Madonna and Guy Ritchie Settle for At Least $76 Million
Madonna has settled with ex-husband Guy Ritchie for at least $76 million in cash and assets, according to her spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg.The divorce payout, which Rosenberg said is somewhere in the range of $76 to $92 million, is considered by some to be a record for a man from his ex-wife.
The payout includes the couple's country estate Ashcombe House in Wiltshire, as well as a cash lump sum thought to be at much as $53 million.
Rosenberg said the couple's west London pub -- the Punchbowl -- would also remain with Ritchie.
But U.K.-based entertainment lawyer Ambi Sitham said it made sense for Madonna to divest herself of her British property.
Madonna Out Big Bucks
Madonna and ex-husband Guy Ritchie have tidied up their financial split by Madonna agreeing to leave behind $76 million.
The singer's spokesperson, Liz Rosenberg, told The Associated Press the sum includes the value of the couple's country estate, Ashcombe House, which goes to Ritchie. The former couple's West London pub, the Punchbowl, also stays with the director.
Together, the couple was reportedly worth about $525 million, $35 million of which Ritchie brought to the table. The rest was Madonna's.
The settlement is about twice what it cost Paul McCartney to part with Heather Mills.
U.K attorney Ambi Sitham said there was no reason for Madonna to keep the two places.
"She's moving back to New York. It's money she's already paid out - what is she going to do, try to sell the houses in a flagging market?"
All that remain to be finalized are the custody arrangements for their 2 young sons.
Britney Spears CD Tops Charts, But 'Circus' Video Gets Slammed by PETA
Britney Spears' comeback album "Circus" has reached the top the Billboard 200 list.
"Circus" has sold a projected 500,000 copies in it's first week, according to Jive records, vaulting it past albums from artists including Mariah Carey, Madonna, Beyonce and Janet Jackson.
Now officially on the rebound, Spears has made several high-profile appearances for "Circus," and plans a nationwide tour in March. But that doesn't mean controversy has stopped following the paparazzi magnet. This time, Spears is in trouble with the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for using lions and elephants in the video for her new single “Circus.” The activist group said that exhibitors who provided the live lions and elephants for the video, Steve Martin’s Working Wildlife, and Have Trunk Will Travel, both have “long histories of exploiting animals.” According to Michael McGraw, a spokesman for PETA, circuses use a training method that “inflicts pain on elephants.” “Britney could have used stock footage of elephant herds in their natural habitat to portray elephants in a positive and nurturing setting, McGraw told FOXNews.com. “She also could have utilized animations or animatronics instead of live animals.” Spears' rep provided FOXNews.com with a letter from the American Humane Association, which was on the set for the filming of the video "After reviewing the reports, we believe that the Guidelines for the Safe Use of Animals in Filmed Media were followed and that no animal was harmed in the making of this music video," a post production manager wrote. Britney Spears Fined on first solo drive.
BRITNEY SPEARS’ first solo car drive in months reportedly ended in disaster – when she was slapped with a parking fine.
The Womanizer babe is allowed on the road alone again following her meltdown earlier this year, but she clearly needs to brush up on the law.
One mistake she won’t be repeating is parking up an alley.
That’s the baffling error she made last night that landed her in trouble with Los Angeles authorities, according to onlookers.
Britney – looking far less glamorous than her recent self – was issued with a ticket after returning to her vehicle, and briefly had her keys confiscated.
This whole sordid affair is going to get uglier (is that possible?) once the two Rodriguezes file for divorce today in Miami. Over the weekend, Cynthia accused Alex of being "brainwashed" by Madonna and her kooky kabbalah ways. One of Cynthia's lawyers, Maurice Kutner, told the Post that the grounds for divorce are a "long period of infidelity on the part of Mr. Rodriguez" and "emotional abandonment." Alex's grounds for divorce are that Cynthia doesn't want to reconcile. The Daily News delves further into the new players in this saga with a rundown of the career highlights and lowlights of both Alex's and Cynthia's divorce attorneys. A-Rod's attorney, Ira Elegant, usually avoids divorce cases, but Elegant did handle Shaquille O'Neal's split from his wife last year. Heading up C-Rod's legal team is Earle Lilly, who represented boxer George Foreman in a paternity suit last year.
"My husband and I are not planning on getting a divorce. I know Alex Rodriguez through Guy Oseary, who manages both of us. I brought my kids to a Yankee game. I am not romantically involved in any way with Alex Rodriguez. I have nothing to do with the state of his marriage or what spiritual path he may choose to study."
