday higher advertising revenue should boost its net profit by 20% this year. BEC, which owns Channel 3 and gets 90% of its revenue from advertising, might raise advertising rates next year as advertising spending was still good despite the poor economic outlook for 2009, financial chief Chatchai Thiamtong told reporters. “In the first nine months, our net profit already rose about 20%, so we should achieve the same growth for the whole year as advertising revenues still show double-digit growth in the fourth quarter,” Chatchai said. “Next year should be tough. But we will run business carefully. We are also looking for a good time to raise advertising rates,” he added. The listed firm reported a 37% rise in net profit to 2.25 billion baht ($63 million) in 2007. In the first nine months of this year, it made a net profit of 2.15 billion baht, up 24% from a year earlier thanks to strong television advertising revenue. However, analysts said the outlook for the entertainment sector remained weak. They expect advertisers’ spending to slow in line with a drop in economic growth. Thirteen analysts polled by Reuters Estimates expected 2008 earnings to rise 22% to 2.75 billion baht, but net profit growth should be only 6.2% in 2009. BEC World shares closed up nearly 4% at 18.40 baht on Thursday, when the overall stock market. SETI was flat. (Hollywood Reporter)
In addition to all the firings going on at MTV/Viacom right now…..NBC/Universal is also laying off 500 employees today. The job cuts are at all levels of the company — television, film and parks. Such a bummer! (Perez Hilton)
TODAY’S IMPOSSIBLE QUESTION . . . (Mike Butts Creative)
Q. 50 of these are sold every minute in the world. In the time it took to ask this question 50 more flew out the door. What?
A. Bibles
TODAY’S QUOTE (By Napoleon Bonaparte)
“MEN TAKE ONLY THEIR NEEDS INTO CONSIDERATION, NEVER THEIR ABILITIES.”
DISNEY MIND BOGGLERS . . . (Disney Insider)
Q. What personal item did Walt Disney sell in order to purchase a one-way railroad ticket from Kansas City to California so he would begin his new career?
A. Typewriter
B. Camera **** (Walt sold his camera so he could raise enough money to take him to California)
C. Pen
D. Car
Q. How many puppies were actually born to Pongo and Perdita?
A. Fifteen ****
B. Twelve
C. Five
D. Twenty
Q. What famous character was first introduced in the 1947 comic book “Christmas on Bear Mountain”?
A. Scrooge McDuck **** (“Christmas on Bear Mountain” introduced miserly Scrooge McDuck)
B. Goofy
C. Pluto
D. Daisy
Q. In “High School Musical 2,” we learn that Ryan Evans is a champ at what sport?
A. Ryan’s an ace baseball player – and a former Little League championship team member
Q. What does the name WALL-E stand for?
A. The main character’s name is actually an acronym, standing for Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth-Class
Q. What does King Triton want Ariel to refrain from doing, prompting him to say, “As long as you live under my ocean, obey my rules”?
A. King Triton instructs Ariel not to swim to the surface again, for fear of being seen by humans, whom he thinks are “barbarians.”
PEARL HARBOR FACTS . . . (Internet)
1941
The Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. Navy’s base at Pearl Harbor and on Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands on Sunday morning, 7 December 1941, destroyed much of the American Pacific Fleet and brought the United States into World War II. What President Franklin D. Roosevelt called a “day which will live in infamy” led Congress to declare war on Japan on 8 December.
The attack followed the decision of the government of Premier Hideki Tojo that the Roosevelt administration would not abandon China and Southeast Asia to the Japanese military nor continue to supply Tokyo with oil and other vital supplies. Thus, while negotiating with Washington, Tokyo also planned a major Japanese offensive into British Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, and the American Philippines. (http://www.answers.com/topic/attack-on-pearl-harbor)
Eight American battleships and 13 other naval vessels were sunk or badly damaged, almost 200 American aircraft were destroyed, and approximately 3,000 naval and military personnel were killed or wounded. The attack marked the entrance of Japan into World War II on the side of Germany and Italy, and the entrance of the United States on the Allied side.
(http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312409/thinkquestww2_3/Pearl_Harbor_p.html)
TRAVEL TIPS . . . (Peter Greenberg Worldwide)
SISTER NATIONAL PARKS AROUND THE WORLD:
You may be familiar with America’s great national parks. But did you know that our national parks have little sisters around the world? Many of our best-known national parks have “little sisters” in other countries; these parks have similar topographies and attract tourists with similar interests. Sequoia National Park in California now has a Cambodian sister, called the Samlaut National Park. Excessive poaching and mismanagement has led to a decline in wildlife in this 148,000-acre park, so the Sequoia National Park is sharing information to help rebuild the Cambodian park for tourism. Yosemite shares a sisterhood with China’s Huangshan National Park. Both boast granite cliffs and pine trees which have inspired generations of painters, poets and photographers. And the Rocky Mountain National Park works in cooperation with Tatra National Park, which protects Poland’s highest mountains. These parks share research and information to protect their ecosystems and promote tourism.
(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.)
BIRTHDAYS . . .
