Prince William has taken his first solo flight Wednesday – only eight-and-a-half hours into his training to be a pilot.
Not just anyone can do that… you have to be royalty.
The prince, 25, described the moment above the skies of Lincolnshire, England, as “an amazing feeling, I couldn’t believe it”.
In fact, he “is still grinning about it today,” his tutor, Squadron Leader Roger Bousfield, said Thursday.
William’s tutor kept him in the dark about the planned solo flight, stepping out of the plane just before takeoff. That left the prince alone to taxi onto the runway at the Cranwell base.
“I was sitting there saying, ‘Oh my, this is a bit odd. There’s no one in here,’” he recalled. “Once I’d taken off, it was fine, you just remember your checks and do all the things you have to do.”
Still, the prince admitted it was often nerve-wracking: “I was watching the runway getting closer and closer and thinking, ‘Please don’t mess this up’.”
Clearly, he didn’t. The head of the flying training school at the base, Group Capt. Andy Naismith, said William’s achievement ranks him up there with the best beginners. “He is definitely at the front end of the scale, most do [their first solo flights] after between nine and 11 hours [of training].”
And don’t think Naismith is simply kissing up to the future King. “It would be very easy for that [praise] to sound sycophantic,” he said, “but [William] has learned very quickly. And that, allied with hard work and natural feeling and ability, has meant that he has been able to do this.”
source: Prince William’s First Solo Flight: ‘Amazing!’ [people]
Heather Mills went on GMTV this morning and cried about how awful her life is, that she’s basically suicidal. Heather is currently involved in a messy divorce from Paul McCartney.
Among her complaints:
• ”I considered committing suicide’
• 18 months of media abuse, 4,400 abusive articles (4,401 counting this one)
• ‘I’m hounded just like Princess Diana and Kate McCann’
• ‘Divorce battle with Paul has left me $3 Million in debt’
• ‘Underground movement made death threats’
• ‘My daughter’s life is at risk’
She went on and on about how the media is portraying her as a whore and gold digger and making her go crazy. Heather said all the dollar figures have basically been made up and how do we even know she’s asking for anything?
Heather Mills raged at the media today as she claimed she is being hounded like Princess Diana and Kate McCann.
In an extraordinary TV interview, she said she had been driven to the brink of suicide following the break-up of her marriage to Sir Paul McCartney.
The 39-year-old former model wept when she said she had been “pushed to the edge” by intrusive paparazzi and media coverage portraying her as a “whore and a gold-digger”.
Ms Mills added: “I have a box of evidence that’s going to a certain person should anything happen to me, so if you top me off it’s still going to that person, and the truth will come out.”
#25 - “You only lie to two people in your life, your girlfriend and the police. Everybody else you tell the truth to.”
— Jack Nicholson in the April 1994 issue of Vanity Fair.
#24 - “These people are not parenting. They are buying things for their kids — $500 sneakers for what? And won’t spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.”
— Bill Cosby, addressing a Washington, D.C., crowd in 2004.
#23 - “The virginity issue. There are so many emotions involved that I would like to be able to wait until I know I’m with the right person and I’m married.”
— Britney Spears in a 2002 interview with Britain’s Daily Star.
#22 - “I just want one day off when I can go swimming and eat ice cream and look at rainbows.”
— Mariah Carey on MTV’s TRL in 2001, before entering rehab for exhaustion.
#21 - The jury “was not my class of people. There was not a producer, a press agent, a director, an actor.”
— Zsa Zsa Gabor to People in October 1989, after a jury found her guilty of slapping a Beverly Hills cop.
#20 - “That’s hot.”
— Paris Hilton’s trademark, dating back at least to the first season of The Simple Life in 2003. She eventually had the expression copyrighted.
#19 - “What are you looking at, sugar-tits?”
— Mel Gibson, to female deputy last summer after being pulled over for speeding and drunken driving.
#18 - “And if they want to hear that I’m dead, sorry, folks. I’m not. And I don’t plan on it.”
— Elizabeth Taylor on Larry King Live, May 30, 2006.
#17 - “I am sorry if anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime of the Super Bowl. It was not intentional and is regrettable.”
— Justin Timberlake, in a statement after the 2004 Super Bowl spectacle with Janet Jackson.
