Last March, when the people of America were drooling at the thought of winning a record $656 million Mega Millions jackpot, we poured an icy bucket of mathematical reality over your head: You weren't going to win.

And you didn't. Three winning tickets were sold, but you weren't involved. It was never going to happen. As we wrote then, you stood a better chance at hitting two consecutive holes in one than winning that jackpot.

Now, with a record $500 million Powerball jackpot up for grabs on Wednesday, we figured it was a great time to, once again, dash your dreams. We know, we know -- someone will win at least a share of the prize, if not Wednesday, then in some subsequent drawing. But it won't be you.

Why you keep playing the lottery

The chance of a ticket winning a Powerball jackpot is 1 in 175,223,510 (slightly better than the chance of winning a Mega Millions jackpot, which is 1 in 175,711,536). Here are a few unlikely scenarios that, we're sorry to say, are much more likely than you taking home this jackpot.
Lottery winners' lives ruined

From the Harvard School of Public Health:

-- Dying from a bee sting: 1 in 6.1 million.

-- Dying from being struck by lightning: 1 in 3 million.

From U.S. Hole in One, which insures golf prizes for holes in one:

You, win the $500M Powerball jackpot

-- An amateur golfer making a hole in one on a par-3 hole: 1 in 12,500.

-- A golfer hitting a hole in one on consecutive par-3 holes: 1 in about 156 million.

From a 2011 State Farm study on collisions between vehicles and deer:

-- Hitting a deer with a vehicle in Hawaii, the state where State Farm says deer-vehicle collisions are least likely: 1 in 6,267.

Mayim Bialik is splitting from her husband of nine years.

The 36-year-old actress says in a statement posted online Wednesday that she and husband Michael Stone have decided to divorce. The couple has two young sons.

Bialik recently released a book about attachment parenting, but says the philosophy that encourages forming close bonds with near-constant physical contact played no role in the couple's split.

The Emmy-nominated star of CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" says "relationships are complicated no matter what style of parenting you choose."

She says divorce is "terribly sad, painful and incomprehensible" for children and adds that the couple's sons remain their priority.

Bialik first gained fame as the star of the 1990s sitcom "Blossom." She holds a doctoral degree in neuroscience from UCLA, specializing in obsessive-compulsive disorder in adolescents.

For his first professional acting job, a 22-year-old Anthony Hopkins took a train from South Wales to Manchester. With time to kill on a rainy day, he dropped off his bags and headed to the movies, where a long queue wound outside the cinema.

"It was packed," Hopkins recalls. "I sat down and I didn't know what the hell I was in for. I had heard stories about it. When it got to the shower scene, I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life."

The movie was, of course, Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho," a film that 52 years after its shocking premiere still hasn't released audiences from its subversive thrall. The film, which Hitchcock called "a fun picture," was revolutionary in its violence, its sexiness, its sympathy to the perspective of the criminal mind – and, perhaps above all, its technique.

"What if someone really good made a horror picture?" wonders the British director, played by Hopkins, in the new film "Hitchcock."

Directed by Sacha Gervasi, it depicts the making of "Psycho" with a keen focus on Hitchcock's relationship – and profession indebtedness – to his wife Alma Reville (played by Helen Mirren).

It is only the latest example of the undying fascination with "Psycho," a film that ushered in a new darkness in American movies, one with a playful sense of irony toward violence but also a serious treatment of that which had previously been considered mere "schlock." Though Hitchcock made a dozen films that could easily be labeled masterpieces, none seized audiences with the same power as "Psycho."

Made for just $800,000 at the end of Hitchcock's contract with Paramount (which distributed the film but left Hitchcock to finance it himself), "Psycho," based on Robert Bloch's novel, went on to gross $32 million – the biggest hit of his career. The director famously handed out manuals to theaters with explicit directions not to let anyone in after the movie began. Though most critics dismissed the film then, some finally began to consider Hitchcock an artist of the highest order – most notably Robin Wood, who called "Psycho" "perhaps the most terrifying film ever made."

"We are (taken) forward and downward into the darkness of ourselves," wrote Wood. "`Psycho' begins with the normal and draws us steadily deeper and deeper into the abnormal."

 Organizers say American R&B star Chris Brown has canceled a stadium concert in Guyana after local protests over his 2009 beating of then-girlfriend Rihanna.

Brown was billed to headline a Dec. 26 show. But he drew the ire of women's rights groups and opposition lawmakers who said Brown would not be welcome in Guyana three years after his assault of Barbadian superstar Rihanna.

Concert promoter Hits & Jams Entertainment said Thursday that Brown backed out, citing discomfort with the protests.

In 2009, Brown hit, choked and bit Rihanna during an argument in Los Angeles. He later pleaded guilty to assault.

Since then, Brown has worked to repair his image, undergoing violence counseling and putting out a new album. He has a duet with Rihanna on her recently released record.

Even before watching "Liz and Dick" (Sun., Nov. 25 at 9 p.m. EST on Lifetime), it's easy to come up with a list of a few things a movie about Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton should do.

It should establish Burton and Taylor as charismatic, complex people. Taylor was an intoxicating combination of devil-may-care bawdiness and classic glamour; she liked to belt back drinks and tell it like it was, and she was an old-school Movie Star who effortlessly commanded every room she entered. As for Burton, he was passionate, smart and rough around the edges; any portrayal of him would have to capture both his brooding outsider qualities and his sly, knowing wit. They weren't just actors on the make, they were fascinating personalities with very divergent histories, and any film about them would need to reflect their vast differences and intriguing backstories.

It should make the electricity of their relationship apparent. The anticipation for their first kiss should be unbearable; the depiction of their affair should be deliciously hot. They were one of the 20th Century's most iconic couples, and their bond lasted until their deaths. The depth and combustibility of that bond should be the film's main selling point.

It should be a treat for the eyes. Their affair began on the set of "Cleopatra," caught fire in paparazzi-infested Rome and then took them to Switzerland and London and beyond; all those locations should be shown in expensive, expansive period-specific detail. This was the era of "Mad Men" but on a much more lush and living-large scale; why not have some fun with that?

It should take its time. You'd be hard-pressed to find a sentient adult that does not know the basic contours of their relationship: a turbulent affair followed by two well-chronicled marriages. If we already know the destination, the smart filmmaker would make the journey of Liz and Dick as smart, diverting and entertaining as possible.

It should be well cast. Telling this story wouldn't be easy, given how well known its two protagonists are, but there have to be actors who could give the collision of these titanic personalities dramatic heft. You wouldn't want mere look-alikes -- you'd want terrific actors able to convey the pain and the pleasure of this calamitous, enjoyable relationship in very specific and compelling ways.
"Liz and Dick" does absolutely none of these things.

All it really does is make you sad about what's become of Lindsay Lohan, and wonder at the motivations of the filmmakers who put her in this cheap-looking, exploitative movie.