December 5th:
—1782 8th President Martin Van Buren (d. 7-24-1862)
—1870 American Rodeo Cowboy Bill Pickett (d. 4-21-1932)
—1901 Animator Walt Disney (d. 12-15-1966)
—1902 US Senator Strom Thurmond (d. 6-26-2003)
—1906 Producer Otto Preminger (d. 1986)
—1932 Singer Little Richard (“Tutti Frutti”)
—1934 Author, journalist Joan Didion (After Henry)
—1935 Author Calvin Trillin (American Stories)
—1936 Musician Chad Mitchell (The Chad Mitchell Trio) (“The John Birch Society”)
—1938 J.J. Cale (“Crazy Mama”)
—1943 Musician Mike Smith (Dave Clark 5)
—1944 Actor Jeroen Krabbe (The Fugitive)
—1945 Eduardo Serrato – drummer for ? & The Mysterians (“96 Tears”)
—1946 Singer Andy Kim (“Rock Me Gently”)
—1946 Opera singer Jose Carreras
—1947 Musician Jim Messina (Loggins & Messina) (“Your Mama Don’t Dance”)
—1947 Football’s Jim Plunkett
—1950 Actress Morgan Brittany (Dallas)
—1957 Football’s Art Monk
—1963 Actress Carrie Hamilton (Fame) (d. 1-20-2002)
⎯1965 Musician/Singer Johnny Rzeznik (Goo Goo Dolls)
—1968 Actress Margaret Cho (All American Girl)
⎯1985 Actor Frankie Muniz (Malcolm in the Middle)
December 6th:
—1886 American poet Joyce (Alfred) Kilmer (Trees) (d. 7-30-1918)
—1896 Lyricist/Author Ira Gershwin (d. 8-17-1983)
—1906 Actress Agnes Moorehead (Bewitched) (d. 4-30-1974)
—1920 Jazz Musician Dave Brubeck (“Take Five”)
—1924 Actor Wally Cox (d. 1973)
—1941 Football’s Walter Perkins
—1943 Mike Smith – keyboards and lead singer for The Dave Clark Five (“Glad All Over”)
⎯1944 Singer Jonathan King (“Everyone’s Gone to the Moon”)
—1945 Actor James Naughton (The Paper Chase)
—1953 Actor Tom Hulce (Amadeus)
—1953 Actress JoBeth Williams (The Big Chill)
—1955 Comedian Stephen Wright
—1955 Musician Rick Butler (The Jam)
—1956 Guitarist Peter Buck (R.E.M.)
—1961 Baseball’s Larry Sheets
—1962 Guitarist Ben Watt (Everything But The Girl)
—1962 Actress Janine Turner (Northern Exposure)
⎯1969 Singer Macy Gray
December 7th:
—1761 Museum Curator Madame Marie Tussaud (d. 4-15-1850)
—1873 American Author Willa Sibert Cather (My Antonia) (d. 4-24-1947)
—1912 Actor Rod Cameron (d. 12-21-1983)
—1915 Actor Eli Wallach (The Tiger Makes Out)
—1932 Actress Ellen Burstyn (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood)
—1942 Musician Harry Chapin (“Cats In The Cradle”) (d. 7-16-1981)
—1947 Baseball’s Johnny Bench
—1948 Singer Gary Morris
—1949 Musician Tom Waits (I Never Talk to Strangers)
—1954 Singer Mike Nolan (Bucks Fizz)
—1956 Basketball’s Larry Byrd
—1956 Actress Priscilla Barnes (License to Kill)
—1961 Musician Rob Downes (Then Jerico)
—1966 Actor C. Thomas Howell (Soul Man)
THIS DAY IN HISTORY . . .
December 5th:
MOON PHASE: FIRST QUARTER (4:26pm EST). Today is BATHTUB PARTY DAY which is a day to remind everyone to experience one of the great luxuries of life and take a long, hot bath instead of a shower.
—1492 Christopher Columbus discovered the Island of Hispaniola; today’s discovery day in Haiti.
—1776 Phi Beta Kappa, the original Greek letter fraternity, was founded at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
—1854 Aaron Allen of Boston patents a folding theater chair.
—1876 President Ulysses S. Grant delivered his speech of apology to Congress claiming mistakes he made while he was President were due to his inexperience. His errors he said, were “errors of judgment, not intent.”
—1882 James Lafferty was granted a patent for his “Elephant Hotel” in New Jersey. The 65-foot high “Elephant” was divided into rooms which were reached by stairs in the legs.
—1893 The first electric car hit the streets, built by a Toronto firm. It could go fifteen miles between chargings.
—1929 America’s first nudist organization, the American League of Physical Culture, was founded.
—1933 Ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment to the US Constitution ending Prohibition.
—1955 America’s two largest labor organizations, the AF of L and the CIO, merged into a single group, with George Meany as their first president.
—1964 The Zombies’ “She’s Not There” and the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” make their first appearances on the U.S. singles chart.
—1968 Graham Nash leaves the Hollies after refusing to do an album of Bob Dylan songs.
—1968 The Rolling Stones celebrate the release of “Beggars Banquet” with a custard pie fight at London’s Elizabeth Rooms Hotel.
—1975 “Fleetwood Mac,” the first Mac LP with Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, goes gold.
—1979 “Pop Muzik” by M goes gold in NY, London, Paris, and Munich.
—1987 Belinda Carlisle has the number one US single with “Heaven Is A Place On Earth.”
—1990 Billy Joel receives a Humanitarian Award from the Cathedral of St. John in New York City and also receives a Grammy Legend Award.
December 6th:
Today is SAINT NICHOLAS DAY.
—1865 The Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, abolishing slavery in the United States.
—1877 Thomas Edison perfects the phonograph by recording “Mary Had A Little Lamb.”
—1917 1654 people were killed in Halifax, Nova Scotia when the Norwegian ship Imo plowed in the French munitions ship Mont Blanc. A tidal wave was caused by the explosion and washed much of the city’s remains out to sea.
—1921 Agnes McPhail became the first woman ever elected to a seat in Canada’s House of Commons.
—1965 The Rolling Stones record “19th Nervous Breakdown.”
—1968 James Taylor’s self-titled debut album is released in Britain.
—1968 President-Elect Richard Nixon sends form letters to prospective office holders. One recipient is Elvis Presley.
—1969Meredith Hunter is stabbed to death by Hell’s Angels in front of the stage at a free concert by the Rolling Stones at Altamont Speedway near San Francisco. Contributing to the incident is cold weather and overcrowding. Violent skirmishes climax in the death of four fans, one by the aforementioned Hell’s Angels who were appointed security guards.
—1970 “Gimme Shelter,” the film of the Rolling Stones’ 1969 tour, opens in New York.
—1973 Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as Vice President, following the resignation of Spiro Agnew.
—1976 Democrats in the House of Representatives elected a new speaker – Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neil.
—1985 About thirty minutes into his concert, John Cougar Mellencamp suffers through two sound failures at Madison Square Garden. He apologizes and offers to pay for all tickets. Though he does a two-hour show close to half the audience accepts his offer.
