Nickelback Star Given 1-Year Driving Ban

Chad Kroeger, the lead singer for Canadian rock band Nickelback, was sentenced on Thursday to a one-year driving ban and fined more than C$600 ($590) for drunk driving.
The Nickelback frontman was stopped by police for speeding in his luxury Lamborghini sports car in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, British Columbia, in 2006. A breath test found he had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system.
Kroeger, whose legal name is Chad Turton, told reporters as he left the courthouse that he does not condone drinking and driving, but "everyone makes mistakes."
His lawyer said they would appeal the conviction, handed down by the judge last month. Kroeger could have been sentenced to jail, but first-time offenders usually receive sentences of a fine and a license suspension.

Gosh I hate Nickelback.

They are the worst band ever.

No, wait...Paramore is the worst band ever.

~Celticsgirl

Celebrities in Trouble!

'CSI' actor Gary Dourdan was arrested for alleged drug possession in the early hours of April 28. Authorities say they found the actor sleeping in an improperly parked car with cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and prescription pills in his possession.

Vanilla Ice, known on his birth certificate as Rob Van Winkle, landed himself in handcuffs and with a domestic battery charge after he reportedly shoved his wife during an argument.

Roger Clemens is accused of carrying on a decade-long relationship with troubled country singer Mindy McCready that began with she was only 15. The New York Daily News report could damage the baseball legend's credibility in his lawsuit against a former trainer.

Now, McCready confirms that the Daily News' story rings true. "I cannot refute anything in the story," says the singer, who adds about Clemens: "He's a kind and caring man."

Velvet Revolver and STP rocker Scott Weiland, pleaded no contest April 28 to driving under the influence, a charge stemming from his November arrest on a Los Angeles freeway onramp.

Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora has plead no contest to one misdemeanor count of driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit stemming from a March 25 arrest. Prosecutors dropped a second charge of driving under the influence.

Boisterous CNN host Richard Quest was arrested in Central Park early Friday morning, allegedly telling police: "I have meth in my pocket." He was later arraigned on a misdemeanor drug charge.

Parisian prosecutors are calling for former film star Brigitte Bardot to be given a two-month suspended sentence and a hefty fine for anti-Muslim statements made in a letter to France's then interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Former 'O.C.' problem child Mischa Barton, seen in her mug shot, was pulled over and arrested on Dec. 27 by West Hollywood police for driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license. On Thursday she was sentenced to three years probation and ordered into an alcohol education program.

Raffaelo Follieri, who's been dating actress Anne Hathaway for more than a year, was detained by police on April 3 after an incident involving Follieri and a bad check worth nearly a quarter-million dollars.

Naomi Campbell, the supermodel who's no stranger to handcuffs or assault allegations, is arrested at London's Heathrow airport after allegedly assaulting a police officer there.

Poison drummer Rikki Rockett was arrested on a Mississippi rape warrant in Los Angeles, Feb. 24. He was picked up at the airport following a concert over the weekend in New Zealand.

Shia LaBeouf, who already got off of trespassing charges for a possibly-drunk Walgreens arrest, briefly had a $1,000 bench warrant against him after failing to appear in court for a smoking offense. The warrant was subsequently dismissed when LaBeouf's attorney entered a not-guilty plea.

Actor Thomas Jane was arrested on March 17 after driving at excessive speeds in California. He was charged with DUI after reportedly failing a breathalyzer.

Joe Francis is a free man after pleading no contest to filming underage girls for his hit DVD series 'Girls Gone Wild.' He was sentenced to time already served. He had spent 11 months behind bars on a tax evasion charge. He plans on continuing to fight those charges.

Police stopped Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann on 'Gilligan's Island,' on Oct. 18, 2007 and allegedly found marijuana in her car. After possession charges were dropped, she later pleaded guilty to reckless driving and is currently serving six months probation.

Eighties icon Boy George showed up in court on Feb. 28 to deny charges that he handcuffed a male escort to a wall in his London home last year. The singer will remain free on bail until trial in November.

Bai Ling, who has appeared in movies like 'The Crow' and also had a brief role on the hit TV ABC show 'Lost,' was arrested after being accused of stealing batteries and magazines at Los Angeles International Airport on Feb. 13.

'Jackass' star Steve-O, real name Stephen Glover, was arrested at his Hollywood Hills home on March 3, following a dispute with his neighbors, on several charges including vandalism and drug possession.

Kid Rock, seen in his mug shot, found himself charged with simple battery following an Oct. 21 brawl at an Atlanta waffle house.

Wow.

A waffle house.

~Celticsgirl

Broadway actor James Barbour, 41, who played the beast in the musical "Beauty and the Beast," was sentenced to 60 days in jail plus 3 years probation on Friday after agreeing to a plea deal in a case involving sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl in 2001.

Child star Aaron Carter, now 20, was arrested after police in Texas pulled him over and reportedly found more than two ounces of marijuana in his car.

I can't say i'm surprised.

We all knew this was coming.

~Celticsgirl

Like his sister Paris in the past, 18-year-old hotel heir Barron Hilton was arrested on the morning of Feb. 12 in Malibu for allegedly driving under the influence.

The notorious "Hollywood Madam," Heidi Fleiss, was arrested by members of the Nye County Sheriff's Office in Nevada on Feb. 7 and charged with illegal possession of prescription drugs and driving under the influence.

Shortly after getting ten years to life probation for sexually assaulting two teenage girls, Vincent "Don Vito" Margera of 'Viva La Bam' fame got another two years for possession of cocaine.

