Entertaining Posts: 09/20/10

Monday, September 20, 2010

Bristol Palin parodies mom on "Dancing with Stars"

NEW YORK | Tue Sep 21, 2010 12:34am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stripping off an office power suit, the daughter of conservative politician Sarah Palin performed a short parody of her mother in launching her bid to win television's "Dancing with the Stars" on Monday.

Bristol Palin shimmied across the dance floor as the dancing contest launched its 11th cycle, accompanied by a version of Randy Newman's "Mama Told Me Not to Come."

The 19-year-old single mother explained she had not always taken the advice of her mother, a Republican political powerbroker who ran for vice president in 2008.

"My life has been told and spread out in the tabloids. But I am just a regular girl and this is definitely the most frightening thing I have ever done in my life," Palin said.

Her sparkling grey office suit imitated the style worn by her mother, but it was soon stripped off to reveal a short, red dress with tassels. Sarah Palin did not attend the taping on a Los Angeles soundstage.

Palin is following in the reality TV footsteps of her former fiancé, Levi Johnston, who has publicly criticized her mother in U.S. tabloids. She said on the show if she brought "some sexy to the cha cha and don't embarrass my mom, I will be thrilled," she said.

The judges rated her performance as promising, but far less impressive than "Dirty Dancing" actress Jennifer Grey's Viennese waltz to Otis Redding's "These Arms of Mine." The soul ballad appeared on the soundtrack to "Dirty Dancing," the smash movie in which Grey starred opposite Patrick Swayze.

Clips were shown of Grey breaking down crying in rehearsal as she recalled Swayze dying of cancer last year. The 50-year-old actress has physically changed since "Dirty Dancing" after a botched nose job left her less recognizable.

"'Baby' is back where she belongs," said judge Bruno Tonioli, referring to her character in the 1987 film, while actress Jamie Lee Curtis applauded in the audience.

At the other end of the scale, former "Baywatch" actor David Hasselhoff and "Jersey Shore" reality star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino tied for the worst performance.

Other contenders included singer Michael Bolton, reality starlet Audrina Patridge, former "Brady Bunch" mom Florence Henderson, former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, retired basketball player Rick Fox, comedian Margaret Cho, and teen actor Kyle Massey from the Disney show "Cory in the House"

"Dancing with the Stars" was the second-biggest show on TV last season, behind "American Idol," averaging 20 million viewers. Reigning champ is Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger who teamed with dancer Derek Hough.

Each of the contestants had three weeks to prepare, except for Sorrentino who had only five days to rehearse after finishing shooting the third season of "Jersey Shore."

The judges scores count for only half the total vote, with the public voting to decide who will be the first to be kicked off the show on Tuesday.

(editing by Dean Goodman)

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Michael Douglas attends NYC `Wall Street' premiere (AP)

NEW YORK ï¿½ Michael Douglas has channeled the confidence of ruthless corporate raider Gordon Gekko while walking the red carpet at the New York City premiere of his latest film, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps."

The Academy Award-winning actor recently announced he's being treated for throat cancer. He posed for photos Monday night with co-stars including Shia LaBeouf (SHY'-uh luh-BUF') and Carey Mulligan and director Oliver Stone. He didn't give interviews.

LaBeouf calls the 65-year-old Douglas a "wolf." He notes Douglas showed no signs of weakness while making the "Wall Street" sequel, which opens Friday.

Stone says "it's a struggle" and "it's tough," but Douglas is "fighting."

Stone also directed the original "Wall Street" in 1987. The movie featured Charlie Sheen as a stockbroker hungry for success. Douglas won an Oscar for playing Gekko.

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Jennifer Grey is top scorer at 'Dancing' premiere (AP)

LOS ANGELES ï¿½ "Dirty Dancing" star Jennifer Grey was the top scorer at the season premiere of "Dancing With the Stars."

The actress and her professional partner, Derek Hough, performed a Viennese waltz that earned 24 points out of 30 and moved judge Carrie Ann Inaba to tears. Singer Brandy and Disney Channel star Kyle Massey tied for second place with 23 points.

Comedian Margaret Cho, reality star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino and actor-singer David Hasselhoff tied for last place with 15 points each.

Judges' scores are combined with viewer votes to determine which celebrity is eliminated each week. The first contestant of the new season will be dismissed during Tuesday's show.

Other contestants in the hit ABC show's 11th season are actress Florence Henderson; athletes Rick Fox and Kurt Warner; reality star Audrina Patridge; singer Michael Bolton; and political daughter Bristol Palin.

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Lady Gaga fights `don't ask, don't tell' in Maine (AP)

PORTLAND, Maine ï¿½ Lady Gaga visited the state Monday on the eve of a key Senate vote to urge its two U.S. senators to help repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays.

More than 2,000 people attended a rally at Deering Oaks Park, where the Grammy Award-winning singer stood alongside Air Force, Army and Marine veterans who were discharged because of the policy, which prohibits service members from revealing if they're gay and recruiters from asking about people's sexual orientations.

Lady Gaga railed against what she called the injustice of having goodhearted gay soldiers booted from military service while straight soldiers who harbor hatred toward gays are allowed to fight for their country. She suggested a new policy should target straight soldiers who are "uncomfortable" with gay soldiers in their midst.

"Our new law is called 'If you don't like it, go home!'" she said.

The rally was organized by Washington-based Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. The organization is trying to pressure Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine to vote to allow a repeal of the "don't ask" policy, put in place in 1993 by former President Bill Clinton.

The House has approved a defense authorization bill that includes a repeal of the "don't ask" policy. In the Senate, Democrats need 60 votes on Tuesday to cut off debate and proceed to the bill, again putting Snowe and Collins in the role of casting what could be deciding votes.

Collins, who voted for a provision to repeal the "don't ask" policy in the Armed Services Committee in May, said she favors changing the policy but disagrees with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's decision to limit debate on the defense bill and to reject Republican amendments.

Snowe has not decided how she'll vote on Tuesday, a spokesman said Monday.

Speakers at Monday's rally said they wanted to bring their fight to Snowe's and Collins' backyard. Mike Hall, a former Air Force major who was discharged after his superiors found out he's gay, said he was proud when Collins voted in committee to repeal the policy.

"Now it's time for her to do so again," he said.

Lady Gaga, famous for such hits as "Bad Romance," "Paparazzi" and "Poker Face," skipped her trademark outlandish outfits in favor of a black suit and a pair of glasses.

At last week's Video Music Awards ceremony, where she won eight awards, she was escorted by ex-servicemen who were discharged or left the military as the result of the "don't ask" policy. She recently called on Reid to repeal the policy during an interview with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.

Reid's campaign and Lady Gaga traded talking points on Twitter afterward, and Reid told the singer repealing the measure was the right thing to do.

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Michael Douglas attends NYC 'Wall Street' premiere (AP)

LaBeouf calls the 65-year-old Douglas a "wolf." He notes Douglas showed no signs of weakness while making the "Wall Street" sequel, which opens Friday.

Stone says "It's a struggle" and "it's tough" but Douglas is "fighting."

Stone also directed the original "Wall Street" in 1987. The movie featured Charlie Sheen as a stockbroker hungry for success. Douglas won an Oscar for playing Gekko.

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Judge: Jury won't get some charges in Smith case (AP)

LOS ANGELES ï¿½ The judge in the Anna Nicole Smith drug conspiracy case, often critical of charges lodged by the prosecution, indicated for the first time Monday he will block some of the charges from going to the jury.

Superior Court Judge Robert Perry told lawyers he was preparing a lengthy written analysis of statutes in the case and would consider motions by the defense next week to dismiss all charges.

