The sun is shining (here in SoCal) and the temperature is rising (again, here in SoCal) so why don’t we take a little trip to the beach to feast our eyes on this week’s Hot Dude of the Week. Say hello to Charlie:

I don’t know about YOU but I am WAY over all the cold dreariness of the winter doldrums and I am really lookin’ forward to gettin’ my booty to the beach for some sun, surf and sights … which is where hawt dudes like Charlie come into play. I am ready to put away all my sweaters, long-sleeve shirts and jackets for a very long time and am ready to unpack my shorts, tank tops and flip flops … the way life is meant to be enjoyed ;) This is my fave time of the year … when the Winter begins to die and Spring is sprung … cuz that’s when the hotties come out of hibernation and start hittin’ the beaches. Bring it on, I am so ready already! Enjoy!!

[Photo credit: All American Guys]

A week ago today, Joel Madden of Good Charlotte announced on his official blog that he and Nicole Richie are going to be parents again (well, actually, what he said was that their daughter Harlow Winter was going to become a big sister soon) and the goss world responded with happy rejoicing. Today we get to see a few photos of Nic/Joel with little Harlow and Nicole‘s little sister Sophia enjoying a nice family day on Santa Monica Pier yesterday afternoon … behold:

It’s always nice to see Nicole spending time with her younger siblings … we don’t usually get to see much of Sophia out and about. Perhaps Nic/Joel are trying to get in the habit of taking care of two kids at the same time. Now that we know that they’ve got another child on the way, I’m sure it won’t be long until we start to see actual proof. Nicole, who is a tiny woman, is not showing any signs of a baby bump just yet … which could mean that she’s still pretty early in her pregnancy OR that Nic/Joel are planning to adopt. HMM. At this point, we’re not sure which is actually the case … but practicing with two kids at once is a good idea whatever comes to pass for their expanding family. I just love their happy family. I can’t wait to see it get bigger :)

[Photo credit: Splash News]

Lauren LC Conrad, star of the MTV reality TV programs Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and The Hills and fashion designer of the Lauren Conrad Collection, is lookin’ to add the title of author to her ever-expanding resume. Last year it was reported that LC landed a 3-book deal with HarperCollins Publishers to write her own series of young adult books that focus on a “a young girl who moves to L.A. and unexpectedly becomes the star of a reality television show” … which sounds awfully familiar to me. In any event, here is our first look at the cover artwork for LC‘s first book in the series, L.A. Candy:

Lauren Conrad: From The Hills to the best-seller’s list? The MTV reality star’s name tops the cover of her first novel, L.A. Candy, which hits shelves June 16. Conrad’s publishing debut is a fictional story about a 19-year-old girl named Jane Roberts who has not-so-subtle similarities to the author. “Roberts can’t wait to start living it up,” the official book synopsis says. “She may be in L.A. for an internship, but Jane plans to play as hard as she works and has enlisted her BFF Scarlett to join in the fun.” In the novel, the two main characters are approached by a producer who wants them to be on a reality version of Sexy and the City. The book is about “what it’s like to come of age in Hollywood while starring in a reality TV show, written by a girl who has experienced it all firsthand,” the synopsis says.

Um, so lemme get this straight. LC got herself a book deal to write a work of fiction about a girl who comes to LA as an intern and ends up getting a gig on a reality TV series … and people are supposed to be interested in something like that? She’s basically gonna write a fictionalized version of her life, which is already broadcast in TV form, and people are gonna wanna read that? What? I’m all for LC expanding her horizons and making as much money as she can but couldn’t they come up with an idea for a book series that was a little more inventive? Truth be told, this series of books is prolly gonna be ghostwritten by someone else anyway … are there no original ideas left in the publishing world? LC has already SWORN that the 5th season of The Hills will be her last … so these books should be coming out right around the same time the show ends … so basically, she’ll just be retelling the whole story of the life she just lived on TV in book form. I’m not sure if this idea is a stroke of lazy genius or just a travesty to the world of publishing. No offense to LC but I hope that young readers are able to find more interesting things to read. A book series written by a reality TV star about a reality TV star that is based on the life of a reality TV star sounds like a horrrrible idea. I have never been a proponent of book burning but …

