What is it with living man's attraction the undead? Countless cultures have myths surrounding the reanimated. Afro-Caribbean societites are given credit for unleashing the mindless masses into the mainstream, but many societies shop in the undead. And, of course, movie lovers are no exception.

Every since Night of the Living Dead, we've been salivating over tales of humans who have to face their lifeless, brain-eating peers. We could tally the dozens of movies with the word "zombie" in their title, but we suspect that you, dear reader, are well aware of the selling points.

Horror flicks peddle in fear of the unknown. That's just how they work. And zombies are reliable precisely because we think they could never be; but could we be wrong? There's no actual proof to, well, prove that zombies could never come into being. On the contrary...

Conspiracy lovers believe that the Russians reanimated a dog back in the 40s, when they were all communist and shit. Scoff all you want, but even capitalist scientists are looking into turning back the death clock.

The University of Pittsburg isn't the most revered institution in the land, but it hosts a place called the "Safar Center for Resuscitation Research," which examines all the ways in which science can trump nature and revive the living. They've been working on dogs, but could humans be far off?

A website called cracked offers some other scary research, like neurogenesis, which looks into ways to reanimate dead brain cells. Meanwhile, scientists are using stem cells to take components from dead embryos and create living tissue. Lots of people are scared of these scientific advancements. And perhaps they should be, but those debates eschew a larger, perhaps uncomfortably metaphysical question.

In the end, aren't our popular or scientific fascinations and pursuits with all things zombie motivated by an equally mythical thing: the soul? Even if you claim to be an atheist or, damnation, agnostic, isn't the real scare in zombie lore that someone — a person with friends and family — could return with no apparent loyalty? And couldn't that "loyalty" be called a soul?

We don't know — what do we look like, God? — but we do know that this long-held obsession points to a collective compulsion to overcoming nature's ultimate obstacle, death. And that's always entertaining.

• Tyra Banks sat down with Larry King last night and revealed her deepest, darkest secret: she likes being naked. Unless the lighting's bad. Then she goes on a Naomi-esque rampage. Also, she's not Oprah, although Tyra tells King he doesn't need to use her last name. [CNN]
  
  
• Paparazzi under attack! Two photographers claim Tom Brady and Gisele's security guards opened fire on them after they shot pictures of the super couple's post-wedding bash in March. Now they want $1 million. [NYDN]
  
  
• Director Mike Tollin, who has a football-centric documentary coming out on ESPN, argues that Donald Trump killed the short-lived, 80s-era United States Football League, of which his New Jersey Generals were a part, by having it compete with real football. Trump, naturally, dismissed Tollin's work as "third-rate." [Page Six]
  
  
• Big congrats to underrated couple Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze, Jr: they just welcomed their first child, a girl named Buffy. Psyche. the little bundle's being called Charlotte. [Us]
  
  
• Someone hired Alexandra Richards to DJ for three hours, but she left after nearly 40 minutes so that she could eat dinner with friends. Then, when the club refused to pay for the whole time, Richards charged by the minute. We know prostitutes that do that, too. [Page Six]
  
  
• Woody Harrelson became a vegan to fix his acne. [Page Six]
  
  
• Chloe Sevigny has found herself a new man: Jason Segel, who's on that show that also stars Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother. [Page Six]
  
  
• Howard K. Stern's in even more trouble over Anna Nicole Smith's death: prosecutors will reportedly five more felony charges against him for his alleged role in her descent into drug addiction and "pharmaceutical suicide." For the record, that's a total of 11 felony charges he's facing. [TMZ]
  
  
• Geri Halliwell wants the world to at least think there could be a Spice Girls reunion. Maybe to keep us all in line? [3am]
  
  
• The perpetually confused Mischa Barton was going to the opera the other night, saw a red carpet and just started walking it, then realized it was the Alice Tully Hall premiere of Michael Moore's new movie and then booked it to the opera's venue, a little place called the Metropolitan Opera House. Poor thing. [Page Six]