A horse and a rat

Cloud Rat Rediscovered After 112 Years

The greater dwarf cloud rat was thought to live in the canopies of tall trees in the Philippines, but the last sighting of one was 112 years ago. Now it has been found again.

One of the rodents was found in Mt. Pulag National Park in the Philippines.

The fist-sized mammal has dense, soft, reddish-brown fur, a black mask around large dark eyes, small rounded ears, a broad and blunt snout, and a long tail covered with dark hair.

"This beautiful little animal was seen by biologists only once previously — by a British researcher in 1896 who was given several specimens by local people, so he knew almost nothing about the ecology of the species," said Lawrence Heaney, curator of mammals at the Field Museum and leader of a team that rediscovered the rat. "Since then, the species has been a mystery, in part because there is virtually no forest left on Mt. Data, where it was first found."

The dwarf cloud rat (Carpomys melanurus) is a smaller relative of giant clouds rats, spectacular animals found only on Luzon Island in the Philippines, but widespread and comparatively well known.

The dwarf cloud rat was captured by Danilo Balete of the Philippine National Museum, in a patch of mature mossy forest (also called cloud forest) high on Mt. Pulag, at about 7,700 feet (2,350 meters) above sea level. It was in the canopy of a large tree, on a large horizontal branch covered by a thick layer of moss, orchids and ferns, Balete said.

"We had suspected from its broad, hand-like hind feet that it lived up in big trees, but this is the first evidence to confirm that," Balete said.

Since this is the first time the dwarf cloud rat has been seen in its natural habitat, the data collected from this specimen "will significantly augment our understanding of how these rodents evolved, what makes them tick, and how we can keep them around," said William Stanley, collections manager of mammals at the Field Museum. "Also, finding this animal again gives us hope for the conservation of one of the most diverse and threatened mammal faunas of the world."

The research team thinks that this species probably lives only high in the big canopy trees in mature mossy forests at high elevations.

"Now that we know where to look for them, it will be possible to learn more," Heaney said.

Favorite Wins Kentucky Derby in Tragedy

Big Brown backed up his trainer's boasts with an explosive finishing kick and won the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, a commanding victory turned somber by the fatal breakdown of the filly Eight Belles on horse racing's biggest day.

The cheers for the winner's 4 3/4-length victory were cut short when Eight Belles, the runner-up, collapsed while galloping out near the second turn. She broke her two front ankles and was euthanized on the track minutes later.

"When we passed the wire I stood up. She started galloping funny. I tried to pull her up. That's when she went down," said her distraught jockey, Gabriel Saez.

Eight Belles was attempting to become the fourth filly to win the Derby.

The unbeaten Big Brown's start from the outside post did little to hamper his charge when the 20-horse field turned for home at Churchill Downs. Under the urging of jockey Kent Desormeaux, the 2-1 favorite cruised to an easy victory to become the seventh unbeaten Derby winner with his fourth consecutive win. The last one was Barbaro in 2006.

The breakdown brought back memories of the 2006 Preakness, where Barbaro shattered his right rear leg just after the start. The colt was euthanized months later, after developing laminitis from the catastrophic injuries.

The tragedy undoubtedly drained some of the joy from Big Brown's victory, which sends him to the Preakness in two weeks as the only 3-year-old with a chance to become the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978.

"We're ready to roll," Big Brown's confident trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. said.

All week, Dutrow told the world he had the best horse in the field - and the big bay colt justified every accolade tossed his way.

"I can't describe the feeling that all of us have right now," he said.

The colt became the first Derby winner since Regret in 1915 to have raced only three times previously. He is only the third in 60 years to win after racing in just two Derby preps - Sunny's Halo in 1983 and Street Sense last year were the others.

In addition, Big Brown became the second winner to start from the No. 20 post. The gelding Clyde Van Dusen did it in 1929.

Big Brown covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.82 in front of the second-largest crowd in Derby history at 157,770. He paid $6.80, $5 and $4.80.

Eight Belles paid $10.60 and $6.40, and Denis of Cork, at odds of 27-1, returned $11.60.

Dr. Larry Bramlage, the Derby's on-call veterinarian, said the filly's injuries were too severe to even attempt to move her off the track.

"She didn't have a front leg to stand on to be splinted and hauled off in the ambulance, so she was euthanized," Bramlage said.

I think those horse races are crap.

Why do people obsess over training a horse so it can run to win its owner some money?

It is cruel and unnecessary.

I have not watched a horse race and I don't plan on it.

Look at what happened!

A horse broke both of its fron ankles!

How horrible!!

So they kill it on the track!

I couldn't stand to watch that.

Animals should have some more rights and privelages.

I am not saying that they should rule the world and have total control.

Just that they should not be treated like this.

~Celticsgirl

Paris Hilton, hockey...and basketball?? o_O

Madden Wants To Marry Hilton

Benji Madden wants to marry girlfriend Paris Hilton, insisting their relationship is genuine, and the socialite is "wife material."

The Good Charlotte rocker is desperate to prove critics of their relationship wrong, and claims he fell in love with Hilton long before they even got together earlier this year.

He tells an interviewer on Sirius radio, "We were in love before anyone even knew we were together. We have known each other for a long time, and I've always known the real Paris. I always knew that she was like ... wife material or serious girlfriend material."

Madden gushes, "You just want to get on top of a mountain and go, I'm in love! But your fans would probably make fun of you."

And when asked if they could marry soon, he replies, "Nothing would make me happier. Wow, all right. OK. I'm not gonna bet against you on that. We'll see. I'm very, very happy right now."

Babies could be on the horizon too; Madden admits babysitting his niece Harlow, whose parents are Nicole Richie and Joel Madden, has made him broody.