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New photos have surfaced of Madonna accompanying her children — Lourdes, Rocco and David Banda — along with her much, much younger paramour Jesus Luz to the Kabbalah Centre in NYC this weekend tryin’ to look the happy family. Clearly, Madonna‘s youngest son, David Banda, does not approve:

After the jump, check out a few photos of Madonna and her gaggle of kiddies (Jesus included) as they made their way into Kabbalah Sabbath services yesterday in NYC …

On Friday we learned that Brad Pitt was finally able to win an award statue after he endured a disappointing awards season this year. As you may recall, Brad was nominated for Best Actor in all of the major film award contests (including the Academy Awards) and he ended up losing every single one of them. As a result, AXE deodorant body spray decided that Brad deserved an award of their making for his efforts this year … his very own chocolate statue likeness:

Brad Pitt has a reason to smile despite losing out on the Best Actor Oscar on Sunday – he’s been sent a solid dark chocolate bust in his likeness as a consolation prize from deodorant brand Axe. The Hollywood star was nominated for an Academy Award his role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button but lost out to Sean Penn for his performance in Milk. Bosses at Axe decided to reward Pitt with a statuette of his own – and the sweet treat, to promote their new Dark Temptation fragrance, weighed in at a whopping 10 pounds. An accompanying note read: “We still feel your performance deserves a statue, one that’s a bit sweeter.”

LOL! This is a great award … and plenty big enough for all of the Brangelina kids to enjoy as well. As you may or may not know, AXE offers a deodorant body spray that smells like chocolate (and they’ve got one helluva freaky commercial on the air right now) and this statue is in honor of that as well. Congrats Brad! You finally win!! Now he has the bragging rights in the Brangelina household since his pseudowife Angelina Jolie (who lost all of her award nominations this year) remains the sole award loser for the 2008-2009 awards season in their home.

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David Beckham and his temporary Italian soccer team AC Milan suffered another lost this weekend as Becks enters his last week with the fútbol club. AC Milan suffered a 2-1 defeat against Sampdoria in one of Becks‘s last games with his team … OUCH! But, since we’re talking about Becks here, he was lookin’ good on the soccer field nonetheless:

David Beckham’s AC Milan capped a disappointing week with a 2-1 defeat at Sampdoria which leaves them 11 points adrift of arch-rivals Inter in the Serie A title race and looking over their shoulders as they bid to seal a Champions League spot. Milan’s ageing team threw away a two-goal lead in midweek to crash out of the UEFA Cup to Werder Bremen and their latest defeat came after Antonio Cassano gave the Genoa-based side the lead in the 33rd minute. Cassano’s header was ruled to have squeezed over the line as Milan protested and the visitors were in further trouble after Gianpaolo Pazzini made it 2-0 early in the second half from a Cassano pass. Alexandre Pato scored with a clever header in the 80th minute to give Milan some hope they were unable to grab the equalizer as Emerson’s effort was ruled out. The poor results represent bad timing for Beckham, who is hoping his newly-adopted club will meet Los Angeles Galaxy’s demands to make his loan move permanent. He is due to return to the Major League Soccer team on March 9 if no deal can be reached.

Aww … poor Becks, another loss. Since we know that the LA Galaxy has, thus far, rejected the money that AC Milan has offered to buy out his contract and that Milan has said they will offer no more money in addition, Becks is scheduled to return to SoCal and the MLS at the end of this week. I’m sure this loss doesn’t really work in his favor. But, again, he did play his heart out, doing everything he could do to try and secure a win. After the jump, check out a few photos of Becks in the black and red in action this week …