Despite the denials, Cynthia Rodriguez is still hopping mad at the Material Girl. C-Rod is also on the verge of a nervous breakdown, which is why she fled to Paris with Alex's blessing, A-Rod's former trainer Dodd Romero tells the Post.
And finally, in what may be the weirdest tidbit in the coverage of the War of the Rodriguezes, the News tells us that (bolding mine):
"Last night, Cynthia Rodriguez was back in Miami. After working out at a gym, she joined her trainer, Dodd Romero, and his daughter for dinner at an Outback Steakhouse. Adhering to her postpregnancy diet, Cynthia Rodriguez ate tilapia, sweet potatoes and brown rice brought from home."
If that doesn't illustrate in a nutshell how dish-y this story is going to get, nothing will.
Oh, and the best A-Rod-related headline of the day? The Post wins with the truck hed "A-ROD'S WIFE HURLS SPLITTER" on pages 2 and 3. The News came in a close second with its puntastic truck, "BITTER UP! A-ROD & MRS. GOING TO WAR."
Pop icon Madonna has announced that she will launch her 27-date world tour in Cardiff on 23 August.
The Sticky and Sweet tour will start at the Millennium Stadium, winding up in Miami on 26 November.
Tickets go on sale from 0900 BST 16 May with prices for the Cardiff show, starting at £55.
The tour will stop in major cities across Europe including London and Paris, as well as cities in the US.
Her last tour was in 2006 and concert organisers said more than 1.3m people went to her shows at venues across the world.
It made her the highest-grossing concert tour by a female artist at the time.
Her recent album, Hard Candy, has debuted at number one at 27 countries so far including the US, UK, France, Germany, Japan and Australia, according to her record company.
The 49-year-old star is due to play BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Kent on Saturday.
Power couple Beyonce Knowles and Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter created a stir with news agencies all over the world speculating whether a secret wedding ceremony on April 4 had taken place.
They had been dating for six years. Few details of the wedding ceremony and all-night after party have trickled down the grapevine, but Trinidadian Colin Abraham, president of the event organising company, Pollen Nation, gave Sunday Newsday a full description of the couple’s magical night.
Abraham’s job was to take care of the decor at Jay-Z’s Manhattan apartment, the wedding’s venue.
Abraham, an event planner, grew up in Barataria. He was a student at the Barataria Senior Comprehensive school and after that he entered the Prison Service and then to the Police Service before leaving the country in 1998 to pursue a course in sound engineering in New York.
While studying he worked part time as a floral decorator at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel before launching Pollen Nation in 1999. One of his first major clients was hip-hop mogul Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs when he started decorating for his famous annual “White Party” at his home in the East Hamptons. “I have been working with Diddy for seven years now and with that I have been introduced to many people in the music industry and through him Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter saw my work and he also became a client,” he explained.
Working with Jay-Z, Abraham learned that the entrepreneur likes to live a very private life.
“That is why the wedding was so hush hush, no one knew when it was going to happen, what or who was involved,” he said.
He revealed he only saw Jay-Z twice throughout all the planning because he was still on tour with fellow artiste Mary J Blige.
“Beyonce worked hands on with me on everything, from the type of flowers to the colour theme we would use at Jay-Z’s penthouse in Manhattan,” the 39-year-old said.
Beyonce’s choice for the colour theme was ivory and cream with whites and greens.
“Her choice for flowers were orchids and what I did was set up foot long garlands from the floor to the ceiling, then there were columns of branches with crystals at the end,” he revealed.
He touched on the internet reports that said that Asian florist, Amy Vongpitaka was the one responsible for the wedding’s floral decor.
“That woman is just a wholesaler, I ordered 100,000 orchids from her and she sent it down to me. She did not even know what or who the flowers were for,” Abraham explained.
To make sure everything went smoothly Abraham and his staff of 12 worked nights three days before the big day.
Abraham described the entire wedding as “very simple and intimate.”
“Less is more and when we were done, we transformed the whole place and it was magnificent. Beyonce was really happy she could not stop kissing me,” he said.
The wedding began at 8 pm on Friday when Beyonce walked down the aisle accompanied by her father Matthew Knowles without any bridesmaids. After the ceremony the newlyweds celebrated their nuptials until six the next morning.
The 40 invited guests, which included Gwyneth Paltrow and former members of Destiny’s Child, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, dined on “soul food” which included chicken, shrimp and “gumbo” a dish popular in southern states and had the choice of champagne or tequila shots.
“After they had dinner they transformed the dining area into a dance floor and everybody had a good time,” he revealed. In 2006 Abraham planned more than 150 events and has worked with LA Reid and Warner Music.
Abraham who recently married last year is a father of three with one on the way.