Exploitation really is the name of the game here; the whole point of casting Lohan was to draft off her status as a formerly promising actress who some time ago became a tabloid fodder thanks to her career-destroying antics. The casting of Lohan would ensure coverage of the production itself, and then more "Can she manage a comeback" chatter once the movie's air date approached. It's one way to get attention for a project, I guess.

Another way is to create something of quality, but that would take time and effort, and expenditure of labor clearly wasn't the point here.

Two people died and more than 80 people were hurt Thursday when at least 140 vehicles collided in Southeast Texas in a pileup that left trucks twisted on top of each other and authorities rushing to pull survivors from the wreckage.

The collision occurred in extremely foggy conditions at about 8:45 a.m. Thanksgiving Day on Interstate 10 southwest of Beaumont, a Gulf Coast city about 80 miles east of Houston.

A man and a woman were killed in a Chevy Suburban SUV crushed by a tractor trailer, the Texas Department of Public Safety told KFDM-TV.

Jefferson County sheriff's Deputy Rod Carroll said in a news release that 80 to 90 people were transported to hospitals with 10 to 12 of those in serious to critical condition. He said 140 to 150 vehicles were involved in the pileup.

According to DPS, a crash on the eastbound side of the highway led to other accidents in a dangerous chain reaction. There were multiple crashes on the other side of the highway as well.

Carroll told The Associated Press the fog was so thick that deputies didn't immediately realize they were dealing with multiple accidents.

"It is catastrophic," Carroll said. "I've got cars on top of cars."

I-10's eastbound lanes were re-opened Thursday evening after more than eight hours.

DPS trooper Stephanie Davis told KFDM that two people in an SUV died after the crash.

Sherlyn Chopra’s Kama Sutra 3D is based on the original concept of the ancient Indian sex manual written by Vatsyayana. The film was announced at the Cannes Film Festival 2012 by Paul, who has also directed Saint Dracula 3D.The first look of the movie has been out now.

Last time the hottest news in the block about Sherlyn was about her nude shoot for an international magazine.  The magazine is a popular one among its readers because of the sassy adult contents.

Rupesh Paul is the director of the movie kama Sutra that will be made in 3D. During the premiere of his maiden Hollywood act Saint Dracula 3D at the Cannes film festival that was held this year, he announced that Sherlyn Chopra will play the role of the leading lady in his upcoming movie.

The director further confirmed the same as he revealed his plan to premiere the exotic movie at the Cannes film festival that will be held next year. "Sherlyn has exotic Indian looks and a bold attitude to carry a role like this. The film will assure maximum utilization of her talent and beauty. Besides, it will also be challenging and exciting for me as a director to portray her in a new bolder avatar" says Rupesh.

It is Rupesh’s Kama Sutra 3D that is set to make news after Mira Nair’s Kama Sutra — A Tale of Love, which turned heads with the exotic and bold acts of the two leading ladies Indira Verma and Sarita Choudhury. Though both the leads of Mira Nair reportedly had deep concerns to act brassy and go nude, Sherlyn on the other hand has limited reservations to do the same.

About the 3D aspect of the movie the director quotes “3D would add that extra dimension to the sexual positions described in the ancient treatise on the art of love.” To add more to the spice Sherlyn adds "Kama Sutra is nowhere close to vulgarity. Nudity is not vulgar. It is a form of art and an expression of the mind. I am considered to be a bold personality but I know this film is going to change perceptions."

The other key roles will be played by known actors from Bollywood exclaims director Rupesh Paul, who will disclose the names soon after he has finalized them.

After what Mira Nair had to face during the shooting of her film; Rupesh is hush hush about the shooting location, guarding the secret wisely. However, the shooting of the film is set to start early next year.
Sherlyn Chopra Kamasutra Teaser

Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence may be kick ass with a bow and arrow, but the 22-year-old actress says that hitting a bullseye is just about her only party trick.

Because of her self-proclaimed “awful” dancing skills, Jennifer said the first few days of filming her latest project, Silver Lining Playbooks alongside Bradley Cooper, were especially difficult.

    If you miss a target, you still look cool because you’re holding a bow and arrow… But when you mess up dancing you just look like an idiot.

According to Jennifer, both she and Bradley were reeeeeally shaking in the dancing department, but were there to support each other along the way.

    It’s a great way to get to know a person… You’re instantly sweating and learning something together.

    I remember I thought, OK, it’s going to be all right because we are holding each other and we were both very vulnerable to this choreographed dance that we were going to have to do in three weeks in front of Robert De Niro. We [we
re] treading water together, helplessly treading water together.

Two days before the highly anticipated Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Candice Swanepoel posted a photo on Twitter showing how she had meticulously prepared for her moment in the spotlight while scantily clad on stage.

Tragically the ensuing image of her concave stomach and jutting hipbones has caused a bitter backlash from followers outraged with the South African model's unhealthy body image, along with concerns that she is suffering from an eating disorder.

PHOTOS: Victoria’s Secret Supermodels Strip Down Into Their Bikinis

"It's quiet obvious this girl is bulimic," wrote one commentator, while another posted: "It looks like the African kids… only missing the number you need to call to donate."

This is far from the first time the 5'9" blonde beauty's emaciated frame has appeared shockingly thin, and as RadarOnline.com previously reported, Candice was skin and bones in a sexy animal print bikini at the 2011 SWIM collection launch in March 2011.


After she got a frosty reception to the glamourous shoot, Swanepoel, 24, defended her weight to People.com. "I am healthy and happy," she said. "I'm heartened to know how much everyone cares about me, but in this case, everything is normal and good."

Last month, she appeared with a group of equally skinny VS models at the Mario Testino Exhibit preview in Boston, where healthy-looking new mom Alessandra Ambrosio dominated the red carpet with her sexy curves over her skeletal cohorts.

I thought Ke$ha had really turned a corner after we saw her at the AMAs. She looked somewhat presentable. Normal even. But no. It wasn’t meant to be. Here’s Ke$ha performing on the Today show on Tuesday wearing some fishnet getup she carved an upside down cross into and had Rainbow Brite vomit on. On the bright side, at least she’s not trying to look like an Indian chief anymore.

After Poonam Pandey hitting the headlines for bagging a film project titled “Nasha”, it is time for Sherlyn Chopra to be the next in news. This model-turned-actor’s film has been named “Kamasutra”.

The name might raise eyebrows, however, none can overlook the fact that she posed all nude for the magazine “Playboy” and this film will not be much different.

Sherlyn has been seen in the film, “Dil Bole Hadippa”, however her role in it had been

Insignificant, to say the least. To jump into the limelight she posed nude for the famed magazine “Playboy” and in the bargain she got some undisclosed sum of money.

The film with which she is debuting will be having many bold scenes which will be shot in Hollywood. This will be done to avoid any trouble or social protest out here in India.

