Friday October 3, 2008

TODAY IS
India.Arie turns 33 today. You never hear of that website anymore.

Gwen Stefani turns 39 today. She sang Sarah Palin's theme song, "Don't Speak." Ashlee Simpson turns 24 today. Friends will gather around and lip sync "Happy Birthday to You."

Neve Campbell turns 35 today. She was on that show "Party of Five" until it was canceled, when the name of the show was the number of people watching.

Tommy Lee is 46. Just a guess, but Kid Rock probably won't be at his party.


THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• The person who called 911 to report Heather Locklear allegedly driving erratically runs a paparazzi agency and took photos of the actress's subsequent arrest.

• The most frequently stolen highway sign is mile marker 66.6 on the Garden State Parkway in Barnegat, New Jersey.

• Rosie O'Donnell is returning to television as host of a live variety show on NBC. "Rosie's Variety Show" will air as an hour-long special the night before Thanksgiving.

• An Australian climate change adviser is urging his country to eat kangaroo instead of beef to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• His real name was House Peters Junior, but you knew him as the original "Mr. Clean." Peters died this week at age 92.

• Jay-Z is performing a free concert in Detroit on Saturday, at a "Sign Up New Voters" Obama rally.

• The rumor is that Sharon Stone was trying to get Botox treatments for her 8-year-old son's feet, because they had an odor problem.

• Britney has apparently offered her ex-boyfriend a nice chunk of change in order to get back the X-rated video they did together.

• Kim Cattrall is going to provide the voice for Tom Tom's GPS navigation system.

• Hugh Laurie and his wife were at home asleep in bed when robbers broke into their new $4 million Hollywood Hills home.

• There will be a Kung Fu Panda 2.

• A musical based on the life of porn star Linda Lovelace opens October 18th in Los Angeles.

• David Archuleta made a guest appearance on an episode of the Nickelodeon series, "iCarly" yesterday. It won't be on TV until next spring.

• Melissa Etheridge and her partner Tammy were symbolically married in 2003. But now that gay marriage is legal in California, they're planning a regular ceremony.

• Russell Crowe packed on 63-pounds for his role in "Body of Lies." Cheeseburgers for breakfast helped.

• 32-year-old Neal Boyd, an insurance sales manager from Sikeston, Missouri, won the latest edition of "America's Got Talent." He gets the $1 million first prize and a chance to headline a show October 17th in Las Vegas.

• That new play in New York that just opened -- "Fault Lines" -- stars Edie Falco and is directed by David Schwimmer.


WEIRD NEWS

World's Fattest Man to Get Married!
43-year-old Manuel Uribe of Mexico holds the world record for being the fattest man in the 2007 Guinness Book of Records. At his peak, he was just over 1,300 pounds but has lost over half his weight and is down to a slim 575 pounds. And that makes him just a sexy beast -- at least for one woman, who has agreed to marry Manuel on October 26 in his hometown of Monterrey, northern Mexico. His bride-to-be, identified only as Claudia -- a widow -- says she's truly in love. Since the wedding announcement, Mr. Uribe has been inundated with offers of sponsorship from international magazines and television stations. Uribe says he thanks God for the "miracles he gave to a man who was once on the edge of suicide and who today knows love". (Ananova)


This Year's Giant Pumpkin
As we head toward Halloween, we've got to have a story about this year's giant pumpkin. This year it's a monster grown by Steve Connolly in his backyard in Sharon, Massachusetts. When he weighed it on October 1, it was at 1,800 pounds! He planted it on May 1 and pollinated it on July 3. He's been feeding the plant with North American Kelp, cow manure, maple leaf compost, seaweed fertilizer and Neptune's Harvest fish fertilizer. It has reportedly packed on up to 45 pounds per day since it's been growing. The pumpkin will be plucked on Oct. 10 and transported to Frerich's Farm in Warren where it will be weighed and compete with more than 50 other entrants from New England for the prize as the largest pumpkin. The current world record stands at 1,689 pounds and representatives from Guinness World Records will be there to verify if this pumpkin sets a new record. (Ananova)


