Robert Altman (1925-2006), receiving his Honorary Academy Award at the 78th Annual Academy Awards. (photo: Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com)

Paula Patton and Denzel Washington at the New York premiere of 'Deja Vu.' (photo: Jim Spellman/WireImage.com)

Roseanne's Honor

The suicide prevention group The Trevor Project will honor Roseanne Barr with The Trevor Life Award at its Ninth Annual Cracked Xmas Event on December 3. The non-profit organization operates the nation's only 24-hour suicide prevention helpline for gay and questioning youth.

"It is a great honor to receive The Trevor Life Award," dBusiness News quotes Ms. Barr. "I have always been committed to expanding the definition of what is normal and what is good and what is human. The Trevor Project's work is especially critical because gay and questioning youth are three times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. I'm personally aware of the tough challenges gay youth can face and I hope that some of my efforts have helped lead to greater acceptance and made their lives a bit easier." (photo: Jesse Grant/WireImage.com)

[The Trevor Project]

[dBusiness News]

Big Kahuna

David Milch on his new surf noir

He's a former addict and Yale fiction prof, and David Milch draws on both during his group writing sessions for his new series, 'John From Cincinnati.' The New York Times spent a day with the 'Deadwood' creator's "congregation" of actors and writers, gathering some insights into his thought process as well as the themes of the surf noir drama, which looks at a dysfunctional family "through the twin prisms of surfing and heroin addiction, a space alien and a lawyer named Dickstein," as the Times puts it.

Among the provocative questions Milch raises is this: "If the future continues to reinterpret the past, it could be argued that 9/11 provides irrefutable proof that unless there is some other way that we learn to deal with our technology or deal with our brothers and sisters, it is goodbye as a species. That genie does not leave that bottle." (photo: Albert L. Ortega/WireImage.com)

[NY Times]

Den of Sigler

How Jamie-Lynn's childhood home inspired her acting career

Jamie-Lynn Sigler's childhood home is featured in a new book edited by, of all people, former VP candidate and Sen. John Edwards. The book 'Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives,' takes a peak into the houses that notable Americans grew up in. Newsday reports that Sigler's Jericho den was the set for her brother's home movies — and starring in these pictures inspired her to pursue an acting career. It's also where she watched her first star turns as Meadow Soprano with her pals. (photo: John Shearer/WireImage.com)

[Newsday]

Debi Mazar and Rachel Griffiths greet each other at the gala for Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art 'Skin & Bones' exhibit. (photo: Eric Charbonneau/WireImage.com)

Acting 101

Paula Patton discusses her teachers

She's only been acting two years but Paula Patton (who garnered critical praise for her first leading lady role in 'Idlewild') is a quick study. The actress tells Newsday that she started her career behind the camera, after attending USC film school. She credits her time working on the Discovery Channel documentary series 'Medical Diaries' with teaching her a lot about acting, from the real human reactions she got to witness. "In acting, it's not just showing how you feel, but how you hide that feeling. We do that as human beings — masking pain with a smile, for instance. The camera shows all of that. That's what's so powerful about movies: [They] show what's going on behind the eyes."

Currently she can be seen in the thriller 'Déjà Vu' opposite Denzel Washington. Of working with her co-star she says, "I finally understood what people mean when they talk about being "in the moment." You may laugh when you think your character should cry. It's exciting. I walked away from that movie a better actress because of him." (photo: Skip Bolen/WireImage.com)

[Newsday]

Gambling with the Feds

HBO stars learn their tells

Now that he's fired his agent, mastering a poker face oughta come in handy for Vincent Chase. So it helped that Adrian Grenier and his boys were getting tips from an FBI counterintelligence expert this past weekend at the Comedy Festival Poker Tournament in Vegas. Former agent Joe Navarro, an authority in reading verbal and nonverbal communications, was on hand to coach the rookie players at the Texas hold'em tournament, which benefits the Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

Hosted by 'Entourage' creator Mark Wahlberg, 'Comic Relief' trio Billy Crystal, Whoopie Goldberg, Robin Williams and HBO chief Chris Albrecht, players included a roster of familiar faces: 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' 's Susie Essman, boxing sports broadcaster Jim Lampley, 'The Wire' 's Andre Royo, Rosanne Barr and even Ari himself, Jeremy Piven. (photo: Chris Weeks/WireImage.com)

[Cardplayer.com]

Bono's Audience of One

During U2's month-long 'Vertigo' tour of Australia, the super-group played to some 350,000 fans. But in Melbourne this past weekend, singer Bono got the one-person audience the rock star really wanted when he met with the country's Treasurer Peter Costello. Bono has been advocating for Australia to reach the campaign goal of his humanitarian organization Make Poverty History of committing 0.7 percent of its gross domestic product to foreign aid.

That he was able to get a meeting at all with the host of this year's G20 conference of world financial leaders was good sign for the Irishman. "I'm just a visiting rock star. He was very kind to meet with me." But he was optimistic about his campaign enjoying some success, "This wave is breaking and it's going to happen. Australia will get to point-seven. Point-seven's just a measure of how serious you are." (photo: Jim Spellman/WireImage.com)

[The Age]

[BONO AND THE EDGE: Off the Record]

Victor Mohale, Ben Affleck and Archie Khambula at the Los Angeles premiere of the documentary 'Ithuteng' (which means "never stop learning" in South African vernacular). It will air starting in December on HBO Family. (photo: Mark Sullivan/WireImage.com)

Funny Face

Scientists have confirmed it: Ricky Gervais makes people laugh. The Independent reports that in an experiment using computer software to examine which facial features are most likely to produce a laugh, "the resulting image bears an uncanny resemblance to Gervais."

Fans of 'The Office' and 'Extras' didn't need a computer program to tell them this, but it's nice to know our laughs are scientifically accurate. Viewers of the American version of 'The Office' will be treated to a Gervais (and writing partner Stephen Merchant) penned script on November 30th. We'll see if he's as funny without his mug. (photo: Simon Leibowitz/WireImage.com)

[The Independent]

[PopMatters.com]

Freddy's Not Dead

'Six Feet Under' 's Rodriguez gets busy

In a recent interview Freddy Rodriguez was asked if he felt 'Six Feet Under' put him on the map, "It changed my life, my career and it was a very special part of my life." Now, says Hollywood.com, Rodriguez's star is definitely on the rise. This year alone he's had roles in the summer blockbusters 'Poseidon' and 'Lady in the Water' and now can be seen in 'Bobby,' Emilio Estevez's film about the day Robert F. Kennedy was shot.

And he's just finished work on 'Grind House,' Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's latest gore fest. "It's the first time I've ever played an action hero, or action person in a film. So it'll be interesting to see myself on screen gun-toting and knife-wielding. He's a badass in the film." (photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage.com)

[Hollywood.com]

'Sex' Revolution

How Carrie & Co. changed lives

The fearsome foursome of 'Sex and the City' join an esteemed list of sitcom heroines — from Mary Tyler Moore to Diahann Carroll to Candice Bergen — credited with breaking barriers in a new book, 'What Would Murphy Brown Do? How the Women of Prime Time Changed Our Lives.' Author Allison Klein writes that the sometimes shocking Manhattanites still "made strides in showing women's views of sex and relationships." Weighing in on the book, the Seattle Times added, "We loved how the women seemed to be (mostly) happy about being single and having one another as a network of support." (photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com)

[Seattle Times]