Rupesh Paul, who is directing the film, is currently in Los Angeles in the hope of hiring a studio there. He said “Considering the touchy cultural atmosphere (in India) and the people’s sentiments; we have decided to shoot the scenes outside India. I met a line producer here who is well experienced in the field, and can easily facilitate any studio in Hollywood for the nude scenes.”

He also added that it was his friends pertaining to the industry who warned him about shooting the bold scenes in India. He said, regarding this “I was getting calls from my friends, warning me that no nude scenes should be shot in India. It may create unwanted issues. Some communal organizations can even exploit the situation just to make headlines.”

The other places that have been selected by the director for the shoot of the movie and its songs are Rajasthan, Gujarat, Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh.

The director Rupesh Paul recently premiered his first venture Saint Dracula 3D at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival this year and hopes to premiere “Kamasutra” there as well next year.

When asked about selecting Sherlyn as the leading lady of the film, he said “Sherlyn has exotic Indian looks and a bold attitude to carry a role like this. The film will assure maximum utilization of her talent and beauty. Besides, it will also be challenging and exciting for me as a director to portray her in a bold new avatar.”

This film is also being made in 3D, for which he added “3D would add that extra dimension to the sexual positions described in the ancient treatise on the art of love.”

Wait is over and sensuous playboy girl Sherlyn Chopra is back with hot looks in soon to be released Kamasutra 3d directed by Rupesh Paul. Movies First look released by the actor are showing her in different seductive poses.

The actor has recently uploaded a video teaser. The video features her gyrating to music in a golden bikini in the video.

In film, she will exhibit seductive poses and sexual positions from the ancient scriptures on the art of love in 3D.
Kamsutra 3D is based on the original concept if the Indian sex manual written by Vatsyayana. Paul announced the movie at Cannes Film festival 2012 by Paul. The man has also directed Saint Dracula 3D.

Sherlyn will be the first popular Indian actress to star in the ancient Indian erotica's cinematic adaptation. Apart from her, two more important characters in the film will be featuring in the movie.

The role will be essayed by popular Bollywood actors.

Interestingly, Sherlyn is also the first popular Indian actress to star in the ancient Indian erotica cinematic adaptation unlike Mira Nair's Kamasutra: A Tale Of Love, which starred two American born actresses, Indira Verma and Sarita Choudhury, in the lead.

The movie trailers will be released at the American Film Market in Los Angeles on November 4th. The trailers are shot by Sapan Narula

Steven Spielberg won't be going to galaxy far, far away.

After the announcement of a seventh "Star Wars" film in 2015, speculation has run rampant about who might direct the massive project - with many high profile names being thrown around - but Spielberg won't be in the running.

PLAY IT NOW: Access Extended: George Lucas & Steven Spielberg In Cannes, Part II (2008)

Access Hollywood caught up with the director on Thursday night at the premiere of his latest film, "Lincoln," where we asked the longtime friend and collaborator of George Lucas about the possibility of directing the upcoming "Episode 7."

"No! No!" Steven told Access.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Cast Of Star Wars: Then & Now

According to the Hollywood icon, lightsabers, stormtroopers and Wookies will be somebody else's responsibility.

"It's not my genre," the director explained. "It's my best friend George's genre."

For more on the direction Access is hoping the next "Star Wars" movie goes, CLICK HERE!

Every time I get an invite to a fabulous New York sample sale, I'm tempted to hop on on the next flight and just go. After all, I'll be saving tons of money by shopping the sale which means the trip practically pays for itself. Please ignore my flawed reasoning and let me live in my fool's shopping paradise.

If you're in the Big Apple, please stop by the Beyond Vintage Sample Sale taking place from Tuesday October 23-Friday October 26 at 275 West 39th Street, 2nd Floor. It's their biggest sample sale yet as current and past seasons will be heavily discounted along with a selection of vintage from their archives. Indulge me and let me live vicariously through your Manhattanite shopping adventure.


At the sale I would snap up these fall favs in a heartbeat. Actually, it's a good thing I won't be there because I can get downright feline at sample sales...claws out, pounce ready.

The story below was published in Global Press Institute on Oct 11- the first International Girl's Day. I was traveling and read it myself after a couple of days. So, thought of sharing it here, with a few new photos. You can also read the original article here.

The kids at Chaithanya Happy Home sing as a proud Jayamma - their guardian looks with a smile.
NEW DELHI, INDIA – Madhavi, 12, of Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh state in southern India, is an aspiring poet.

“I love music and poetry,” she says. “When I grow up, I want to teach poetry to little children.”

But the girl’s own childhood was far from poetic. Deep scars on Madhavi’s face mark the time a dog mauled her at age 2 while she was living on the streets with her mother, who earned a living as a sex worker.

Yet Madhavi’s eyes shine as she smiles and dreams about her future.

“To be a schoolteacher and take care of so many children will be fun,” she says.

And she now has the opportunity to achieve her dreams. No longer living on the streets with her mother, she has safe shelter at Chaithanya Happy Home and studies in the fifth grade at a city school.

Chaithanya Happy Home is part of Chaithanya Mahila Mandali, India’s first nonprofit organization founded by a former sex worker, Jayamma Bandari. Between the ages of 4 and 14, the 35 girls living in the home are all daughters of commercial sex workers.

Even a decade ago, the fate for these girls was to join the same profession as their mothers once they came of age. Today, however, they are living in a safe place and are attending one of the best English-medium schools in Hyderabad, dreaming of becoming schoolteachers, engineers, doctors and revenue collectors.


The stigma and discrimination attached to female sex workers in Indian society trickles down to their daughters. To change this, nongovernmental organizations are working to secure basic rights for the girls, such as education, with the help of the 2010 Right to Education Law. But activists say more needs to be done to change age-old societal attitudes stigmatizing sex workers and their daughters and to pay for continuing education. 

In Hyderabad alone, there are more than 25,000 female sex workers, according to Chaithanya Mahila Mandali. Bandari's organization has helped 600 of them to possess valid proof of identity. But thousands of others are still unable to access free health care, to vote or to open a bank account.

More than 60 percent of the total number of sex workers in Hyderabad do not own any property and live in rented apartments, Bandari says. They do not reveal their real profession to their landlords or to their neighbors, fearing that they will be evicted and shunned.

“A normal parent will never allow his or her kids to mingle with the kid of a sex worker or keep social relations with sex workers,” Bandari says. “The sex workers, therefore, live in total social exclusion.”

This exclusion – for being sex workers and also single mothers – trickles down to their children, denying them basic rights in the past such as education.

Rihanna was already scheduled to chat with Andy Cohen on Facebook Live on Thursday, but first she had some important business to get out of the way: the music video for "Diamonds."

