West Side Tale

A ‘Survivor’ wedding Roma-ance

Michael Burnett, creator of ‘Survivor’ just tied the knot with an angel. Well, she plays an angel on TV, that’s pretty close. Roma Downey, Irish actress starting in “Touched by an Angel,” married Michael today in Los Angeles. They say that the two met while living in the same neighborhood of British Ex-pats. Wait, can you be an ex-pat if you’re not American?

In any case, Della Reese officiated over the nuptials for the couple, cementing this as a truly Hollywood wedding. Della is a minister in her own church in Los Angeles, full of crazy worshipers I must assume. The wedding took place in an unspecified area of Malibu. Also of interest is the fact that this is Michael’s third marriage. Let’s hope marrying a friend and neighbor will have a more lasting effect on him. Otherwise, he might be voted off.

Lohan’s public lesbian kiss

Lindsay Lohan and her good friend the female DJ Samantha Ronson “made out” in front of curious Japanese clubbers.

Lidnsay is said to have enjoyed a passionate lesbian embrace with Samantha in a Tokyo night club.

A source told America’s Star magazine: ”They just started making out right there like they didn’t care who saw them.”

Well, maybe Lohan has decided to show her affection to her good friend Samantha. And it turned out that this relation is not only a friend one but there is something more to it.

“Everyone knows they are more than just friends. They are lovers. Maybe because they were across the globe they didn’t think anyone would notice.”

 There were rumors for Lindsay having a lesbian affair earlier this month but then nobody could say if they are justified.

Lohan and Ronson first met three years ago in a Los Angeles night club. She gets together with 29-year-old Ronson whenever she is single. Lohan once said: ”When I’m not with a guy we hook up.”

Well maybe now Lindsay doesn’t need guys at all and she dates only with Samantha. I wonder how long would their affair last.

Jesse James Driveway Showdown

Mostly, he hangs out in the “Monster Garage” pimping out the latest and the greatest vehicles.  I once saw him convert a van into a limousine.  But the most recent news about Jesse it what happened to him in his own driveway.  That’s where he met local crazy stalker woman  Marcia Valentine, who decided his was the driveway to take a siesta on.  When Jesse told her to skedaddle, Marcia proceeded to hop into her car and try to run him down, four times.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve been known to follow celebrities around Los Angeles now and then.  But I’ve never gotten to the point where I thought it best to flatten one with my vehicle.  Maybe she hates “Monster Garage.”  Maybe she was offended by “Premonition” starring Jesse’s wifey Sandra Bullock.  Or maybe, just maybe, she’s a complete loon.  Yeah, I’ll go with that one.

Kim Basinger calls Baldwin

Kim Basinger has called her ex-husband to talk with him about his behavior to help him save his relationship with his daughter.
The actress told the reporters that Baldwin should stop his “ongoing aggressive behavior” if he wants to share custody.
After the scandal about Baldwin calling his daughter Ireland “a rude little pig” his custody is in question. Now the decision is in judge’s hands and it’s up to him to decide whether he is endangering the safety of the child or not.
Meanwhile after this accident, Basinger has hired a 24-hour security for her daughter to protect her from her father until the judge makes a decision.
Heather Mills - the estranged wife of Paul McCartney spoke in Alec’s defense:” It’s wrong to speak to your daughter like that, but I am not someone to go Ooh, that is terrible, and we are all perfect, it’s all wonderful. I would never speak to my daughter like that, but what you have got to remember is that his daughter lives with Kim, and we have no idea what goes on behind closed doors.”
Heather is right that no one could be sure what’s going on and we should not judge Alec Baldwin so harsh. He is a human after all and we all make mistakes. And nobody should forget that he is the father of Ireland and this is something no one can take from him.

A Charitable Moment on Idol

American Idol is many things. Raucus, biased, possibly rigged. But tonight it was also charitable, at least to its contestants. The night was themed “Idol Gives Back,” and donations were made to Charity Projects Entertainment Fund, a program helping children in extreme poverty in American and Africa. The host for the night was our favorite Ellen DeGeneres, and guests included Kelly Clarkson and Annie Lennox. As the icing on the two hour cake, no contestants were voted off tonight.

