London:
Breaking her silence over husband David Beckham and
Rebecca Loos' alleged affair, wife Victoria said that she
would not let that tart ruin her marriage. According to
the Sun, the singer, who turned 30 on Saturday, also said
there would be no trial separation from the soccer star
hubby, despite claims that he had cheated on her. The couple
laughed and joked as they spent the day at their Beckingham
Palace home. And a source close to Victoria said they scarcely
mentioned the speculation over the England captain's alleged
flings with other women. The only reference came when Posh
blasted ex-PA Rebecca Loos raging, "I will not let that
tart ruin my marriage." As she celebrated her 30th birthday
over the weekend, mum-of-two Victoria made it clear to friends
and family there will be no separation from David, even
on a trial basis. "Victoria is determined to hold on to
her man despite all these allegations against him," the
source said.
Rebecca
Loos' wild romp on bike (Go
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London:
A biker, Dion Marich, has revealed that Rebecca Loos
had wild sex with him on his Harley-Davidson minutes after
flagging him down and asking him for a ride. According to
the Sun, Marich, 30, said that a tipsy Rebecca stopped him
at 2 am as he headed to his home to Brixton in South London.
Rebecca got on the bike behind him, wrapped her legs round
his waist, fondled his crotch and then asked suggestively:
"Can we go for a ride?" Marich said that they stripped off
and romped on the bike after he turned into a side road
in Kensington, adds the report. "I couldn't believe it -
it was like something out of a steamy movie. She lay back
on the tank and we had the most incredible sex. A car came
after 20 minutes, so we pulled on our clothes and drove
round the corner to another quiet street where we did it
all again. It was an amazing night. That girl is wild,"
the report quoted Marich as saying.
Marich,
who is a South Africa-born fashion photographer, added,
"She was obviously tipsy. She was wearing really tight jeans
and a skimpy top and ran into the middle of the road. "I
thought she was in trouble. But she just sidled up and said
in her posh English accent, 'Is that a Harley?' Then she
wrapped herself round me like some kind of sexy snake,"
said Marich. The report says that Marich disclosed that
he had dated the seductress Rebecca for six weeks in 2002
when she was working for a sports agency in London. Marich
also disclosed that he ended the fling when Rebecca became
very serious and wanted to have his baby. "It freaked me
out," he admitted.
Webber's
Bombay Dreams to open on Broadway (Go
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Washington:
Bombay Dreams, the first musical with an Indian cast,
that recouped its investment within 14 months despite scathing
reviews, will open on Broadway on April 29. According to
a New York Times report quoted extensively by the Daily
Times, changes will be made to the Broadway version to draw
in an American audience. According to the NYT, the revision
is one of the most drastic in recent memory. Andrew Lloyd
Webber, who produced the London production, has announced
that the Broadway version is such an improvement that he
will close the London version on June 13 and reopen it next
year, in a different London theatre, with the Broadway revisions
in place. The Broadway producers have hired writer Thomas
Meehan to help retool the story and to remove a number of
Indian cultural references that would be more familiar to
the British than to American audiences. Meera Syal, a well-known
British-Indian comedian who had no previous experience with
musicals, wrote the book for the London production.
Bombay
Dreams tells the story of Akaash, an untouchable who rises
from the Bombay slums to become a star in Bollywood, and
falls in love with Priya, an aspiring film director from
a higher caste. The creative team agreed that the London
production had too many "side shows," as the director, Steven
Pimlott, called them. "It was a bit of a potpourri," he
said. "We threw a lot into the melting pot." For Broadway,
the story has been streamlined to focus on the principal
characters, especially the hero, Akaash. To bolster Akaash's
back-story, his grandmother, Shanti, is now a full- fledged
character. The writers thought audiences would identify
with Priya and the celebrity actress Rani, a temptress who
encourages Akaash to forget his past - so they beefed up
those roles and sharpened Akaash's choice between the two
women, according to the New York Times report. The American
writer also brought out the show's universal themes, like
India's stark class distinctions. The report quotes Lloyd-Webber
as saying, "It's been a long time since there has been a
score as good as this," describing the work of 38-year old
AR Rahman, who wrote the music. Lloyd-Webber had his lyricist
Don Black collaborate with Rehman.