His business has branches in Manhattan, Brooklyn. He hopes to open one in New Jersey. His clientele ranges from President George Bush to Queen Latifah.
Ivana Trump married her fourth husband, Rossano Rubicondi.
Ivana Trump, 59, has gotten married for the fourth time in Palm Beach on Saturday, April 12. It was to be another spectacular wedding for her. Her new husband was Rossano Rubicondi, an actor and model, 36. Ivana had invited 600 guests.
The wedding was a grand ceremony. Ivana invited twenty five bridesmaids, and ordered a wedding cake that was 12 ft tall. She had a 25 piece orchestra specially flown in from Paris. Clearly, no expenses were spared.
Ivana’s ex, Donald Trump, had personally seen to drawing up a pre-nuptial agreement. That has been signed by both Ivana and Rossano. Donald was helping Ivana because they had become firm friends after their dvorce settlement.
Ivana trump gets hitched to her toyboy
The former bride of Donald Trump Ivana, 59 wed italian Rossano Rubicondi, 35, in a lavish ceremony.
It's the fourth such ceremony for Ivana and bizarrely took place at Donald's Floridian mansion.
Let's hope Rossano isn't the jealous type.
Miss. USA 2008 Crystle Stewart completed her degree in Consumer Science and Merchandising at the University of Houston. She founded and runs her business “Inside/Out” which aids young women in building self-esteem and volunteers with many organizations in the community. She won a silver medal in the relay at Jr. Olympics and is a fourth generation educator.
The judging panel for the 2008 Miss USA® Pageant included: Heather Mills, contestant on season four of “Dancing With the Stars”; Rob Schneider, star of “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry”; Joey Fatone, host of “The Singing Bee”; Kristian Alfonso, entrepreneur and star of NBC’s “Days of our Lives”; Olympic gold-medal swimmer Amanda Beard; Christian Siriano, this season’s winner of Bravo’s hit show “Project Runway”; San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne “Lights Out” Merriman; celebrity hairstylist Ken Paves; Kelly Carlson, star of “Nip/Tuck”; founder and CEO of Planet Hollywood International, Inc. Robert Earl and Vanity Fair’s celebrity journalist George Wayne.
Miss USA 2008, the 57th Miss USA beauty pageant, will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 11, 2008. The venue is the Theatre for the Performing Arts, a 7,000 seat theater located in the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino which was also the location of the Miss Universe 1991, 1996 and Miss America pageants. At the conclusion of the final night of competition, outgoing titleholder Rachel Smith will crown her successor. All the girls were selected from all over the country, from over 12000 candidates.Girls declared that they want to win and promote their state. For me is almost imposible to choose from this girls, and I am expecting a very close score.
In Nora Ephron’s “Sleepless in Seattle” a weepy Rosie O’Donnell, watching “An Affair to Remember” with a sniffling Meg Ryan 15 years ago, said, “Men never get this movie.”
The notion of the “chick flick” thus came into its own. And Hollywood has been fretting about it ever since, trying to recapture that box office magic yet chafing at a label that is increasingly viewed as a marketplace trap. In New York and other locations, two of the most successful directors of the form — Nora Ephron and P. J. Hogan — are currently shooting what might pass for a couple of next-generation chick flicks. But those involved seem determined to avoid having that classification hung on their films, even if it is rooted in honest observation.
Mr. Hogan, who directed the 1997 hit “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” starring Julia Roberts, is filming “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” with Isla Fisher in the lead role, for Touchstone Pictures, owned by the Walt Disney Company. The film is based on a literary series that began with the British publication of Sophie Kinsella’s novel with that title in 2000, about a financial journalist with relationship problems and a penchant for overspending.
But the movie is not just for women, the filmmakers insist. “We all have spending habits, a lot of us do,” said Jerry Bruckheimer, one of the film’s producers, speaking by telephone last week.
“If we do our job right, this could be another ‘Wedding Crashers,’ ” added Mr. Bruckheimer, best known for testosterone-fueled entertainments including “Bad Boys” and the “Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy. He was referring to the 2005 comic hit that included Ms. Fisher, but actually starred Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson as a couple of playboys who cruise weddings for easy sex — really not the stuff of chick flicks.
Ms. Ephron, for her part, is shooting “Julie & Julia,” with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep, for Columbia Pictures. In a complex exercise, it is based on both the life of the cooking enthusiast Julia Child and the 2005 book of the same title by Julie Powell, who, stuck in place as an office temp as she approached 30, spent a year whipping up every recipe in Ms. Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”
But that could be a guy thing, right? “We hope this will be a movie for everyone who likes eating,” said Laurence Mark (“Dreamgirls,” “Working Girl”), one of the film’s producers. He spoke briefly after conferring with Ms. Ephron, who declined to be interviewed for this article.
