Fun Link From Alex
''This is funny, but probably will be most enjoyed by your male readers.''
The Mystery Of Britney Spear's Breasts
~~ Alex
Visit Alex's Site!
Thanks (I think), Alex....this has a really long download time, and my lousy dial-up seems to be boycotting it...
At Madame Tussaud's In London
Pretzels, Anyone?
Hair and color artist Jo Kinsey paints a bruise on the face of a wax model of President Bush at Madame Tussaud's
wax museum in London, Tuesday Jan. 15, 2002. Bush fainted Sunday briefly after choking on a pretzel while watching
a football game on television.
Photo by Peter J. Jordan
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Watched most of 'Enterprise'...so, what was it with the pseudo-ET's? Yeah, I know that Romulans were
first sighted by James T. Kirk, and it seemed that the 'Enterprise' staff had written themselves into a version
of Star Trek Hell. Whew, that was a close one!
What the eff was Richard Chamberlain doing in drag on 'Drew Carey'? Jeez, was that painful!
Saw part of 'The Job', but it reminds me too much of real-life.
Angie Harmon was on 'Leno'.
Tonight, Thursday, CBS tries to hump the carcass of 'Survivor: Africa' for what seems
to be an exercise in necrophilia-TV. It is followed by fresh episodes of 'CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation' and 'The Agency'.
NBC starts with a fresh 'Friend', followed by a rerun 'Will & Grace', then
fresh 'Will & Grace', 'Just Shoot Me', and 'ER'.
Once again, ABC shows its contempt for its audience with 2 reruns of 'Whose Line', then
a fresh 'Regis' (but, a gimmick-Regis....Olympic version, again), and then 'PrimeTime Thursday'.
The WB has a rerun 'Angel', then a fresh 'Charmed'.
Faux has a fresh night, with 'Family Guy', 'The Tick', and 'Fornication Island' (where
Charles Barkley thinks a 'good' agent could get him sent).
AMC has the original 'Cape Fear' with Robert Mitchum.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
National Guard To Protect 'Punxsutawney Phil'
Ground Hog Day
Troops will be deployed in a small Pennsylvania community in February to guard a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil,
which each year attracts huge crowds of people who believe the animal can forecast the weather.
``We just never know what may pop up in these times, so we are getting prepared,'' said Jamie Levier, a spokesman
for the state police in Punxsutawney, a rural community about 90 miles (144 km) northwest of Pittsburgh made famous
in a movie called ''Groundhog Day'' that starred Bill Murray.
A team of state police, bomb-sniffing dogs and National Guard troops will be stationed near Gobbler's Knob Feb. 2
to ward off problems at this year's Groundhog Day festivities.
In the past 116 years, the rodent and its ancestors have seen a shadow 101 times.
``There was only one year we did not have the event and that was in 1942 because we did not want to give our
World War II enemies any favorable weather forecasts,'' Cooper said.
Ground Hog Day & The National Guard
This is the chunk of PA where I was raised...only up the road a piece (as we'd say back there)...as kids, the
elementary school teachers would bring their radios to school & we'd get to listen to the 'festivities'.
While the Bill Murray film helped retain the tradition, it also opened it up to a much larger group of
potential participants.
The 'Official' Site www.groundhog.org/
Quick links & info - www.punxsutawneyphil.com/
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'The Local Brew'
Straub Brewery
If you're in the Punxie neck-of-the-woods, tootle up to St. Marys, and imbibe in some
Straub Beer. One of the finest beers brewed in the US!
''Tours of Straub Brewery are free of charge and open to the public ages 12 and older. Tours are conducted as requested
Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and noon. To ensure seeing the brewery in operation, please call in advance.
For your safety, no open-toed footwear is permitted on tours.''
And don't forget the 'Eternal Tap'
The 'Eternal Tap' is open to the public ages 21 and older Monday through Friday during the main office hours (9 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m.) and until 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Enjoy a glass of Straub Beer with our compliments!
