Here we go again. A regular feature film about pornography hired some authentic porn stars in the interest of realism and media outlets are now trying yet again to convince people that porn is penetrating the mainstream. This is more tiresome than an all day gang bang.

Like Boogie Nights before it, Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno features a couple porn actresses in bit parts, leading flagging newspaper The LA Times to run this headline: "Porn stars are the new crossover artists." Salacious! And also: misleading. Because people have been saying this for years despite the fact that very little evidence supports the claim.

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REAL CELEBRITY HIRED TO PROMOTE COMMON NOBEL LAUREATES "Actress Scarlett Johansson is to co-host this year's Nobel Peace Concert, which will be headlined by Diana Ross. The event is to be held in Oslo, Norway on 11 December, which is the day after the Nobel Prizes are presented. Also on the bill are Canadian musician Feist, US country singer Dierks Bentley and Nigerian performer Seun Kuti. Johansson's 'compassion and influence' would help to spread a 'message of peace', Nobel committee member Geir Lundestad told the Associated Press."

I don’t really want to be famous, and I’m kind of scared that might be happening … I might really have to stop and think before I make decisions now, and see how they’re going to affect my life, and see if it’s what I want to be doing with my life. I guess I need to make sure that it’s worth all that comes with it.

John McCain, whose ads skewer Barack Obama for his "celebrity" status, has his own close ties to show business…

The 72-year-old was recently made TV-ready by makeup artist Tifanie White who's worked on So You Think You Can Dance! and American Idol.

McCain paid the 2002 beauty-school grad $5,583.43 for her services, according to the Federal Election Commission.

This time last year, everyone was discussing Britney Spears' disastrous "comeback performance" at the VMAs, something we called a "calamitous waterloo." One year later, last night Spears won all three Video Music Awards for which she was nominated, spoke without incident and read all the big words on the teleprompter. Basically, she behaved like a normal person in abnormal circumstances, which is all anyone has ever asked of her.

Lookit this! CNBC reports that "a source" is going around telling everyone that John McCain's running mate will be Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. A woman! A woman of just 44! Might this choice be the McCain camp trying to counteract the criticism that says Johnny's far too old and out of touch to be president? Hmmmm.

Not to worry, grumpy, aged Republicans: Palin's skin is youthful, but her opinions are old; she says no to gay marriage and abortion. Oh, and she used to be in beauty pageants. We certainly hope that doesn't mean she was trying to be a celebrity!????!!! We all know how much the McCain camp hates celebrities!

Update: She's definitely the one.

Go here for a very thorough description of Kanye West's recent night out at a Honolulu California Pizza Kitchen. It sounds quite miserable, and not just because it was at a California Pizza Kitchen, where we think the rule is there's nothing garlic and cheese can't fix: "As he was eating, a little boy asked for his autograph on a California Pizza Kitchen pizza box. I couldn't hear what Kanye said, but he shook his head and the boy left. Ten minutes later, the same boy came back with a napkin and Kanye signed it. So I guess he just didn't want to sign the CPK box?"

THE POWER OF 'THE O' IS REAL "Politicians and pundits routinely claim that celebrity endorsements have little sway on voters, and two economists set out recently to test the premise. What they found was that at least one celebrity does hold influence in the voting booth: Oprah Winfrey. The economists, Craig Garthwaite and Timothy Moore of the University of Maryland, College Park, contend that Ms. Winfrey’s endorsement of Barack Obama last year gave him a boost of about one million votes in the primaries and caucuses."