However, he told defense lawyers to be prepared to begin their case because, "I think there are some charges that will likely survive in some form."

Perry did not specify which charges might be dismissed. He has said he believes some of the charges were in conflict with state law.

The judge has repeatedly said he did not think testimony from prosecution witnesses supported conspiracy charges against the defendants.

Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich and Smith's boyfriend-lawyer Howard K. Stern have pleaded not guilty to providing opiates and sedatives to an addict and other charges.

Perry has also raised questions about the legal definition of addiction. He said he was inclined to tell jurors that an element of the charge of prescribing to an addict must be that the defendant prescribed a drug for non-therapeutic purposes, meaning they were feeding an addiction rather than treating an illness.

In Smith's case, the defense has stressed that she had chronic pain, seizures, migraine headaches, fractured ribs and other complaints that required treatment.

Pain management expert Dr. Perry G. Fine testified Monday that Smith's doctors never diagnosed her as a prescription drug addict.

Testifying for defendant Kapoor, Fine said he reviewed Kapoor's records and those of doctors who preceded him in treating Smith for pain.

"There was nothing, nothing, nothing that said a diagnosis of drug addiction was ever made in her case," he said.

Perry has repeatedly instructed jurors to ignore definitions of addiction they hear from the witness stand.

He stepped in again during a cross-examination by Deputy District Attorney David Barkhurst about whether Smith's treatment at the Betty Ford Center in 1996 for self-described alcohol and Vicodin addiction meant her doctors should have known she was an addict.

The judge told the jury, "There has been testimony in this trial that there is a difference between addiction, dependence and tolerance."

Fine was allowed to testify for the defense before the prosecution rested because of a scheduling conflict.

Prosecutors were expected to call two more witnesses against Kapoor before resting their case.

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Bruno Mars arrested for cocaine possession

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Lynyrd Skynyrd inspiration dies in north Florida (AP)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ï¿½ Leonard Skinner, the basketball coach and gym teacher who inspired the name of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died Monday in Florida, his daughter said. He was 77.

Skinner died in his sleep at the St. Catherine Laboure Manor in Jacksonville, where he had been living for about a year, his daughter Susie Moore said. Skinner had Alzheimer's disease.

He was working at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville in the late 1960s when he sent a group of students to the principal's office because their hair was too long. Those students later formed a band, using a variation of Skinner's name for their own.

During an interview in January 2009, Skinner said he was always bothered by the way the legend grew to say he was particularly tough on the band members or that he had kicked them out of school, according to The Florida Times-Union, which first reported Skinner's death.

"It was against the school rules," Skinner said then. "I don't particularly like long hair on men, but again, it wasn't my rule."

The band became popular in the mid-1970s, with hits such as "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird." Three of the band members, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, were killed in a 1977 plane crash. The band regrouped and continues to perform today.

Years after sending the young students to the office, Skinner found his son listening to an album called "Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd." The son, also named Leonard, said his father wasn't particularly impressed.

After discovering the connection, Skinner eventually made friends with some of the band members, according to the paper. They even performed at a Jacksonville bar the former coach owned.

Skinner later allowed the band to use a photo of his Leonard Skinner Realty sign for the inside of their third album, and he once introduced them at a Jacksonville concert.

Skinner's children said their father was never completely comfortable with being linked to the band but did grow to embrace it.

"He made a lot of new friends," Moore said. "That in itself really brought a lot of wonderful people in our family's lives, simply because they were Lynyrd Skynyrd fans, and they wanted to meet Dad. They loved him. They're part of our extended family now."

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Arrest warrant issued for Lohan, jail possible (AP)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. ï¿½ A judge issued an arrest warrant Monday for Lindsay Lohan after the actress acknowledged failing a drug test less than a month after she was released from inpatient rehab.

Superior Court Judge Elden Fox also revoked Lohan's probation in her three-year-old drug case while issuing the bench warrant in Beverly Hills.

However, the warrant was stayed, and Lohan was allowed to remain free pending a hearing Friday to determine if she violated her probation.

Fox previously threatened the actress with 30 days in jail for each violation. He must now decide whether to send her back to jail or into treatment.

Lohan must attend the hearing. A message left with her attorney Shawn Chapman Holley was not immediately returned.

The warrant was issued after Fox took over the case last month and laid out a path paved with therapy sessions and 12-step meetings that could have finally brought Lohan's drug case to an end.

Lohan confirmed on her Twitter page last week that she failed the court-ordered drug and alcohol screening.

"Regrettably, I did in fact fail my most recent drug test," she tweeted.

She also said, "substance abuse is a disease, which unfortunately doesn't go away over night. I am working hard to overcome it."

Lohan often posts updates with the account that's verified by Twitter as belonging to the actress.

It could not immediately be determined why Lohan was not arrested Monday. A call to Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini seeking additional details about the warrant was not immediately returned.

Lohan was released from jail on Aug. 2 after serving 14 days of a 90-day sentence for violating her probation in the 2007 case involving drug use and driving under the influence.

Another judge had required her to begin a three-month stint in rehab at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Fox, however, agreed on Aug. 25 to release her from inpatient rehab after reviewing reports by her doctors and medical records from a three-year period.

Despite ordering an intense regimen of counseling and therapy, Fox gave Lohan some incentives to succeed. He dismissed two drug counts to which the actress pleaded guilty in 2007.

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Lindsay Lohan ordered to court over failed drug test

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Lady Gaga fights 'don't ask, don't tell' in Maine (AP)

PORTLAND, Maine ï¿½ Lady Gaga has visited Maine before a key Senate vote to urge the state's two U.S. senators to help repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays.

More than 2,000 people attended a rally Monday at Portland's Deering Oaks Park, where the pop star railed against the 1993 policy prohibiting service members from revealing if they're gay.

Lady Gaga says the policy allows straight soldiers who harbor hatred toward gays to fight for their country. She suggests a new policy: "If you don't like it, go home."

The rally was organized by Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. The organization is trying to pressure Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts to vote to allow a repeal of the policy.

The Senate is scheduled to consider the matter Tuesday.

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'The Town' takes box office win with $23.8M (AP)

LOS ANGELES ï¿½ "The Town" made off with $23.8 million in its opening weekend to take the No. 1 spot at the box office.

The Warner Bros. drama about bank robbers in an insular section of Boston is the second film Ben Affleck has directed following 2007's "Gone Baby Gone." Affleck also stars alongside Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall and Jon Hamm.

Opening in second place at the crowded start of the fall film season was Columbia Pictures' high school "Easy A," starring Emma Stone. It made $17.7 million, according to final studio figures Monday.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "The Town," Warner Bros., $23,808,032, 2861 locations, $8,322 average, $23,808,032, one week.

2. "Easy A," Sony-Screen Gems, $17,734,040, 2856 locations, $6,209 average, $17,734,040, one week.

3. "Devil," Universal, $12,289,375, 2809 locations, $4,375 average, $12,289,375, one week.

4. "Resident Evil: Afterlife," Sony-Screen Gems, $10,002,592, 3209 locations, $3,117 average, $43,893,958, two weeks.

5. "Alpha and Omega," Lionsgate, $9,106,906, 2625 locations, $3,469 average, $9,106,906, one week.

6. "Takers," Sony-Screen Gems, $3,026,285, 2139 locations, $1,415 average, $52,372,349, four weeks.

7. "The American," Focus, $2,672,521, 2457 locations, $1,088 average, $32,772,475, three weeks.

8. "The Other Guys," Sony, $1,972,046, 1827 locations, $1,079 average, $115,403,440, seven weeks.

9. "Inception," Warner Bros., $1,967,137, 1305 locations, $1,507 average, $285,129,855, 10 weeks.