• Robert Pattinson says that he doesn't have a girlfriend, despite all the rumors about he and Kristen Stewart dating. He says he wishes he could just go out with models all the time, because that's what he thought life would be after becoming a movie star: "You always think you're going to get more girls after you've made a movie and it never happens. You sit there and you're like ‘I'm a big movie star and I want to go out with some models' but I don't know why that doesn't happen." Pattinson also said that LA women are nuts, which is exactly what he said about New York women a few weeks ago. [Mirror]
  
  
• Brad Pitt says that he's "an artist" when it comes to rolling the perfect joint, and he's pretty skilled at coming up with new and innovative ways to smoke marijuana, according to Quentin Tarantino. [Page Six]
  
  
• Mariah Carey say that she's tired of being dissed by the Grammy Awards and is withdrawing herself from consideration for the next cycle of awards. [Gatecrasher]
  
  
• Anna Wintour is going to "ad-lib it" on Letterman this coming Monday night. Her people say that she's done plenty of live TV before and that handling Dave should be a breeze, though she wasn't pleased when she was told that she couldn't wear her sunglasses on the show. [Page Six]
  
  
• Slutty former Star reporter broad Kate Major still won't shut up about boning Jon Gosselin. She now says they did three times and it was "amazing." Disgusting. [Gatecrasher]
  
  
• Alicia Silverstone says that she enjoys gardening in the nude, a habit she picked up from Woody Harrelson, who she says she "used to spend a lot of time with." Hmmm! [Page Six]
  
  
• Penelope Cruz is rumored to be pregnant with Javier Bardem's child and is hiding out from the photogs until she's further along in her pregnancy. [Page Six]
  
  
• Former American Idol champion David Cook is rumored to be dating a woman almost a decade older than he is, a 35 year-old "busty Atlanta model" named Kimberly Johnson. [Page Six]

This morning on The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck was all bent out of shape about Phelps' bong hit, giving the tired spiel about how he's a role model and he's setting a bad example, blah blah blah. She went on to claim that since he's willing to use illegal drugs to have a good time, maybe he's open to using illegal drugs to advance his career, as though weed is a gateway drug to steroids or something. Whoopi shot her down pretty quickly, and admitted to enjoying pot.

Elisabeth's argument hinged on the fact that Phelps accepts money to endorse products. One of those is Rosetta Stone, the language-learning software, which is just about one of the most sedentary activities a stoner could enjoy, aside from watching The Wizard of Oz on mute while playing The Dark Side of the Moon. (I should know, since I've been using the program to learn Spanish.) His other sponsors, like Omega and Speedo, totally don't give a shit.

And they shouldn't, because it's silly — in my opinion, anyway — to pass judgment on those who take part in something as innocuous as pot smoking, which many believe is lot less harmful for one's body than alcohol. Besides, despite the fact that it's technically illegal, so many people smoke weed recreationally that it's not all that taboo. Here's a list of celebrities who have either been caught smoking marijuana, or admit willingly to doing so.

Woody Harrelson



Woody is an activist for the legalization of marijuana and hemp.

Willie Nelson



So is Willie Nelson.

Frances McDormand



Frances McDormand was on the cover of High Times in May 2003, in which she said, "I'm a recreational pot-smoker. There has never been enough of a distinction between marijuana and other drugs. It's a human rights issue, a censorship issue, and a choice issue."

Seth Rogen & James Franco



The pair stared in Pineapple Express together, and shared this maybe real/maybe fake joint on stage while presenting an award during the MTV Movie Awards last summer.

Cameron Diaz & Drew Barrymore



Also friends who share.

Justin Timberlake



Timberlake, who used to date Diaz, has been very open about how he smokes weed, sometimes even with is mother. He also admitted that he was stoned out of his mind when he was Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher.

Kimora Lee Simmons



Kimora Lee Simmons took one of the stoniest mugshots after she was arrested in 2004 for possession.

Nicole Richie



Nicole admitted to having smoked pot, as well as taking a Vicodin, when she was arrested for a DUI charge in 2007.