Straub Brewery, St. Marys, PA
They use no preservatives, no sugar, no salt.
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Sex In Public Places Survey
Norwegians Win!
Norwegians have the world's strongest yearning for sex in public places, according to a survey published in Germany.
The survey by a publisher of romance novels of 6,600 people from 20 countries found Norwegians were more likely to
have sex in public places than any other nationality -- 66 percent said they had had such sexual encounters.
The places where the sex took place included cars, trains, airplanes, beaches, parks, changing rooms, offices and libraries.
Australians came in second with 64 percent, Greeks were third at 60 percent, Sweden and Argentina were tied for
fourth at 55 percent while Germany was fifth with 47 percent.
At the bottom of the list was France. Only 13 percent of the French surveyed said they had had sex in public
places -- even fewer than the 15 percent of Canadians and 21 percent of Americans.
Oh, Those Norwegians...
Turner Classic Movies
Richard Schickel
Turner Classic Movies has signed a deal with Richard Schickel, the author and Time magazine movie critic, for a
re-edited version of four hourlong episodes of his old PBS series ``The Men Who Made the Movies.''
``These interviews with movie directors haven't been seen since they ran on PBS in the early 1970s,'' said Tom Karsch,
exec VP and general manager of TCM.
The four directors in the TCM series are Howard Hawks, King Vidor, George Cukor and Raoul Walsh, each of whom submitted
to extensive interviews with Schickel back in the '70s.
A fifth episode of the Schickel series, on the life and work of Sam Fuller, will appear for the first time. Schickel
filmed the interview with Fuller in 1990, but it never ran in the PBS series.
TCM has hired director Sydney Pollack to supply the fresh narration for the profiles.
Commercial-free TCM reaches 55 million cable and satellite homes.
Richard Schickel
1790s-Portrait of George Washington
Barbra Streisand
By the end of the month, a 1790s-vintage portrait of George Washington will be moving from the George Washington
Museum to Barbra Streisand's home in Malibu, Calif.
The oil painting has been on display at the museum since October.
Streisand outbid the Mount Vernon Ladies Association to buy the painting for $412,750 at a Sotheby's auction in
May, but agreed at the association's request to lend the artwork to the national historic site for four months.
``They requested it for a period of time for which she acquiesced,'' said Streisand's manager, Martin Erlichman.
``They did not ask for an extension.''
The painting by Charles Peale Polk was described in the Sotheby's catalog as a ``highly individual contribution
to the body of early Presidential portraiture.'' With the 1777 Battle of Princeton serving as a backdrop, the
painting depicts a more youthful commander in chief than seen in the famous Gilbert Stuart portraits. It's unclear
whether Washington sat for Polk.
Barbra Streisand
Unloading Rerun Rights
``The X-Files''
FX is preparing to unload reruns of ``The X-Files,'' the sci-fi drama that put the cable channel on the map four years ago, to
a competing cable network.
The deal could reap a cash bonanza of more than $200 million for the show's syndicator, Twentieth TV. Both FX and Twentieth are
owned by News Corp., whose Fox broadcast network bowed ``The X-Files'' in 1993.
Sources said Twentieth TV is fielding offers from at least two networks, TNT and the Sci Fi Channel, to take over the remaining
four years of FX's license term to ``X-Files.''
``X-Files'' started on FX in repeats in September 1997, and the network's rights run through September 2005. The show
scored big ratings every weeknight at 8 and 11, but the series has suffered audience decline in the last season, leading
FX to shift it to its current 5 p.m. slot.
By contrast, on TV stations in weekend broadcast syndication, ``X-Files'' repeats have consistently ranked among the two or
three highest-rated weekly series since they started in the fall of 1997.
Sources say FX then would shift to an aggressive movie-buying strategy and fill its primetime schedule with theatricals.
''X-File'' Rerun Rights
Informative Article
Muhammad Ali
A couple of years ago, when he was just beginning his latest incarnation as America's Favorite Invalid, Muhammad Ali told a
hilariously profane joke about Allah that no doubt would target him for extermination by the same fanatics who once had it in for Salman Rushdie.
