Happy Birthday Mel
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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Mel Gibson (actor/director) is 52
George Martin (record producer) is 82
Dabney Coleman (actor, "Ron Carlisle" in Tootsie) is 76
Stephen Stills (singer) is 63
John Paul Jones (bassist, Led Zeppelin) is 62
Victoria Principal (actress, "Pamela Ewing" on Dallas) is 58
Francisco Rivera Ordonez (matador) is 34
Danica McKellar (actress, "Winnie Cooper" on Wonder Years) is 33
Nicholas Gonzalez (actor, "D.J" on The O.C.) is 32
Kimberley Locke (singer, American Idol) is 30

ON JANUARY 3RD...
1967...Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys refused to be sworn in after receiving a U-S Army draft notice. He said he was a conscientious objector.
In 1970..."I Me Mine" was recorded by The Beatles. It was the last song that the band would record together.
In 1970...Davy Jones announced he was leaving The Monkees.
In 1974...Bob Dylan and The Band kicked off a six-week tour at Chicago Stadium. It was Dylan's first American tour in eight years.
In 1987...Aretha Franklin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, becoming the first woman to be inducted.
In 1992...Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr married singer-actress Patsy Kensit in London at the Kensington & Chelsea Registry Office. Fights broke out between the couple's bodyguards and the paparazzi, with two innocent bystanders being knocked to the ground in the scuffle.
In 1996...Madonna testified in an L-A Court against a man who was accused of stalking and threatening to kill her.
In 2001...Vanilla Ice was arrested and spent the night in jail in Broward County, Florida after a fight with his wife in his truck.
In 2002...Zac Foley, bassist for EMF, died after imbibing a New Year's cocktail comprising of heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, barbiturates and alcohol. He was 31.
In 2003...The Clash's Joe Strummer was cremated. The funeral procession took his remains past the Elgin pub in West London where The Clash played some of their earliest gigs.
In 2004...Willie Nelson sang his anti-war song ""What Ever Happened to Peace on Earth" for the first time at a fundraiser for Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich.
In 2004...Britney Spears married her childhood pal Jason Allen Alexander in Las Vegas at 5:30 in the morning. Her record label said the singer "took a joke too far." The pair later filed for an annulment. 

MOVIE MINUTE: NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS
National Treasure: Book of Secrets was the number one movie at the box office for the second straight week.  The film raked in another 35-million dollars over the weekend, bringing its total to over 124-million dollars.  The film reunited Nicolas Cage with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Cage told us they seem to capture lightening in a bottle every time they work together.  "Each and every time... and I think it's been five movies now... each and every time something good comes out of it and that's what keeps me coming back and I'd like to think that what keeps Jerry coming back to me."  Jon Voight also returns to the sequel and he told us that he enjoys working with Bruckheimer.  "He's a very handy person to know, you know?  Jerry Bruckheimer puts people to work and he's quite a genius.  In our time, he's the man."  National Treasure: Book of Secrets also stars Justin Bartha, Helen Mirren, Bruce Greenwood and Ed Harris.  It's in theaters now.       

KIM KARDASHIAN ALLEGEDLY ENGAGED TO NFL STAR REGGIE BUSH? Kim Kardashian andNFL star Reggie Bush brought in 2008 with wedding bells on their mind, at least that's what people thought. According to E! Online,Kim's rep stated that the rumors are "not true." The couple was spotted celebrating New Year's Eve in Miami dancing to the wee hours of the morning at club Mansion.

TYRA'S BANKING ON A CHILD IN NEAR FUTURE. Soon you can add Tyra Banks' name to the long list of celebrities extending their homes by adoption. The former model told TheSun.co.uk that she always wanted to adopt a child since the age of nine. Banks revealed, "I have a connection with children and they don't have to come from my womb for me to have that connection."

EDDIE MURPHY MARRIES TRACEY EDMONDS.  Eddie Murphy celebrated New Year's Day by tying the knot with film producer Tracey Edmonds.  Their representatives told People magazine that the pair exchanged vows Tuesday on a private island off Bora Bora in French Polynesia in front of a small group of family and friends.  Murphy and Edmonds began dating last year.  They were engaged in July.  Murphy has five children from his marriage to Nicole Mitchell Murphy, who filed for divorce in 2005.  He also has a daughter with Spice Girls singer Melanie Brown.  Edmonds has two sons from her 13-year marriage to Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. 

LINDSAY LOHAN GETS WORST PERFORMANCE VOTE. According to Reuters, Lindsay Lohan gave the year's worst performance by an actress for her role in the film I Know Who Killed Me. Over two-million people voted to give Lohan the "honor" in a voter's poll on the Web site Moviefone.com. Georgia Rule, another of one of Lindsay's film in 2007, was voted the second biggest waste of ticket money by the poll participants. 300 and Transformers were named the number one and two most worthy films on which to spend ticket money. Check out MovieFone.com to see the rest of the results.