He adds, "Oh yeah, I baby-sit all the time. I love babysitting and I'm learning everything. I can change diapers now. ... One of Harlow's favorite songs is one of the songs on our record, so when I rock her to sleep, I'll sing it to her."

To sports!

Rangers Find Way to Impede the Penguins’ Advance

As the end of Game 4 between the Rangers and the Penguins devolved into something between a scuffle and a brawl, the Rangers had, at the very least, thrown the first piece of drama into the Penguins’ playoff march.

Until Thursday night, Pittsburgh had not lost a game this postseason. Everything the Penguins had touched seemed coated with pixie dust in four victories over Ottawa and three against the Rangers.

So the sight of Penguins center Evgeni Malkin kicking the skates out from two Rangers players in the final minute, starting the end-of-game fireworks and earning a 10-minute misconduct, was the first glimpse at any frustration. The Rangers stifled every bit of the Penguins’ potent offense — including the red-hot Malkin — in a 3-0 victory at Madison Square Garden.

“Maybe a bit of a dent in the armor,” Rangers Coach Tom Renney said of the victory. “And we’re talking about pretty thick armor here. So we have to keep it all in perspective and recognize we won a hockey game.

“It is something, without question, to build on.”

The Rangers succeeded in sending their Eastern Conference semifinal series back to Pittsburgh for Game 5 on Sunday afternoon. They did it with spectacular performances by Jaromir Jagr (two goals, one assist) and goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who not only stopped a penalty shot by Malkin but also made a half-dozen other amazing saves among his 29.

Strong performances from centers Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky and the team’s penalty killers were less obvious. Drury played more than 20 minutes and won 15 of 24 face-offs despite a rib-cage injury sustained in Game 3. Dubinsky scored a power-play goal in the third period to end the Rangers’ 0-for-17 streak, which began in the second period of Game 1.

The penalty killers, including Drury and now Dubinsky, kept the Pittsburgh power play scoreless for the first time in the postseason, snuffing out four man-advantage opportunities. By stifling the Penguins’ first two power plays, the Rangers might have set the tone for this game, keeping Pittsburgh scrambling for the puck instead of setting up booming shots.

“We certainly didn’t want to fall behind,” Rangers forward Brendan Shanahan said. “Their power play has been very good, and it’s scored some key goals in the series for them. We worked a little extra on the preparation and made a few adjustments and we had a good game on the penalty kill.”

By the end of the game, the Rangers had to show some fight in other ways, too. In the third period, Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby took issue with a hit that Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi had made on forward Marian Hossa and charged over to retaliate. They both received roughing penalties, but Malkin rushed in as well, and that put the Rangers on a power play when the Penguins should have been trying to slice into a 2-0 deficit.

“Obviously we don’t want to be in the penalty box,” Crosby said afterward. “Our job is to help our team score, but there comes a point where you have to stick up for each other.”

At the end of the game, Malkin kicked Drury’s feet out from under him and did the same to Rangers defenseman Paul Mara, who then tried to pummel Malkin. Mara drew a roughing penalty and a misconduct, but he said he was not about to let Malkin’s act go unpunished.

“He did it at their blue line and then at the other end right in front of the ref,” Mara said. “It was a classless act by a superstar there. There is no need for that. It was actually a full kick. It was done out of frustration, a lack of class. We’ll put that in the back of our minds.”

Renney said that Rangers General Manager Glen Sather had called N.H.L. officials about the game, but he did not know if Sather discussed Malkin. He said he was eager to hear the N.H.L.’s explanation for a penalty-shot call against the Rangers. The call came late in the second period, after Girardi shoved Malkin during a breakaway. Girardi had no stick at the time. There is no rule against hitting a puck-carrier from behind when the players are away from the boards.

“They’re getting back to us,” Renney said of Sather’s call to the league. “I’m not sure. It was a penalty of some kind. I don’t know. It has to be a trip, hook, crosscheck, whatever.”

Clearly, these teams have cultivated some animosity in this series, from Jagr’s yelling at Crosby to stop diving to draw penalties, to the latest issue with Malkin.

Most surprisingly, none of it has involved the player who is usually the vortex of all such controversies involving the Rangers. But forward Sean Avery spent Game 4 in the intensive care unit at St. Vincents Hospital and Medical Center in Manhattan, where he remains with a lacerated spleen sustained in Game 3.

The Rangers said Avery was improving. They are looking to say the same for the rest of the team and its playoff hopes after Sunday.

Computer system predicts Celtics to win NBA championship

The Boston Celtics have the best chance of winning this season’s National Basketball Association (NBA) title, according to a computer system developed by Chinese PC maker Lenovo.

Called the Lenovo Stat, the system analyzes the most effective combinations of players in each team, calculating point differentials for every game a certain team plays.

According to Lenovo, the Celtics' five-man combination of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo garnered the most points and therefore, the most powerful team on the court.

Boston finished the regular season with the best record in the NBA and is currently battling lowest-seed Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.

The New Orleans Hornets, led by MVP candidate Chris Paul, is ranked second ahead of the Detroit Pistons, according to Lenovo's rankings.

The Los Angeles Lakers, meanwhile, have earned three spots in the Top 10 -- sixth being the highest -- based on different five-man combinations. The Lakers, though, were the first to advance to the second round after sweeping the Denver Nuggets.

The NBA officially adopted Lenovo stat last season, following a partnership between the league and the Chinese firm. Results are made available after every game on NBA.com.

Last season, the Houston Rockets had the top-ranked combination followed by Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns. Dallas and Houston, however, were later on eliminated in the first round in last year's playoffs.