Don’t get all excited, two will be booted next week, so expect plenty of drama. They say 70 million text messages came in this week, so the show knows who is going, it’s America who doesn’t. This show is amazing in its capacity to capture attention. It’s like a car wreck on the side of the freeway: you just can’t look away. Heck, I’m not even watching it any more and I’m still fascinated.

Right Said Fred singer to become a mayor

Is Richard Fairbrass, the bald lead singer behind Right Said Fred too sexy to be London’s next mayor?
The former bodybuilder doesn’t think so. The former singer said that he is tired of the rising cost in English capital and he wants to make a change in the city hall.
“I want to stand as an independent candidate with a manifesto for the real working people of London. They make it the brilliant city it is. It’s not about just the super-rich.” He said.
Fairbrass who is now recording a new come-back album said that there are some taxes which are really unfair. Like the congestion charge everyone have to pay when entering the city.
In Right Said Fred’s biggest hit “I’m too sexy” Fairbrass repeatedly sings “I’m too sexy for my car.”
Fairbrass may have been inspired by other famous people who now take part in politics like Arnold Schwarzenegger who is now California’s governor. Well Richard can become the next successful politician because he looks to have interesting ideas which people might accept, don’t you think? If you have to decide would you pick him?

Ellen Kisses and Tells

Don’t get your panties in a bunch, she’s not cheating on Portia or anything. Laura Dern was Ellen’s guest on her daytime talk show today, a reunion ten years in the making. Laura was Ellen’s costar when she came out on her sitcom in 1997, sharing that scandalous kiss. Laura said that she couldn’t get work for over a year because of that role, but that she was grateful to be part of the “extraordinary experience and opportunity” that rule breaking episode was. I recently saw an interview with Oprah Winfrey where she was on the Ellen DeGeneres show and mentioned she got more hate mail for being in Ellen’s coming out episode than she has ever gotten before or since.

I personally thought the show lost a lot of luster once the “coming out” actually happened. Before that the sitcom was original, but then it devolved into another “you don’t understand the personal choice I’ve made” show. That being said, these women went out on a limb to be brave in a time when gay was still in the closet. Looking at television today, it’s sad to think that they had to get blackballed to support a friend who wanted to let America in on the secret. If it weren’t for Ellen and her guts, a lot of gay television wouldn’t be around today.

What is sexy?

This is the new list of Victoria Secret for sexy people. The list announced yesterday (19 April) at a Las Vegas party was compiled by a team of Victoria’s secret executives, designers and supermodel spokeswomen Heidi Klum and Karolina Kurkova.
In the list Jessica Alba was announced for the sexiest actress, Justin Timberlake for the sexiest musician.
One of the most interesting awards was for sexiest dad and the winner was David Beckham
Heidi Klum said: “I still think my husband Seal, is the sexiest dad for our children, but that’s beside the point.”
As a whole the list has very interesting airy notions. Kate Hudson is the sexiest mother; Jay-Z and Beyonce are the sexiest couple. Sienna Miller is chosen for her trendsetting style; Cameron Diaz has the sexiest legs.
According to the jury the serial with the sexiest cast is “Gray’s Anatomy”
There should be more of these lists, don’t you think? They are funny and are like fresh air because they rate stars in more extraordinary categories

Cruising In To Help Rescuers

I don’t like Tom Cruise. I think he’s a crazy fanatic who could be replaced in any of his roles by a better actor. That being said, what he’s currently doing I do like, despite myself. Tom has been raising money for the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, a project he started with some others in 2002. The cash would go to workers who helped in 9/11 to help them deal with breathing problems and other maladies incurred as a result of working at Ground Zero. As Tom explains it, “Nearly six years later, many are still paying a price for their heroic service at the World Trade Center. This is a profound injustice.”

Almost 800 people have been treated by the program since it began, and each participant goes through a 30 day cleansing of their system which includes vitamins and sauna treatments. I imagine that considerable money is needed to fund this sort of treatment. What I like about this program is that it is focusing on doing something about a very real problem, a problem these people wouldn’t have had if they weren’t self-sacrificing heroes. If more programs in society worked like this, I think a great deal of good could be done.

Madonna and her daughter visiting a rehab

Madonna is now on her trip to Malawi and she has taken her daughter Lourdes with her. They visited a center for children who benefit from street charity work the pop star is doing in this impoverished African country. The singer is trying to do whatever she could to help as much as possible to the children of Malawi and she makes trips to it very often. She has organized the Malawi organization which aims to help in the building of new houses for the stray children and their families which are great number in this country

Madonna and her daughter arrived at the center on Wednesday and they were whisked into the compound of three buildings.