Judging by the reaction to Ali's recent remarks at the premiere of the new film bearing his name, my guess is that most of the celebrities
who have recently jumped on the Ali-Is-A-Saint bandwagon would have been appalled (at least publicly) to hear him speak like that.
But the joke was funny, even if some would call it offensive. That is the real Muhammad Ali, in a nutshell.
To read the rest of this enlightening article, Muhammad Ali
Looking Forward To Kids
Ellen DeGeneres
Actress-comedian Ellen DeGeneres says she looks forward to having children someday but realizes ``the kid is going to
have a hard time at school'' by virtue of having a lesbian mother.
``I hope to have at least one child if not more, and I will try to figure out the best way to do that,'' DeGeneres said
in an interview posted Wednesday on a Web site of the gay rights organization Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
She added, ``It's a challenge to be a parent and not screw somebody up -- to have that responsibility, to have a living
being and not squelch their spirit but allow them to soar and find out who they are without telling them who they are.''
The interview was conducted by the star's mother, Betty DeGeneres, an author, gay rights activist and columnist for
FamilyNet (http://www.hrc.org/famlynet), an online clearinghouse of information on gay and lesbian families.
DeGeneres added: ``It was hard for me to be a Christian Scientist and be the only one (at school) not getting a vaccination.
I felt left out ... It's all relative for a kid -- that you're just different is hard. I give a lot of credit to people
who have children and enter that world.''
Ellen DeGeneres
Updated (Nearly) Daily!
BartCop TV!
Damn near every show on TV must is listed - days & days worth of great reading.
If you have any questions about nearly any tv program, check it out!
``Once & Again'' Pulled Once & Again
On 'Hiatus'
Once again, ``Once & Again'' is being pulled from ABC's schedule.
Just two weeks after moving to 9 p.m. Friday, the critically acclaimed third-season drama has been put on
hiatus, effective immediately. Blooper specials and other programming will fill the slot for now.
ABC isn't giving up on ``Once'' just yet, however. The series will return March 4 to the Monday at 10 slot it
occupied for a good chunk of last season.
``The show simply hasn't worked on Fridays, so we're returning it to the night where it had its greatest success,''
said ABC Entertainment president Susan Lyne.
ABC quietly cut back its ``Once'' episode order for this season from 22 episodes to 17. The show, which bowed
in September 1999, stars Sela Ward as a woman trying to make her second marriage work.
``Once & Again'' Pulled Once & Again
Oh, that ''Talent-Magnet''...LOLOL
Gradually Returning
Robert Downey, Jr.
Gradually returning to a showbiz career dimmed by drug abuse and run-ins with the law, actor Robert Downey Jr. is in
talks to star in a film about the biggest hotel heist in history, producers said on Wednesday.
The movie, ``Six Bullets From Now,'' would mark Downey's first acting role since he was placed on probation last July
and ordered to remain in drug rehabilitation for cocaine possession. It also would be his first feature film project
since ending a year-long prison stay in August 2000 on a previous drug conviction.
Confirming a report earlier this week in Daily Variety, the independent production company Miracle Entertainment Inc.
issued a statement saying the 36-year-old actor was in negotiations to star in ``Six Bullets From Now.''
The movie, to be directed by Stephen Kay (''Get Carter,'' starring Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine), is based on
the true story of the theft of millions of dollars in cash and jewels from New York's Pierre Hotel on New Year's Day in 1972.
Downey's last public appearance was at a two-day charity fundraiser in Hollywood he co-hosted last month for a free
health clinic. On Sunday, Downey is slated to be a presenter at the Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills.
Robert Downey, Jr.
TV, Movies, Music
The Top Fives
The Top Fives in TV, Movies, Music
1. ``ER,'' NBC.
2. ``Friends,'' NBC.
3. ``Survivor: Africa,'' CBS.
