After a bit of a false start last year when we were told that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince would be making its way to movie theaters last Fall (we saw the first trailer last July), we can now be fairly certain that the film will INDEED come out this Summer … especially now that a new batch of teaser promo posters have made their way to the Internets:

Finally … the delayed release of this movie really didn’t sit well with many people so I’m sure there are a lot of fans who are looking forward to the resumption of Harry Potter’s exploits in this new film. After the jump, check out two more Harry Potter 6 teaser posters that have also been released today …

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Saint Angelina Jolie made a short visit to Northern Thailand this week on her way home from Japan. In her role as UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, Ange spent some time with Karenni refugee children in the Ban Mai Nai Soi camp in Thailand yesterday. Here is a cute pic of Angelina with some of the refugee children and a report on her visit:

Angelina Jolie is lending her voice in the fight to give more freedom to thousands of Burmese refugees that have been locked inside camps for up to 20 years in Thailand. After Jolie’s visit to Thailand’s Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee center Wednesday, the Oscar nominee and goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Refugee Agency asked the Thailand government to give approximately 110,000 refugees in the northern part of the country freedom to move around and seek higher education. “I was saddened to meet a 21-year-old woman who was born in a refugee camp, who has never even been out of the camp and is now raising her own child in a camp,” Jolie, 33, said in a statement released Thursday. Jolie’s request comes at a time where there has been an increase of migrants from Myanmar, also known as Burma. Thousands have fled Myanmar, as the country’s military junta is accused of flagrant crimes against ethnic minorities. During Jolie’s visit, she met orphans at a boarding school and teenage girls who worried about a return to Myanmar. “I hope we can work with the Thai authorities to speed up the government admissions process and that you will not be forced to go back to Burma if danger remains,” Jolie said.

I am always just so amazed at how much time Angelina Jolie devotes to charitable causes like this. Her commitment to helping end suffering wherever in the world she finds it is absolutely commendable. I may love to give her grief for her acting prowess (or lack thereof) but I absolutely love and respect all the hard work she does for her various charities. I was absolutely unaware of the plight of the refugees in Thailand … and altho I’m far from educated on their plight, I think it’s important for high profile people like Angelina Jolie to bring whatever awareness they can to these sorts of issues. All this charitable work that she does comes from her personal desire to offer aid whenever she can … no one is forcing her to do any of this. This sort of behavior should be commended. It would be amazing if more high profile people lent their fame and prominence to help others in need … imagine what the world would be like then.

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Extra! is reporting that they have scored a new interview with 14-time Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps in the wake of the photo scandal that broke out over the weekend which showed Phelps puffin’ on a humungo marijuana pipe (a bong). According to Phelps, he claims that he does not take drugs … despite getting caught with the bong. HMMM:

“Extra” has obtained an interview with Michael Phelps and the swimming phenomenon states, “I don’t take drugs. I get drug tested all the time. You look at the records and you can see.” The Olympic superstar also confesses it was a mistake to smoke marijuana and take pictures, saying, “It’s times like these where you really do get true support. I’ve been able to really find out who my friends and family are through this. By no means has it been easy… it’s a bad judgment and a bad mistake and something I’ll learn from.”

You gotta respect the guy for owning up to his bad judgment. While some may feel that what he did is “no big deal”, I’m sure there are many mothers out there who think it’s a big deal when their children see one of their sports heroes engaging in illegal use of a controlled substance. I absolutely believe that Phelps has learned from this mistake. I’m sure if he plans to continue competing in future Olympic Games, he will now be more careful about what he does and with whom. I absolutely admire that he is publicly admitting his wrongdoing … if he plans to stay a public figure, he’s gonna have to be a good boy. He’s got many years after he retires from competitive sport to smoke whatever the heck he wants ;) This interview with Extra! airs tonight.

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Marc Malkin of E! News is reporting that all the principle stars, along with writer/director Michael Patrick King, have signed on for the Sex and the City Movie sequel. Malkin reports that the contracts were signed yesterday and everything is a GO! At last, we have confirmation that Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) will all be sippin’ Cosmos in a new sequel that has officially started pre-production:

Break out the bubbly—the Sex and the City sequel is finally official! I can exclusively reveal that all four stars—Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall and Kristin Davis—and writer-director Michael Patrick King have now signed their deals for another round of Carrie Bradshaw & Co. “Everything was finalized yesterday afternoon,” a source reports. Until now, everyone had agreed to do a sequel, but there were no contracts signed with New Line, the studio behind the megahit. As it is, King has yet to write a script, but shooting will reportedly begin this summer with a release date sometime in summer 2010. Reps for the stars and the studio did not immediately comment.

