Today is my good friend Dave Chant's birthday, I think he's like 40 or something.

So happy Birthday Dave! Enjoy yourself and remember the simpler times when you were a little kid relaxing at home! Boy, how times change!

(For the record, I don't have any pictures of Dave as a young kid, so above is a picture of my nephew Griffin.)

Calgary gets Bossed

It was made official yesterday that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are going to Calgary.
Springsteen et all will make an April 13 stop at the Saddledome to promote his latest release The Rising.

Tickets for the show go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. at all Ticketmaster locations.

The $115 (plus service charges) ticket price is a blanket one, with floor tickets being general admission and those in the stands reserved. Unlike many other concerts, the ticket limit is four per person.

There will be no opening act, with Springsteen and Co. rumoured to play almost three hours.

The Rising, Springsteen's first album with the E Streeters in 15 years, recently earned five Grammy nominations including for album of the year and best rock album.

Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!!

ANASTACIA HAS BREAST CANCER

Soulful-voiced pop singer Anastacia is battling breast cancer, according to a published report.

The 29-year-old performer, who lives in San Diego, was diagnosed over the weekend, a Sony Music veep told The Sun of London.

"They have caught it early," said Gary Farrow, who added that Anastacia "has commitments this week, including filming her new video. Then she will have to address these issues full on."

Anastacia, best known for her hit "I'm Outta Love," is a possible Oscar nominee this year for her song "Love is a Crime," which is featured in the movie "Chicago."

RENÉE TO BULK UP FOR ‘BRIDGET 2'

Renée Zellweger says she's ready to pack on the pounds again - in the sequel to "Bridget Jones's Diary."

"I'm ready, willing and able. Bridget's a character I really identify with," a beaming Zellweger said yesterday.

"I'll put the weight back on with pleasure."

That means the sexy blonde will purposely gain as many as 20 pounds over the next few months as she prepares to shoot "The Edge of Reason."

And at an estimated salary of $20 million for her services, that means Zellweger will earn about $1 million for every pound.

The first Jones flick, based on Helen Fielding's best-seller about a love-hungry British girl with a string of bad luck, was a smash around the world and was immediately pegged for a sequel.

But until yesterday, there was doubt that Zellweger, now starring in the Golden Globe-winning "Chicago," would take another crack at the character.

Last year, she fumed to a reporter: "There is no way I am going to put on all that weight again."

But she was apparently persuaded by Colin Firth, her on-screen lover in the first film, who is expected to reprise his role as Mark Darcy.

She may also have to gain a bit less weight than she did first time around - since the plot involves her doing time in a Thai jail for drug smuggling, slimming her down.

"The Edge of Reason" is expected to be released in summer 2004.

FRIENDS May See a Joey Spinoff After All

Rumors flared up last season that NBC was looking to make a spinoff of FRIENDS that would star Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani. They died down quickly, however, when the FRIENDS cast began negotiating for a tenth season. Now, they're coming back again, as NBC is expected, according to industry sources, to seek ou the Joey spinoff once again. A concept for the show must still be hammered out - would Joey move out of New York or stay? Also, sources say that "several" members of the current FRIENDS cast would be invited to join the show.

FRASIER Preparing for The End

Although no official announcement has been made yet, insiders at Paramount TV and NBC have begun reporting that next season (2003-2004) will indeed be the last for FRASIER. NBC's contract for the show is up in May 2004 and there have been no moves to renew it. The show has experienced weaker ratings this season and a $5 million per show fee doesn't help FRASIER's cause. Should the show end next season, it will close with eleven seasons, exactly the same number of seasons for CHEERS, which it spun off of.

POTTER DVD To Hit in April

According to Warner Home Video, HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS will hit on DVD and VHS on April 11. The DVD will be a two-disc set that will include 19 additional and extended scenes.

Aerosmith And Kiss Are Set To Rock 'n' Roll All Night! (Their Days Will Be Free)

Aerosmith and Kiss will embark on a co-headlining North American tour beginning in August and running through October, sources confirm. The tour of approximately 40 dates will be produced by Clear Channel Entertainment and is expected to play 90% amphitheaters, with arenas and possibly a couple of stadiums also in the mix. Kiss will perform in full makeup, sources say, and Aerosmith will be touring in support of a new Columbia blues album.

"We want to really try to get everybody in a room at the same time," bassist Tom Hamilton told Billboard.com about the album last September. "It's funny because it triggers all of the competition and uncomfortableness that we've always had going into the studio, and it's going to mean everybody is going to have to be open, vulnerable, and brave, and go in there and do that process like we used to do it."

Aerosmith grossed nearly $40 million from touring in 2002. The group was recently nominated for the best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal for "Girls of Summer," drawn from last year's "O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits" compilation. Aerosmith has also signed on to appear at the Feb. 7 Salute to the Blues concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

As for Kiss, the group grossed more than $60 million from its 2000-2001 "farewell" tour. As previously reported, Kiss will join the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for a one-off Feb. 28 concert at the city's 48,000-capacity Telestra Dome. The group has also scheduled a March 11-13 stand at Tokyo's Budokan Hall.