The song is the lead single off her upcoming album, "Unapologetic." "Diamonds" was produced by Benny Blanco and Stargate and written by Sia. It marked a strong departure from her recent work, which veered more toward electronic dance music. In an interview with The Huffington Post, Blanco explained how the single came together:

    We were trying to come up with stuff for Rihanna for weeks. I was with Stargate, and we kept trying to come up with stuff that was cool. And we came up with some stuff, but it just sounded so much like Rihanna. Most of the time when people work with an artist, they don't give them what they need for the future, they give them what their last album sounded like. So it's like, "oh, One Republic needs a song, why don't we send them 10 that sound like 'Apologize?' Or, "Oh, Rihanna needs a song, why don't do 'We Found Love'?" But what you really want to give someone is something they don't know and have them realize they need it.

    But we didn't even do that. We're sitting there trying to make records, and we finally just said, "Let's just do something we like. Let's make a hip-hop record with some really cool chords on it." It didn't sound Rihanna at all. We were more thinking of making a record that sounds like Kanye. Let's make a record with a dope beat. So we did. Then Sia heard the track and instantly gravitated towards it. We weren't even thinking of putting a pop song on it, but she wrote this amazing song, and it just happened overnight.

Rihanna said "Diamonds" has replaced "Umbrella" as her favorite song she's ever made. "Even if you're in the club, it really f--ks with your head. Like, really, I'm too drunk for this sh-t," she told Cohen.

Other fun quotes: She thinks Kanye is "a genius," Jay-Z is "even more genius" and Beyonce is "gorgeous -- a stab to my confidence."

The video comes on the heels of Rihanna's well-received performance at last night's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show taping. She also dropped a preview of her new song with Chris Brown, "Nobodies Business." Watch the "D

Republican Party leaders on Wednesday began picking up the pieces of their movement, trying to figure how to put them back together.

The GOP was blindsided Tuesday, but also revealed. The Democrats' ground organization was beyond anything they'd imagined, pulling in new voters with stunning effectiveness. It exposed a major weakness in the Republican approach to winning elections, practically and intellectually.

"I don't think anyone on our side understood or comprehended how good their turnout was going to be," said Henry Barbour, a Republican committee man from Mississippi. "The Democrats do voter registration like a factory, like a business, and Republicans tend to leave it to the blue hairs."

But President Barack Obama's triumphant get-out-the-vote program also pulled back the curtain on the GOP's looming demographic demise. The exposure was so severe that there will be few inside the party who can deny the need to work toward immigration reform, as well the need to make a broader effort to communicate to parts of the electorate that the party has not tried to in the past.

There was a quick move to embrace the need for change, from the ranks of the party's next generation of elected leaders, as well as from its online flame-throwers.

"The conservative movement should have particular appeal to people in minority and immigrant communities who are trying to make it, and Republicans need to work harder than ever to communicate our beliefs to them," said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla).

Erick Erickson, founder of RedState.com, a conservative blog, said Republican candidate Mitt Romney's approach to Hispanic voters was "atrocious."

"Frankly, the fastest-growing demographic in America isn’t going to vote for a party that sounds like that party hates brown people," Erickson said.

However, the day after was not all self-reflection for those on the right. Some struck a far more combative tone.

"We are in a war. We're in a war to save this nation," said Michael Needham, chief executive of Heritage Action, an arm of the conservative Washington think tank, The Heritage Foundation.

 A protest at the University of Mississippi against the re-election of President Barack Obama grew into crowd of about 400 people with shouted racial slurs as rumors of a riot spread on social media. Two people were arrested on minor charges.

The university said in a statement Wednesday that the gathering at the student union began late Tuesday night with about 30 to 40 students, but grew within 20 minutes as word spread. Some students chanted political slogans while others used derogatory racial statements and profanity, the statement said.

The incident comes just after the 50th anniversary of violent rioting that greeted the forced integration of Ole Miss with the enrollment of its first black student, James Meredith.

Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones promised an investigation and said “all of us are ashamed of the few students who have negatively affected the reputations of each of us and of our university.”

On Wednesday night, about 700 people held up candles and called for racial harmony outside the administrative building at the university in Oxford, countering Tuesday’s protest over Obama’s re-election.

Police were initially alerted to Tuesday’s uproar by people who saw Twitter posts about it. The students were told to leave, but about 100 came back later. One person was charged with public intoxication and another with failure to comply with police orders. There were no reports of injuries or property damage.

Rumors about the situation were fueled on Twitter after the university’s student journalists posted a video referring to the gathering as “riots.” The student newspaper posted a video of the crowd, but much of what the students said in it is unintelligible other than the “Hotty Toddy” cheer, which is common at football games and other school gatherings.

One picture that spread rapidly on social media shows people burning an Obama campaign sign, but the university hasn’t confirmed that the picture was taken on campus. The chancellor said some photos shared on social media showed things that were not seen by police on campus, but the reports of uncivil language and racial slurs appeared to be accurate.

 Currently promoting her forthcoming festive album, This Is Christmas, the Welsh wonder will kick-start the party season as she answers your questions at 12 noon on Wednesday November 14.

Katherine's visit will see her follow previous big name guests including Will Ferrell, P. Diddy, Jessie J and JLS into our hotseat.

The disc, packed full of seasonal favourites, follows an incredible year for the blonde bombshell after enjoying a dazzling run to the final of Dancing With The Stars, a performance at The Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert and a role as an ambassador for the London Olympic athletes.

This is now a unique opportunity for you to get up close and personal with the stunning star as you ask her anything you like.

Katherine Jenkins on Dancing With The Stars
Raising her profile in the US ... Katherine sizzled on Dancing With The Stars before coming second
Perhaps you can find out what she has planned for Christmas or ask what she thinks of this year's Strictly Come Dancing.

Or you can quiz Katherine on her rumoured romance with Cheryl Cole's ex Derek Hough or that strange David Beckham Tweet.

Singing sensation ... Katherine Jenkins

Tune in live at 12 noon next Wednesday November 14. If you can't make the chat leave your questions on the meesage board below and we will put the best ones to Katherine.

This Is Christmas is out on November 26.

The election laid bare a dual — and dueling — nation, politically speaking, jaggedly split down the middle on the presidency and torn over much else. It seems you can please only half of the people nearly all of the time.

Americans retained the fractious balance of power in re-electing President Barack Obama, a Republican House and a Democratic Senate, altogether serving as guarantors of the gridlock that voters say they despise. Slender percentages separated winner and loser from battleground to battleground, and people in exit polls said yea and nay in roughly equal measure to some of the big issues of the day.

Democracy doesn't care if you win big, only that you win. Tuesday was a day of decision as firmly as if Obama had run away with the race. Democrats are ebullient and, after a campaign notable for its raw smackdowns, words of conciliation are coming from leaders on both sides, starting with the plea from defeated Republican rival Mitt Romney that his crestfallen supporters pray for the president.

But after the most ideologically polarized election in years, Obama's assertion Wednesday morning that America is "more than a collection of red states and blue states" was more of an aspiration than a snapshot of where the country stands.