As for the sequel’s storyline, Michael Patrick King promises that part deux will be very different from last year’s SaTC Movie:

Michael Patrick King has hinted that the proposed follow-up to Sex And The City: The Movie will be very different to the original film. The writer and director revealed that although he has not yet written the script, he knows what route the sequel will not be taking. “In the last movie, I thought [the fans] wanted to see an epic and violently tragic love story, and drama, but I don’t think you go to that candy store twice,” he told reporters at a WGA discussion in Los Angeles. “You can’t try to do what you did already, so you come up with a different tone that you like.” King also admitted that he had to fight for Jennifer Hudson to be cast as Carrie Bradshaw’s (Sarah Jessica Parker) assistant Louise in the hit film. “It was originally supposed to be Isla Fisher, but I didn’t agree with that at all,” he said. “It can’t be called Sex And The City without a little colour – it’s just wrong. Women are very nice when they figure out who I am. And the only negative comment I ever got about the series was every now and then, some woman of colour – whether it’d be Latina or an African-American – they’d stop and say, ‘Where are the sisters?’ in my ear, and I was like, ‘Yeah, where are they?’”

Woot! This is amazing news … you may recall that last November Kim Cattrall starting talking about the promise of a SaTC 2 but SJP had to quickly squashed rumors that the ladies had all signed on to do the sequel. Methinks that negotiations were just getting underway when Cattrall starting blabbing and in order to bargain for higher salaries, the other ladies had to keep mum while their people worked out their deals. I am just thrilled! 2010 sounds like so far away … I don’t know if I can wait that long. I am looking forward to watching this sequel get filmed on the streets of NYC this Summer. Honestly, I don’t care what the storyline revolves around … I’m sure that the SaTC folks know what they are doing and will give us another amazing movie. I can’t wait!!

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David Beckham has gone on the public record to say that he no longer wants to fulfill his contract with the MLS soccer team the LA Galaxy and would like, instead, to remain in Milan, Italy where he is currently on loan to AC Milan. In new comments published today, Becks has revealed that he no longer wishes to play soccer in the US and would like to remain in Europe after his loan out period to Milan has expired:

David Beckham said he wants to make his move to AC Milan from the Los Angeles Galaxy permanent. The England midfielder’s three-month loan to the Italian soccer club ends March 9 and Milan has said it wants to keep him at the San Siro stadium. “I have expressed my desire to stay at AC Milan now and it’s just down to Milan and Galaxy to come to an agreement,” Beckham said in comments broadcast by Sky Sports. “I have enjoyed my time here. I knew I would enjoy it, but I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much and do as well as I have.” The 33-year-old player joined Milan last month to stay in shape during the U.S. soccer offseason. He’s scored two goals in five appearances for the team known as the Rossoneri. The Major League Soccer season begins on March 22. “At the moment I’m still a Galaxy player,” Beckham said after an exhibition match last night against Glasgow Rangers. “It’s out of my hands. I’ve said what my feelings are to both clubs and now it’s down to them to come to an agreement.” Beckham joined the Galaxy from Real Madrid in 2007. He earns $5.5 million a year and the five-year contract could be worth as much as $250 million with endorsements and profit- sharing, according to the Galaxy. Galaxy spokesman Justin Pearson said in a telephone interview that the team was practicing and wouldn’t have any comment until coach and general manager Bruce Arena sees Beckham’s quotes. Andrew Messick, the sports division president of Anschutz Co.’s AEG, which owns the Galaxy, said he has seen Beckham’s comments to European television and declined to comment on them, or whether the club would entertain offers from AC Milan. “He’s a great player and a great ambassador, and someone we’ve had a very, very close relationship with,” Messick said in a telephone interview. “We hope and expect that we’re going to continue to have a great relationship with him.” Milan general manager Adriano Galliani said on the club’s Web site yesterday that Beckham’s lawyers are in talks with the Galaxy over the player’s future. Milan has yet to make an offer or enter into negotiations, he said. “It’s nothing against the MLS and the football over there because it’s a game that will grow, but it will take quite a few years,” Beckham said. The former Manchester United player said he wants to stay in Italy to boost his chances of retaining a place in the national team for next year’s World Cup. Beckham has played 107 times for England, the third-most after Peter Shilton and World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore. “I want to have a chance of being involved in 2010,” Beckham said. “My best chance of doing that is to remain here.”

