Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter to be 2nd time parents!

Little Billy Burton is going to be a big brother!  Director Tim Burton (Nightmare Before Christmas, Sweeny Todd),  and his girlfriend, actress Helena Bonham Carter (Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix, Sweeny Todd) have announced they are expecting their second child, due in December.

The couple met during the filming of Planet of the Apes, which was directed by Burton and in which she starred.  Their first son, Billy, is 3.

‘We’re back to square one’

More bad news for people who have had a lifetime’s worth already. Continuing activity within the earth, ’seismic and tectonic’, has not only halted workers attempting to rescue 6 buried miners. It’s set them back.

“There is absolutely no way that through our underground rescue effort we can reach the vicinity of the trapped miners for at least one week,” said Robert Murray, CEO of Murray Energy, the parent company of the mine’s operator.

He went on to say that whilst we may know the status of the miners in 48-72 hours, it will take longer to reach them.

The miners are 2000 feet from the nearest access point.

A drilling rig has been flown in via helicopter. It could get a 2 inch hole, ‘enough to get in air, food and water and possibly establish communication,’ probably the way rescuers could know in 2-3 days about the miners.

A miner’s daughter, Ariana Sanchez, told AP that her father Manuel Sanchez, 42, is one of the trapped men. Three of the 6 are Mexican nationals, all are ‘family men, in their early 20 to late 40s.’ The only other miner whose name has been made available is Kerry Allred.

Source: CNN.com

Perez Hilton raps?!

MTV is creating a new reality show called Rappin’ With the Stars.  According to Broadcasting & Cable:

The show pairs celebs with professional hip-hop emcees in a rap competition à la ABC hit Dancing With the Stars.

Rumoured possible participants include Nicole Eggert (Baywatch), Aaron Carter (singer, House of Carters), and Perez Hilton (Hollywood’s most hated blogger).

And that’s not it for Perez’s television endeavours.   He is also set to appear on his own reality show on VH1, What Perez Sez.

Looking forward to the second show… I think Perez is a must-read for any gossip-blogger.  The first show, not so much… I love Aaron to death, but I don’t think this show is going to do so well…

Source:  Broadcasting & Cable

‘Baby Einstein’ a fraud

Baby development videos can actually slow a baby’s development!  Infants aged 8-16 months who watch them understand 6-8 less words, on average, than their counterparts.  The results for the 17-24 months age group showed neither a positive nor negative effect.

Dr Susan Linn, co-founder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood coalition, accused sellers of the baby development DVDs of “false and deceptive marketing”.

“Not only is there no evidence that baby videos do any of the things the baby video industry claims they do, but these media may actually be undermining the development of the very skills they claim to foster,” she said.

Dr Linn has filed a formal complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission over the DVDs.

My friend’s little brother ‘watches’ them and at two years old he’s barely talking.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald