Afternoon Briefing:
Ted's turn: Media mogul Ted Turner spoke to the Hollywood Radio and Television Society yesterday and advised young people, "Don't think that just because you've had an unbroken series of successes in your life that you can't get involved in a disaster," and then compared the AOL-Time Warner merger to "a guy running up to his girlfriend saying 'I got the last two tickets on the Titanic. I had to pay scalpers' prices but I got 'em. We're going to be on the maiden voyage' ... Oh boy." (Hollywood Reporter)
Perfect match: Marilyn Manson reportedly got down on bended knee, brought out a seven-carat rock and proposed to burlesque queen Dita Von Teese. (E! Online)
Together again? Rumors are that Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett are lovey-dovey once more. They were reportedly seen walking hand in hand along a Malibu beach. They were together for 18 years, then split seven years ago. (Ananova)
Who's buying? Brown's Hotel, a Welsh pub that inspired Dylan Thomas to write "Under Milkwood," is for sale. Among those who have expressed interest in buying it are Mick Jagger and Pierce Brosnan. Included in the sale are the table and chair used by Thomas when he'd come by for a pint. (AFP)
-- Karen Croft
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Turn On:
Catch Gina Gershon on Jon Favreau's show, "Dinner for Five" (10 p.m. ET; IFC) on Friday night. Leading man smackdown: if you've often wondered whether you prefer John Travolta's contained intensity or Nicolas Cage's vein-popping insanity, Saturday is the night to make up your mind. Catch Cage in "Snake Eyes" (7 p.m. ET; TNT) and "Windtalkers" (11:30 p.m. ET; TMC), or Travolta in "Swordfish" (9 p.m. ET; TNT) and "Basic" (8 p.m.; HBO).
-- Scott Lamb
Morning Briefing:
Keeping tabs on Condi: How did her testimony before the 9/11 commission go? According to the New York Post's screaming front page, "The Lady Is a Champ," while the New York Daily News is outraged, asking: "How Could She Not Know?"
Limbaugh's lament: Rush Limbaugh has posted a statement on his Web site ripping into Palm Beach prosecutors for searching his doctor's office and seizing his medical files without giving him advance warning -- and accusing the press of misreporting the story because, in his words, "I do not cut a sympathetic figure with the media." Says Limbaugh, "They're not concerned about what happens to me because I'm who I am." (RushLimbaugh.com)
Stern warning: Howard Stern has also posted a personal statement on his Web site, a response to the FCC's proposed $495,000 in indecency fines for one of his broadcasts. Wrote Stern: "This is not a surprise. This is a follow up to the McCarthy type 'witch hunt' of the administration and the activities of this group of presidential appointees in the FCC, led by "Colin Powell Jr." and his band of players ... [But] it is pretty shocking that governmental interference into our rights and free speech takes place in the U.S. It's hard to reconcile this with the 'land of the free' and the 'home of the brave.' I'm sure what's next is the removal of 'dirty pictures' like the 20th century German exhibit in a New York City Museum and the erotic literature in our libraries." (HowardStern.com)
Bruni bites? The New York Times has named its Rome bureau chief, Frank Bruni, as its new restaurant critic -- and food and wine columnist Eric Asimov as its chief wine critic. Asimov will continue to write his "$25 and Under" restaurant review column until the paper names his successor. In a press release, Times Style editor Barbara Graustark commented that Bruni's reviews show "true empathy for the diner." (N.Y. Times) Meanwhile ... Interim New York Times restaurant critic Amanda Hesser was spotted drowning her sorrows with a Big Mac and Chicken McNuggets at a NYC McDonald's. (Socialitelife.com via Page Six)
Pregnant: Billy Bob Thornton's girlfriend, Connie Angland. The baby, apparently Thornton's, is due in October. Not pregnant: Jennifer Aniston. Responding to rumors, her rep insists her client is "definitely not" with child. (Page Six)
Drunken rampage: Tori Spelling was reportedly kicked out of a New York bar on Wednesday night after she "knocked glasses, candles and shaker tins off the bar and threw tater tots at other patrons." The actress, who was with her fiancé and a friend, is then said to have banged on the bar's front window with one of her high heels before being asked to leave. (Page Six)
Sex and the Muslim girl: University of Arkansas literature professor Mohja Kahf and Salon contributor Asra Q. Nomani are being labeled "the American Muslim world's answer to 'Sex and the City.'" They're launching an Islamic sex column on muslimwakeup.com. (Their debut column asks, "Do women get to have sex in paradise, too?") "We're writing for people who are willing to challenge the status quo and mainstream Muslim thinking," Nomani commented. "We're doing it from an Islamic perspective, but we'd like to have a sense of humor about it." (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)
Unslated and New Yorkified: Former Slate honcho Michael Kinsley is doing some consulting and editing for Adam Moss and New York magazine, sparking speculation that Moss might be recruiting Kinsley for a regular writing gig at the magazine. (N.Y. Post)
Money Quote:
Bravo's "Inside the Actors Studio" host James Lipton on the flak he's receiving for interviewing Jennifer Lopez on his show (the interview is being taped on Monday but an air date has not yet been set): "She can't be lousy. People like Robin Williams and Jack Nicholson don't accept lousy co-stars in their movies." (Page Six)
-- Amy Reiter
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