#16 - “I’m in shock. And I’m so in love with my brother right now.”
— Angelina Jolie, thanking brother James Haven while accepting the supporting actress Oscar for 1999’s Girl, Interrupted.
#15 - “For an actor, there is no greater loss than the loss of his audience. I can part the Red Sea, but I can’t part with you, which is why I won’t exclude you from this stage in my life.”
— Charlton Heston on Aug. 9, 2002, revealing he has Alzheimer’s.
#14 - “Psychiatry is a pseudoscience. … You don’t know the history of psychiatry. I do. … Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt, you don’t even — you’re glib. You don’t even know what Ritalin is.”
— Tom Cruise to Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today, June 24, 2005.
#13 - “I’m too much of an erratic moody baby! I don’t have the passion anymore, and so remember, it’s better to burn out than to fade away.”
— Kurt Cobain’s suicide note from April 5, 1994.
#12 - “Retire? I’m going to stay in show business until I’m the only one left.”
— George Burns, at his 90th birthday tribute, George Burns 90th Birthday Special, taped Jan. 11, 1986.
#11 “Crack is cheap. I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Let’s get that straight. OK? We don’t do crack. We don’t do that. Crack is whack.”
— Whitney Houston in 2002 on ABC’s Primetime.
Seriously, “What are you looking at, sugar-tits?” for the win!!
#10 - “The heart wants what it wants. There’s no logic to those things. You meet someone and you fall in love and that’s that.”
— Woody Allen in Time in 1992, about his relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, the daughter of former girlfriend Mia Farrow.
#8 - “I never wanted to be the lesbian actress. I never wanted to be the spokesperson for the gay community. Ever. I did it for my own truth.”
— Ellen DeGeneres in Time magazine, April 14, 1997, just before her Ellen sitcom character came out as gay, too.
#7 - “This town is a back-stabbing, scum-sucking, small-minded town, but thanks for the money.”
— Roseanne Barr, in an ad she took out in The Hollywood Reporter for the magazine’s 60th anniversary in October 1990.
#6 - “In the end, you have to come clean and say, ‘I did something dishonorable, shabby and goatish.’”
— Hugh Grant to Jay Leno on The Tonight Show, July 10, 1995, explaining his June arrest for lewd behavior with a Los Angeles prostitute.
#5 - “Well, I can wear heels now.”
— Nicole Kidman to David Letterman on Aug. 2, 2001, after her split from Tom Cruise.
#4 - “I can only tell you that it has been an honor and a privilege to come into your homes all these years and entertain you … I bid you a very heartfelt goodnight.”
— Johnny Carson, saying his final goodbye on The Tonight Show, May 22, 1992.
#3 - “Why can’t you share your bed? The most loving thing to do is to share your bed with someone.”
— Michael Jackson, defending his practice of letting boys share his bed in a Feb. 3, 2003, interview with BBC/Granada’s Martin Bashir.
#2 - “I’m tough. I’m ambitious. And I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, OK.
— Madonna in People, July 27, 1992.
#1 - “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
— Princess Diana, in a 1995 BBC interview, on her marriage to Prince Charles. They divorced in 1996, and she died a year later. The third party, Camilla Parker Bowles, became Charles’ wife in 2005.
source: Top 25 Celebrity Quotes of All Time [usa today]
Delusional Paris Hilton told British newspaper, The Sunday Times:
“There’s nobody in the world like me. I think every decade has an iconic blonde — like Marilyn Monroe or Princess Diana — and right now,… I’m that icon.”
Wow! Can she be any more full of herself?
She needs to realize, it’s more like a really bad automobile accident. You slow down your car, stare… then crank your head around to look for bodies.
While promoting ER in Australia, John Stamos lost his cool and got sent home. While appearing on Kerri-Ann Kennerley’s morning show, Stamos fell off his rocker.
“The 38-year-old reacted violently to Confidential’s claims he was bleary-eyed, staggering and slurring during an interview with TV writer Stephen Downie. The former Full House heartthrob went on the attack when Kennerley asked about his tired and emotional condition, which network publicists had earlier tried to pass off as ‘jet lag.’”
Apparently he started insulting Kerri-Ann’s outfit and “gyrating around with one of the show’s studio props thrust in front of his penis.”