EXCLUSIVE: Nick Cannon Tells a Pal, 'I'm in Love' with Mariah

Nick Cannon is head over heels for his new bride, Mariah Carey, according to Jacob Arabo, who created the diamond sparkler that the actor gave the singer as an engagement ring.
"The way he came into the store, the mood he was in, I knew this was very serious," Arabo tells PEOPLE exclusively. "He said 'Jacob, I'm in love. This is what I want to do.' "
Though there's been no official confirmation of a wedding, the pair obtained a marriage license on the Caribbean island of Eleuthera, and Cannon's family confirmed the pair got hitched.
According to Arabo, Cannon, 27, came to Jacob & Co. two weeks ago and asked to have an engagement ring created for Carey, 39. "He said he wanted something in pink, so he picked something in a light purple-ish pink. He was very involved and he trusted me to design the ring."
Despite the couple's whirlwind romance, Arabo said: "He loves her. That's all I know."
As for their compatibility, he added, "[Nick] is an artist, she's an artist, so they have a lot in common. He was very, very happy. Happier than I have ever seen him. I've known him four or five years and this was a really happy moment for him, in his life."
17 Carat Love
On Thursday, Jacob & Co. confirmed to PEOPLE that the ring he made was crafted from platinum and features a square, emerald-cut fancy light pink diamond in the center, surrounded by 58 intense pink diamonds, flanked by two half-moon diamonds. The total carat weight of the ring – the center stone alone is 10 carats – is a jaw-dropping 17 carats, with a value of $2.5 million.
Though some speculated that Carey's ring was the same one Cannon gave to his former fiancée, Victoria's Secret model Seltia Ebanks, Ebanks's ring was 12 carats and made of colorless diamonds.
"It may look similar from afar but it's not the same," said Arabo. "I would never do one of the same he had before."

Miley Cyrus in Another Photo Shoot, Dressed this Time

Miley Cyrus posed at the Walt Disney World resort in Florida, this time dressed. She apparently reverted back to the squeaky-clean mode after Disney, her dad and she realized that the topless underage photo shoot for Vanity Fair is bound to hurt the business, and that can't be allowed to happen. After all, it's tens of millions at stake, maybe more. Cyrus posed outside the Magic Kingdom with Mickey and Minnie Mouse and signed autographs.

Rumors suggesting Disney might want to cease the collaboration with 15-year-old Cyrus following the Vanity Fair scandal, were shattered, as the young star is supposed to perform in a special concert at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando on Saturday, E! reports.

Also, Disney spokeswoman Brenda Kelly Grant told E! that nothing had changed on their production.

Not only she posed in a sexy posture in the Annie Leibovitz photoshoot, showing the young star barely covered by a sheet, back bared and displaying a seductive look, the photos with her on her father's knee were also disturbing to most people. "This picture disturbs me. It looks like his daughter is his girlfriend. He's trying to be hot," radio host Howard Stern said on his show.

It is also obvious, as a WSJ article titled "The Miley Cyrus Uproar" remarks, that only a fool would believe the apologies of the adults involved in the photo shoot, including Annie Leibovitz. It's clear as daylight that she intentionally made Miley take a sexy pose, and everybody there understood that the 15-year-old was being turned into a sex symbol: "It is a blatant bedroom shot," says The Times' Janice Turner.

Yet the Disney Channel apparently has nothing to reproach its money-making star. She will perform Saturday, May 3, at the 2008 Disney Channel Games, at Walt Disney World in Orlando, report People.com. Her performance will be televised in July, along with appearances from the Jonas Brothers, The Cheetah Girls, Demi Lovato and Jordan Pruitt.

Miley will also begin filming the Hannah Montana movie next week in Nashville. E! adds that the teen star is scheduled to perform on May 10 at KIIS-FM's annual Wango Tango concert in Orange County.

Lindsay Lohan mugshot used in liquor industry ad

Lindsay Lohan is not exactly toasting her latest public appearance.

A mugshot of the 21-year-old actress, who has been in and out of rehab after two arrests last year on drunken driving and cocaine charges, was prominently featured Friday in an advertisement attacking legislation for devices that measure a driver's blood alcohol level before their vehicle can start.

The full-page black-and-white ad appeared in USA Today on Friday and was paid for by the American Beverage Institute, a trade group that supports the interests of the alcohol industry. The ad reads "Ignition interlocks are a good idea for" above Lohan's mug shot from her July 24, 2007 arrest and "But a bad idea for us" above smaller photos of people drinking.

"The reason that we used Lindsay Lohan is because she's had multiple DUIs that have been high profile," American Beverage Institute managing director Sarah Longwell told The Associated Press. "We needed to create the distinction for the public what someone with multiple DUIs looked like versus a low blood-alcohol-level first-time offender."

Lawmakers in several states have passed bills that would require drunken driving offenders to pay for and install an ignition interlock system. Under many such laws, the interlock requirement extends to first-time offenders driving while "highly intoxicated" — or with a blood alcohol level of 0.15 percent or higher.

The ad suggested that ignition interlocks were fine for "hard-core" drunk drivers, but suggested they would bring an end to champagne toasts at weddings, wine at dinner and ballgame beers.

"USA Today is idiotic to run such an irresponsible advertisement suggesting that drinking and driving is some kind of American 'tradition' we should protect," Lohan's lawyer Blair Berk said in a statement. "Not identifying that this ad was paid for by the liquor and restaurant industries is profoundly reckless.

"Drunk white businessmen, drunk housewives out for girls night out and drunk wedding parties should be kept off the roads of America," Berk continued. "Lindsay Lohan fully endorses ignition interlock devices, which have been well-proven to save lives."