"It's going to take a while for this thing to heal," said Ron Bella, 59, a Cincinnati lawyer who lives in Alexandria, Ky. He is relieved Obama won, but some of his co-workers are in a "sour mood" about it.

"They feel like the vast majority of the country wanted Romney, and the East and the West coasts wanted Obama," he said. "I'm not sure exactly why that is, but there just seems to be such hatred for Obama out there."

Compromise was a popular notion in the hours after Obama's victory and an unavoidable one, given the reality of divided government. But the familiar contours of partisan Washington were also in evidence, especially the notion that compromise means you do things my way.

As Democratic Rep. Steve Israel of New York put it, "If you refuse to compromise, we are going to beat you." Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the election showed "if you are an extremist tea party Republican, you are going to lose."

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said pointedly that Republicans will meet Obama halfway "to the extent he wants to move to the political center" and propose solutions "that actually have a chance of passing."

Spain's Constitutional Court upheld the legality of the country's gay marriage law on Tuesday, rejecting an appeal contending that marriage in the Spanish constitution means only the union of a man and woman.

The county's top court voted 8-3 to dismiss the appeal of the conservative Popular Party filed shortly after Spain became the world's third country to approve gay marriage.

Spain's Parliament passed the gay marriage law in 2005 when it was Socialist-controlled, with Popular Party deputies opposed. The Popular Party took power late last year after the Socialists were ousted over their handling of the economy.

The gay marriage law angered the predominant Roman Catholic Church but opinion surveys showed most Spaniards backed it. Belgium and the Netherlands approved gay marriage laws before Spain.

Sometimes it feels like people throw around the term "only in San Francisco" with a little bit too much carelessness. Just because someone told you there's a 45-minute wait for brunch or three of your friends are all competing to become the mayor of the new Norwegian-inspired taco truck on Foursquare doesn't entirely justify the declaration that those things could exclusively happen here in town.

On the other hand, sometimes the phrase is actually warranted. Take what happened during Monday's hearing of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Neighborhood Services Committee in which officials discussed a ban on public nudity, for example.

If you assume the next sentence is going to run along the lines of, "someone took off all of their clothes," you would be correct.

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During the meeting, nudity activist Gypsy Taub stepped up to the podium and addressed the committee. "Nudity does not harm children," she said. "Have you ever seen a child cry because they saw a naked person? What do children do when they see naked people? They laugh. It makes them happy, it doesn't traumatize them. Nudity is natural and harmless. Our bodies are God's gift and God doesn't make mistakes. Attacking our right to be nude is an attack on sacredness, beauty, love freedom, art and creative self-expression."

Taub then removed her dress, revealing a nary an undergarment, and declared, "attacks on body freedom are unconstitutional and un-American."

She was quickly escorted out of the room by police officers while chanting, "Up with body freedom, down with Scott Wiener."

Naturally, Taub was greeted with a rousing round of applause--probably for a whole variety of reasons.

In the hallway outside the committee room, Taub was detained by police and eventually put her clothes back on. "Nudity does not harm anyone," she added. "It's people's actions and not people's bodies that harm people. Clothes have never stopped anyone from sexual harassment; they have not stopped anyone from raping; clothes have never stopped anyone form getting raped. It is nothing to do with clothes, it has to do with people's actions."

The San Francisco Chronicle notes that Taub had sent out press release to various media outlets announcing her intention to disrobe during the meeting.

Actress Cynthia Nixon has been a vocal advocate for LGBT rights, women's health and President Barack Obama, but on November 1st, she informed Florida voters that Miranda Hobbes, the character she played on the hit HBO series "Sex and the City" from 1998 to 2004, would have supported the president as well -- and that Miranda's best friends Carrie Bradshaw, Samantha Jones and Charlotte York also wouldn't vote Romney on November 6th.

Nixon, 46, made this claim last week when she was down in Florida volunteering for the Obama campaign. In a radio interview with 102JamzOrlando, Nixon said that her fictional counterpart, attorney Miranda Hobbes, would most certainly share her own political leanings. "I think Miranda Hobbes would rather shoot herself in the head than vote for Mitt Romney,” Nixon said. “Mitt Romney is so terrible on women’s issues.”

She also spoke for the other three "Sex and the City" main characters:

    I know that there are women who support [Romney], and it’s hard for me to understand, but certainly Miranda nor Carrie nor Charlotte nor Samantha, none of those women would ever vote for Mitt Romney. They would do something terrible first before they would ever vote for Mitt Romney.

Nixon told a crowd at the Ybor City Obama field office that she decided to come campaign for Obama in Florida after hearing Michelle Obama give "an amazing speech" at a New York City fundraiser, CL Tampa Bay reported. She went on to explain why she is supporting the president, mentioning the the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and Obamacare. She also discussed the importance this November has for her as a lesbian:

    You know, everybody used to say about Bill Clinton that he was the first African-American president, but I think that Barack Obama is the first gay president. My wife and I got married this May -- and I know it took him a little while to get there, but the fact that he came out fully for marriage equality for all Americans -- we've never had a president come anywhere close to that. And I know that if we can keep him in there for another four years, we're gonna see the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Traveler numbers increased by four percent year on year between January and August, according to official figures released by the World Tourism Organization on Monday.

Over the first eight months of the year, the WTO recorded an increase of 28 million tourists compared with last year's numbers. If the trend takes hold, the WTO predicts that the billion tourist threshold will be reached by the end of the year.

Compared with the first five months of the year, which saw an average increase in tourists hovering around 5%, June and July were a bit slower, with respective increases of 2.7% and 1.4%.

The surge was more pronounced in August (+4%), which is generally the most travel-friendly month of the year.

The best figures come from tourism towards the Asia-Pacific region (+7%) and Africa (+6%). Europe (+3%) and the Americas (+4%) also increased their numbers of visitors.

In the Middle East, tourism seems to be rebounding, although the numbers are still down year on year (-1%). Last year's tourist numbers for the region painted an even more pessimistic picture, with a 7 percent drop.

Barely-legal Justin Bieber is being initiated into adulthood with his very own sex doll.

Enter the "Just-in Beaver" blow-up sex doll made by Pipedream Products.

The plastic, bisexual boy toy, touted to be "Finally 18!" and "Ready to Rock Your World!," is modeled by a Bieber lookalike wearing a sideways hat and a boyish grin.

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The "Girlfriend" singer celebrated his 18th birthday back in March, and now the sex toy industry is celebrating Bieber's manhood with a "love doll" in his likeness.

"Meet Just-In Beaver, the barely legal boy-toy who's waited 18 long years to stick his lil' dicky in something sticky!" reads Pipedream's description of the Bieber sex doll. "When he's not busy beating up paparazzi or beating off, he's up to his high-tops in hot Hollywood tail! But the Beave-ster doesn't have this effect just on women -- he turns straight men gay faster than you can peel his skinny jeans off! So what are you waiting for, inflate this lil’ pricks's ego even more and have your very own Beaver bash!"

