Pizza Day

Today is pizza day at work. It’s kind of like pretzel day but not quite as good. Although the cookies are yummy!

In Theaters:
Hannibal Rising
Norbit
The Lives of Others (Limited)
Burning Annie (Limited)
The Last Sin Eater (Limited)

NASCAR Update:
The lineup for the Budweiser Shoot-Out is set. Dale Jarrett will be on the pole. He’ll be joined on the front row by Scott Riggs. Boris Said, the top starting Ford will pull off from the third spot and Kyle Busch, the highest starting Chevy will begin from the sixth spot. For a complete list head over to foxsports.com.

NASCAR’s season unofficially begins with the Budweiser Shoot-Out. It will air live on FOX at 8 PM/est

Around Sports:
Basketball
Congratulations to Albert Pujols. The St. Louis Cardinals MVP got a perfect score on his U.S. citizenship test. Pujols is originally from the Dominican Repbulic.

College Basketball
What the men couldn’t get done on Wednesday night in Durham, the woman did on Thursday night in Chapel Hill, as the #1 Duke Woman’s BB team beat #2 UNC, 564-53 to improve to 25-0! (AP)

College Football
USC is looking into whether they violated NCAA policy when they recruited Joe McKnight. McKnight made reference to a conversation he had with former USC player Reggie Bush. Bush currently plays for the New Orleans Saints. Under NCAA rules, a former player cannot have contact with a prospective recruit or said recruit’s family. OK, so this is a case when honesty is no the best policy. (AP)

NHRA
Ashley Force finished sixth in her professional debut, the first round of Funny Car qualifying at the CARQUEST Winternationals. (AP)

Rugby
The Australian Rugby team, South Sydney Rabbitohs Club, whose part owner is Russell Crowe, will be cutting its cheerleading squad and will replace them with a team of percussionists. Crowe called the cheerleaders distracting and made people in the crowd uncomfortable. Anyone interested in joining the drumline should go to souths.com.au. But keep in mind try outs are on Monday in Australia! (si.com)

Around the World:
Sir Richard Branson is offering up $25 million to anyone who discovers a way to eliminate greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. (AP)

Oswego County in New York State has been hit by non-stop snow storms for the past five days dumping as much as 100 inches (6+ ft.) of snow. There seems to be no end in sight. Gov. Eliot Spitzer has declared a state on emergency in effected areas. (AP)

Popo in my crib News:
Bryant Jackson, the only member of the Pacers-Pistons brawl of 2004 to face criminal charges will spend six months in jail after he was found guilty of violating his probation by not attending anger management classes. Jackson threw a chair during the fight. Watch out Bryant, because the popo are on your tail! (AP)

Jadakiss entered a not guilty plea on his gun and drug related charges. Jada aka Jason Phillips was arrested on October 7th in Yonkers, NY. Watch out Jadakiss, because the popo are on your tail! (AP)

Celebrity Tid Bits:
Congratulations to Kevin Costner and his wife Christine. The couple is expecting their first child. Costner has three children from a previous marriage. (people.com)

BREAK UP-ALERT: Mischa Barton and Cisco Adler

Julia Roberts and Carrie-Ann Moss have signed on to star in the dram Fireflies in the Garden. Emily Watson and Ryan Reynolds are in negotiations. (hollywoodreporter.com)

Country came out to support “The Soul of Country.” The Soul is this year’s Grammy Foundation preservation project. Porter Wagner in his Los Angeles debut, Marty Stuart, LeAnn Rimes, Shooter Jennings, Joe Nichols and others performed a concert highlighting country music’s rich history. (AP)

TV ALERT: Keith Urban will perform on “Saturday Night Live” on Saturday (duh) @ 11:35 PM/est on NBC

R.Kelly was forced to cancel an appearance after he underwent emergency appendectomy surgery on Sunday. (AP)

Happy Birthday shout outs to David Gallagher (22), Mena Suvari (28), Amber Valleta (33), Travis Tritt (44), Judith Light (58), Mia Farrow (62), Joe Pesci (64) and Carole King (64).

It’s been fun blogging with you,
Kate