ANNE HATHAWAY BECOMES AN AMBASSADOR. According to MakeHerUp.com, Anne Hathaway has been named the new makeup ambassador for Lancôme. Most of her duties will start in the fall of this year when a new Lancôme fragrance is launched.

JENNIFER GARNER NAMED "WEST VIRGINIAN OF THE YEAR." Jennifer Garner has been honored as the "2007 West Virginian of the Year" by her hometown newspaper. According to Access Hollywood, The Sunday Gazette-Mail says they chose Garner for her dedication, hard work and service as an ambassador and role model for West Virginia. Garner is actually a Texas transplant, but moved to the Mountain State as a four-year-old and considers West Virginia home.

DANIEL RADCLIFFE BEATS OUT BLOOM AND LEDGER. His best known part is a boy wizard who battles "Lord Voldemort," but now, Daniel Radcliffe has beaten out Orlando Bloom and Heath Ledger for the coveted role of Dan Eldon in Journey. According to the World Entertainment News Network, the young man who plays "Harry Potter" will portray the slain journalist who was stoned to death in Somalia in 1993. Eldon's mother said Radcliffe was the perfect choice, "We resisted a lot of older actors because Dan was a boy emerging into manhood." The movie will be based on a compilation of the journalist's diaries, which were published in 1997.

DEATH SENTENCE ON DVD.  The Kevin Bacon flick Death Sentence will be out on DVD on Tuesday.  In the film, Bacon plays a man who witnesses his son getting murdered and vows to hunt down his killers.  Comedian Aisha Tyler gets serious in the movie, portraying a sympathetic homicide detective.  She spoke about trying a non-funny role.  "To me, it's more interesting to do a role that feels new to you and feels like you're going to transform into something you haven't done before.  So I loved it, I thought it was great."  It turns out that the part wasn't really intended for someone who looks like Aisha.  "It was originally written for a 50-year-old, white guy so when you think of a 50-year-old, white guy, you obviously think of Aisha Tyler, so I was really flattered by that."  Death Sentence also stars Kelly Preston and John Goodman.

MADONNA'S FILM TO DEBUT IN BERLIN.  Madonna's directorial debut, as well as indie films featuring such stars as Ben Kingsley and Moritz Bleibtreu, will be among the 50 movies in the Berlin International Film Festival's arthouse sidebar Panorama.  According to Billboard.com, Madonna's film, Filth And Wisdom, stars Stephen Graham, Richard E. Grant and Eugene Hutz, the Ukrainian frontman for gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello.  The 58th Berlin International Film Festival runs February 7th thru the 17th.
 
SACHA BARON COHEN TO WORK WITH STEVEN SPIELBERG?  Steven Spielberg has been developing The Trial of the Chicago Seven for quite some time, and it now looks as if he has found his hippie ringleader.  The film's about anti-Vietnam War activists arrested at the 1968 Democratic Convention and according to London's Sunday Times, British thespian Sacha Baron Cohen has been attached to play Abbie Hoffman in the pic.  A rep for Spielberg would neither confirm nor deny the report.  Spielberg also has a project about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War in the works.  Variety reports that that project has a script and leading actor in the bag.

TYLER PERRY PICKS UP ROLE IN NEXT STAR TREK MOVIE.Tyler Perry has landed a role in the latest Star Trek film, Star Trek 11.According to the Trek Movie Report, Perry plays the head of the "Starfleet Academy" and dresses down student "James T. Kirk" in an infamous scene among Trekkies where Kirk is the only person to ever pass the "Kobayashi Maru" test - but he wins by reprogramming the computer, basically cheating. Perry filmed the scene a few weeks ago for the movie, which is scheduled to be released December 25th.

SIMMONS TALKS ABOUT CELEBRITY APPRENTICE.The seventh season of The Apprentice kicks off tonight, but rather than wannabe entrepreneurs, the latest edition of show pits celebrities against one another.  One of the stars competing is Kiss' Gene Simmons.  Simmons has a lot of business sense after the success of not only Kiss merchandise, but his other ventures as well, like his A&E show Gene Simmons Family Jewels.  So with his TV experience and his business savvy, the bassist revealed his thoughts on his fellow celebs.  "Not much of a competition, they were destroyed."  As for the host of the show, Donald Trump, did Simmons and the Trumpster match wits?  "Actually, we didn't match very much wits, it was more of a mutual admiration society."  Carol Alt, Stephen Baldwin, Marilu Henner, Lennox Lewis and Vincent Pastore are just a few of the stars appearing on The Celebrity Apprentice.

