Several celebrities have visited Capital Hill in the past two weeks to testify and represent causes. In many cases the celebrities went through tragedy and adversity and became committed and knowledgeable about issues that personally affected them. In other cases they became involved with specific causes they feel passionate about. Either way, they’re bringing attention to important issues and making a difference. I’d rather see a celebrity testifying in front of a committee than shopping, eating out, or worse getting a DUI, but unfortunately the latter get a lot more attention.

5/21/08: Breast cancer survivor Sheryl Crow testifies in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s health subcommittee to support a bill funding breast cancer research. Crow emphasized that she has no family history of breast cancer, and said “I want to know what causes this disease. We need to put more resources into figuring out what the environment has to do with breast cancer.” [Paraphrased from Houston Chronicle. You can view Crow’s testimony as a Real Media file thanks to C-Span.org]

5/21/08: Michael Douglas meets with Indiana Senator Richard Lugar at The Capitol to urge him to prevent the spread and use of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons as a director of the Ploughshares Fund organization [Description verbatim from WENN]

5/20/08: United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) goodwill ambassador Geri Halliwell and Care ambassador Christy Turlington hold a rally and press conference with congresswomen and fistula survivors. They urged support of a new bill promoting maternal health throughout the world. [Details paraphrased from Baltimore Sun]

5/14/08: Ed Norton testifies in front of the The House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming. He is a trustee of Enterprise Community Partners, which was founded by his grandfather and builds affordable homes using green building practices for low income families. He said “The legacy of my generation is going to hinge on how we respond to these revelations that we’re not living sustainably, and that we’re altering the environment.” [Quote and details paraphrased from Peopletreefilms. Video is available on Globalwarming.house.gov - scroll to the last video in the list]

5/14/08: Dennis Quaid testifies in front of the House Reform and Government Oversight Committee urging Congress not to support a measure by the drug companies that would make them immune from lawsuits. He is suing company Baxter Healthcare Corp after a known second preventable mixup in which his newborn twins almost died after being given 1,000 times the dosage of Heparin, a blood thinner. Batches of Heparin have since been recalled for an unrelated incident in which the drug became tainted at a manufacturing plant in China, resulting in 19 known deaths. Dennis Quaid’s twins are healthy at five and a half months old, and are not thought to suffer lasting effects from the near-fatal overdose. [Details paraphrased from MSNBC. Quaid’s testimony is available on House.gov as a PDF file and the video is available as a Real Media file from C-span.org]

5/8/08: Cancer survivor, founder of a cancer advocacy nonprofit organization, and seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, testifies in front of The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Cancer: Challenges and Opportunities in the 21st Century. [From Senate.gov, where there’s also a video of Lance’s testimony]

Thanks to WENN for these photos.

Catherine Zeta-Jones is nothing if not optimistic. The girl with it all, Hollywood husband, two cute kiddies, and that beauty, says she still has great things coming to her – she hasn’t reached her sexual peak.

I don’t mean the big ‘O’, I’m talking about her sexual appeal level. She talks about her career future and hints that she’s going to get naked for her next role:

“Obviously, my career is expanding and I am a mother and so I’m not going to be rip-roaring in corsets playing a 19-year-old because I’m not, I’m 38 years old,” she told reporters.

“I’m actually really lucky and glad these other roles have come along and I can play a mother.”

But, she said, she wasn’t about to abandon sexy roles altogether.

“In my next movie, which is an untitled movie at the moment, you’ll be seeing a lot more of me, put it that way,” she said.

“I’m not going to be playing old grannies anytime soon.

“You see, I haven’t actually reached my sexiest point yet.”

New Zealand Herald

What Catherine isn’t saying is that her most beautiful, physically perfect days are to come, but that her sexiest days are to come. I’m sure that Catherine will never again have the tight bottom and abs of steel of a teenager, but she can be sexy right up until her death. Sexy is not really a physical thing but an emotional thing, the way you feel about yourself.

I’m finding the whole concept of being sexy right into my 80s very heartening.

On a side note, I recently saw this picture of Michael Douglas last year and realized what happens when a young woman marries an attractive middle aged man – a few years down the line she’s still sexy, and he looks old. Very old. I don’t think he’s too bothered about it though – he’s going to bed with Catherine Zeta Jones. The couple were married in 2000 and have two children children Dylan, 7, and Carys, 4.

Catherine made her comments while in Sydney promoting her new film Death Defying Acts, which is a fictional story about an invented affair that Harry Houdini had with a Scottish con woman who claimed she could help him contact his dead mother. It also stars Guy Pearce. According to IMDB, it is due for release in Australia on March 13, and will be out in South Korea, Brazil, Spain and Russia by the end of April. It was premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September of last year and is not slated yet for a US release. Cinematical says it’s a decent film and that Zeta-Jones gives a good performance, but that the chemistry between the lead characters is lacking and that gets boring toward the end.

Catherine Zeta-Jones is shown at the premiere of the film in Sydney yesterday.

I’m not that up on the gossip from when I was younger so I never knew that Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas had something going on during the filming of Romancing the Stone, which came out in 1984. It could have been common knowledge, but it’s news to me. The Daily Mail has some excerpts from Turner’s upcoming biography and she says that she had a “romance” with Douglas when they were on set at the time and he was still married. She doesn’t get into specifics, but claims she thought he was separated from this then-wife, Diandra Luker, to whom he was married from 1977 to 2000. Then Diandra showed up on set to try and patch things up with Douglas and Turner got the hint:

The film was being shot high in the mountains in Jalapa, Mexico. Up there, any entertainment and fun had to come from what we did together - which usually also involved the actor Danny DeVito…

Michael and I did some very challenging stunts together for the film, and the mutual trust and emotional connection we had enabled us to take on whatever hair-raising perils were necessary.

As shooting progressed, the spirit of adventure caught all of us. We were adventuring by day and by night. I knew that Michael and Diandra, his wife at the time, were separated, so I figured a romance was OK, it was fair. It was a very heady time and I thought: “Oh, I’m falling bad.”

Then Diandra showed up in Mexico, wanting to reconcile with her husband - and I saw that Michael wasn’t free to pursue another relationship. We couldn’t keep up the romance, but we kept our friendship. Michael always says very nice things about me. . . as well he should.

[Excerpt from Send Yourself Roses by Kathleen Turner, available on The Daily Mail]

Turner also talked about how she turned to alcohol, especially vodka, to cope with the pain of rheumatoid arthritis. She said it became a problem for her and that she ended up taking Antabuse to try and quit. She went to rehab and tried AA, where she found she wasn’t as anonymous as she hoped. She said the lowest point for her was in 2002 when she was working on the stage version of The Graduate:

When my pain from the illness was at its worst, I discovered that vodka killed it quite wonderfully. I didn’t want to take painkillers because I didn’t like the way they mucked up my mind, so I used alcohol instead. Stupidly, I didn’t consider that alcohol mucks up your mind, too.

The drinking fed a self-destructive spiral. Like the drugs I was taking for the arthritis, alcohol was a depressant - and when I took them in combination, their depressive effects multiplied. I started to question whether life was really worth living.

Like the drugs, the alcohol was also a disinhibitor. And, in my case, an intense and immense anger would come out of me when I was disinhibited.

Eventually, I became dependent on vodka. I never drank to excess before a show; alcohol didn’t damage my work, but it did damage me personally…

I hit my lowest point in 2002 during rehearsals for the play of The Graduate, which was about to open in New York after a successful London run. At the intermission, I peeled off to a restaurant to collect some shopping bags I’d left there earlier.

But when I arrived, I had a vodka. Then I had another vodka. And another. How many, I don’t remember. At some point, I collapsed in the bathroom. Very discreetly, the manager got me up to the office and called my husband.

Evidently, I fought Jay when he got there. He had to call a friend, who came to help bundle me into a car. Somehow, I’d turned from a charming drinker who could be the life and soul of a party into a really nasty drunk. Nor was it the first time I’d been drinking until I passed out.

The next day, after I’d apologised to Jay, I went to rehearsal and said to the cast: “I’m having a drinking problem. I have these pills that will make me desperately ill if I drink. I’m going to give them to the stage manager and he’s going to give me one a day. I will not be a problem again.”

[Excerpt from Send Yourself Roses by Kathleen Turner, available on The Daily Mail]

Turner says that she was “drinking to excess on occasion right up till two years ago. I’d be fine during the working week and then, on my day off, I’d drink too much.”

I saw her on stage in the one-woman show Tallulah in 2000, where she portrayed the actress Tallulah Bankhead and her decent into alcoholism. She was fabulous on it, and it seemed like she had a lot of personal experience to draw on. Turner, now 53, has gained some weight since she was on stage in Tallulah. She’s probably had some plastic surgery but it’s subtle and not overdone. Good for her for speaking candidly about her addictions and maybe she can help others by speaking out.

