No problem, and your VERY welcome.

Ben & Jen: Fact or Fiction

Since they started dating, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have cornered the market on magazine covers, but how many of the headlines are true? Ben and Jen separated the fact from fiction.

"When you're sitting around, do you realize how fascinated America is by you?" Access Hollywood's own Pat O'Brien asked the power couple.

"It's so weird to even hear you say that!" laughed Jen. "No, we don't sit around here and think about that. We sit around here and I play the piano, and we just sing show tunes."

Here's the reality: This pair can't even count on privacy at their Canadian lakeside hideaway, and they're never safe from the relentless rumors.

"Is it hurtful? The whole diva stuff, the entourage?" Pat asked Jen.

"Yeah it can be hurtful," she replied. "I think people are always surprised when I go work on a movie or go do something, when I show up with just me, my cousin, who's my assistant [laughs] and the driver. They're like 'Well where's everybody else?' [laughs] This is it!"

And there's no limit to how ridiculous the gossip can get.

"Another one came out of London and it was like a thread count thing on your sheets," said Pat.

"A 250-thread count, like I had to have that to sleep and I had to have it in every hotel, which is a complete and utter lie!" insisted Jen.

Ben's not immune either.

"Well, there are all these car rumors..." said Pat.

"Yeah, I somehow have 8,000 cars," said Ben. "I wish. Where are all the cars? I want the cars!" He turned to Jen and joked "Sometimes I wonder, do you think that I actually bought those cars, but they're for another girl who's getting all the gifts?"

The "Gigli" Love Scene and the Halle Connection

Ben and Jen's "Gigli" love scene shows that the couple certainly has plenty of chemistry on-screen as well as offscreen.

"So the first time you kissed was in a movie? The first time you kissed was on screen, right?" "Yes," said Ben.

The passion in "Gigli" goes well beyond the innocent stage during what Access calls the 'yoga scene.'

"Tell me about the yoga scene, which I'm obviously obsessed with," said Pat. "I can't blame him, really. The yoga scene's a big crowd pleaser -- people love it," said Ben. The scene -- which starts with Jennifer, shall we say, "discussing" the finer points of love -- floored Jennifer when she watched it with Ben for the first time.

"You were a little terrified?" asked Pat. "I wanted to die!" replied Jennifer.

Ben also commented on Jen's love scene in the film. "It's hard, she really went for it, you know what I mean? That is a really risky thing to do. It's a brave thing to do as an actress."

Behind Jennifer's on-screen bravery was pure offscreen fear as Pat discovered when speaking to Jen alone. "All I could think about was my dad and what was he gonna think?" Jen told Pat.

Jen and Ben are falling in love on-screen in "Gigli" and it's clear that they are very much in love offscreen as well. And to think that love may not have had a chance had another superstar not dropped out of "Gigli."

"Have you thanked Halle Berry for dropping out of this movie?" Pat asked Jen. "I should! I should write her a little note now that I think about it," laughed Jennifer. Oscar winner Halle Berry was busy becoming a Bond girl and had to pass on co-starring alongside Affleck in the film.

"I mean you probably wouldn't have gotten close if Halle hadn't dropped out?" Pat asked Ben. "Who knows? For a while they were going to cast John Goodman and I feel as though I could be married to him now," joked Ben.

Jen and Ben's pairing created a media sensation. However, the couple welcomes any break from the spotlight. "So how happy were you when Ashton and Demi started dating?" asked Pat. "Yeah thanks for that. It was good when they started taking over the "US" covers. It's like, 'This is a nice needed break for us.'"

Ben was equally pleased when some of the media attention turned towards some of Hollywood's new couples. "I was elated, so pleased... I'm constantly calling the tabloids like, 'Have you guys heard about Kirk Douglas and Mandy Moore?" joked Ben. "I was hoping Colin [Farrell] could have stretched it out with Britney Spears a little longer. It wasn't to be, evidently."

What Happened on the "Gigli" Set?