Reflecting on the triade, he likened himself to Elvis and Princess Diana, among others, saying “who else has died? My career after coming to Australia.”
Well played, John, well played. It was hard enough getting past Uncle Jessie in starting phase 2 of your career, and now you go and do this? It’s as if you like the challenge.
This may be the weirdest thing I’ve seen in awhile: Paris Hilton Autopsy, a Daniel Edwards creation for Capla Kesting Fine Art.
Paris Hilton’s naked “corpse” could provide an invaluable service to students preparing for prom this season. An interactive Public Service Announcement featuring the graphic display of a tiara-wearing, autopsied Paris Hilton with removable innards is designed to warn teenagers of the hazards of underage drinking. The display also features Tinkerbell, Hilton’s forlorn pet Chihuahua with matching tiara, and debuts in the trendy Williamsburg, Brooklyn neighborhood where prom-goers frequently dine, courtesy of Capla Kesting Fine Art.
“Campaign to Rescue Women of Youth” featuring “The Paris Hilton Autopsy” offers a cadaveric nude Paris Hilton, laid out with twisted body and opened abdominal cavity on a coroner’s table, while her cell phone remains in her grip. The ‘unglamorous’ display which includes support material from anti-drunk driving organizations counters “the disturbingly glamorized trend of Hollywood’s ‘girls gone wild’,” according to gallery
director, David Kesting.
Paris Hilton, arrested for a DUI last year, previously released a marginally effective PSA concerning drunk driving. This latest PSA includes a website by Capla Kesting, which offers high school educators an icebreaker for discussing drunk driving’s consequences. Students are encouraged to take the virtual field trip at http://www.ParisHiltonAutopsy.com to view the making of the “Paris Hilton Autopsy” and compete for prizes by writing Paris Hilton’s obituary.
The tableau, created by Daniel Edwards, reminds potential prom queens no one is impervious to the pitfalls of drinking. Recalling Miss USA’s recent battle to keep her crown through alcohol rehab and Princess Diana’s untimely death due to drunk driving, a skewed hotel heiress’s tiara adorns the lifeless Paris Hilton head.
The PSA also observes the teen pregnancy crisis associated with alcohol impaired judgment. The “Hilton Autopsy” tragically reveals drunk driving’s heartbreaking collateral damage.
Kesting, advocating teenagers to experience the Hilton display “hands-on,” said, “Paris’ internals, which include her small intestines, and other elements, are removable to assist teens with an empathetic view of drunk driving tragedy from the coroner’s perspective.” UK’s Daily Star recently reported Paris Hilton, whose last chilling portrayal came from 2005’s “House of Wax” in a well publicized death scene, had commissioned Daniel Edwards for a sculpture of her to be placed on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip.
Prince William and Kate Middleton will get married, Members of Parliament have been told.
A House of Commons select committee has heard that William, 24, had spoken openly about his plans.
Respected royal photographer Arthur Edwards - who has been honoured with the MBE by the Queen - told the MPs: “She’s in love with Prince William. I’m sure one day they’ll get married.
I have talked to him about that and he’s made it clear… he wants to get married.”
Clarence House today refused to comment on his plans to marry, saying: “Prince William has no plans to get engaged.”
The couple met at St Andrews University in September 2001 when they both studied History of Art.
At the time Miss Middleton was dating another student, Rupert Finch, but was sharing a student house with the prince.
They began dating, in secret, around Christmas 2003. Their relationship first became public when they were photographed together on a ski holiday with Prince Charles in 2004.
Since graduating the couple have holidayed together regularly and spend weekends together at her Chelsea apartment.
Discussing the alleged hounding of Miss Middleton by paparazzi on her 25th birthday in January, Edwards told the Commons culture, media and sport committee: “I felt very sorry for that girl. I just didn’t want anything to do with that.”
Edwards also stressed that a scrum of photographers outside her London home in the days before her birthday reminded him of the “feeding frenzy” over Diana.
“When I saw the pictures the next day I was horrified. It does remind me of what happened to Princess Diana and I do hope we don’t make that same mistake again here,” he said.
The Commons committee was examining self-regulation of the press and called on Edwards to give evidence.
His comments emerged during questioning by MPs about the intrusion suffered by the Prince’s girlfriend and the impact it could have on a future privacy law.
