Neither was at London's High Court to hear 44-year-old Cage's solicitor, Simon Smith, tell Mr Justice Eady of the "utter falsity" of the allegations in Send Yourself Roses. He said that an extract of the book, which appeared in the Daily Mail in January, described their experience of working together on the movie Peggy Sue Got Married in 1986.

Turner, 53, stated that her co-star was "arrested twice for drunk-driving and, I think, for stealing a dog. He'd come across a Chihuahua he liked and stuck it in his jacket." Mr Smith said that Turner, Associated Newspapers and Headline Publishing Group now accepted that, owing to a mistake on Turner's part and despite the other defendants' publishing in good faith, the allegations were defamatory and false and ought never to have been published.

They personally apologised for the damage caused to Cage's personal and professional reputation and for the considerable distress and embarrassment. They had agreed to reimburse all his legal costs and make a substantial donation to a charity chosen by him to benefit the victims of elder abuse. Mr Smith said the defendants had also given a contractual undertaking never to republish the allegations and had agreed to publish an apology in the Daily Mail and remove the article from its websites, and insert a correction/apology in the book.

Jane Phillips, counsel for the defendants, said they sincerely apologised and accepted that the allegations were false. Outside court, Mr Smith said: "My client is extremely pleased with the outcome, which sets the record straight, since he has never been arrested for drunk driving, dog theft, or anything else."

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Tori Spelling is sTory Telling

Tori Spelling has a new book out, sTori Telling, which tells the story of her life so far. She appeared on Good Morning America to talk about her dysfunctional relationship with her mother Candy, how she blew $200,000 in a shopping spree and how she turned her life around. As anyone who has seen her reality shows knows, she's funny and self-deprecating. Take a look:



Posted on March 11, 2008
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Writers Write, Inc. Launches Fantasy and Science Fiction Blog

Writers Write, Inc. has added a new blog to its blog network called FantasySFBlog.com. Fantasy/SF Blog is a daily blog covering what's new and interesting in the worlds of fantasy, SF, and horror, including books, movies, TV and gaming.

Recent posts include:

Lost: The Orchid Orientation Video

Is Peter Jackson Back on Board for The Hobbit?

Finalists Announced For British Fantasy Awards

Saw IV Coming in October

Will Tom Cruise Join the Star Trek Cast?

The Dresden Files Is Cancelled

ABC Offers Masters of Science Fiction

The Beowulf Trailer is Here

Johnny Depp Is Barnabas Collins

RSS subscription informaton for the Fantasy/SF Blog can be found here.

Posted on August 15, 2007
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K-Fed to Write Tell-All Britney Book?

A source close to Kevin Federline has hinted that he is going to write a tell-all book about soon to be ex-wife Britney Spears.

The wannabe rapper, who split from Britney last month, is reportedly prepared to talk about the singer's alleged drug use, wild partying and her lesbian tendencies if he doesn't get what he wants from the divorce settlement. A source told America's Star magazine: "Kevin is either hoping a publisher will pay him big money for the book, or that Britney will cough up more cash than what is in their prenuptial agreement to keep him from spilling the beans."

It has been reported that the prenuptial agreement entitles Kevin to $360,000 in spousal support and $7 million from the sale of their Malibu marital home. Kevin has applied for sole custody of the couple's two children - 15-month-old Sean Preston and three-month-old Jayden James - and is reportedly seeking a settlement of at least $20 million.

He is said to be threatening to "prove Britney is an unfit mother" by showing a video of the 'Toxic' singer talking incoherently. The source added: "Kevin says he filmed it just a week before Britney filed for divorce. He told me, 'I want the world to see that Britney is an unfit parent and that she's not in her right mind.'"

K-Fed is just vile. Will he ever go away?

