R2-D2 mailboxes to stand guard at U.S. post offices
Three decades ago in a galaxy not so far away, filmmaker George Lucas launched Hollywood's Star Wars phenomenon, and now the U.S. Postal Service is celebrating the film's 30th birthday this year by decorating mailboxes to look like famed droid R2-D2.
Approximately 400 mail collection boxes have been wrapped to look like Lucas's iconic beeping robot and will be distributed across 200 U.S. cities, postal officials announced Thursday.
R2-D2 is among the most prominent characters of the Star Wars universe, beloved by legions of film fans for his heroism, ingenuity and as comic relief in his scenes with his android companion, C-3PO.
News about the mailbox project had been floating online among Star Wars buffs in the past few weeks. Officials also confirmed another web rumour: that the R2 mailboxes are part of a promotion for a new, Star Wars-themed stamp.
"It's a little teaser for the upcoming announcement and we decided to have a little fun with it," said Anita T. Bizzotto, the post office's chief marketing officer.
A further announcement is scheduled for March 28.
While postal officials are encouraging fans to seek out the new R2 mailboxes, they also reminded people not to tamper with them or try to steal the boxes — which is a U.S federal offence.
Fans of the space-fantasy series hailing from all corners of the world are expected to descend on the Los Angeles Convention Center beginning May 24 to celebrate the 30th anniversary at the five-day Star Wars party entitled Celebration.
Scarlett Joins Woody Again
Like most people with a head, eyes and/or a pulse, Woody Allen just can't get enough of Scarlett Johansson. The movie world's foremost brainy bumbler has confirmed that the young actress will work with him for a third time on his as yet untitled film set to shoot in Spain shortly. The two previously worked on Match Point, Allen's best film in years, and Scoop, an equal and opposite reaction to Match Point, i.e. it was crappier than a sewage worker with dysentery.
The film will also star Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Rebecca Hall (The Prestige) and will begin filming in early July in Barcelona.
Cowell says he's bigger than Springsteen
NEW YORK - Simon Cowell says he's bigger than The Boss. In an interview to air Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," the "American Idol" judge says he's worth five times more to Sony BMG than Bruce Springsteen.
"I sell more records than Bruce Springsteen, sure," Cowell says of the 57-year-old rocker, who signed a contract that was reported to be in the neighborhood of $100 million.
"I mean, in the last five years, I've probably sold over 100 million records. If (Springsteen) got one hundred (million dollars), I should have got five hundred (million dollars)," he says.
Cowell says he sells all those records because he's signed "the biggest artist on the planet" — Fox network's "American Idol."
"Every single `Idol' winner is now signed through Sony BMG," says Cowell. "And this applies to ... all the countries ... we sell `Idol' to, which is over 30 countries."
Albums by "American Idol" winners and runners-up are distributed by labels within the Sony BMG system through a deal between Clive Davis and 19 Recordings Unlimited, the label managed by "American Idol" creator Simon Fuller.
Interviewer Anderson Cooper asks Cowell, 47, whether his deal with Sony BMG is in the same neighborhood as Springsteen's.
"A hundred million ... that's a great deal," Cowell says.
Was he referring to himself or Springsteen?
"For him," Cowell says, grinning. "For him it's a good deal."
Delp suicide note: 'I am a lonely soul'
ATKINSON, N.H. - Brad Delp, the lead singer for the band Boston who killed himself last week, left behind a note in which he called himself "a lonely soul," according to police reports released Thursday.
The note was paper-clipped to the neck of Delp's shirt when police found his body at his Atkinson home, on the bathroom floor, his head on a pillow. He had sealed himself inside with two charcoal grills; toxicology tests showed he had committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.
"Mr. Brad Delp. J'ai une ame solitaire. I am a lonely soul," the note read.
Delp joined Boston in the mid-1970s and sang two of its biggest hits, "More than a Feeling" and "Long Time." He was cremated Wednesday, after a private funeral earlier in the week.
His fiancee, Pamela Sullivan, called police March 9 after noticing a dryer vent tube connected to the exhaust pipe of Delp's car. In the garage, police found a note taped to the door leading into the house.
"To whoever finds this I have hopefully committed suicide. Plan B was to asphyxiate myself in my car."
In another note on a door at the top of the stairs, Delp cautioned that there was carbon monoxide inside.
"I take complete and sole responsibility for my present situation. I have lost my desire to live," he wrote. The note also included instructions on how to contact his fiancee: "Unfortunately she is totally unaware of what I have done."
Police later found four sealed letters in an office addressed to Sullivan, his children, their mother, Micki Delp, and another couple whose identity was not disclosed. Police Lt. William Baldwin said police gave the letters to family members without reading them.
Sullivan told police that Delp "had been depressed for some time, feeling emotional (and) bad about himself," according to the reports.
He had planned to marry Sullivan this summer during a break in a tour with Boston. A lifelong Beatles fan, Delp also played with the tribute band Beatle Juice.