—1985 The “Miami Vice” LP becomes the first TV soundtrack to go double platinum.
—1986 The Hooters hit the pinnacle of success as they become a TV Guide crossword puzzle clue.
—1988 Roy Orbison dies of a heart attack at the age of 52 in Tennessee.
⎯1991 Star Trek VI …The Undiscovered Country premieres. It is the last of the films based solely on the original series cast & it presents their final mission together. The film earned 2 Academy Award nominations.
December 7th:
Today is PEARL HARBOR DAY.
—1907 Emily Bissell of Wilmington, Delaware became the first person to sell Christmas Seals to help fight tuberculosis.
—1911 China abolished compulsory wearing of pigtails. They had been introduced by the Mongol conquerors as a sign of servitude, back in the 17th century.
—1941 Pearl Harbor Day, “A Day,” as Franklin D. Roosevelt put it, “that will live in infamy.” It was on this day in 1941 that planes from the Japanese Imperial Navy, operating in secret from ships some 275 miles off Hawaii, bombed and sank all but one of our country’s entire Pacific fleet, anchored at Pearl Harbor, Honolulu. The original cost of the raid, according to Japanese sources, was about $700,000. When Hollywood re-created it for the movie “Tora Tora Tora” it cost them $8 million.
—1963 “Dominique” by the Singing Nun is the top single in the US.
—1963 The Beatles’ “I Want To Hold Your Hand” becomes their first record to enter the British chart at number one.
—1964 Brian Wilson suffers a nervous breakdown on a plane from LA to Houston. A short time later he quits touring with the Beach Boys.
—1967 Otis Redding records “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” three days before his death.
—1967 The Beatles’ Apple Shop & Boutique opens in London.
—1968 The University of Cincinnati library decided to waive the fine on a book borrowed in 1823, when the borrower’s great grandson offered to return it. The fine would have been more than $2500.
—1968 The Supremes and the Temptations release their collaboration “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me.”
—1973 A yearlong name ownership battle begins between Fleetwood Mac and ex-manager Clifford Davis, who has assembled a replacement band.
—1979 “Escape, (The Pina Colada Song)” hits #1 CHR as thousands of lonely people scan classified ads.
—1988 Former Partridge Family “bassist” Danny Bonaduce lands the night shift at WEGX/ Philadelphia.
—1988 An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale rocked the Soviet province of Armenia killing upwards of 60,000 people. Many of the deaths were blamed on poor construction practices.
RADIO ONLINE® DAILY SHOW PREP™ . . .
ON THIS DAY
On this date in 1484, the Pope set down severe penalties against German witches and magicians… but only for a spell.
Phi Beta Kappa, the very first fraternity in the U.S., was organized on this date in 1776. Their motto: “Gonna party like its 1799!”
In 1848, President James Polk announced to Congress that gold had been discovered in California. Congress immediately wanted to appropriate enough whiskey for all the prospectors, but that would have been contributing to the delinquency of miners.
On this date in 1876, the pipe wrench was invented. Until that time, there was one less weapon in the game of “Clue.”
In 1908, numbers were put on football uniforms for the very first time at the University of Pittsburgh. The players with numbers 32131133 and 2091039 weren’t very happy about it.
TODAY IS
Hey, happy “Cinco de Decembero!”
Frankie Muniz turns 23 today. For years, he was Malcolm in the Middle. Now he’s just plain Frankie on the outside.
Margaret Cho turns the big 4-0 today. Margaret has proved that you don’t necessarily have to be funny to become a comedian.
Jim Messina turns 61 today… or, as he’s better known, “the guy who used to sing with Kenny Loggins.”
Bathtub Fun Day — Send stunt boy to one of the fanciest hotels in the city to see if he could help one of the maids clean the bathtub together… naked! It’s great if you can get the maid to chase him down the hallway with a feather duster.
Play Hooky Day — Rinkworks.com offers these school excuse notes parents have written for their kids:
• “My son is under a doctor’s care and should not take P.E. today. Please execute him.”
• “Please excuse Lisa for being absent. She was sick, and I had her shot.”
• “Please excuse Gloria from Jim today. She is administrating.”
• “Dear School: Please ekscuse John being absent on Jan. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and also 33.”
• “Please excuse Roland from P.E. for a few days. Yesterday he fell out of a tree and misplaced his hip.”
• “John has been absent because he had two teeth taken out of his face.”
• “Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing football. He was hurt in the growing part.”
• “Megan could not come to school today because she has been bothered by very close veins.”
• “Chris will not be in school cus he has an acre in his side.”
• “Please excuse Ray Friday from school. He has very loose vowels.”
• “Please excuse Tommy for being absent yesterday. He had diarrhea, and his boots leak.”
• “Irving was absent yesterday because he missed his bust.”
• “Please excuse Jimmy for being. It was his father’s fault.”
• “Please excuse Jennifer for missing school yesterday. We forgot to get the Sunday paper off the porch, and when we found it Monday, we thought it was Sunday.”
• “Sally won’t be in school a week from Friday. We have to attend her funeral.”
• “My daughter was absent yesterday because she was tired. She spent a weekend with the Marines.”
• “Please excuse Jason for being absent yesterday. He had a cold and could not breed well.”
• “Please excuse Mary for being absent yesterday. She was in bed with gramps.”
• “Gloria was absent yesterday as she was having a gangover.”
• “Please excuse Burma, she has been sick and under the doctor.”
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
• For what it’s worth, gun sales have gone up — as much as 50% in some areas — since Barack Obama was elected president.
• Whoops! Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) hung up on President-Elect Obama twice because she thought Elvis Duran (airing on WHYI-FM Y100 Miami) was pranking her.
• The economy is tight out there. Natalie Portman’s vegan line of shoes, Te Cesan, has gone under.
• Actor Mark Ruffalo (“Zodiac”)’s brother is fighting for his life after being shot in the head in Beverly Hills.
• Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have sent a letter to the National Enquirer demanding “a full public retraction” of story saying Kelly and Mark have “split.”
• Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”) will play the love interest of Tina Fey character Liz Lemon on “30 Rock.”
• Former New York Yankees star Bernie Williams’ second album, Moving Forward, will come out April 14th. On Reform Records.
• Country music stars Julianne Hough (Dancing with the Stars) and Chuck Wicks are hinting at wedding plans after spending a family Thanksgiving together.
• Designer Carmen Marc Valvo told Newsweek that the female body part with the starring role is her back. For spring and summer 2009 fashion, the sexy focus will be on the back with intricate, eye-popping dresses that show off a woman’s back–from nape to tailbone.
• Fleetwood Mac will go on tour in 2009 for the first time in five years.
• Ask Heidi Montag’s mom about her marriage to Spencer Pratt and she’ll say that she gives it six months.
• Prosecutors now allege Jennifer Hudson’s estranged brother-in-law killed three family members because he was angry that the singer’s sister was dating another man.
• If you’re trying to keep up, Amy Winehouse’s husband is back in jail after failing a drug test.
• “E.R.” will wrap up in a two-hour series finale on March 12.
• Gwen Stefani is reportedly pregnant with child #3.
• You knew this was only a matter of time: in Germany, a priest has found a newborn baby abandoned in the manger of a church nativity scene.
• Latest layoff announcements: MTV, 850. Dupont, 2500. AT&T 12,000.
• Anne Heche is pregnant. No, we’re not accusing you.
CONVERSATION STARTERS
Among teenagers, texting is the hands down preferred way to be in touch. So how about a little Text Messaging 101?
• Text messages are limited to 160 character each, are quicker than e-mail, quieter than phone calls and much more likely to get a response from your kid.
• 25% of teens in relationships communicate with a boyfriend or girlfriend via text between the hours of midnight and 5am.
• QWERTY keyboard, pronounced “kwer-tee,” this mini keyboard built into some phones allows for faster, easier texting. The first six letters on a keyboard are “Q, W, E, R, T, and Y.”
• 1,742 text messages a month is the average, teenagers ages 13 to 17 send or receive according to Nielsen Mobile.
• 158 billion text messages were sent nationwide in 2006, nearly double the number in 2005.
• The people most likely to text message are between the ages of 13 to 24.
According to a survey conducted by Blockbuster, movie fans are hoping to see Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie play starring roles in the next Batman flick. The villains that fans would most like to see Batman take on are The Riddler and The Joker’s therapist turned girlfriend Harley Quinn. Other top picks were Cat Woman, The Penguin and tough guy Bane. Favorite actors to play roles like these included Natalie Portman, Edward Norton and Keira Knightley.
According to a Glamour poll:
• 55% of women spend at least $500 on holiday gifts.
• 38% of women spend 10 or more hours shopping for gifts.
• 36% of women wish they had more “me time” during the holidays.
• 33% of women do most of your holiday shopping online.
• 25% of women avoid talking politics at holiday functions.
• 23% of women shop for gifts a month in advance
• 18% of women say the most stressful part of the season is their family.
• 12% of women say they spend holidays with friends instead of family.
If holiday shopping leaves you befuddled, it may be that you had too many decision to make. In a study of 58 shoppers, researchers at the University of Minnesota found that the more buying choices people made, the worse they did on simple math tests, even if they were no more fatigued. Shopping at stores with a limited selection may help, but you’ll still be choosing which is “mentally exhausting,” says study leader Kathleen D. Vohs, Ph.D. Her advice: “If you have an important meeting in the afternoon or need the self control to get through a holiday gathering with difficult relatives, do your gift buying another day.” (Good Housekeeping)
The Kaiser Permanente Center reports keeping a food diary can double your weight loss results and help you reach your goal twice as fast. A study of 1,685 dieters found that as the use of a daily food log increased, so did weight loss. In addition to keeping a food diary, participants in the study ate a diet high in fruits and vegetables and low in fat and sodium. They also got some light exercise every day. The researchers believe that focusing on what we eat makes us more aware of our behavior and better equipped to change it. (Sun)
PHONE TOPICS
• Anyone know a professional athlete? How about an Olympic athlete?
• What do you know enough about to write a book?
• When do you think our economy will recover?
• Did you ever get into a fight over cutting in line?
• The strangest thing on your kids wish list.
• Which is more important to you? Christmas Eve, or Day?
• Hardest thing you ever had to give up?
• Anyone break up recently, right before the holiday?
• Best work from home job?
• Have you ever been on a reality TV show?
• Strangest thing you’ve ever found in your mates pockets.
• Ever been temporarily blind? Deaf?
• Ever date someone who was incredibly taller or shorter than you?
• What’s the best day of the week to take off?
• If you could only hear one Christmas song this year, which one?
This is a recent email scam that your listeners should be on the lookout for. My co-host got an e-mail yesterday saying, “I felt very sorry and bad for you, that your life is going to end like this if you don’t comply, I was paid to eliminate you and I have to do it within 10 days…I might just spare your life, $8,000 is all you need to spend.” Obviously it’s an email scam, but for those not too familiar with the internet scam artists, it’s got to be scary. Have you ever received a death threat via e-mail that requested cash? How did you react?
I heard on the cable news networks today that the cost of attending college has risen nearly three times the rate of the cost of living. Eventually, it could be unaffordable for most of our kids. We talked on our show about student loan payback. I still have $30k in loans. I’ve been paying for 10 years. I still have $30k left. Anyone like me and pay just the interest? Who listening has the most student loan debt?
We talked about the 9-year-old kid who’s on a media book blitz. He has a book that offers tips on how to get the right girl. So we took our own poll, and asked our younger listeners to call and answer the same question. The answers were hilarious, from “offering them chocolate,” to “not teasing them.” It was a real warm and fuzzy.
What the heck is wrong with women? My male co-host doesn’t understand why women can’t tell guys what they’re really mad about. He says they think that guys should already know the problem. Open the phones, it’s a never ending battle.