For the American version, the producers hired the songwriter
David Yazbek to help rewrite some of the lyrics. As the
book changed, several songs were omitted and new ones added.
A song in the style of bhangra was added, which Akaash sings
on television, propelling him to fame. Lyrics in the existing
numbers were tightened. The London production used 10 musicians,
while the Broadway one is using 19. In London, the cast
lip-syncs to three of the songs because, the actors did
not have time to learn the specialised form of Indian singing
required. The Broadway version uses taped singers on only
one of the songs - "Shakalaka Baby," the show's signature
tune - in which the cast is portraying Bollywood actors,
who often do not sing their own songs. The London sets were
small and horizontal because of space constraints, while
the Broadway sets are more ample because of greater room
in the theatre.
Ewan
McGregor is biking around the world (Go
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Washington:
Hollywood actor Ewan McGregor is travelling round the
world on a motorcycle. The 'Star Wars' actor along with
his best friend Charley Boorman set off on their 20,000-mile
journey to New York last week. The bike trip, which was
originally planned to be a short break around Europe, will
now also encompass Asia and North America. McGregor and
Boorman, who have prepared by taking survival tips from
the SAS, will spend three months riding off-road 1,150cc
BMW motorcycles across Europe, then Russia, Kazakhstan and
Siberia before travelling through Alaska and Canada and
eventually arriving in New York. The only parts of the journey
that they won't be able to complete on their bikes will
be the Eurostar train trip under the English Channel and
a short flight across the Bering Strait between Siberia
and Alaska. Interestingly, their motorbike adventure is
being filmed for a television series and the duo has also
signed a deal to write a book, which will be published in
this autumn.
Lennon's
last autograph goes online for 180,000 pounds (Go
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London:
John Lennon was one of the best known singers the world
has ever known. And now the nostalgia is again being revived
as his last autograph is being sold on the Internet for
180,000 pounds. According to the Sun, the ex-Beatle signed
a self-portrait for a recording studio worker Rabiah Seminole,
51, just 15 minutes before he was shot dead outside his
flat by crazed fan Mark Chapman. Rabiah, 27, at that time,
had asked Lennon for his autograph as he and his wife Yoko
Ono were leaving the Record Plant studio in New York on
December 8, 1980. She kept the sketch on her bedroom wall
for years, with hardly anyone knowing. But she is selling
it now on the memorabilia site momentsintime.com. in order
to raise cash for her hard-up horse sanctuary.
Eat
marmite to keep mosquitoes at bay (Go
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London:
Health experts have revealed that mosquitoes are repulsive
to marmite, a vegetarian spread made from brewer's yeast,
reports the Mirror. When we eat it, our skin gives off an
odour undetectable to humans, but repulsive to mosquitoes.
"It's nothing to do with spreading it on the skin. The effect
of eating it could be linked to the vitamin B1 thiamine
it contains. This theory is supported by the rise of malaria
in countries where rice has been dehusked and the thiamine-rich
outer coating is discarded," claimed Dr. Martin Schweiger,
a public health consultant. Marmite celebrated its centenary
in 2002. Early last century scientists found it was a good
source of five B vitamins, including B12 which helps prevent
anaemia, and folic acid. It was also given to soldiers during
both World Wars to keep them healthy.