10. "Machete," Fox, $1,755,550, 1704 locations, $1,030 average, $24,391,354, three weeks.

11. "Eat Pray Love," Sony, $1,614,431, 1668 locations, $968 average, $77,600,235, six weeks.

12. "The Expendables," Lionsgate, $1,373,298, 1854 locations, $741 average, $101,020,533, six weeks.

13. "Going the Distance," Warner Bros., $1,355,246, 2007 locations, $675 average, $16,771,305, three weeks.

14. "The Last Exorcism," Lionsgate, $1,211,349, 2013 locations, $602 average, $40,113,370, four weeks.

15. "Nanny McPhee Returns," Universal, $969,345, 1588 locations, $610 average, $27,617,940, five weeks.

16. "The Switch," Miramax, $930,037, 1158 locations, $803 average, $26,600,152, five weeks.

17. "Despicable Me," Universal, $910,965, 944 locations, $965 average, $244,739,015, 11 weeks.

18. "Lottery Ticket," Warner Bros., $625,812, 677 locations, $924 average, $23,505,360, five weeks.

19. "Vampires Suck," Fox, $568,012, 964 locations, $589 average, $35,865,445, five weeks.

20. "Get Low," Sony Pictures Classics, $551,494, 467 locations, $1,181 average, $7,785,090, eight weeks.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

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Lohan settles E*Trade "milkaholic" suit

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK | Mon Sep 20, 2010 5:14pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lindsay Lohan has settled her $100 million lawsuit accusing E*Trade Financial Corp of modeling a "milkaholic" baby girl in a television commercial after her without permission, a lawyer for the actress said.

Lohan withdrew her lawsuit against the New York-based online brokerage on Monday, court records show. The lawsuit was withdrawn with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again. The terms of a settlement were not immediately available.

E*Trade spokeswoman Allison Jeannotte said in a statement: "It was a simple business decision. We always have to consider the cost and time involved in litigation, and we are pleased to have the matter behind us."

Lohan sued E*Trade on March 8, alleging its use of a baby girl named Lindsay in an ad violated her privacy.

In the ad, a baby boy apologizes to his girlfriend through a video chat for not calling her the night before because he was on E*Trade. The camera switches to the girl, who asks suspiciously, "And that milkaholic Lindsay wasn't over?"

It then switches back to the boy, who uneasily replies "Lindsay?" before another baby girl, presumably Lindsay, moves into the frame and asks, "Milk-a-what?"

E*Trade's ad was part of a series featuring babies who play the markets. It was shown in this year's Super Bowl, which Nielsen media said drew a record 106.5 million U.S. viewers.

Lawyers for Lohan argued that, while other famous women are named "Lindsay" or "Lindsey," like skier Lindsey Vonn and actress Lindsay Wagner, by "process of elimination" it was their client whom E*Trade used to model the baby girl and her pronunciation of milkaholic "in a drunken state of mind."

Separately on Monday, Lohan was ordered to appear in a Los Angeles court on September 24 after admitting she failed a court-ordered drug test following her release from jail and a stint in drug rehabilitation.

Friday's hearing is expected to determine whether Lohan, 24, returns to jail.

The New York case is Lohan v. E*Trade Securities LLC et al, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 601016/2010.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Andre Grenon)

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Bruno Mars arrested in Las Vegas on cocaine charge (AP)

LAS VEGAS ï¿½ Rising singer-songwriter Bruno Mars was found with a bag of cocaine in a Las Vegas casino bathroom following a nightclub show over the weekend, police said Monday.

The "Just the Way You Are" crooner was arrested early Sunday after being detained by security at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Mars, whose real name is Peter Hernandez, was found with 2.6 grams of cocaine and booked into county jail on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, police said. He faces possible felony charges.

An aide to Clark County District Attorney David Roger in Las Vegas said the case was under review and formal charges had not been filed, though Hernandez, 24, was given a court return date of Nov. 18. The office declined further comment.

Hernandez' publicist at Atlantic Records did not immediately return messages seeking comment from The Associated Press. A hotel spokeswoman declined comment. It was not immediately clear whether Hernandez has a lawyer.

An arrest report for Hernandez said a bathroom attendant told police Hernandez was taking a long time in a stall with a bag of a white, powdered substance. The attendant alerted a security guard, who confronted Hernandez as he left the stall. The security guard said he asked Hernandez to hand over any narcotics he had, and Hernandez pulled a bag of cocaine from his left-front jeans pocket.

Hernandez was taken to a holding cell where he was questioned by an arresting officer. When asked what was going on, Hernandez replied: "Can I speak to you honestly, sir?" and said he acted foolishly and had never used drugs before, the arrest report said.

Mars performed a show Saturday night at the Hard Rock's Wasted Space nightclub. The hotel-casino is separate from the restaurant chain with the same name.

"Just the Way You Are" is currently No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He sang the hooks on B.o.B.'s "Nothing on You" and Travie McCoy's "Billionaire," and co-wrote and produced Cee-Lo Green's latest expletive-laden single. Mars' debut album "Doo-Wops & Hooligans," is scheduled for release Oct. 5.

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Arrest warrant issued for Lindsay Lohan (AP)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. ï¿½ A judge on Monday issued an arrest warrant for Lindsay Lohan after the actress acknowledged failing a drug test.

The 24-year-old actress could wind up back behind bars if she is found to have violated probation.

Superior Court Judge Elden Fox issued the bench warrant in Beverly Hills, but Lohan will remain free pending a Friday court hearing, according to officials from Los Angeles County Superior Court.

A message left with Lohan's attorney was not immediately returned.

Lohan confirmed on her Twitter page last week that she failed a court-ordered drug and alcohol screening.

Lohan spent two weeks in jail this year after violating probation stemming from convictions involving her 2007 arrests for drug use and driving under the influence. She spent another 23 days undergoing rehabilitation at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

Fox had threatened her with 30 days in jail for each probation violation. Fox must now decide whether to send her back to jail or back into treatment.

Lohan posted a series of Twitter messages last Friday acknowledging her drug problem.

"Regrettably, I did in fact fail my most recent drug test," she tweeted.

She also said, "substance abuse is a disease, which unfortunately doesn't go away over night. I am working hard to overcome it."

Lohan often posts updates with the account that's verified by Twitter as belonging to the actress.

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Randy Quaid, wife released after squatter arrests (AP)

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. ï¿½ Authorities say actor Randy Quaid and his wife have been released on bail after their weekend squatting arrests for moving into a home they reportedly sold years ago in California.

Santa Barbara County sheriff's spokesman Drew Sugars says the Quaids were arrested Saturday after an alarm went off at the Montecito home and the couple was found living in a guest house.

The 59-year-old actor known for roles in "National Lampoon's Vacation" movies and his wife, Evegena, were booked for investigation of felony residential burglary and misdemeanor entering a building without consent.

The Quaids were released on $50,000 bail early Sunday.

The couple's lawyer would not comment.

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Rumsfeld to "pull no punches" in autobiography

NEW YORK | Mon Sep 20, 2010 2:58pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will release an autobiography in January that the publisher promises "pulls no punches" from a man who was one of the most ardent proponents of going to war in Iraq.

The publisher also plans to launch a website with thousands of pages of documents to support Rumsfeld's account. Rumsfeld, 78, has said all profits will go to veterans' charities.

"Like Donald Rumsfeld himself, this memoir pulls no punches," said Adrian Zackheim, president and publisher of the Sentinel imprint of Penguin Group.

The book, titled "Known and Unknown," will span the length of Rumsfeld's life and explore some of the controversies such as the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq and allegations of human rights violations at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the publisher said.

