(Published December 7, 2009)Is Nelson Mandela losing his mental capacities — and is it being kept quiet? Bill Keller’s feature on the movie Invictus (with Morgan Freeman as Mandela) drops this odd nugget in passing:
And now for a little touch of Scrooge. Here are five celebrity Christmas songs I wish would just go away.Merry Christmas (War is Over) by John LennonIt starts out strong enough (“And so this is Christmas…”) but has there ever been a dopier lyric than “Let’s make it a good one / Without any fear”? God bless John Lennon and all, but this is not his strongest effort. Toss in the piercing kiddie backup voices, and this gets my vote for the most irritating holiday song ever.
The latest rumors have Tiger Woods taking the sleeping pill Ambien, either the night of his accident or at select other times.
Jennifer Aniston was served with legal papers hidden in a bouquet last night.The evening ended on a sour note when Aniston left the Sunset Towers Hotel and was served with legal papers hidden in a basket of flowers, telling her she was to be a witness in a sexual harassment suit involving her agent, Todd Shemarya.I’ve always been a little confounded by the strange dance that is process serving.
Robert Degan, writer of the song “The Hokey Pokey,” has put his whole self in at age 104.
That old, beat-up typewriter belonging to Cormac McCarthy, the author of The Road and No Country for Old Men, ended up selling at auction for $254,500 — way, way, way more than anyone predicted.The New York Times has the story here. The article is worth reading — there’s a great quote from the book dealer who handled the auction.
If “you” are Sports Illustrated, that is. Still, he deserves it! SI has a nice gentlemanly interview with Jeter, too. SI: Curt Schilling said that he remembers the way you …..
The First Church of Tiger Woods is no more. Well, it’s still there, but it’s been changed to The Damnation of Tiger Woods by it’s founder, “Pastor” John Ziegler. That’s one endorsement that greatest-golfer Tiger Woods has lost since his “transgressions” with (who knows how many) women who don’t happen to be Elin Nordegren, his wife.
Singer Rihanna’s four album titles so far:Music of the Sun (2005)A Girl Like Me (2006)Good Girl Gone Bad (2007)Rated R (2009)She seems to be getting gloomier as she goes. Rated R includes her new hit single “Russian Roulette.”Look, she’s great, but forgive us if we yawn just a teensy bit at the well-worn path to professional “edginess.” But OK: we had her all wrong. Rihanna is a dangerous bad girl. Oh, dear.
An annual tradition: The President lights the national Christmas tree, and reporters bring on the nyuks.I count at least eight wisecracks in that LA Times post (“allegedly green”… “BlackBerry loving”… “aging Vice President”… “Watson, come here”… “unable to resist”… “Warning”… “obese, seasonally employed”… “wasting precious electrical energy”). Not bad for eight short paragraphs.
Taylor Momsen on the set of Gossip Girl yesterday in Manhattan. More Momsen photos here. (Image: WENN)
My friend Gary has a terrific little story about when he met John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1971. He tells it in this YouTube video that uses footage shot by filmmaker Jonas Mekas.Although Gary doesn’t mention it, I’m pretty sure you can also see poet Allen Ginsberg in some of these shots.Thanks, Gary!
Cripes, who leaks all this stuff?
Rachel Uchitel caused a traffic accident last week from 1000 miles away, or so we’re told.Turns out she had a few of her own traffic issues during her years as a nightclub hostess in Las Vegas — and one of them has gone unpaid to the tune of $1345.
Jesper Parnevik had a few choice words about fellow golfer Tiger Woods in a conversation with The Golf Channel on Wednesday.
A former first lady of The Philippines, Imelda Marcos has filed as a candidate for congress for the Ilocos Norte district. Back when she was the wife of President Ferdinand Marcos she was known as the “Steel Butterfly,” presumably because of her determination and not because she drank nectar.It’s a congressional seat that’s being vacated by her son, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., who is running for a senate seat.
Hey, we almost forgot — remember Britney Spears? Of course you do. She’s still among the most-searched-for celebrities on the internet (or does that mean people don’t remember her?).Today is Britney’s 28th birthday. MTV is celebrating by showing this video for “3”, which, oddly enough, features Britney Spears, extra dancers, skimpy outfits and a whole lot of gyratin’.
We interrupt the saga of Tiger Woods, Elin Nordegren, Rachel Uchitel and Jaimee Grubbs for some even more exciting news: Cormac McCarthy is auctioning off his beat-up old typewriter!
Golfer Tiger Woods has released a new statement on his website.
Here are pictures of Jaimee Grubbs, the woman US magazine claims has been a consort of golfer Tiger Woods.