In fact, both films are rooted in a phenomenon — widely styled “chick lit” — that has swept the publishing world in the last decade. The books are written for, and mostly by, professional women in their 20s. The covers are often bright and fluffy, with amusing illustrations. And narrative is often rooted in the first person singular.
And the outlook is unabashedly feminine. “There were a lot of romans à clef, from the young working girl’s point of view,” said David Kuhn, of Kuhn Projects, a New York literary agency.
“The Devil Wears Prada,” Lauren Weisberger’s 2003 novel about the travails of a young working girl in the cutthroat New York fashion magazine industry, spawned the genre’s biggest movie hit, for 20th Century Fox, in 2006. The film, which was directed by David Frankel and starred Ms. Streep and Anne Hathaway, took in about $125 million at the domestic box office, and more than $200 million abroad.
“Bridget Jones’s Diary,” based on Helen Fielding’s novel about a British woman, made about $72 million at the domestic box office for Miramax Films in 2001.
But “The Nanny Diaries,” based on a 2003 novel by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, about the travails of a worker in the competitive New York child care business, did less well for the Weinstein Company last year. (Its domestic box office total came in a tad under $26 million.)
At the same time, a run of recent female-oriented romantic films — “The Holiday” with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet; “Catch and Release” with Jennifer Garner; “27 Dresses” with Katherine Heigl; “Music & Lyrics” with Drew Barrymore; “P.S., I Love You” with Hilary Swank; and “The Jane Austen Book Club,” with an ensemble cast — has stopped far short of the peaks established years before by films like “Sleepless,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “Runaway Bride” and “Notting Hill.”
Trying to pin down what, exactly, constitutes a supposed chick flick is more of a parlor game than a science. “An Affair to Remember,” in which Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr played star-crossed lovers, clearly makes the cut. “Knocked Up,” in which Ms. Heigl and Seth Rogen played a star-crossed couple of another sort, probably does not.
“The next generation hasn’t announced itself, really,” said Joan Hyler, a talent manager whose clients include Diane Lane, a veteran of romantic fare like “Under the Tuscan Sun” and “Must Love Dogs.” Ms. Hyler referred to a young female audience that has yet to find its signature movie. Ms. Lane’s next film, “Nights in Rodanthe,” set for release in the fall, is based on a Nicholas Sparks novel about a woman who looks for relief from a shattered marriage on the North Carolina coast and falls into the arms of a doctor, played by Richard Gere. It’s almost certainly a chick flick, if Hollywood still permitted the term.
But even a filmmaker like Ms. Ephron — who helped define contemporary romance with “You’ve Got Mail,” which she wrote with her sister, Delia Ephron, and also directed, and “When Harry Met Sally,” which she wrote — has become wary of a label that might tag a picture as being not quite for everyone. Recent statistics compiled by the Motion Picture Association of America showed that ticket sales to younger women had dropped considerably from a recent peak in 2004, while ticket sales to younger men remained about the same.
But the change left one group buying about as many tickets as the other in 2006, the last year for which figures were disclosed. Movie marketers, in any case, like to get as many people as possible in seats, sex and age notwithstanding.
As Mr. Bruckheimer noted of “Shopaholic,” we all have issues. “How do you cope with money and love?” asked this producer, whose credits include the 1983 hit “Flashdance,” about a Pittsburgh woman with a passion for welding, exotic dancing and ballet. He added, “That’s something everyone can understand.”
Rosie Perez says shooting a steamy sex scene with her good friend John Leguizamo for their new movie, "The Take," was "very awkward."
"This is not my first time working with John, we are friends, I've known him very long. ... It was very easy working with him. We have an easy dialogue and between each other there is no ego, no competition," the 43-year-old actress told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
"It was in the sex scene between husband and wife that things started to go bad. ... It was the hardest scene, very difficult," she said. "I respect him so much and he respects me so much. I know his wife, he knew my husband and introduced me to my boyfriend. It was very awkward. Like brother and sister having to do a sex scene."
"The Take," directed by Brad Furman, opens Friday in New York and Los Angeles.
Perez plays Marina de la Pena, the wife of an armored-truck driver (Leguizamo) who struggles with rehabilitation and tracking down his assailant after a shooting.
"We have a great marriage in the beginning of the movie and I'm kind of a regular neighborhood wife. We go to church every Sunday, we enjoy our simple nice life, I'm a simple nice woman in love with her husband and children," said Perez, who was nominated for an Oscar for her supporting role in 1993's "Fearless."