Boring Live Band Our Lady Peace Is Set To Release A Live Set

Our Lady Peace will release its very first live album "as early as" April. A live DVD will follow.

"We're going to be filming two shows and recording live those two shows, to ultimately have a whole DVD package, but the DVD package is going to be preceded by a live album," says OLP's co-manager Eric Lawrence of Coalition Entertainment.

The Toronto-based rock band is currently on a Canadian arena tour dubbed Fear Of The Trailer Park. Management-mates Finger Eleven are opening as well as television comedy cult figures Trailer Park Boys and South African band Seether.

The Canadian tour runs from January 24 to Feb. 6 and hits eight cities. The live tapings will take place at Calgary's Saddledome on January 27 and Edmonton's Skyreach Centre on the 28th.

The band won't be readjusting its set in anticipation of the recording. "It's going to be the live show that they've been on the road with," says Lawrence.

As for what else will be on the DVD besides footage of those two concerts, the details have not yet been decided. "We want it to be a very strong package, so it may be archival stuff and behind-the-scenes stuff," Lawrence says.

OLP's fifth and latest album, "Gravity," has scanned just over 153,000 copies in Canada, and the band was recently recognized with plaques signifying combined certifications in Canada of 2 million units. "Gravity" is gold in the U.S. with sales over 500,000.

Asked if the release of a live album so soon might cut into sales of "Gravity," Lawrence says, "We're just strategizing on how we can make it work for both or hold off. That's why I say as early as April."

The band play college dates in Rochester and Connecticut on Feb. 7th and 8th respectively, then hit Europe a few weeks later for 19 dates with Avril Lavigne.

The tour, at venues ranging from 1500 to 3500 capacities, begins at Vega in Copenhagen on March 3 and ends with three back-to-back shows at London's Brixton Academy from the 25th to 27th.

Our Lady Peace's Canadian tour dates:
1/24 - Kelowna, BC @Skyreach Place
1/25 - Vancouver, BC @GM Place
1/27 - Calgary, AB @Saddledome
1/28 - Edmonton, AB @Skyreach Centre
1/30 - Winnipeg, MB @Winnipeg Arena
2/3 - Ottawa, ON @Civic Centre
2/5 - Montreal, PQ @Bell Centre
2/6 -St. John's, NF @Mile One

"The Bourne Identity" Is Bourne For Home Viewing

In the end you will make your own decisions, but if you aren't able to decide for yourself, here are my thoughts on the biggest video titles that are being bourne today.

The Bourne Identity- An amnesiac tries to figure out his past while staying alive in this great thrill ride of an adventure caper. (Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Julia Stiles)

Simone- A director gets second chance with a digital star. This movie bytes! (Al Pacino, Catherine Keener, Jay Mohr)

Harrison's Flowers- A journalist disapears and his wife goes on search to find him in this too close to being a true story to enjoy a movie about it film. (Andie MacDowell, David Strathairn, Elias Koteas)

Tadpole- A Boy falls in love with his step-mom, who looks alot like Lilith from "Cheers." (Sigourney Weaver, Aaron Stanford, John Ritter)

101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure- The bastardization of Disney's glorious past continues.

Enjoy the movies!

Jessica Simpson Returns to 'That '70s Show'

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Pop singer Jessica Simpson and Osbourne scion Jack will be doing some TV time traveling in the next couple of weeks.

Both will guest-star in episodes of "That '70s Show," which is moving to Wednesdays beginning this week to accommodate the return of "American Idol" to the FOX schedule.

Simpson, who appeared on the show's season premiere as Annette, Kelso's (Ashton Kutcher) California fantasy girl, reprises her part in two episodes beginning tonight. Annette comes to Point Place to see Kelso, which sparks feelings of jealousy in former girlfriend Jackie (Mila Kunis). She then tries to hide those feelings from her current beau, Hyde (Danny Masterson).

Osbourne will appear in a later episode, playing a DMV customer who has a disagreement with Fez (Wilmer Valderrama).

FOX also announced that comic Bob Goldthwait will appear on the show Wednesday, Feb. 26. The episode will also feature Seth Green and Fred Willard.

In Case You Were Wondering (SPOILER WARNING- Spoilers contained!)

Someone recently asked me for a comparison between the current box office treat "The Ring" and the original Japanese version, "Ringu."

I'm told the two films are remarkably similiar. There are several scenes from the original precisely duplicated in the remake. But there are several large differences in the overall plot which bear mentioning. I will concentrate on Ringu, assuming that you've either seen the remake or read the reviews.

Ringu is much lower budget film, and it shows. It looks like a 70s B-movie. The better to creep you out with, my dear.

