Pierce Brosnan may like his martinis shaken, but he prefers his water and air quality to be untampered with. As a Malibu homeowner, Brosnan's using his American license to demonstrate by leading a posse of famous friends in speaking out against [1] the construction of a Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal off the coast of the rich California community. Our friends at Ecorazzi [2] point out that such allies and residents as Ted Danson, Tom Hanks, former Bond girl [3] Jane Seymour, and many more, make Malibu a hard target for industrial interests. Notorious Malibuian Mel Gibson, in the meantime, has been largely silent on the issue. It's rumored that he does have feelings about the proposed terminal; he just hasn't had enough to drink to run his mouth off about it.
Mourning for Croc Hunter Steve Irwin, killed by a stingray in the beginning of the month, may have taken a strange form [4] off the coast of Australia. Conservationists have found a growing number of dead stingrays with tails removed. The tragic irony is that Irwin considered himself a conservationist and never would have advocated the murder of animals. Experts say that this may be the most senseless act of retaliation since 1994, when a handful of fans were rumored to have attacked a local pastry shop in response to the death of John Candy [5].
Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, widely loved for his (quixotic?) quest to make L.A. America's greenest big city [6], faced a new challenge this week [7] in his fight to bring the subway to the sea. Representative Jean Harman of Venice and Representative David Dreier of San Dimas, both allies of the mayor, demanded that expansion of the respective subway lines in the districts they represent become top priority for the city before westward expansion of the Red Line can continue. It's official, folks! There's no train too fast to be slowed down by a little political infighting. You might as well walk [7].
Sandra Oh, who shot to stardom after her role in Sideways [8] and now stars in TV's Grey's Anatomy, appears to be one of the good guys. Yesterday TMZ [9]featured photos of her taking out her recycling with her Toyota Prius in the background. She's not a real doctor, she just makes intelligent choices and works hard for a healthier planet.
At last week's Rainforest Action Network [10] benefit attended by Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Noth, and John C. Reilly, the surprise musical guest turned out to be none other than Norah Jones—certainly better than the bongo-banging monkeys we predicted [10]. On the other hand, some music enthusiasts say the chimps would have had better chances of remembering the words to their most famous song, which Jones did not do [11].