Posted on December 14, 2006
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Harry Potter Fan Fiction Titles That Are Better Left Unread

CapnWacky.com presents a list of the Harry Potter fan fiction titles that we don't ever want to see:

Harry Potter and the Uneventful Year When No One Tried to Kill Him

Harry Potter and the New Love Interest Who Happens to Have the Same Name as the 15-Year-Old Girl Writing this Fanfic

Harry Potter and the New Love Interest Who Happens to Have the Same Name as the 15-Year-Old Boy Writing this Fanfic

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Sucrets

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Kidney Stone

*****

Harry Potter and the Chamber Pot of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner Detainees of Azerbaijan

Harry Potter and the Wand of Franchise Extension

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood, the Quadroon, and the Octaroon

Harold and His Big Purple Crayon of Adolescent Yearning

It goes on and on, but you get the idea. And no, we don't ever want to read any of them, thanks!

Posted on May 5, 2006
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Jessica Turns to Self-Help Book

According to Gawker, Jessica Simpson got spotted by Us Weekly reading Dealing With People You Can't Stand. And according to Page Six, she's going to need all the self-help books she can get.

NICK Lachey and Jessica Simpson may have just had a "romantic" Italian vacation on OK! magazine owner Richard Desmond's dime, but they continue to lead separate lives. Upon their return last Friday, Lachey ditched Simpson to party in Las Vegas, and "Jackass" star Bam Margera — who had a fling with Simpson earlier this year — confirmed to Us Weekly that she had left Lachey. More evidence the two have split? Simpson, who now lives with her assistant Cacee Cobb, is spending her third wedding anniversary alone, in Africa. Sources tell PAGE SIX that Simpson, her dad, Joe, and Cobb will travel to Nairobi for Operation Smile — her pet charity that fixes cleft lips — for 10 days. The trio will have a safari elsewhere in Kenya — all without Lachey. A rep for Simpson says: "Operation Smile is an organization that is very special to Jessica, and she is looking forward to participating in more missions. Nick will be unable to join Jessica on the next trip because of work commitments in Los Angeles."

Jessica and Nick's reps continue to deny that the couple is headed for divorce. Sure, we believe that.

Posted on October 19, 2005
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Everything Bad Is Good for You?

Just when you thought you had reached your limit of having yet another expert tell you that everything you do is bad for you, along comes a new book that pooh-poohs all the experts.

Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter by Steven Johnson is here to make you feel better about all your bad habits. A New Yorker article explains Johnson's theory.

As Johnson points out, television is very different now from what it was thirty years ago. It's harder. A typical episode of Starsky and Hutch, in the nineteen-seventies, followed an essentially linear path: two characters, engaged in a single story line, moving toward a decisive conclusion. To watch an episode of Dallas today is to be stunned by its glacial pace-by the arduous attempts to establish social relationships, by the excruciating simplicity of the plotline, by how obvious it was. A single episode of The Sopranos, by contrast, might follow five narrative threads, involving a dozen characters who weave in and out of the plot. Modern television also requires the viewer to do a lot of what Johnson calls "filling in," as in a Seinfeld episode that subtly parodies the Kennedy assassination conspiracists, or a typical Simpsons episode, which may contain numerous allusions to politics or cinema or pop culture.

But it's not just watching TV that's gotten harder. Games are harder, too.

Twenty years ago, games like Tetris or Pac-Man were simple exercises in motor coordination and pattern recognition. Today's games belong to another realm. Johnson points out that one of the "walk-throughs" for "Grand Theft Auto III"-that is, the informal guides that break down the games and help players navigate their complexities-is fifty-three thousand words long, about the length of his book. The contemporary video game involves a fully realized imaginary world, dense with detail and levels of complexity.

So, let's see if we've got this straight. Playing computer games and watching TV are more difficult than the activities pursued by those who lived before TV was invented. We're smarter than people of 100 years ago whose entertainment might have consisted of playing easy games like chess, reading Plato in the original Greek and enjoying Shakespeare's plays. Got it.

Posted on May 12, 2005
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