Hello, Evan Rachel Wood! Marilyn Manson, Dita Von Teese Divorce

It's goodbye Dita, hello Evan Rachel Wood: Shock rocker Marilyn Manson and his wife, burlesque performer Dita Von Teese, have officially divorced, according to papers filed in court on Thursday. (This link takes you to an article on TMZ.com, which also has copies of the official documents.)

Manson (real name: Brian Warner) and Von Teese (real name: Heather Sweet) became estranged when Manson started dating Evan Rachel Wood, an actress who is now 20 years old.

I've liked Evan Rachel Wood in everything I've seen her in, which admittedly isn't a lot. I was a fan of the ABC show "Once and Again," in which she played the younger daughter in one half of a blended family. Later on I started watching cable reruns of a show called "Profiler," kind of a combination crime drama-psychological thriller, pre-C.S.I., in which Evan Rachel Wood played the young daughter of the an F.B.I. criminal profiler. Wood was also good in the indie flick "Thirteen," in which she played a good girl who starts running with a fast crowd and spirals into a world of drugs, criminal mischief, and sex.

I won't pretend to understand Marilyn Manson's psyche, or Wood's for that matter, but they have said in the past that they are soulmates. It must be quite an interesting soul they have, or share, or whatever.

Lauren Upton Finishes Second in Memorable Quote of the Year Vote; "Don't Tase Me, Bro!" is First

Lauren Upton's convoluted answer in a beauty pageant didn't help her in that competition, but it landed her in second place in the voting for "memorable phrase of the year."

Upton was South Carolina's contestant in the Miss Teen America contest, and in answer to a question about why one-fifth of Americans are unable to locate the U.S. on a map, she said:

"I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don't have maps and I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and Iraq and everywhere like such as and I believe that they should our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for us."

Well, that's more of an essay than a quote. Fortunately the winner of the most memorable quote of the year was much shorter: "Don't Tase Me, Bro," a phrase uttered by University of Florida student Andrew Meyer back in September when he was apprehended by police for disrupting a speech by U.S. Senator John Kerry.

Man, if I was Andrew Meyer I would have immediately trademarked that phrase, so that anyone who wanted to print it or even say it would have to may a licensing fee... kind of like AT&T did years ago when people started using "Reach out and touch someone" for all kinds of nefarious purposes. Meyer could have made a fortune with "Don't Tase Me, Bro" t-shirts, coffee mugs, beer cozies, the possibilities are endless!

I was disappointed that another quote related to a Senator (this one actually said by a Senator) only weighed in at Number 8 on the 2007 most memorable quote of the year. That would be Idaho Senator Larry Craig who, when asked by his foot touched that of an undercover cop in a men's room, said. "(I have) a wide stance when going to the bathroom."

The Much-Maligned Fruitcake is Celebrated at California Festival

Here's an audio story that profiles the Independence Fruitcake Festival, which takes place tomorrow in Independence, California.

This is a fun holiday story to listen to if you love fruitcake... or if you hate fruitcake, for that matter.

When I was a kid my grandparents used to give fruitcakes to our family (and just about everyone else they knew, apparently). I hated those rock-hard cakes with the unnaturally colored Maraschino cherries, but I have to confess that I now like fruitcake. Maybe the quality of fruitcakes has gotten better over the years, or maybe my changing taste just reflects creeping middle age. Fortunately, I have yet to develop a liking for playing shuffleboard or wearing my pants hiked up to my rib cage.

So where do you stand... fruitcake lover, fruitcake hater, or somewhere in between?

J.R. Rotem Latest Fling for Britney Spears - Is She Pregnant?

Is Britney Spears pregnant from a tryst with record producer J.R. Rotem? Britney Spears's life continues to be like a car wreck: we know we shouldn't watch, and yet we can't help ourselves. The gossip Web sites are reporting that Rotem has bragged about his sexual exploits with everyone's favorite self-destructing pop tart to Blender magazine, and is claiming she is pregnant with his child.

The The Hollywood Gossip says that In Touch claims that Britney Spears confided to her friends via e-mail that she is four weeks pregnant, and that she's sure J.R. Rotem is the father. She supposedly even attached an ultrasound image to the e-mails.

Granted, these reports are a very long daisy chain of rumors... so-and-so reports that a second source heard from a third source that person X received an e-mail from whomever. But, if this is all true, it's just another collision for the former pop princess-turned-train-wreck.

Latest news: Perez Hilton says the rumors of Britney Spears being pregnant are false. Hmmm... who's less reliable, In Touch or Perez Hilton?

Well, things could be worse... Spears could be impregnated by some alien life form from a distant galaxy, or by the devil himself, a la "Rosemary's Baby."

Pepperidge Farms "Connecting Through Cookies" Web Site... Huh?

Cookie maker Pepperidge Farms has gotten into the social networking business, according to reports in the NY Times and elsewhere. The idea is to foster friendships around the brand's cookies and other snacks, and the campaign's tagline is... "Connecting through Cookies." What are these people smoking?

Pepperidge Farms has created a Web site, artofthecookie.com, where their target audience (women) can connect... and stuff their faces with endless bags of Mint Milanos, no doubt.

The head of the baker's PR agency is happy about the approach it designed. “The Web offers us so much opportunity for blowing ideas out,” said James Allman, chief executive at DeVries Public Relations in New York. Blow, baby, blow!

Maybe Pepperidge Farms can then create another Web site to help all those newly obese cookie-connectors lose weight... they can call it "Chat to Lose the Fat," or something.

Prairie Tumbleweed Farm Sells Unusual Holiday Gift

Talk about turning lemons into lemonade! Prairie Tumbleweed Farm in Kansas has created a new gift idea by turning tumbleweeds, which are kind of like giant weedy hairballs of the prairie, into a popular holiday item. They are promoting tumbleweeds as a distinctive item that can be used as a decoration (plenty of space for lights, tinsel, etc.) or as a unique gift.

With the motto "If they don't tumble we don't sell them!," Prairie Tumbleweed Farm is promoting the product as a multi-purpose piece of decor. "Tumbleweeds! Decorative year 'round!" They note that these tumbleweeds are the same kind that have been used as props in movies, TV shows, etc. over the years.

It's an audacious idea, but it's good to see these folks have a healthy sense of humor about their product. "Our Prairie Tumbleweeds are 100% Y2K compliant," they note with tongue firmly in cheek.

Just make sure no one gets near the Christmas tumbleweed with a lit cigarette...