News International chairman Les Hinton was also giving evidence to MPs and said that the media scrum outside her home in January this year was fuelled by speculation that they were about to get engaged.
Mr Hinton also stressed there was a feeling that “something is going to go wrong here” when it emerged how many photographers were trying to take shots.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone have managed to make the news again, this time by making fun of the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin on South Park.
The creators of South Park have never been afraid to upset celebrities - and many of the show’s viewers. From jokes about religion and homosexuality to four-letter tirades, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have always mixed shock tactics with satire in the hit cartoon series. But they were accused of hitting a new low last night after lampooning the demise of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin just weeks after his death.
The latest episode shows an animated Irwin in Hell with a stingray poking out of his bleeding chest. Irwin, 44, died in September after he was impaled by a stingray’s barb, while snorkelling near the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
The South Park episode called Hell On Earth 2006, which was broadcast in the US this week, shows Satan preparing to host a Hallowe’en fancy dress party. Hundreds of dead celebrities are invited, including rapper Notorious B.I.G., Princess Diana and Hitler.
But at the party Satan receives complaints from his guests that someone is inappropriately dressed up as Irwin. Satan confronts Irwin but the Aussie environmentalist protests it is really him, not a guest in a costume. While characters have been killed off in the series before – spawning the show’s catchphrase “Oh my god, they killed Kenny!” – campaigners are particularly incensed about the stingray still being attached to Irwin’s bloodstained trademark khaki shirt.
[...]
British broadcasting watchdog Mediawatch condemned the episode as “grossly insensitive.” Its director, John Beyer, said: “I think this is in bad taste. Steve Irwin’s family are still grieving.” “To lampoon somebody’s death like that is unacceptable and so soon after the event is grossly insensitive. It is not what the family would want to see.”
I haven’t yet seen the episode but agree that mocking Irwin so soon after his death is rather tacky. Still, Irwin was a celebrity and that’s the path he chose. His death was big news, he was mourned in a giant state funeral, and he’s been mocked publicly.
Indeed, Norm McDonald made fun of the circumstances of Irwin’s death weeks ago on the Jon Stewart Show:
Take a look at some of the related posts below for more controversial topics on South Park.
One of my favorite movies of all time, was Julie Andrews in “Victor/Victoria“. Actually lame in concept… the movie was just wonderful. Maybe it was just Julie and her ability to play comedy so well, or maybe it was just listening to her perform. I do love a good musical.
Julie Andrews, the legendary actress and singer who is perhaps best known as the beloved star of 1965’s The Sound of Music, will be honored with a Life Achievement Award at the 13th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony in January, it was announced Monday.
“Julie Andrews is a woman of great generosity, creativity, courage, elegance and wit,” SAG President Alan Rosenberg said in a statement. “She embodies and transcends the memorable roles she has created. Julie has been a positive presence in my life and continues to inspire multiple generations. I believe it is exceptionally significant to be recognized by people who do the same work you do.”
Andrews, who was born and raised in England, won an Academy Award in her movie debut as the magical, flying governess in 1964’s Mary Poppins. She got another Oscar nod for 1983’s Victor/Victoriaa.
Younger film audiences may know Andrews best as the voice of Queen Lillian in Shrek 2, a role she is reprising for Shrek 3, due out next summer. She also starred opposite Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries.
In addition to acting and singing, Andrews is an author and has served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Fund for Women for 15 years.
She and her husband, filmmaker Blake Edwards, have been married for nearly 37 years.
The 13th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 28, 2007. source
The prince, 25, described the moment above the skies of Lincolnshire, England, as “an amazing feeling, I couldn’t believe it”.
Heather Mills raged at the media today as she claimed she is being hounded like Princess Diana and Kate McCann. 
Paris Hilton’s naked “corpse” could provide an invaluable service to students preparing for prom this season. An interactive Public Service Announcement featuring the graphic display of a tiara-wearing, autopsied Paris Hilton with removable innards is designed to warn teenagers of the hazards of underage drinking. The display also features Tinkerbell, Hilton’s forlorn pet Chihuahua with matching tiara, and debuts in the trendy Williamsburg, Brooklyn neighborhood where prom-goers frequently dine, courtesy of Capla Kesting Fine Art.
A House of Commons select committee has heard that William, 24, had spoken openly about his plans.