4. ``AFC/NFC Playoffs Game 2: NY Jets at Oakland Raiders,'' ABC.
5. ``Everybody Loves Raymond,'' CBS.
(From Nielsen Media Research)
1. ``The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,'' New Line.
2. ``A Beautiful Mind,'' Universal.
3. ``Orange County,'' Paramount.
4. ``Ocean's Eleven,'' Warner Bros.
5. ``The Royal Tenenbaums,'' Disney.
(From Exhibitor Relations Co.)
1. ``U Got It Bad,'' Usher. Arista.
2. ``How You Remind Me,'' Nickelback. Roadrunner.
3. ``Family Affair,'' Mary J. Blige. MCA.
4. ``Get The Party Started,'' Pink. Arista.
5. ``Always On Time,'' Ja Rule (feat. Ashanti). Murder Inc.
(From Billboard magazine)
1. ``Weathered,'' Creed. Wind-up. (Platinum - certified sales of 1 million units)
2. ``Hybrid Theory,'' Linkin Park. Warner Bros. (Platinum)
3. ``Word Of Mouf,'' Ludacris. Disturbing Tha Peace.
4. ``Silver Side Up,'' Nickelback. Roadrunner. (Platinum)
5. ``Now 8,'' Various Artists. EMI/Universal/Sony/Zomba/Virgin. (Platinum)
(From Billboard magazine)
'Top 5's'
In The 'Alice in Wonderland' Ward
Adam Ant
Eighties pop star Adam Ant has been locked up in a psychiatric ward after he was charged with assault and possessing
a firearm, British newspapers reported on Wednesday.
The singer, famed for his ``Prince Charming'' and ``Stand and Deliver'' hits, was taken to the Royal Free Hospital
in north London by police on Monday night after he was accused of pulling out a gun in a pub.
The Sun said the singer called the newspaper from the secure ward where he is staying to say: ``I'm not mad. They've
put me in the Alice in Wonderland ward because they think I'm crazy.''
He claimed he was the victim of a sinister plot, saying that he had been ``abducted by the police again,'' the Sun said.
A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman told Reuters: ``Police were called at 7:15 p.m. on Monday regarding concerns
for the safety of a 47-year-old man.''
``Police from Camden located him in the Camden Lock area and took him to the Royal Free Hospital. He has been
sectioned (legally confined) under the Mental Health Act.''
Adam Ant
CBS Pilots In Development
Anders & Stallone
CBS is developing pilots for a pair of dramas with high-profile exec producers: Sylvester Stallone and scribe/helmer
Allison Anders (``Gas Food Lodging.'')
The Anders pilot, dubbed ``Into the Echo,'' revolves around a parole officer adopts the kid of one of her parolees.
Laurie Metcalf (``Roseanne''), who has a holding deal at CBS, has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the lead role.
The project was inspired by Anders' own life experiences: While shooting ``Mi Vida Loca,'' she befriended a young
girl who died of a drug overdose. Anders then adopted the girl's child.
Also at CBS, Stallone will executive produce ``Lefty,'' an hourlong drama about a war veteran who ends up a priest in Miami.
Anders & Stallone
Swinging & Swapping?
Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler says Jennifer Aniston can walk his way anytime she wants. The Aerosmith rocker caught wind of Aniston's
confession to Elle that he's "the one person that Brad said I can have if the opportunity presents itself," and he
likes the sound of that.
"We gotta talk," jokes Tyler on "Extra" tonight. "My wife loves Brad, so if we can do a swap thing, we're good.
Tell Brad to call me."
Steven Tyler
Feature Directing Debut
Chris Rock
Comedian Chris Rock will make his feature directing debut on the DreamWorks political comedy ''Head of State.''
Rock will also star in the project, which is set for a May start. He co-wrote the script with longtime collaborator
Ali LeRoi (HBO's ``The Chris Rock Show''), and sold it to the studio for undisclosed terms.
