FLASH LITES: RIP ‘N’ READ POP CULTURE RECAP

FLASH LITES: RIP ‘N’ READ POP CULTURE RECAP



BOSTON (Wireless Flash) – The owner of the Bull & Finch pub, the inspiration for TV’s Cheers, will soon open a replica of the TV show bar to satisfy disappointed tourists who expect to see his bar resemble the sitcom set. The new bar will even include Sam Malone’s Red Sox jacket and Cliff’s mail carrier uniform.

LOS ANGELES – A slice of American Pie 2 is up for auction. The 1986 blue Ford Bronco that Chris Klein’s character, Oz, drove in the movie is being auctioned at Bidbay.com. The opening bid is set at $10,000.

SEATTLE – Just how neurotic is Woody Allen? He’s so neurotic he can’t even recommend his own films. The bespectacled star recently introduced a screener audience to his latest flick, The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion, by saying: “I can’t vouch for this film, in all honesty. I hope that you like it, but I can’t guarantee that you will.”

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Would you want to take a cable car departing from the tallest building in the world? It may soon be possible. Plans have been proposed for a cable car to link the Petronas Towers in Malaysia with a casino 30 miles away.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Florida-based telemarketers who manage TV psychic “Miss Cleo,” have been ordered to pay $75,000 for violating Missouri’s no-call law soliciting her phone clients.

LONDON – Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling has lodged a formal complaint to a press industry group after OK! magazine published several photos of her 8-year-old daughter playing on a private beach along with Rowling and a male friend.

MINNETONKA, Minn. – Howard Bauman, a Pillsbury food scientist who led the effort to develop space food for astronauts, died at 76 last week of complications from pulmonary disease. He designed meals that could resist high temperatures and humidity and last for 30 days without refrigeration.

NEW YORK – Don’t expect Bill Clinton’s memoirs to rip apart Kenneth Starr or Newt Gingrich. According to Newsweek, the former prez has been telling friends his book, “...may not be as mean as some people want it to be,” and is about setting the record straight, not settling scores.

EAU CLAIRE, Wisc. – Insane Clown Posse rapper Shaggy 2 Dope has pleaded no contest to charges of battery and disorderly conduct stemming from a May 4 fight at a Wisconsin bar. He has also paid $396 in fines and court costs.

LONDON – Another ’80s comeback is coming to light: Alison Moyet of Yaz. The pop icon made her acting debut last night in a production of the musical Chicago running on London’s West End.