Trash News

Image: AP/Dan Steinberg

A pre-dawn fire tore through the famous Hollywood Basque Restaurant and Nightclub at the corner of Hollywood and Vine this morning.

The blaze lasted for more than two hours before firefighters were eventually able to control the fire, but not before much of the building was reduced to a pile of blackened timbers, and three other shops in the same building gutted in the fire that broke out shortly before 6 a.m. No injuries were reported.

Often called the world’s most famous intersection in the most famous neighborhood, the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine was a mecca for stars in Hollywood’s Golden Era. Stars such as James Stewart, James Dean, and Judy Garland are immortalized in the Walk of Fame at the corner. More recently a scene from “Ocean’s Eleven” was filmed at the club and Lindsay Lohan celebrated her 21st birthday there, while Kanye West was spotted partying at the Basque just last week.

Image: digitalshay via Flickr

In a developing story, Basque, the Hollywood club used as a backdrop in such movies as “Ocean’s 11″ and “Confidence” is on fire in Hollywood. Firefighters were on the scene of the fire about 5:30 this morning. The club is located at the intersection of Hollywood and Vine.

The family of country singer Mindy McCready, 33, has confirmed reports first published by the New York Daily News that she and the seven-time Cy Young Award winner, Roger Clemens, had a decade-long relationship that began when she was a 15-year-old aspiring singer and Clemens was 28, a married father of two and ace pitcher for the Boston Red Sox.

Sources had told the News that McCready went with Clemens to his hotel room in Fort Myers, Fla., after their first meeting but that they did not have sex. The relationship turned intimate after she later moved to Nashville and became a country star, the paper said.

“I cannot refute anything in the story,” McCready told the newspaper in a story posted on its Web site Monday night.

This story could be detrimental to Clemens’ reputation, which is central to the defamation suit the former pitcher has filed against one time personal trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee contends Clemens used performance-enhancing substances during his major league career. After the pitcher denied the allegations, a perjury investigation was launched by the FBI, leading to Clemens’ defamation suit against McNamee.

McNamee’s attorney, Richard Emery, in an e-mail to Associated Press has basically called Clemens a Liar.

“If true, it’s just another example of Roger’s pervasive prevarications which will be at the core of any defamation case.”

“Clemens has made his reputation an issue. He has accused my client of damaging that reputation. He claims he was as American as apple pie and a family man, but if the allegations are true than you cannot blame my client for damaging his reputation.”

“If the case heads to trial and is not dismissed, as we feel it should be, we will be calling (McCready) as a witness.

Miley Cyrus is widely thought of as a wholesome role model for young girls but last week some provocative and questionable photos of Miley began circulating on the internet.

The teenage actress (15 years to be exact) and singer has apologized for what appears to be a rather racy Vanity Fair photo shoot in which she appears wrapped only in a blanket. She said she was embarrassed by the photos, taken by veteran photographer Annie Leibovitz.

“I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about.”

The Disney Channel, which airs Hannah Montana, places the blame on Vanity Fair.

“Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines”

Vanity Fair defended the photos and Miley’s parents, including her showbiz dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, were at the shoot. Although they claim to have left before the controversial photos were taken, her grandmother was reported to be there.

From unnamed sources:

Roger Clemens has been accused of having an affair with Mindy McCready when she was only 15.

This was just too precious not to share, from the Daily Mail:

A Bosnian man whose home has been hit an incredible five times by meteorites believes he is being targeted by aliens.

Experts at Belgrade University have confirmed that all the rocks Radivoje Lajic has handed over were meteorites. They are now investigating local magnetic fields to try and work out what makes the property so attractive to the heavenly bodies.

But Mr Lajic, who has had a steel girder reinforced roof put on the house he owns in the northern village of Gornja Lamovite, has an alternative explanation.

He said: “I am obviously being targeted by extraterrestrials. I don’t know what I have done to annoy them but there is no other explanation that makes sense.

“The chance of being hit by a meteorite is so small that getting hit five times has to be deliberate.”

The first meteorite fell on his house in November last year and since then a further four have smashed into his home.

The strikes always happen when it is raining heavily, never when there are clear skies.

He said: “I did not know what the strange-looking stones were at first but I have since had them all confirmed as meteorites by experts at Belgrade University.

“I am being targeted by aliens. They are playing games with me.

“I don’t know why they are doing this. When it rains I can’t sleep for worrying about another strike.”

A lawmaker getting a speeding ticket is mildly post worthy.

A lawmaker in the midst of sponsoring a bill to increase fines for speeding in school zones getting caught speeding in a school zone is definitely post worthy.

So let’s all mock Idaho senator, John Goedde , caught speeding in a Boise-area school zone on Feb. 28 – the very day his bill was being debated in the state Senate.