Just-in Beaver is available for purchase on Amazon, with prices ranging from $20 to $138.

The doll follows the California-based company's "Finally Mylie," a sex doll made to resemble the now 19-year-old former Disney star, Miley Cyrus.

Bieber's kinky counterpart may not be available for long. Even though Bieber himself is not named in the product or product description, the teenybopper could sue for the company's use of his celebrity. "Considering the doll is unlicensed, chances are it won’t be available to the public for very long," ONTD notes.

In February, Bieber and his people handed a cease and desist order to RC3 for developing a mobile game app called "Joustin' Beaver," TMZ reported. The cartoon game features a beaver Bieber, dressed in a purple hoodie and rocking a mop of tousled hair, that gamers must defend from the "phot-hogs." The company rejected the demand, claiming its game is a parody and protected under the First Amendment.

While the sex doll may be marketed toward gay men, Bieber is already a hit with many lesbians -- or at least his once famous haircut is. The tumblr blog "Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber," which has been featured in NY magazine and GQ as well as on "TMZ" and "The Insider," was created more than two years ago by Dannielle Owens-Reid, "a biebian from South Carolina who loves Justin Bieber and the lesbians who look like him."

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Bob Dylan says he thinks President Barack Obama is going to win a landslide.

Dylan made the prediction Monday night midway through the song "Blowin' in the Wind" during a concert in the battleground state of Wisconsin.

Dylan spoke to the Madison audience as he was wrapping up his concert that came just hours after Obama appeared at a morning rally in the same city with rocker Bruce Springsteen.

Dylan made his comments during his encore when he said, "We tried to play good tonight since the president was here today."

He went on to say he thinks Obama will prevail Tuesday.

Dylan says, "Don't believe the media. I think it's going to be a landslide."

After his comments, Dylan completed the song to the roar of the crowd.

Turns out you can’t dress a blonde white girl up as a Native American and make her dance around tepees sending smoke signals into the air anymore without accusations of racial stereotyping. That’s what happened with No Doubt’s video for Looking Hot. They pulled down the video mere days after putting it up due to complaints. No Doubt posted this message on their website.

    As a multi-racial band our foundation is built upon both diversity and consideration for other cultures. Our intention with our new video was never to offend, hurt or trivialize Native American people, their culture or their history.   Although we consulted with Native American friends and Native American studies experts at the University of California, we realize now that we have offended people.  This is of great concern to us and we are removing the video immediately.  The music that inspired us when we started the band, and the community of friends, family, and fans that surrounds us was built upon respect, unity and inclusiveness.  We sincerely apologize to the Native American community and anyone else offended by this video.  Being hurtful to anyone is simply not who we are.

Gilbert Gottfried is the king of it. When I approached him a few years ago at the Friars Club about how more fans are bothering celebrities to get pictures on their phones, here's how the encounter went down. (This never made it to print. You'll probably see why.)

Mandy: "What do you think of people who ask to take pictures with celebrities? I mean I've done it with you."

Gilbert: "I beg your pardon. You've done it with me? I should've remembered!"

Mandy: "Every which way. But no. In the age of Facebook, people take pictures of celebrities and put it online like, 'Oh look it's me hanging out with my buddy; we hang out all the time.' So do you have advice for fans about how to approach you?"

Gilbert: "Well one day someone's going to ask to have their picture taken with me, and then I'll let you know."

Mandy: "Shut up."

Gilbert: "No, you shut up. You shut the fuck up. Fuck you. You shut up. Fuck you. Fuck you. You jerk."

(Hysterical laughter.)

Mandy: "OK, I will fuck myself, and I’ll shut up. You know I took a picture with you once, and you made me go to the back of Caroline's."

Gilbert: "I always feel like whenever anyone takes a picture of me, it’s like they’re hoping, 'Well, just in case he pulls out a gun and shoots people, like blows up a school building or something, I’ll have a picture of him that I can show, and then it’ll be worth something.'"

Mandy: "Well, you’re famous, come on."

Gilbert: "Yes, yes I am. I’m pretty famous."

I realize that some people think that there are certain things that shouldn't be joked about -- like a shooting spree, say -- but to me, potentially offensive humor about incredibly dark subjects is one of the most liberating things in the world. It de-claws the power of the awfulness of the subject matter, breaking down the fear and power and stigma.

So when I saw Gilbert recently, at the roast of Anthony Bourdain (where the lovely Bonnie McFarlane brought me as a guest), I asked if I could do a quickie interview for xoJane, and he, naturally, responded by saying how enormous his penis is. I turned my iPhone on, and captured him in his element.

Gilbert: "My penis is about 37 inches, and that's just in width."

Mandy: "How does that affect your comedy?"

Gilbert: "It affects it because it's harder and harder to climb up on stage. I usually need to put it in a wheelbarrow, and sometimes I have an entourage just to carry my penis."

When I told him that one of the main search terms that leads people to xoJane is "tiny penis," Gilbert's only advice for those men in bed was to make "lots and lots of money."

But my favorite tidbit he gave me was when I asked if he gave any sexual tips -- as someone so blessed with a 37-inch-wide cock -- in his very funny new book "Rubber Balls and Liquor," and Gilbert said, "Yes, I give advice on tweets to send out."

I was working full time (and then some) in advertising sales and had racked up $40,000-$50,000 in debt from student loans, car loans and credit cards, not to mention my mortgage. But it didn’t really worry me at the time -- I thought it was just how life worked.

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Then I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

It was the last thing I was expecting. It never crossed my mind that I could get diagnosed with something like MS. In fact, when I was diagnosed, I was training for a bike ride to raise funds for MS research!

As I started learning more about the disease, it became clear to me that my excessive lifestyle -- spending too much, running around like crazy -- had contributed to my illness. So I started changing things. First my money, then my lifestyle.

Phase One: Money

First, I looked at our money situation. Our lifestyle simply wasn’t sustainable. I couldn’t figure out how my husband and I could both work full-time jobs and still live paycheck to paycheck. We had 401(k)s and were paying our expenses, but we also had a lot of debt.

Because we were working so much (my husband is a service director in the automotive industry), we had this mentality that we deserved to be rewarded. I was constantly spending on clothing and accessories; my husband and I would treat ourselves to dinners out and expensive vacations. Otherwise, why work so hard?

Sparked by my diagnosis, I made the decision to simplify my life, and paying down our debt was one of the first ways I did it. We stopped using credit cards and started saying no. Recently, we were invited on a European vacation with our family. In the past, we might have just charged it, but instead we stayed home.

We started chipping away at over $30,000 of student loans, car payments and credit card debt by paying off the smallest debt first, then used that momentum to keep paying the rest. My diagnosis means I do have significant medical costs, but we use a Health Savings Account to stay on top of that.

