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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Underneath It All, He’s Merely Misunderstood

Compiled By Staff Writer Dan Web

The name of rapper Tupac Shakur’s latest album, “Me Against the World,” seems to say it all.

First of all, he is serving a 4-year sentence in New York’s Dannemora State Prison for sexually abusing a woman. Second of all, he is still feeling the effects of being shot while being robbed shortly before his incarceration.

Third, earlier this week a federal judge ruled that Shakur must pay damages to an Atlanta police officer he allegedly shot. Shakur had not responded to the officer’s civil suit.

On top of all that, Shakur has been confined to his cell at Dannemora for 23 hours a day after failing a urine test. The drug test had been ordered when a prison guard reported smelling marijuana near Shakur’s cell.

Conan O’Brien on why Kato Kaelin was booed at a baseball game in Baltimore: “It all started when Kato claimed someone was safe at home when he clearly wasn’t.”

Yesterday, all these dates seemed so far away

Paul McCartney turns 53 today.

And after it was over, he decided to let it be

We’re a few days late, but we still would like to point out the following historical note: On June 14, 1965, at 7 p.m., working alone in Abbey Road studios four days before his 23rd birthday, Paul McCartney recorded the song “Yesterday.”

There are better way to search out new material

Country star Ty Herndon’s career may be over before it ever really began. The singer, whose No. 1 hit, “What Mattered Most,” is the biggest-selling debut album since Billy Ray Cyrus, was arrested in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday for drug possession and indecent exposure involving a male undercover policeman.

Somebody ought to write this guy a letter, man

Having been accused by British viewers of being “xenophobic,” David Letterman did his best recently to live up to the charges. Joking about the O.J. Simpson trial, Letterman mentioned testimony from coroner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran, particularly noting the doctor’s interesting, complicated name. “Of course, here in New York City,” he said, “we’d just shorten that to: ‘TAXI!”’

And, so they say, only he knows for sure

That guy you may have seen with Cindy Crawford in the supermarket tabloids is Stephen Knoll, her long-time hairdresser. “I hope I’ve always been the man in her life,” Kroll said. “I do cut her hair, you know.”

And anyway, the biggest treat was the talking gorilla

Unlike most other films, “Congo” featured advertising that did not boast about its acting ensemble. That, apparently, is because the cast featured no-names Dylan Walsh and Laura Linney and B-list co-stars Tim Curry and Ernie Hudson. “The focal point for the publicity is that ‘Congo’ is by the author of ‘Jurassic Park,”’ a source told Inside Media magazine. “And they wanted to emphasize the gorillas.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Two Photos

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by staff writer Dan Webster