Perez and Leguizamo, 43, managed to get through the scene by talking about their own experiences and about relationships in general.
"It took a lot to go there and be honest," she said. "He has a wonderful marriage, but even in a successful marriage you have times when things are not good and sometimes that plays in the bedroom. And we went for it."
Even though the experience was "shocking" for her, Perez said that "in the end, it was one of the best intimate scenes I've done."
Rapper Snoop Dogg converts to Mormonism
“Mr. Broadus is also very pleased to find that his family is as enthusiastic about attending church services as he is,” the spokeswoman said.
However, Snoop Dogg has not been enthusiastic about publicly sharing his experience and declined to be interviewed by CNN for this article. In fact, he reportedly informed producers of his E! reality show "Snoop Dogg's Father Hood" that this particular aspect of his family's life was off-limits to the cameras. Still, he left open the possibility of addressing the subject in future episodes.
In 1996, Snoop Dogg was acquitted of murder after a purported gangbanger was killed by gunfire from the vehicle in which Snoop Dogg was traveling.
Thank you to my fond friend Nate, who brought to my attention this "of the hook" information. I'd say there's a 50/50 chance it is real!
Candice Crawford: Chace Crawford Ok After Split
Miss Missouri US 2008 Candice Crawford said her brother, ‘Gossip Girl’ star Chace Crawford, is doing “OK” after his split from American Idol champ Carrie Underwood.
Though she also tells Chace is upset with the split.
“He’s doing okay through this whole ordeal. He was upset about the breakup. It’s always hard when you lose a relationship,” Candice told People magazine.
But despite the break-up; and having to endure online speculation about his sexuality, the actor won’t be moping around for long.
“Chace will get through it,” she said. “We love Carrie, too. They’re dolls and they’ll both do well.”
Candice is about the compete in the Miss USA Pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino next week.
“The whole family will be there rooting for me,” Candice, a.k.a. Miss Missouri, tells People magazine at On Top Of Cloud 9, a dinner for the pageant contestants. “My mom made T-shirts and little pins for everyone.”
Chace Crawford Surviving After Breakup With Carrie Underwood
"Gossip Girl" star Chace Crawford hasn't been having a good week. First, the star broke up with singer Carrie Underwood and then he had to endure online speculation about his sexuality. His family said the star will get through it and wishes both Chace and Underwood well.
Chace's sister, Candice Crawford, spoke to People.com about the breakup and said her brother is "doing okay through this whole ordeal. He was upset about the breakup. It's always hard when you lose a relationship."
Chace will have something to focus on, however, as sister Candice is about the compete in the Miss USA Pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino next week. Candice, who is the reigning Miss Missouri, said her brother and the rest of the family will be in the audience as she competes for the title.
Britney Spears to Be Jamie Lynn Spears' Bridesmaid
© David Gabber/PR Photos
Hot on the heels of Jamie Lynn Spears' hometown wedding talks, rumors are abuzz that the younger Spears has asked sister Britney Spears to be her bridesmaid. Jamie Lynn is reported to be planning to wed fiance Casey Aldridge in her hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana. She's expected to stay true to her small-town roots by tying the knot at Britney's "Serenity" estate.
"She'll have the baby there, and soon after, she will also get married there," a friend of Jamie Lynn tells OK! "I expect she'll want to wait at least several months to get her figure back so she can wear a beautiful wedding gown and then have her dream wedding."
On asking Britney to be her bridesmaid, a source close to the Spears family revealed, Jamie Lynn "wants Britney to head her list of bridesmaids."
The report hasn't been confirmed by the Spears family just yet.
Britney has recently been offered a job by animal rights activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to be their "virtual receptionist." The organization is even willing to make a $1,000 donation to a children's charity, should Britney agrees to work with them. No words from the pop star and her people though.
Those former governors don't know exotic or kinky when compared to the alleged hijinks of the British head of Formula One racing.
Racing fans around the world were stunned this morning to read about the bizarre sex video reportedly featuring Max Mosley, the head of the Formula One's governing body.
Mosley, whose father, Sir Oswald Mosley, was the founder of the British Union of Fascists and a friend of Adolf Hitler, was apparently caught on video with five women in an underground torture chamber engaging in Nazi-inspired sadomasochistic sex, according to British news reports.
In a video obtained by the News of the World, the 67-year-old debonair lawyer is reported to have paid about $5,000 to play both guard and inmate in a concentration camp scene.
