Funplaneta: 11/25/09

I still miss Chris: Rihanna

I still miss Chris: Rihanna

London R&B star Rihanna can't seem to make up her mind about ex-beau Chris Brown as she has admitted that she still misses him and listens to his music.
The 'Unfaithful' hitmaker, who broke up with Brown after she suffered violent assaults from him, has not still got over the memories of their happier times together, reported Sun online.

Asked if she misses him, the 21-year-old star told a US radio show, "Sometimes. Actually, yes. There are a lot of reminders, like a lot of hotel rooms, a lot of places we've been to together, music. There are different things that come up that are reminders of your ex."

And she's more likely to turn up the volume than switch off the radio when a Chris Brown song comes on.

"I don't snub or turn it off, I listen. I like his music," she said.

Brown, who was sentenced to five years probation and 180 days community service after pleading guilty to the bust-up, was back in court yesterday for a progress report hearing. The Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ordered the singer to report back on February 18.

Tanque Verde the ride of your life

Tanque Verde the ride of your life

Dawn comes to Tanque Verde as if someone had a hand on a celestial dimmer dial -- first a gradual lightening, then a hint of pink.

Tanque Verde's a resort ranch just outside Tucson. I'm up early to do a nature walk, a seemingly pointless activity in drought-ridden southern Arizona.

At first glance, there's not much in the sand-coloured soil but mesquite bushes, whose needle-like thorns repel predators, and cacti. The only real eye-catcher is the giant saguaro. It's found only in the Sonoran Desert and, if it survives 60 or 70 years, starts to sprout arm-shaped appendages.

But an hour with naturalist Rick Hartigan, an ex-cop with a passion for birding, proves this really is a living desert. Hartigan says 180 or more species of birds either live in or come through the 260-hectare property.

Dine and dance ... Vegas style

Dine and dance ... Vegas style

LAS VEGAS -- Dinner and a show. In modern Las Vegas, a Sin City that has successfully re-constructed and re-invented itself despite the economic downturn, a romantic night out is often first-class. Both on the stage and on the plate.

"Las Vegas is now a destination point for a world-class, fine dining experience," says Lauren Bower, public relations manager for the elegant Wynn Las Vegas, one of the most upscale of all Vegas hotels. She is talking both about Las Vegas as a whole -- the self-appointed Entertainment Capital of the World -- and about her hotel specifically.

In one of nine restaurants at the Wynn, chef Paul Bartolotta makes a foodie's dream come true at the Bartolotta Ristorante de Mare that bears his name. It rates extremely highly among food critics for its cuisine, service, ambiance and wine list. Live seafood is flown in daily from the Mediterranean. The al fresco-designed dining room overlooks a courtyard featuring a lagoon and dancing fountains bathed in light.

It may be an illusion, but at least an echo of the Italian Rivera is alive here -- and your tastebuds sense that the illusion is real in the food. Plus, for all its posh, the restaurant is welcoming and never intimidating to visitors.

Bartolotta Ristorante de Mare is the kind of establishment that signals the death knell of the infamous all-you-can-eat Vegas buffet, which apparently originated as a lure for bettors to linger longer at the El Rancho in the 1940s. While it still does thrive in some of the second-rate joints, the buffet is now just a secondary choice or a quick convenience in the major hotel-casinos. Anyone with a real passion for quality cuisine bypasses the buffets and goes to the best restaurants, many housed inside those hotel complexes.

Alba makes education for all one of her key goals

Alba makes education for all one of her key goals

Jessica Alba is taking her role as the co-chairman of the United States division of 1Goal very seriously.

Last Friday, the American actress and new mother met Ms Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, to talk about the campaign and the importance of global education.

The 28-year-old, the star of movies Sin City and Fantastic Four, has become a strong advocate of 1Goal, which is trying to make education for all children a legacy of the football World Cup Finals in South Africa next year.

'It's a human right, I believe, to have the opportunity to have an education and it's unacceptable that 75 million children on this planet don't have a chance to have one,' she said recently.