Firstly, I have to stress that I am still a David Beckham fan and I still absolutely lurve him … BUT, I must express my dissatisfaction at his desire to abandon his commitment to the LA Galaxy for greener pastures in Italy. I seem to recall that when David Beckham came to the US, there weren’t many teams out there who were clamoring to nab him as their own. His lackluster performance on the soccer field in the months leading up to the end of his contract in Spain really didn’t do much to make him a sought after soccer player. So, he and his wife Vicki B. decided to take the massive amounts of money (about $250 million) that the LA Galaxy offered him and committed to playing for the team for a set number of years. Upon his arrival (which was already midway thru an entire MLS soccer season), he sat out more than 60% of the games of his first season due to an ankle injury and never really helped the Galaxy improve their overall game (the LA Galaxy remains one of the most unsuccessful teams in the burgeoning MLS league). Having been loaded out to AC Milan, Becks scores two goals and suddenly he’s decided he wants to join the team. Trust me, I get that he wants to end his career in glory but, to me, it seems like he should’ve taken that into account before he committed to US soccer. I have a feeling that Becks thought that his mere presence alone might make Americans care about soccer … and when that didn’t happen, well, he has apparently decided to go back to Europe again. While I am very disappointed and not very happy with his decision, I completely understand it. The Beckhams really didn’t make the splash in Hollywood that they were prolly hoping for. I guess I get why they would want to retreat back to Europe. While I’m a bit miffed now, I’ll get over it … prolly by the time the next back of Armani Underwear ads come out. I suspect that Becks will get his wish and will become an official, full time member of AC Milan soon. I guess it remains to be seen if he’ll be able to revive his glory days after all.

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The rain is a-comin’, y’all … all of Southern California is bracing for a rainstorm that is due to hit sometime this afternoon and continue on well into the weekend. I gotta say, I’m gonna miss the warmth and the sun but I guess I don’t mind the change in weather. Into everyone’s life, a little rain must fall … I’d rather get it over with now instead of having to deal with it later.

Again, no big news on the personal front. I spent much of yesterday afternoon unpacking and loading up my GLORIOUS new walk-in closet. Honestly, it’s not even full of my stuff yet and it’s already … well, full. LOL. I have a lot of shoes and now I have a place to display them … my closet isn’t quite like Carrie Bradshaw’s in the Sex and the City Movie but it’s pretty big … the biggest closet I’ve ever had :)

Last night David and I went out for dinner at Fat Fish and then ran to the store to pick up food supplies. See, not very exciting … but I’m hoping we’ll be able to see our friends this weekend so we’ll have something fun to share. Hope things are well wherever in the world YOU are … stay warm/dry/happy :)

• The mother of the famed octuplets leaves the hospital, leaves the 8 kids behind.
• M.I.A. is planning to perform on Grammy night, despite being due to give birth on the very same day.
• LOL! [thanks Cara]
• The hero pilot who landed his US Airways plane in the Hudson River this month did so in a very calm manner.
• Ashley Judd takes on Sarah Palin.
• Now Bruce Springsteen is upset with Ticketmaster, too.
• Gossip Girl to feature a storyline ripped from the headlines!
• Etta James appears to NOT be a fan of President Barack Obama OR Beyoncé.
• Vanity Fair magazine profiles this year’s Academy Award nominees.
• Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg undergoes surgery for pancreatic cancer.
• American Idol’s Bikini Girl is really milking her 15 minutes of fame.
• Marisa Miller does Cosmopolitan magazine.
• Newlyweds Jergie Jerg hit the Chateau Marmont.
• Nick Cannon would like you to call him Mr. Carey.
• Bobby Brown is 40, Laura Linney is 45 and Jennifer Jason Leigh is 47 years old today. Click HERE to see who else is celebrating a birthday today.
• Robbie Williams is planning to work with producer Mark Ronson on his next album.
• Judd Apatow is making a short video to be aired during the Academy Awards this month.
• Now that the original photo has been found, the Associated Press wants to sue artist Shepard Fairey for copyright infringement over his iconic Barack Obama Hope poster.