Now Madonna is trying to adopt the Malawian toddler David Banda and maybe this is the other cause for her trip-to arrange the terms of his adoption. Hope she would succeed in this initiative because at least another kid will have the chance to have a decent life and will not live in poverty.

“Well done Madonna. We love you. Adopt more “was written on the placard of Richard Muchina of Malawi.

Now Madonna is trying to adopt the Malawian toddler David Banda and maybe this is the other cause for her trip-to arrange the terms of his adoption. Hope she would succeed in this initiative because at least another kid will have the chance to have a decent life and will not live in poverty.

What Paris Didn’t Know

Okay, if you were one of the richest girls in the world, would you drive yourself around town?  Now, what if you had already had your license suspended?  This is exactly what Paris Hilton recently decided was a good idea to fill up an otherwise dull evening.  As a result, we will see how she deals with courtroom drama and how simple life can be when you’re standing in front of a judge.  On May 4^th Paris Hilton will stand up to what amounts to a traffic court judge, and will have to explain why she violated her probation. 

In her defense, Paris didn’t know her license was suspended.  Yeah, right.  I am so not believing that.  In whatever dealings I have had with the police in regards to driving, they have been overly explicit on what was going on and what the consequences were for my actions (okay, it was a speeding ticket, before you get all worried that I ran over some kids on their way home from church or something).  I think this is more the case of another rich girl prank.  She thought she could get away with it, but there are some things even Paris Hilton is not immune to.

Jennifer Aniston with new prize

But this is not a usual prize for a movie she has taken part in? No. This is something more interesting which caused many discussions about its influence on Aniston’s fame.

Well it’s time to tell you what’s the so-called prize which the star from Friends received recently. She was given the top prize at an annual gay and lesbian media awards in the US. She won a Glaad award for increasing the “visibility and understanding in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender society.

Why her? Nobody can say with certainty why she was the winner this year. Maybe she has done something that made the gay society think she can protect their rights. As far as I am concerned I think this would be one of the weirdest prizes Jennifer has ever been given. But on the other hand, she could be proud that the gay society has chosen her among so many other stars

Whitaker Wishing on a Star

I bet when Forest Whitaker took the part of Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland” he wasn’t betting for all this fame to wash his way.  He’s always been the quiet talent, sneaking in fabulous roles without much notice or fanfare.  My personal favorite was his samurai street justice in “Ghost Dog.”  But recognition has come his way, in the form of that most tangible symbols of Hollywood success, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

 Whitaker accepted the Walk’s 2,335th star today, with his lovely wife Keisha by his side.  Also in attendance were his three daughters with their gorgeous names Autumn Sonnet, and True.  Forest, if you read this, I might need to borrow these names should I ever have daughters of my own.  I admit that I haven’t allowed myself to see “The Last King of Scotland” yet, if only because I have a tough time reconciling what the man did with how he is portrayed in the film.  I prefer to think of Forest as a katana-wielding warrior slouched next to an ice cream truck.

Madonna adopting another child?

We live in a world in which it has become fashionable for the famous people to adopt children from poor countries. Now Madonna is in the center of a new adoption case. This time the child is from Malawi. Madonna has become famous with her passion to help children from poor countries and it’s not a surprise she has decided to do this. It’s not quite clear if this is absolutely true because a spokesman of her said she has no intention to adopt a new child but going to help for the building of a healthcare center in Africa. It’s not certain what the truth is but one is clear Madonna is continuing to help children.

Don’t you think in some way everyone should try to help to those poor kids? Madonna is a person we should admire. Despite being so famous she is ready to help people in need. And I believe she is not doing this just to improve her image.

Britney Spears and her personal problems.

 Britney looks really confused. In my opinion she does all those strange things just to forget about the problems she is having - taking care of her kids, coping with the difficulties she had with her husband and all other stuff. If I were in her place I would be sad and tired too. It’s hard to be happy when everything in your life is turning bad.

These days a new rumor about Britney appeared. The tabloids accused her of having liposuction in a hotel in Las Vegas. А representative of her denied this. Maybe Britney has decided to do some sports to get the form she had before her pregnancy.