'I played soccer when I was a kid and so did my husband. The wonderful thing about the 1Goal campaign being tied to the World Cup is it's the one time in the world when everyone puts down their differences, puts down their weapons, and roots for a team.'

Her husband Cash Warren, 30, is an American film producer.

World leaders and footballers have rallied behind the Fifa-initiated campaign.

Queen Rania of Jordan, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and South African President Jacob Zuma are among the group that will attempt to raise about US$7 billion (S$9.7 billion) needed to educate children in Africa and other countries.

What's affecting Longoria's sex life?

What's affecting Longoria's sex life?

Hollywood actress Eva Longoria Parker has revealed her show Desperate Housewives is affecting her sex life.

The actress admits she and husband Tony Parker can only get cosy on weekends because of her filming schedule in Hollywood and his commitments to his Texas-based basketball team the San Antonio Spurs, reports femalefirst.co.uk

"I work three to four days per week. And then I fly to Texas to spend a long weekend with Tony. So we only have sex during the weekend," she said.

Despite her hectic life, the actress said she is happy being a wife and does anything she can to please Parker.

"I love being married. I'm part of something bigger and more important now. The marriage gives me so much more than my job. Tony and I feel incredibly connected. I love being a housewife. It's great fun. I cook, clean and sew. I even wash Tony's laundry," she said.

Fleecing a High-Society Mom(Top Crime Story)

Fleecing a High-Society Mom

Brooke Astor, the glamorous New York City philanthropist and socialite who succumbed to Alzheimer's disease in her later years, died in August at the age of 105. Soon afterward, amid stunning allegations of elder abuse, neglect, and flat-out greed, her only son, Anthony Marshall, was charged with stealing, forgery and conspiracy to plunder his mother's estate. Marshall pleaded not guilty to the charges, which were brought against him more than a year after Astor's grandson sued to have Marshall removed as her guardian for allegedly allowing the once grand dame to live in squalor.

O.J. Gets Busted(Top Crime Story)

O.J. Gets Busted

Really, O.J.? Really? Your alleged plan to run a civilian "sting operation" against the guy you claim was illegally selling your memorabilia consisted of you and a few gun-toting friends breaking into his Las Vegas hotel room and taking your stuff back by force? We're sure you would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that pal of yours who tape-recorded the whole incident. O.J. pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him, including robbery, kidnapping and use of a deadly weapon, and his trial is scheduled to begin in April.

A Wrestler's Rage(Top Crime Story)

A Wrestler's Rage

In June, World Wrestling Entertainment star Chris Benoit apparently dosed his wife and 7-year-old son with a sedative before strangling them in their Georgia home and then hanging himself using the cord from a weight machine. The popular wrestler left no suicide note. Amid media speculation that the double murder-suicide was brought on by steroid use and so-called "roid rage," a toxicologist concluded that despite finding elevated levels of testosterone — possibly as a result of treatment for past steroid abuse — in Benoit's body, there was nothing in his system that contributed to the violent behavior.

Execution-Style Slayings in Newark (Top Crime Story)

Execution-Style Slayings in Newark

Everyone who knew them said they were good kids. Three were enrolled at Delaware State University, and the fourth planned to join his friends there shortly. So when they were lined up against a schoolyard wall in Newark, N.J., and shot execution-style (one survived) in early August, it rattled the city and its idealistic young mayor, Cory Booker, who had been elected a year earlier on promises to reduce crime. The murders also stoked a national debate about immigration after it was revealed that one of the six suspects was an illegal immigrant free on bail

Slave Labor in China(Top Crime story)

Slave Labor in China(Top Crime story)

Hundreds of laborers forced to work as slaves at illegal brick kilns in northern China were freed in June. The slaves, some of whom were minors, had been kidnapped or lured to the factories, where they were physically abused and, in a few cases, murdered. Dozens of people were convicted for their role in the slavery scandal, including the son of a local Communist Party official, and one kiln employee — who confessed to killing a mentally handicapped man for not working hard enough — was sentenced to death.