Paris Hilton



Nicole's buddy Paris' reefer madness has been well documented.

Michelle Phillips



Former singer from The Mamas & The Papas said as recently as 2001 that, "Marijuana should definitely be legalized. I think we should let everyone smoke it without fear of being thrown in jail. It's the greatest drug in the world!"

Snoop Dogg



Duh.

Redman



We'll be here all day if we start listing rappers.

Lil Wayne



But we'll mention Wayne for good measure.

Mariah Carey



Mariah is such a goody-two-shoes that she'd never publicly admit to marijuana use, but on her most recent album, she made plenty of weed references.

Charlize Theron



Academy Award winners like their weed, too.

AARP



In the summer of 2005, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) hosted a smoke-in to promote the legalization of marijuana. Celebrities that participated: Willie Nelson, Woody Harrelson (obvs), Bette Midler, Santana, Chicago, David Crosby and Graham Nash, Rod Stewart, The New Jefferson Starship, Tony Orlando, Ringo Starr, Tommy Chong, Snoop Dogg, and Robert Downey Jr.

Matthew McConaughey



When McConaughey gets loose, he does so with bongos.

Dionne Warwick



Her work with Burt Bacharach was way too mellow to not be under the influence.

Whitney Houston & Bobby Brown



They've got "Something in Common."

Sarah Silverman



Sarah speaks favorably about weed in her act, and smoked with Doug Benson in his movie Super High Me.

Doug Benson



Comedian Doug Benson has centered much of his career around pot.

Oliver Stone



He has the perfect name for someone who's been busted for pot on numerous occasions.

Dawn Wells



Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island was arrested last year for possession.

Dave Chappelle

The Pointer Sisters



Oliver Hudson tells a story about his first concert-going experience, during which the Pointer Sisters were getting blazed.

Paul Dinello



It's hard to watch this Strangers With Candy clip about smoking pot without thinking that writer/actor Paul Dinello believes what he is saying.

Barbra Streisand



In a 1972 Rolling Stone interview, Babs said, "I'd take out a joint and light it. First, just faking it. Then I started lighting live joints, passing them around to the band, you know. I was great, it relieved all my tensions. And I ended up with the greatest supply of grass ever. Other acts up and down the Strip heard about what I was doing - Little Anthony and the Imperials, people like that - and started sending me the best dope in the world. I never ran out."

Phelps Backed by Sponsors After Marijuana Photo [TCPalm]
Elisabeth Hasselbeck disses Michael Phelps; Whoopi Goldberg: 'I have smoked weed' [EW]

1. Woody Was Owen's Personal Madam: Back in March 2007, when Owen and Kate were still in Phase One of their double act of a relationship, Wilson reportedly went on a Hawaiian vacation with his partner in paparazzi-bashing crime Harrelson, who owns a crash pad on the island. And the first sign of trouble in paradise came when Wilson was said to be hooking up with a Kate-lookalike coincidentally introduced to him in Hawaii by the Woodster.

2. Woody's Bare Butt Possibly More Scrumptious Than Kate's: And who can forget the, well, unforgettable sight of Harrelson's own set of natural born relationship-killers: the buns seen 'round the world while skinny-dipping with Wilson on a mid-Marley And Me, mid-Kate & Owen: The Sequel jaunt to Miami. Even Kate herself has pointed out her own lack of assets, and no matter how straight the Wilson is, who wouldn't be distracted from their current paramour's figure when face-to-ass with that behind?

3. Wildcats: Speaking of Woody's behind, both it and he made their film debut in the 1986 Goldie Hawn vehicle Wildcats, where Harrelson played Krushinski, the token dumb football player to Goldie's token ironic Chick Who "Gets" Sports role (see also: Bend It Like Beckham, A League Of Their Own or Blue Crush). As the NY Times noted in their review, this was "very much Miss Hawn's movie," the trailer speaks for itself when it comes to showing how Kate's mom dominated gum-chewing Woody's first chance to show his stuff, and despite its memorable spot in '80s cult classic sports movies, the film holds a 15% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Whether or not Woody blames his dim debut on The Family is just a thought, but anyone as proud of their backside as he is might be miffed that its first shot at stardom was overshadowed by Goldie and her "sunny," "sexism-attuned" performance.