The title is derived from comments made by Rumsfeld during a February 2002 news conference in which he referred to "known knowns" and "known unknowns." Rumsfeld had been asked by a journalist whether there was any evidence that Iraq had tried to supply terrorists with weapons of mass destruction.

Rumsfeld and other U.S. officials cited the threat posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction as justification for the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. No such weapons were found.

Rumsfeld was a leading architect of the Iraq war. He was fired by President George W. Bush as defense secretary in 2006 with U.S. troops bogged down after 3-1/2 years of fighting in Iraq.

(Reporting by Bernd Debusmann Jr.; Editing by Daniel Trotta)

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Jay-Z, Coldplay collaborating on NYE show in Vegas (AP)

LAS VEGAS ï¿½ Jay-Z and Coldplay plan to share the stage in Las Vegas as New Year's Eve headliners at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas casino-resort.

Cosmopolitan officials said Monday that the music superstars would also play solo sets with the performances broadcast on the hotel's 65-foot marquee overlooking the Las Vegas Strip.

The Cosmopolitan says the concert is part of a three-day invitation-only celebration roughly two weeks after the resort opens. The $3.9 billion resort owned by Deutsche Bank is scheduled to open Dec. 15.

Cosmopolitan officials say the New Year's Eve weekend will also include a surprise performance on the resort's pool deck, which overlooks Las Vegas Boulevard.

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Queen Latifah back to host People's Choice Awards (AP)

NEW YORK ï¿½ CBS says Queen Latifah will be back again to host "The People's Choice Awards."

CBS says she will be on board for her fifth consecutive year when the awards show airs on Jan. 5 from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.

Mark Burnett will return as executive producer for his second year.

In its 37th year, "The People's Choice Awards" is voted on entirely by the public for their favorites in music, movies and television. Fans can now vote online for any of 15 suggested new categories.

___

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http://www.peopleschoice.com

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Paris Hilton admits cocaine possession

LOS ANGELES | Mon Sep 20, 2010 1:42pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Paris Hilton pleaded guilty on Monday to cocaine possession and was fined $2,000 by a Las Vegas judge and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.

Hilton, 29, was also given a one-year, suspended sentence and warned that any new arrests in Las Vegas would result in her going to jail.

Hilton could have been jailed for up to four years on the cocaine possession charge, but she reached a plea deal with prosecutors over her arrest on the Las Vegas strip on August 28.

"The purpose of this is that you change your conduct," Las Vegas justice Joe Bonaventure told Hilton at a brief hearing.

"I assure you that Clark County Detention Center is not the Waldorf Astoria," Bonaventure added. The Waldorf Astoria in New York is part of the Hilton group of hotels founded by Paris Hilton's great-grandfather Conrad Hilton.

The sometimes actress and celebrity socialite and her boyfriend, nightclub manager Cy Waits, were stopped by police just before midnight after they said they smelled marijuana coming from their vehicle.

Hilton was charged with possessing 0.8 grams of cocaine found in a purse. The former reality TV star initially denied the purse belonged to her, resulting in an additional charge of obstructing police.

"I was in possession as well as telling the officer the purse was not mine," Hilton, dressed demurely in a silk blouse and black skirt, told the court.

Asked what drug she was carrying, Hilton answered, "Cocaine."

Hilton spent three weeks in jail in Los Angeles in 2007 for violating probation on a reckless driving charge. In July, she was briefly detained in South Africa on suspicion of marijuana possession but was released without charge.

Her lawyer, David Chesnoff, told reporters outside the Las Vegas court that Hilton was contrite "and accepts responsibility for her actions."

"She was treated like anybody else would be treated under the circumstances," Chesnoff said.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Motley Crue's Vince Neil rails at foes, bandmates in book

By Phil Wahba

NEW YORK | Mon Sep 20, 2010 1:54pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Motley Crue singer Vince Neil says he has "never really had a voice" in all the tales of his three decade career fronting the hard rock band.

But his attempts to finally set the record straight in an autobiography chronicling years of sex, drugs, plastic surgery and numerous arrests, have already landed him back in trouble.

Neil, 49, lashes out at bandmates and attempts to settle old scores with rock rivals in "Tattoos and Tequila", to be published on Thursday.

He has also set off a new feud with music manager and "America's Got Talent" and "X Factor" judge Sharon Osbourne, the wife of former Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne.

"It really sickens me today to watch everybody fawning all over Sharon Osbourne," Neil writes in the book, recalling a 1984 tour when Motley Crue opened for Ozzy and Sharon was running an especially tight ship.

"This is the most evil, s-------- woman I've ever met," he added.

Osbourne shot back with some choice words of her own.

"He (Neil) has murdered somebody in a car," Sharon Osbourne told the New York Post last week. "He crippled two other people and he is still driving drunk. And that is why I used to keep my husband away from him."

Hanoi Rocks member Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley was killed in Neil's car when Neil was driving drunk in 1984, for which he served a jail term.

Neil was arrested again in June in Las Vegas on suspicion of drunk driving, a week after he released a solo album, also called "Tattoos and Tequila" -- a set of classic rock covers.

HARSH WORDS FOR BANDMATES

Neil told Reuters he doesn't like talking about himself. But he wanted to give his side of the storied history of the band, which has sold about 25 million albums in the United States alone.

Motley Crue released a best-selling band biography called "The Dirt" in 2001.

"There's been so much written about Motley Crue. I've never really had a voice", Neil said of his autobiography.

"This was my experience with Sharon 25 years ago. She was not very kind to Motley Crue," he added in an interview.

Osbourne is not the only target.

Neil, who split from Motley Crue in 1992 and rejoined in 1997, keeps some of his harshest words for his bandmates, whom he has compared to siblings with whom he feuds.

He faulted bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee and guitarist Mick Mars for not supporting him following the 1984 car accident, and disputed their account of the events that led to his 1992 departure.

The book also seeks to settle scores with old foes such as Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose. Neil reiterates a challenge to Rose to a boxing match that he issued in 1989 after an infamous backstage brawl at the MTV Video Music Awards.

On the sleeve of his book, Neil wrote, "Old rock stars fall hard." But Neil said the hard living has been worth it -- with the exception of the shame he feels about Dingley's death

"I don't have any regrets. Anything that I've done wrong, I've learned from," Neil said.

Neil will spend the fall on tour in support of his solo album and the book. He said Motley Crue plans to start rehearsals early in 2011 for its Crue Fest 3 festival but has no immediate plans for a follow-up to its 2008 hit album "Saints of Los Angeles."

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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New TV thriller "Event" a test of viewer patience

By Barry Garron

Mon Sep 20, 2010 8:12am EDT

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - With the conclusion last season of "Lost," "24" and "Heroes," it would seem television is ripe for a new action serial. That could bode well for NBC's "The Event," which premieres Monday, particularly because its pilot asks a lot of viewers but gives back comparatively little in return.

Successful shows of this stripe walk a careful line, building suspense and mystery even as they reward viewers with answers and insight. "Event" teases viewers with an intricately plotted tale of conspiracy and terrorism, but it weaves the story from so many directions, perspectives and timelines that the episode becomes a sort of video Rubik's Cube.

Comic-Con attendees aside, the effort required to follow the story by co-executive producer/writer/creator Nick Wauters goes well beyond what most viewers might be willing to give. With its large ensemble cast and frequent flashbacks -- visiting and revisiting events that occurred from 23 minutes to 13 months in the past -- watching "Event" is like riding a contraption that is half time machine and half bumper car.

The pilot only hints at the grand arc of what is to occur. This includes a macro story with global implications and a micro tale about a normal, unsuspecting nice guy (Jason Ritter) who plans to pop the question on a Caribbean cruise but instead stumbles into a world of sabotage and intrigue. Blair Underwood plays President Elias Martinez, who discovers that the CIA is operating a detention facility in Alaska that makes Guantanamo look like a Boy Scout camp. Against the counsel of advisers, he vows to close it down. Laura Innes plays Sophia, the leader of the detainees, and apparently the mastermind behind The Event.