Bribery in Iraq

Bribery in Iraq

In the largest bribery case to come out of the Iraq war, Army Maj. John Cockerham was indicted in August for taking $9.6 million in bribes while he was a contracting officer in Kuwait. He allegedly accepted the payments in return for promising to award contracts for such things as bottled water through a rigged bidding process. He and his wife and sister were also charged with money-laundering and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government. All three have pleaded not guilty.

Fiery Attack at Glasgow Airport

Fiery Attack at Glasgow Airport

In June, two men drove a Jeep into the arrivals terminal of the Glasgow airport and set the car ablaze in an attempted suicide attack. The driver died from third-degree burns. He and his passenger, a British-born Muslim doctor who owned the Jeep, are believed to have planted car bombs that were found in London shortly before the Glasgow incident. The attack highlighted the extent to which Islamist anger with the Western world could radicalize even educated professionals.

The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

On the night of May 3, British tourists Kate and Gerry McCann left their three young children asleep in a Portuguese resort while they dined nearby. When they returned, 3-year-old Madeleine was gone. So began a mystery that continues to befuddle investigators. David Beckham and other celebrities were enlisted to help find the girl amid theories that she might have been kidnapped by international pedophile gangs. The McCanns were eventually named as suspects after tiny amounts of the girl's bodily fluids were found in a car her parents had rented several weeks after she went missing. The McCanns claim the evidence is inconclusive.

2. The Jena 6

2. The Jena 6

The incident, which drew attention to what many Americans consider a double-tiered justice system, started after nooses hung from a tree at a high school in Jena, La., sparked a rash of interracial fights. In December 2006, six black students were charged with beating a white one, and thousands of civil rights activists would eventually march in Jena to protest the incarceration of one of the so-called Jena 6, Mychal Bell. In June an all-white jury convicted him of second-degree battery by concluding that his tennis shoes had been used as a dangerous weapon. His conviction as an adult was overturned, but he eventually pleaded guilty to the same charge as a juvenile.

1. Massacre at Virginia Tech

Massacre at Virginia Tech

On Apr. 16, Cho Seung-Hui, a troubled Virginia Tech senior, killed 32 people before taking his own life in the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. The episode brought many unsettling issues to the fore, including loopholes that let the mentally ill buy guns, privacy laws that restrict school counselors' ability to tell others about a distressed student and the difficulty universities have in alerting entire campuses to imminent danger. The role of the media was also scrutinized after NBC aired photos and video that Cho had mailed to the network in between killing two people in a dorm and shooting many more in classrooms.

Kate Beckinsale Named Esquire’s 2009 Sexiest Woman Alive

Kate Beckinsale Named Esquire’s 2009 Sexiest Woman Alive

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --
The new Sexiest Woman Alive is an action hero.

“I do think I could kick your ass,” Kate Beckinsale, 36, said in the November issue of Esquire, which has given the “Whiteout” star its yearly title – an honor she said won’t come without punishment.

“This whole notion of being named ‘Sexiest Woman Alive’ is going to earn me quite a beating,” Kate told the mag. “You can’t have that title with four brothers. I’ll get wedgies. Headlocks. Noogies.”

Still, she’s happy to have the title – and said she’ll work to hang onto it.

“I like the idea of it, too,” she said. “I do. I’m feeling that I must earn this. I need to go out and become much better at pole dancing or something.”

While the beauty has been admired for her looks, like 2008’s Sexiest Woman, “X-Men” star Halle Berry, she’s shown off her tougher side in films such as the “Underworld” franchise.

“What’s dangerous about doing action movies is that I’m used to men on wires. I punch a guy and he flies over a wall,” she explained. “So I tend to feel like that’s me that did that.”

Tyra slips it in.

Tyra slips it in.