Since his Emmy-winning HBO series left the air, Rock's feature fortunes have risen; the Paramount-released ``Down
to Earth'' raked in $64.2 million domestically last year.
Rock's next release will be the Joel Schumacher-directed ``Bad Company,'' in which he co-stars with Anthony Hopkins.
Disney has scheduled it for June 7.
Chris Rock
Performing at the Super Bowl
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney is to perform live at next month's Super Bowl in New Orleans with a televised tribute to American heroes
after last September's hijack attacks. It will be seen by almost 1 billion people.
``As a sports fan, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be involved in the Super Bowl, and as a musician, I am
honored to add my voice to the message of tribute that this year's Super Bowl will carry,'' the former Beatle said in a statement.
McCartney, whose home city of Liverpool is one of the hotbeds of English soccer, will be joined for his ``Freedom''
anthem by 500 young people representing the 180 countries that will televise the Super Bowl.
Paul McCartney
Oympic Flame In LA - Universal City
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger poses after he lit the Olympic cauldron with the Olympic torch, which was carried into
ceremonies by former Olympian Rafer Johnson at Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles January 15, 2002. The Olympic torch
was carried throughout Los Angeles January 15 and the evening ceremonies were the final leg of the Los Angeles torch relay.
Photo by Fred Prouser
More Legal Difficulties
Tonya Harding
Tonya Harding's landlord has filed a lawsuit to evict the former Olympic figure skater and her roommate from a
three-bedroom riverfront home.
Landlord Dale E. Anderson claims Harding and her former manager Linda Lewis owe him $4,530 in rent, according to
court documents filed Monday in Clark County Superior Court.
Harding, 31, and Lewis have been renting the 1,300-square-foot three-bedroom, two-bathroom ranch house overlooking
the Columbia River since August 2000, court documents say.
On Jan. 9, they were served a three-day notice either to pay their $1,195 monthly rent for November, December
and January, plus late fees, or leave, the documents say.
Once a top figure skater, Harding's life has been swirled in scandal since a knee-whacking attack on rival Nancy
Kerrigan before the 1994 U.S. National Championships and the Winter Olympics.
Tonya Harding
Baby News
Another Thurman - Hawke Production
Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke have collaborated on yet another successful production.
The husband-and-wife stars welcomed their second child at a New York-area hospital Tuesday, the New York Daily
News reports. No word yet on the sex of the baby (well, we presume they know), or any other specifics on the birth.
This is Uma and Ethan's second go at parenthood--daughter Maya Ray was born in July 1998.
Another Thurman - Hawke Production
BC Entertainment Favorite Link
Temporary Restraining Order Extended
Disney Vs. EchoStar
A federal judge in Los Angeles has extended his temporary restraining order in Walt Disney Co.'s legal battle with
satellite broadcaster EchoStar Communications Corp. over the ABC Family channel, forcing EchoStar to carry it through March 11.
Judge Gary Feess of the U.S. district court extended the order, originally issued Dec. 31 and set to expire first on
Jan. 10 and then on Jan. 17, to allow more time for the discovery process, including depositions.
EchoStar had requested the continuance, which Disney opposed.
Disney has argued that EchoStar is denying its customers channels they want, while EchoStar has said Disney is
hurting consumers by forcing broadcasters to raise prices, hikes that in turn get passed on to the customer.
Disney Vs. EchoStar
Established Scholarship At University Of Iowa
Tom Brokaw
NBC ``Nightly News'' anchor Tom Brokaw has established a scholarship for American Indian students at the University of Iowa.
He gave $50,000 to establish the Tom Brokaw Scholarship Fund for American Indian Students, university officials
announced Monday. The first recipient is expected to be named in the spring and will receive a scholarship for
the 2002-03 school year.
``From my years spent in South Dakota and elsewhere, and over the course of my career as a journalist, I have seen
the kinds of opportunities that quality higher education can provide for American Indian students,'' Brokaw said in a statement.