[Photo Credits: Celeb Pulp, Ecorazzi]

• WOODY HARRELSON IS DELIGHTED THAT OWEN WILSON AND KATE HUDSON ARE HISTORY [Janet Charlton's Hollywood]

• Surfer Dude [IMDb]

• The Daily Mail takes a nice long look at why Jodie Foster left her lesbian partner of 15 years, and sets the stage with his description of lesbian Los Angeles: "the words 'mid-life crisis' were heard being whispered over expensively whipped hot drinks and wholemeal muffins in fashionable coffee shops across Hollywood." (Photo via Daily Mail)
• Page Six would like you to please be outraged that this hedge fund manager is unable to renew his Knicks season tickets because they were in Tom Brokaw's name. What's outrageous is that there isn't a phone recording or something where we can listen to the plutocrat lose his precious seats. [P6]
• Kirsten Dunst said she did not check into the no-doubt-pricey Cirque Lodge rehab facility in Utah over drugs, but instead went there to cure her depression. Her depression about being out of drugs, maybe? [E!]
• Rob Lowe's ex-nannies are pissed that the actor is no longer suing his ex-chef, because now maybe the chef will testify against them in their sexual harassment case. Lowe had accused the chef of having sex with strangers in his bed and stealing from his medicine cabinet, but apparently it was all just "a big mistake." Just your run-of-the-mill false accusation.
• I'm trying to imagine thousands of French people shouting "Are you talkin' to ME?!" at Robert De Niro. [P6]
• Always, always bear in mind "the violent propensity of the inebriated Eddie Griffin." [TMZ]
• Woody Harrelson is going to starve himself for 40 days on a remote island in order to "see how it affects his brain." [Hollyscoop]

• Actress Jessica Alba married Cash Warren, father to the daughter she is set to give birth to this summer. The couple met on the set of Fantastic Four, where he was a director's assistant. [Rush & Molloy]
• Woody Harrelson: Married, but an ogler. Unsurprising, even if he wasn't running wild on some giant yacht at Cannes. [P6]
• Sad Lily Allen getting sadder at Cannes, where the sometimes-adorable British singer drunkenly and embarrassingly jumped off a millionaire's yacht and passed out drunk in a club "on her father's lap." Previously this year she had broken engagement, a miscarriage, and her TV show got cancelled. I would just stay indoors until next year. Or, you know, stop drinking. [P6]
• Teetotaler Kristin Davis says she's sending back the Cosmo you sent her because she's a recovering alcoholic, but she could also just reject it as a totally lame gesture, and she'd still be righteous. [P6]
• Nas decided against calling his album "N—ger" because Al Sharpton asked him not to. Or, more likely, because no one would stock his record and he would make way, way less money. That's fine with Sharpton, of course, because that's just how he rolls. "He can rap against me. I'll preach against them. We're still friends." [Rush & Molloy]
• Courtney Love explained she has not canceled her second solo album, because that would be crazy. [Reuters]
• Jennifer Aniston told friends her man/obsession John Mayer said is "way better" in bed than Brad Pitt, according to a National Enquirer source who presumably feels as suffocated by the relationship as everyone else who has to read about it. [Showbiz Spy]
• Someone in Liverpool spent 18 months growing and sculpting a Beatles hedge, only to have someone chop off Ringo Starr's head. [TMZ]
• Pete Wentz would like everyone to know that he and Ashlee Simpson have signed a prenup. [Showbiz Spy]

Though Woody Harrelson, his buns of steel, and the very edible Justin Theroux do bring a bit of heat to the male vegetarian crowd, they hardly make up for the presence of Don Imus and Bob Barker, who would make far more appropriate candidates for the Hottest Sexist Vegetarian list. As much as we love and adore Peter Dinklage, we don't exactly fantasize about sipping tofu shakes with him in bed. Grouped with Serious Method Actor Jared Leto and failed comeback kid Corey Feldman, the full list (in its entirety here) isn't inspiring us to convert to nuts and berries any time soon.