I’m not saying Tyra Banks is a lesbian…even though I don’t know that I’ve ever seen her out with a guy, dating a guy, or talking fondly about relationships with guys…but it seems that she had something pretty interesting to say lately.

It was reported on Jezebel.com that recently, after Tyra asked Paris Hilton who she would want to be friends with, Paris said Angelina, because “she’s beautiful and does a lot of good things for the world.” Then, in a weird tangential remark, Tyra adds “if you have lesbian dreams, she’s the one that you want to sleep with.”

Here’s a picture of the “not gay” Tyra Banks with Katherine McPhee. Is this lady dying for it or what?:

Popstar Britney Spears

Popstar Britney Spears

Popstar Britney Spears is reportedly dating Bollywood dance instructor Sandip Soparrkar, who choreographed her raunchy 'Womanizer' video. Apparently, the 27-year-old flew to Jodhpur for a romantic three-day Christmas break with Sandip who is a pin-up in his native India.The couple has been dating for three weeks. The Mirror has learnt that the couple even exchanged homemade pressies under the tree. A source said: "It's early days but their romance is going from strength to strength. Britney and Sandip tried to keep their reunion in India hush-hush as they're determined to have a relationship just like any other couple."Sandip is very down to earth and keeps Britney grounded. He's also quite spiritual and sensitive, which is a side of him she adores. For Christmas, Sandip or Sandy as Britney calls him presented her with a traditional Indian sari. She wore it during a candlelit dinner. The pair were whispering and giggling all night. Sandy ordered local delicacies including chicken tikka and a cottage cheese curry. Britney was nicking the dough balls from his plate. It was really cute."Britney, who met Sandip at a party thrown by Madonna earlier this year, is spending the New Year back in Los Angeles.

Meg Ryan dating Julian McMahon

Meg Ryan dating Julian McMahon

The 'Sleepless in Seattle' actress took a break from romance following the end of her marriage to Dennis Quaid and split from Russell Crowe in 2000, concentrating on raising son Jack Henry and adopted daughter Daisy, Contactmusic reported.

The actress has recently been photographed on several "cosy" dates with McMahon in Los Angeles, sparking rumours that she has found love again.

McMahon, who has been divorced twice, was most recently linked to model Kelly Paniagua, but his representative was unable to confirm whether they are still in a relationship

Jennifer Lopez slips on stage

Jennifer Lopez slips on stage

American actress-singer Jennifer Lopez is nursing a bruise on her back after slipping on stage during her performance at the American Music Awards.
After strutting on the stage, converted into a boxing ring, in a robe and gloves to sing "Louboutins" from her new album, Lopez gyrated with male dancers Sunday. But it all went wrong for the star after she climbed onto a human pyramid of half-naked performers and jumped down, slipping backwards onto her backside, reported Contactmusic.
Lopez swiftly leaped to her feet and carried on with her performance.

I am always naked at home: Rihanna

I am always naked at home: Rihanna

The ''Russian Roulette'' singer admits: "To be honest, I''m even hotter at home, because I''m always naked there. I''m from Barbados, that''s quite normal there. My pool boy saw me naked five times already.

"At first it was so embarrassing. I always forget when he comes. I''m so confused when I have a day off, I usually sleep until noon and when I wake up, I don ´ t even know what day it is.

"But he''s used to this view now. I even told my assistant to text me when he comes to say, ''Rihanna get dressed, the pool boy is here.'' "

The 21-year-old also admitted that she occasionally suffers with bouts of insecurity, reports Contactmusic.

Eva Mendes blasts religious critics

Eva Mendes blasts religious critics

The actress' latest ad for the fashion firm raised eyebrows, particularly a poster in downtown New York City that shows the half-naked star sprawled across an entire city block.

Critics protested and wanted the poster pulled down, but Mendes insists they're wrong in their approach.

"It's a religious group that has a problem with the image. That's what I love about this country. We can voice our opinions and beliefs like that. But they're wrong. I don't think I'm traumatising any children. I think it's a really tasteful and beautiful ad,"

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