The Sarah Bow Incident
Yee haw hunters! Now you too can git yer very own Sarah Palin huntin' bow! Lakota Industries Inc. is releasing the "Sarah-Cuda" bow-- a custom-designed hunting bow inspired by Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and said to honor the Alaska governor's "lifelong passion for the sport of hunting." It's pink -- yet it's camouflage and weighs 3.4 pounds and is designed to accommodate female hunters and archers. If you want one, you'll have to cough up $590. Lakota Industries will donate 10 percent of Sarah-Cuda proceeds to the National Association for Down Syndrome. (myway.com)


Crime Museum
You might say Las Vegas is hoping for a mob hit! At least they hope their new museum all about the mob will be a hit. The Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement will showcase southern Nevada's colorful and storied past in organized crime and is set to open in 2010 in downtown Las Vegas at the site of the former federal courthouse building. Plans for the museum are supported by the FBI, which has pledged to locate organized crime artifacts in Washington and lend them for displays. Officials say the museum won't glorify organized crime, but instead will give a candid look at its influence on Las Vegas and how law enforcers worked to extract illegal influences from gambling. (Sky News)


Woman Buys House for $1.75
With a winning eBay bid of just $1.75, Joanne Smith of Chicago bought herself an abandoned house in Saginaw, Michigan. The home had been foreclosed on and she will have to pay $850 in back taxes but it's all hers. Joanne says she'll try to sell it as she doesn't have any plans to move to Saginaw. (The Saginaw News)


Bra-Bary?
In Portland, Oregon, 25-year-old Joy Sartin says she kept her money in her bra only because she didn't have her purse with her -- and she swears she was only offering to pay a traffic ticket with it. A jury, however, saw things differently and decided the lingerie model was indeed trying to bribe a police officer who had stopped her for rolling through a stop sign and other traffic infractions. Portland police Officer Cody Berne testified that Sartin offered him $270 she withdrew from her bra when he explained her car would be towed because her license had been suspended for drunken driving. Ms. Sartin claimed she was just in a hurry to get home to her 4-year-old son after work. (myway.com)


Cooking With What?
(Caution Cowboys: May be a little dicey for some audiences.) In polite society, they're called "Mountain Oysters." The truth is they're bull testicles and a Serbian chef has written an entire cookbook on dishes with this unusual culinary pleasure. The book, by author Ljubomir Erovic, is called The Testicle Cookbook: Cooking With Balls and includes recipes for dishes like testicle pizza and battered testicles. The e-book, available for download, comes with handy video guides showing the Serb peeling the skin off testicles and slicing them up into bite-size chunks. The chef is even shown giving his take on the best of the best. He says, "The tastiest testicles in my opinion probably come from bulls, stallions or ostriches, although other people have their own favorites." Since we know you can't wait to download it, just go to www.yudo.com! (Ananova)


TOP FIVE WAYS LAST NIGHT'S VP DEBATE COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE

1. It could have been two hours, instead of 90-minutes
2. Timer breaks, Joe Biden's first answer uses up all the time
3. In a moment of panic, Sarah Palin cleans and dresses the moderator
4. Joe Biden forget to take the hanger out of his suit jacket
5. Tina Fey shows up, claiming SHE is Sarah Palin



PICKUP LINES
Guys may think that witty pick-up line is sure to make women just fall head over heels, but not true. Pick-up lines typically have the opposite effect, and psychologists from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland have figured out why: Most women don't like them. Well, duh. Researchers assembled 40 common pick-up lines and asked 266 women and 115 men to rate each of them on how a woman would most likely react. They found that the pick-up lines could be grouped into four categories:

• Cultured: "It's at moments like these when I am reminded of Lord Byron's poetry"

• Meaningless compliment: "Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"

• Sexual reference: "I may not be Fred Flintstone, but I bet I can make your bed rock"

• Humorous: "Hi! How do you like me so far?"

So, before using a line, you'd better make a quick assessment of a woman's personality and then choose a pick-up line that fits her type. And when men do let loose with a line, women tend to pigeon-hole them into one of four personality types:

• friendly and considerate nice guy
• industrious and enterprising provider
• confident and strong leader
• fickle and conceited bad mate

The conclusion: Men consistently think that a sexually explicit pick-up line will win a woman's heart. But in fact, the only lines that really work are those that suggest the man is a nice guy or fun to be with.