FALL OUT BOY'S PATRICK STUMP TALKS LAW & ORDER.  For quite some time now, we have been reporting that Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump will guest star on the two-hour premiere of NBC's Law & Order.  The episode finally aired last night and this is what Stump had to say about the experience.  "It was totally cool.  It was crazy.  It's weird because I hate being this guy that has to admit this but it's totally true.  The last thing I ever acted in was in high school probably.  It was some kind of high school student written sketch or something so it was really crazy noticing any similarities between that and real acting (laughs).  And it was a lot like making a video too."  Stump told us how he got the role.  "I just begged like crazy.  I have always been a fan of the show.  It's something that stretches far back enough that it's part of my childhood so I've been a fan of the show for a long time.  So yeah, it was just something that I've always wanted to do.  It was really funny.  After I filmed everything I got to take a tour and I got to sit in Jerry Orbach's desk and everything, you know?  I got to really do the whole nerd thing." 

LIL WAYNE QUIETLY RELEASES A MINI ALBUM. Lil Wayne told MTV News a couple of months ago that he was planning to drop Tha Carter III: The Leak on December 18th, with the official Tha Carter III LP to follow February 12th, but instead he actually slipped out a five-song EP called The Leak through Rhapsody and Amazon on Christmas Day. The disc features "I'm Me," "Gossip," "Kush," "Love Me or Hate Me" and "Talkin' About It."

ALICIA KEYS LEARNS LESSON WITH JOHN MAYER. Alicia Keys' latest album As I Am has sold over two million copies since its release. The songstress stopped by and told us about her album. And the song, "Lesson Learned," on which John Mayer guests. "It came together because we known each other for a little while, he's just an incredible musician. And I actually was on his album on one of his songs called 'Gravity.' We did it in a real low key way, we didn't talk about it we didn't advertise it. I came into the studio old school style, sand and that was that." Keys kicks off her international tour March 25th. She begins over seas and according to her Web site, U-S dates will be added soon.

CAUSE OF PIMP C'S DEATH CLOSE TO BEING REVEALED. XXLMag.com reports the L-A coroner's office should be able to determine the cause of Pimp C's sudden death at a Hollywood hotel last month within the next two weeks. According to Port Arthur's KBTV Channel 4, investigators have ruled out foul play in the mysterious death of the 33 year-old veteran MC. Pimp's body was discovered in his room at the Mondrian Hotel on Sunset Blvd. on December 4th after family members became worried when they hadn't heard from him and notified the hotel's staff. Initial reports indicated that Pimp may have died from natural causes and no drugs or drug paraphernalia were found in the room. We will know for sure shortly.

RIHANNA AND TIMBALAND AMONG THOSE LAUNCHING CLOTHING LINE. Entertainment Tonight reports pop sensation Rihanna is joining up with trendy retailer H&M and other musicians such as Good Charlotte, My Chemical Romance, Timbaland and Ziggy Marley, to launch a collection of T-shirts, hoodies and tanks aimed at teens aged 15 to 24. The line, called "Fashion Against AIDS," will launch in February and hopes to raise awareness of the disease among teens with slogans like "Believe" and "Stop and Think." Prices are expected to range from around 12 dollars to 34 dollars, with 25 percent of the sales from the collection going to HIV/AIDS-prevention projects around the world.

MARY J. BLIGE WEIGHS IN ON JAMIE LYNN'S PREGNANCY. After news broke at the end of 2007 that Britney Spears' 16-year-old sister Jamie Lynn was pregnant, everyone had something to say about the situation. Even Mary J. Blige put her two cents in at her record release party. "I mean if that's her choice then congratulations. I hope she's responsible and I hope she understands that you have to change your life style up so they can look at you as an example. It's all about mommy being an example, Jamie." Mary's latest album, Growing Pains is in stores now.

WYCLEF KNOWS THE RIGHT WAY TO SAMPLE. These days it seems like artists are sampling other artists songs left and right. Even Wyclef Jean samples The Wu-Tang Clan on the remix version of a song from his latest album "Sweetest Girl." And according to the former Fugee, it's okay to borrow, if you do it right. "What I hate is when producers grab parts of records and they don't pay acknowledgement to the original folks. We wouldn't be saying 'Dollar, Dollar Bill Yall' if it wasn't for the Wu-Tang Clan. So it was important to have a remix so we can reminisce off that. And not only just take the beat but bring back a member of the Wu that we all love Raekwon." Wyclef's Carnival II: Memoirs of an Immigrant is in stores now.

NATE DOGG RECOVERING AFTER ALLEGED STROKE.  Nate Dogg was hospitalized after suffering a stroke over the holidays. RapWeekly.com reports he was admitted to Pomona Valley Hospital in California days before Christmas following a cerebrovascular (refers to the blood vessels that supply the brain with oxygen,) accident at his home at the end of December. The 38-year-old whose real name is Nathaniel Hale, has been released from the facility and is said to be recovering well.

