We always figured him for something of a wing nut
He ate Buffalo wings. He took a speedboat to a luxury villa on a manmade island. He buzzed around the United Arab Emirates with a race car driver and a prince.
In contrast to the frail Michael Jackson cleared of child abuse charges in June, the king of pop appeared relaxed and friendly during his ongoing visit to the Gulf sheikdom.
He was even spotted looking over some of the world’s most audacious real estate developments in Dubai.
“He wants to see more of this area. He likes it here,” said Mohammed Bin Sulayem, the Emirates champion rally driver who escorted Jackson along with Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, son of Bahrain’s king.
Jackson has been staying as Sheik Abdulla’s guest in Bahrain, where he took refuge after his 19-month trial and June 13 acquittal.
The singer also paid a visit to Dubai’s Hard Rock Cafe, where he assuaged his craving for spicy chicken.
“We went there because he wanted to eat Buffalo wings,” Bin Sulayem said.
Don’t the Clintons like their hearts bleeding?
Meanwhile, Sen. Hillary Clinton and her husband, Bill, spent a vacation on Kauai Island with their daughter Chelsea doing what most tourists do – shopping, eating out and golfing, albeit with a movie star, Pierce Brosnan.
At the Hanalei Gourmet, the former president picked up a deli sandwich, while his wife and their daughter enjoyed a restaurant appetizer specialty: deep-fried crispy artichoke hearts.
Hey, Artie – that Woodstock is over
Art Garfunkel, who pleaded guilty last year to pot possession in upstate New York, has been charged again after a marijuana cigarette was allegedly found in the ashtray of his car.
The 63-year-old singer was charged after being pulled over Sunday near Woodstock, N.Y., after running a stop sign. The trooper noticed a strong odor of marijuana and a search turned up a joint in the ashtray.
In January 2004, Garfunkel was charged with marijuana possession after state police stopped his limousine for speeding in the town of Hurley, also near Woodstock. He pleaded guilty and paid $200 in fines.
So how did he make up his mind?
The son of TV psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw has proposed to former Playboy playmate Erica Dahm, one of the triplet Dahm sisters.
Jay McGraw, 26, designed the 5-carat diamond, emerald and platinum engagement ring he gave her. No wedding date was announced.
Dahm, 27, and her two sisters appeared in the December 1998 Playboy.
Guess hope can bloom anywhere
Actress Rachel Weisz says she was deeply moved by the impoverished conditions she saw in Kenya while making her latest film, “The Constant Gardener,” which opens in theaters today.
“I had never seen poverty like that,” Weisz says. “It was extreme and tragic, and I felt a wave of guilt being a wealthy white Westerner walking through those slums filming a movie.”
Still, she says, “I was struck by the spirit of the children, who clamored around us and welcomed us. The condition in which they live is a tragedy, but their spiritual wealth is so much more powerful than the poverty. In the end, one wonders who should feel sorry for whom.”
The birthday bunch
Singer Van Morrison is 60. Actor Richard Gere is 56. Drummer Gina Schock (The Go-Go’s) is 48. Singer Chris Whitley is 45. Singer Deborah Gibson is 35. Actor Chris Tucker (“Rush Hour”) is 33. Singer Tamara (Trina and Tamara) is 28.