Kelly Clarkson: I'm Sorry (...That My CD and Tour Are Bombing)

Kelly Clarkson has posted a statement on her Web site apologizing to Clive Davis for comments she'd previously made about the legendary hitmaker and record producer. Clarkson seemed to be dismissive of Davis's talents recently... that is, until her new CD "My December" was met with lackluster sales. Her arena tour received an even more lackluster response, and low ticket sales caused Clarkson to cancel the entire tour.

Clarkson's statement said, in part, "Contrary to recent characterizations in the press, I'm well aware that Clive is one of the great record men of all time. He has been a key advisor and has been an important force in my success to date. He has also given me respect by releasing my new album when he was not obligated to do so."

This is quite a change from statements she made to USA Weekend recently, in which she said: "I'm going to be real honest with you: I'm not a fan. ... I do respect him, but I don't want to barbecue with him. We don't braid each other's hair."

I guess Clarkson was right that she isn't that close to Davis. If she'd been anywhere near him, she'd know he doesn't have enough hair left to braid.

Glad to hear that they've made up. Is that barbecue I smell?

Keep Up with All the Hot New NHL Prospects

Now is the time when hope springs eternal throughout the NHL: the entry draft has been held, and every team is looking to improve. As the wheeling and dealing heats up, hockey fans have a great source for keeping up on all the prospect news and player movement: HockeysFuture.com.

This is a comprehensive site with a huge array of information, stats, and links on the latest news surrounding the hockey draft. Go to the site's home page and you'll find prospect pages and draft reviews for each NHL team, a list of the top 50 prospects, rankings of each team organization with strengths and weaknesses, the ISS top ten, and more. Inside the site you'll find news, opinions, and answers to readers' questions, among other things.

There are plenty of details on players, teams, and prospects, and the site lets you get involved with chat rooms and boards for exchanging rumors on trades and free agents.

Until the first puck drops this Fall, you can get your NHL fix and get all the details on the hockey draft at HockeysFuture.com.

Beer, Donuts, Action: Simpsons Movie Premiere in Vermont

The eyes of the world will be on Springfield, Vermont tomorrow when it hosts the world premiere of The Simpsons movie. The premiere will host creator Matt Groenig, show developer Jim Brooks, and other celebs on a big yellow carpet.

The Vermont town with 9,300 residents beat out 13 other U.S. municipalities named Springfield, and it's hosting a festival to celebrate the movie's worldwide premiere. The Simpsons movie will start playing at 2 p.m., with the first screening being a VIP event reserved for the filmmakers, Fox execs, and members of the team that created Springfield, Vermont's winning video submission. The video made the case for why the town should be chosen to host The Simpsons premiere, and was cited as a big reason for the town's win.

Springfield, Vermont actually has some similarities to the Simpsons' hometown; it has a bowling alley and a local pub and even a nuclear power plant (Vermont Yankee) not too far away.

Legndary Vermont ice-cream entrepreneurs Ben & Jerry will be introducing a one-day-only special ice cream flavor called "Duff & D'Oh Nuts," honoringHomer Simpson's two great loves in life, beer and donuts. Supposedly the ice cream includes little glazed chocolate donuts and really does have some stout beer in it. Sounds like one day will be quite long enough for that flavor.

One-Stop Shopping for Celebrity News

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that one of my favorite pasttimes is skewering the celebrities we all love to hate (or is it hate to love?). But making fun of celebrity hijinks isn't as easy as it looks, with so many Beautiful People doing so many idiotic things in public.

So my ears perked up when I heard about CelebrityGossip.com, a new Web site that collects all the hot celeb news and photos from around the world and presents it all in one tidy package. Tabs on the front page let you go immediately to hot topics, the latest news, and celebrity pictures (in case you're not the reading type).

Better yet, each story is followed by links to related stories, so you can get different perspectives on the celebrity hijinks in question. And, you can vote on each story, so you can see which items your fellow celebrity-mongers find the most interesting.

Today, for example, you'll find news on Larry David's wife filing for divorce, Lindsay Lohan and her sobriety ankle bracelet (she hasn't gnawed that thing off yet?), and Paris Hilton's latest project--a cartoon! That last one is almost too bizarre to be true...

Nick Nolte's Bad Day at the Airport

All of us have bad experiences regarding air travel, but usually it's airlines or airports who are at fault. But in the case of Nick Nolte's recent visit to Hawaii's Kauai Airport, it was a totally self-inflicted wound.

Nolte was said to be dripping with sweat and drifting in and out of consciousness for two hours while lying on the airport floor. His flight was delayed for more than two hours Monday night, and I guess maybe he had a few drinks--we've all been there, right?--but it sounds like he was really out of it.

Nolte was reportedly to be quite friendly despite his incoherent condition; fellow passengers said he was chatting with fans and even letting people snap pictures of him.

Nolte has been of AARP age for more than a decade, and yet he seems to be trying to prove that in terms of repeated incidents of embarrassing public behavior, those young whippersnappers Britney Spears and Paris Hilton have nothing on him!

An Easy Way to Get Your Daily Veggies

Most people these days are too busy to eat right, and that means lots of us have expanding waistlines and aren't exactly getting the best nutrition. Everyone knows that eating vegetables is important not only for good health now but for the long-term, but few Americans eat anywhere near the recommended amounts of veggies.

Now a company has come out with a new product called My Daily Veggies, which lets people easily include vegetables in their everyday diet. The product is made from real vegetables that are dried and conveniently portioned into packets, with each packet containing two full servings of vegetables.

I can drink My Daily Veggies easily by mixing the contents of a packet with water, or by mixing them into all kinds of foods. It's easy to stir My Daily Veggies into dips, rice, drinks, chili, and much more. There are countless ways to use it (and if you run out of ideas, the company's Web site has plenty of suggestions).

Since My Daily Veggies is made of real vegetables, you get all the nutritional benefits. It contains all the nutrition of real fresh (or canned or frozen) vegetables--vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and fiber. And it contains no added sodium, sugar, or preservatives.

You can use My Daily Veggies as a daily dietary supplement at home, keep it in your office or car for on the go food, use it for convenient camping food, and more.

I personally like eating vegetables, but don't always have time to prepare them. Putting My Daily Veggies in chili, salsa, soup, or rice is a great way to get all the veggies I need without spending a lot of time shopping, peeling, cutting, and cooking vegetables. Good nutrition doesn't get any easier.

Dick Cheney Handling Security for Final Harry Potter Book

Seeking to keep the secrets of the final Harry Potter book under wraps, its publisher has confirmed that it has hired vice president Dick Cheney to oversee security for the title.

Scholastic Inc. says that it hired the VP based on his history of keeping secrets, disappearing into undisclosed locations for weeks at a time, and his tough-as-nails, belligerent attitude toward anyone who dares to disagree with him.

"Vice president Cheney is the perfect person to keep the final adventures of Harry and his friends safe from hackers and thieves who would try to spoil the surprise of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," a Scholastic spokesman said at a press conference with Mr. Cheney.

"If anyone tries to steal the book or post it on the Internet, I'll shoot them in the face," Cheney bluntly admitted.

Confronted with accusations that PDF files of the seventh Harry Potter book had already been leaked onto the Internet, Cheney at first denied the possibility of such an occurrence, then later said that if it had happened, it must be the fault of "bleeding-heart liberals and tree-huggers in Congress."

Sources who prefer not to be named (or shot by Mr. Cheney) say that the leak occurred when Cheney handed over parts of the security operation to his old colleagues at Halliburton.