DMX TO RELEASE A GOSPEL ALBUM. DMX told MTV News that he will be releasing a gospel album sometime this year. He said, "I [was] the first n---a to put out two albums in one year, now I'm gonna hit 'em again — drop two albums on the same f---in' day, yo. A double album will make mutha----as mad, because they gotta spend more money — plus it's already a long album. I'm talking about a hip-hop album and a gospel album." Combined, the project will be called Walk With Me Now and You'll Fly With Me Later. Now the albums don't yet have a set release date, but the MC did say he's planning to have them out within the next few months. He recently inked a deal with the independent label Bodog Music to release the project.

AMY WINEHOUSE TO RENEW WEDDING VOWS IN JAIL. Amy Winehouse plans to start the new year with some big changes in her life, sort of. NME.com reports the singer is planning to renew her wedding vows tomorrow to her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil in Pentonville Prison. In addition to the special ceremony, Winehouse will also perform a song dedicated to Civil titled "For You."

CHUCK D AND DMC TO PLAY SHOW TOGETHER. Hip Hop legends Chuck D of Public Enemy, DMC of RUN-DMC and DJ Johnny Juice Rosado team up for one night only at the Hard Rock Hotel to launch the Web site Beyond.FM and to kick off the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) being held from January 7th through the 10th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Tickets for Sunday's show are available at HardRockHotel.com

THOM YORKE RESPONDS TO EMI RE-NEGOTIATION REPORT. Radiohead frontman Thom York recently shot down a Times of London report that stated his band demanded a three-million dollar advance from EMI for their new In Rainbows LP before deciding to not re-sign with the label. According to Billboard.com, Yorke clarified the report by saying the band wanted more control over how the label uses their material in the future. As for the actual In Rainbows CD, it was released Tuesday on TBD/ATO Records.

JOHN MAYER ON D-BAGS. John Mayer has d-bags on the mind. At least, that's what seems to be the case as he blogged about the subject, pondering why the term is thrown around so much, and what exactly the insult means. And in the process, he reveals himself to be firmly behind Fall Out Boy Pete Wentz. Mayer writes, "In the case of Pete Wentz, whom I can comment on personally, I think the guy's got the job description of musician down pretty damn well. True, it's not your dad's rock star template, but he'd be inauthentic if he tried to fit inside it. Pete Wentz has a truckload of ideas. Big, bold, colorful ideas. They're ideas that have never once had their edges sanded down, and for that reason some people might find him or his band too much to swallow. You know who else had that going for them in their day? Frank Zappa. And David Bowie. And Peter Gabriel. And Elton John. And the Doors." To read the entire post, hit up JohnMayer.com/Blog.

R.E.M. TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM IN APRIL.  According to Billboard.com, R.E.M. will release their new studio album, Accelerate,on April 1st. The band had a chance to perform new material from Accelerate last summer during their brief run in Dublin, Ireland. R.E.M. is planning to hit the road again this spring, including an appearance at the Langerado Festival, set to take place March 6th through the 9th in Big Cypress, Florida. 

AVENGED SEVENFOLD'S HIT SINGLE 'ALMOST' DIDN'T MAKE IT. Spending twelve consecutive weeks on the radio charts, Avenged Sevenfold's "Almost Easy" was close to being left on the cutting room floor. According to drummer The Rev, the song was originally intended for a Halloween EP. "I was a little surprised when it made the record in the first place. Originally we were thinking about doing a Halloween EP and we wrote that song from a Halloween-ish type vibe. We ended up liking the song so much that we put it on the record. I think it fits perfectly on there." In the mean time, Avenged is keeping busy with the release highly anticipated animated film A Little Piece of Heaven, available this Monday on registered CD/MVI versions of their album.

2008 DOES NOT MEAN AN END TO ZEPPELIN RUMORS.  Just because a new year has begun, it doesn't mean that rumors surrounding Led Zeppelin have gone away.  In fact, it seems that they are just getting fired up.  According to the English paper The Daily Mirror, the band is set to headline the Bonnaroo festival in June.  Sound familiar?  That's because these rumors already made the rounds a few weeks back and were shot down, though it was confirmed that Robert Plant would play the concert with bluegrass singer Alison Krauss.  However, an insider told The Mirror that Plant will be there with Zep too.  He said, "Robert Plant wasn't keen to commit.  Now he's had a change of heart and if it goes well, they are also talking about touring."  And the source went on to explain it may not just be talk about a tour, "All ticket sellers have been told a world tour will take place, there's just some ironing out of contracts to be done."  Meanwhile, as for who might play the drums with the band if they were to tour, Gigwise.com reports that Dave Grohl, who sat behind the kit with Nirvana, might get the job.  Grohl was in the running to play at last month's reunion show but original drummer John Bonham's son, Jason, took over for his dad.