Kurt Cobain's guitar auctioned for 117,500
dlrs (Go
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London:
Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's guitar was auctioned
for 117,500 dollars on Saturday, marking the 10th anniversary
of the singer's death. According to BBC, the guitar, which
was reportedly one of Cobain's most treasured possessions,
is the first of his instruments to go on sale since his
death. It was expected to be sold for 100,000 dollars by
Heritage Galleries in Dallas, Texas. Cobain purchased the
guitar in San Francisco in 1990 and sold it in 1992. The
right-handed guitar was modified to be played by a left-
handed person and is the only known example of a Mark IV-style
Mosrite Gospel. Also sold were a signed 1963 poster of The
Beatles for 17,625 dollars and Sir Elton's Hollywood Walk
of Fame star award for 15,312 dollars. The piano on which
Sir Elton John wrote "Your Song" and "Tiny Dancer" fetched
164,500 dollars and one of Sir Elton's jumpsuits sold for
26,337 dollars
Christina Aguilera to stand naked by the
phone (Go
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London:
Pop star Christina Aguilera seems to have taken her
career to the next step by deciding to appear naked in a
phone ad. The singer has demanded a closed set when the
ad is shot in Los Angeles this week. There will be just
a skeleton crew, who have been hand-picked, according to
the Sun. "Christina is going to be naked so she doesn't
want loads of people watching. She will just have a few
key people in the studio for the raunchy stuff", a source
said. The ad is for Virgin mobile and follows the firm's
funny promos featuring rappers Wyclef Jean and Busta Rhymes.
'Kill Bill II' slays the box office (Go
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Washington:
Uma Thurman's revenge saga 'Kill Bill' II scored the
expected killing at the multiplex, earning an estimated
25.5 million dollars, a solid 16 percent notch above the
22 million dollars debut of Volume 1 last October. Despite
a big body count of its own, 'The Punisher', a more conventional
revenge tale of Marvel Comics style, could only manage a
distant second place with 14 million dollars, according
to EOnline. 'Kill Bill' and 'The Punisher' also made mincemeat
out of the weekend's other prominent new entry, 'Connie
and Carla'. The gender-skewed comedy, with Nia Vardalos
and Toni Collette as waitresses hiding out as Broadway-belting
drag queens, failed to hit the top 10 and managed to gross
only 3.2 million dollars. Overall it was a down weekend
for the first time in a couple of months. With Easter over,
Mel Gibson's religious epic 'Passion Of The Christ' was
buried, falling a huge 72 percent down to ninth place, with
just 4.1 million dollars.
Meanwhile,
audiences continued to forget 'The Alamo', a high- priced
historical drama. It fell from its dismal fourth place opening
last week all the way down to 10th and brought just 4 million
dollars. Fox Searchlight's comedy 'Johnson Family Vacation',
starring Cedric, remained in third place for a second week,
earning 6.4 million dollars. 'Young Adam', a Sony Pictures
Classic release starring Ewan McGregor in a grim British
tale about sex and death--slapped with an NC-17 rating managed
to average 6,331 dollars per site at nine locations for
56,976 dollars. Here is a rundown of the top 10 films, based
on studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1.
Kill Bill: Volume 2, 25.5 million dollars 2. The Punisher,
14 million dollars 3. Johnson Family Vacation, 6.4 million
dollars 4. Hellboy, 5.7 million dollars 5. Home on the Range,
5.4 million dollars 6. Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed,
5.1 million dollars 7. Walking Tall, 4.6 million dollars
8. Ella Enchanted, 4.4 million dollars 9. The Passion of
the Christ, 4.1 million dollars 10. The Alamo, 4 million
dollars
Renee is happy dating Jack White (Go
To Top)
Washington:
Jim Carey can now say final goodbyes to his former fiancee
Renee Zellweger. The Hollywood funnyman's desperate bid
to get Renee back into his life has been thwarted. According
to Imdb, she has confirmed she's still dating White Stripes
rocker Jack White. The Cold Mountain star said of her relationship
with White, "The secret of staying together is big phone
bills and lots of emails. I haven't tried web cams yet,
but I think that's in my future." Carrey dated Zellweger
for more than a year in 1999, after he fell in love with
her on the set of Me, Myself And Irene.