The American Beverage Institute stood by its use of Lohan's image.

"People magazine, Smoking Gun and a lot of people have republished this mug shot," said Longwell. "It was publicly accessible. We're not using it for any kind of commercial gain. So we're well within our rights to use it."

Reached for comment about Berk's statement, USA Today spokesman Ed Cassidy issued the following statement: "Advocacy advertising is a big part of what we do. Our pages function as forum for competing views."

AceShowbiz's Exclusive Interview with German Rock Band Tokio Hotel

Having secured an exclusive interview with German rock band Tokio Hotel, Aceshowbiz.com got the four-pieces music act spilled the beans on such issues, as their fellow band member Bill Kaulitz who was not available for the interview as he's still on the mend post a throat surgery and on how his condition would affect their tour dates. To make the interview far more interesting, the band moreover also shared some backstage issues that fans may never heard before.
On them being forced to cancel their sold-out European spring tour due to Bill's larynx surgery, guitarist and twin brother Tom Kaulitz explained that Bill lost his voice after the show in Marseille and following a visit to a specialist was ordered to undergo surgery at his vocal chords. Was not allowed to speak and laugh for ten days, he however is having things written down on a book to help him communicate with others. Is said to be doing fine post the surgery, Bill just can't wait to go back on stage and perform.
Bill's larynx surgery reluctantly becomes a blessing in disguise for the other band members: Georg Listing, Gustav Schafer, and Tom himself as it makes it possible for them all to have more time with friends and family and also to relax. Promised fans they will jump back on stage soon as Bill is allowed, Tom has also revealed that the band has just secured a lot of summer festivals all over Europe starting in June.

Vocal Chord Surgery Successful For Tokio Hotel Lead Singer

The show will go on for the German rock band Tokio Hotel. Less than two weeks after lead singer Bill Kaulitz had a cyst removed from his vocal chords, the surgery has been deemed a success.

Last month the band was forced to cancel their sold-out tour while Kaulitz underwent the vocal chord surgery. Doctors removed a cyst and then ordered the singer to be completely silent for seven days.

The surgery has been successful and according to the band's label, Kaulitz will be well enough to perform on May 3 at the Bamboozle festival at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The band's performance will come just three days before their first English language CD "Scream," is released in the United States.

Other bands that will join Tokio Hotel at the Bamboozle festival include Snoop Dogg, Gym Class Heroes and Panic at the Disco.

Now to Panic at the Disco

AFTER SPENDING two years on the road promoting their debut album, 2005's "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out," the members of Panic at the Disco focused on two new efforts. The first was recording a new disc. The second?

"We've been playing a lot of hacky sack and getting really good at it," bassist Jon Walker said with a laugh. "We've been bringing it back. It's the best exercise you can ever get — and it's fun."

Which just goes to show that even though the group, once known as Panic! at the Disco, has dropped its exclamation point, it hasn't lost its energy.

And there's a lot to be excited about. The band's premier disc dropped when the quartet was fresh out of high school — and that came after the group was signed to the label helmed by Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz before they'd even played a show.

The signing allowed the band to bypass small-club touring and jump straight to the bright lights of arena stages. The success of the album's first single, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies," led them to sold-out shows, overseas tours and the cover of Rolling Stone.

Walker, who joined the group in 2006 when he replaced bassist Brent Wilson, said the experience was just a bit mind-blowing.

"It's kind of weird that was our first album," he said. "We were 17 years old. You don't know if anybody else is going to hear it, you're still in high school, and a lot of things change between 17 and 21."

Luckily, the band's speedy ascent to fame didn't stunt its growth.

"Looking back on it, we couldn't be any happier," Walker said. "It allowed us to do what we're doing right now."

And what they're doing now is a little bit of everything.

On its latest release, "Pretty. Odd." (Fueled by Ramen/Decaydance), Panic at the Disco kicks around a jumble of influences, from The Beach Boys to The Kinks, from punk rock to ragtime. The album maintains a sense of cohesion though the energy and passion the group brings to each song.

"We never really had any 'intentions'" for the album, Walker said. "We just wanted to make an interesting record. We didn't want it all to make complete sense. ... A lot of the album's songs sound different in their own way and that's because we couldn't decide what we wanted to do."

"'Nine in the Afternoon' and 'The Green Gentlemen' were the first two songs we wrote, and we realized after that we were just having fun writing songs and being in a band and being able to do whatever we wanted," Walker said.

While the lessons of age and years on the road helped inform the band's progression, some of the album's influences were more deliberately picked.

"Our producer, Rob Mathes, did all the string and orchestral arrangements on the record and I think that's why we wanted him. He really got what we wanted to do and kind of understood that we didn't know exactly what we wanted to do. We just wanted to make it as good as we possibly could."

As they prep for their first full tour in more than a year, Walker said he and his bandmates are working to stay on their toes.

"[The songs are] going really good, but we're still learning how to play them," he said. "Maybe by D.C. we'll have them down."

suicide in Japan and Iraq

Death be not proud

“DO NOT open! Gas being created!” Written in red felt-tip pen and affixed to a door, they are among the last words of a 14-year-old Japanese schoolgirl, who took her life on April 23rd. The warning followed the advice of a website that also provided instructions for creating hydrogen-sulphide gas by mixing toilet-bowl cleaner with bath salts.

This simple method of suicide claimed some 60 lives in April—mainly of people in their teens or 20s—and around another 20 earlier this year. The colourless, pungent gas does not dissipate easily. So bystanders and would-be rescuers are put at risk. The girl's mother was hospitalised and around 100 neighbours had to evacuate their homes.