Have you ever been at a funeral and someone says something negative about the person? This was a funny phoner! We started out by discussing our own experiences at funeral homes.
Which holiday special do you most look forward to every year? So you don’t miss it, here are some annual Holiday favorites on your upcoming TV schedule (all times Eastern):
• “Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer,” The CW Dec. 5, 8 p.m.
• “Frosty’s Winter Wonderland,” ABC Family, Dec. 5, 7 p.m.
• “A Charlie Brown Christmas, ABC, Dec. 8, 8 p.m. Also showing Dec. 16, 8pm.
• “Twas the Night Before Christmas” ABC, Dec. 8, 7 p.m.
• “A Garfield Christmas,” ABC Family, Dec. 9, 7 p.m.
• “Mickey’s Christmas Carol,” ABC Family, Dec. 10, 7 p.m.
• “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” ABC Family, Dec. 10, 8 p.m.
• “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year,” ABC Family, Dec. 10, 9 p.m. Repeating Dec. 11 at 7 p.m.
• “I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown” ABC, Dec. 15, 8 p.m. Repeating Dec. 20.
Recurring Movies (all times Eastern):
• “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” ABC, Dec. 5, 9 p.m., with Jim Carrey as the green one.
• “Prancer,” AMC, Dec. 7, 8 p.m.
• “A Christmas Carol,” AMC, Dec. 7, 10:30 p.m.
• “Jack Frost,” ABC Family, Dec. 10, 10 p.m.
• “Surviving Christmas” ABC, Dec. 13, 9 p.m.
• “Elf,” USA, Dec. 10, 10 p.m. Repeating Dec. 14 at 3 p.m.
• “The Polar Express” ABC Family, with Tom Hanks in every computerized role. Dec. 22 at 6 and 8:30 p.m.
• “A Christmas Story” TNT, in its annual 24 hour marathon on TBS, starting Dec. 24 at 8 p.m.
• “It’s a Wonderful Life” NBC, Dec. 13, 8 p.m. Repeating Dec. 24, 8 p.m.
Have you ever sold or bought something at a pawn shop? What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever pawned/bought?
“What is the easiest job in (city)?” Funny, nobody offered their job as the easiest but sure had a lot of co-workers or bosses in mind. We also heard about little 15-car parking lots where a guy sits in a booth and watches his cars all day.
“Your biggest job screw-up.” We had a lot to tell about for sure. Then we heard from a lady who e-mailed her friend about her boss’s tacky clothes and accidentally sent it to the man himself. Also talking about co-workers who are in the next cubicle hearing every word. That kind of thing.
The average person only gets six hours of sleep every night. So, we asked about the strangest place you’ve ever fallen asleep. The phones lit up with stories. We had a lot of good ones, but the best was from a woman who fell asleep during sex with her ex-husband. She actually told us that’s what led to the divorce.
Who is your hero? Many people will call and say athletes, movie stars., etc. What is a hero? It’s not someone who throws a ball through a hoop or reads scripts. It’s someone who has saved a life or who changes lives. People like John Walsh or the EMT’s who save people everyday. Maybe your dad is your hero. Ask your listeners who their hero is and talk about yours.
What really happens when your head hits the pillow? Sure, sleep fulfills some very basic needs–like maintaining your physical and mental health, not to mention preparing you for those crucial daytime hours. But a lot more happens after the lights go out. Did you know that sleep affects your memory, your heart, and even the health of your teeth? Here, are some of sleep’s strangest facts.
• Flexing Memory – From a special vacation to a holiday gathering, long-term memories are predominantly formed during sleep when the brain replays recent experiences.
• Sleep to a Better Beat – A good night’s sleep is essential for a healthy ticker. Lack of sleep can lead to hypertension.
• Snooze and Smile – Tossing and turning can affect your smile. A Journal of Periodontology study shows that the amount of sleep you get can significantly affect your teeth. Researchers speculate that sleep shortage impairs the body’s immune system, something that can lead to bad teeth.
• Sleep to Your Own Rhythm – If you find yourself awake and energetic late at night, you may have a genetic mutation. The altered gene may explain why some people prefer late nights.
• Getting by with Less – Some people can survive on very little sleep, while others require many hours to function normally. If you still perform relatively well when sleep deprived, the reason could be your genes.
A recent Harris Poll found that 16 percent of adults have at least one tattoo. Among Americans ages 25 to 29 – a prime childbearing age – the number jumps to 36 percent. Do you think it’s ok for a mom to get a tattoo? My co-host says it’s sexy, but I think it’s gross. Open your phones.
What’s going on in your neighborhood? We had some outrageous stories about what you can pick up with a baby monitor, scanner, or even crossed phone lines. Apparently, there are quite a few housewives around having lesbian affairs with their neighbors. We gave the juiciest story teller some great prizes.
Five word phrases that mean trouble? Such as “Honey, I might be late,” “This might hurt a little,” “Honey, I was just thinking,” “Hold my beer, watch this,” “Trust me, I’m a professional,” you get the idea, it’s an easy home run for the phones.
We’ve all seen those commercials about identity theft but, honestly, I don’t think many of us really worry about it. That’s a mistake. My co-host recently found a several thousand dollar charge on his Visa from some place he had never heard of before. We asked our listeners if they had experience with identity theft or credit fraud, and what to do about it. The lines flooded. A lot of people go through a lot of stress about this and, wow, does that make for intense radio.
I’ve seen a couple of guys who pull off grey hair pretty well. Some of my favorite grey-headed men are, Richard Gere, and Anderson Cooper. Is grey hair sexy on guys? Do you find it attractive?
WEIRD NEWS
Fishy Story
21 years ago Joe Richardson of Buena, Texas lost his class ring. It did have his name engraved on it so there was always hope that it would turn up somewhere and be returned. It did — and it was — but you won’t believe how. A fisherman fishing on Lake Sam Rayburn caught an 8-pound bass and while cleaning it — you guessed it — the ring popped out! Joe said, “My first reaction was – you gotta be kidding.” But his new fishing buddy wasn’t kidding and contacted Joe after the internet helped him track Joe down. Joe, who’s now 41 said he lost the ring about two weeks after his 1987 graduation from Universal Technical Institute in Houston. His mom had bought it for about $200 and was none too pleased when it went missing. (KFDM-TV News)
Don’t Bring a Knife To a Candy Cane Fight!
