The daily dish... a spicy serving of celebrity news
What’s in a name? ...
One reason Jessica Alba named her baby daughter Honor was that she felt her own name was pretty bland.
“I was always irritated that my name was Jessica,” the 27-year-old actress tells OK! magazine. “Come on, it’s a very ’80s name, because there were tons of Jessicas in every school I went to. There’s something great about having a unique name. It’s a part of your identity.”
She and husband Cash Warren welcomed Honor Marie Warren last month. Alba reportedly sold the first shots of Honor to OK! for $1.5 million.
Who will be the disciplinarian?
“I think we’re pretty even,” Alba said. “We’re good at communicating and bouncing things off each other. We’ll stick to our guns, even when she gives us the pout face!”
Warren, however, aims to be the good cop: “I’ll hide. Babe, you punish her!”
Making music ...
In Eric Idle’s world, a leaf blower is part of the orchestra.
The Monty Python star and “Spamalot” writer is bringing his silliness back to the stage with “Not the Messiah,” a musical comedy hodgepodge that features a full orchestra and the occasional leaf blower.
“Musically we’ve put it in,” Idle said.
After putting on the production in Toronto and Sydney, Australia, (and a one-off performance in upstate New York), Idle and composer-conductor John Du Prez are bringing the show stateside for a limited run.
“Not the Messiah” gives a musical stage treatment to “Life of Brian” the way “Spamalot” did for “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
“In many ways, ‘Spamalot’ made it possible for us to do this sort of thing,” Idle said. “People take us seriously that we’ll put it on, but also it means that we’re not so obsessed, we don’t have to make a fortune out of it, we can just make it work for its own cost.”
Ferrell knows best ...
Will Ferrell played Nicole Kidman’s husband in 2005’s “Bewitched” — and if she needs parenting tips, he’s available.
“For me, talk to your children, at least once a week,” Ferrell, the father of sons Magnus, 4, and Mattias, 1, joked to People magazine at the premiere of “Step Brothers” in L. A.
“If you’ve got time, do it two or three times a week,” he adds. “But otherwise, I find the times where I let weeks and weeks go by without talking to my children, that adds up.”
Week-old news of Kidman’s baby’s birth was slow getting to Ferrell. Kidman’s daughter, Sunday Rose, was born July 7.
“I actually didn’t know that,” Ferrell said, when asked about the birth. “Congratulations, Nicole! Did she have a boy or girl? A daughter. That’s great!”
Beating the booze ...
Ronnie Wood has entered a rehabilitation facility for help with alcoholism, said a spokeswoman for the Rolling Stones guitarist.
“Following Ronnie’s continued battle with alcohol he has entered a period of rehab,” the spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity. “His close family and friends say he is seeking help and look forward to his recovery.”
Wood, 61, has fought a long battle with alcoholism during his rock ’n’ roll career, which started in the 1960s when he played with the band the Faces.
The craggy guitarist had seemed to be in good health in recent years.