• SEXIEST VEGETARIAN CELEBRITY 2008 [PETA]

5. Woody Harrelson: In the 2006 case of TMZ v. Woody Harrelson, the buns-of-steel actor became so infuriated by one of Harvey Levin's minions that he went so far as to strangle the pap and destroy his camera. The only funny part of this story? The LAPD allegedly took Woody's side, continuing the longtime tradition of starry-eyed feds' celebrity worship trumping any reason to reprimand law-breaking stars.

4. Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake: Cameron Diaz has a rep for despising the photographers, most recently telling W that she's planning a move to New York just to escape their clutches. But back in 2004 when Diaz was still in lurve with Timberlake, the pair grew so fed up that they managed to grab one pap's camera and run off with it. Too bad their attempts to sue were accompanied by visual evidence of an angry-looking Cam doing the deed.

3: Sean Penn: While in China shooting Shanghai Surprise, Penn's legendary decision to hang a photographer found in his hotel room from a nine-story balcony marked the beginning of the celebrities v. photographers war, primarily because all charges stemming from his arrest for murder were dropped, inspiring future stars to confidently follow in his footsteps.

2. Bjork:

A few years back, Bjork famously flipped out at a New Zealand airport after paps ignored her companion's requests to stop taking pictures. Bjork's reaction? The pap claims she decided to suddenly claw at and rip his shirt. And yet, after this, we somehow love her even more.

1. Britney SpearsAnd our all-time favorite paparazzi scuffle occurred on that fateful night of February 21, when newly bald Britney spontaneously unleashed her fury by abusing an SUV and several photographers using two weapons: an umbrella, and the scariest facial expression we've ever seen. Clearly, Sienna has a few things to learn from Britney.

[Photo credits: Wireimage, X17, TMZ]

• SIENNA'S PAPARAZZI RAGE: MISS MILLER ATTACKS PHOTOGRAPHER WITH HER HANDBAG [Daily Mail]

While Washington's effectively likens Snipes to a tree (but not the Ficus, a genus forever associated with unlawful tax-evasion), it's Harrelson's moving testimonial that managed to lodge a lump in our throats: The actor relays the events of his first professional film gig, on 1986's Wildcats, during which he, Goldie Hawn, and a number of other high-ranking followers of the Nation of Islam first experienced the ugliness of reverse-racism. Before things could get ugly, however, Snipes stepped in to offer a pacifying lecture on Bigotry Throughout The Years. Or something to that effect.

• Woody And Denzel On Wesley [The Smoking Gun]

According to People, Connor went through the audition process just like every other nobody pounding the kid star pavement and, lo and behold, won the part of playing a young Will Smith in the film. We hate to play the cynical card here, but there is one giant elephant in that casting room. Seven Pounds also stars he of the firmest buttocks in the land, Woody Harrelson, and internet TV star Rosario Dawson. So how did Connor, a kid whose acting experience has thus far been limited to pretending he loves his kooky dad, nail the part? Something tells us Cruise's all-powerful wizardly ways as gifted to him by the late King Hubbard, may include the ability to whisper evil nothings in Will's ear, leading to an instantaneous confirmation that Connor is The One. Call it a conspiracy theory, but we're just pondering out loud (well, pondering silently at our laptops, but you catch our drift).

• CONNOR CRUISE IS MAKING HIS BIG SCREEN DEBUT [People]

After seeing Woody very impressively hoist himself from the water to the cliff, we would like to get in touch with his trainer. Not as impressive are his tan lines, but with a behind like that, we'll forgive him.

As Woody happily trots back to the cabana with nary a care for who spots him, Owen takes a dive into the water wearing a much more standard pair of trunks. Which is sad, since we'd be more than happy to see Wilson follow in Woody's footsteps the next time around.

