JOLIE-PITT HOUSEHOLD CELEBRATE DIFFERENT CULTURES AT CHRISTMAS

ANGELINA JOLIE and BRAD PITT will ensure their children celebrate a variety of different cultures at Christmas.The couple, who have three adopted children as well as their own biological daughter, hope to educate their family about customs from their native cultures – but they’re planning Christian celebrations too.Jolie says, "We haven’t decided what we’re doing for Christmas (but) we try to celebrate as many cultures as possible. We celebrate the Moon Festival for my boys, who are from Asia." The 32-year-old actress and her partner Pitt have a multi-cultural brood consisting of Maddox, six, from Cambodia; Pax, three, from Vietnam; and Zahara, two, from Ethiopia – as well as their own child, 17-month-old Shiloh.

Christmas Miracle: Angelina Jolie Welcomes Back Jon Voight?

Did Angelina Jolie pull a Grinch on Christmas?  Has her heart grown to three times its size?  Many observers find it more than a bit disturbing that she continues to keep her after Jon Voight on the outside of her life.  That means she keeps him away from the grandkids as well.Now In Touch Weekly is set to publish a cover story on the relationship with Angie and her father.  The tease has been released online and the magazine calls it “A Christmas Miracle.”Brad Pitt has long pushed for Jolie and her father to reunite and just recently Voight was on a early morning show from Fox and wished his daughter Brad and the kids a “Merry Christmas” and sent out love to his daughter and her family.  It was a class act and perhaps Jolie has finally seen the error of her ways of disowning her loving dad.In Touch reports that “As Angelina Jolie quietly celebrates in New Orleans, she lets her estranged father back into her life.”   This would be good news for the grandkids.  Jolie and her father have been estranged since he went on Access Hollywood in 2002 and said that he hoped Angie would seek help for what he called serious mental problems.

Jolie, Pitt lend their voices to help kids still homeless after …

NEW ORLEANS – Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt used their star power Saturday to help the Children’s Health Fund focus attention on the more than 46,000 children still displaced 2?? years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed their homes.

Jolie said her work as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees prompted her to get involved with the CHF’s effort.

“This is the largest displacement of children in my own country so I want to learn as much as possible,” she said at a news conference.

A report issued earlier this month by the CHF found that 46,000 to 64,000 children affected by the hurricanes were still at risk for a host of medical, mental health and educational problems complicated by a lack of support services.

“Many families are distressed about how long and difficult the recovery has been,” said Dr. Irwin Redlener, president of the CHF and director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, which conducted the study.

“We’re concerned that this issue has fallen off the radar screen and that, nationally, people are losing interest, saying this is a ‘local’ issue. We dispute that. This is a national problem and one that requires an intense and focused effort to fix,” Redlener said.

Redlener said it was “unacceptable” that more than two years families were still living in federally issued travel trailers or other temporary locations. “This is an American challenge that should have been met a long time ago but hasn’t.”

Jolie said that in her travels she has seen many children who feel defeated.

The difference here, she said, is that children “are feisty, fun and full of pride. They know where they’re going and what they’re going to do. It’s that kind of spirit that will help everyone get through this.”

Pitt and Jolie have made New Orleans their home since the hurricanes and have been working to help the area recover.

“We’re focused on community building,” Pitt said. “It’s not just about homes. It’s not just about building. It’s about the lack of focus on education and health care too.”

Pitt has pledged more than $5 million to Make it Right, a project to rebuild 150 homes in the Katrina-devastated Lower 9th Ward, one of the city’s most impoverished neighbourhoods.

Redlener said his group and the Regional Consortium for Children in the Gulf, a coalition of several groups, have devised a “prescription for what must happen now,” with proposals including:

-Urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a process that ensures that every relocated family goes into appropriate housing in safe neighbourhoods with access to schools, community based sources of social support and health care.

-Urging federal and local officials to ensure access to onsite health care and mental health services for families still living in temporary housing.

-Creating relocation options for families who want to leave the Gulf Coast and move to other communities.

The year in music

Dream and nightmare reunions, a free album, and no shoot-outs

MANILA, Philippines—To get a sense of music in 2007, you need not look further than Top 40 radio, which, in this country, translates to practically every radio station playlist (yes, even those that ask if it’s necessary to memorize).

In the near future, when a “Music of 2007” category pops up in Jeopardy!, it would probably read like a laundry list of hits from acts such as Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Fall Out Boy and Akon. But really, there’s more to the music scene, since this is the year that hell froze over and albums came for free.

Earth-shattering

Just like Eagles did early on, and the Pixies quite recently, a number of influential bands dusted off their instruments for dream reunions.

The biggest of the year, and perhaps the most earth-shattering, was the reformation of rock gods Led Zeppelin. The band, which now has Jason Bonham, the son of long-time drummer John Bonham, on the skins, recently played their first concert in 27 years in London’s O2 Arena. Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham left their fans one message at the end of night. “We were the best, and still are.”

It is still unclear whether the one-night-only show would translate to a full-blown tour. There are encouraging signs, though, with rumors of the band in talks to play at London’s Wembley Stadium and at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The latter was the site of their concert film “The Song Remains The Same.”

Another group that got back together was The Police, which reunited early in the year in celebration of their 30th anniversary. The group unveiled their reformation by playing at this year’s Grammy Awards. They played “Roxanne,” their first hit single in the States.

The Police opened their reunion tour, their first since 1984, in May in Vancouver. They will swing by Southeast Asia on Feb. 4, 2008 to play a show in Singapore. Oh, and by the way, Van Halen and Genesis are also back together.

Jolie, Pitt Aid Youngest Katrina Victims

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt used their star power Saturday to help The Children’s Health Fund focus attention on the more than 46,000 children still displaced 2 1/2 years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed their homes.

Jolie said her work as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees prompted her to get involved with the CHF’s effort.

“This is the largest displacement of children in my own country so I want to learn as much as possible,” she said at a news conference.

A report issued earlier this month by the CHF found that 46,000 to 64,000 children affected by the hurricanes were still at risk for a host of medical, mental health and educational problems complicated by a lack of support services.

“Many families are distressed about how long and difficult the recovery has been,” said Dr. Irwin Redlener, president of the CHF and director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, which conducted the study.

“We’re concerned that this issue has fallen off the radar screen and that, nationally, people are losing interest, saying this is a ‘local’ issue. We dispute that. This is a national problem and one that requires an intense and focused effort to fix,” Redlener said.

Redlener said it was “unacceptable” that more than two years families were still living in federally issued travel trailers or other temporary locations. “This is an American challenge that should have been met a long time ago but hasn’t.”

Jolie said that in her travels she has seen many children who feel defeated.

The difference here, she said, is that children “are feisty, fun and full of pride. They know where they’re going and what they’re going to do. It’s that kind of spirit that will help everyone get through this.”

Pitt and Jolie have made New Orleans their home since the hurricanes and have been working to help the area recover.

“We’re focused on community building,” Pitt said. “It’s not just about homes. It’s not just about building. It’s about the lack of focus on education and health care too.”

Pitt has pledged more than $5 million to Make it Right, a project to rebuild 150 homes in the Katrina-devastated Lower 9th Ward, one of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods.

Redlener said his group and the Regional Consortium for Children in the Gulf, a coalition of several groups, have devised a “prescription for what must happen now,” with proposals including:

_Urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a process that ensures that every relocated family goes into appropriate housing in safe neighborhoods with access to schools, community based sources of social support and health care.

_Urging federal and local officials to ensure access to onsite health care and mental health services for families still living in temporary housing.

_Creating relocation options for families who want to leave the Gulf Coast and move to other communities.

Nickelodeon is Spears-ed

It may be difficult to drum up sympathy for a television network, but it’s hard not to feel sorry for Nickelodeon.

The cable/satellite channel, which has for decades provided an incredible amount of family friendly programming, finds itself caught in the scandal surrounding 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears’ pregnancy.

If Spears were the star of some series on Showtime — or even something on Fox or CBS — there would be a good deal of tsk-tsking over her situation. She is the younger sister of Britney Spears, so even if Jamie Lynn wasn’t on a TV show, her pregnancy at 16 would make headlines.

But she’s the star of a TV series on Nickelodeon, which as always gone out of its way to provide role models. It’s been a safe haven for parents with young kids.

“Zoey 101″ is a sitcom about teens that’s intended for teens and pre-teens. Spears stars as Zoey, who attends a boarding school with a bunch of wholesome kids who tell wholesome jokes while getting into wholesome trouble.

The kids and tweens who are “Zoey 101″ fans no doubt have heard about the Spears pregnancy. And there will be some questions for parents about how Zoey could have done what she did.

And that should be an excellent opportunity for parents to talk to their kids about how characters on TV and in movies are not the same as the people who play them.

Some are calling for Nickelodeon to pull the show off the air immediately. And to cancel the fourth (and, as previously announced, final) season of “Zoey 101,” which is scheduled to begin in February.

But that fourth season wrapped production months ago. Nickelodeon invested millions of dollars in the show — which remains as wholesome as anything on TV — so should the network be forced to lose all that money because of the behavior of its star?

It shouldn’t come as any surprise to anyone older than the age of, well, 16 that TV is fantasy, not reality. Some of the family friendliest shows are populated by actors (and writer and producers and directors) whose lives are quite different from what they’re putting on television. And, by the same token, some of the nicest people on Earth play mean, rotten, underhanded characters.

Kids should know that fact.

Nickelodeon executives are considering a “Nick News” special of some sort to explore the real-life issues surrounding the teenager who stars in “Zoey 101.” Given the exceptional quality of past Linda Ellerbee’s previous “Nick News” productions — which have explored everything from AIDS to school shootings to the reasons behind President Bill Clinton’s impeachment — that’s not a bad idea at all.

Jamie Lynn Spears is an actress who plays a character. Even if parents don’t approve of the actress’ behavior, teaching kids to distinguish between fantasy and reality at an early age is a valuable lesson.

in the wake of the “Survivor: China” finale — it was almost laughable if it hadn’t been so sad.