In Sacramento, California, a man using a candy cane lawn ornament successfully fended off a knife-wielding neighbor who had been attacking holiday guests gathered at a Sacramento home. Police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said the man used the two-foot-tall plastic ornament to subdue the attacker until officers arrived. The 49-year-old suspect was intoxicated and went over to a neighbor’s home on Thanksgiving and began waving a kitchen knife at people gathered on the lawn. He cut several peoples’ clothing before one of them decided to fight back — with the candy cane. The knife-wielding idiot was arrested. Our candy cane-wielding hero was not as police determined he acted in self-defense. (Sacramento Bee)
Come On Boy, Let’s Make a Beer Run
No parent of the year awards here. In Cape Coral, Florida police arrested a 27-year-old intoxicated man after he had his 9-year-old son take him on a beer run. The boy managed to drive the truck onto a median which is wear officers caught up with them. The man said he was teaching his son to drive but it was obvious he was drunk as he stunk of alcohol and was unable to stand without swaying. Plus there was an open case of Budweiser beer was in the backseat. Our Bud-loving friend was charged with cruelty toward a child and allowing an unlicensed minor to drive. (The News-Press)
Deformity In the Lobster World
Off the coast of Newport, Rhode Island, lobsterman Patrick Marks caught the most amazing lobster of his 14 year career. A lady lobster with four — count ’em — four claws! All of the lobster’s excess appendages worked. So where is the strange creature of the deep now? Well Patrick says he sometimes lets lobsters go out of guilt when they look at him funny. This one did so after he showed off the multi-clawed lobster for most of the day and took a few pictures, he let her go. (The Newport Daily News)
Non-Traditional Christmas Decorations
In Oberlin, Ohio, artist Keith McGuckin is back at it doing what he does best — pushing the artistic envelope. This time it’s a rather unique Christmas display at the Oberlin Public Library which features a legless Santa Claus in a wheelchair being pushed down stairs by a crazed Christmas tree! Keith says his Santa has no legs because of an accident involving alcohol and some power lines. An accompanying narrative explains that the tree later goes off to a strip club with money from Santa’s Salvation Army kettle. Keith’s holiday creations have been raising eyebrows for years. His 2006 gingerbread Nazis drew so many complaints he was forced to remove them from a hardware store window. But library director Darren McDonough said the latest display is staying. He jokes that if a library doesn’t have something that offends, it’s not doing its job. (The Chronicle-Telegram)
The Right To Bear Arthritic Arms
Constitution Arms, of New Jersey, has introduced a new kind of hand gun– the Palm Pistol. It’s a double action 9mm handgun that is designed specifically for sufferers of arthritis. According to the company web site, the Palm Pistol is designed for seniors, the disabled or those with limited hand strength. Normal handguns put significant stress on the wrist and hand joints, while even pulling the trigger can be impossible for some. But according to Constitution Arms, the FDA has formally designated the gun as a “medical gadget,” and the makers are seeking a prescription status for the weapon, meaning patients may be able to get reimbursement through Medicare or private insurance companies. Just what we want — people who have trouble holding a spoon shooting off guns. AHN News)
Really Bad Getaway Vehicle Choice
Police in Romania had no trouble catching up with and arresting a would-be smuggler after he made a most idiotic getaway vehicle choice. The guy tried to outrun border police with about $400,000 worth of cigarettes — in a horse and cart. Police arrested Janos Jakab as he crossed Romania’s northern border with the Ukraine carrying nearly 100,000 packs of smokes. A spokesman for the local border police said, “In general smugglers are becoming more and more sophisticated in their methods of getting contraband across borders. But in this case — not so much.” (Ananova)
Italian Stud — Literally!
American heiress and millionaire Alexis Genevieve wants to buy herself an Italian stud — quite literally. She has offered the star of an Italian reality show $300,000 to father her child! Alexis fell for 31-year-old Claudio Paselli after spotting him on Italy’s Perfect Bride TV show. But he split with his “Perfect Bride” after just two months as amazingly another reality TV show romance somehow failed. Alexis, a mother of three, offered up the cash to have Paselli fly to Arizona and have a baby with her. Paselli said, “I’m not interested in the money, I was impressed by her determination and perseverance. If I accept, it’s just because she is charming me and then I’ll destroy the check.” Yeah — right. (Ananova)
SPY THE LIE
According to the website, didyouknow.com, all of the following are names of Santa’s Elves except for one: Spy the lie!
• Bushy Evergree
• Shinny Upatree
• Yuletide Brenner ***
• Pepper Minstix
• Sugarplum Mary
All of the following are real, really bad Christmas movies except for one: Spy the lie!
• “Santa Who” (2000)
• “The Elf Who Ran Away” ***
• “To Grandmother’s House We Go” (1992)
• “Santa with Muscles” (1992)
• “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” (1964)
All of the following actors have played Santa Claus in a movie except for one: Spy the lie!
• George Wendt (“Santa Baby,” 2006)
• Leslie Nielsen (“Santa Who,” 2000)
• John Candy ***
• Edward Asner (“Elf,” 2003)
• John Goodman “The Year Without a Santa Claus,” 2006)
THOUGHTLESS TALK FRIDAY
This bit was great. Thoughtless Talk Friday. Something that a man said to you or that you said to a woman that you regretted the minute it came out of your mouth. I had some great ones. Very funny.
GOT WORK?
Each week, we feature an unemployed listener’s resume on our web site to get the attention of potential employers. Go through a mock job interview on the air and have callers critique what the person is doing wrong/right in the interview as well as on their resume.