[Photo Credit: Kadena Pix via The Daily Mail]

• NATURAL BORN STRIPPER: WOODY HARRELSON SKINNY DIPS WITH HOLLYWOOD PAL OWEN WILSON [The Daily Mail]

Seems that on a joint visit to their co-owned family shelter way down south, Owen and Woody launched a Die Hardesque assault against two Peruvian cameramen. And according to the report, Owen even masterminded a quasi-kidnapping. But even if both stories are bogus (Manny says his dog ate the photos), his rep did tell Page Six that he was, indeed, at the party in question on Friday, which was sponsored by a liquor company. Heading south of the border with Woody and causing a fuss at Patron-funded events? Seems even a repeat performance as the Butterscotch Stallion might be a better way to show up on the gossip pages.

• OWEN NUTS OVER FOTOG [NY Post]
• WOODY HARRELSON AND OWEN WILSON ATTACK REPORTERS IN CUSCO, PERU [Living In Peru]

In this article—much like his recent diarrhea-soaked paean to Josh Brolin—Pollack manages to phone in thousands of words about spending quality time with a celebrity without even making an attempt to do anything except to confirm the most simplistic version of the conventional wisdom about said celebrity. It is also badly written. We find out, therefore, that Woody Harrelson is "a guy fully at ease with himself, but still unique, even deeply strange."

Woody's decision to "hang with the fam" was the "Best decision I ever made."

How does he like his home in Maui? "I'm sure glad I found it."

Woody greets a woman "as if he's known her his whole life."

A friend reveals that Woody is "an affable character."

The lone possibility of an intriguing passage emerges when Pollack touches on Woody's father, who was a contract killer who died in prison. Pollack kills it.

"He was asked to do some special things for the government. The wanted to know if he really wanted to serve his country," [says Harrelson].

"What are you referring to?"

"Let's leave a little ambiguity there."

This is obviously a source of deep discomfort for Woody, who is normally open to talking about anything.

So does Woody think his dad was a government assassin? We don't know. What Pollack does tell us is: Woody Harrelson is smart enough to know when he meets the cool folks. Here are the final two sentences of Pollack's story, and hopefully the last of his we will ever see:

When I get home there's a text message from Woody, my new best friend, waiting for me on my cell phone.

"Pleasure hangin' bro," it says.

In today's episode: Oprah Winfrey; Carla Gugino and Elizabeth Berkley; Brad Pitt and Zahara; Alec Baldwin; Kiefer Sutherland; Dave Chapelle; Forest Whitaker; Drew Barrymore and Justin Long; Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy; Woody Harrelson; James Spader; Tim Roth; Lisa Kudrow; Rob Schneider; Dylan McDermott; Gil Bellows, Ken Olin, Justin Kirk, and Cameron Crowe; Mischa Barton; Jason Segel; Adam Levine; Emilie de Ravin; Seth Binzer; and Luenell.

· Monday 4th Feb, heading to Runyon Canyon, stopped at the gas station at Sunset & Fairfax for some much needed agua. Dude took my money & then continued his conversation with another customer..."so, looks like your guy is two points ahead". A glance at said customer revealed none other than OPRAH WINFREY! Took me a sec to realize it was her - huge D & G wraparounds, black tracksuit and girlfriend...that is some booty ya got going on. Let's hope the snacks she was perusing were for the 2 white yapping small dogs in the Merc outside. As if that's not enough, descending from said hike, passed two fresh faced beauties talking & walking up the hill. CARLA GUGINO & ELIZABETH BERKLEY. Both cute & skinny...no surprise there.

· I was headed to see "Cloverfield" at The Grove when I heard some commotion behind me. I turned to see Brad Pitt carrying Zahara and being accosted by a tenacious paparazzi photog. The guy was a total pest, but Pitt kept his cool. As he shook the photo-spaz, I heard Pitt reassuring Z. that everything was okay and basically apologizing to her that she had to go through that. I felt bad, but quickly thereafter felt worse for myself that I had to shell out $11.50 to see somebody shoot a home movie of Godzilla.