Though they had only met casually before at various parties, Ben and Jennifer only got to know each other when "Gigli" began shooting in December 2001.

"It was like we became friends first, that's the honest to god truth," Jennifer told Pat. "Yeah, it is the truth. We kind of, we went into it with, at least I did, with a sense of being excited about the movie, kind of focusing on that. But being really happy that we liked each other," explained Ben.

"Because the whole thing was totally off limits we did end up becoming friends -- plain and simple," Ben told Pat. "I told him we told each other too much," laughed Jennifer. "He told me about all his ex-girlfriends and everything."

Whether they are teasing each other or sharing a quick secret, Ben and Jen's love shows no bounds. The two of them feel that that their initial natural comfort zone made shooting "Gigli" a dream, and it shows on-screen.

"It felt like we had good chemistry, you know what I mean, he liked to improv. I could improv back," explained Jennifer.

No denying Affleck and Lopez have great chemistry on and off screen and with "Gigli" they have a love story that is forever etched in movie history.

"When people see this movie, they're going to see that first time that you see each other in the movie, and it looks like you've fallen in love right there," said Pat O'Brien. "Acting, Pat... We should get Academy Awards for that right there," joked Ben. "Golden Globes at least, SAG Awards, alright People's Choice."

The couple realized it's their off-screen romance which will initially draw many fans to the theater. "Some people will probably see it for that reason, but I hope that once you get in there and start watching the movie that actually they see we're playing people very different people from ourselves."

In "Gigli," both Ben and Jen play low-level gangsters trying to make the same score, but then it becomes personal, very personal.

"One of the other interesting things about this movie is the whole idea of who wears the pants, kind of goes back and forth. Who does wear the pants?" asked Pat. "In the movie?" asked Jennifer. "No, right here, in this house?" Pat asked. "Ben wears the pants," replied Jennifer.

I know it's kinda a short news story to post but I figured you all might want to hear it...

Most nights on their tour, Staind hit the stage ready to rock like a hurricane, but on Tuesday Staind were rocked by a hurricane.

The band was forced to postpone its stop in San Antonio because of Hurricane Claudette, which killed two people and caused extensive damage in southern Texas with 86 mph winds and unrelenting rainfall. On Wednesday morning the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical depression.

Staind will make up the gig on October 10 after they return from a European tour. The band will resume its North American tour on Thursday in Denver. Shows run through August 4 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Additional U.S. concerts will follow in the fall.

"So Far Away," the second single from the band's 14 Shades of Grey, is currently at radio. A video for the song was shot by Nigel Dick, who also worked on Staind's "For You" clip from 2001's Break the Cycle.

—Jon Wiederhorn

Osbourne hurt in quad bike smash

Rock star Ozzy Osbourne has undergone emergency surgery after being hurt in a quad bike accident.
The Birmingham-born 55-year-old star broke his collarbone, six ribs and a vertebra in his neck in the accident.

Paramedics were called to his estate in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire at 1420 GMT. A statement issued by his US publicists suggested the injuries - sustained during a break in a promotional tour - were not life-threatening.

It said: "Ozzy is currently undergoing emergency surgery to lift the collarbone which is believed to be resting on a major artery interrupting blood flow to his arm.

"Surgeons are also working to alleviate some bleeding into his lungs. These injuries are not considered to be life-threatening."

A spokesman for Two Shires ambulance service said a man had been taken to Wexham Park Hospital in Slough at 1510 GMT.

Osbourne was given treatment at the scene, before being taken to hospital, the spokesman said.

He had been taking a break from a British promotional tour for a duet with his daughter Kelly.

The former Black Sabbath lead singer has enjoyed renewed celebrity in Britain and the US because of the MTV reality show based around his family life in Los Angeles.


Great, I was going to his concert on January 17th. It has been moved twice already, and now it's going to be moved...again!

I hope he get's better really soon.

CHART-TOPPING singer Daniel Bedingfield has cheated death in a horror car accident.