According to Turner’s website and IMDB, she had a guest appearance on Nip/Tuck in 2006 and was in stage performances in NY in “The Exonerated” in 2003 and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in 2005.

Turner is shown below on 11/30/06, thanks to PRPhotos.

Michael Douglas may lead a pretty charmed life with wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, but his adult son from his first marriage, Cameron, can’t quite say the same. He was found with liquid cocaine in his car in Santa Barbara and charged with being under the influence of a controlled substance and felony possession of a controlled substance. Didn’t he watch his dad in “Traffic?”

Cameron Douglas, 28, the son of actor Michael Douglas, is to stand trial on cocaine possession charges in the US. Christopher Lane, 30, Cameron Douglas’s companion, shares the charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of a hypodermic needle. An extra charge of being under the influence of a controlled substance was added for Mr. Douglas.

A Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputy says Mr. Douglas and Mr. Lane were found in a car near a motel on 22 July. Deputy James McKarrell, the only witness at the hearing, said he and another deputy found a syringe on the car floorboard with liquid cocaine in it. The deputy said Mr. Lane claimed ownership of the syringe, and both men were arrested. But Mr. Douglas’s lawyer, Juan Huerta, said Mr. McKarrell failed to do his job by not testing the two men for sobriety. Superior Court Judge Joseph Lodge upheld the charges at a pre-trial hearing. The men are due to make their first court appearance for the case on 16 November.

[From the BBC]

Well that must be quite the feather in their father’s cap. Michael Douglas recently described his close relationship with his two young kids with Catherine Zeta Jones as very close. “I go to school events and recitals and all that stuff. I pick them up after school. I love it. It keeps me out of trouble. We spend a lot of time together as a family unit.” Let’s hope he’s as close to Cameron, and will get him some help. I’m no drug expert, but I’m pretty sure liquid anything is a really, really bad idea.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Cameron at the “It Runs In The Family” premiere in April 2003. Image thanks to PR Photos. Header image at the “A father… A son… Once upon a time in Hollywood” premiere in July 2005. Images thanks to WENN. Inset image of Douglas’s booking photo.

I pride myself on being a down-to-earth sort who shops at Old Navy and Ross and still buys her jewelry at Claire’s. But every once in a while, even I become stricken with envy at the sight of beautiful, sparkly jewelry. The older I get, the prettier it all gets. A lot of people would argue that the best part of being a celebrity is all the swag. Catherine Zeta-Jones was recently the guest of honor for the high-end jewelry line Di Modolo, and showed up wearing over $2 million in diamonds. The article doesn’t say if the diamonds were her own, given to her by Di Modolo, or just on loan, but I think it’s safe to say that most of us are pretty freaking jealous. Don’t lie guys, you find the sparkles intriguing too. I know how men are with shiny objects.

“A svelte Catherine Zeta-Jones sparkled in £1million of diamonds at a party to launch a high-end jewelry range. The Ocean’s 13 star was in attendance as the face of the Di Modolo line, and she certainly dressed for the occasion, wearing a purple strapless cocktail dress accessorized with a diamond necklace and matching earrings. Zeta Jones, 38, was the guest of honor at the unveiling of a watch range by jewelers Di Modolo in New York, and was clearly enjoying being the centre of attention - or maybe she just enjoyed wearing the diamonds. Looking a million dollars - literally - Zeta Jones showed off her trim figure, and her beautifully shiny locks.

“Husband and double Oscar winner husband Michael Douglas, recently revealed just what attracted him to his Welsh-born wife. He said: ‘We share the same birthday. We both like golf. We both like to do the crossword puzzle. We both love the news.’ And surprisingly, the Hollywood power couple don’t like watching films either. ‘Neither of us is a big movie fan’, said 68-year-old Michael. ‘We like making movies but we do have to make an effort to watch them. We’re big on kids’ movies, though’. The couple’s two children Dylan, 7, and Carys, 4 are what really keeps them busy - and close. Douglas told the Daily Express: ‘I go to school events and recitals and all that stuff. I pick them up after school. I love it. It keeps me out of trouble. We spend a lot of time together as a family unit.’”