Hope we’ll see her soon with a new song or something because her fans are worried about her career and if she will continue singing. Britney can be sure that she has the support of thousands of people who think she can manage with her personal dramas and become number one again.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are going to buy a yacht

It looks like Brad and Angie want to have some privacy and want to drift far from reality for some time. They have so overloaded schedules that they even don’t have time to see each other for more than a week. So I think it’s normal to want to have some rest together.

The yacht they are going to buy is something extraordinary: it is 73 meters long; it has six bedrooms, swimming pool, gym and many other supplements. The shipbuilder admits that he has an order for such a yacht but hasn’t said for sure that it is for Brad and Angelina.

I don’t know how real is this rumor but I know for sure that everybody needs some privacy and rest and if this means buying a yacht, then they should do it.

Geri Halliwell Spices Up Children's Lit

Geri Halliwell is joining the ranks of Madonna, Joni Mitchell, Leann Rimes and Billy Joel.

Not by singing, mind you, but by opting to pen children’s books.

The former Spice Girl’s authorial efforts will follow the adventures of nine-year-old Ugenia Lavender, a spunky, bright English girl who goes to school just like any normal kid but at the same time harbors a talent for solving mysteries and working her way out of sticky situations.

Sounds like a perfect endeavor for the mother of Bluebell Madonna. Halliwell’s daughter will be one year-old in May, still a few year’s shy from indulging in her mum’s prose.

Halliwell, who started writing these stories when she was pregnant, will also be providing the narration and voicing several characters for the tales’ audio-book editions. The books will hit shelves at the rate of one a month, starting in May 2008, up until October.

“I had put my back out and was stuck on the couch. I have a massive amount of creative energy and love to write. I needed something to channel that energy,” Halliwell told Reuters Thursday after inking a six-book deal with Macmillan Children’s Books.

So as not to let her other talents get rusty in the meantime, Halliwell also has plans to record a theme song for her addition to the canon of pint-size literary heroines, a tune that will also be released on CD next year and packaged along with the books.

Halliwell characterized her upcoming books as a bit Raiders of the Lost Ark-meets-Alice in Wonderland.

Ugenia is “a very well-rounded human being,” Halliwell told the Associated Press. “She’s flawed. She’s demanding. She can be a bit obnoxious, but equally she cares about the world she lives in.”

Actually, that sounds more like a combination of Posh, Baby and Scary Spice.

Regardless, Halliwell said that acting like Madonna, author of the bucolic-sounding The English Roses and Mr. Peabody’s Apples, has made for the perfect pastime since giving birth to Bluebell last year.

“I’m up in my office, so I can still be with my child, which is really important for me,” Halliwell, 34, said.

Whether the ginger-headed songstress, who cited C.S. Lewis and Enid Blyton as her favorite authors, plans on going back to music fulltime remains to be seen.

“We’ll see,” she said. “At the moment, this is my absolute passion.”

“It is time to hand on the baton of Girl Power through a different medium,” she told Reuters.

Accordingly, there is a princess character in the Ugenia Lavender series who, Halliwell admits, is based on former group mate Victoria Beckham.

“She was very flattered and I hope she is going to read the books to her boys,” she said.

Music to Tame the Savage Storm?

The Earth needs your help, so says Cameron Diaz and Al Gore, amongst others. There’s so much going on with the climate these days. Storms are killing thousands, droughts are claiming just as many, and the time has come for us to do something about it. So, in “We Are the World” fashion a concert is coming to seven cities around the world, on, you guessed it, 7.07.07. Live Earth is going to be 24 hours of music worldwide, and some of our favorite bands have chipped in to be there.

Now, I’m not sure exactly how realistic it is to assume we can do anything about the climate change. A part of me says that this planet always changes, I mean, imagine what the smog must have been like during the Jurassic Era? Either way, musicians banding together to help means a fabulous concert for a good cause. Sheryl Crow is even going so far as to start touring colleges in the name of combating climate change. Trick is, if you want to see your favorite bands, you’re going to have to be willing to travel a bit. The US leg of the tour is in Giants Stadium in New Jersey, and includes big name artists like Ludacris, Alicia Keyes and Fallout Boy. If you are lucky enough to be in London in July, you’ll be able to see Madonna, Snow Patrol, and my personal favorite Black Eyed Peas rock Wembley Stadium. Will it do any good? Who knows. Will it be some awesome music? Definitely.