Yet this is only the latest, macabre, technique in a country that suffers an epidemic of suicides. Japan has one of the highest suicide rates among rich countries. Cultural factors are partly at play. Japanese society rarely lets people bounce back from the perceived shame of failure or bankruptcy. Suicide is sometimes even met with approval—as facing one's fate, not shirking it. The samurai tradition views suicide as noble (though perhaps out of self-interest, since captured warriors were treated gruesomely). Japan's main religions, Buddhism and Shintoism, are neutral on suicide, unlike Abrahamic faiths that explicitly prohibit it.

Yet economic woes play an even bigger role. Suicide rates increased sharply in the mid-1990s as the economy soured, and have remained high since (even as the economy has improved slightly). Financial concerns are cited in one-fifth of suicide notes; almost half of all suicides are unemployed. Some take their lives so that surviving family members can collect insurance, which has led insurance firms to defer payments for two or three years as a deterrent. For the same reason, Japan Railway charges suicide victims' families for the cost of the inconvenience and clean-up.

Last year the government instituted measures such as a counselling service and hotlines, with the aim of cutting the suicide rate by 20% in nine years. But these are palliatives. More important would be a change in social attitudes. Suicide might be less common if, rather than force people to endure lifelong shame, Japanese society began to allow its people second chances.

Double suicide attack on wedding party kills 35 in Iraq

Two suicide bombers attacked a wedding caravan Thursday as it drove through a crowded market district past bystanders cheering the bride and groom, killing at least 35 people and wounding 65 in a town northeast of Baghdad, officials said.

In the capital, a bomb-rigged parked car exploded when a U.S. patrol went by in a crowded area earlier in the day, leaving a U.S. soldier and at least nine Iraqis dead. The attack also wounded 26 Iraqis and two American soldiers.

The terror attacks came amid heightened worries that al-Qaida in Iraq is regrouping despite recent security gains by U.S.-led forces, which find themselves facing intensified fighting with Shiite extremists, particularly in Baghdad's militia stronghold of Sadr City.

In the suicide assault, a woman bomber blew herself up as people were dancing and clapping while members of the passing wedding party played music in Balad Ruz, a predominantly Shiite town 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.

A male bomber attacked minutes later as police and ambulances arrived at the scene, said Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim al-Rubaie, head of the Diyala provincial operations center that oversees Balad Ruz.

The two explosions tore through the stalls and stores that lined the area, and al-Rubaie said at least 35 people were killed and 65 suffered wounds, including the bride and groom.

The U.S. military in northern Iraq only said there were multiple explosions in Balad Ruz and gave a lower casualty figure of 26 dead and 52 wounded.

Diyala has been a flashpoint in the battle against al-Qaida in Iraq, which the U.S. military says has been increasingly using women as suicide bombers. Explosive belts are easier to conceal under female clothing and women are often not treated with the same suspicion as men.

Two suicide bombings staged by women last week in Diyala killed a dozen people.

Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the No. 2 U.S. commander, said last week that al-Qaida in Iraq was trying to regroup after suffering a devastating blow last year when thousands of Sunni tribesmen turned against the terrorist group blamed for most of Iraq's car bombings and suicide attacks.

The terror network announced April 19 that it was launching a one-month offensive against U.S. troops and U.S.-allied Sunnis.

The parked car bomb that targeted the U.S. combat patrol in Baghdad also exploded in a crowded market district, an insurgent tactic designed to maximize civilian casualties.

Several cars and a U.S. Humvee were badly damaged in the blast that shattered windows of surrounding buildings and left a three-foot crater in the asphalt.

Iraqi police said nine civilians were killed, including three women and one child, and 25 people wounded in the attack. The U.S. military said a soldier died later in the day of wounds from the blast.

The soldier's death raised to at least 4,064 the number of U.S. military personnel who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Iraqi civilians chased and captured a militant who was seen detonating the car bomb with a mobile phone and turned him over to Iraqi police, the U.S. military said. Two other accomplices were also detained, it said.

Clashes between U.S.-backed Iraqi troops and Shiite militiamen continued in Baghdad.

The U.S. military said an airstrike in the sprawling Sadr City neighborhood killed 18 militants, including a senior member of what they called Iranian-backed forces.

Health officials said 10 people, including at least two women and a child, were killed and 27 people wounded in the fighting. It could not immediately be determined if any of militants killed were among them.

Six al-Qaida militants also were killed in the northern city of Mosul, the military said.

Iraq's government, meanwhile, sent a delegation of five Shiite politicians to Iran carrying documents and other material they claim indicates Tehran is supplying weapons and training for Shiite militiamen who are fighting U.S. and Iraqi troops.The U.S. military has recently stepped up similar allegations. Iran denies it is fueling violence in Iraq, saying it trying to promote stability in the neighboring country.

Fighting in Sadr City — a base for the Mahdi Army militia — intensified after anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened last week to wage "open war" on U.S.-led troops trying to exert control, with the help of Iraqi forces, over the district, which is home to nearly half of Baghdad's population.

Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, a Shiite, repeated his vow to disarm Shiite militias, saying he was determined to "fight outlaws until they give in to the sovereignty of the state."

He also appealed to clerics and tribal sheiks in Sadr City "to do their duty and not to allow civilians to be turned into human shields and houses, mosques, markets and schools to be turned into places to store weapons."

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces seized a large stockpile of ammunition, including 10 armor-piercing roadside bombs and dozens of rockets, at a mosque in Abu Dshir, a Shiite enclave in a predominantly Sunni area in southern Baghdad, the military said.

Mariah Carrey, Miley Cyrus, a stalker, and American Idol

Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon engaged?