The 24-year-old suffered head and neck injuries and remains in hospital in New Zealand two days after the crash - but his condition is not serious, according to a spokesman for the star.

It is understood that Daniel was driving a 4x4 vehicle near Whangarei in North Island when the accident happened. No other car was involved.

Daniel, who was born in New Zealand but has lived London since he was a baby, was travelling with a passenger who escaped unhurt.

A spokesman for the star's record company Polydor said: "He suffered head and neck injuries and remains in hospital for observation.

"He is conscious and chatting and the doctors say he will be fine."

Daniel shot to fame two years ago when his debut single Gotta Get Thru This - which he recorded in his bedroom - hit the No1 spot.

Two other singles - If You're Not The One and Never Gonna Leave Your Side - have also topped the charts and made him one of Britain's most successful male solo acts.

Kinks star shot in New Orleans

(CNN) -- Ray Davies, the lead singer with the British rock band The Kinks, is recovering after being shot in New Orleans.

A police spokesman said Davies and a female companion were walking near the French Quarter at about 8:30 p.m. ET Sunday when two suspects approached them and grabbed the woman's purse.

Davies, 59, ran after the suspects, and was shot in the leg, New Orleans Police Department spokesman Capt. Marlon DeFillo said. The woman was not injured, police said.

The songwriter was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released soon afterwards in good condition.

DeFillo said police had arrested one of the suspects and were seeking the other.

Davies' manager Deke Arlon confirmed the Londoner had been shot in the leg. "He was in New Orleans and was leaving a restaurant with his girlfriend last night," he told the UK's Press Association.

"They were attacked by two muggers who stole a handbag. He chased after them and he was shot in the leg.

"It is not really serious. He should be up and about in a day or so.

"The message that came back to me was that he is in good spirits."

Davies founded the Kinks, which was one of the most influential bands of the 1960s, with his brother Dave in London in 1963. Their hits include "You Really Got Me," "All Day and All of the Night," and "Lola."

He continues to perform four decades on and his songs went on to become hits for acts like The Jam, Van Halen and The Pretenders.

Davies became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire last week in Britain's New Year honors list for services to music.

Yes!

But this is not the right forum to talk about those things!

OutKast looking forward in 2004

(CNN) -- The new year is looking good for OutKast.

The Dirty South duo rolled into 2004 on top of the Billboard albums chart for the second week in a row with "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below," and the double disc album has earned the pair six Grammy nominations, including record and album of the year.

Andre 3000 and Big Boi have been creating the OutKast sound for nearly 10 years now, and they don't show any signs of slowing down.

TMR caught up with pair to talk about their latest release.

TMR: Tell me about the new album "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below." It's essentially two CDs. Can you tell me about the project?

ANDRE: It's an OutKast album to start off. It's a double disc. It's pretty much to say, OutKast dissected and opened up to see what Big Boi's thinking about or what Andre's thinking about. So it's kind of like giving us our own space, our own CD, to let us do exactly what we want to do. It's always been this, so now it's just that, you know? It's two trips, talking about the same situations, some different. It's just our take, an interpretation of what's going on right now.

TMR: Does your music overlap at all on this project?

ANDRE: It connects, but I don't think it overlaps.

BIG BOI: It connects on the fact that it's OutKast, for one, and for two we've worked on each other's side -- Dre producing on my side and appearing and I'm ... appearing on his side and everything, you know? Really, it's two different perspectives is what it is. He embellishes on his and elaborates on what I'm talking about, we do the OutKast thing too. But we're both able to spit that OutKast sound out 'cause we've been marinating with that for about 10 years now, so we gotta show.

TMR: After the huge success of "Stankonia" were you a bit apprehensive about whether you could conjure up that amazing success again for this project?

BIG BOI: No, no not really 'cause when we go in making records -- when we've made the last couple albums -- we never try and reinvent the past. We try to look forward to what's going on. Like these two records we've done now. We're not thinking "I wonder what's the next one going to sound like?" We don't have a set plan -- you might have ideas, or different set pieces you might use to put inside your puzzle -- but it's like you always have to look forward to what's beyond from where you just came from.