[From the Daily Mail]

That’s so freaking sweet. If my heart hadn’t turned stone cold recently, I would find that really touching. So know that intellectually, I find that really touching. I know that people mocked Douglas and Zeta-Jones a lot for their age difference, but I think they seem really happy and well-adjusted. They definitely do a good job of laying pretty low, while still being glamorous. My ultimate goal in life. That’s pretty classy. They’re not in your face or anything. Now if only I could find a knock-off for $2 million worth of diamonds from Claire’s, I’d be all set.

Micheal Douglas just looks really scared in this picture that reveals how he’s let his hair, but not his face, go to seed. He was photographed while out celebrating his dad, actor Kirk Douglas’, 90th birthday:

As his hair turned increasingly grey the Hollywood star had regular highlights in the past to keep it a more youthful blonde.

But these days it seems he is finally ready to start looking his age - at least as far as his hair and eyebrows are concerned.

Pictured leaving The Ivy restaurant in Beverly Hills with his 37-year-old wife Catherine Zeta Jones, Douglas had reverted to his natural grey.

Wearing a cream jacket and lilac top with purple trousers and sunglasses he walked in from of Miss Zeta-Jones who looked stunning in a low-cut black dress and diamond necklace…

Over the years speculation has been rife about Douglas’s enduring good looks.

The actor, who turned 62 in September, has denied having any cosmetic procedures despite reports that he had paid £7,000 to “freshen up” his features with a face and eye lift before his marriage to Miss Zeta-Jones.

And last year, when the couple, who have two children, Dylan, six, and Carys, three, holidayed in Barbados, the Fatal Attraction star was seen with two bleeding scars in front of both ears.

His publicist denied surgery, insisting he had had two benign lesions removed from his face.

Later that week he appeared on the beach showing off a newly toned physique, prompting speculation he had also had liposuction a and a tummy tuck.

And this summer he was spotted with a remarkably smooth wrinkle-free face above a wrinkly, haggard neck, which experts said could prove he had had some kind of cosmetic treatment. He was in Los Angeles with his wife to celebrate his father Kirk’s 90th birthday.

Kirk Douglas issued a cool press release to the young ‘uns on his 90th birthday. He urges us to vote and get involved in making a difference in the world and says if we don’t know who he is we can just Google him!

There’s a rumor that Brad Pitt requested that Catherine Zeta-Jones’ character meet an untimely death in Oceans 13, due to the nasty comments about his relationship with Angeilna made by her husband, Michael Douglas:

Brad may seem like a pansy now that he’s holing up in Namibia with Angelina, but he may be capable of being fierce when someone mocks him. Or maybe Angelina put him him up to it.

Update: Al Pacino has joined Oceans 13.

Angelina’s exclusive interview from Namibia with Ann Curry will air on the Today show tomorrow morning at 7am and on Dateline Sunday at 7pm. Angelina says she doesn’t talk about her relationship with Brad either to the press or with Brad himself and that she hopes to bring awareness to the need for education for children around the world.

She also said she knows the sex of the baby, but won’t reveal it.

Here’s a picture of Angelina with Anne Curry.

Now that Michael Douglas is wearing a beard to hide his surgery scars, he’s trying to make it the fashion by badgering other men about their grooming habits:

No, Douglas, you shut the fuck up. Just because you’re getting old doesn’t mean you have to complain about younger men. You’ve surely used some cosmetics in your day.

Douglas was in NY last night to lend his support to the UN’s fight against landmines at a lavish fundraising dinner. He presented the Adopt-A-Minefield’s humanitarian award to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Douglas’ wife, Catherine Zeta Jones, must be getting sick of the crap he says because she wasn’t at the dinner with him. Jones is filming “Mostly Martha” in NY and is presumably in the same town. Both Jones and her husband were said to be attending the dinner in earlier reports.

Here is Douglas at the UN dinner last night. He is pictured with Kofi Annan and musician Moby.

Michael Douglas talks trash about Brad Pitt after leaving his own wife for 25 year-younger Catherine “the Zeta is for cosmetic purposes” Jones. He gets a lot of plastic surgery to stay young-looking in youth-obsessed Hollywood, but decides to say screw it by growing a long beard. He’s probably just trying to hide the evidence.

Michael Douglas was at the Bermuda International Film Festival today to receive the “Prospero” award for excellence in film. Bermuda has another reason to kiss Douglas’ ass. He has entered into a partnership with Hilton to redo a hotel he owns on the island:

Here’s Douglas the hotel mogul and grumpy washed-up film star in all his plaid-shirted glory.