Simon Cowell to wed four times in three countries

It must be tough when you’ve got so much money and (presumably) so many people you need to invite to a wedding.

Simon Cowell’s way of sorting this out is to have four weddings, according to his brother Tony.

Cowell and fiancée Mezhgan Hussainy will have ceremonies in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Barbados and… Brighton, with the pop mogul’s mother Julie assisting with arrangements.

Just imagine having to plan four ceremonies. It’s stressful enough sorting one out, but then when you have that much cash presumably you outsource a lot of the arrangements and preparations.

No date for the wedding, in any location, has been publicly revealed yet.

Via

Is Disney about to take on Cheryl Cole?

Recent reports suggest that family-friendly Disney is about to make Cheryl Cole their new face, allowing her to follow in the footsteps of Miley Cyrus, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens.

The Daily Mirror reports “Cheryl is the full package. She’s got it all – brains, beauty, and a hint of bolshyness. It’s unbelievable the amount of interest she stirred up in the Disney Studios following her recent trips to Los Angeles, where she was making a music video.

“That ‘Parachute’ video with Derek Hough, who is massive in the States because of ‘Dancing with the Stars’, really showed just how graceful and dynamic she can be.”

What do you reckon? Is Cheryl a good fit for Disney?

Via

Larry King ready to divorce seventh wife

Brits may not recognise the name Larry King, unless they are avid fans of American chat shows, but the talking point here is just how many wives he has got through.

News today suggests that he is ready to divorce his seventh wife (and in fact has filed for divorce eight times).

In fact, with his seventh wife Shawn Southwick he’s done rather well as (celebrity) marriages go — managing 13 years and having two sons with her.

However, it all sounds pretty acrimonious now, with reports that King is petitioning a judge not to award 50-year-old Southwick spousal support or transfer of property to her.

He’s also seeking joint custody of the kids, while his wife wants sole custody.

The guy is getting on a bit, though, and as Southwick was only 28 years his junior, perhaps he’s looking for a younger model to take him into his octogenarian years.

Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren divorce ‘imminent’

You don’t have to look far in celebrity world to find the next divorce statistic, and you’d probably be assured of a dead cert where Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren are concerned.

Woods may have returned to golf, but the notable absence of his wife must’ve sent the alarm bells into overdrive.

US news show Entertainment Tonight has reported that Nordegren is close to filing for divorce.

“For weeks now there have been rumours that Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren might reconcile and save their marriage,” reported correspondent Kevin Frazier.

“It was believed by going to sex rehab that Tiger had done just enough to keep his family together. But sources have told me that the marriage is indeed over.”

Via

Sandra Bullock: Cheat on her, you get nothing

It turns out that the near-ubiquitous prenuptial agreement that every celebrity couple now arranges before the wedding day has worked in savvy Sandra Bullock’s favour.

Perhaps you’d expect the potential breakup of Sandra and husband Jesse James to net him a handsome chunk of her fortune, but the fact is that he messed about with another woman (women) — something expressly forbidden not only by the marriage vows but also by the pre-nup.

When you can’t stay faithful — five times — to your wife and still expect something in return, you’re deluding yourself.

Via

Russell Brand and Katy Perry get engaged

Controversial comedian Russell Brand and singer Katy Perry have announced their engagement while on holiday in India on New Year’s Eve.

According to The Sun newspaper, their relationship was blessed by a “love guru”. The couple have since been celebrating in Thailand.

Perry, 25, said of their relationship, “The wonderful thing is we both have our own kind of separate talents, careers and lives and we really respect each other”.

Twelve toys of Christmas: under £50 toys a hit this year

Last month’s industry research found that British kids are hankering for sub-£50 toys and games this Christmas.

That’s probably good news for cash-strapped parents.

A few old favourites get makeovers, including LEGO, Monopoly and Transformers.

The Toy Retailers Association found that the average price of a toy on the top dozen list was around £26. That’s £6 less than two years ago.

“With licensed toys combining the fun and familiarity of popular characters as well as collectable, pocket money priced toys making a big comeback this year, we are in for an affordable, family orientated Christmas,” said the association’s chairman Gary Grant.

“The list also reveals a trend towards nostalgic characters and brands which have been updated with a modern twist. Consumers are reverting back to heritage brands which will last longer than the Christmas season.”

The dozen is:

1. Bakugan Battle Pack
2. Battle Strikers Starter Set
3. Ben 10 Alien Force Kevin’s DX Action Cruiser
4. Bendaroos Mega Pack
5. Go Go Pets Hamster
6. GX Racers Tightrope Terror
7. Kidizoom Multimedia Digital Camera
8. LEGO Games 3841 Minotaurus
9. Monopoly City
10. Princess Peppa’s Palace
11. Sylvanian Families Caravan
12. Transformers Movie 2 Voyagers Figures

Child-friendly alarm clock plays “What’s the time Mister Wolf”

The “Teach Me Time” talking alarm clock is the perfect invention for young children who are learning to tell the time, as well as their parents who can help to reinforce bedtime and getting-up-time rules.

The clock has both analogue and digital clocks, so a child learns to tell the time in two different ways at the same time.

There’s also a Teach Me Time game which puts a random time on the analogue clock and asks the child to say what time it is.

The alarm clock also features a dual-coloured night-light which glows green when it’s “OK to wake” and glows a soft yellow colour throughout bedtime.