· Alec Baldwin Friday 2/2 at the Starbucks in Studio City. Contrary to his well-known cellphone-screaming history, though, he was quiet and polite. Waited in line, tipped well and held the door for people on the way in and out. That peacoat and widewale cords weren't doing him any favors, though. He was looking, um, stocky, to say the least.

· Saw Kiefer at Spaceland in Silverlake last night (Jan 31). He went straight for the door despite the huge line, apparently to ask if Castledoor had already played. He was very apologetic about cutting in line to the girls at the front; after he talked to the doorman he went and hung out on the curb with a male friend until someone insisted they come in. He was all smiles, wearing an Iron Workers' Union jacket. Good to see him on the Eastside.

· Jack Bauer likes indie rock?! I was at Spaceland last Thursday night for the final, packed night of buzz band the Airborne Toxic Event's residency there, and who is standing right in front of me but the recently-released Kiefer Sutherland, who arrived early to brave the line. (It was, by the way, the longest line I have ever seen at the Silver Lake club.) He stayed from the beginning of the night all the way through the headlining band's set, singing along with the tunes and telling his friends how much he loved it. Afterwards, he hung around for a bit, taking some pictures with the violin girl from ATE and shooting the shit with the guys from the Deadly Syndrome. Who knew Jack Bauer had such good taste in music?

· Feb 1. - Dave Chapelle keeping it low profile at Swingers on Beverly. He looked a little thin but that might be because I've gotten so fat because of this strike. Come back, Dave, we need you.

January 30 - Forest Whitaker at the gas station on Beverly and Fairfax. Sweet Beamer! I had to hold myself back from telling him how beautiful his wife looked at the SAG awards.

January 27/28 - Drew Barrymore and Justin Long at the Apple Store at the Grove. Giggling as they read the blog 100 Days in Bed. Zexy!

· 2/3, about 5:15 p.m.: It's not every day that you see Oscar nominees-slash-Emmy winners at the local drugstore. Well, it's kinda every day here. But that doesn't make it less cool that, while making a Super Bowl halftime meal run, I ran into Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy at the Rite-Aid on La Brea and Santa Monica. They looked adorably normal with their two cute little daughters, even with Bill's crew cut and mustache - must be for a movie, I hope think.

· Was going to Maha Yoga in Brentwod tonight (Jan 26) and a dude wearing no shoes (just white tube socks?) opened the door for me. It was none other than Woody Harrelson. He asked at the front desk if they had any sandals, but the lady told him they only had women's left. I overheard him chitchatting about his trip to Kentucky to promote some sort of system that turns poop into drinking water. The other two members of the Shirtless Stoned Triumvirate were nowhere to be found; maybe next week.

· Saturday 2/2 at Sushi Ike on Hollywood Blvd I was seated across from James Spader. He looked good in his dark-rimmed glasses and younger than recent pics I've seen. He was with a hot-but-age-appropriate redhead and one of his sons, who looks like Fred Savage circa 1995. No really, a lot like Fred Savage. When he left he bid a large and friendly farewell to the staff and chefs.

· Not sure if this was overreported to you guys or not, but TIM ROTH was all over the Health/Autolux show last Friday at the El Rey (2/1). He was taking photos of the band from all over the sides of the stage, striding confidently out of the side stage door area (presumably for no reason, I'm sure they have bathrooms and booze backstage), and kind of weirding out all the indie rock fans in general. What's that guy from Pulp Fiction doing here? was a question wafting about the area - I also reminded them he was "the bad guy in Rob Roy".

Here's an unconvincing photo I tried to take of him as he snapped away during the Autolux set.

· Was at the 7:05 showing of 27 Dresses at the AMC Century City 15 on Sat night. Lisa Kudrow was sitting next to me with her friend. Both seemed to enjoy the movie, and their small bags of popcorn. No one made of big deal of this

· Saw Rob Schneider in a sloppy red tee shirt having lunch with a buddy at real food daily today. (2/5)

· Weds, January 30 - Dylan McDermott waiting for his car in a strip mall off of Santa Monica Blvd. I assume he'd had lunch at Hamasaku. Was really nice - when the valet accidentally handed my friend's car keys to him, he joked about switching cars!