Tom Brokaw
``Monica in Black and White'' On HBO
Monica Lewinsky
Four years after the start of the scandal that almost toppled a president, Monica Lewinsky says she's still trying to
figure out how to live a normal life.
Fighting back tears, and laughing a little, Lewinsky appeared at a news conference Wednesday to promote an HBO documentary
scheduled to debut on March 3. Called ``Monica in Black and White,'' it largely consists of her answering questions from
an audience of HBO staff and college students.
The former intern said she made the film partly because she was worried other TV movies being made about her case would
perpetuate inaccuracies and misconceptions.
``I'm really trying to do the best I can to normalize my life,'' she said.
Most people who recognize her - maybe not journalists - are very kind, she said.
Monica Lewinsky
The Lord Of Lord Of The Rings
Peter Jackson
There's only one title on Hollywood's lips right now, and it doesn't include the words 'Harry' or 'Potter'. 350 sets, 2000 technicians, and 48000
assorted props, and $270m, 15 months and 4.5 million feet of film later, the most ambitious film project ever attempted is all but complete. The
Fellowship Of The Ring, the first part of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings, opened worldwide on December 19 to considerable acclaim, and looks
set to do for fantasy filmmaking what Star Wars did for science-fiction in 1977. Not bad for a director best known for low-budget splatter horror,
goofy slapstick and scatological humour. So how did a modest, New Zealand filmmaker few people in Hollywood have ever heard of land just about the
biggest directing job of the last twenty years?
For the rest, Peter Jackson
``First Monday''
James Garner
James Garner says he ``wouldn't want to make any of those decisions'' that his character, Supreme Court Chief
Justice Thomas Brankin, makes on the new CBS drama ``First Monday.''
``I have a tough enough time running my own house - and my wife does that anyway,'' Garner told reporters.
``Episodic television, I've done it for over 40 years. I'm used to it. It doesn't really change much. You might
change a little technology. ... But that's about all. The basic thing that I'm interested in is the acting and
it hasn't changed a lot,'' he said.
James Garner
Cultural Difference?
''Ashna''
Taliban rule is over in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Western journalists have already noted that traditions of homosexuality
are re-emerging.
Kandahar's Pashtuns have started to become visible again with their "ashna" -- teenagers who are groomed for sex. Before
the Taliban took over in 1994, Pashtuns could be seen everywhere with their young boys on whom they showered expensive
gifts. Living in poverty, the boys could not refuse the Pashtuns.
Once a boy becomes the property of a Pashtun, who is usually married with a wife and family, he is marked out. The
Kandaharis, however, accept Pashtun relationships as part of their culture. Pashtun and their ashna "beloveds" have
been part of everyday life for centuries.
"In the days of the Mujahidin, there were men with their ashna everywhere, at every corner, in shops, on the streets,
in hotels: It was completely open, a part of life," Torjan, 38, one of the soldiers loyal to Kandahar's new governor,
Gul Agha Sherzai, told the Times newspaper.
"They are just emerging again," Torjan said. "The fighters too now have the boys in their barracks. This was brought
to the attention of Gul Agha, who ordered the boys to be expelled, but it continues. The boys live with the fighters
very openly. In a short time, and certainly within a year, it will be like pre-Taliban: They will be everywhere."
''Ashna''
Geneva, the official BartCop Astrologer, always has something interesting to read!
Hometown Concert
Wynonna Judd
Country singer Wynonna Judd will perform this weekend in her hometown for the reopening of a local arts center.
The Saturday concert will officially mark the reopening of the Paramount Arts Center after its $8 million renovation.
Proceeds from the concert will be used for operating costs and establishing an endowment. A portion of the proceeds
also will be designated for charities of Judd's choice, an event organizer said.
Wynonna Judd
Not A Union Man
Gov. Jesse
Gov. Jesse Ventura denied allegations in a lawsuit that he and others failed to compensate union actors when their
performances in commercials from his 1998 campaign were reused in a video documentary.
The documentary, ``We Shook the World,'' was promoted as an ``entertaining and authentic review of the campaign, election,
inauguration, post inauguration events and more!''