If reports are to be believed, singer Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon have become engaged.

It was a source close to the diva who spilled the beans on the couple getting engaged, reports Access Hollywood.

While Cannon’s rep did not comment on the report, Carey's rep was unavailable for any kind of confirmation on the engagement.

The couple met each other when the 27-year-old rapper-actor directed the video for Carey’s latest single, "Bye Bye," in late March.

Later, Cannon attended the NYC premiere of the popstar’s film, Tennessee, on April 26.

When asked how it was to work with Cannon, the ’Hero’ singer said it was "very nice". And Cannon, when asked what he loved about the singer, exclaimed, "Everything!"

"I've always had really low self-esteem, and I still do. What's weird about that is being onstage, and the love that you get, and the adoration that you feel from your real fans. It's hard for a partner to compete – just imagine," Usmagzine. com quote Mariah, as telling Allure in March.

Earlier, Carey was married to music mogul Tommy Mottola, whom she divorced in 1998.

Teen Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus apologises for 'raunchy' pic

Squeaky-clean Disney star Miley Cyrus apologised to fans yesterday after posing for a raunchy photo shoot for Vanity Fair magazine.

The 15-year-old Hannah Montana actress said she regretted the provocative shots, which show her topless and clutching just a sheet to hide her modesty.

Miley, whose wholesome image has netted her £7 million, said: "It was supposed to be 'artistic' but now I feel so embarrassed."

She added: "I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologise to my fans who I care so deeply about."

The photos were taken by renowned snapper Annie Leibovitz to accompany an interview with the teen idol and her father, country singer Billy Ray, 46.

Ms Leibovitz said: "It was a simple shoot intended to convey youth and innocence."

The Disney Channel, which airs Hannah Montana, slammed Vanity Fair.

In a statement it said: "Unfortunately a situation was created to manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines."

Vanity Fair said: "Her people were with her all day. Everyone thought it was a beautiful, natural portrait."

Hannah Montana follows the life of a Californian teenager who has a secret life as a pop star.

Miley has become a huge marketing hit for everything from CDs to school stationery.

70 Percent of American nine to 14-year-olds who have seen her TV show.

Uma Thurman Tells Jury of Menacing Notes From a Fan

Uma Thurman gave a harrowing reading to a Manhattan jury of cards and e-mail messages sent to her by an obsessive fan who sneaked onto the set of a movie she was filming in New York City in 2005.

In her testimony on Thursday morning, she told how Jack Jordan, who is on trial for stalking the actress on and off over a period of two years, came to the door of her trailer on Prince Street in SoHo on Nov. 8, 2005, when she was making the movie “My Super Ex-Girlfriend.” He identified himself to one of Ms. Thurman’s assistants as a friend of her parents.

Trying not to be rude, because her parents have many friends — some “eccentric,” Ms. Thurman testified — she asked her assistant to take a telephone number, then innocently opened a card that the assistant delivered from Mr. Jordan.

Little pieces of torn paper and a dollar bill fell out of the envelope, she said, as she pulled out a child’s confirmation card. On the front, was a dreamy pastel store-bought image of a small blonde girl, a spray of pink flowers and a dove.

On the back was a crude pen and ink drawing of a male stick figure –­ apparently Mr. Jordan — walking off the edge of an Acme razor blade into an open grave, where a female stick figure, ­ apparently Ms. Thurman — had a thought balloon over her head saying, “Tee-hee.”

On the blank side of the card was a handwritten message in the shape of a spiral. Most of the words had been inked out, and Ms. Thurman read the still visible ones out loud in court in a soft, slow voice: “Chocolate, mouth, soft, kissing…,” she said, adding, “And then I saw this part: ‘My hand should be on your body.’”

She was terrified, she said: “It didn’t look right. It looked very disturbed. All these words crossed out and then you looked at the ones that were left.”

Ms. Thurman, whose testimony is continuing this afternoon, testified on the third day of Mr. Jordan’s stalking and harassment trial. Mr. Jordan’s lawyer has said that his client, who is schizophrenic and was forcibly institutionalized after delivering the note to Ms. Thurman’s trailer, was in love with Ms. Thurman, but did not intend to harm or threaten her.

Many jurors listened open-mouthed, and with full concentration to Ms. Thurman’s testimony, as if they were at a performance in a hushed theater. As an actress, she seemed to bring an almost unconscious drama to the reading, making Mr. Jordan’s words sound bigger than life, both more menacing and more tragic than they did on the written page.

The power of her reading was heightened by her own haggard, pared-down appearance. She wore a gray shawl thrown over black slacks and a black sweater. Her golden hair was carelessly knotted in the back, with long strands loose on both sides of her face. She wore no makeup and looked thin and hollow-eyed.

It was the first time that Mr. Jordan had ever been so close to her. He sat 20 feet away at the defense table, yet he studiously ignored her, looking away from her with a bottled-up, blank expression throughout her more than two hours of testimony.

American Idol Viewers Say Goodbye To Brooke White

American Idol fans have spoken and this week’s victim is none other than Brooke White.

Many had thought that her exit from the show was a long time coming, especially following last week’s performance in which she forgot her words.

There will be no diamond in the ruff for the 24 year old Mesa, Arizona native who broke down into tears upon hearing that she was going home.

She was joined in the bottom two by Syesha Mercado, who sang “Hello Again” and “Thank the Lord for the Night Time.”

This leaves 4 remaining candidates; David Archuleta, David Cook, Jason Castro and Syesha Mercado all vying for America’s next Idol championship.

On Tuesday’s show, Brooke sang two songs from Neil Diamond: “I’m a Believer” and “I Am … I Said.”