And our measures have paid off: As another benefit of living debt-free, I was able to leave my job in 2011 to concentrate on my writing, photography and business consulting.

Phase Two: Downsizing Our Possessions

Next, I started paring down my clothes. That effort was connected to my project of saving and paying down debt, since a lot of my money was going to clothing and accessories and gorgeous purses I thought I couldn’t live without.

I started Project 333 through my blog, which encourages participants to scale down their wardrobe to 33 items for three months at a time. I chose the threes because a) I live in a four-season state, so thought it made sense to plan three months at a time and b) I wanted to choose a number that was low enough to challenge me and blog readers, but not so low that it seemed too extreme.

With my own pursuit of Project 333 going so well for two years, I came across Dave Bruno’s 100 Thing Challenge, in which he challenged himself to pare down his possessions to only 100 things, to break free of American consumerism and prove that he could live with less.

I amended his rules to suit my own life (which he encourages) and decided to take part in the 100 Thing Challenge, myself. My version of the rules were:

As long as the total is 100, it’s okay to lose one thing and gain another–I can change my list any time.

If someone gives me a gift that I mean to keep, it must replace an existing item.

Underwear collectively counts as one item and so do another few groupings, like electronic chargers.

I would only reduce my personal items to 100 (clothing, makeup, accessories, gadgets), not household items.

I’ll continue to live within the parameters of Project 333, as I’ve been doing for two years.

If it’s too much, then I’ll modify it further or discontinue. Though after about four months, I still haven’t had to!

If you’re interested in which 100 things I chose to keep, you can see the complete list on my blog.

How Living With Less Changed My Family

People always ask how my family dealt with my paring down, and I answer that you don’t force your family to come on board -- they have to make that choice themselves.

My daughter is 17, and one of the best things that’s come from this is the open dialogue about money in our family. She will be heading off to college soon, and we’re being realistic about what we can and can’t afford, and what kind of grants and scholarships we might need. Student loans are a non-option (it took me almost two decades to pay off my student loans, and I don’t want that for her). With our new spending habits, my husband and I can put my daughter through school at a reasonably priced institution.

My daughter knows that I budget every two weeks, and if she wants or needs something within that time, she has to talk to me about fitting it into the budget. A lot is going to change for her as she becomes an adult, but hopefully we’ve instilled the lesson that you spend what you have, and no more. (Inspired? We have tips on setting up your own budget.)

“Now, we’re using your eggs,” Dr. Waller points his pen at Dashiell. “Am I right?”

Dashiell nods. I feel that Dashiell is probably biting back a “Yes, sir.” Dashiell talks like someone from another era. He’s so polite, it’s like he’s fucking with you, but he’s not. Once a car almost hit us, and he yelped, “Criminy!”

“’Criminy?’” I repeated for blocks. It was more of a surprise than almost getting run down. “When your life flashes before your eyes, that is the word that just comes out? ‘Criminy?’” Dashiell could say nothing in her defense, just blush a charming shade of pink and smile.

“Well, that should not be a problem, then,” Dr. Waller smiles at Dashiell. “You should have a lot of eggs.” Incidentally, no one is calling Dashiell Dashiell here. She is going by the name on her insurance and all her IDs: Anne. I never thought I’d have any feelings about Dashiell’s old name, as it just seemed very ill suited for her, but now when I have to use it -- in a situation like this, or around her mom -- I find myself completely smitten with it. Now that she’s Dashiell, the name Anne seems especially tender. I get melty knowing she’s Dashiell but has this other secret name. Or maybe Dashiell is the secret name?

I can spin out on this dreamy philosophizing about my beloved’s enigmatic gender, but we’re not here for that. We’re here to learn how babies are made. When they’re made in clinics.

The longhaired, 15-year-old, non-les resident breaks it down for us, drawing it out on paper while she speaks. She’s a little tentative. She tells us that Dashiell will be given medication to stimulate the ovaries.

The resident stammers, and Dr. Waller takes over. “What we’ll see on your ultrasound today isn’t the eggs, because the eggs are too small, right? You can’t see them. What we see is the fluid the eggs are living inside. You’ll have a bunch of them in there, but then each month one outgrows the rest, and that’s the egg that gets ovulated. And that one egg suppresses the rest of them. They just die.”

Wait a second! This is big information! The whole narrative around conception is always about that one sperm: the mighty, hardy, fastest, luckiest sperm that outraces all the other sperm and grabs onto the long blond weave of the Rapunzel egg just sitting passively in her castle and, BAM, it totally bores into her and knocks her up! All the activity is on the man-side. This half-assed factoid has laid the foundation of a millennia of misogyny, casting men as active go-getters and women as passive and fragile.

How is it that I am forty-one years old and I am just now learning that there is a race to the death happening inside my body every month? That some intense Alpha Egg is growing silently inside of me, indistinguishable from all the others until one day she just surges, stealing all the space and energy from the other nests, buffing up to make the trip down the fallopian highway?

It was announced Tuesday that Disney had purchased Lucasfilm, and thus the "Star Wars" franchise. While reactions to the deal have been mixed, one thing that is universal is the buzz surrounding the 2015 release of "Star Wars: Episode VII."

Who better to get an opinion from than Mark Hamill himself? The Playlist posted a clip Saturday from a 1983 interview with the Luke Skywalker actor discussing the future of the films.

"It's the last one for everyone except for the two robots - they're the only ones who go through the whole three trilogies, the nine stories." Hamill tells Maria Shriver, who is sporting a delightfully '80s look. "When you see the ending, you'll see why [Return of the Jedi] has to be the last one, period."

The interview took place days before the premiere of the then-final "Star Wars" film, "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi." Hamill spoke at the time of three trilogies, so the plans for a seventh movie shouldn't be a complete surprise. He also talks about the possibility of coming back in the far-off year of 2004 to appear in the ninth and final film.

President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney entered the final days of the presidential race tied in a state that the campaigns only recently began contesting, a Tribune-Review poll shows.

The poll showed the race for Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes locked up at 47 percent in its final week. Romney was scheduled to campaign in the Philadelphia area on Sunday, and former President Bill Clinton planned to stump for Obama on Monday. The campaigns have begun to saturate the airwaves with millions of dollars in presidential advertising.

“They’re both in here because of exactly what you’re seeing” in this poll, said Jim Lee, president of Susquehanna Polling & Research, which surveyed 800 likely voters Oct. 29-31. Most of the interviews occurred after Hurricane Sandy inundated Eastern and Central Pennsylvania. The poll’s error margin is 3.46 percentage points.

Nearly 60 percent of people say the country is on the wrong track, and economic concerns continue to dominate. Almost half of likely voters say economic issues are the primary driver of their choice for president.