Erickson Plus Limited of Minneapolis, doing business as Sound 80, said it was hired to recruit actors for the commercials.
The company claims that it entered into union contracts that require a prior agreement to compensate ``principal
performers'' before the commercials can be reused.
The unions have demanded extra compensation for the unauthorized use of union talent, the lawsuit said. Sound 80 claims
it had been billed more than $20,000 by Jan. 10, 2000.
Sound 80 asked Ventura, his campaign organizations and associates to pay the extra costs, but ``none of the defendants
have taken any responsibility for or made payment,'' the suit said. Sound 80 said it paid the charges itself on Oct. 16,
2000, ``to preserve its business and reputation.''
Gov. Jesse - Not A Union Man
On The Set Of ''Basic''
John & Jeb & Columba
Gov. Jeb Bush and his wife met John Travolta and toured the set of his new movie, ``Basic,'' to promote filmmaking
in the state of Florida.
Bush and his wife, Columba, toured an aircraft hangar at Cecil Commerce Center, formerly Cecil Field Naval Air Station,
which is being used for the film's interior scenes. A jungle set has been created on another part of the sprawling former Navy base.
The 47-year-old actor said he's enjoyed working in north Florida, where he's spent his spare time flying his
plane and playing golf.
``It's been awesome and it's been great,'' Travolta said.
``Basic,'' directed by John McTiernan, also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Harry Connick Jr. and Giovanni Ribisi. It is
a Phoenix Pictures/InterMedia Films production.
John & Jeb & Columba
He Says, He Says
Emilio Estefan Jr.
A Venezuelan actor is seeking a restraining order against music producer Emilio Estefan Jr., accusing him of
threats and unwanted sexual advances.
But Estefan, the husband of singer Gloria Estefan, on Tuesday disputed the allegations through his lawyer and described
actor Juan Carlos Diaz as an unwanted trespasser.
Diaz on Monday petitioned for an immediate restraining order against Estefan but he was denied. Instead, a hearing was
scheduled for Jan. 28 where both parties will testify on Diaz's request for restraining orders against Estefan and his bodyguard.
Diaz, a soap opera actor who appeared in the 2000 film ``Escape from Cuba,'' said Tuesday that Estefan threatened him
and ``touched him in an unwanted manner'' at a gym and that Estefan asked him for sexual favors over a two-year period.
John Hogan, Estefan's lawyer, said his client had been harassed by Diaz and was upset by his ``unfounded allegations
and scandalous remarks.''
Emilio Estefan Jr.
''Multiple Drug Intoxication''
Lani O'Grady
Lani O'Grady--the former actress best known as Dick Van Patten's eldest daughter on Eight Is Enough--died of a drug overdose,
according to the Los Angeles County Coroner.
Despite a history of addiction, the actress--whose body was discovered in her mobile home by a neighbor last September--was
originally believed to have died from natural causes. Her death came a week shy of her 47th birthday.
But toxicology tests released Wednesday reveal O'Grady died of "multiple drug intoxication," the coroner said. Fatal levels of
the prescription painkiller Vicodin and the antidepressant Prozac were found in her bloodstream.
The coroner said it was undetermined whether the overdose was accidental or a suicide.
She had been dogged by health and pill problems dating back to her Mary Bradford days. In a series of interviews in the 1990s,
she admitted to having suffered panic attacks for the previous 20 years. Scores of doctors misdiagnosed her; to cope with the
frequent anxiety episodes--sometimes she'd shake so badly she couldn't leave her dressing room to shoot a scene--she was fed
a veritable pharmacy: Xanax, Valium and Librium. She became hooked on the pills and, eventually, alcohol, too.
"I drank two bottles of Chardonnay a day, took a ton of prescription pills," she told Geraldo Rivera during a 1994 interview.
She went into rehab at least five times.
Lani O'Grady
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Still MISSING
Marc Chagall's "Study for 'Over Vitebsk'"