When he enters, the man reported to be Mosley is greeted by a busty blond woman dressed as a prison guard who inspects his head for lice, strips off his clothes, bends him over and whips his bottom, while saying, "He's serving a life sentence now for crimes he committed before."
The man then dresses and speaks German with a woman in a Nazi uniform, helping her beat women dressed as prisoners. Later, he has sex with several of the women.
Of course, this being Britain, he shares a cup of tea with the women after the sex.
Several race drivers and Jewish leaders called for Mosley to resign as president of Federation International de l'Automobile.
"I don't see how he can continue," former Formula One racing champion Stirling Moss told The Times of London. "I suppose what goes on behind closed doors is his business, but when a thing comes out like this … it's an absolute shocker."
Stephen Smith, director of the Holocaust Centre, told The Times of London, "This is an insult to millions of victims, survivors and their families. He should apologize. He should resign from the sport."
The World Jewish Congress and the Anti-Defamation League declined comment.
The racing association, however, is not ready to take any such action.
"This is a private problem between Mosley and the News of the World," an FIA spokeswoman at the association's Paris headquarters told ABCNEWS.com, adding that there is no internal inquiry into Mosley's alleged behavior. "We are not concerned with it."
The spokeswoman declined to make Mosley available for comment.
Last week, the news broke that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie both have a familial connection to this year’s Democratic Presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. This news begs the question for many, “who could I be related to? And how do I find out?” Enter American Mensa’s upcoming Colloquium, Tracking Granny’s Granny: The Genealogy Quest, this September in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Hosted by the Mensa Education & Research Foundation, members of Mensa and non-members alike will gather at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center to learn various ways to define their family research goals, organize their research and share tricks and tactics to finding information about long-lost relatives and distant cousins.
The Colloquium will take place on September 12-14 and will feature educational sessions guided by experts in the field of genealogy. Some of the topics include old photo research, ways to reconstruct the lives of distant relatives through research, helpful ways to use the Internet, and information about DNA research. Attendees will also be able to spend time at Salt Lake City’s historic Family History Library. Registration is open to the public.
“Research shows that 60% of Americans are interested in exploring their family history,” said Greg Timmers, President of the Mensa Education & Research Foundation. “The upcoming Mensa Colloquium will provide an educational forum for those interested in researching and solving the mysteries of their family trees. We are excited to bring Mensa members, experts and other interested guests to our event to offer this unique forum for learning and sharing.”
Colloquium 2008 is American Mensa’s twelfth Colloquium since the inaugural event in 1982. Previous Colloquiums have addressed topics such as humor, cosmology, politics, medicine, gifted children, and consciousness.
For more than thirty years, the Mensa Education & Research Foundation has been a strong voice in supporting intelligence. The Foundation fosters the best and brightest through scholarships and awards, and encourages research and intellectual inquiry through the Mensa Research Journal and various Colloquiums. Governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees, the Mensa Foundation is a 501c(3) organization and is funded by support from American Mensa, Mensa members and other charitable donations.Charlie Sheen Was Ashley Dupre's Client
Looks like this whole Ashley Dupre scandal is far from over. New details of the call girls past have leaked to the press and it involves some high profile names.
Dupre's pimp Jason Itzler claims that Charlie Sheen was one of Dupre's clients a few years back. He claims Sheen paid $20,000 for a threesome with the girls dressed up as cheerleaders. "They loved Charlie. They said he was a great guy. A great lover.
One time he had them dressed up like cheerleaders, chanting 'Charlie! Charlie! He's our man. If he can't do it, nobody can" Itzler also claims Sheen pretended he was a porn film director and asked the women to act out lesbian scenes for him. Denise is going to have a field day with this one! Emergency court hearing anyone?
Ashley Dupre may team with Trump
Ashley Dupre, the call girl linked to former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, may join real estate mogul Donald Trump's new reality TV show, an insider says.The source says Dupre has been asked to join Trump's new MTV reality series, which will attempt to teach ladylike manners to 15 women used to a wild partying lifestyle, People.com reported Saturday.
"She's the perfect candidate," the unidentified insider said of the 22-year-old escort.
The new series is based on the British series "Ladette to Lady." MTV has ordered eight one-hour episodes.
Trump had no comment on the report and the insider says Dupre has yet to respond to the offer.
Spitzer resigned his post this month after reports surfaced that he had used a New York escort service. Dupre was identified as the woman the New York official met with on those occasions.
What started as a "fun little hobby" has given a local teen the chance to take the trip of a lifetime.