In Ringu, several of the characters have psychic powers and this is integral to the plotline. There is no 'horse farm' subplot. The little girl's mother is a psychic who becomes famous for predicting the eruption of a volcano. A Dr. Ikuma becomes her 'manager' as she tries to make some money off the publicity. The little girl, called Sadako in this version, inherits her mother's psychic ability but is far more powerful - she can kill a person by willing it to happen (she also doesn't speak in Ringu, adding to her mystery). And the reporter's husband is also psychic, which aids him in solving the riddle of the videotape.

The videotape itself looks better in the new version but is far more effective in Ringu. It is limited to a series of six or so nonrepetitive images. The oval mirror scene occurs in both, as does the well scene. Other than that the two videotapes are very different.

Ringu relies on sound effects to create mood, much moreso than Ring. The sound effects in Ringu, especially during the videotape, enhance the creepiness factor immensely.

As to the actors...well, the acting in Ringu is pretty low-key. The direction is fast-paced and the screenplay doesn't haveot a great deal of character development.

But as a horror/suspense film, Ringu is the better of the two. If you want to see it, you can get the VCDs and VHS tapes on Ebay now. I have also heard that next year there will be a Region 1 DVD produced.

And there you go!

Matchbox Twenty Members To Go Solo

In spite of studio acrimony during the making of More Than You Think You Are, Matchbox Twenty remains together. "Disease" is continuing the band's run of hit singles, but singer-songwriter Rob Thomas told us that members of the band are involved in making music outside the band.

"There might be a longer break in between these two records--this record and the next record, I think. (Guitarist) Kyle (Cook) has a solo band, the New Left, that's out touring around; and (drummer) Paul (Doucette) has a solo project; and I'm going to make a solo record; but these are all just in-betweens until the next Matchbox record. Now, we can say officially that there will be another record and that we're glad to make it and we're ready to tour. But you have to go through those things."

Thomas has already established himself as a songwriter and solo artist outside of Matchbox Twenty, but the band does plan to tour in 2003. The band is set to travel to Europe for a handful of dates starting March 25 in Cologne, and a U.S. tour is in the works.

Caricaturist Al Hirschfeld Dies at 99

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Albert Hirschfeld, a caricaturist known for his drawings of performers from the Marx Brothers to Johnny Carson, died on Monday. He was 99.

Hirschfeld died in his sleep at his Manhattan home, his wife, Louise Kerz, told Reuters.

Hirschfeld, whose witty and graceful drawings appeared on the pages of The New York Times for seven decades, was known for instantly recognizable caricatures of Broadway and Hollywood stars.

"I come out of the theater with a lot of abstract little markings that I then translate into line. The important thing is that the drawing look a little bit like the actor I am drawing. There is a lot of trial and error and a lot of erasing until I can get it as far as I can, before the final inking. It is not a pretty process," Hirschfeld told Reuters in a 1999 interview.

His work also appeared in books and the collections of museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan.

Then 95, he said in the 1999 interview that he was finally getting good at his work.

"After 70 years of drawing you have to improve, otherwise you are a dolt. It is a question of elimination and understanding, of trial and error, and suddenly something happens, an epiphany," he said.

The artist also was known for playfully hiding the word "Nina," the name of his daughter, in the lines of his drawings.

Finding the "Ninas" in his newspaper caricatures became an American ritual. The U.S. Department of Defense once used his drawings in an exercise, blowing them up on a giant screen and giving 100 pilots 20 seconds to find the hidden names.

MARK OF STATUS

For performers, being drawn by Hirschfeld was a mark of status, said Arthur Gelb, former managing editor of The New York Times and a long-time friend of the artist.

"Every major star, Broadway or Hollywood, here or abroad, when they reached the point that they were drawn by Al Hirschfeld, they knew in their hearts that they had arrived," Gelb told Reuters on Monday.

Hirschfeld won a special Tony award for his art. The 1996 film documentary "The Line King" told the story of his life.

Hirschfeld was born on June 21, 1903, in St. Louis. His family moved to New York when he was 12.

In 1924, he went to live in Paris, joining the American expatriate community there. His first theatrical caricature appeared in 1926 in the now defunct New York Herald Tribune.

His drawings have been compared to the work of French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who Hirschfeld called a major influence on his work.

Besides his drawings, Hirschfeld also was a wonderful raconteur, Gelb said. "His stories about New York, about Paris, about Broadway and Hollywood were funny, and always packed with detail," he said.

In late 2002, plans were announced to rename the Martin Beck Theater on West 45th Street in Manhattan for Hirschfeld. The theater will become the Al Hirschfeld this June, on what would have been his 100th birthday.

Survivors include his wife, daughter Nina, who is the daughter of Hirschfeld's late wife Dolly Haas, and two step-sons, Jonathan and Antony Kerz.