Ladies, here are some responses to pick-up lines that should shut-down the idiot:

• Can I buy you a drink? Actually, I'd rather have the money.

• I'm a photographer... I've been looking for a face like yours. I'm a plastic surgeon...I've been looking for a face like yours.

• How did you get to be so beautiful? I must've been given your share.

• Go on, don't be shy... ask me out. Okay, get out.

• Do you wanna go see a movie? I've already seen it.

• Where have you been all my life? Hiding from you. Or Where I'll be the rest of your life... in your wildest dreams.

• So what do you do for a living? I'm a female impersonator.

• Haven't I seen you somewhere before? Yeah, that's why I don't go there anymore.

• Is this seat empty? Yes, and this one will be too if you sit down.

• Your place or mine? Both, you go to yours and I'll go to mine.

• I would go to the end of the world for you. Yeah, but would you stay there?

• If I could see you naked I'd die a happy man. If I saw you naked, I'd die laughing.


On to ROCK NEWS -



KURT COBAIN'S ASHES NOT STOLEN AFTER ALL…Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's ashes were not stolen earlier this year despite tabloid reports that they were, according to Gigwise.com. Alan Nierob, publicist for Cobain's widow Courtney Love, said that a story alleging that Cobain's ashes were taken from Love's Hollywood home along with clothes and jewelry was "erroneously reported" and that the ashes were "never taken." Nierob issued his comments after an Australian artist claimed she would smoke Cobain's ashes in a joint as part of a performance art installation in Berlin later this month.

Natascha Stellmach claimed in Art World that she had acquired Cobain's ashes through "magic" and that smoking them would release the late singer and guitarist "into the ether from the media circus."

Inquiries about what Stellmach is currently smoking have not received a response.


RETAILERS ORDERING IMPORT COPIES OF NEW AC/DC ALBUM …Independent American record stores are reportedly buying import copies of AC/DC's new album, Black Ice, to put on their shelves since the U.S. version is only available exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. According to Undercover News, one indie retailer said, "We have been able to order Black Ice in from Argentina for $8.25 per unit and will be able to sell it for less than the Wal-Mart price." The source added, "We can buy from anywhere. With technology and international accounts, if a major like (AC/DC's label) SonyBMG America decides they don't want to do business with us, we will do business with other territories. Why should we allow them to disadvantage our businesses and p*** off our customers?"

Stores have been able to shop overseas for the AC/DC album thanks to the declining value of the U.S. dollar, making deals affordable.

Indie chains staged a similar stunt last year by buying copies of the latest Eagles album, also a Wal-Mart exclusive, at Wal-Mart stores and then re-selling them.

AC/DC caused controversy by announcing that Black Ice, which comes out October 21st, would be sold exclusively through the two giant retailers and its own official website. According to unconfirmed reports, the large FYE music retail chain pulled a number of AC/DC titles off the shelves in retaliation.

In other news, AC/DC will hold listening parties at four Hard Rock Cafes in the U.K. on Thursday, October 16th, where Black Ice will be played in its entirety. The parties will take place in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff. More info can be found at acdccomp.co.uk/hardrock.


SCOTT WEILAND ADDS MORE SOLO DATES …Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland has continued adding solo gigs to his late fall and winter schedule. The latest round of shows begins on January 16th in Dallas, wrapping up on February 7th in Las Vegas. These are in addition to the previously announced dates that start on November 11th in Kansas City, Missouri and run through early December. Weiland will be out in support of his second solo album, called Happy in Galoshes, which is due out on November 25th through his own Softdrive Records.

Two tracks from the record, "Missing In Cleveland" and "Paralysis," are both streaming at Weiland's MySpace page.

Stone Temple Pilots will head to Brazil, Argentina and Mexico later this month, before playing one more week's worth of shows on the massive North American trek the band began last spring. The tour finally wraps on Halloween (October 31st) in Birmingham, Alabama.

Happy in Galoshes follows up Weiland's 1998 solo debut, 12 Bar Blues. The CD features guest appearances by Adrian Young, Tony Kanal and Tom Dumont of No Doubt.

