People: Throwing their hats into the ring
The gloves truly have come off in the presidential race.
Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain appeared on World Wrestling Entertainment’s “Monday Night Raw,” delivering taped, wrestling-themed messages on the eve of today’s Pennsylvania primary.
“Tonight, in honor of the WWE, you can call me Hillrod,” Clinton said.
“This election is starting to feel a lot like ‘King of the Ring.’ The only difference? The last man standing may just be a woman.”
Obama borrowed Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson‘s famous phrase:
“To the special interests who’ve been setting the agenda in Washington for too long and to all the forces of division and distraction that has stopped us from making progress, for the American people, I’ve got one question: Do you smell what Barack is cooking?”
McCain, meanwhile, looked to old-school Hulk Hogan Hulkamania for inspiration:
“If you want to be the man, you have to beat the man. Come November, it’ll be game over. And whatcha gonna do when John McCain and all his McCainiacs run wild on you?”
Just a low-speed bump
Sandra Bullock and her husband escaped without injury from a head-on crash with a drunken driver.
Bullock and her husband, Jesse James of TV’s “Monster Garage,” were being driven in a sport-utility vehicle Friday night when a station wagon crossed the center line and hit them.
The vehicles were traveling 15 to 20 mph. Both were totaled, but no one was hurt.
Foxy on the run
Rapper Foxy Brown is out of jail after serving eight months for violating probation by hitting a woman with a cell phone.
“The first place I want to go is church. I’ve got to get on my knees,” Brown said Friday after leaving New York’s Rikers Island.
Instead, she went shopping in Harlem, had some soul food and was driven to her childhood home in Brooklyn in a white Rolls Royce Phantom.
‘Idol’ winner idled
Vocal problems have forced reigning “American Idol” Jordin Sparks to cancel all of her performances for the rest of the month.
The 18-year-old singer, whose hits include “Tattoo” and “No Air,” was scheduled to be the opening act on Alicia Keys‘ tour, which kicked off over the weekend in Hampton, Va.
A full recovery is expected, her label says.
Two hips up?
Movie critic Roger Ebert hopes to make it to his annual namesake film festival this week despite hip surgery.
Ebert, 65, is recovering from minor surgery last week after a recent fall.
He has undergone a series of cancer surgeries in recent years including a throat procedure that left him unable to speak.
The birthday bunch
Actress Charlotte Rae is 82. Actress Estelle Harris is 76. Singer Glen Campbell is 72. Actor Jack Nicholson is 71. Director John Waters is 62. Singer Peter Frampton is Actor Joseph Bottoms is 54. Actor/comedian Ryan Stiles is 49. Actress Sheryl Lee (“Twin Peaks”) is 41. TV personality Sherri Shepherd (“The View”) is 41. Actor Eric Mabius (“Ugly Betty”) is 37.