Yet another one of Paris Hilton's exes is in trouble for extracurricular activities involving a video camera and his wiener. Deryck Whibley -- who checked into the Hilton on a pretty regular basis a couple years back -- and the rest of his Sum 41 bandmates are being sued by a Rochester, New York, man who was less than thrilled to see his image included on the DVD that accompanied the band's Does This Look Infected? CD. Michael Sudore was heckled and pelted with hot dogs by the Canadian punkers at a minor league baseball game in 2002 -- actions that were videotaped and slapped onto the DVD. Sudore claims he's suffered enough psychological trauma to merit a $6 million payout, but, knowing upstate New Yorkers the way we do, we'll bet he'll settle for a few cases of Labatt's and a nice package of back bacon . . .
As any lover of "the other white meat" will tell ya, folks in North Carolina are at the top of the heap when it comes to using everything but the squeal in their pig-pickin'. Well, it seems the Tar Heels have the same attitude towards what we might loosely dub "culture," since the North Carolina Museum of History has proudly announced that the outfit worn by Clay Aiken on one of his earliest American Idol appearances will be on display through September 6th. Curator Elizabeth Buford issued a statement noting that the museum is "pleased to have objects connected to Clay's early success." No word on whether or not they'll also be displaying the Home Depot smock that'll be connected to Aiken's work next decade . . .
Putting a post-millennial spin on the old "I liked the product so much, I bought the company!" routine, JC Chasez has decided to help further his career by investing 150 grand in a company that's building a new movie studio in Brooklyn, New York. The scruffy 'N Syncer became proud part-owner of Steiner Studios because, as he told the New York Post, "I want to support bringing the arts back to New York." While it's nice to know that the little guy can find his way up from Orlando, we're guessing he might change his mind when he finds out the Steiner folk aren't interested in doing a sequel to Chasez's '93 classic Emerald Cove . . .
While we can think of plenty of former pop stars we could envision on a soup line, KLF majordomo Bill Drummond isn't one of the more likely candidates -- but that's exactly where he promises to be later this spring. Drummond, who kicked up quite a tempest at the height of the art-dance combo's fame by burning a million pounds in cash money at an event in Scotland, won't be on the receiving end of the mmm mmm good food, though. He's formulated a new performance art piece entitled "The Soup Line," for which he'll whip up batches of soup in homes that fall on a line he's drawn between Belfast and Nottingham. Somewhere, we're sure, Nigella Lawson is quaking in fear.
DAVID SPRAGUE
(February 27, 2004)