Ritter is goodhearted Sean Walker, who plans to propose to Leila Buchanan (Sarah Roemer) after securing the blessing of her dad (Scott Patterson). Then strange and really bad things happen to Leila's family, and Sean's world gets more complicated than a dessert station at a midnight buffet.

As showrunner, Evan Katz, formerly of Fox's "24," knows a good deal about storytelling at breakneck speeds. In addition, executive producer Jeffrey Reiner, who directed the pilot, barely lets you catch your breath. However, unless they reward viewer trust with a few satisfying answers -- and soon -- "Event" will see a sharp decline in RSVPs.

So far, the most enjoyable part of this dizzy ride is the brilliant cast. Underwood and Ritter are entirely convincing in complicated roles. Equally impressive is the work of Innes as the tightly wound conspirator and Zeljko Ivanek as the president's straight-talking aide. Cast and producers repeatedly have said that the second episode provides many answers. Maybe, then, instead of "The Event," the pilot should be called "Eventually."

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Fashion world bids farewell to Alexander McQueen

By Paul Casciato and Cindy Martin

LONDON | Mon Sep 20, 2010 11:14am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Supermodel Kate Moss and movie star Sarah Jessica Parker were among the elite of the fashion world who attended a memorial service for British designer Alexander McQueen at St. Paul's Cathedral on Monday.

McQueen committed suicide in February aged 40 shortly after the death of his mother. He took a mix of cocaine, tranquilizers and sleeping pills before hanging himself at his London flat, an inquest concluded.

"I loved him," Moss, dressed in black and wearing dark sunglasses, told Reuters outside the cathedral where Britons have mourned such national figures as Horatio Nelson and Winston Churchill and marked the end of two world wars.

When asked to sum up McQueen's career, Parker added: "One of a kind, very ... The service was bitter-sweet - perfect."

McQueen was one of the world's most provocative and revered designers, and shows featuring his "Highland Rape" and "Dante" collections were considered classics.

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of U.S. Vogue, gave an address during which she paid tribute to the mercurial personality and design genius of a boy from the gritty east end of London who rose to the heights of A-list stardom in the fashion world.

She recalled the dramatic impact of McQueen's designs by recounting the story of his Dante collection, featuring models wearing the "bumster" trousers worn well down the hip, hitting the catwalk in New York in the late 1990s.

"One (model) turned to give me an extremely prominent close-up of her mostly naked back view," Wintour told a congregation of more than a thousand people. "Well, after that collection it was a done deal. Everybody lowered their trousers everywhere."

BJORK AND BAGPIPES

Icelandic singer Bjork, dressed in giant angel wings and a silver helmet, performed a haunting song called "Gloomy Sunday," which talks in the first person about deciding "to end it all."

Afterwards, bagpipers dressed in tartan kilts played on the stairs outside the cathedral as guests, the famous, the friends and family of Alexander streamed out into the sunshine.

"I think Alexander would have loved every minute of it," Hilary Alexander, fashion director for the Telegraph newspaper, said as she left the memorial.

Born in a working class area of London, McQueen left school at the age of 16 and gained an apprenticeship at the traditional Savile Row tailors Anderson and Sheppard, moving on to neighboring Gieves and Hawkes.

The former British Designer of the Year winner eventually gained a masters degree in fashion design from London's prestigious Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.

McQueen had an ability to shock and his autumn/winter 1995 collection "Highland Rape" which featured disheveled looking models in torn clothing was considered a classic example.

The following year, McQueen was named head designer at the staid Paris couture house Givenchy. His first collection for the French atelier was not widely considered to be a success.

But he went on to establish his own label and become part of the Gucci stable of brands owned by French retailer and luxury goods group PPR, drawing in fans, customers and fame and earning a place at the top table of fashion.

(Reporting by Paul Casciato, writing by Mike Collett-White; editing by Ralph Boulton)

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Paris Hilton pleads guilty in Las Vegas arrest (AP)

LAS VEGAS ï¿½ Paris Hilton acknowledged Monday that she had cocaine in her purse and pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges stemming from her arrest last month at a Las Vegas hotel-casino.

She will serve a year of probation and avoid a felony charge under the terms of a plea deal worked out with prosecutors. The celebrity heiress pleaded guilty to drug possession and obstructing an officer.

Hilton, 29, must complete a drug abuse program, pay a $2,000 fine and serve 200 hours of community service.

Hilton ï¿½ wearing a champagne-colored blouse, a black pencil skirt and black platform heels ï¿½ told Judge Joseph Bonventure she was in possession of cocaine.

When he asked what she did to obstruct justice, Hilton, swaying side to side, responded, "I said that the purse wasn't mine to the officer," and acknowledged that she had bought it months earlier.

When asked why she didn't fight the charge, her attorney, David Chesnoff said, "Miss Hilton accepts the responsibility."

She faces a year in jail if she violates the probation and is arrested for anything other than a minor traffic violation.

Bonventure told Hilton she would have to stay out of trouble.

"I assure you the Clark County Detention Center is not the Waldorf Astoria," he told her.

The plea agreement does not require Hilton to be assigned a probation officer, meaning she won't have to report to anyone.

She originally faced a felony cocaine possession charge that would not have resulted in jail time.

Hilton was arrested Aug. 26 inside the Wynn resort, after police say a small plastic bag containing 0.8 of a gram of cocaine spilled out of a Chanel purse she had been carrying as she reached for a tube of lip balm in front of a police lieutenant.

Hilton told police the purse and cocaine were not hers, but claimed some items in the bag belonged to her, including rolling papers, $1,300 in cash and several credit cards.

She was pulled aside by police after her boyfriend, Las Vegas nightclub mogul Cy Waits, 34, failed field sobriety tests given by a motorcycle officer.

The couple was stopped in a black Cadillac Escalade after the officer smelled a "vapor trail" of marijuana smoke.

Hilton was banned from two Wynn resorts on the Las Vegas Strip after the arrest, and her boyfriend was dismissed as a nightclub partner.

Hilton briefly faced a marijuana charge in July after a FIFA World Cup game in South Africa, but the case was dropped when a woman who was with her pleaded guilty to carrying the illegal drug.

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Lady Gaga, Katy Perry lead MTV Europe nominations

LONDON | Mon Sep 20, 2010 7:04am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Lady Gaga and Katy Perry go head-to-head at the MTV Europe Music Awards in November, with five nominations apiece.

The U.S. pop princesses are both shortlisted in four categories -- best pop act, best song, best female act and best video. Completing the nominations for Lady Gaga is best live act and for Katy Perry "best world stage performance."

Elsewhere in the nominations list, rapper Eminem has four nominations including best song, best male act, best hip hop and best video for his Rihanna collaboration "Love the Way You Lie."

British stadium rockers Muse, along with Thirty Seconds to Mars, Linkin Park and Kings of Leon, find themselves up against "Prince of Darkness" Ozzy Osbourne in the best rock category.

Pop phenomenon Justin Bieber, Ke$ha, B.o.B, Plan B and Jason Derulo are nominated for best new act.

Perry and Linkin Park are confirmed to perform at the annual event, one of pop music's biggest nights outside the United States.

Following is a list of the main nominations for the MTV Europe Music Awards, to be held in Madrid on November 7.