TOP FIVE SIGNS YOUR REINDEER ARE GETTING OLD
1. You need to jump start them with a battery every morning
2. Grey antlers
3. You’re thinking about trading in at least a couple of them on some ’08 models
4. Rudolph’s nose blinking and you’re not turning
5. You’ve had to switch to support reigns
HUNTER’S HUMOR by Tim Hunter
I just hope that when congress decides how to much to give the U.S. automakers that someone reminds them of how much they were offering for our trade-ins.
Oil is down below $46 a barrel. It would mean a bleak Christmas for OPEC… if they celebrated Christmas.
YouTube is going to ban suggestive videos. So now what am I supposed to do at work all day?
My memory isn’t completely shot. I can still remember back to the days when everyone seriously thought George Michael was straight.
Because of complaints about it cruel and inhumane, a group is asking President-elect Obama that the second he takes office, he immediately shut down “Last Comic Standing.” Thank God… …
Madonna has post-poned the first of her four concerts in Buenos Aires. Hey, Argentina, stop crying!
The Grammy Award nominations were announced Thursday and once again I took a giant leap away from the current music world. My only question: Who are these people?
And now it’s time for that holiday classic, “Do they know it’s Christmas… yes they do and they wish you’d quit reminding them about it.”
THREE TIMES NOT TO TELL THE TRUTH
Cosmopolitan gives us three times not to tell the truth.
• If a pal asks your opinion, weigh whether it’s in her best interest to be honest before responding. For example, if she wonders if her nose is too big, simply reply “I love your nose. You’re gorgeous.”
• When someone opens up about anything from a work issue to a guy dilemma, don’t offer unsolicited advice. It can be misinterpreted as criticism of how she’s handling the situation.
• Considering cluing in a friend to a nasty rumor you heard about her? First, ask yourself whether it’s something you’d want to know if you were in her position. If not, zip it.
CAB COMEDY
Give a cab driver a joke book or jokes that you write. One liners and have him tell them in a row. Do a different driver each week. This will be pretty funny, especially when they are from other countries.
SCAVENGER HUNT
If you have a great prize to give away a Scavenger Hunt is still a great promotion for the morning show. Here are some of the items we asked for:
• Pool cue chalk
• Receipt from a tourist attraction
• A naked Barbie doll
• Picture of the listener inside a stranger’s kitchen
• A skateboard
• A monogrammed towel from a hotel
• A Slinky
INTRODUCE THE SHOW
We set up a voice mail box and have someone new introduce the show each morning. We ask listeners if they want to introduce the show to call and record an introduction and then we air the best ones every morning at 5am. We put sample scripts and the number to call on our web site.
BEST OF FRIDAY
Every Friday we ask for callers for the best of things in our area — best restaurant, best ice cream, etc. We’ve kind of run out of ideas for that so it’s morphing into Best Of… Favorite Guests on the show. It’s a great chance to bring back an old interview that was long forgotten about.
WAYS TO STOP STRESSING
Are you a worry wart? Self magazine offers these six ways to stop your stressing:
1. Hop off the worry train — Just because you have an idea (“I might get fired”) doesn’t mean you need to ride it to its terminus. “Worry can waste energy you’re trying to fix every possible problem, even if none exist,” psychologist Robert L. Leahy says. Instead, thing of a few tasks that will help whatever happens, like bonding with coworkers.
2. Plan to fret — “Take half an hour to worry intensively, then move on,” says Penn State professor Tom Borkovec, Ph.D.
3. Keep a journal — Jot down your worry, then in a few days or weeks, write down the outcome. What you’ll find: Things usually turn out better than you think they will.
4. Challenge the likelihood of your worry — If your husband is late coming home and you imagine he has been hit by a bus, think about the emotion behind your worry. (You are anxious because you love him and want to keep him around.) Once you have identified the emotion at the heart of your worry and allowed yourself to experience it, see if it’s a reasonable worry hint: probably not. Then let it pass rather than allowing anxiety to ruin your quiet night at home.
5. Peel an orange — The next time a thought threatens to snowball into a stressfest, grab an orange or grapefruit. Press your nail into the skin, peel it back and smell the citrus scent, focusing on every sensation. “Rather than worry about the future, you can bring yourself into the moment,” Leahy says.
6. Get nostalgic — Visualize your key life events of the past 10 years. You probably can’t recall the worries linked with these experiences, or, if you can, you may see that most never happened. Tell yourself that current worries will fade from memory, too.
Ladies, next time he complains about the stress at work, throw this in his face! Woman feel more stress. 44% of the day, vs 39% for guys.
• Stress fell for both sexes after age 60
• Woman stress over people and family, men over work
• Under 40 feel heavy stress from arguments or interpersonal communication
• Midlifers were most stressed over money, not the lack of it, but how to use what they have.
• Woman have 30 minutes less free time than men. Mother’s have the least free time.
GORSEFEATHERS by Patrick Gorse
Now states and cities are asking the government for bailout money. Even in Southern California, they’re cutting way back on essential services. In Malibu, no more limo rides home from the drunk tank. And in Studio City, where Britney Spears lives, white trash-day pickup has been cut to once a week.
To help secure the chances for an auto industry bailout, the United Auto Workers had to make concessions. They agreed to suspend what is known as their “Jobs Bank,” that guarantees laid-off workers 95 percent of their salary. Don’t confuse a jobs bank with a sperm bank. A sperm bank is a hand jobs bank.
People don’t realize how many industries depend on the survival of the Big Three automakers. The Mafia, for instance. Have you ever tried to stick a 300 pound Italian guy into the trunk of a Honda?
The CEO of Ford, Alan Mullaly, drove to Washington this week in a hybrid. The 520 mile trip took ten hours, he ate a box lunch, he didn’t stop on the Pennsylvania turnpike–and he wore the same diaper that crazy astronaut lady wore.
Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen received a call from President-elect Barack Obama, but thinking it was a prank, she hung up. When Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, called her back, she hung up again. Good for the congresswoman. Not only did she humble the White House, she totally prepared Obama for life with Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.