Simon was not a fan of her first effort, but purked up considerably with her second number.

“This is the Brooke we like. Sitting behind the piano, singing a very good song,” Simon said. “It wasn’t incredible, but it was a million times better than the first song. Well done.”

“I just want to say thank you,” White said. “This is going to be terrible for me right now.”

'DC Madam' Hanged Herself, Police Say

A woman convicted two weeks ago of being the "D.C. Madam" hanged herself Thursday, apparently making good on her vow never to go to prison for running a high-end Washington prostitution ring.
The body of Deborah Jeane Palfrey was found in a shed near her mother's home about 20 miles northwest of Tampa. Police said the 52-year-old Palfrey left at least two suicide notes and other writings to her family in a notebook, but they did not disclose their contents.
Palfrey apparently hanged herself with nylon rope from the shed's ceiling. Her mother discovered the body.
Officers were outside the mother's white and pink home in the community of mostly retirees.
Blanche Palfrey had no sign that her daughter was suicidal, and there was no immediate indication that alcohol or drugs were involved, police Capt. Jeffrey Young said.
A man who answered a phone listed for Palfrey's mother declined to comment.
"This is a tragic news and my heart goes out to her mother," said attorney Preston Burton, who represented Deborah Jeane Palfrey in her trial.
A federal jury convicted Palfrey on April 15 of running a prostitution service that catered to members of Washington's political elite, including Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican. She was convicted of money laundering, using the mail for illegal purposes and racketeering.
Palfrey had denied her escort service engaged in prostitution, saying that if any of the women engaged in sex acts for money, they did so without her knowledge.
The trial concluded without revealing many new details about the service or its clients. Vitter was among possible witnesses but did not take the stand.
Channing Phillips, the spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in the District of Columbia, said that under sentencing guidelines, Palfrey faced about five or six years in prison. She was free while she awaited sentencing on July 24.
"I am sure as heck am not going to be going to federal prison for one day, let alone, you know, four to eight years here, because I'm shy about bringing in the deputy secretary of whatever," Palfrey told ABC last year when she released phone records that revealed some of her clients. "Not for a second. I'll bring every last one of them in if necessary."
Dan Moldea, a Washington writer who befriended Palfrey while considering writing a book about her, said she was cautiously optimistic about her trial, even when the case went before the jury.
After the conviction, Moldea sent her an e-mail but didn't hear back. A week later, he said, he sent another note entitled "A Concerned Friend" asking whether she was OK. Again, he didn't hear back.
After hearing of her death, he recalled a conversation over dinner last year when the subject of prison came up.
"She said, 'I am not going back to prison. I will commit suicide first,'" Moldea said.
Prosecutors said Palfrey operated the prostitution service for 13 years.
Vitter, a first-term senator who is married and has four children, has acknowledged being involved with Palfrey's escort service and has apologized for what he called a "very serious sin." But he avoided commenting further.
Besides Vitter, the trial also concluded without the testimony of military strategist Harlan Ullman or Randall Tobias, a former senior State Department official. Both men had been named among possible witnesses.
One of the escort service employees was former University of Maryland, Baltimore County, professor Brandy Britton, who was arrested on prostitution charges in 2006. She committed suicide in January before she was scheduled to go to trial.
Palfrey said last year that she, too, was humiliated by her prostitution charges, but said: "I guess I'm made of something that Brandy Britton wasn't made of."

The Latest Movie Gossip

Are the Beyoncé/Jay-Z baby rumors really true?

Hollyscoop says that their exclusive sources have confirmed it: there's a little one on the way for the musical couple.

Angelina Jolie might be the picture of good mothering now, but Defamer says there's a video circulating that shows the goodwill ambassador snorting and smoking heroin.

Is Michelle Williams still being haunted by Heath's ghost, or is she just sick of the paparazzi attention? Contact Music reports that Ledger's baby mama wants to move away from Brooklyn.

Don't fake nice with this celebrity!

According to the Daily Dish, Renée Zellweger says she loves it when people are rude to her because it makes her feel more normal.

In a rare moment of talking about her children, Gwyneth Paltrow admits to Contact Music that her son has a rap-inspired nickname -- she and hubby Chris Martin call sweet but mischievous Moses their "sensitive thug."

Broderick-Parker Son Shows Actor Bent

Matthew Broderick says he wouldn't be surprised if his and wife Sarah Jessica Parker's five-year-old son, James, winds up becoming a performer. "He's a very good singer. He's funny. He's very convincing if he wants something. He just has these traits," says the proud dad.

Not that anyone's pushing show business at young James. In fact, Broderick admits, "I'm not too comfortable showing him our movies and stuff yet. I'm avoiding it for now. He's seen 'Bee Movie.' He's seen 'Lion King,' and he knows I'm doing the voice, but he barely understands that it's all actors."

Broderick has just come from soaking up some family time with his wife and son at the Deer Valley ski resort in Utah before diving into tub-thumping for "Then She Found Me," opening this Friday (4/25). The film, adapted from Elinor Lipman's novel of the same name, marked a reunion with Helen Hunt, who makes her directing debut with it. They met when they were in their young twenties and made "Project X," then they went on to become a couple, then broke up but stayed friends. Now, Matthew is playing the husband who dumps her, but then wants her back after she finds love with someone else (Colin Firth) -- as she copes with the surprise appearance of her birth mother (Bette Midler), and a pregnancy.

"It was sort of funny to be playing the heel," admits Matthew. "But, I think directing is a very good fit for Helen. We have talked about what kind of movies and acting we like for 20 years, so there were no surprises and she was always very generous."