- Best Rock: Kings of Leon; Linkin Park; Thirty Seconds to Mars; Muse; Ozzy Osbourne

- Best Pop: Lady Gaga; Usher; Katy Perry; Miley Cyrus; Rihanna

- Best Live Act: Bon Jovi; Lady Gaga; Muse; Kings of Leon; Linkin Park

- Best Male: Eminem; Justin Bieber; Usher; Enrique Iglesias; Kanye West

- Best Female: Lady Gaga; Katy Perry; Miley Cyrus; Shakira; Rihanna

- Best New Act: Ke$ha; B.o.B.; Jason Derulo; Plan B; Justin Bieber

- Best Alternative: Gorillaz; Gossip; Paramore; Vampire Weekend; Arcade Fire

- Best Hip Hop: T.I.; Eminem; Kanye West; Lil Wayne; Snoop Dogg

- Best Song: Usher/OMG; Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg/California Gurls; Eminem feat. Rihanna/Love the Way You Lie; Rihanna/Rude Boy; Lady Gaga/Bad Romance

Best Video: Thirty Seconds to Mars/Kings and Queens; Katy Perry/California Gurls; Lady Gaga feat. Beyonce/Telephone; Plan B/Prayin'; Eminem feat. Rihanna/Love the Way You Lie.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White)

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`Glee' is back with angst, songs in sophomore year (AP)

LOS ANGELES ï¿½ "Glee" is back for its sophomore year with a new football coach, two new ear- and eye-catching students, and an identity crisis for big man on campus Finn.

There's also something of an identity crisis for Fox TV's hit series as trouble comes fast and furious for the McKinley High glee club and its members in Tuesday's debut episode (8 p.m. EDT). There's barely room for the buoyancy that infused "Glee" last season.

"Let's show them how down we are," says glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), challenging his students to stage a number that will persuade others to join the club branded as a way station for losers.

Instead, the hour itself verges on being a downer. Will goes to the dark side with cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, Rachel's self-absorption becomes ickier and, most unsettling of all, a molestation accusation is played, literally, with a wink.

But there's still joy to be had in the series that was nominated for a best comedy Emmy Award, losing last month to "Modern Family," as the glee clubbers make the most of "Empire State of Mind" and Lea Michele, as Broadway-bound belter Rachel, owns (no surprise) "What I Did for Love."

There's also the introduction of two fresh-faced students with singing chops: an exchange student with a big smile and bigger voice (played by teenage pop star Charice, whose fan club includes Oprah Winfrey); and a golden-boy athlete (Chord Overstreet of "iCarly," with cuteness of Justin Bieber dimensions).

Can they help McKinley's New Directions, which last year fell short at the regional competition, make it to the nationals in the Big Apple and defeat arch rival Vocal Adrenaline? Maybe.

The other McKinley newcomer is a female gridiron coach with a winning record, who quickly proves a formidable rival for Cheerios chief Sue (Emmy-winner Jane Lynch).

Coach Shannon Beiste (pronounced "beast" because "it's French," she helpfully explains) wants the school budget to put football ahead of cheerleading. That won't do for Sue, who enlists Will in a plot to undermine Beiste (an effective Dot Marie Jones).

A "female football coach is like a male nurse: sin against nature," snarls Sue. Coach Beiste doesn't quite have the hang of trash talk, telling Sue, "You're all coffee and no omelet."

Quarterback-singer Finn (Cory Monteith) becomes an inadvertent victim of the faculty clash and has to cope with the fallout while nurturing his reignited romance with Rachel.

Finn's former love, Quinn (Dianna Agron) is back in pre-pregnancy form and ready to reclaim her spot as Cheerios queen bee. Santana (Naya Rivera), meanwhile, is finding that the quest for physical perfection comes at a price.

In its first year, "Glee" neatly combined music, edgy humor and coming-of-age poignancy. As long as pain doesn't eclipse the show's charm, "Glee" viewers will have something to sing about as the season unfolds.

___

Online:

http:http://www.fox.com

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Kelly McGillis joins Musak exec in NJ civil union (AP)

COLLINGSWOOD, N.J. ï¿½ Actress Kelly McGillis has been joined in a civil union with her girlfriend in New Jersey.

McGillis and Melanie Leis' civil union was performed in municipal court in Collingswood on Sept. 15.

McGillis, 53, starred in the movies "Witness," "Top Gun" and "The Accused" in the 1980s.

Her civil union partner is an executive with Independence Communications, a company that provides Muzak to businesses. The New York Times first reported their civil union.

McGillis, who lives in Collingswood, came out as a lesbian last year in an interview with SheWired.com. She has been married and divorced twice before and has two daughters.

Her latest film, "Stake Land," had its debut last week at the Toronto International Film Festival.

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Fashion greats remember McQueen in London service (AP)

LONDON ï¿½ Fashionistas celebrated the life and legacy of Alexander McQueen in a solemn ceremony at St. Paul's Cathedral on Monday, seven months after his suicide shocked the designing world.

The service for McQueen briefly brought London Fashion Week to a halt as top designers, models and editors came to pay their respects to the enfant terrible of British fashion, who was 40 when he died in early February.

He had a history of depression and was said to be devastated by the recent loss of his mother. His suicide has deprived the British fashion world of its biggest and most controversial star.

The service was attended by many of the models and actresses who loved McQueen's work, including Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jade Parfitt and others, including designer Stella McCartney.

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of the American edition of Vogue magazine, was the first of McQueen's admirers to speak. Wearing an elegant black-and-gold outfit, she praised his "exceptional legacy of brilliant inspiration."

She said McQueen was never satisfied with his work and always vowed to do better, even when he had broken new ground.

Wintour and others hinted at his dark side. She spoke of his sometimes "savage tongue" and the discomfort he felt with the social niceties required by the fashion world.

"We always forgave Alexander," she said after describing how McQueen failed to show up for his first-ever Vogue photo shoot and then told editors there that he couldn't care less about the magazine ï¿½ one of the fashion industry's most influential publications.

"It was beautiful, but very intense," said Parfitt afterward. "I'm at a loss for words."

Icelandic singer and actress Bjork, wearing an unusual McQueen outfit complete with mock wings, sang "Gloomy Sunday," a dark song dealing with death and loss popularized by American singer Billie Holiday.

Jewelry designer Shaun Leane spoke about his long, intense friendship with McQueen, and leading hatmaker Philip Treacy read one of the prayers.

McQueen became famous for dramatic and often hard-to-define creations, like lobster-claw high heels. They never sold in great numbers, but his was one of fashion's best-known brands.

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Paris Hilton to plead guilty in Vegas drug arrest (AP)

LAS VEGAS ï¿½ Paris Hilton is expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges stemming from her arrest for drug possession last month at a Las Vegas hotel-casino.

Clark County District Attorney David Roger says the celebrity socialite has agreed to plead guilty Monday to drug possession and obstructing an officer in Las Vegas Justice Court under the terms of a plea deal worked out with prosecutors after her Aug. 27 arrest.

Hilton will serve a year of unsupervised probation and complete a drug abuse program under the plea agreement.

She originally faced a felony cocaine possession charge.

The 29-year-old Hilton was arrested inside the Wynn resort after police say a small bag containing 0.8 of a gram of cocaine spilled from her Chanel purse as she reached for lip balm.

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Known known: Rumsfeld's memoir coming in January (AP)

NEW YORK ï¿½ The title and release date of Donald Rumsfeld's memoir are now known, or, as he might say, are now known knowns.

The book is called "Known and Unknown," and it's coming in January.

Rumsfeld, 78, will write about his childhood and long political career, starting as a Republican congressman from Illinois in the 1960s and then as secretary of defense under President Gerald Ford and President George W. Bush, the publisher, Sentinel, said in a statement Monday.

Rumsfeld's book was first announced in 2008. Rumsfeld received no advance and will donate all proceeds to veterans charities.