TMR: What about you, Andre? Did you feel any pressure at all or did you feel the same way?

ANDRE: Well, the only pressure -- well, not pressure making the music -- but the only pressure is from the people that are listening. Like "Stankonia," once again you're only as good as your last hit. So you start to wonder "What if it doesn't sound like 'Stankonia'? Are they gonna get it? If it's too far left are they gonna get it?" But you can't worry about it. But those worries only come ... when we're mixing the album, when it's all recorded, you know? So it's not a lot of worrying, just those two weeks before it's about to drop.

BIG BOI: Yeah, you just put it out.

TMR: Tell me about the first two singles.

ANDRE: The first two singles ... [are] "I Like the Way You Move," which is Big Boi's single and ... to me it's a big band jam that you would play at your reception. If you get married, you most definitely gonna play this jam. And the other song is "Hey Ya." It's kind of a sophisticated funk punk, I guess that's what you could say. A sophisti-funk-punk. A sophis-ti-funk. Whatever you want to call it.

BIG BOI: It's funky.

ANDRE: It is.

TMR: What do you both think of the state of rap right now and where it's going?

BIG BOI: It's changing [but] it's pretty much for the most part stayed the same. There's certain cats out there, you know, who've got a little leverage to step out and crank it up. But it's real safe right now. This sort of music is real safe right now -- there's no one out there who's really taking any sort of risk.

ANDRE: Hip-hop is at its most commercial point right now. So, once you say that sentence, you have to pretty much say it's dead because what people are going to start doing is finding something new to do or a new way to do it. Which is, it ain't a bad thing, it just makes you go off and do other things. So probably in the next couple of years you're gonna hear some new cats, or the old cats doing new stuff.

Green Day Promise New Album In '04

Bay Area punks will have their Day in 2004 ... their Green Day, that is.
Green Day, one of the first bands to help forge the punk revival in the early 1990s, promise to release their seventh album — and first studio effort in nearly four years — in 2004, according to a message by singer Billie Joe Armstrong on the band's Web site, greenday.com.

The band has been working on its follow-up to 2000's Warning for more than three years, and although the album has yet to be titled or given a release date by Reprise Records, Armstrong said the new material is among the band's best.

"It's going to blow some people away. It's really blowing me away, and that's why I play music," he said in an audio message. "As long as I'm blowing myself away, then I'll continue to do this. I know it's taken me about three and a half years so far to blow myself away, but I just want to make sure ... I wouldn't say I'm a perfectionist, but I just want things to be great."

It should please Green Day fans who hitched onto the bandwagon for the group's 10-times platinum 1994 smash, Dookie, that their first album, 1991's 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hour, has been remastered and will be reissued on January 27 by Lookout! Records, the Bay Area indie label Green Day first called home.

In addition to the original tracks, which encompassed Green Day's first two EPs, 1989's 1000 Hours and 1990's Slappy, the enhanced CD reissue will include 20 minutes of concert footage from 1990, a radio interview, old photos, handwritten lyrics and images of early concert flyers.

Armstrong closed the seven-and-a-half-minute message with a plug for the book "Dude, Where's My Country?" by satirical political commentator Michael Moore.

Green Day, along with Good Charlotte and Sum 41, are among the bands slated to contribute tracks to the compilation Rock Against Bush, due April 20 (see "Good Charlotte, Green Day, NOFX To Rock Against President Bush"). Proceeds from the sale of the album will benefit the political activism Web site punkvoter.com, which Armstrong also lauded in his message

Ozzy's rock career in jeopardy 2004

Ozzy Osbourne fears his quad bike accident has put an end to his rock career.

He had fractures in eight ribs and a vertebra and ended up in a coma after the crash in December.

He appeared on ABC TV's 'Primetime' last night (Thursday) in the States and revealed he's scared he'll never perform on stage again:

"I'm really frightened. Music is the love of my life, and performing, and the thought of not being able to do that any more frightens me to death."