Amber Moody, 13, of Lee's Summit was recently chosen as one of three girls to represent the GAGE Silver Dragons cheerleading team at the 2009 NFL Pro Bowl in Hawaii as part of the All American Cheer and Dance Pro Bowl Performance tour. Moody, who has been cheering since she was five years old, is in her first year with the Blue Springs-based Silver Dragons team.
A seventh-grade student at Pleasant Lea Middle School, Moody earned her chance to perform at the Pro Bowl at a national cheerleading competition that took place in Kansas City in December 2007.
"I wasn't really expecting it," she said. "It just kind of happened. They called the first two girls' name and then they called me. I was like, 'What?' I couldn't believe it."
However, in order for Moody to take advantage of this opportunity, she must raise a significant amount of money. According to AACD information, the cost of a doubles package - Moody and one parent or guardian - is a little more than $2,000. That cost does not include airfare and meals.
Moody said raising the money and being able to perform in Hawaii would "mean so much" to her, especially because she's missed out on other opportunities due to lack of funds. Debbie Moody, Amber's mother, said her daughter has been nominated four times to travel with the People To People Student Ambassador Program, but lack of funds prevented her from going each time.
"I've been nominated to go to Australia," Amber said. "I've been nominated to go meet the president. But I couldn't ever go because I didn't have any sponsors and didn't have the money." "I plan to go to Harvard after high school," she said. "I want to be a lawyer."
Amber, who has cheered with various youth cheerleading teams in Lee's Summit, said she became interested in the sport of cheerleading at a young age for various reasons.
Debbie Moody said anyone who would like to donate to Amber's Hawaii fund can call her at 816-853-5670 or send donations to her home at 111 S.W. Walnut St., Lee's Summit, MO 64063.
Moody's teammates who also earned a trip to Hawaii are Michelle Riddle and Katelyn Tormena.
Kristin Billie Davis - Accused madam Kristin Billie Davis, pictured below and aka Kristen Billie Davis, is a busty peroxide blonde who counted Elliot Spitzer among her clients and claims to have personally serviced the ex-governor.
The high-priced call girl ring run by Kristin Billie Davis, a former hedge fund worker, was busted by New York vice cops digging deeper into Elliot Spitzer’s sleazy penchant for prostitutes.
Police say Davis personally stashed $500,000 in her own bank accounts as her take from last year’s gross of $2 million from her call girl empire.
Kristen Billie Davis is obviously no relation to Sex and the city star Kristin Davis and is being held on $2 million dollar bail because the judge considers her a flight risk.
Prosecutors told the court Davis had boasted of earning more than $6 million from her four websites since 2004 and even bragged about it on her MySpace page.
“I have created a business empire where I rule,” Davis boasted on her MySpace page. “It’s also one I could fall, and fall hard, very much like Lucifer getting kicked out of heaven.”
When police raided her condo, Kristin Billie had apparently been tipped off and was in the process of destroying detailed financial records when apprehended.
“There are some big people involved in the entertainment industry,” a source close to the case said, adding that there are “sports superstars” in the client list, including “a very prominent Yankee,” along with Spitzer who Davis claims to have personally “serviced” on numerous occassions as far back as 2003.
A spokesperson for Elliot Spitzer, Anna Cordasco, told news reporters that “Mr. Spitzer was not ever a client of Ms. Davis.”
Kristin "Billie" Davis: Spitzer's New 'Kristin'
Media reports Kristen “Billie” Davis to be “a busty bottle blond who hails from a ough-and-tumble California trailer park.”
It’s also reported that she has the biggest black book list in North America.
“She has a reputation for hard-partying, shameless self-promotion and a rumored 10,000-name-long client list,” says today’s New York Post.
Well, Eliot has already been disgraced quite much because of his alleged sexual encounter with a now-famous prostitute Ashley Dupre, a.k.a. Kristin. He lost his job because of that.
I don’t know what harm might come to him, now that his new affair is in question. All I can say is that those huge boobs, will cost him more than he’s already paid for!
Holy crap! Holy sh*t! Excuse my French… but seriously what is going on? Is Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee back together? Is Tommy trying to court her back? Is Pam really over ex-husband Rick Salomon? Why is Pam wearing a white dress here? Are they eloping? Are they getting married for the nth time? So many questions, so little time! Before we lose our breaths, click for more photos of the beautiful Pam in her white dress!
Pamela Anderson Honors Sanctity of Marriage by Getting Divorced, Again
Former Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson most recent marriage has been annulled after a after less than three months on Monday. She cited “irreconcilable differences” when she filed for divorce from entrepreneur Rick Salomon. This was Anderson’s third marriage. She was previously married for three years to Motley Crue guitarist Tommy Lee and for three months to rapper Kid Rock.