You may recall that Utahn Todd Herzog was criticized in some quarters because he lied and backstabbed his way to winning the “Survivor” competition for the million-dollar prize.

Angelina Jolie's sex love

The ‘Beowulf’ star – who has four children with boyfriend Brad Pitt – likes nothing more than rolling around naked with other men in front of the cameras.

Angelina said: “A physical thing is, for some people, like me, very easy. You find something about that person that you love and you enjoy, that you truly embrace and have fun with, and you just enjoy each other.

“You’re two adults and you enjoy each other and you know that it doesn’t mean anything – whatever it was is left there.”

Earlier this year, Angelina shared a sex scene with Brad’s good friend Matt Damon when she played his wife in ‘The Good Shepherd’.

Matt said at the time: “Doing a love scene with the girlfriend of a good friend is weird. We all know each other.”

Angelina insisted: “In reality both the people we’re involved with couldn’t have cared less about that because they know us. It’s one of those things where it’s like the least threatening person. You know, ‘Good luck to you guys, I hope it’s not too awkward.’

“The difference between kissing Matt and kissing Brad is simple.  One’s a friend and the other is my lover.”

Celebrities share their plans for a jolly Christmas

Only love on this heiress’s wish listParis Hilton, that Simple Life girl, has a simple, one-item Christmas list. The heiress confided to London paparazzi that she just wants “a man to fall in love with, one for life, that I can start a family with.”

Suri headed to Colorado with the folksActress Katie Holmes told Parade magazine that she and husband Tom Cruise will spend Christmas in Colorado with daughter Suri. Tom’s parents and Katie’s will be there, too. “I have always been a huge fan of the holidays,” Holmes said. “My birthday is December 18th, so it’s my favorite time of the year. I’m from a big family, and we always did a grand Christmas Eve with all of the relatives … To be able to create a tradition for your children is one of the best gifts you can have.”

Jolie will try cooking this ‘festive period’Actress and self-confessed bad cook Angelina Jolie will try her hand at whipping up Christmas dinner for boyfriend Brad Pitt and their brood today — but she’ll have a fallback option if she messes up. The family is celebrating what Jolie calls “the festive period” at their $3.5 million mansion in New Orleans. “I’ve never really cooked before,” Jolie told the Sunday Express of London. “But this year, I’m going to try to cook a turkey with the kids. In case it doesn’t work out,we’ll have a pizza waiting.”

Short takes:

Entertainment Tonight asked some celebrities about how they celebrate Christmas.

• “We have mariachis come to the house at midnight on Christmas Eve,” newly married Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria said.

• Actor Charlie Sheen says his family will sing The Twelve Days of Christmas, as it does every year, at the insistence of patriarch Martin Sheen. Everybody has to sing every verse.

• Actress Nicole Kidman says Christmas turns her into a little kid again. “I love Christmas trees because of the sparkly lights,” she said. “I sound like I’m 5!”

• American Idol emcee Ryan Seacrest, who now works Christmas Day doing the Disneyland Parade for TV and helps Dick Clark welcome the new year, said he has to make sure he doesn’t get injured. “We do fondue for Christmas, that’s our tradition,” he says. “I always make sure I don’t stab myself before the New Year’s Eve show.”

• Christmas looks a lot like any other day to CNN newsman Anderson Cooper. “To be honest, I usually end up working, which is a little pathetic,” he said.

50 Cent Softens Image With "Happy Gangsta Xmas"

FARMINGTON, Connecticut. Rapper Curtis Jackson, better known as "50 Cent", says he always gets sentimental at Christmas time, which may explain why his first release of holiday tunes-"A Happy Gangsta Xmas"-is winning him fans beyond his usual base of hard-core hip hop aficionadoes."I got a little guy, you know?" Jackson says of his ten year-old son, Marquise. "Christmas is for kids, that's what I tell the mall cops when I go shopping."Jackson's street-hardened image undergoes a makeover on the album, with wistful tunes that deck the holiday season in sentimental trimming. "Sorry I Have to Blow You Away On This Holiest of Days" is an anthem to those who, like the cocaine dealer Jackson used to be, must work on Christmas. "I feel for guys at gas stations and toll takers on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge," Cent says. "If I was mayor I'd give 'em all the day off."Jackson takes his listeners on a joyous ride through his home turf of Brooklyn on "We'll Be Pistol Whippin' Santa After Hijacking His Sleigh", a rollicking tale of a posse that stops Santa on his way to Manhattan and distributes high-end toys from F.

50 Cent treats Kosovo

Multi-platinum selling US rapper 50 Cent performed in Kosovo. It was the first concert ever performed by an international superstar in the breakaway Serbian province.The concert sold out 10 hours after tickets were released, with a crowd of more than 28,000."This is my third world tour and how can I call it a tour if I’m not going everywhere." 50 Cent said. "I think it’s great I have 25,000 people purchased tickets to the performance in less than eight hours. It’s amazing. I understand that. I came to entertain the world. My ambition is to put on a great show. I’m not a government. I don’t actually want to control the world. Everybody has different opinions how I should actually be.