Newly announced Scott Weiland tour dates (venues TBA and all subject to change):
January 16 - Dallas, TX
January 17 - Houston, TX
January 19 - Atlanta, GA
January 21 - Washington DC
January 22 - Philadelphia, PA
January 24 - New York, NY
January 26 - Boston, MA
January 28 - Detroit, MI
January 30 - Chicago, IL
January 31 - Minneapolis, MN
February 2 - Denver, CO
February 5 - San Francisco, CA
February 6 - Los Angeles, CA
February 7 - Las Vegas, NV


THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND SET FOR BILLBOARD 'LEGEND OF LIVE' AWARD ..The Allman Brothers Band will receive Billboard Legend Of Live award on November 20th at the 2008 Billboard Touring Awards at New York City's Roosevelt Hotel, according to Billboard. Ray Waddell, the magazine's executive director of content and programming, touring and live entertainment said, "They're an American institution and concert icons, and Billboard is thrilled to honor them as this year's Legend Of Live."

The prestigious Legend Of Live award "recognizes a touring professional who has had a significant and lasting impact on the concert industry." Previous Legend Of Live award winners include Elton John, legendary booking agent Frank Barcelona, and Rolling Stones promoter Michael Cohl, among others.

Gregg Allman says that after being sidelined for most of this year by Hepatitis C, he's feeling great being back behind the keyboard leading the band: "We have some new stuff. The shows have been wonderful. Man, I've never been so glad to get out there and play. I swear, I felt like I was 20 years old. There's two or three new things, and we've embellished on a couple of tunes that have gone into these pretty wild jams."

The Allman Brothers Band and Phil Lesh & Friends perform tonight (October 3rd) in Raleigh, North Carolina at the Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion.


NEW BEATLES 'LOVE' DOCUMENTARY TO PLAY FOR ONE NIGHT IN THEATERS ..For one night only on October 20th, the Beatles' new documentary called All Together Now chronicling The Beatles LOVE, their show with Cirque du Soleil, will be shown at digitally equipped cinemas across the U.S. The DVD of All Together Now will be released the same day.

Director Adrian Wills said in a statement, "Seeing this documentary on the big screen will truly be a moving experience for the viewer as they witness the creation of the show LOVE. The digital cinema projection and amazing 5.1 sound allow us to envelop the audience in the grandiose visual world of Cirque du Soleil and legendary music of the Beatles."

For theater information, go to thebiggerpicture.us/together.

Giles Martin compiled and produced the soundtrack to The Beatles LOVE with his father, Beatles producer George Martin. Giles says that working with his father was both pleasurable and easy: "We get on very well, we're very similar. We're similar but different. And we compliment each other well. I think if we were both 37 (laughs) or if we were both 80, it would be a nightmare -- but we're not. When we work together it's not like father and son, if that makes sense."

The Beatles LOVE is now running in Las Vegas at the Mirage Hotel


BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN TO PLAY OHIO AND MICHIGAN RALLIES FOR OBAMA ..Bruce Springsteen has added benefits in Michigan and Ohio to his already planned rally appearances for Sen. Barack Obama in Philadelphia, and New York City, according to Billboard. On Sunday (October 6th) Springsteen will perform acoustically in Columbus, Ohio at the Ohio State campus, and on Monday, he'll play in Ypsilanti, Michigan at the Eastern Michigan University.

Springsteen and Patti Scialfa have also announced that they'll perform on November 5th at New York City's Town Hall at the Stand Up for Heroes benefit concert to raise money for the Bob Woodruff Family Foundation, which aids wounded soldiers returning from war and making the transition back to civilian life. The show, which is part of the New York Comedy Festival, will also feature Whoopi Goldberg, Ricky Gervais, and host Regis Philbin.

On October 14th, Springsteen, Billy Joel and other still-to-be-announced friends will play a double bill fundraiser for Obama at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom. The show is titled "Change Rocks" and will benefit the Obama Victory Fund.

Bruce Springsteen will perform acoustically on tomorrow (October 4th) in the streets of Philadelphia in support of Obama, and to raise awareness of Pennsylvania's voter registration deadline on Monday (October 6th).

Springsteen's performance will take place on Benjamin Franklin Parkway between 20th and 22nd Streets. Gates open at 2 p.m. with a 3:30 p.m. show time. For more information on all of Springsteen's benefit appearances, go to backstreets.com.


That’s it for now, as always if you can’t be good be good at it and don’t get caught…

Jonathan