Simon Sebag
Montefiore The
historian about town last week signed a deal with Miramax for his
biography, Young Stalin, to be adapted for the cinema. The screenwriter is to be John Hodge, best known for
his Trainspotting script. Debauchery, violence
and poverty - perfect.
Thomas
Allinson A
Victorian doctor struck off by the GMC in 1894 has attracted a bit of
belated support. A pamphlet of
his, republished last week, warned against smoking, a salt-rich diet and
overeating and promoted vegetables and long walks by the sea. No wonder
the Victorian establishment tried so hard to silence him.
Eddie
Murphy The Hollywood star put Spice Girls
paternity
suits behind him and married his girlfriend Tracey Edmonds on new
year's day on a private island in French
Polynesia. Hush those pesky people who
suggest that the happy couple didn't actually fulfil the 30-day residency
requirement for their marriage to be legally valid.
Yo! It's the new word we've
all been waiting for, according to linguistics experts. Apparently, as
well as standing in for 'hello', it's now also being used as a substitute
for 'their'. As in 'everyone has yo opinion'. Not quite in The Observer
style book just yet.
Equality
A female,
heterosexual nightclub bouncer has won
damages from a gay nightclub, where she says she faced discrimination for
being a 'breeder'.
Why, as the song said, can't we
all live together?
Nicholas
Soames The rotund Tory MP and descendant of
Winston Churchill has been reported to the police by anti-hunting
activists for riding a quad bike
with passengers in a trailer, while following his local hunt.
The allegation is
that he was on a public road. And this counts - tut, tut - as breaking
passenger-safety laws. Shame. We always hate seeing a giant brought
low.
Eternity
A 15ft
'eternal flame' given to Bournemouthby its local churches to mark the
millennium has been extinguished.
It was costing £8,000 annually
and not proving terribly good for the environment as it burned gas.
Eternity is so over ...
Paul McCartney Sony/ATV, which
owns the rights to Beatles songs, has decided to allow some of the songs
to be used in advertising for the first time. Procter & Gamble plans
to make use of the new ruling, with (wait for it) 'All You Need Is Luvs'
to promote Luvs nappies - or diapers as the
locals will have it - in America.