· The strike-bearded masses convened at the Ryan Adams show on 1/31, including: mustachioed Gil Bellows, paunchy Ken Olin, dreamy Justin Kirk (who hopefully found special appreciation for the pot jokes), frequent attendee Cameron Crowe, and that chick who played "Jane Doe" on Grey's Anatomy (imdb says her name is Elizabeth Reaser). I'm sure there were others, but I was hypnotized by Spacewolf for most of the show.

· Saw Mischa Barton last night (2/4) sucking face with some scrappy dude in a booth at the Rainbow Bar & Grill...

· feb 1, The 'Ho, How I Met Your Mother/Knocked Up's Jason Segel smoking a ciggy in front of Basix. tall and smoking nerd hot, rocking a scarf while waiting for a friend. i'd hold his bong any day, earthquake or not.

· Adam Levine at Katsuya Hollywood last night (2/3/08), pretty trendy sighting at a pretty trendy place. He was with a group of hipster guys and girls, they were there for a few hours and seemed to be enjoying the delicious yellowtail.

· Feb 6 - I saw "Lost" star Emilie de Ravin at the Farmers Market's Monsieur Marcel market the other day. She was buying red wine and no one recognized her. Looks like she's spent her strike downtime eating.

· Jan 5: Seth Binzer in Van Nuys traffic court: He looked like a mohawked butterfly in his bejeweled green hoodie and gilded t shirt. I had randomly caught the first episode of Celebrity Rehab, otherwise I would have thought he was just a regular douche, not a sober celebrity douche. Seth Binzer had some photo copies of rehab completion certificates, and the look on his face was proud. He explained he had missed multiple court dates because he was in "several recovery centers" and I swear he looked about to name drop Dr. Drew. I think the judge had seen the show too, because he was much less condescending to old Shifty Shellshock than he was to the rest of us. After explaining that while going to rehab voluntarily is commendable, it's no excuse for missing court dates, the judge knocked his fines down to about a grand. One can only imagine what they were to begin with. His violations were kind of weird, including driving a vehicle without mirrors. Just when I thought this guy was gonna be the only one of us not publicly put in our place by this just judge, Seth asked for a One-Stop. The judge said, "I've never heard of a One-Stop." Seth said, "Yeah! This guy in line told me that since I was here I could go ahead and take care of this other ticket I got in Sherman Oaks and-" The judge cut him off and said, "No son. That's why you don't listen to jail house lawyers or guys standing in line. You have to take care of all your court appearances individually. You cannot do a One-Stop." I didn't see if the judge used scare quotes or not, but it sounded that way.

After Seth met with the cashier he said to his one man entourage "I got six months to pay this. After six months, I'm gonna reassess." I wish him the best.

· Feb 5 We saw Luenell— the prositute from Borat — dining with girlfriends at Chinois Monday night.

"As a person, he's a nice guy, and as an actor, he's very talented, but as a professional, he's a shit," said Mr. Schrader, who theorized that Mr. Harrelson didn't like his performance in the movie.

(Mr. Harrelson's publicist said simply, "Woody is taking some time to spend with his family.") "Usually, even if an actor has a problem, they suck it up and do some work but. ... Woody has not. That, to me, is pretty unprofessional."

As is too often the case with creative visionary types, we think an oversensitive Schrader is perhaps reading way more than necessary into Harrelson's press-tour absence, equating the actor's refusal to subject himself to 12 hours' worth of foreign entertainment reporters' repetitive, clumsily phrased questions along the lines of, "So tell me Woody: Do you see any similarities between, say, yourself, the moron from that Cheers bar, and this gay hooker with the silly moustache?" to a rejection of the project outright.

• A Raging Bull Revisited [NY Observer]