Prince Albert wasting no time
Some guys will do anything to keep busy. Even travel to the North Pole.
That’s exactly what Prince Albert II, the ruler of the minuscule principality of Monaco, achieved on Sunday after a four-day dogsled expedition. His point was to point out the effects of global warming on the Arctic ice cap.
The challenges were fierce. The expedition of eight men, which departed from a Russian base Thursday for the 60-mile trip, faced rapidly changing weather, difficult visibility and ice fissures. Two team members were plunged into icy water at one point but were unharmed.
At the North Pole, the 48-year-old Albert – son of Prince Albert and the Oscar-winning movie star Grace Kelly – planted Monaco’s flag as well as the flag of the International Olympic Committee, of which he is a member.
And the ice cap? Well, satellite imaging says it has decreased by 9 percent per decade.
Finding it hard to be a gentleman
If there’s one thing that rock musicians know, it’s that beneath all the fun and games their art is still a business. Guitarist Jack White, who along with drummer Meg White makes up the group White Stripes, is being sued. Jim Diamond, who is listed on the duo’s 2000 second album as a sound mixer, says he is owed more money. “It’s not just about fun and games,” Diamond said. “I understand this is a business.”
To no one’s surprise, White and his handlers disagree. “It is a meritless case which will be defended with vigor,” said attorney Bert Diexler.
Tasteful? That’ll be the day
When Buddy Holly went down in the 1959 plane crash, no one would have suspected that the watch he was wearing would one day be worth more money than he was at the time of his death. An anonymous buyer paid $155,350 for the diamond-studded watch in a recent auction.
Another buyer paid $26,290 for Holly’s passport. Holly died along with Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson on Feb. 3 when the plane carrying them crashed in an Iowa cornfield.
If a girl, how about Suzy Lee?
Seems Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt plan not only to have their baby in Namibia but to give it a Namibian name. That, at least, is what Samuel Sheefeni Nuuyoma, the governor of the Namibian province where the couple is staying, said on Sunday after breakfasting Friday with the two stars.
The critics killed his babies
Barry Sonnenfeld (“Men in Black”) is protective about his movies, especially those that star his children. The director’s daughter Chloe Sonnenfeld has a role in the upcoming “RV,” Sonnenfeld’s first movie in four years
“It’s not like I love ‘RV,’ ” he told the Los Angeles Times, “but it’s one of my kids.”
They say it’s their birthday
Actress Barbara Hale is 85. Actress Hayley Mills is 60. Actor James Woods is 59. Actor Rick Moranis is 53. Actor Eric Roberts is 50. Bassist Les Pattinson of Echo and the Bunnymen is 48. Talk show host Conan O’Brien is 43. Actor Eric McCormack (“Will and Grace”) is 43. Actress Maria Bello is 39. Actress Melissa Joan Hart (“Sabrina the Teenage Witch”) is 30. Actress Alia Shawkat is 17.