Available in three different colours for £39.99.

Buy the Teach Me Time! Talking Alarm Clock & Nightlight

Gadget Watch: Firefly glowPhone

Here’s a really simple mobile phone designed for younger children. The bright pink (or black) Firefly glowPhone is simple to set up and only has five main buttons, arranged in a butterfly pattern, so is much easier and less fiddly to use for small fingers.

Two of the buttons can be assigned to call mum or dad, while the middle one has arrow keys for moving around options. There’s a 1.5-inch colour screen which can display customised wallpapers, and there are also built-in games and ringtones.

Important features include an emergency button on the side of the phone, and the ability for parents to lock the phone to allow certain calls to be made or received.

The phone works on Pay-As-You-Go, so your child won’t rack up a huge phone bill.

If you think your younger child should own a mobile phone (half of under-10s in the UK do, apparently) then this might be worth considering. It’s likely that older kids and teenagers will want the latest, expensive, “grown-up” mainstream mobile phones.

The handset launch has been delayed but it’s expected to cost around £85 and you’ll find places to buy it at the Firefly Mobile Ireland web site.

(Via Tech Digest)

Gadget Watch: The rise of Blu-ray

This post looks at one of the latest bits of home entertainment kit. You’ve probably started to hear “Blu-ray” mentioned at the end of adverts for films. Read on for an explanation and find out how you can enter the world of high definition.

The rise of high-definition TV formatting and Blu-ray has seen a change in home entertainment and we are now able to create a full cinema experience within the family home, which is a great bonus during the currently economic climate.

What is Blu-ray? Blu-ray is a high-definition disc format and DVD is a standard-definition format. The higher definition means that Blu-ray is a significant improvement over DVD in terms of picture and sound quality, delivering a whole new exciting way to experience movies, games and music. Blu-ray discs play through either a BD player or Playstation III enabling the highest quality viewing experience available to date.

This new technology often sounds intimidating, however it’s surprisingly simple to use! You don’t have to throw out the existing collection of DVDs as they still play on these machines and in fact the Blu-ray player will even enhance the quality of your DVDs. Price has also been a worry in the past but this is a another surprise, with BD players now starting at £80.00 and Blu-ray discs available nationwide.

So, is Blu-ray here to stay? It’s a resounding yes, as 3D TV is still a little way off the HD images that Blu-ray provides are second to none. I recently viewed Disney’s Enchanted on both DVD and Blu-ray, the difference was astounding and I was able to create the cinema experience from my very own living room with a little help from the kids.

The science bit, how does it work?

The Blu-ray Disc offers better video quality and to do this each disc needs to hold more information so it is burnt using a different laser to a DVD. As these discs can hold more content they also have an array of bonus features and many players now offer connection to the Internet. This enables you to download additional content or features about the program or movie you are viewing.

With Blu-ray sales predicted to exceed 15m in 2009 we have been quicker to switch to the format than we were to relinquish the VHS. Recent sales figures from Disney home entertainment show that 1 in 10 sales of Wall-E were purchased on Blu-ray rather than DVD.

It’s actually quite simple:

1. Make sure your TV is HD ready – check to see if there is an HD symbol on your TV as nearly half of all homes in the UK already have an HD TV.

2. Get a Blu-ray player. There are over 67 different players now available, prices starting from £80.00.

3. Connect your Blu-ray player to your HD TV with an HDMI cable – it should be in the box with your Blu-ray player.

4. Blu-ray not only looks better but it sounds better too. Enjoy this enhanced audio quality with a simple surround sound system.

5. Connect to the Internet through your Blu-ray player to download bonus features and games that you and the kids can enjoy (most modern Blu-ray players support this feature – look for ones that say “BD Live”).

For more information on family titles available on Blu-ray visit http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/bluray/

Internet Watch: Such A Smart Mom

A new web site has launched — SuchASmartMom.com — which lets parents pool resources by asking questions of other parents.

Shrinking school budgets, crowded classrooms and fiercer-than-ever competition to get into college make it more important than ever for parents to be involved in their children’s education.

“As a mom, I understand all too well that parents have just 13 precious years to get their kids from kindergarten to college,” said site creator Ruth McKinnie Braun. “Such A Smart Mom will be there every step of the way as a trusted resource.”

Braun started Such A Smart Mom after more than two decades as a reporter and editor at The San Diego Union-Tribune. She’s a mother of two teens and a former parent group president with more than a decade of school volunteer experience.

Her extensive background in journalism shows through in the caliber of her reporting and writing. Her instincts as a mom and parent volunteer guide her story choices and bring a unique voice to her first-person blog that also appears on Such A Smart Mom.

“Our children can’t put their education on hold until the economy turns around,” Braun said. “Their time to learn is now. Fortunately, smart moms and dads can turn to Such A Smart Mom to help their kids get where they need to go.”

Celebrity Watch: Katie and Peter, Jennifer Aniston/Bradley Cooper

Katie and Peter

Rumours surrounding Katie Price and Peter Andre continue regarding what led the couple to split.

One thing seems certain: the newspapers won’t leave this alone, even suggesting that they have an intimate knowledge of the couple’s sex life.

Jennifer Aniston/Bradley Cooper

Reports suggest that Bradley Cooper is very flattered to have been romantically linked to Jennifer Aniston, even though the rumours are completely untrue.

“My mom loves it, but, unfortunately, it’s not true,” Cooper said.

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