The statement from Sentinel, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), said Rumsfeld would include anecdotes about everyone from Elvis Presley to his close friend and ally Dick Cheney, the former vice president whose own memoir is scheduled for the spring.

Rumsfeld, a leading advocate of the war in Iraq, became increasingly controversial during his years in the Bush administration and resigned soon after the 2006 midterm elections, when Republicans lost control of Congress.

Sentinel president and publisher Adrian Zackheim called Rumsfeld's memoir "a fascinating narrative for today's readers and an unprecedented resource for tomorrow's historians."

"Like Donald Rumsfeld himself, this memoir pulls no punches," Zackheim said in a statement.

The title of Rumsfeld's book is as notable as the name of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's book, "Going Rogue," which stemmed from how pundits questioned whether she hurt Sen. John McCain's presidential bid as his running mate by "going rogue," or defying his campaign's control.

"Known and Unknown" refers to a widely quoted explanation ï¿½ praised by some as philosophy, criticized by others as double-talk ï¿½ Rumsfeld offered in 2002 about the lack of evidence that Iraq was supplying terrorists with weapons of mass destruction.

"Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because, as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know that we know," he said. "There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know."

Rumsfeld will draw upon previously unreleased and recently declassified documents, Sentinel said. Thousands of pages of documents unseen by the public will be made available on an accompanying website, it said.

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Joey, Rory help build a community with restaurant (AP)

POTTSVILLE, Tenn. ï¿½ When Rory Feek and his wife Joey moved to this rural area 45 miles south of Nashville they knew four people and were isolated from their neighbors.

Then they opened Marcy Jo's Mealhouse in an old general store with Rory's sister, Marcy Gary.

"We thought that it would give us a chance to meet a couple of neighbors and bring something to our community," Rory Feek said. "Not only did we meet hundreds and hundreds of people, but they've met each other. And so it's really become a hub of our community."

That community is at the center of Joey + Rory's new single and video, "This Song's For You," from their new "Album Number Two."

Pottsville's residents have been there for every step of the couple's surprise, feel-good music career and they figure heavily in the latest video. There's Cowboy Dan, the first customer at Marcy Jo's, the local judge, the mayor, a mechanic, a couple of grandmothers, a farmer and a few dozen others.

It's the Feeks' way of giving back for all the support their new friends have given them since they opened the restaurant about three years ago.

"A year after that we get cast on this TV show ('Can You Duet?' on CMT) and our whole community rallies and roots for us," Rory Feek, 45, said over a breakfast of steak and eggs. "They came to the show. Now it's the same thing. They're all so excited for everything that happens in our lives and it feels good to come home to."

Pottsville used to be a bustling little place. Highway 431 runs through its heart and was once the main thoroughfare to get to Nashville from points south before the nearby interstate came along. Marcy Jo's is in a building that dates back to 1891 and used to house a general store.

"This is where people came and got all their goods," Joey Feek said. "They sold shoes in the back and clothes."

It's had many lives since. The Feek family acquired it and went to work, doing most of the renovations themselves. The Feeks quickly found out when they opened the place they weren't the only ones who didn't know their neighbors.

"Through Marcy Jo's I've met cousins of mine that I never knew I had," said Ben Smith, a local farmer and consultant. "A lot of other good friends have emerged, too."

Locals aren't the only folks who can be found at Marcy Jo's. Tourists from out of state have started swelling the ranks since Joey and Rory began gaining attention with their first album, "The Life Of A Song." Residents from Nashville and other nearby places also make the trip, looking for a slice of rural life that doesn't really exist any more.

Gary says business is about half and half these days. Occasionally visitors will find Joey manning the oven or Rory eating breakfast.

Joey "will come in from the road all exhausted and I'll say, 'Jo, I really need you on Saturday,'" Gary said. "I like to keep her grounded, but I always like to keep her in the kitchen on Saturdays because if she's out here people are flashing cameras and wanting to talk. You can't get nothing done. So it's like, 'You come in, you bake today. Stay in the kitchen.'"

As they get more popular, Joey and Rory the performers find it hard to maintain the lifestyle created by Joey and Rory the people when they married eight years ago. Their first album was a surprise success, selling nearly 300,000 copies and opening the door to tour with Zac Brown, who is featured on the latest single, and other country stars.

The couple lives in a century-old farmhouse just down the road from the restaurant. They've got a cow named Shooter, a coop full of chickens, a big garden out back that has to be tended daily and dozens of little projects they no longer have time for because of a hectic touring schedule.

Time at home is precious and the restaurant is their refuge.

"I catch up with (customers and friends) and see how they're doing," the 35-year-old Joey said. "Last week we were on the road and Marcy called us and said a regular who comes here just passed away and it was heartbreaking to be gone. We were just so disappointed we weren't here. You really feel like they're part of your family."

____

Online:

http://www.joeyandrory.com

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ABC's 'Detroit 1-8-7' finds character in city (AP)

DETROIT ï¿½ When "NYPD Blue" veteran James McDaniel signed on for a new ABC cop show called "Detroit 1-8-7," he served as cheerleader-in-chief in the creators' campaign to shoot in the Motor City.

The actor figured they didn't stand a chance because it had never been done. But he craved the authenticity of being in the downtrodden city ï¿½ far from traditional acting hubs and his beloved New York ï¿½ even if it meant suffering for his art.

McDaniel was floored on both fronts: The network brass approved filming the show in Detroit, and he found the city to be both inviting and inspiring.

"We get here, and imagine my surprise: My wife and I actually love it. We really get it," he said while waiting to shoot a scene on a weed-pocked parking lot near downtown.

The first network television drama to set up shop full time in Detroit is discovering a city that goes beyond its Rust Belt reputation. And its writers, producers and actors hope the struggling town is a secret weapon for "Detroit 1-8-7" as it prepares to enter the crowded market of crime procedurals.

The title of the show, which debuts Tuesday at 10 p.m. EDT, uses a former California police code for homicide and features fictional members of a Detroit Police homicide unit. The real city has been unable to shake its reputation as a haven for violence, but those involved say they can show the grit without glorifying it.

"People's fear was it was just going to be street crime and gang violence and things like that. It's really not," said star Michael Imperioli, relaxing after a full day of rehearsals and shooting in Detroit's Cass Corridor. "A lot of it is not about the dead ï¿½ it's about the living ï¿½ the people who are connected and affected by these crimes."

McDaniel and Imperioli, whose credits include HBO's "The Sopranos" and playing another prime-time detective on ABC's short-lived "Life on Mars," are the best known actors on "1-8-7." The diverse cast also includes Erin Cummings ("Mad Men"), Aisha Hinds ("True Blood") and Shaun Majumder ("Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle").

On a recent day of heavy shooting for the show's fourth episode, Imperioli joined several other actors for early morning scenes.

His Detective Louis Fitch and colleagues have been called to a playground behind a school where a girl's body has been found. After some run-throughs, the actor consults the script one last time and stashes it on a cart that includes "realistic drying blood" in "Aaron's On-Set Blood Bag."

The real neighborhood near downtown, once synonymous with crime and vice in Detroit, is now in transition ï¿½ improving or declining, depending on the block.

"Look at this building here ï¿½ it almost looks like a castle, and it's crumbling, covered with ivy," Imperioli said, pointing to a vacant apartment building that's serving as a preservation project in the episode. "At the same time, you see this alternative movie theater and there's a kind of really cool vintage store.

"The neighborhood was a glorious place that went to seed for a while, and you can see all of it in this tiny little corner of the city."

"Detroit 1-8-7" creator Jason Richman was developing the drama at the same time he visited friends in Detroit. He saw the city's architecture and decided it was the right setting for his show.