The marketing director of the Bloomington, Illinois, Zoo is making a nice profit fashioning Christmas ornaments out of reindeer poop. She dries the little balls of dung, puts glitter on them, and hangs them on strings. I thought they were caramel corn and dried cranberries. Could someone please call a doctor?
Madonna and A-Rod have been spotted house-hunting in the Hamptons. They are trying to pick out a low-priced luxury love shack in the down housing market. A-Rod was amazed. He said the prices were lower than his post-season batting average.
Although Barack Obama has moved very quickly to fill many positions in his administration, sources say the job of CIA Director is still “wide open.” This narrows the possibilities down to any receiver who’s played against the Detroit Lions secondary.
A Sacramento man fought off a knife-wielding attacker with a large, plastic candy cane lawn ornament. The attacker was really dazed. When police arrested him, the crook said all he could hear were jingle bells.
Can you imagine being beaten silly with a candy cane? When the guy got to the hospital, he saw a candy striper and jumped out the window.
An arms company in New Jersey has designed an easy-to-use hand gun for people suffering from arthritis. Is this really a good idea? Guns are already going off in perfectly healthy guys’ sweat pants. I can’t imagine what could go wrong here!
So, in New Jersey, they’re making hand guns for arthritis victims that are easier to use. Like New Jersey has a problem with not enough guns going off? “You know, the guy I was trying to shoot kicked me in the hand. If I hadn’t been using the new ‘EZ-Fire Palm Pistol,’ I never would have been able to squeeze off the kill shot!”
Reports say that MSNBC News anchor and pundit Chris Matthews has been advised to leave the network and declare his intention to run for the Senate in Pennsylvania. Of course, that advice did come from Bill O’Reilly…
Freshman Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz of Utah is taking the frugal route by sleeping on a cot in his office rather than renting an apartment. Chaffetz says the only problem he’s had so far is late at night when Senator Larry Craig shows up at his door dressed as a French maid cleaning lady.
On the Sunday evening broadcast of NBC Nightly News, a protester in Mumbai said these exact words about the response to the terrorist attacks, “We are trying to ask just one question. What is the action the government has taken? Why is it that systems aren’t in place? What is it that went wrong?” Now…there are three things I want to say about that. What???
A study from the medical journal Reproductive Health says that regular exercise during pregnancy reduces the need for anesthesia during childbirth. Now I don’t feel so bad for those times I said, “Honey, can you get up and get me a beer? And don’t drink any!”
During the Senate auto bailout testimony on Thursday, Montana Senator Jon Tester mixed up Mexico with Michigan. The Big Three automakers have the same problem. They keep expanding plants in Mexico instead of Michigan.
PRESIDENTIAL PICKY EATERS
(US Weekly) Barack Obama is the latest head of state to be fussy with food.
• Chefs at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, take note. There is one veggie the number 44th won’t eat. The president elect recently revealed he dislikes beets. “I always avoid eating them,” Barack Obama, 47, said.
• President Bill Clinton who was known as the first fast food loving president his favorite Big Macs. He has to forgo one of the most universal of indulgences. The Arkansas native, 62, has an allergy to both chocolate and dairy.
• Like father, like son. Both Preside George H.W. Bush, 84, and the current president, 62, refuse to eat broccoli. “My mother made me eat it. And I’m preside of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli,” Bush Sr. famously exclaimed.
• Tough President John F. Kennedy was known as a “meat and potatoes” man, when it came to turkey, America’s King of Camelot couldn’t stand the taste of dark meat.
MAKE THAT RELATIONSHIP WORK BOY!
Guys, want to make your relationship last? Men’s Health magazine has a list of tips to help you stay on your mate’s good side. Here’s a few:
• When she fills out one of those quizzes in a women’s magazine, read it.
• Send her a postcard — even when you’re home.
• Never agree with her mother when they’re arguing.
• Let her pick the movie once in a while.
• Never bring up her weight.
• Have 2 bathrooms.
• Keep all her vital statistics on a card in your wallet–birthday, anniversary, dress size, lingerie size.
CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS BOOKS TO AVOID
• Santa… Raw!
• Rudy The Brain-Dead Redneck!
• Pervo The Leg-Humping Elf!
• Frosty… The Wife No Man Desired!
• I Saw Mommy Massaging Santa Claus!
• All Kids Get Christmas Presents… Except You!
• Bone-Dry… The Tragic Little Christmas Tree!
• The Twelve Gays Of Christmas!
• Michael Jackson’s Make Believe Christmas!
• Turbo The Lactose-Intolerant Christmas Cow
THE GREAT TOY TEST
We set up with Wal-Mart to send stunt boy to one of their stores to play on the air with all the new hot Christmas toys. It’s great radio.
CHRISTMAS JEOPARDY
(Don’t forget to phrase your answer in the form of a question)
• This red, silver and white screen has been around for decades and it allows kids to create graphics with vertical and horizontal lines using knobs. What is Etch-A-Sketch?
• She is Rudolph’s girlfriend. Who is Clarice?
• In the carol “We wish you a merry Christmas, The guests demand that the host bring “this” right now or right here. What is Figgy Pudding?
• This toy walks down stairs and is fun for a girl and a boy. What is a Slinky?
• In “Twas the night before Christmas,” Santa rose up the chimney after doing this. What is “Laying a finger aside his nose?”
• It brought Frosty to life. What is a magic hat?
• He’s the director of the Christmas show in “It’s a Charlie Brown Christmas.” Who’s Charlie Brown.
• In “Miracle on 34th Street,” this government agency verifies the existence of Santa Claus. What is the post office?
• This toy company made more trucks this year than Ford, General Motors and Chrysler combined. What is Tonka?
NAME THAT SCROOGE
We do a Christmas game or two now. One called “Name That Scrooge.” Take a clip from a Scrooge-like character from any movie or TV show. Doesn’t have to be Scrooge himself from “A Christmas Carol,” but can be. Also, “The Caroling Game.” You might have done it. Read an obscure line from a lesser-known verse from a carol. Listeners have to guess which carol.
Rick Stewart's Preplog 