Meanwhile Virginia gay couple John Cook and Waverly Cole who have been together for 50 years and thousands of couples like them are denied the right to marry.
John Cook and Waverly Cole are doing what they’ve been doing for 50 years — traveling, enjoying the company of friends and giving to charitable causes.Cook, an 88-year-old retired teacher and school counselor, and Cole, a 78-year-old retired physician, are poised to celebrate their 50th anniversary April 15 with a cocktail party among friends. At last week’s Servicemembers Legal Defense Network dinner in Washington, the two were recognized on stage for reaching their Golden Anniversary.
Cook and Cole are both military veterans. Cook served in the Army during World War II and was among the troops that liberated France from Nazi control. Cole was drafted in 1955 and served in the Army medical corp in Germany.
Cook later received a doctorate in human letters and led guidance and counseling services for the Virginia Department of Education. Cole went on to become a professor of anesthesiology and president of the Virginia Society of Anesthesiology.
Cook and Cole have also been key donors to LGBT organizations, Virginia area universities, churches, museums and animal shelters.
All of this and they are still considered by some to be second class citizens and unworthy of marriage. (There home state of Virginia has passed some of the most anti-gay laws in the country in recent years.) Meanwhile Pamela Anderson who is famous for nothing more than her plastic surgery enhanced physique has been able to marry and divorce three times.
And, I am sure that Anderson will marry and likely divorce again.LeBron James had no idea that his Vogue cover with supermodel Gisele Bundchen was being criticized by a columnist and commentator for ESPN.
The Cleveland Cavaliers star is the third man – and first African American male - to grace the cover of the famous fashion magazine. But those historical achievements were lost on ESPN.com columnist Jemele Hill, who said the picture of LeBron and Giselle is just another case of "the black athlete being reduced to savage."
"LeBron has Gisele in one hand and a basketball in the other. LeBron is dressed in basketball gear, with his muscles flexing, tattoos showing and bared teeth. Gisele, on the other hand, is wearing a gorgeous slim-fitting dress, and smiling," she wrote in her Page 2 column on ESPN.com. "She looks like she's on her way to something fashionable and exciting. He looks like he's on his way to a pickup game for serial killers.
"Now, maybe the point was to show the contrast between brawn and beauty, masculinity versus femininity, strength versus grace. But Vogue's quest to highlight the differences between superstar athletes and supermodels only successfully reinforces the animalistic stereotypes frequently associated with black athletes.
"A black athlete being reduced to a savage is, sadly, nothing new. But this cover gave you the double-bonus of having LeBron and Gisele strike poses that others in the blogosphere have noted draw a striking resemblance to the racially charged image of King Kong enveloping his very fair-skinned lady love interest."
James, who was unaware of the story, shrugged off the comments.
"I was just having fun with it, I was just showing a little emotion," James said Saturday, according to Ohio's Beacon Journal. "We had a few looks and that was the best one we had. Everything my name is on is going to be criticized, in a good way or a bad way. Who cares, honestly, at the end of the day."
James said he had phone working with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, who did the photo shoot in his Akron hometown.
"I am happy with it, absolutely," James said.
Hill's column also notes past experiences of black athletes being presented in photos as angry, overly aggressive, overly sexual, or just plain emasculated: "The 2002 Sports Illustrated cover that featured Charles Barkley chained like a slave. Ricky Williams wearing a wedding dress on an ESPN The Magazine cover in 1999. And while it didn't appear in a magazine, the Terrell Owens-Nicolette Sheridan intimate-encounter tease for 'Monday Night Football' gave viewers a sexualized image of a black man."
Little sister to Britney, Jamie Lynn Spears, is engaged. No longer will her on-again-off-again beau Casey Aldridge be referred to as her baby daddy . He has finally decided to act right and make Jamie Lynn an honest woman. The 16 year old pregnant bride to be (!) has reportedly been showing off her engagement ring to all and sundry.
”Spears, 16, has been flashing the rock to friends and family around Louisiana and Mississippi, a source close to the family tells PEOPLE.
“She’s got an engagement ring,” the source says. “She’s been showing it off, talking about it.”
Jamie Lynn Spears, 16, has been showing off the rock to friends and family around Louisiana and Mississippi, a source close to the family tells PEOPLE.
“She’s got an engagement ring,” the source says. “She’s been showing it off, talking about it.”
Jamie and babydaddy Casey Aldridge, are expecting their first baby together this summer. Sixteen… engaged… with child… Wow. Still kinda shocks and disturbs me. I find it sad, but I’m sure she’ll be a good Mom, she seems to want this child very much and tries to make the right decisions.
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