Richman and others involved in the show's creation also wanted to make it in Detroit ï¿½ and approval no doubt came a little faster thanks to Michigan's tax credits for film and TV production. They're among the most generous in the country, refunding up to 42 percent of a company's qualified expenditures.

Still, it was far from a sure thing, as the new tax breaks haven't yet produced the massive infrastructure or talent pool expected for fast-paced TV production schedules. Executive producer Kevin Hooks said it's mainly the small things that take more time, such as securing approval to shoot in certain locations.

Real events in the city also played a role in changing the concept of the show, whose original pilot was shot documentary-style, primarily in Atlanta. A reality TV crew from A&E's "The First 48" was with Detroit police during a May raid in which a 7-year-old girl was fatally shot. Angry city officials banned the tag-along practice afterward.

Hooks said the faux-documentary approach also confused test audiences, who wondered why actors looked at the camera.

"We certainly wanted to keep the voyeuristic feel, the feeling of the audience participating and being a fly on the wall, if you will, with our characters," he said. "That's still present. In fact, it now flourishes because we don't have to worry about being in one point of view all the time."

The creators say they want to be sensitive without shying away from grim realities of city life. Phonz Williams, one of nine writers and a Detroit native, said he strives to balance the horrific and hopeful.

"Unfortunately, I've lost a few personal friends to senseless violence and even though they're gone, I don't ever want to ... reduce their lives to that one single act," he said.

For Hinds, who plays Lt. Maureen Mason, finding authenticity led her to having lunch with Marilyn Hall-Beard, one of Detroit's first female, African-American police inspectors.

"What kept her going, as exhausting as the job was, was that it gave people in Detroit who didn't have a voice a voice," Hinds said. "She was like, 'We're not here to heal the world or heal Detroit, but if you can one at a time fight crime you're doing something.'"

McDaniel, who often stops his car and talks to city residents on his way into work, said the challenge is translating the rich character of the city onto the screen.

"It's like a Christmas present: Every day we've been unwrapping it, we've been finding other stuff," he said as daylight waned over Detroit's skyline. "It's so fertile ï¿½ the energy is so ripe here."

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ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

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Charlie Chan: More than a Hollywood stereotype? (AP)

NEW YORK ï¿½ The Swede played him most memorably, followed by the portly middle-aged white guy from Missouri. When they were both done and the series was gasping its final breaths, the one-time radio announcer for the Boston Red Sox got a short-lived shot.

But throughout his phenomenally successful 17-year run in Hollywood movies ï¿½ from the Depression's beginnings well into postwar America ï¿½ never, ever was Charlie Chan brought to life by a Chinese actor.

Unsurprising. Because from his earliest appearances in books and movies, the ethnically Chinese detective from Hawaii invented by Earl Derr Biggers was, really, always about racial politics in one way or another. Yet he was never quite what you'd expect.

It is this continual defying of expectation that breathes life into Yunte Huang's new book, "Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous With American History," an attempt to trace the character to its origins and link it up with a real-life Honolulu police officer named Chang Apana.

Why do this at all? Huang, a China-born English professor at the University of California, sums it up: "To write about Charlie Chan is to write about the undulations of the American cultural experience."

Huang is an elegant and amiable, if occasionally overly hopeful, tour guide. It is fascinating to travel with him as he unearths the layers of racial significance surrounding the character's "tortured legacy in American culture."

While many Asians dismiss Charlie Chan as pure racism ï¿½ according to Huang, the National Asian American Telecommunications Association calls the detective "one of the most offensive Asian caricatures of America's cinematic past" ï¿½ Huang finds more to the story.

First, he journeys to Hawaii to compile a semi-biography of Apana, a bullwhip-wielding Honolulu cop who resisted corruption, patrolled diligently for decades and, in an environment rife with racism, made detective and became legendary.

In the 1920s, Apana's reputation drew the attention of Biggers, who was researching a new novel that would, ultimately, give birth to Charlie Chan. While Huang proves his case only partially in connecting Apana with Chan's origins, he does show how both Biggers and Warner Oland ï¿½ the Swedish actor who played Chan ï¿½ perceived Apana as the cinematic character and met with Apana in Hawaii.

"If Charlie Chan must have an original, he could not have a better one," Huang quotes Biggers as saying, though the evidence he presents suggests that Biggers may have retrofitted the origin story to make Apana the inspiration.

Charlie Chan had a brief life in silent movies in the late 1920s, when he was portrayed by at least two Asian actors. The character really took off, however, when Oland assumed the role in 1931, launching a series that would traverse nearly two decades and two movie studios.

Asians, and Chinese in particular, have often had an uneasy history in American cinema. But to dismiss Chan's two main portrayers, Oland and Sidney Toler, as the Pacific Rim equivalents of Al Jolson in blackface would be ignoring part of the story.

Watching the films today, from the vantage point of someone who has spent large chunks of time in China, the effect is startlingly (though not always) inoffensive. Both Oland and Toler, pidgin though their English lines can be, infuse Chan with a gravitas and dignity that at times overshadows the stereotyping.

More obviously disturbing is the way the talented 1940s character actor Mantan Moreland was cast as Chan's jumpy, pop-eyed chauffeur, often comic relief in a Stepin Fetchit shuckin' and jivin' style.

Yet offensiveness can be a product of its era.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the presence of a positive Chinese authority figure was a big draw for Asian audiences accustomed to sinister Fu Manchu movies and comic books, and broad stereotypes of Chinese as big-toothed, slant-eyed buffoons. No matter that the actors themselves weren't Asian; at least the Chan offspring ï¿½ Sons No. 1, 2 and 3, played by Keye Luke, Victor Sen Yung and Benson Fong respectively ï¿½ were.

And the notion of all of them circulating openly in white society, with little obvious racism aimed at them, was progressive for films of the time. What's more, the addition of Moreland to the cast in the 1940s was a drawing card for black audiences. So it can be difficult to tell who found what offensive when.

(Stereotyping, of course, goes both ways: In 1980, one of the first American films shown in China after relations resumed was a nasty evil-sheriff potboiler called "Nightmare in Badham County," which chronicles some of the worst excesses of the American South. Given the Chinese government's intense message management during that period, the decision to exhibit that movie was probably not coincidence.)

Asian stereotypes are hardly gone in today's America; they endure, albeit in different ways: the high-schooler who is really good at math and has no social life because he or she is so driven to excel; the young women who serve as eye candy for white guys with "yellow fever."

One difference, though, is that these days it's sometimes Asians themselves who push the racial envelope with some irony-laced wink-nudge. Consider the Asian-owned Xiaoye, a new restaurant in New York with menu items that poke fun at the culture ï¿½ including "Concubine Cucumbers" and the "Everything but the Dog Meat Platter."

"Sometimes late at night, I turn on the TV and a Chinaman falls out," Huang writes, aware that he is using a term laden with derisive heritage. He has great affection for Charlie Chan: He understands the anger that the stereotype has produced, but finds a subtlety that so many do not see.

Charlie Chan was a stereotype, yes, born from the mind of someone who knew little about Asians and amplified by moviemakers who probably knew even less. Today, with our knowledge of China far more nuanced than a few generations ago, we can cackle or bristle at Warner Oland or Sidney Toler parading around in a white suit spouting fortune-cookie wisdom.

But when those movies were filmed, Huang argues persuasively, Charlie Chan represented a beginning ï¿½ a smart, positive harbinger of racial possibility in an era that had little. It took a while to gain traction, true. But sometimes, the journey of a thousand miles actually does begin with a single step.

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EDITOR'S NOTE ï¿½ Ted Anthony, China news editor for The Associated Press from 2002 to 2004, writes about American culture for the AP.

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