“I’m concerned about all the young people graduating from college, whether they’re finding jobs,” said Pauline Hoxie, 84, a Republican from Jersey Shore in Lycoming County. Her grandson graduated with a degree in graphic design but works a manual labor job because he can’t find openings in his field, she said.

Democrats shrugged off the Romney campaign’s late play for Pennsylvania, sending emails to supporters and journalists showing past Republican presidential candidates doing the same thing. Pennsylvania hasn’t given its electoral votes to the Republican candidate since 1988.

The state’s urban, suburban and rural voters usually give winners narrower victories than Obama’s 10-point win in 2008. John Kerry won by 2.5 percentage points in 2004; Al Gore won by 4.2 in 2000.

Though Sean Connery is solidly cemented in cinematic history as the original 007, it's become a well-known bit of Bond lore that some legendary actors were initially considered for the part, including Cary Grant, David Niven, and Richard Burton. However, not so well-known are the talented actors that current Bond Daniel Craig beat out to become the fresh new face of the aging franchise.

In a casting process that lasted nearly two years, Craig beat out over 200 would-be Bonds before officially stepping into 007's no-longer-white dinner jacket for "Casino Royale" (2006). Part of the reason behind the lengthy casting process was that producer Barbara Broccoli and Bond's new distributor, Sony, couldn't agree on the right actor to help lead the franchise in a grittier, post 9/11 direction.

At Sony's behest, an extensive net was thrown across the British Commonwealth and beyond. Orlando Bloom, Clive Owen, Colin Farrell, Karl Urban, and Gerard Butler were discussed. Rumors also circled around Ewan McGregor, Hugh Jackman, and Jude Law. But none of these men were ever considered serious enough to merit a screen test. Besides Craig, only four potential candidates made it that far.

Before making a household name for himself in "Avatar" (2009) and "Clash of the Titans" (2010), Australian Sam Worthington was offered to screen test to play Bond in "Casino Royale". Ultimately, he lost the role, but Worthington does credit the experience as a vital prelude to landing the part of Jake Sully in "Avatar" (2009). "I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. I thought the least I'll get out of this is to act a few scenes with James Cameron, and that's a hell of an opportunity. I learned that from going for the James Bond audition," said Worthington.

Daniel Craig in Sony Pictures' 'Casino Royale'Another relatively unknown 007 screen tester who's gone on to heroic heights is Henry Cavill. According to the ultimate Bond fan site, CommanderBond.net, "Casino Royale" director Martin Campbell considered Cavil right up until the very end, when the director opted for Craig instead, feeling that at 22, Cavil would be too young to play the superspy. In another sour casting note, Cavill was "Twilight" creator Stephenie Meyer's first choice to play Edward Cullen, the part for which Robert Pattinson continues to make mad bank. Everything seems to have worked out okay though, as Cavill's set to play Superman in this summer's probable blockbuster, "Man of Steel".

After impressing Campbell in a screen test for "The Legend of Zorro" (2005), Croatian Goran Visnjic was invited to screen test for 007, even though English isn't his native tongue. Visnjic, who was best known for playing Dr. Luka Kovac on "ER," obviously didn't land the role, but he has worked steadily in film and TV ever since, including an upcoming part in Ridley Scott's "The Counselor" (2013), which also stars "Skyfall" baddie Javier Bardem.

Finally, another Aussie, Alex O'Loughlin screen tested for Campbell in full wardrobe. Since then, he's gone onto some choice TV roles, as Detective Kevin Hiatt on "The Shield" and as Steve McGarrett on "Hawaii Five-0".

Ultimately, both Broccoli and Sony agreed that their Bond should be reborn in the same dark vein as Jason Bourne, the part Matt Damon had successfully commandeered in "The Bourne Identity" (2002) and "The Bourne Supremacy" (2004). After nearly 200 candidates and five screen tests, the two sides finally came together and agreed on Craig, the thoroughbred Broccoli had been backing since before Sony came on board. Considering how savvy Barbara Broccoli is, in her mind, it was probably never really a competition at all.

Christie’s New York featured exceptional diamonds and pearls in their fall jewelry auction on October 16. It was Christie’s first auction of the autumn season and featured a dazzling array of magnificent jewels from rare gemstones to flawless diamonds, natural pearls and signed pearls, considered some of the best to come up for sale in the last five years.

Rahul Kadakia, Head of Jewellery for Christie’s America and Switzerland, explained: “Our team of jewellery specialists has spent the summer months gathering the finest gems to match current collecting tastes, including top-quality diamonds, natural pearls, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, rare vintage jewels and highly coveted, contemporary creations from the best designers.”

Stunning diamond jewels weighing more than 50 carats each and exceedingly rare double strand of large natural pearls were among the scores of top-quality gems offered from the finest makers. Diamonds in excess of 50ct each achieved in excess of $35 million from 369 lots. Selling for $3.1million, the 68.35ct fancy oval-cut intense yellow diamond is internally flawless and a magnificent sight.

Even more exquisite was a pear-shaped D-colour impeccable diamond pendant necklace going for an astonishing, $9.5million. This stunning necklace goes well with the diamond ear pendants that went for $4.7million. The stone is mounted in platinum and may be worn dangling from a necklace with a 2.28 carat, circular-cut D-color diamond surmount, available with a GIA certificate noting the stone’s exceptional polish and outstanding symmetry.

Although diamonds are a girl’s best friend, it wasn’t all about diamonds. Made up of 120 large pearls, ranging in colours from white to light creams, a rare double strand of natural pearls, complete with a 3ct D-colour diamond clasp signed by Cartier, reached its estimate of $3.5 million.

Also up for auction were a range of signed jewelry by Van Cleef & Arpels … the more colourful of these were two mystery-set pieces. Tripling it’s estimate with a $278,500 sale, the “honeycomb” motif ruby and diamond bracelet uses the exclusive setting technique to great effect – the hexagonal stones create a brilliant contrast with the curve of the bracelet. A pair of ruby and diamond ear clips with matching brooch, also by Van Cleef & Arpels, in the form of a flower blossom with diamond pistils and leaves, went for nearly three times its estimate, selling for $260,500.

If you were wondering where Nicki Minaj gets her English accent from, you can look no further than Scary Spice and Hermione Granger.

Speaking to The Gaurdian, Minaj says she perfected her British tone by listening to Mel B from the Spice Girls and "Harry Potter" star Emma Watson. Though she was born in Trinidad, Minaj has been working on her accent for years and credits U.K. celebrities for giving her the perfect model to follow.

"There are so many, but one person was Scary Spice. I used to listen to her all the time and try to make the same faces she'd make when she was talking," she said. "Oh, and Hermione from 'Harry Potter.'"

Minaj is currently preparing to release "Pink Friday Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up," an extended version of her sophomore album "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded."

She kicked off the project with the Cassie-assisted single "The Boys." "The Re-Up" will hit store shelves on November 19 internationally.